Good morning Boulder county. I’m grateful to be sitting here on my back porch in East Boulder County of the home we bought in 2019. My real estate investing in Colorado started back in 2004 when a builder friend and I constructed a new home with intentions to sell it. Priced under $300,000 in Northern Colorado his 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch home built right off the park sold quickly after it was completed. At the time I was still renting and didn’t think owning was something I needed to do. I had not seen the significant price increases we are seeing today and felt I still had time. Fast forward to 2007 when I am now wanting to move to Boulder County and have discovered buying is now more important than renting for me. The apartments I could afford were not in the most desirable places (in my opinion) and there were a few townhomes in my price range that would have the same monthly payment. It was settled and I called my favorite lender to make sure I would be qualified. The place I ended up buying was in really rough shape and after closing, I painted it, replaced the carpet, replaced the bathroom and kitchen floors and it was time to move in. The updating continued here and there until June 2010 when it was time to sell this townhome and move into my new place in Lafayette. Needless to say, the equity was significant and the money I made allowed me to pay off some debts and move into the new place.
I will tell the rest of my story in another blog because I want to highlight the significance of this part of my story. Buying versus renting in 2007 allowed my real estate story to be one of the greatest decisions I have ever made. In the last ten days, I have previewed 5 different properties in East Boulder County in the $500,000 price range. Two were being offered by new home builders and would be available in the fall. One was willing to contract that day and the other had more vague terms about being on a list. One single-family home in Lafayette was being offered by the Boulder Affordable Housing program and was not requiring anyone to offer above the asking price. Another was in the Lafayette Park neighborhood and it was a basic tri-level home but certainly very livable and could be cleaned up for not a lot of money. Lastly was a home in Old Town Lafayette featuring two bedrooms and one bathroom and had been on the market for over 30 days. This home has a lot of potential and as a former Old Town resident, it was calling me.
Are you ready to take your real estate journey to the next level? I’m seeing posts for rentals on social media and people commenting below about the prices being so high. If you want to avoid the rental game and see if you can be a property owner, be sure to click here and listing locally will connect you to one of the local Real Estate Professionals that can help you. After talking to one of the local Real Estate Professionals one can discover more about loan programs and maybe even see if he/she/they are qualified for the Boulder County Affordable Housing program.
Blog content provided by Local Real Estate Professional Chris McGrath and he can be contacted by phone at 303-665-2838 or viewed online here:
