All Forum Posts by: Erin Spradlin

I keep telling my clients and you that you need to consider remote workers your next tenant base! 

• 14-23 million people are about to move, and it makes sense that Colorado will get a lot of those people. 
• The Denver Post is reporting that Denver ranks #8 in the nation for where these people are moving.
• For every one person that's left since April, 1.34 people are moving to Denver. 

You need to think about what remote workers want when you think about your rent by the room strategy, your house hacking strategy and your medium-term rentals / short-term rentals. 

Denver and Colorado Springs are absolutely benefiting from this movement and I think it's a wasted opportunity to not get on this trend. 

Here's the full Denver Post article: 

https://www.denverpost.com/202...

Just a reminder: Denver Women Invest is tonight. It's free. When you fail to plan, you plain to fail. So, with that in mind, we are doing a goal planning session for 2021. Hope you join us! 

Anyone can attend. 

We'll cover goals and why they matter or don't matter. Some topics we'll be presenting/reviewing/discussing:

• do your goals actually tie to values?
• is the goal actually important or do you just think it should be important?
• do any of your goals conflict with one another?
• do your goals have a tier of importance?
• what have been hang ups in the past?

The amazing Lia Martinez did a presentation for Denver Women Invest about this. Here are the highlights:

Pros

1. One of the best ways to get the highest rent
2. Better for the environment (more people sharing one space v. multiple spaces)
3. Better for the individual (cheaper rent, sense of community)
4. Adds portfolio diversification

Cons

1. Requires more people management 
2. Higher upfront costs (downpayment for a larger house and furnishing it)
3. Neighbors may push back
4. Regulatory hurdles

Kyle- We work with a ton of investors... and here are my top tips for being in this market:

1. Be flexible (a lot of people get dug in on multifamily and there are other ways to get a strong Investment around here without it being a duplex+)
2. talk to a lender early, and make sure that lender is local (it truly matters in this market and makes your offer more competitive)
3. If it's priced well, plan on the price being the start of the conversation and know that in the Denver and Colorado Springs' markets, a lot of properties are going for well over asking (and they include appraisal gap coverage)
4. Ask any potential agent you are interviewing, how long they have been doing real estate in this market? More important: ask them how their last inspection objection went: did they get money back for the client, did the seller get everything they wanted, etc.) For buyers, I think this point is particularly important bc emotions are high for the buyer when you put the contract in (give up a lot there) but inspection, the seller is locked in a bit/more invested, so your agent should be fighting harder at the time to get you money back.

We can speak to all the local appreciation (14% for single family homes YoY). If you aren't committed to living in the city, I'd avoid Denver and maybe concentrate on Colorado Springs real estate (which is cheaper).
I'd also keep an eye out for Woodland Park. It feels pretty rural still, but it's an easy 25 minute drive from Colorado Springs, has amazing views, and is starting to get bought up. It's a way to enjoy mountain living while being close to a metro and all the luxuries that affords. 

@Jeremy Babin - We have some clients that do the rent by the room (or coliving model) in Colorado Springs and Denver. Both self-manage and live at the property. I know someone else that does it on several different properties in Denver and Buena Vista, and she lives in one of the properties, but the others are self-run. I believe she has tried to identify tenants that could be house managers and reduce the rent for them. 
This model requires a higher management presence than a long term renter, but certainly is also more lucrative. 

@Anthony Angotti Why? You sleep in your bedroom and you work in your office. Basements are cold and dark, which is good for sleep, and not for work. Many, many basements don't even get used for this very reason, so it's a way of actually maximizing your space. Also, with the blurring of work/life spaces, putting the bedroom in the basement helps people feel like their day has ended. 

Moving the bedroom to the basement adds in-home office space, which stands to appeal to the growing number of work from home employees. 

@Grace Wang That's interesting. In the past, in a market like Denver or Colorado Springs where everything is so competitive (and getting more expensive), I would think renting out space in your home for someone to use as a home office would be an excellent idea. That said, I think we all know a serious commercial real estate discount is headed our way... that logic ignores the pandemic, but still. 

@Ryan Riches - I think it all comes down the size of the property in Denver that you are buying or renting and who you think your end user will likely be. Do most of your tenants need a 4th bedroom or do most of your tenants need an office space? While the 4th bedroom "may" get you more money, I think  with the influx of remote workers, the office space will have a larger pool of people that want it.