Englewood generally has older and smaller homes. The average size home is about 1100 square feet and was built in the post war-era of 1947-1965. Since its beginning, Englewood has always maintained a strict focus on transportation, health and the arts. Englewood is one of Denver’s main transportation hubs. Englewood Station is a national model for mix-use transit as it is the center for both the RTD bus system and Denver’s mass-transit Light Rail system. Englewood has also managed attract a large array of health care providers. Among the many is Craig Hospital, one of the top ten hospitals for rehabilitation in the country, and Swedish Medical Center, which was recently awarded the title of Level One Trauma. The arts are an important part of daily life to the city of Englewood. Throughout the city you’ll find beautiful donations of artwork and architecture which represent the vibrancy and colorful history of this city. The Gothic Theater, one of Englewood’s historic theaters has just been remodeled and hosts a variety of concerts and theatrical productions.

Most of Englewood is served by Englewood School District; however, there are some specific areas that are designated for Cherry Creek, Littleton or Sheridan districts. Currently, almost 75% of students who graduate from this school district are college bound. The school district is quite large, which provides many resources to fit individual children’s needs. With an eclectic mix of residents and things to do, Englewood is an ideal place for families looking for a vibrant community setting.

Mistake #1
The number one mistake first-time home buyers make is that they have no idea how much house they can afford. Before buying you’ll want to track all your monthly expenses (rent included) for about 3 to 4 months. ALL expenses: your morning coffee run, late-night pizza delivery, entertainment – everything! After all expenses are averaged, subtract that amount from your net salary. Whatever’s left gives a ballpark figure of the monthly house payment you can comfortably make.

Mistake #2
The number two mistake first-time buyers make is that they don't interview multiple lenders. Many first-time home buyers end up using a realtor-selected lender, and while there’s not anything exactly wrong with that, you’ll be better served by shopping around for the lender who offers the most options.

Mistake #3
Not doing any research on your own. First-time home buyers can do a lot of research on their own by visiting open houses and touring new home communities as well as reading the newspaper and real estate magazines to find out housing prices in the areas you’re interested in. By the time you call a realtor, you’ll already have a general idea of the neighborhoods you want to buy in.

Mistake #4
Upgrading on new construction homes. When buying a home under construction, take stock of the features you need and those you just want. Pre-purchasing upgrades is an expensive way to buy a dining room chandelier or upgraded light fixtures, landscaping or more expensive carpeting. Much of the work and additional features can be purchased at local home improvement stores and can be done yourself.

Mistake #5
Purchasing the most expensive home you can possibly afford. First time home buyers so often look for the biggest, most expensive home they can afford a mortgage for. The problem with this home buying method is that little or no disposable income is left to purchase furniture and accessories for the house. A great big house is nice, but it will look pretty silly with no furniture or curtains.

Founded in 1919 and located directly south of the city, “Englewood” actually means “wooded nook” and refers to the city’s abundance of trees and nature areas. Although Englewood is home to the most jobs and businesses per square mile than any other city in the Rocky Mountain region, this city is very proud of their 124 acres of park land pervading throughout the community.

Englewood generally has older and smaller homes. The average size home is about 1100 square feet and was built in the post war-era of 1947-1965. Since its beginning, Englewood has always maintained a strict focus on transportation, health and the arts. Englewood is one of Denver’s main transportation hubs. Englewood Station is a national model for mix-use transit as it is the center for both the RTD bus system and Denver’s mass-transit Light Rail system. Englewood has also managed attract a large array of health care providers. Among the many is Craig Hospital, one of the top ten hospitals for rehabilitation in the country, and Swedish Medical Center, which was recently awarded the title of Level One Trauma. The arts are an important part of daily life to the city of Englewood. Throughout the city you’ll find beautiful donations of artwork and architecture which represent the vibrancy and colorful history of this city. The Gothic Theater, one of Englewood’s historic theaters has just been remodeled and hosts a variety of concerts and theatrical productions.

