Dan Polimino

Two high-profile brokers at Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty have jumped ship to join Keller Williams Realty DTC, and launch a luxury division for it.

Dan Polimino and Gary Lohrman,  started at Keller Williams Realty DTC today. As part of the move they became owners of Keller Williams Realty DTC , in addition to starting the company’s luxury division.

Gary Lohrman

Polimino is know by many for a column he writes for the Denver Post (on the advertising side, not editorial), while Lohrman is one of the founders of Fuller Towne and Country Propeties, which later was sold to Scott Webber in 2007 and renamed as Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty.

“It is a big change,” Polimino said. “It is certainly is not a decision Gary and I came to lightly. We have nothing but good things to say about Fuller Sotheby’s, its ownership, and the people who work there.”

Polimino, 43, worked there for about 4.5 years, while Lohrman was one of about a dozen brokers who founded the predecessor company in 1999. Their  website is ColoradoDreamHouse.com

“It was even harder for Gary to leave and say goodbye to all of his fellow owners and former partners,” Polimino said.

That is true, said Lohrman, who described himself as a “young 61.”

“I actually started the residential company for (commercial real estate firm) Fuller and Co. in 1994 with John Fahrenkrog, after 16 years with Coldwell Bankers,” Lohrman, 61, said. “So leaving was a tough decision to make. It has sort of been my baby.”

On the other hand, he said he is thrilled to starting something new at Keller Williams.

“It is kind of exiting to be starting something that really doesn’t exist yet,” Lohrman said.

He said he and Polimino visited leaders at Keller Williams in its headquarters in Austin last October, during a convention that brought top Keller Williams brokers from around the country, and he came away impressed not only with the founder, Gary Keller, but how thrilled the agents were to be working for Keller Williams.

“I especially liked the way they treated their agents, which reminded me of the way we treated agents when we started Fuller Towne & Country. It truly is a family.”

Polimino admitted that Keller Williams, in the Denver area, is not considered a leader in the luxury market.

“The interesting piece is that Keller Williams is really known for selling luxury homes in Boston. Keller Williams is really  known for selling luxury homes in Chicago. Keller Williams really excels at selling luxury homes in Austin and in Dallas. Do they have a really big luxury name in Denver? Not so much.”

He said many associate the luxury housing market in the Denver area with Fuller and Kentwood Real Estate.

“But I think a lot of that luxury perception is mostly in the minds of the respective agents. It is not in the minds of the consumer so much, one way or another. As one client told me, “Dan, your track record speaks for itself. I don’t care what color jersey you are wearing.”

He said that he hopes to have at least 10 other brokers join them in the new luxury division by the end of the year. They did not bring any agents with them from Fuller, he said.

Pam Kiker, operating principal of Keller Williams Realty DTC, said her company has a big presence in the overall market, but less so on the luxury side.

“When we started looking at creating a new opportunity on the luxury side, we knew we wanted to have the best in the business,” Kiker said. “We really think Dan and Gary are the best in class. In addition, they are both just really nice human beings. They will fit in well with the Keller Williams culture.”

Independent broker Gary Bauer said landing Polimino and Lohrman is a coup for Keller Williams.

“Every agent has to do what is best for his or her own situation,” Bauer said. “The high-end is what they both are known for and Keller Williams isn’t perceived to be a company that sells a lot of high-end homes, so this will really help them establish a presence in the luxury market.”

He also said that Polimino’s column in the Denver Post has helped increase his visibility and given him credibility. Even though it is not an editorial column, he deals with issues facing the market and consumers, not as a self-promotion vehicle.

“I’m going to continue to write it,” Polimino said. “The only thing that will change is the contact information at the bottom with my new information.”

Contact John Rebchook 

Related Posts:

• Luxury home inventory plunged 35%
• Coors buys Country Club home
• John Fielder’s house hits the market
• Denver lands close to 30% of $1 million-plus home sales
• Pinnacle tops $100 million in sales

This home at 3220 Zuni St. in Highland is priced at just over $1 million. It is listed by Dee Chirafisi of Kentwood City Properties.

Almost one out of every four homes sold and closed in the metro area in 2009 took place in Denver. And almost 30 percent of the homes sold above $1 million were in Denver.

