Denver is doing great!

Hello Denverites!

Our 80218 corridor seems to grow larger, by the day. I believe that this is because of the transient and interconnected nature of a city.

In doing my rounds of talking and schmoozing, I have come across a few very encouraging things, for once. Your mass media is feeding quite a bit of 'scary' information about hellfire and doom of the American experience. The truth is that the United States isn't all gloomy.

In talking with a lender today, he said that he is actually seeing some more relaxed restrictions on conventional loans. This means that over the last year, conventional loans have been harder to get, namely Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans. Supposedly, the requirements have been very difficult, more specifically, in the realm of down payments. The most recent word on the street is that the key to getting into a home is to go through the government FHA or CHFA homeowner programs.

Back to the original idea of this post. What makes up this city of new urbanism? What kinds of things are encouraging and bringing people to Denver? As mentioned two days ago, we are noticing a great influx of activity in Denver. In working in another capacity downtown (being a pedicab driver downtown) on Tuesday night, there were people everywhere! There was a filmshoot being done right in the middle of the 16th Street Mall! This is a sign of vibrancy to me!

What else contributes to vibrant, urban living? Is it geography? Is it multiple places for things like mixed use development? One must keep in mind that there is quite a bit of change going on in Denver, but it isn't all new construction! Updating older, gentrified buildings is one indicator. I also believe that urban living is not only urban (downtown areas, mixed use, commercial real estate), but residential areas nearby an urban center. Neighborhoods are the sensory receptors of our urban areas.

A mortgage broker told me once: if you are looking at buying a home, it should be on a block where there are things like dumpsters in the street, for remodels. Look for quality of homeownership- flowers, landscaping. As I said- buy right. As a real estate professional, you have to look at the opportunity, not the current condition. Opportunity must be seized!

On the cool website section of the day, is the music festival everyone loves to talk about: The Mile High Music Festival. I am not a huge fan of these gatherings, but they are indicators of larger name musical acts coming to Denver for a 2 day event, which includes big name acts like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Dave Matthews Band, and John Mayer.

The medium name acts are what I am more interested in, but when it comes to bringing revenue and people to Denver, to experience Denver, I am a huge proponent. The festival is located at Dick's Sporting Goods park, near the new Colorado Rapids soccer stadium. It is also touting its environmental impact. Seeing how it is 30 days before the Democratic National Convention, it will no doubt be a primer for people to exercise their rights and become all fired up for the convention.