The US economy is growing in most parts in the country, Colorado being among the areas where development is the most reliable, but the pace of the growth has somewhat slowed down recently, which has instant effects on the state’s real estate market. One of the trends that will most likely govern the real estate landscape in the Centennial State is a somewhat slowed down development in the commercial real estate development and speedier development in the residential segment – here are some factors that influence local real estate trends.

What Causes the Slow-Down in Commercial Real Estate

One of the most important factors that influence the direction of development in the segment is the emergence of alternative property types, such as adaptive reuse (the process of using existing buildings for purposes other than the purpose that the building was initially erected for) or office space shared by multiple small business owners. These trends, along with the increasing number of telecommuters and of enterprises that no longer work from rented offices have significantly decreased the demand for new offices as well as for new warehouses or other types of commercial construction.

The other factor that determines the decrease in commercial construction is the shortage of skilled and unskilled labor that almost all industries in the state are faced with and that acts as a deterrent for companies that have previously planned to move to the state.

Trends that Affect the Residential Real Estate Landscape

Residential real estate is becoming pricier by the day, due to the high demand for local residential property. As a result, the median price for an average-sized single-family home is around 445,000 in the Denver metro area, more than 1% higher than it was last year. The prices for condos show the same trend, with medial prices around 304,000.

The demand for residential real estate is growing according to Greenfield real estate agents, but the number of developments have slowed a bit recently. One of the reasons for the trend is the slightly growing number of foreclosures, a process that puts many listings into the picture without increasing the demand for new construction.

Another trend that noticeably affects the state’s real estate market is the higher demand for high-end property, valued at over 1 million and increased demand for condos, as compared to single-family homes – in other words, demand is increasing for smaller property on the one hand and for luxury property on the other, while the interest for average-sized single-family homes has not changed that rapidly or that significantly. The trend is likely to continue in the following months, too.

Return to a State of Balance

Though some experts say that the changes that affect the Colorado real estate market are alarming, others say that the process will actually bring about more predictability and will lead to the development to a stable, predictable market, without the surprising or shocking ups and downs of the last decade. Unfortunately, foreclosures will continue to affect the local real estate landscape for the coming years, too, especially in large urban areas, such as the Denver metropolitan area.

Timeshare contracts might look attractive at first glance – the properties are usually located in a beautiful spot, with direct access to the sea or with spectacular views and the sums to be paid monthly for the upkeep and maintenance of the property don’t seem that high either. However, purchasing a timeshare also comes with negative sides that you must know about and that you need to weigh very carefully to be able to make an informed decision about whether or not the purchase makes sense for you. If you are trying to find a detailed answer to the question “what are the disadvantages of timeshares?”, here is some input for you.

Timeshares Are Not That Cheap

Whether your seller told you otherwise or not, the vacations spent on timeshare properties are usually more expensive that the vacations spent in locations visited one time or in resorts that you return to, but only if you want to. The maintenance fees that come with timeshare ownership are usually low in the beginning, but most sellers retain the right to increase maintenance fees without the consent of the owner and without even having to notify the owner in advance, so they can freely increase fees to whatever amount they want, and leave you asking how to get rid of a timeshare legally?

Financing Difficulties

If you are planning to finance your timeshare from a bank loan or a mortgage, things get even more complicated. Most financial institutions are reluctant to provide loans for properties that the loan applicant uses only foe a couple weeks a year, especially if you have only a right-of-use, not even a deeded contract.

Cancelling Difficulties

Timeshare developers are usually required to include a grace period into their contract – a period during which the buyers can change their minds and the seller must take the property back. If you decide that you want to get rid of your timeshare after the grace period has expired and the contract cannot be attacked, all you can do to get out is to try and sell the timeshare.

Selling Difficulties

Timeshares are notoriously difficult to sell. You can try to contact your initial seller and offer them the property for a buy-back or you can start advertising the property on real estate listings, on auction sites and on other type of media, but be prepared that supply currently is much higher than demand, so it might take a while to find the right buyer.

A Trip into the Unknown

Wherever your timeshare property is located, chances are that you have no or limited knowledge of the area where you promise to spend your vacations from the moment of signing on the dotted line. The property might look great, indeed, but your time slot may be in the middle of the rainy season there or maybe the crime rates in the area are very high.

The other problem is boredom. Even if the property, the area surrounding it and the timing are all good, chances are that after a few years you will want to start exploring other, new areas, but your timeshare is tying you to the same place.

Putting together a sufficiently detailed and objective commercial appraisal report, a document that provides all the information requested by the client and that meets all the formal and content-related requirements takes lots of skills and knowledge and it is often a tedious and time-consuming process. Appraisal reports can serve many different purposes – the document can be for a prospective seller, looking for a document that helps determine the best selling price, it may serve the purposes of mortgage lending, whether it is used to support negotiations, business dissolutions, tax assessments, corporate mergers or it may be commissioned for a property acquisition project launched by the government or for the assessment of damages caused by extreme weather or contamination, but whatever the purpose, the commercial appraisal report is an essential document the accuracy of which cannot be questionable.

The more complex the document, the more difficult it is to prepare, but fortunately for today’s appraisers, there are lots of software solutions that can help them stay on top of all the details and descriptions to be included in the report. With the help of commercial appraisal report writing software packages, appraisers can easily prepare documents that are properly detailed, well-structured and edited to look attractive and easy to read – here are a few of the most important features of these modern software solutions.

Simple to Use

The best report writing programs are intuitive and they come with a very short learning curve that is made even shorter by the easy to understand instruction manuals.

Configurable

Most commercial property appraisers have already developed their own report format, the format that they want to keep using. The best report writing programs come with lots of customizable options that allow the users to stick to their preferred format. The programs also provide the consistency expected of professional appraisal reports, allowing the user to do more work of the highest quality in a much shorter amount of time.

Complex Solutions for Any Type of Report

Whether the report to be prepared is a full report, complete with descriptions, analysis, explanations and data or a restricted-use report requested by the client for the purpose of determining the value of the property, the best report writing software makes the process of compiling the document quick and easy. Most of these tools use a spreadsheet-like input and an output that looks like text written in a word processing program.

Software Types

Report writing software packages are available in web-based and desktop versions to allow the users to choose the most comfortable media for writing their reports. Cloud-based solutions and desktop programs are similar in terms of functionality, the difference between them consisting mainly in the type of storage used for the documents – an online storage space accessible from any device and from anywhere in the case of the web-based programs and the user’s own device in the case of desktop programs. Both type of products are offered in demo versions, so you can try out several programs before you pick the one that works best for you and pay for it.

We haven’t quite started, but our first post will be coming soon. Check back with us.