An analysis of Metrolist data by independent broker Gary Bauer shows that 10,010 homes closed in the Denver area last year, accounting for 23.8 percent of the 42,027 home sales in the metro area last year. Arapahoe County was No. 2, with 8,230 single-family homes and condo closings last year.

That may not be too surprising.

“Denver usually seems to get the largest percentage of the buyers, except during the time when Douglas County was really growing like gangbusters,” Bauer said. During much of the 1990s, Douglas County was the fastest growing counties in the U.S. and is still one of the fastest. (Indeed, I remember writing a story at the Rocky Mountain News during the ’90s that Highlands Ranch in Douglas County accounted for one of five out of every new and used-homes sold.)

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper said that given Denver’s size, Denver’s showing last year isn’t startling.

“Denver accounts for 22.2 percent of the metro area’s population,”  Hickenlooper said. “So we are doing a bit above that for home sales, but not much more. Denver is right about where it should be.”

Hickenlooper did say that a Realtor-friend recently mentioned to him that sales activity seems to have picked up recently.

Corey Wadley, a broker and co-owner of Nostalgic Homes in West Highland in northwest Denver, said that a lot of buyers are drawn to certain Denver neighborhoods because they think homes will retain their values more than suburban counterparts.

“In the Highland neighborhood, for example…our prices held stable during this recession,” Wadley said. “I think the biggest factor is homes  being able to hold values. There’s only a finite amount of new stuff in a place like Highland. I think also there is a uniqueness about Denver neighborhoods. You can walk street-by-street and see how the housing stock changed from different eras and from additions, renovations and even some scrape offs.”

Perhaps what was most surprising about Bauer’s report, is that Denver also dominated the $1 million and over price category. The 131 single-family homes and condos that sold and closed last year in Denver accounted for  28 percent of the 471 homes sold in that lofty price range. Arapahoe County, with 95  homes selling at $1 million or more and Douglas County with 67, accounted for 20 percent and 14 percent of that market, despite a number of high-end enclaves.

“That is a bit surprising,” said Chris Mygatt, president of  Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Colorado. In the past, he said, the vast majority of homes in that price range were in Arapahoe County,  because of the concentration of  huge homes in Cherry Hills and Greenwood Village.

“What I think what this is showing is a societal change,” Mygatt said. “It speaks to the idea that people who have a significant amount of money who are down-sizing or right-sizing, who are deciding  they do not need a half acre or an acre of land.  It’s never been more fashionable to be frugal.  Let’s face it:  Someone who is buying a million-dollar home is not spending their last million dollars on it. But they don’t want the expense of watering a giant lawn or keeping it clean, even if they can afford it. ”

He said the move to Denver from the suburbs is a trend he sees continuing. Mygatt said there are “too many 6,000-square-foot homes,” in the suburbs, and they will be increasingly difficult to sell.

“The smart developers are now building a very well-designed, very efficient 3,500-square-foot home instead of  a 6,000-square-foot home,” Mygatt said. “And the new homes are very, very green. ”

“That’s great,” about Denver, said Christina de Barros, of RE/MAX Masters. “It is a little surprising given that Arapahoe County has Cherry Hills and Greenwood Village and Douglas County has Castle Pines Village. ” Cherry Hills, for example, had 46 home sales of more than $1 million last year, while Cherry Creek in Denver, had seven, she said. And Boulder County (although not most of the city of Boulder), had a total of 126 home sales above $1 million, for 27 percent of that market, making it Denver’s closet competitor.

Some well-heeled buyers were picking up screaming, high-end deals last year, said Susan C. Mathews, a broker with Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty.

“There were a lot of foreclosures, or more likely short sales, in places like Hilltop and Crestmoor,” Mathews said. “I saw homes that were originally priced at $2.25 million and up selling for $1.4 million or $1.5 million. And that was good. It helped us get some of this inventory off the market.”

She said high-end deals can still be found, but there are not as many as there were in 2009.

“I think consumer confidence is returning,” Mathews said. “People are not as afraid that prices are going to continue to drop if they buy now. I do think we are past the bottom.”

Wadley said that in northwest Denver, homes priced below $450,000 are selling, but it is tougher to move ones above that range.

