Happy Thanksgiving to Our Readers — We Have So Much to Be Grateful For

[Published on Thanksgiving Day, 2014, in the Jeffco editions of the Denver Post's YourHub section. An abbreviated version also appeared in five Jefferson County weekly newspapers.]

As a homeowner, a practicing Realtor and the owner of Golden Real Estate, I have much to be grateful for as we celebrate one of my favorite holidays, Thanksgiving. 

Although Colorado’s recovery from the “great recession” which started in 2008 may be uneven, it has been strong, and one has to be grateful for that.  We can be thankful that Colorado was not one of the “bubble” states like Nevada and California where home values had risen so fast and so far that they fell fast and far.  With our modest year-to-year appreciation prior to 2008, our home values fell, but they did not plummet.

So, yes, I am grateful, first of all, that Colorado, including Jefferson County, suffered less than other areas in the country and has, overall, more than recovered from that recession.

Beyond that, I am also grateful that Golden Real Estate, which was founded in 2007, was able to outlast that downturn and come out stronger than ever.  At this writing, we now have nine excellent broker associates who work together well and have each been successful in their own right: Jim Swanson, Carrie Lovingier, Karon Hesse,  Kristi Brunel, Mark Spencer, Suzi Nicholson, Leo Swoyer, Chuck Brown, and David Dlugasch.  You can read more about each of them on our website, www.GoldenRealEstate.com.

Equally important, we now have an office manager, Kim Taylor, who recently obtained her own real estate license but solely for the purpose of being a more effective assistant to our agents and myself. She also functions as our transaction coordinator and HDR photographer. Her contributions to us all have been invaluable. 

I am also grateful for our clients who have helped to make Golden Real Estate one of the leading real estate brokerages in the county, selling over $35 million in real estate in 2013, a figure we’ll exceed in 2014.  (Every year since the founding of Golden Real Estate has been better than the year before.)

In that regard, I have to thank the Denver Post, which introduced YourHub as an affordable local advertising medium just as I was gaining traction as a Realtor.  Because of the exposure I get through this advertising, my agents and I have been successful in attracting clients and in selling our listings, which we feature in this space. Sometimes, like this week, I don’t have a new listing to feature, but that just means I get to write more!

Speaking of this ad, the writing of which is frankly the highlight of each work week for me, I should also thank the late Ben Bradlee of the Washington Post, who gave me my first job in journalism way back in (gasp!) 1968. It was an internship during which the city editor, Steve Isaacs, actively taught my intern class all facets of professional journalism.  Combined with an excellent education in English (and many other languages, including Latin!), that training laid the basis for my success in real estate and, in turn, the success of Golden Real Estate.

Last but definitely not least, I am grateful for my wife Rita and for my friends, especially those in the renewable energy community, who reinforce our company’s sustainability efforts.