All Blog Entries by Bruce Swedal

Highlands Ranch Lansdowne Arms Bistro and Pub

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 at 6:43pm. 106 Views, 0 Comments.

The Lansdowne Arms Bistro and Pub at Town Center is one of my families’ favorite places to eat locally in Highlands Ranch. When we visit I will generally have the sirloin shepherd’s pie. Though I really enjoy it, I can rarely finish it and have to take some home for lunch the next day. My wife often has the fish and chips which she tells me she loves.

Overall the menu is what one would expect from an Irish pub offering a variety of Irish favorites and standard dishes you would customarily find in a bar. Our experience in ordering different dishes is that they are prepared equally well and the service we have enjoyed has always been good.

The Lansdowne Arms of Town Center can offer different atmospheres depending on your mood. We prefer sitting in the dining…

NAR Short Sales and Foreclosure Certification

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 9:38pm. 96 Views, 0 Comments.

Denver, Colorado, January 1, 2010 — Bruce Swedal, Denver Real Estate Expert has earned the nationally recognized Short Sales and Foreclosure Resource certification. The National Association of REALTORS® offers the SFR certification to REALTORS® who want to help both buyers and sellers navigate these complicated transactions, as demand for professional expertise with distressed sales grows.

According to a recent NAR survey, nearly one-third of all existing homes sold recently were either short sales or foreclosures.  For many real estate professionals, short sales and foreclosures are the new “traditional” transaction.  REALTORS® who have earned the SFR certification know how to help sellers maneuver the complexities of short sales as well as help buyers…

Denver Energy Savers Booklet

Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 12:30pm. 146 Views, 0 Comments.

As energy prices continue to climb in the current economy, saving energy and money at home has never been more important. This booklet will help you to save energy in your Denver home.

The typical Denver family will spend about $1,900 per year for their utility bills and here is the kicker, a large percentage of that energy is wasted.

However there is a lot you can do in your Denver home to save energy and thus save money. This pamphlet is one that I offer to those looking to save up to 25% in their energy usage. By clicking the link below you will access the pdf version of this pamphlet and all the energy saving tips it contains.

The pamphlet – Denver Energy Savers Booklet – can be viewed by clicking the link.

As always I am available for any questions that…

Explaining the FHA Mortgage

Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 12:00pm. 112 Views, 0 Comments.

Metro Denver homebuyers have been utilizing FHA backed mortgages to fund their home purchases for decades.

Some of the benefits offered by FHA backed loans are low down payment options, reasonable costs, availability to less than perfect credit and assistance if ever there is difficulty in making the payments.

To be eligible for an FHA insured mortgage a borrower must plan to occupy the property as their principal residence, have a valid social security number, have a two year employment history, not be past due on any Federal debts and meet the flexible credit requirements.

To make the FHA backed mortgage easy to understand I find it useful to give clients a pamphlet with all the pertinent information. This informational flyer can be opened through the link…

Save Now with the Homebuyers Tax Credit

Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 10:59am. 86 Views, 0 Comments.

Purchasing a home is a big step and fortunately there are trained Denver real estate professionals like your Denver Realtor to help you through the process.

Owning a metro Denver home provides many benefits to the Denver home owner. In addition to those benefits the home buyer’s tax credit and more affordable prices make now an especially opportune time to purchase your next metro Denver home.

Clients often ask what the Homebuyers tax credit offers to them. To provide you with the answers to those questions I have included a pamphlet I utilize which will fully explain the tax credit and how to take advantage of it to get an even better deal when purchasing your next home.

The pamphlet – The Homebuyers Tax Credit – Buy a Home and get a Tax Break – can be…

Reduced Price vs Changes in Interest Rate

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 12:45pm. 239 Views, 0 Comments.

Clients often ask me about the effects of price vs interest rates on payments when purchasing a Denver area home. Since there is widespread agreement in the lending industry that 2010 will bring increased interest rates I thought I would put a post together that demonstrates their effects.

I am going to use a loan value of $200,000 for this example and strictly look at principal and interest.

• Financed amount = $200,000
• Rate of interest = 5%
• Term of 30 Years
• Payment = $1073.64 per month

• Payment with 1/2% Rate increase = $1135.58
• Payment with 5% Price increase = $1127.33
• As you can see a ½% rate increase has about the same effect on payments as a 5% price increase.

• Payment with 1% Rate increase = $1199.10
• Payment with 10% Price…

Home prices in metro Denver climb

Thursday, February 11th, 2010 at 10:45am. 85 Views, 0 Comments.

The trend lately in metro Denver is for increased home prices and January was no different. Though the number of homes sold in January decreased year over year the median sales prices increased over 16% to $210,000.  

The numbers provided by Metrolist also indicate an increase in the median condo prices of 15% year over year to $130,500.

The increase in median prices is due to the mix of current buyers and the type of inventory available on the market. Basically there is not an abundance of inventory available that matches what first time home buyers are seeking.

While median home prices have climbed, the number of homes available in inventory has declined. This time last year there were 19,748 available and this year it is down 9.9% to 17,785.

The trend…

FHA implements new rules to help foreclosures sell faster

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 at 12:19pm. 233 Views, 1 Comments.

FHA has made recent changes to their rules to help stabilize the home values and improve community distress in places where foreclosure activity is high.  A temporary change of policy has been announced which will allow increased and quicker access to FHA mortgage insurance when purchasing some foreclosed properties.

Through this announcement and the $2 billion stabilization grants announced for non-profit developers and local communities announced to stem the negative effects of abandoned and vacant homes in some communities, the current administration has shown a commitment to addressing these issues.

These changes further open up the credit market to potential home buyers who often run into roadblocks obtaining conventional financing, most home buyers in…

Dumping Your Debt

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 2:34pm. 492 Views, 2 Comments.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog.  This post is dedicated to methods used in repairing credit and improving your debt position and has a free report containing all the information at the end. 

There is plenty of other information and posts to check out while here so when you are done with this one please take a look around.

Debt and poor credit scores can weigh heavily on even the most fiscally responsible people.  According to Jean Sherman Chatzky, author of Pay it Down!, a book on reducing debt, the average American family has 16 credit cards and carries a debt load of more than $8,000.  No matter what your profession, there is a chance that you are in a similar situation.

That’s why the theme of this client appreciation program is on the topics of…

The State of the Denver Real Estate Market – October 2009

Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 1:06am. 153 Views, 0 Comments.

Maybe you have not realized it just yet, but changes are upon us in the local metro Denver real estate market.  October, 2009 has set some records in home sales, which on a broader scale indicates a shift in the market to one of recovery and strength. 

During October there were 4,910 home that were placed under contract while the previous record for an October was in 2005 with 4,839 homes.  The majority of these sales have been under the $400,000 mark and driven by first time home-buyers.

What caused the crazy market?  Well pent up demand from the previous year to start and the $8,000 tax credit to first time home-buyers also helped to push it along.  The fact that the tax credit program has been extended and expanded to also include some existing…