“But Jenny (Apel,his wife and co-owner of Nostalgic Homes) did sell a William Lang mansion off Lowell (Boulevard) last year for $950,000,” Wadley said. “And I think that when homes that do sell in places like Cherry Hills for above the $1 million mark, they have been heavily discounted from their original asking price.” In fact, he said he thinks a lot of those ultra-expensive suburban homes are being sold at a loss.

Bauer said that one reason Denver dominates the luxury home market, is that empty nesters, who are  at the age and income level who can afford seven-figure homes, would rather live in an urban area than in a suburban community.

“I think part of it is the aging of the population,” Bauer said. “Many people are still working, and want to be closer to where they are working, which is often downtown.  They are down-sizing and their children are grown. For a large percentage of the population, Denver offers a chance to be close to the sporting facilities, theater, and everything else in downtown and LoDo.”

He pointed to Janet Elway as an example.

“With these $1 million-plus homes, people really want something special,” Bauer said. “Janet Elway went from a giant home in Cherry Hills to a Denver home in Belcaro.”

Source: Gary Bauer

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865.

Related Posts:

• Short Sales Soar
• Best October on record for Denver home sales
• Buyers pay $64 million for luxury homes
• Luxury home inventory plunged 35%
• Bauer tracks ‘Signature’ home sales

Buyers paid more than $33 million last year for 53 units at the Pinnacle.

The Pinnacle at City Park South last year bucked the trend of super-slow condo sales in the Denver area.

In 2009, buyers paid more than $33 million for units in the Pinnacle, arguably making it the best-selling condo project in the Denver area last year. (Peloton in Boulder actually sold more units, according to an analysis by Hanley Wood Market Intelligence. But the Boulder market is not a direct competitor with the Denver market.)

Since 2007, when sales started at the only high-rise condo project along City Park, buyers have paid about $101 million for 174 units for the two-building community in east Denver.

“Honestly, sales were down some in 2009 for us and everyone else,” said Herb Emmeran, of Chicago-based Equity Marketing, which is in charge of sales and marketing for the only high-rise project along City Park.

“But we probably did better than most,” Emmerman added. “In the good years, which started a few years back, sales were very strong. We continued to sell very well last year. ”

In 2008, 56 units sold for $37 million – only two more than in 2009, but for $4 million more. In other words, the average price of all units sold in 2008 was $660,714, while the average unit sold last year was $611,111.

While overall condo sales in the Denver area fell by 9 percent in 2009 from 2008, according to an analysis of Metrolist data by independent broker Gary Bauer, the Pinnacle’s sales activity was even more remarkable given its price points. In the $600,000 to $699,999 price range, condo closings in the overall metro area fell by 44 percent in 2009 from 2008. And for units priced above $2 million, closed sales volume fell by 80 percent. The Pinnacle has one remaining penthouse unit on the market. The asking price? $2.75 million for 4,646 square feet of unfinished space that spans two stories. The buyer might expect to pump another $1 million or so into finishing it.

Emmerman said the most significant difference between 2009 and previous years was the age of the buyer. “When we started, we had more empty nesters. In the early years, we sold a lot of larger homes in the tower and penthouses in the first tower.”

Last year, 35 percent of the sellers were less than 35-years-old and 46 percent of them had been renters. Empty nesters, many who previously hailed from Park Hill and other nearby neighborhoods, had trouble selling their single-family homes last year, he noted.

Meanwhile, first-time home buyers were invigorated by the $8,000 federal tax credit available to them. ”That helped us maintain our sales pace,” Emmerman said. Still, older home buyers were not totally out of the market. “Sixty five percent of our buyers were over the age of 35.” He said the extension of the first-time home buying tax credit, coupled with the new $6,500 tax credit for some existing owners, also should help sales in the Pinnacle during the first half of the year, before they expire.

While many may think that Pinnacle only has high-end units, condos are available starting at just under $300,000, with other units priced to  $1.2 million.

Since “Day 1,” when the project kicked off about four years ago, the average price of a unit sold has been $370 per square foot, he said. “Our current contracts are averaging about $400 per square foot. We’re not the cheapest out there. But we provide views and a location that no one else can offer.”

And while they have cut the asking prices on some units, they have not slashed them, which has been the case at other projects, he said. He said they are still able to make a profit – not as much as they originally hoped, of course – but at the same time they aren’t destroying the value of the people who bought at the Pinnacle when the overall market was much stronger.

