Denver agents and neighborhoods

[Joelle Thiel]

My husband and I currently live in the San Francisco Bay Area.  By early 2019 (after the youngest starts college) we're planning to move out of California, likely to Denver.  Over the next two years we will be expanding our portfolio of rental homes from our current two in Las Vegas to more there, but also expanding into the Denver area.   We're hoping to make our first Denver purchase in the next couple of months.

I'm looking for recommendations on an agent that can help with my search, but also manage the property as a rental once purchased.  I also would like to hear from investors in Denver on up and coming neighborhoods with strong rents where I should focus my search.  I'm doing my own research as well, of course, but would love to hear from people on the ground there.

Thanks!

[Bill S.]

@Joelle Thiel the price point sets the neighborhood. The current trend is toward the urban core so start with downtown and do concentric circles from there. The Cole, Curtis Park, Barnum, and Baker neighborhoods are popular with the entry point buyers. You can find SFRs in pricier 'hoods that are on the small side within your price point ($350,000). Know this, your competition is very very stiff. I sold each side of a duplex last spring in that price point in the West Highlands neighborhood. Each side had more than 10 offers the first weekend. Each side sold for about 10% over asking and one side, the buyer brought an extra $10K to closing because it didn't appraise at the sale price.

You won't likely find an agent that will help you buy and who is a property manager. In your shoes, I would look for different people to do each of those tasks. Buyer's agents don't have time to do property management and property managers don't have time to help people buy. They are very different businesses. You might find a newbie that would do both and they might do a good job but they would be unproven.

Finally to find an agent, watch or search the forums and see who knows what they are doing. Pick a couple of them and reach out to them. Interview them and pick one that is a good fit.

As for property managers, I don't know of any that regularly post here from the Denver area. Perhaps the agent you select would have some good suggestions. Since the long term plan would be to move here, I might be inclined to self manage until you can get a better plan in place.