To build or not to build...? (Denver, Monument: sales, real estate, foreclosure)

[Curious in CT]

Being that there are so many homes and spec homes available on the market right now....is it smarter to just buy something existing or to go ahead and build and get all the personal touches in a home. We'll be looking into buying our own home within a year. What is the smarter thing to do money-wise? Need advice.

And on a second note....how strict are some of these homeowner associations? Not all developments have them, do they? Say I want to stain my fence a walnut color (for example)....or I want to paint my door black....or even paint my house a different color in a few years that is not a builder color...is that allowed? Can I plant anything I want in my front yard, or do these housing developments have that much control over just about everything? I need to get a grasp of what we're in for if we decide to be part of an HOA type of neighborhood. I don't want to feel like I'm living in the movie "stepford wives" if you know what I mean....

[Vision67]

Originally Posted by Curious in CT

Being that there are so many homes and spec homes available on the market right now....is it smarter to just buy something existing or to go ahead and build and get all the personal touches in a home. We'll be looking into buying our own home within a year. What is the smarter thing to do money-wise? Need advice.

And on a second note....how strict are some of these homeowner associations? Not all developments have them, do they? Say I want to stain my fence a walnut color (for example)....or I want to paint my door black....or even paint my house a different color in a few years that is not a builder color...is that allowed? Can I plant anything I want in my front yard, or do these housing developments have that much control over just about everything? I need to get a grasp of what we're in for if we decide to be part of an HOA type of neighborhood. I don't want to feel like I'm living in the movie "stepford wives" if you know what I mean....

The newer subdivisions have more strict covenants. You will need to get almost everything approved by a committee. Personally, I enjoy freedom, so I prefer older neighborhoods. But some folks prefer to control their neighbors, so you choose. But make sure you know what you will be getting into.

[Curious in CT]

Amen to freedom!!

[ceadda]

Originally Posted by Vision67

some folks prefer to control their neighbors, so you choose.

I am an avowed covenant hater....blech!

[tfox]

New home sales are way down in Colorado this year, so you may be able to find a reasonably good deal since builders are likely desperate.

I see buying a new home a lot like buying a new car. On the plus side, you're getting the latest and greatest and if you're building from dirt, you have more say in what you get. On the minus side, like a new car, you're probably paying a lot more for the home than an equivalent resale home. Also like a new car, if you try to sell soon you may find that buyers interested in new construction prefer brand new construction to your no-longer-new home, forcing you to sell at a substantial discount to attract buyers. This may or may not be a discount compared to what you paid, but it would need to be a discount compared to what the builders are charging at the time.

[Curious in CT]

tfox... why are new home sales down if people seem to like new construction? And I'm just curious...where are all the people coming from to buy all the new houses going up? Are a lot of people who already live here selling their older homes to get into new ones or are there that many people, like myself, relocating to COS? When is the demand for new developments going to slow down...or has it already? Just "curious"

[tfox]

I'm not an expert on the springs market -- I own an investment property there but live in Denver, so that's the extent of my knowledge. So, someone else (mike from back east, perhaps) might have more insider knowledge.

I would guess that the new house buyers are a combination of (a) trade-up buyers -- looking to sell their homes to trade up to something newer/nicer (b) new relo's like yourself, and (c) a bit of spill over from the south metro Denver market. (The latter is probably more common in Monument area than in the Springs proper).

Why are new home sales down? My guess is that there's too much supply on the market for the buyers (overbuilding) and so people are having a tough time selling their resales to get into those new homes. Also, the last few years saw most everyone who wanted one get into a home, and many of the marginal homebuyers are now LOSING the homes to foreclosure.

Will development slow down? That's the $64,000.00 question. To a certain extent it looks like they already have, but only to a small extent. I'd like to see them slow down because I don't like to see cities chew up open spaces, and of course I'd like to see supply go down to support the value of the real estate I already own in the Springs. On the other hand, the local builders build; that's what they do; and it's either build or go out of business -- they don't have the option to pack up and build somewhere else if times are tough. City and County planners want to see the city grow for the most part, so they don't mind as long as the developers turn out a reasonably attractive product at the end of the day. So, we're likely to see more growth.

In a way, this is all good news for you as a home buyer, so look on the bright side -- you're likely to get a great deal.

[Mike from back east]

Had lunch 1 March 07 with the realtor who sold us our new home the other year. She says much of the backlog of homes that was on the market for so long have cleared out... although they may have been replaced by new listings to keep the inventory of listed properties high, but according to her, things ARE moving again after a slow 2006.

Building activity for new homes is down, but a fair amount of new building continues. The area continues to grow. I see it all around. Many additional soldiers are being moved here this summer from TX and that will sop up any inventory on the south side of town... including rentals... at least I think so, but I'm not a realtor nor an investor.

I do see building permits listed in the Saturday Gazette (new homes section) and I see a bunch of permits each week.