“We wanted to maintain the integrity of the project, while still being profitable,” he said. “We might help some buyers now a little bit more with upgrades.”

When the project, developed by Opus Northwest, first kicked off about four years ago on the site of the former Mercy Hospital, Emmerman said they weren’t sure how well it would be accepted.

“But it has never been an issue of being accepting it; everyone immediately loved it,” Emmerman said. “It’s been a great asset to the neighborhood. Everyone loves that you can just shoot up 17th and it is easy to get to downtown. It’s also an easy drive to I-70.

That’s exactly right, said Debbra Fagan, a broker with Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty. Fagan and her business partner, fellow Fuller broker Wendy Handler, have sold a number of units at the Pinnacle.

“Our clients who have moved into the Pinnacle just love it,” Fagan said. “They think it has a Manhattan-type view. It’s like living over Central Park. And you have everything downtown, all of the 17th Avenue restaurants, and all the new developments along Colfax, including the new Tattered Cover, which is just around the corner. And, of course, everyone loves having the park right there.”

She said most of the buyers at the Pinnacle also checked out some condo developments in downtown, as well as in nearby LoHi, because a number of those projects also offer fantastic views. She said few of her buyers at the Pinnacle looked at suburban projects, such as the Landmark. Typically, buyers at the Landmark are moving from big homes in Cherry Hills or Greenwood Village, and want to stay in that area.

But Dee Chirafisi, co-owner of Kentwood City Properties, said some clients have wanted to see everything out there, in the downtown area or along the southeast suburban corridor. In fact, she has found that very few of her buyers at the Pinnacle seriously considered more low-rise buildings in and around downtown.

“It’s a lifestyle change,” Chirafisi explained. “A lot of high-rise buyers want to see all of the high-rises and decide whether they want to be more urban or more suburban.  They want the lock-and-leave lifestyle, and all the amenities, such as the pool and workout rooms. And with light rail, people who buy at places like the Landmark can quickly and easily get downtown.”

That said, she said no one she has put into the Pinnacle has regretted it.

“It’s a great building,” Chirafisi said. “It’s very well constructed and has a developer with a great reputation behind it. People love the location, especially now with all of the great things happening along Colfax. And those views are just unbelievable and one-of-a-kind.”

Hanley Wood Market Intelligence ranked top condo closings last year by a variety of measures, at the request of InsideRealEstateNews.com. It gathered information from developers and public records.

Related Posts:

• Million-dollar homes show life; most sales still below $300,000
• Spring home sales likely to surge
• Best October on record for Denver home sales
• Kentwood City Properties – 13 and going strong
• Kentwood City Properties honored for bike sharing

The report shows that the U.S., overall, saw prices drop by 8.9 percent during that time period. And the 10 and 20 city composites in the report, fell by 8.5 percent and 9.4 percent, respectively.

“Neither Denver nor Dallas saw that meteoric rise in prices other cities did, so it is logical that they would not see the meteoric declines,” said Tom Cryer, a broker with the Kentwood Co.

Overall, the third-quarter report is a marked improvement over the 14.7% decline in the annual rate of return reported in the second quarter of 2009, and the 19.0% drop in the first quarter.

“We have seen broad improvement in home prices for most of the past six months,” says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s. “However, the gains in the most recent month are more modest than during the seasonally strong summer months. Fewer cities saw month to month improvements in September than in August in both seasonally adjusted and unadjusted figures.”
Nationally, the U.S. National Composite rose by 3.1% in both the second and third  quarters of 2009. Both the 10-City and 20-City Composites posted their fifth consecutive monthly increase with September’s report.

Steve Blank, a broker with Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty, said that the 1.2 percent decline in Denver is “freakishly good,” and better than he would have expected.

“I would say that things are pretty well bottoming out now, and if they are not at the bottom, they are close,” he said.

But he said that the market is only down by 1.2 percent because of price improvements at the lower-priced homes, as expensive homes are still hurting.

“There are some phenomenally good deals at the high-end,” Blank said.

However, there is some good news for buyers of luxury properties, he said. Just recently, lenders started making more competitive jumbo loans – that is,  for mortgages of more than the conventional loans that top out at $417,000, he said.

“One lender offers what it calls “doctor loans,” he said.  These loans are fixed for either 10 or 7 years and are amortized over 30 years.

