DENVER — Buying a home in Denver can feel like more of a dream than reality. However, while the rest of the city is celebrating the Fourth of July, it can be one of the best time for buyers to find a home.
Real estate professionals in the Denver metro area said holiday weekends are normally one of the slowest times in the housing market.
“If you're a serious buyer, and there's inventory out there, this could be one of the best times to sneak in and scoop up a home. You're not going to have a lot of competition," said Bret Weinstein, the CEO and founder of Guide Real Estate. “People don't stop showing their homes for the most part. All those homes are still available. So, it's actually a really exciting time for people to be able to jump in and try and take advantage of the market.”
Weinstein said the hardest part about discussing the housing market is a delay in the reports, which mean the numbers each month are a little bit behind.
"What happens is the home closes, and let's say it closes in April. We don't actually report on that until June or July, depending on the closing date. So, we feel like it's real time, but in reality, it's delayed," Weinstein said. “These last couple of months, in particular, the market has really started to slow down. Our reports that are coming out aren't showing that yet.”
Interest rates have increased, while buyer demand has decreased, according to Weinstein. He believes inventory will rise, but the question is by how much.
Some of Weinstein's clients are Sam and Rebecca Sunshine-DeWitt. They moved into their new home just days ago, after putting in an offer over Memorial Day Weekend.
“This is the third house that we've bought over the past six years. And on the first two, in both cases, we had to make multiple offers before ours was finally accepted. We were being outbid by hundreds of thousands of dollars, and all cash offers, the whole thing," Rebecca said. “But in this case, we were able to just make one offer and it was accepted, which was a very different experience.”
When buying their first two houses, the Sunsine-DeWitts felt as if they were competing with the entire city. They said the biggest difference they noticed was that houses seem to be staying on the market longer.
“The best advice would be to find a realtor that you trust, because this is a person who you are putting a lot of hopes and dreams into and you're relying on them to be your negotiator," said Rebecca. “There's all sorts of emotions going into every single house that you purchase, and you just have to be able to manage that.”