Jim Smith, Broker

Just Listed: Ranch Home in Briarwood Commons, Close to Downtown Golden

This 2-bedroom, 2½-bath home at 710 Elm Circle is within walking distance of downtown Golden and literally across the street from the Golden Rec Center! It was just listed by Kathy Jonke and Jim Smith for $698,000. The seller bought it 18 years ago and is only selling because she’s in her 80s and ready to be in a senior facility. You’ll love the shaded front porch and the main-floor living. The two-car attached garage is an amenity not found in most townhomes. Watch the narrated video tour at www.GoldenTownhome.info, then come to our open house on Sunday, July 30th, 11 to 1. Or call Kathy Jonke at 303-990-7428 or Jim Smith at 303-525-1851 to arrange a private showing.

Just Listed: Mesa Meadows Ranch With Walkout Basement and Mountain Views!

This 3-bedroom, 2½-bath home is at 421 Choke Cherry Court, in an enclave called Fox Haven at Mesa Meadows. Nestled in a cul-de-sac on the slope of North Table Mountain, it is close to trails leading into downtown Golden as well as into the table mountain’s open space park. You’ll appreciate the numerous skylights and the vaulted ceilings throughout the main floor. Table mountain and foothills views from the wood deck, too! There is a self-managed HOA with annual dues of only $57. See the narrated video tour with drone footage at www.NorthGoldenHome.com. Sorry, no open house because it’s tenant occupied until Aug. 25th. Showings are permitted, however. Call Jim Smith at 303-525-1851 to arrange a showing.

Midcentury Modern Arapahoe Acres Ranch Listed by Chuck Brown

This 1956 mid-century modern home at 1430 E. Cornell Place was designed in the Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian style and is located in Arapahoe Acres, the first post-WWII subdivision on the National Register of Historic Places. It was just listed by Chuck Brown for $1,300,000. The home features 1,837 square feet of impeccable architecture, with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a 1-car attached garage. Perfectly situated on a quiet street in the interior of the neighborhood, it is close to Denver University, shops on South Broadway and the stores at Riverpoint. You’ll love the stained and exposed beams and beveled tongue and groove wood ceiling throughout the house and the completely restored kitchen with mahogany cabinets and modern appliances. The primary bathroom has a large jetted tub, birds-eye maple cabinets and heated terrazzo floor. The large TV/office room showcases a Tennessee Blue stone floor, a window wall with mahogany framing and a built-in mahogany desk and bookshelves. Completing this special home is the custom designed landscaping in the front and back yards. The entire property is the end result of a 24-year restoration endeavor by the current owners. Own a piece of Colorado history! Take a narrated video tour and see more pictures at www.ArapahoeAcresHome.info. It has a 7.5-kW solar system, too! Call Chuck Brown at 303-885-7855 to arrange a private showing.

Unlike Most Professionals, Real Estate Agents Work for Free Most of the Time

Most professionals I can think of get paid for the work they perform. Some even charge for estimates, and others, including surgeons, charge even when they fail at what they were hired to do.

Real estate is different. Most of the time we are giving our services away to customers with only a vague hope of a payday down the road. Sometimes we invest a great deal of money marketing properties that never sell, only to have the seller relist the home at a lower price with another agent who then enjoys a pay day.

I had about 30 closings last year, and I drove 15,000 miles. Do you think I drove 500 miles for each successful closing? No, I drove most of those miles for buyers and sellers who received my services for free without any compensation for my time and travel.

This is okay with me. I love real estate. When it produces a payday, I know that it makes up for the uncompensated efforts I expended on behalf of other clients.

Occasionally I have a buyer who has me show him or her the exact house he or she wants to buy, and I handle the transaction — one showing, few miles of driving around, one contract written, one inspection handled, one closing attended — earning myself a 5-figure payday. The buyer, seeing how easy it was, might reasonably expect a rebate of my commission. But what about those times I showed a buyer 100 different homes, wrote one or two unsuccessful contracts, only to have that buyer rent instead of buy — or the buyer goes to an open house and buys without me?

