84% of Jefferson County Is Unincorporated But Has “City” Addresses

As a Realtor and resident of Jefferson County, I wince when I see a listing that’s many miles outside the City of Golden advertised as being “in Golden.” It may have a Golden address, but it’s in unincorporated Jefferson County.

Another example of this confusion is Evergreen. Evergreen is not a city or town, it’s just a postal address with its own ZIP code, 80439, serving 177 square miles of unincorporated Jefferson County — and a portion of Clear Creek County. Residents could use “Upper Bear Creek CO 80439” (or similar) in their address if they wanted, because the ZIP code is what matters to the Postal Service, but that’s not common. It doesn’t make your neighborhood a “city,” either.

It’s understandable that the Post Office wants to use a city name for every address, no matter how remote. After all, what’s the alternative?  All mail has to go through post offices with city addresses, but that doesn’t mean the address is within city limits.

 

Littleton is another example. Although Littleton is Arapahoe County’s county seat, much of south Jeffco has Littleton addresses.  Littleton 80127 and 80128 cover 70 sq. miles and 30,000 homes, all of them in Jeffco and virtually none of them in the City of Littleton! 

 

As we all know, Littleton’s reputation was damaged by the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School, when in fact that school is a mile from the city limits of Littleton and is part of Jeffco Public Schools.  Such is the power of postal addresses!

 

At right is a graphic from Jefferson County’s website showing the incorporated and unincorporated areas of Jefferson County.

 

It may surprise you to know that Golden’s two ZIP codes – 80401 and 80403 -- cover more square miles than the entire City and County of Denver. The City of Golden itself,  covers only about 10 square miles – about 5% of the area and just one-third of the homes which have been assigned Golden addresses.

 

Golden addresses span 187 square miles compared to Denver’s 155 square miles.. If you exclude the airport, Denver, with its 41 ZIP codes, covers only 101 square miles – about half the size of “Golden” with its two ZIP codes, and smaller, too, than “Evergreen” with its one ZIP code.

 

Because ZIP codes with large rural components are so big, statistics about individual neighborhoods are not generally available, and statistics for the ZIP codes as a whole are meaningless. Some marketing companies, including Zillow, promulgate statistical reports by ZIP code as if they were neighborhoods, which works fine when the ZIP code is one square mile, but not when it’s 20, 50, 100, or 150 square miles! As I was writing this article, I got an email with the following meaningless information about my ZIP code:

Fortunately, REcolorado.com, which is our local MLS, allows real estate professionals like me to draw boundaries around actual neighborhoods when generating statistics or searching listings. I do that a lot.

 

There are pros and cons of being in unincorporated vs. incorporated areas of the county.  The county has no sales tax, but many of the cities do.  At the Golden King Soopers, you pay 3% city sales tax on groceries which you don’t pay in other King Soopers.

 

Property tax is another matter. In unincorporated areas you have separate mill levies for law enforcement, fire protection, and other taxing jurisdictions.  Golden, as one example, provides all those services for a single mill levy that is much lower than those combined levies.

Here’s What You Need to Know About Appealing the Denver Assessor’s Valuation of Your Home

This column was published in the Denver edition of YourHub from the perspective of Denver property owners.  See other blog posting for same article from the perspective of Jefferson County property owners.

By the time this column appears in print, all Denver homeowners will have received in the mail a letter from the Denver Assessor declaring the “Actual Value” of their real estate holdings in the City & County of Denver. The same is happening in all Colorado counties. The letters give taxpayers until June 1st to file an appeal of that valuation which, if successful, could lower the “Assessed Value” (explained below) against which taxes will be levied for 2017 and 2018.

Property taxes in Colorado are paid in arrears, which means that the property tax for 2017 isn’t payable until April 2018, and the property taxes for 2018 will be payable in 2019. The valuation you just received in the mail, however, is not a statement of your home’s current value.  Rather, it is a statement of your home’s market (or “Actual”) value as of June 30, 2016, based on its condition on January 1, 2017.

 

In other words, if your house was significantly improved between June 30, 2016 and January 1, 2017, the assigned value should be what your home in its new condition would have been able to sell for on June 30, 2016, based on what comparable homes did sell for prior to that date. (You may need to read these two paragraphs a few times!)

 

The good news is that even though your home’s value has continued to increase since last June and will continue to rise for the next year or two, you will only pay property taxes for the next two years based on what it might have sold for in June of last year.

 

Nevertheless, many of us (me included) are going to be shocked at how much the assessor claims our homes have increased in value.

 

Additional good news for homeowners is that, because of both TABOR and the Gallagher Amendment — too complicated for me to explain here — the percentage of “Actual Value” against which your local mill levy will be applied, has reduced by almost 10% — from 7.96% of actual value to 7.2%.  That creates the “Assessed Value.”