Most of Englewood is served by Englewood School District; however, there are some specific areas that are designated for Cherry Creek, Littleton or Sheridan districts. Currently, almost 75% of students who graduate from this school district are college bound. The school district is quite large, which provides many resources to fit individual children’s needs. With an eclectic mix of residents and things to do, Englewood is an ideal place for families looking for a vibrant community setting.

Rising on a slight hill east of the city center, Uptown has great views of downtown and the Rocky Mountains. Along its tree-lined boulevards, Victorian and Queen Anne homes mix with new high-rise and loft apartments in Denver's oldest downtown residential neighborhood.

Restaurant Row stretches east from Broadway along 17th Avenue, to the great green expanse of City Park. Here you'll find everything from simple cafes to fine dining, along with popular bars, nightclubs and small theaters.

The heart of Uptown is City Park ? Denver's largest urban oasis ? where flip-flop-wearing locals come out to play, armed with everything from Frisbees and fly-fishing rods to rackets and picnic baskets. A 330-acre recreational heaven, City Park is home to rows of tennis courts, community-built playgrounds, shooting fountains, the Denver Zoo, and several small lakes for paddle boating and fishing.

One of the most popular attractions in the neighborhood is City Park Jazz – a treasure in Denver’s cultural life. City Park Jazz produces 10 free jazz concerts each summer that have a broad appeal with diverse, urban fans.

The City Park Jazz Summer Concert Series draws on an historic tradition that began more than 130 years ago. Photographs of City Park from the turn of last century offer scenes of ladies in fine hats and gentlemen in their Sunday best. The current series began as a just a handful of jazz concerts in 1986. Each year since, thousands of fans of all ages, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds (over 80,000 guests in 2011) descend upon the bandstand to enjoy the special combination of music, nature and community.

The nearby cafe- and boutique-lined streets are abuzz too as this side of town morphs into one of Denver's hippest neighborhoods, with lively new restaurants, chic shops, and a cheery, progressive vibe. All of which makes Uptown is a great urban playground for a summer fun.

This March the number of previously owned homes placed under contract rose by 49.2 percent compared with March 2011, while they jumped 28.4 percent from February. According to recent reports closings were up 39.3 percent from March and 8.3 percent from 2011.  Single-family home prices rose by 5 percent from February, with an average price of $284,035 in March, were up 5 percent and 4 percent on a month-to-month and year-over-year basis, respectively.

While the inventory of unsold homes in the Denver area is still extremely low (with only 10,325 unsold homes on the market), levels have risen by 2.4 percent from February.

This month we saw:
 

• Buyers placed 5,328 homes under contract in March, compared with 4,150 in February and 3,571 in March 2011.
• Since January 1 12,964 homes have been placed under contract, compared with 10,411 in the first quarter of last year.
• There were 3,475 home closings last month, compared with 2,495 in February and 3,209 in March 2011.
• In Q1 there were 8,440 closings, compared with 7,954 during the same period last year.

Home prices also are up. The average price of a single-family home in March was $284,035, 4 percent higher than the average price of $273,877 in March 2011 and 5 percent higher than the $270,821 in February. The median price of a home closed in March was $232,500, up 3 percent from the $224,900 in March 2011 and 6 percent from $220,000 in February.

Beyond antiques, South Broadway (SoBo as it is sometimes called) is lined with a fun mixture of neighborhood taverns, avant-garde clothing stores, art galleries, used bookstores, sporting goods emporiums, ethnic restaurants, music clubs, pizza parlors, live music venues, and everything else one would expect to find in the Mile High City.

Residents know that the area has a vibrant late-night scene, with clubs featuring salsa, swing, techno and indie rock sprinkled throughout. The SoBo area is a bargain-hunter’s dream, from used books to discount shoes and also hosts a variety of restaurants, cafes and other dining options.

The South Broadway Mile, located in downtown Englewood between Yale and Hampden Avenues is a destination known for its unique, iconic businesses located along one mile of retail, restaurant and entertainment. From the Bonnie Brae Hobby Shop to Orr’s Trading Company to Acoustic Musical Revival, these businesses have been serving generations of customers in the Denver-metro area. Dining, live music, apparel, art and neighborhood amenities are among the offerings guests will experience on the South Broadway Mile.

