Colorado – Tripp Howell – Denver is My Office

12882 Cook Ct, Thornton, CO

Beautifully remodeled 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home for only $399,900! Thoughtful updates include the kitchen, appliances, flooring, bathrooms, windows, lighting – nothing was missed. Enjoy living in a “smart home”, with a Nest thermostat and smart LED lighting. You can control the garage door and irrigation system from the convenience of your smart phone. New windows throughout the home provide great insulation. 2 car garage with newly poured driveway. Ample storage space with the basement, and storage shed in the backyard. You’ll love the over sized corner lot, with large fenced-in backyard. This home has everything. Don’t miss out on seeing this one! OPEN HOUSE Saturday, 9/14, 11:00am – 1:00pm. Call today to schedule a showing. 970-219-0679.

Call Tripp today to schedule a showing. 970-219-0679.

10563 W 62nd Pl, Arvada, 80004

Call Tripp Howell at 970-219-0979 for a private showing.

Welcome home to this beautifully updated 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom home in Arvada! With the open floor plan and 2,262 total square feet of living space, you’ll love calling this house home. Offered at $425,000.

Enjoy the Hardwood floors throughout the main floor.

Spacious Master suite.

Over sized utility room.

Bonus room in basement with egress window. Could be converted into a bedroom.

Custom wine rack.

Schedule your showing today by calling Tripp Howell at 970-219-0679. Or come to our open house on Saturday 1/19 from 11:00am – 2:00pm.

House Flipping – 1 – How to buy a fixer upper!

Fixing up an old run down house has been on my wish list since I first watched Fixer Upper on HGTV. Seeing Chip and Joanna take a home that nobody else believed in and turn it around with creativity seemed like a blast… but how could I do that?? I have no construction background, and nobody who’s done it before to help me. I couldn’t find any great “how to” books or a golden nugget to tell me how to find a good project house and flip it. Well, in July of 2017 I took the leap of faith and bought a run down house, and successfully fixed it up! It was a lot of work, and a lot of fun. This is how I did it…

First Step: In order to make this work I was going to risk everything I had saved up, so I wanted to be as sure as possible in the project I chose to take on. To mitigate the risk of loosing everything, I chose to buy a house only in an area I’d want to live in. Worst case scenario, I get stuck with the house – can’t sell it for a profit – so I just keep it and live there. I decided the Highlands was for me. If you are new to house flipping, I suggest you buy a house in an area you’d want to live.

Second Step: After deciding where to look, I needed to confirm that the area was a good investment, and find out what price range to look in. The best way to do this is to work with a good Realtor. Since I am a realtor in the area, I already new the answers to these questions, but it’s important for you to talk with an experienced local agent. The other, and arguably more important reason to speak with an agent is to stay ahead of the game. I set up an auto home search to email me asap when a potential project home popped up in the area. This proved to be essential as the house I ended up getting I had to make an offer on 1 hour after it came on the market….and I wasn’t even the first offer submitted!

Third Step: Estimate your budget and come up with a good margin. With no construction background and no house yet, I couldn’t be too accurate with a budget. Everything I heard and saw in the area made $100,000 seem reasonable. Note – this is totally different for different areas, based on the home prices and age in the area. On top of the $100k budget, I also wanted to have a $100k margin for error and hopefully profit. So I was looking for a house I could buy in the Highlands and sell for $200,000 more, after fixing it up.

Forth Step: Patience. It took a few months of looking and passing up deals before I found the right deal for me. There were a couple that temped me, but they didn’t fit right into my criteria. Just because something is a good deal doesn’t mean it’s the right deal for you!

Fifth Step: Jump! I got an email notification that a house matching my criteria popped up. I immediately dropped everything and scheduled a showing. One hour after the house hit the market, I was inside studying it…. and it was a MESS! But, the numbers worked… so I jumped! One hour after walking the house (two hours after it hit the market) I made a full priced offer…. and there was already an offer in before mine! The sellers ended up receiving 30 offers in two days, and I was right in the middle of a bidding war. Luckily it was under my budget, but I still had to push my limit. Ended up going under contract for nearly $50,000 over the original asking price, but the numbers still worked and it was the right project for me.

Here’s a pic of the back just to give you an idea.

