All Blog Entries by Bruce Swedal

Throughout history the kitchen has always been considered the heart of the home and is a key feature to selling a home. Most home buyers prefer modern, updated kitchens because they will be using it daily and often it is the place where guests and family congregate.

When selling your home take time to visit other homes for sale in your neighborhood to see how the kitchens in those homes compare to yours. If the other homes have modern designs and new appliances, potential buyers visiting your home will expect the same or better.

Updating a kitchen does not always have to be extensive or expensive. Sometimes lower-cost kitchen upgrades can do the trick.

• Use a neutral color to repaint.
• Clean, clean and clean some more.
• Change light…

You have waited for what seems like eternity and now, out of the blue an offer comes in to purchase your home. The excitement builds and turns into relief, then you realize that the offer is much lower than your list price. What should you do?

Give every purchase offer for your home due consideration. Is it truely unacceptable? If so, your best response is to propose a counteroffer with price and terms that are acceptable. In this market many home buyers submit an offer to check the motivation level of the seller, expecting a counteroffer if it is unacceptable. Keeping a dialog going with a potential puchaser of your home and keeping them involved often times will result in a sale.

Check your Emotions at the Door

Even a low purchase offer still…

Highlands Ranch parks provide a great setting to host graduation, birthday and family reunion events. Twenty-two of the 25 parks in Highlands Ranch feature park shelters and they are booking fast for 2012 events. Park shelters, sports fields, horseshoes and bocce ball courts may be reserved for your private event.

“Marcy Park was absolutely perfect for my nine-year-old son’s birthday party! We had shade, play area, the stream, clean bathroom, and a lot of fun, “ said Brenda Kallas.

Civic Green Park, located in the heart of the community, is available to rent for community or private events such as concerts, fundraisers, cultural performances, holiday celebrations, graduation and birthday parties, art events, company outings and more. In…

Bruce Swedal earns the Graduate Realtor® Institute Designation.

It takes much more than motivation and initiative to succeed in the current Denver real estate environment. In this competitive field it takes commitment to pushing the boundaries in technology and gaining in-depth knowledge of both the fundamentals and technical aspects of Real Estate. Earning the Graduate, Realtor® Institute designation demonstrates a commitment to provide exemplary services for both home buyers and home sellers.

GRI designees:

• Have pursued a course of study that represents the minimum common body of knowledge for progressive real estate professionals.
• Have developed a solid foundation of knowledge and skills to navigate the current real estate climate—no…

Everytime this spring forward or fall back happens causing my family to go through the house changing our clocks I wonder, why do we do this? 

Daylight Savings Time started way back in 1918 though at the time was not followed too closely. It was left up to the local communities as to whether they wanted to change their clocks forward or backwards an hour. So it was until 1966 when Congress passed legislation called the Uniform Time Act that established Standard Times begin and end dates. The legislations did not make it mandatory that each state followed it - that was left up to each individual states legislature. The states of Hawaii, in addition to the territories of Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico actually don't follow daylight savings time which…

Kids love trick-or-treating and Halloween is a fun annual event that kids look forward to. There are potential dangers in the dark that both parents and kids need to be aware of. With that in mind here are some tips that can make for a safer and happier Halloween for your kids:

1. Trick or treat in groups - by using the buddy system where kids go with parents, siblings or friends. If parents will not be going with the group make sure that the kids know the area well that they will be trick or treating in.
2. Don't ever go into a stranger's home - If someone invited you in to see their decorations, get candy or whatever - say no thank you and leave. Only take candy from those homes that give it out at the door.
3. Eat a healty meal prior to…

You have sold your home and now it is the time to move, but where to start is the big question. You want to be able to make the move as easy as possible and you want to be able to put your furniture and boxes in the right rooms so you do not have to search every box for your coffee maker, your pajamas, your toothbrush, etc.  

Here are some tips to have a smooth transition from one home to the other.  

• The first thing that you need to decide is how you are going to move. Are you going to do it all yourself, part of it yourself, or hire a mover to do it all. The answer to that question depends on your household size, the amount of time you have to move, and your budget. Before you decide to hire a professional mover, you should get at least…

If you are in the process of selling your home and the holidays are approaching, the question comes up as to whether you should take your home off the market during the holiday season. The answer to that question depends on the seller. There are reasons to take it off the market and reasons to keep it on the market. Sure the seller needs to take into account that from Thanksgiving to New Years potential buyers and the seller themselves will be busy with family obligations and showing their home may not be convenient. On the other side of that coin any buyers out looking at homes during the holidays are serious about finding and buying. There may not be as many buyers out, however the best offers from motivated buyers may come during the holidays.

If…

The other day at a home inspection the buyers, inspector and I were discussing ways to save money in their new home. 

One of the inspectors major points during the conversation concerned the refrigerator in the garage being the devil in disguise when it came to energy consumption.

The garage is one of the worst places a homeowner can place a refrigerator due to the following reasons.

• If your garage is like mine - it may be the dirtiest place in the home.
• Most garage refrigerators are not full which means they work far more to keep less items cool.
• The garage is not climate controlled in most homes. It is exposed to extreme temperature changes.

So the simple truth is that you are asking a lot of an appliance that is placed in a…

Each year I show countless homes to prospective home buyers which allows me to understand what home buyers in the metro Denver marketplace are looking for in homes that they may want to purchase. Luckily wallpaper is for the most part outdated and rarely used. Unluckily for some home sellers wallpaper is outdated and rarely used. 

One of the most important things that home sellers in todays marketplace need to take into account when selling their homes is the need to make the home appealing to as wide a base of prospective sellers as possible. To appeal to todays home buyers, homes need to look as close as possible to model homes or homes you see in designer magazines which use neutral tones.

The reasons why a metro Denver home seller should remove…