Today the South Broadway Mile is seeing a new immergence not only as the location for some of the Denver area’s best specialty shops and entertainment–but also as a regional destination for new independently owned retail and dining businesses.

The South Broadway Mile has more than 125 unique stores, restaurants and services and is a great to eat, shop and have fun. 

Thinking outside the box for your next home remodel

Every year, we see lists of conventional home improvements that will give you the best and worst return on investment (ROI). Things like remodeling a bathroom or replacing your siding will get high marks, while adding a pool often turns out to be a big no-no. Conventional remodels certainly have their value, but sometimes thinking outside the box can render some excellent results – namely increasing the livability of your home.

You invest in your home to improve livability first, not value. If you get more value in the process, consider it a bonus, but don't make ROI your prime directive.

Walk-in pantry instead of kitchen cabinets
Kitchen cabinets are expensive. Half of them are up high on the wall where they're hard to reach, and the wall space they take up could be better used for windows. A pantry takes up less space, stores a lot more, is much easier to use, and costs less to build.

Comfortable shower instead of a big bathtub
Not the racquetball-court sized showers you see in home shows, but comfortable ones people use every day.  A shower takes up less space, uses less hot water, and is far more sanitary than a big tub.

Group windows together facing best views instead of scattering them around the house
Got a great view somewhere? Bring it into the house with lots of glass. Take excess windows from bedrooms and baths and use them to connect the inside of the house with the outside.

Keep ceiling heights reasonable for the room size
"Volume" ceilings do not automatically make better rooms. They just make taller rooms. Rooms that are harder to decorate and more expensive to heat and cool. Instead, focus attention on a view, a large fireplace, or other element and away from the ceiling height.

Spend more time planning, and less money building
Think about livability. Significant rooms don’t have to be giant. Remember you have to furnish that giant room too – so it’s best to create a comfortable room you can affordably furnish and actually make use of.

Spend it when you have it, not before
Of course it would be great to have those granite countertops now, but your budget is tight and granite is ten times the cost of laminate tops. Maybe put in nice laminate tops now, and replace them with granite in five years when you have the cash? Same goes for light fixtures, flooring, and window treatments.

Located on Tennyson Street, between 38th and 44th Avenues, Berkeley is quickly gaining the reputation of a highly-desirable neighborhood.  From 38^th, you can’t truly anticipate the awesomeness hidden inside the neighborhoods' confines. What you will find, however, is surprising fortitude and quaint storefronts (though maybe a little less polished than their near-perfect counterparts on Old South Pearl and Old South Gaylord).

Since Elitch Gardens Amusement Park closed its gates and relocated downtown, some feared that the neighborhood would disintegrate with it, but with that came a lesson – do not underestimate Berkeley Park. Locally owned restaurants, boutiques and spas, and several art galleries on both hands, have continued to thrive in their "off-the-beaten-path" location (though it’s just five miles from downtown Denver). Part of the neighborhood's popularity is due to the Tennyson Street Cultural Association, which hosts a First Friday Art Walk much like the better-known Santa Fe Drive walk, and to the Oriental Theater, a music/comedy/movie venue.

For residents of the area, the revitalized storefronts and art community are not the only appeal. The majority of Berkeley Park houses are Denver Squares, which are perfunctory in nature and generally affordable. Local public schools like Centennial Elementary, and of course, the park part of Berkeley Park, are only icing on the tree-lined cake.

One of the larger developments in Berkeley includes the Tennyson 7 –a stunning townhouse community that is fully engineered from the high-efficiency ductwork to the concrete sidewalks. Builders say that prospective buyers will find more value in the Tennyson 7 than they do in Lower Highland, or LoHi.

The units will each have 2 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, attached garages, and energy efficient furnaces and air conditioning systems. The first level of each unit is the garage, the second is the living room and dining area, and the third is a bedroom, and there is a rooftop deck.

Whether you’re in the market for higher-end new construction or more charming, historical single-family homes, the Berkeley neighborhood is certainly one worth exploring.