RE/MAX Alliance Agent Greg Smith Shares His Thoughts on the Boulder Real Estate Market!

RE/MAX Alliance agent Greg Smith answers questions regarding the current real estate market and what’s happening specifically in the Boulder area. Greg has been in real estate with RE/MAX Alliance for over 12 years. He has been a Boulder resident for the past 24 years. Greg currently serves as a member of the BARA Governmental Affairs Committee.  He has been awarded the RE/MAX Lifetime Achievement Award and Hall of Fame Award.

What are today’s consumers most concerned with when it comes to buying and selling real estate? According to the recent National Association of Realtors (NAR) study, the most important reason buyers buy a home is home ownership. As a result buyers tend to look at the whole picture; neighborhood, location to conveniences, quality of schools, lifestyle and proximity to work.

What are some positive signs in the Boulder real estate market? Real Estate is based on jobs and supply and demand. The Boulder job market has been fairly resilient during the economic downturn and is showing strong opportunities for growth in the years ahead. The expansion of local companies and the large amount of entrepreneurial companies in both the Alternative Energy Space and Natural Products industries, in addition to the already strong employers such as the University, National Labs, Covidien, IBM, Amgen, Microsoft, Google, Oracle, etc., is a great testament to growth. The Boulder Real Estate market has limited new construction, so a very restricted supply which bodes well for future values.

What are the current market trends in Boulder? The lower end market in Boulder has been strong.  Homes that are priced right are selling in 30 to 45 days with the possibility of multiple offers.  The middle market $500,000 to $750,000 needs to be priced right, show well and if there are any material issues they will need to adjust accordingly to sell.  The upper end has showed some recent strengthening, but is still a buyer’s market, with most recent sales being at tremendous values.

Where are Boulder homebuyers coming from? We are seeing a combination of out-of-state, in state move-up buyers and empty nesters. There has been an uptick in relocation buyers, particularly lifestyle buyers who can live anywhere in the country and are choosing Boulder as the place to hang their hat.

Why is now a great time to buy a home? We are at a unique crossroads in the home buying world where there is a fairly good inventory and interest rates are at an all time low.  In many instances, with current rates and a buyer’s ability to negotiate, today’s buyer is saving more money than just a few months ago when the Tax Credits were in place.

What do you think is a realistic outcome for 2011? We will continue to see flat to moderate growth in 2011. I don’t expect to see a strong growth until 2012.

“Real Estate is local, but is influenced on a national basis,” Smith said. “The Boulder market will truly recover when we see an increase in home liquidity across the country.”

RE/MAX Alliance Garners Top Sales Volume Award in Nation from RE/MAX International

DENVER – RE/MAX Alliance, the third largest RE/MAX franchise in the world and the largest independently-owned real estate company in Colorado, has been recognized as the top RE/MAX franchise in the nation for total sales volume in 2009 for the second year. The award was presented during the annual RE/MAX International convention held February 27 through March 3 in Orlando, Florida.

RE/MAX Alliance recorded total sales volume of $2,610,968,768 representing a total of 10,827 real estate transactions last year.  Average sales price per home was $241,153, with RE/MAX Alliance agents averaging 12.61 closed transaction sides each.

“This stellar performance is particularly impressive when considering the challenging real estate market that our agents were faced with last year,” said Chad Ochsner, Broker/Co-owner of RE/MAX Alliance.  “To record more than $2.6 billion in total sales volume is a testament to the dedication, knowledge and perseverance of our experienced real estate professionals, our management team, support staff, and our loyal clients.  The prestigious award clearly shows that RE/MAX Alliance broker associates can get the job done regardless of market conditions.  Congratulations to everyone.”

RE/MAX Alliance is the third largest RE/MAX franchise in the world and the largest independently-owned real estate company in Colorado, and the number one RE/MAX office network in the United States.  RE/MAX Alliance boasts more than 900 full-time sales associates and staff averaging 15-plus years of experience each and 23 strategically located offices throughout metro Denver and in Northern Colorado.  RE/MAX Alliance is a proud participant in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure and committed to the Children’s Miracle Network benefiting The Children’s Hospital.

For more information on specific offices, sales associates, or career opportunities, contact Kim Hawkins, at 303-850-1831 or via email at kimhawkins@remax.net.  Additional information is available online at www.HomesInColorado.com.