Sixth Step: Get bids from subcontractors and finalize budget before closing! Before I closed on the house (but after going under contract), I met subcontractors at the house to get bids for everything that needed to be done. I used a website called Thumbtack. They have contractors for everything, and they have review from previous clients. I met with several contractors for each job to ensure I was getting a good bid. It’s important to have all of your bids in prior to closing on the house so you know if you’ll be able to stay in budget.

Seventh Step: Closing! Sign the papers and get to work. My next blog will dive into getting to work.

Here are the before pictures:

Front of house. Living Room.Dining Room – All that wall paper!!!KitchenDownstairs bedroom – Wall paper everywhere and a weird bathroom set up. That’s the shower on the right and a little toilet room on the left. Upstairs bedroom – More wall paper… ceiling tiles…Upstairs bathroomUpstairs bedroom.Creepy basement!Garage in back.

Call me if you’d like to look into buying a house!

Tripp Howell

970-219-0679

What it takes to win an offer in Denver

It’s a great time to buy a home in the Denver market. The equity train is just getting started, thousands of people are moving here every month causing prices to continuously increase. Opportunity to gain equity in your home is abundant, it just takes some aggression to get into a home. After you find a realtor (I’d love to help) the fun begins. Going on showings, walking through homes is fun, you get to use your imagination and learn what you like and don’t like in a home. Once you find that house that you want to be home, the challenge begins! Most likely, there will be multiple competing offers placed on this property, all over asking price. So what do you need to do with your offer to make it stand out? Here are the top 5 ways to make your offer stand out to the sellers.

Price – this one seems obvious, but it’s not for many people who aren’t familiar with this market. In most cases, you need to offer above asking price – way above! Depending on what price range you are in, you may have to go as much as 10% – 15% over asking price. This is normal for anything under $400,000.

Appraisal guarantee – Because offers are going over asking price, in many cases, the sellers want to be sure that they will not have to lose a contract because of an appraisal shortfall. A buyer can only get a loan based on the appraised value of a home. If the agreed contract price is above the appraised value, the buyer will need to have cash available to pay the difference at closing. If the buyer does not have sufficient cash available, the buyer and seller will need to re-negotiate, and likely, lower the price. Sellers do not want to incur this problem so they will select an offer that provides an appraisal guarantee.

Inspection – Inspections are the first major hurdle to get over in a real estate transaction. Many buyers will submit an offer without an inspection requirement to make their offer seem stronger. If the home you are interested in is older or has more visible damage to it, you can submit an offer with an inspection, but say it’s only for major heath and safety items. This will provide the seller with some security knowing that you will not be concerned with minor issues.

Pre-approved with a local lender – Having a local lender who is available to work on the weekends and evenings is critical to succeed in this market. You need a lender who understands the speed and urgency in the Denver area and will call the listing agent to provide them with insight to your ability to close a loan. For them to do that, you MUST be pre-approved before writing an offer. Getting pre-approved is a step you need to take before writing an offer.

Full-time agent – There are a lot of real estate agents who only do real estate on the side as a part-time job. You need someone fighting in your corner who does this full time, and who you can count on to be available late nights and weekends…. That’s when real estate happens! If you submit an offer, your agent should call the listing agent before sending in the offer to build report. If you agent only does this part-time and doesn’t have time, you’ll struggle to get an offer accepted.

Aurora – Gorgeous Townhouse – Remodeled, Vaulted Ceilings

Address: 16956 e piedmont dr #A, Aurora, 80015

Welcome home to this beautiful and completely remodeled townhouse in Discovery At Smoky Hill Condos. Enjoy cooking in the gourmet kitchen with granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, and hardwood floors, while guests are entertained in the open dining area. Spend winter nights cuddled by the wood burning fireplace.

The two spacious bedrooms have vaulted ceilings that provide an open feel. The bathroom boasts a granite counter top, and a beautiful tiled backsplash in the shower.

Don’t forget about the wonderfully landscaped backyard, with enough room to entertain guests, or to let your dog have some space. The roof, furnace, and water heater were all replaced 2 years ago. This great home won’t last long, set up a showing today! Call me anytime to schedule a showing!

970-219-0679

Price: $169,000

Square feet: 784

Bedrooms: 2

Bathrooms: 1

Year built: 1983

Type: Townhouse

Condition: Great/Updated