 

To keep it simple, here’s an example using round numbers. If the assessor says the market value of your home for the last two years has been $500,000, your “Assessed Value” was 7.96% of that, which equaled $39,800.  If your mill levy is 100, then your tax bill was $3,980 (100 x 39.8).  Let’s say your home’s “Actual Value” as of last June 30 rose to $600,000, a 20% increase. Your “Assessed Value” will be 7.2% of that, or only $43,200. Thus, your tax bill, at 100 mills, will be $4,320, an 8.5% increase in taxes despite a 20% increase in market value.  By the way, this is the first reduction in the assessment percentage since 2003.  Great timing!

 

And it gets even better. Unless the voters in a particular tax district voted to “de-Bruce” the mill levy, that tax district must lower its mill levy as much as necessary to keep its revenue from increasing beyond TABOR limits based on population growth plus any increase in the cost of living.

 

Nevertheless, since your property taxes are the sum of multiple mill levies from various districts, that hypothetical rate of 100 mills that I used above might actually be lower this year, further reducing your property tax bill.

 

Here are two key points you must keep in mind when appealing the valuation assigned to your home by the Denver (or other county) assessor:

 

1) You can only appeal the assessor’s valuation by citing comparable sales during the 24 months prior to June 30, 2016. Unless your home was mischaracterized (wrong neighborhood, style, etc.), all eligible comps are listed under “Neighborhood Sales” on the assessor’s web page for your home, so don’t bother looking elsewhere.

 

2) You must “age” every comp you cite in your appeal by about 1% per month, since the median increase in Denver residential property values was 25.9% over that 24-month period.  Thus, if a comp sold in early January 2016 for $500,000, you can’t cite it as a comp at the price, but must increase that price by 6% to its theoretical value as of June 30, 2016.

 

To find your home on the assessor’s website, visit www.denvergov.org/property and enter your address. When your property is displayed, then click on the address and you’ll be able to click on a “Comparables” tab where you’ll be able to see exactly how the value of your home (the “Subject” property) was determined against 3 or more comparable sales identified by address. 

 

If you feel that those comps are not truly comparable to your home, you can click on the “Neighborhood Sales” tab and choose three or more other comparable sales and cite those in your appeal. You have to file your appeal (most effective, I’ve found, is in person) by June 1st.

Denver Has 10 of the Nation’s 50 Most Competitive Real Estate Neighborhoods

According to data from Redfin, as published last week by the Denver Business Journal, the Denver metro area has 10 of the 50 most competitive neighborhoods in the country.  Four of them are in Aurora, four of them are in Jefferson County, and two of them are in the City and  County of Denver.

Competitiveness was determined by looking at a combination of factors including the percentage of homes that sold above asking price, were on the market under a week, and that sold for cash and above asking price.

Nationally, only Seattle and Boston had more competitive neighborhoods.

The top ranked Denver neighborhood is College View, coming in at #13 nationally. The median sales price in this neighborhood was $230,000, reflecting an average price growth of 31.4% over the previous year. The ratio of sales price to listing price was 100.7%, with 56.6% of listings selling above asking price. The median days on market was 5, and 41.7% of sales were cash.

The other Denver neighborhood in the top 50 was Mar Lee, which ranked #40 nationally, with a median sales price of $260,000. The average increase in sold prices over 2015 was 15.6%.  Average sale-to-listing price ratio was 101.8%, with 53.2% of homes selling above the listing price.  Median days on market was 6, and 27.2% of sales were cash.

If median prices seem low in some of the most competitive neighborhoods, it’s because of the high number of condos and townhomes vs. single family homes there. The greatest increases in sales prices due to competitive bidding is in the lower price ranges populated primarily by condos and townhomes.

These neighborhoods may have ranked higher than the City and County as a whole, but Denver did pretty well itself and would probably rank pretty highly nationwide if the data were compiled by county instead of neighborhood.

In the City and County of Denver as a whole, the median days on market was 8 and the average home sold for 100% of listing price.  The median sales price was $365,000, which was 9.0% above 2015. Citywide, 24.6% of the listings sold for cash.

In Jefferson County, the median days on market was 7 and the average home sold for 100.4% of listing price. The median sales price was $360,844, which was 12.8% above 2015. Countywide, 15% of the listings sold for cash. 

Highest rated in Jefferson County was the Lakeside neighborhood, ranked #8 nationally, where the median sale price was $370,000, an increase of 27.6% over 2015. 58.4% of listings sold above their listing price. The average home sold for 102.1% of the asking price. Median days on market was 6, and 32.3% of homes sold for cash.

Next highest, rated at #12 nationally, was the West Pleasantview neighborhood, just east of the City of Golden, where the median sales price was $350,000, 20.1% higher than in 2015. 47.8% of homes sold above their asking price, with an average differential of 102.3%.  Median days on market was 6, and 38.5% of the homes sold for cash.