A few years ago, I was considering listing 5 acres 30 miles up a canyon for $125,000, but the seller was so uncooperative that I ultimately declined the listing — but not before I had made three trips to the property and on one of those trips did $1,000 damage to my car’s underbody on his jagged culvert!

Such is the life of a real estate agent. We may seem overpaid when we are paid 5-figure commissions on a transaction, and you may think that’s unfair, but if we didn’t have those closings to make up for all the times we work for free or spend without reimbursement, it might be hard to justify becoming a real estate agent.

As it is, the average member of the National Association of Realtors earns less than $50,000 in gross commission income per year — before accounting for car, phone, MLS fees, Realtor dues, computer hardware & software, E&O insurance, and more.

A Quit Claim Deed Is Cheap & Convenient, But It Can Void Title Policy

Quit claim deeds are a convenient way to transfer property among related parties. You might use it, for example, to add a new spouse to the title, or to transfer it to an entity which you control.

But be sure to check with the company which insured your title when the home was last purchased, because you’ll need to have the title policy amended, costing $75-$100 or thereabouts, so it conforms to the new ownership of your property.

If you don’t remember which title company handled the transaction, any Realtor can run a Realist Report which names the title company.

Development Site Near Downtown Golden Just Listed by Austin Pottorff

This 14,000-square-foot parcel at 2200 Ford Street in Golden, the site of a automotive business since 1964, is now available for multi-family redevelopment, such as we’ve seen in numerous nearby locations. And this site is better than most, being within walking distance of downtown Golden, the Colorado School of Mines, Golden High School, and multiple open space trailheads. The timing is good because Golden’s 1% limitation on new residential building permits was just voided by state legislation aimed at increasing urban density. Broker associate Austin Pottorff just listed it for $1,950,000 and has produced a drone video of the parcel and its downtown surroundings, which you can view, along with his South Golden listing, at www.GoldenDevelopmentSite.info. For more info, you can contact Austin at 970-281-9071, or email him at Austin@GoldenRealEstate.com.

Just Listed: Ranch-Style Home on Large Lot in Wide Acres, Near Golden

Wide Acres is that quiet neighborhood located south of Colfax to the east of Colorado Mills. With 3,493 square feet of finished space, this 3-bedroom/3-bath home at 1125 Zinnia St. is set back about 100 feet from the street on its 0.57-acre lot, making it even more quiet and secluded. It was just listed by Jim Smith for $975,000. It is being sold by the family that had it built in 1974. The indoor and outdoor living space is exceptional, as you’ll see when you view the narrated video tour I posted at www.WideAcresHome.info. Then come to my open house this Saturday, July 22, from 11am to 1pm. Or call me at 303-525-1851 to schedule a private showing.

Price Reduced on 1904 Home in Denver’s Capitol Hill

You’ll love the updates to this 3-bedroom home at 1240 N. Downing St., a short walk from Cheesman Park in Denver’s historic Capitol Hill — from the dream kitchen with white quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances and rolling island to the fabulous primary suite in the basement! The price was just reduced to $950,000. My narrated video tour will give you a taste of it and inspire you to request a showing. You can view more pictures plus that video tour (with drone video footage) at www.DenverHome.info. Or call me, Jim Smith, at 303-525-1851 to schedule a private showing.

Here’s Why I’m Not a Fan of Tankless Water Heaters

Tankless water heaters have been promoted as an energy-saving appliance. The reasoning is simple. A traditional water heater is tasked with keeping a large tank of water hot — typically at 120º F. A tankless water heater only heats water as needed.

The development of heat pump water heaters has changed that calculation. And they are the only water heaters that can earn you a 30% federal tax credit in addition to the $600 to $800 rebate earned by Xcel Energy customers. Xcel says heat pump water heaters are 65% more efficient than standard electric water heaters and can save you $900 in energy costs over 12 years.