“You can get them at in the 4.375 percent or 4.75 percent range,” Blank said. But you need a credit score of 740 or higher, and typically lenders want at least 20 percent down, he said. Thirty year fixed jumbo loans also are available in the 5.5 percent range, for extremely qualified buyers who put at least 20 percent down, although he said occasionally a lender will allow only a 10 percent down payment.

Diane P. Huttner, a broker with Prestige Real Estate Group, said the top ranking at Case-Shiller is wonderful.

“That is really good news,” she said. “That tells us something about our market.”

But she agrees with Blank and other Realtors that the top-end of the market is still “quite challenging.”

She said that she has noticed a number of expensive homes recently selling in the Hilltop and Cherry Creek areas for less than the mortgage amount, although she said one expensive home in Cherry Creek recently sold for a mere $15,000 below the asking price.

And she said she spoke to a builder about buying some land near the Preserve in Greenwood Village. The builder, who constructs homes priced above $2 million, said even if she gave the land to him, “no one wants to pay me what it would cost to build a home.”

But she said for someone wanting to move up, it may be worth it to sell their home for even a slight loss, because they can drive a great bargain for a luxury home.

Mike Rinner, of the Genesis Group, which tracks housing along the Front Range, also said that the most recent Case-Shiller ranking is good, and continues a trend seen for most of the year.

He said Denver and Dallas each have has seen seven months of consecutive improvements from the previous months this year. But some of that, especially in mid-year, was because of seasonality, he said. Even in overall down years, there are some month-to-month improvements for seasonal reasons, he said. No markets are showing consistent improvements from the same month in 2008, Rinner noted.

While that, with today’s report are encouraging, he said the market still faces more pain.

“I think it is going to stay negative, as far as price appreciation,” Rinner said. “We will be lucky if we hit zero (price appreciation) next year. In the third quarter of this year, foreclosures jumped 54 percent from foreclosures last year.  And with more foreclosures, and fewer jobs, it is just tough to get a housing recovery. Housing demand is a function of employment.”

Still, for those able to buy today and hold on until 2012, will  be rewarded, said Cryer, of Kentwood.

He said 2010 will not be that much different from 2009, and 2011 “will not be super. But in 2012, I guarantee you that you, me, my neighbors and everybody will wish they had bought those short sales and foreclosures in 2009. If you want a “lock it and leave it” lifestyle, and plan to retire in the next few years, now is the time to buy a condo in the Landmark. Look at the confleucen of events we have with low interest rates, a good supply of homes to choose from at the upper end, and depressed prices. It just takes one of those factors to go away to completely change the buying opportunity we have  today.”

Area	Appreciation since 2000	September to October change	1-year change from October
U.S.	46.58	0.4%	-7.3%
Atlanta	10.12%	-1.0%	-8.1%
Boston	54.7%	-0.6%	-2.8%
Charlotte	19.05%	-0.7%	-7.0%
Chicago	30.78%	-1.0%	-10.1%
Cleveland	4.97%	-1.6%	-3.5%
Dallas	19.90%	-0.6%	-0.6%
DENVER	28.91%	-0.4%	-0.1%
Detroit	-26.93%	0.2%	-15.1%
Las Vegas	04.7%	-0.1%	-15.1%
Los Angeles	68.43%	0.3%	-6.3%
Miami	49.09%	0.4%	-14.0%
Minneapolis	24.51%	-0.5%	-8.4%
New York	75.01%	-0.0%	-7.7%
Phoenix	9.26%	0.8%	-21.8%
Portland	49.72%	-0.5%	-11.8%
San Diego	55.37%	0.4%	-2.4%
San Francisco	35.81%	1.3%	-2.6%
Seattle	49.26%	-0.4%	-12.4%
Tampa	40.27%	-1.6%	-15.2%
Washington, D.C.	79.71	-0.4%	-2.8%
Composite-10	58.82%	0.0%	-6.4%
Composite-20	46.58%	0.0%	-7.3%

.

Related Posts:

• Shadow market poised to increase Denver housing supply by 78 percent
• Are there too many high-rise condos in the Denver area?
• Exclusive: More than a million Denver-area home sales over 35 years
• Will developer buy back at Landmark pay off?
• Landmark a success despite bankruptcy