Buy
Start witha conversation,not a listing
Everyone has the same app. What decides whether you get the house is what happens before you ever open one.
Here is how a search actually runs when it works.
The process
Six steps,in this order
The conversation
What you are trying to build, not what you are trying to buy. Where you have to be on a weekday, how you spend a Saturday, how long you plan to stay, and what you will trade. An hour here saves four months of touring.
The money
Full underwriting with a lender who actually returns calls. Payment, cash to close, and the real ceiling as opposed to the approval letter number. Do this before you look at a single house.
The map
Three neighborhoods, with reasons. We drive them on a weekday evening before we tour anything. Buyers decide on a neighborhood in one afternoon and stop second-guessing it.
The search
Everything on the MLS, plus the coming-soon and quiet inventory that is not on it. You see what fits, not everything in a price band.
The offer
Price is one term. Timeline, inspection scope, appraisal handling, rent-back and earnest money are the rest, and in a competitive situation they win more often than the number does.
Under contract
Inspection, sewer scope, insurance quote, appraisal, and every deadline handled on time. This is where deals fall apart and it is the least visible part of the job.
Number one. Buyers who start with listings define what they want by what happened to be for sale that week. Buyers who start with the conversation know a house is right in about ninety seconds, which is exactly how long you have.
Denver specifics
What to checkbefore you write
| Item | Why here |
|---|---|
| Sewer scope | Clay lines under old Denver houses. A camera down the line costs very little and a full replacement to the main does not. Never skip this on a pre-war house. |
| Insurance quote during inspection | Hail and wildfire have changed Colorado underwriting. Get a real quote on the actual address before your objection deadline. On the west side of the metro this can decide the purchase. |
| Electrical panel | Certain older panels and knob-and-tube wiring create insurability problems, which become financing problems late in the deal. |
| Radon | Colorado has elevated radon levels broadly. Testing is inexpensive and mitigation is a known, contained cost. |
| Soils and foundation | Expansive soils along the Front Range. Look at the foundation, the grading, and where the water goes in a storm. |
| Zoning and ADU potential | Two nearly identical houses can carry very different codes. One can add a unit later. One cannot. That is worth real money and it is invisible in the listing. |
Competing
How offersare actually won
When two offers are close, the seller picks the one that feels most likely to close. That is a package of terms, not a price.
Certainty. Full underwriting, a lender the listing agent has heard of, and proof of funds attached the first time.
Timeline that fits the seller. Ask what they need. A rent-back, a longer close or a faster one can be worth more to them than money.
Inspection posture. Not waiving it. Defining it. Objecting only to health, safety and structure signals a serious buyer without exposing you.
Appraisal handling. How you address a gap, and how much, changes the risk profile of your offer more than any other single term.
The call. I talk to the listing agent before we write. Every time. Half of what decides an offer is information that is not in the listing.
Waive protections you do not understand to win a house you will regret. There is a version of aggressive that is smart and a version that is reckless. Knowing the difference is what you are paying me for.
Concierge
The part afteryou get the keys
Closing is the middle of the relationship, not the end of it.
Trades who show up and price honestly. A painter, an electrician, a sewer contractor, a stager, a landscape crew, a handyman who answers. Permit guidance when you are ready to renovate. An honest opinion on whether a project returns before you commit to it.
That list is for clients. It is one of the actual reasons people work with me instead of around me, and it is not going on a public page for the entire city to harvest.
When you want to know what the house is worth, whether to refinance, or whether that addition makes sense, you call me and get a real answer. Most of my business comes from people I have already closed with, which is the only performance metric that actually means anything.
Start here
Tell me whatyou are building.
First house, fifth house, or a move you have been thinking about for a year. The first conversation is free and there is nothing attached to it.
Heidi Kuker · milehimodern · Denver, Colorado