The next Jeffco neighborhood in the top 50 nationwide was the Union Square section of Lakewood, rated #23 nationally.  There the median sales price was only $194,500, but that was 18.8% higher than in 2015.  52.5% of listings sold above their asking price, with an average differential of 101.2%.  The median days on market was 4, and 32% of homes sold for cash.

The last Jeffco neighborhood to rank in the top 50 nationally was Bear Creek, at #42, with a median sale price of $225,000, up 17.4% from 2015. 64.7% of homes in this neighborhood sold above listing price, with the average differential being 102.4%. Median days on market was 4, and 18.8% were cash sales.

In Aurora, the median days on market was 6, and the average home sold for 100.8% of listing price.  The median sales price was $275,000, which was 12.2% above 2015. Citywide, 14% of Aurora listings sold for cash.

The four Aurora neighborhoods which ranked among the 50 most competitive nationally, according to Redfin, were Hoffman Town (#14), Highline Villages (#17), Horseshoe Park (#27), and Northwest Aurora (#38).

Published Jan. 5, 2016, in the YourHub section of the Denver Post and in four Jefferson County weekly newspapers.

Arvadans Mobilize Against the Beltway - Public Meeting Jan. 19th

[As published in the Denver Post on Jan. 19, 2012]

It continues to amaze me that Arvadans accept their political leaders’ pro-development, pro-beltway stance, since they’re the ones who will pay for it in so many ways — increased congestion, more pollution, and even the specter of air-borne plutonium from disturbing the contaminated soil in and around Rocky Flats.

Most current Arvadans weren’t here and wouldn’t remember the 1969 fire at Rocky Flats — at the height of its production of plutonium triggers for nuclear weapons. Because of that fire, people learned that plutonium had been spewed downwind toward Arvada.

Below is a map showing where soil was contaminated by plutonium releases. Disturbing the dirt on the eastern edge of Rocky Flats with its plutonium-rich soil poses health risks for all Arvadans.

A public meeting on this subject is being held  Jan. 19th, at 7 pm at the Jaycee Building, 5640 Yukon St. in Old Towne Arvada.  I’m one of the featured speakers.

Fox News report promotes Denver as THE best place to buy real estate

I don't watch Fox News, but I thank the Corrigan Group for sending me this link to a fascinating report about Denver that appeared recently on Fox.

Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9frmEv-vPA

Newly Devised Real Estate Index Answers the Question, "How's the Market?"

By JIM SMITH, Realtor®

      When you are thinking of selling a home, the first question that comes to mind is usually, “How’s the market? Is this a good time to put my house on the market?”

      Frustrated by the home sales statistics routinely published by the media — especially national statistics which may differ widely from our local reality — I have finally come up with a measurement that I feel answers that question.

      My new index measures the percent of inventory that is under contract.  It’s a snapshot that can be taken at any time, as opposed to a monthly report that comes out on the 10th or 30th of the following month.

      Here is my index for this Monday, Oct. 31. Thanks to Metrolist’s new “advanced search,” it only takes a few minutes to generate the report.  I’ll update it on the last day of each month and publish it here and online.  Although it is generated on Metrolist, the Denver metro MLS, it counts all the listings on IRES serving northern Front Range and the Pikes Peak MLS serving the southern Front Range.

Jefferson County (Plains)  32.3

Jefferson County (Foothills)  16.8

Denver Northeast  41.9

Denver Southeast  25.4

Denver Northwest  30.6

Denver Southwest  42.2

Downtown Denver  15.3

Denver (all sections)  32.1

Adams County  39.0

Arapahoe County  39.8

City of Aurora  50.8

Douglas County  28.3

Broomfield  24.5

Boulder County  11.4

Clear Creek County  19.0

Gilpin County  10.3

Elbert County  23.5

El Paso County  17.2

Larimer County  9.1

Weld County  19.4

Total MLS 23.8

     The percentages speak for themselves.  They tell us that half the inventory in Aurora is under contract, while less than 10% of the inventory in Larimer County is under contract. It would be a great time to put a house in Aurora on the market, but not so good a time to do so in Larimer County.

      Jefferson County (except in the foothills) shows about one-third of the listings under contract, but the foothills with half that percentage.

      Colorado’s Front Range as a whole is doing quite well compared to the rest of the country, with almost one in four listings under contract.  It will be interesting to track the monthly changes.

      It’s easy to understand why the numbers are so high in Aurora and Denver Northeast/Southwest.  These are areas which have been beaten up significantly by foreclosures and short sales.  The values are way down from their highs of a few years ago.  Combine that with record low interest rates and little wonder buyers are snapping up the inventory.

      Call me if you’d like the calculation for your sub-market of Jeffco.