All Forum Posts by: Erin Spradlin

@Chris Lopez - Thanks for starting this thread.

I had this post elsewhere, but think it's useful to add here for where to look for mortgage relief, tenant laws, tax changes, the federal bills being passed for relief and then localized stuff (how we look 5 days out, and also how Redfin is thinking about this and how Seattle may be a good place to look. We think it is important to look at Denver real estate  in 5 day increments since corona virus became real (I'm saying March 12th, which is when the NCAA canceled the tournament.)

GETTING HELP NOW

NYTimes - Money Matters

• Unemployment - law expires 12/31
  • States can access when they have 10% rise in unemployment
  • Unemployment is typically 45% of lost income
  • Most states pay 26 weeks
  • Don’t have to lose your job, can get it if: you are quarantined, furloughed
  • Getting unemployment
    • Have to have been at job for 30+ days
    • Eligible for 2 weeks paid if ill or quarantined or caring for sick family member
    • Part time workers can get average of normal 2 week salary
    • Self-employed (gig workers, etc) must calculate daily average and claim as tax credit
  • Who is exempt:
    • People that work at companies that employ 500+ people
    • Companies with fewer than 50 people can ask for an exemption
      
      
• Evictions + Foreclosures
  • Moratorium right now on both
  • Suspended for 60 days
    • This includes foreclosures that are in process
• Taxes
  • Can hold off on paying (without penalty) until July 15th if:
    • You owe less than $1 million to the federal government
  • If you are getting a refund, it will come in a normal time frame
• Mortgages
  • Find out who owns your mortgage + what programs are available
  • Request Assistance (Fannie Mae)
    
    
• Small Business Relief
  • SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans
  • Small business loans up to $2mil
  • 3.75% int rate for businesses | 2.75% for nonprofits
    
    
• Denver Small Business Relief

DENVER RE TRENDS - please note you should watch Seattle, as what happens there will likely come to Denver and Colorado Springs

• Pulled data for detached/attached homes within 6 miles of a client property in Sloans Lake
  • $350-$500K
    • More properties went under contract in past 5 days than in two other 5 day increments we recorded (11-15, and 16-20 days out)
      • 35 of those were on the MLS for 6 or fewer days
  • $500-$700K
    • Similar to above, 5 days out is beating number of houses that went under contract 11-15 days out and almost the same as 16-20 days out
      • Citywide: 2.4 homes were falling out of contract/day in March. 5.8 for Feb. 2.7 for Jan.
  • $800-$1.2M
    • down from 5 day increments before, but not significantly and a small data set

@Aaron T. - sorry to hear that. What is the  EO20-22? I have not heard of that. I do think the NYTimes has done a great job of providing information about how to access funds, etc. Jared Polis, Michael Hancock and John Suthers websites should also have more local resources for accessing help.

GETTING HELP NOW

NYTimes - Money Matters

• Unemployment - law expires 12/31
  • States can access when they have 10% rise in unemployment
  • Unemployment is typically 45% of lost income
  • Most states pay 26 weeks
  • Don’t have to lose your job, can get it if: you are quarantined, furloughed
  • Getting unemployment
    • Have to have been at job for 30+ days
    • Eligible for 2 weeks paid if ill or quarantined or caring for sick family member
    • Part time workers can get average of normal 2 week salary
    • Self-employed (gig workers, etc) must calculate daily average and claim as tax credit
  • Who is exempt:
    • People that work at companies that employ 500+ people
    • Companies with fewer than 50 people can ask for an exemption
      
      
• Evictions + Foreclosures
  • Moratorium right now on both
  • Suspended for 60 days
    • This includes foreclosures that are in process
• Taxes
  • Can hold off on paying (without penalty) until July 15th if:
    • You owe less than $1 million to the federal government
  • If you are getting a refund, it will come in a normal time frame
• Mortgages
  • Find out who owns your mortgage + what programs are available
  • Request Assistance (Fannie Mae)
    
    
• Small Business Relief
  • SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans
  • Small business loans up to $2mil
  • 3.75% int rate for businesses | 2.75% for nonprofits
    
    
• Denver Small Business Relief

DENVER RE TRENDS - please note you should watch Seattle, as what happens there will likely come to Denver and Colorado Springs

• Pulled data for detached/attached homes within 6 miles of a client property in Sloans Lake
  • $350-$500K
    • More properties went under contract in past 5 days than in two other 5 day increments we recorded (11-15, and 16-20 days out)
      • 35 of those were on the MLS for 6 or fewer days
  • $500-$700K
    • Similar to above, 5 days out is beating number of houses that went under contract 11-15 days out and almost the same as 16-20 days out
      • Citywide: 2.4 homes were falling out of contract/day in March. 5.8 for Feb. 2.7 for Jan.
  • $800-$1.2M
    • down from 5 day increments before, but not significantly and a small data set

Because we are experiencing an unprecedented event, this will be a discussion rather than a presentation since there is no expert on this subject. We welcome all voices, opinions and experience levels. Some of the topics that we will explore:

• trends this week as compared to the past five weeks: houses moved to pending status, houses listed
• interest rates and what that means
• how the 2007/8 crisis looked locally
• anxieties and personal impact of the crisis
• entertaining yourself through cabin fever
• best practices for how to be a good neighbor

@Ken Hart, here are some interesting, recent articles about Colorado Springs' growth, appeal to millennials and rising tech scene. All of these factors make it an attractive long-term play. 

A booming job market and cheaper housing are luring millennials to Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs named a tech up and coming talent market

@April Dagonese - excited to have connected with you. I look forward to talking and hope we see you at Denver Women Invest soon. 

@Tyler Howell @Theo Farver - Thank you for the shout out, Tyler! 

And, agreed the team around you is a very important part of the process. Interestingly, I just polled the ladies of Denver Women Invest for good CPAs and lawyers that focus on real estate. I can report not a lot of people are happy with their CPAs, but we did get a few good references from there and I personally picked my CPA from the list. If and when you need them, Theo, happy to share. Just DM me. 

@Tanya Springer - Thanks for the shout out! And I'm really glad you joined Denver Women Invest. I look forward to meeting you hopefully at future meetings. 

@Theo Farver You are off to a good start. Quite a few of the investors I've spoken to recently spent a good amount of time (half a year to a year), going to every single real estate meetup they could find, and Denver has a lot of real estate meetups. There is the John Fischer club, Bigger Pockets Bad *** investors, @Jennifer Ward's long-distance investing group, etc. I would advise though to make a plan and stick to a timeline. I advise doing this for two reasons: 1.) Denver (and Denver metro) is expensive and seemingly getting more expensive by the minute; and 2.) it can be easy for first-time investors to get stuck in analysis paralysis and put off actual investing. Better to have a plan and avoid that. 

@Kacee Bui - Have you considered Pueblo? It remains cheaper than Colorado Springs, but as we see growth up and down the front range, it stands that Pueblo may also benefit. I know a lot of investors like Pueblo as well. If you have the flexibility, it may be an area worth checking out.