RE/MAX Alliance to Provide Agents with AgentMetrics® Marketing Toolkit at No Cost

DENVER – RE/MAX Alliance has announced that it will provide all of its Colorado real estate professionals with AgentMetrics® at no cost.  The powerful, easy-to-use tool enables agents to create effective marketing materials, from a market share to market dynamics and trends, plus an innovative statistical price analysis perspective.

AgentMetrics is an intuitive, highly visual interface that makes these concepts easy to grasp and comprehend by agents.  With AgentMetrics, agents complete and process their business more efficiently, winning more listings and increasing their revenue stream over time.  The AgentMetrics tool set includes Pricing Analysis, Market Dynamics & Trends, and Market Share Graphs & Charts.  Print, email and export functions are available for all charts and tables.

AgentMetrics quickly and easily increases a real estate professionals’ understanding of the market and provides the ability to share that knowledge with clients.  Agents using the tool can easily show clients RE/MAX Alliance’s strength in the market, their knowledge of market trends, and the agent’s ability to expertly price their client’s home.

“Once again we are taking the lead in providing our agents with the latest, most effective marketing tools in the business,” said Chad Ochsner, Broker/Co-owner of RE/MAX Alliance.  “Whenever we feel strongly about a product that will advance our agent’s careers, we take the steps necessary to provide that product or program to our broker associates, and AgentMetrics is now available to our agents at no cost.  This is just another reason why RE/MAX Alliance continues to attract the most professional, dedicated associates in the real estate business.”

RE/MAX Alliance is the third largest RE/MAX franchise in the world and the largest independently-owned real estate company in Colorado, and the number one RE/MAX office network in the United States.  RE/MAX Alliance boasts more than 900 full-time sales associates and staff averaging 15-plus years of experience each and 23 strategically located offices throughout metro Denver and in Northern Colorado.  RE/MAX Alliance is a proud participant in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure and committed to the Children’s Miracle Network benefiting The Children’s Hospital.

For more information on specific offices, sales associates, or career opportunities, contact Kim Hawkins, at 303-850-1831 or via email at kimhawkins@remax.net.  Additional information is available online at www.HomesInColorado.com.

RE/MAX Alliance Provides Agents with Online Video Seminar Training from David Knox Productions

DENVER – RE/MAX Alliance, one of the nation’s most technologically progressive real estate companies, is providing its agents with Real Estate Training by David Knox, an online video delivery network that offers real estate professionals more than 100 video seminar segments.  The online video seminars address a wide variety of topics designed to advance the careers of Realtors, including growing your business, securing listings, marketing, and much more.

All of the collateral material for any online session is available to RE/MAX Alliance agents to view and download.  This remarkable educational tool is beneficial for newly licensed agents and associates of every experience level who wish to advance their careers through continuous education.  The online training is designed to grow an agent’s business under any market condition, and it is now available to our RE/MAX Alliance broker associates at no cost!

David Knox started selling residential real estate in 1972.  In 1979, he was accepted into the cadre of CRS instructors for the Realtors National Marketing Institute.  Knox was later promoted to national training director by a national real estate company.  Today, David Knox has built an international reputation as a top sales trainer and keynote speaker in the real estate industry.

“We have always been focused on continuing education and advanced training for our sales associates,” said Chad Ochsner, broker/co-owner of RE/MAX Alliance.  “In today’s high tech world, it’s important that we utilize the Internet and online training to its fullest, and David Knox Productions is among the best in the world.  The online video seminars cover nearly every conceivable segment of real estate from mentoring and motivation, to market dynamics and negotiation.  There are even ‘reality TV’ segments of actual situations filmed live on location.  This is a tremendous asset to RE/MAX Alliance and our leading real estate professionals.”

For more information, visit www.RealEstateTrainingbyDavidKnox.com and www.davidknox.com.

RE/MAX Alliance is the third largest RE/MAX franchise in the world and the largest independently-owned real estate company in Colorado, and the number one RE/MAX office network in the United States.  RE/MAX Alliance boasts more than 900 full-time sales associates and staff averaging 15-plus years of experience each and 23 strategically located offices throughout metro Denver and in Northern Colorado.

RE/MAX Alliance is a proud participant in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure and committed to the Children’s Miracle Network benefiting The Children’s Hospital.

For more information on specific offices, sales associates, or career opportunities, contact Kim Hawkins, at 303-850-1831 or via email at kimhawkins@remax.net.  Additional information is available online at www.HomesInColorado.com.