Tip of the Day for new home owners in Denver. Buy a $30 dollar lockbox and keep spare house keys in it. Attach to outside pipes or another secure location. I was locked out the other day and this tip/system came in handy!

Odds are stacked high…credit scores can be ally or foe, yet for all the challenges, you should buy a home.  In our market, those buying now are buying near the bottom..imagine looking back 10 years from now and thinking to yourself.  Wow, that was a smart move and positioned us well financially.   Other benefits to buying your first home include:

Pride of Ownership

• #1 reason.  You can paint the walls.  You can even tear down a wall to make your kitchen bigger. Attach perment fixtures, add a deck and create your customized personal living space. The message is its yours to decorate and be proud of.

Appreciation

Mortgage Interest Deductions

• Property Tax Deductions- real estate property taxes paid for a first home and a vacation home are fully deductible for income tax purposes.

Capital Gains Exclusion

• As long as you have lived in your home for two of the past five years, you can exclude up to $250,000 for an individual or $500,000 for a married couple of profit from capital gains. You do not have to buy a replacement home or move up. There is no age restriction, and the “over-55″ rule does not apply.

Mortgage Reduction Builds Equity

• Every month, a portion of your monthly payment is applied to the principal balance of your loan, which reduces your overall loan balance.  Ask me how this works as I have several examples of loan balance payoff.

If you would like to learn more and discuss your options in a very casual, relaxed environment, call me at 303-475-1500 to set an appt.  Take the first step, you will be glad you did.

As many of my friends of asked, how can you afford to drive your clients around in your gas guzzling V8 Nissan Titan? The short answer is I can’t. The long answer is if I do my job right and qualify and prescreen homes for my clients, it shouldnt take weeks of driving around the Denver metro area. Eventually, I want to buy a hybrid for real estate activities, but in the mean time…there is a new program at King Soopers.

As I gassed up today at my local King Soopers, I noticed that they are advertising a new discount program that will save you 10c a gallon with your King Soopers card. Not a bad deal! Safeway and King Soopers announced Monday that they are reinstating gasoline discount programs based on grocery purchases shortly after Gov. Bill Ritter signed into law a bill that allows the sale of gasoline at below-cost prices. For the record, neither my family or myself work for or with King Soopers, just passing along some gas savings ideas for my readers.

HUDS have always been a fertile ground for Denver Real Estate investors and Colorado bargain shoppers. My prediction is that as we go into the last days of 2006, there will be less buyers and more opportunity for the investor to invest in these properties.

Click here to request an updated full color FREE Colorado HUD Bargain List.

Pls call me to set a showing or if you would like to place a bid. HUDs require a licensed broker to assist buyers in the bid process.