There’s a secondary reason that I don’t like tankless water heaters. With a tank water heater (whether heat pump or conventional electric/gas), you can install a recirculation line, allowing you to have instant hot water at even the farthest faucet from your water heater.

A plumber has installed a recirculation line in every house I’ve owned for 20 years. Here’s how it works. Let’s say your water heater is in the basement and your primary bedroom is on the second floor. You might draw a gallon or more of cold water before hot water reaches your faucet. And that’s water that had been heated but cooled off sitting in your pipes. By running a return line from your sink to the bottom of the water heater, your faucet becomes the “top” of your water heater, and hot water rises to the top of the tank. Voila! Instant hot water on tap. (Note: You are saving water, too, by not running the tap until hot water arrives.)

Running that recirculation line can involve a lot of drywall opening and repair if you have a finished basement and need to snake the line through ceilings and walls to a higher floor. If you have a ranch home with an unfinished basement (no drywall on the ceiling), you’re spared this expense. It helps to save heat loss and energy if you install insulation on the copper pipes going from the water heater to your distant faucet, assuming those pipes are accessible. The return line should be PEX, which is plastic and does not need insulating.

Installing a hot water recirculation line is a job that any plumber can do.

Selling Your Home and Renting Might Be the Answer for You, As It Was for Us

This past weekend I had an interesting conversation with fellow “seniors” who are contemplating their next step in life.

They own a single-family detached home with lots of yard work to keep it looking beautiful. They love their home but feel the need to simplify their life as they age. (They’re in their 70s.)

Their options vary from downsizing to a patio home, moving to a 55+ rental (which Rita and I did last year), or moving out-of-state or out of the country. Our nation’s political turmoil is what’s behind the last option, and Portugal and Mexico have caught their attention.

This couple is also feeling an urgency to choose, because they know this is the time of year when the landscaping looks its best, and they don’t want to miss that window of opportunity.

Putting my “consultant” hat on, I had some insights of my own to share with them.

My first insight was that you don’t want to wait until you have to sell, such as from illness or death of a spouse. This couple is in excellent health, and that’s what you want when you undertake such a serious (and exerting) life change.

My second insight was that renting is actually a great way to procrastinate, taking the pressure off choosing those other options. As a renter, you get to decide a year from now when your one-year lease expires. At that time you can buy that patio home, move locally, out-of-state or to Portugal — or you can renew your lease and put off the decision for another year.

As a renter, especially in an apartment building or 55+ community, you are free to travel and check out all those options. And, since you will have sold your house already, you could be a non-contingent buyer if buying is what you decide to do.

Selling your current house and buying a replacement home at the same time can be really strenuous and stressful in terms of moving. If you rent, you can take your time to move out of your current home, and you can take your time again when you decide to buy next year or the year after.

A third insight is financial. This couple owns their house “free and clear.” When they sell, they’ll have nearly a million dollars that they can invest (as we did), adding another income stream. That equity isn’t earning them anything sitting in their home, and the income they earn from investing their proceeds will likely exceed the cost of renting.

Lastly, they’ll be able to enjoy worry-free vacations. As a renter, they’ll be in a “lock-and-leave” environment like Rita and I are — able to go on cruises or other trips without any concern about break-ins, snow-shoveling, lawn care or frozen pipes.

As a Realtor and homeowner, I never thought that I’d be a renter again, but I could tell that we were at the top of the market and that by “cashing out” on our single-family home in Golden, we’d have the freedom to make another decision at any time later on and not have to worry about anything. And because we had to downsize to sell our 4,000-sq.-ft. home and move into an 1,100-sq.-ft. apartment, that hard work was behind us. It was a great feeling when that downsizing was complete. Another benefit is that our heirs will have less to sort through and dispose of when we die, because we already did most of that work.

I’d like to hear your thoughts or questions about this topic. Email me at Jim@GoldenRealEstate.com.