By Mark Samuelson

If you look at a map showing nothing more than how average home values have slipped over the last market year, you can get the mistaken idea that the nicer a neighborhood is, the shakier the prices are. But savvy Realtors will show you why that math doesn’t work, and why this is a pretty good time to be buying into some of those popular areas, particularly at the lower end.

Laurie and Michael Marcus of Coldwell Banker are showing this 4-bedroom remodeled 2-story, in Cherry Creek Vista east of the Denver Tech Center.

“The DTC area has held value very well,” says Coldwell Banker agent Michael Marcus, who along with wife Laurie Marcus will show you a 4-bedroom home in Cherry Creek Vista that has all of the things buyers like about the Tech Center, including the Cherry Creek Schools (Cottonwood Creek Elementary is a short walk; and so is the neighborhood’s pool and tennis center).
The price is $449,900…well above average selling prices for the 7-county area this spring; but way, way below the prices of very expensive homes dotting the area around Cherry Hills and Greenwood Village, that were selling in big numbers in 2005-06, inflating the averages for their surroundings. Few of the million dollar homes are selling now, chiefly because it’s tough to find financing for them.
But that shouldn’t be in issue at 6033 S. Lima Street, east of Havana off Orchard. ”Places that look good and are priced well are moving now,” Laurie Marcus told me during a look-thru, adding that she’s seen multiple offers on listings in the area this spring.
Helping out with this one is a solid Richmond Homes “Expanded Camden” floor plan with a cathedral-ceiling family room off the kitchen/breakfast area, showing a gas fireplace and three skylights. The seller has given the interior a complete paint job and new carpet.
What they haven’t had to change is the kitchen——it was completely remodeled in stainless, maple and granite a few years ago——or the master suite (always a five piece bath, with privacy lav and shower).
Laurie and Michael will also sing the praises of the neighborhood; they’ve a lived a couple of blocks away for the past 11 years. “We chose it then for the same reason people do now,” Laurie said, noting that friends had warned her then that it was too far out. “Now it’s the center of the world,” she added. “Everything you want is here.”

If you go…