Blog - Mike Gebhardt, Broker Associate

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How do we move if we don’t know where we’re going?” You’re not the only one thinking this

If you’re somewhere around my age, I bet you’ve had this thought: How the hell do we actually move? What are the logistics? How many days between closings? Are we running from one closing to another? Do we have to move the same day? I got agita. How can we sell before we know where […]
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How the fuck can i move when i don’t know where we’re going

If you’re somewhere around my age, I’d bet you’ve had some version of this thought: “How will we actually move? What are the logistics? How many days between closings? Are we running from one closing to another? Do we have to move the same day? I got agita. How can we sell before we know […]
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1998 called, it needs those kick ass negotiation tactics back

“My neighbor got X last year.” Actually, it was 2022, when buyers were waiving inspections, writing escalation clauses just to be in the game, and borrowing cheap money. In 2022, buyers were fighting over scraps; today they are payment‑driven, picky, and have far more options in front of them. The only prices that matter for […]
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Boulder offered $200K to buy a home. Nobody took it.

The questions I’m getting these days; about rates, the Fed, geopolitics… it’s honestly all the noise. Meanwhile, Boulder quietly ran a real world experiment: They offered buyers up to $200,000 in down payment assistance. 0% interest. After nearly three years? Not one person used it. “Free” money, with a catch: The program is called the […]

Hey! Read this How do we move if we don’t know where we’re going?” You’re not the only one thinking this If you’re somewhere around my age, I bet you’ve had this thought: How the hell do we actually move? What are the logistics? How many days between closings? Are we running from one closing to another? Do we have to move the same day? I got agita. How can we sell before we know where […]

Hey! Read this How the fuck can i move when i don’t know where we’re going If you’re somewhere around my age, I’d bet you’ve had some version of this thought: “How will we actually move? What are the logistics? How many days between closings? Are we running from one closing to another? Do we have to move the same day? I got agita. How can we sell before we know […]

Hey! Read this 1998 called, it needs those kick ass negotiation tactics back “My neighbor got X last year.” Actually, it was 2022, when buyers were waiving inspections, writing escalation clauses just to be in the game, and borrowing cheap money. In 2022, buyers were fighting over scraps; today they are payment‑driven, picky, and have far more options in front of them. The only prices that matter for […]

Hey! Read this Boulder offered $200K to buy a home. Nobody took it. The questions I’m getting these days; about rates, the Fed, geopolitics… it’s honestly all the noise. Meanwhile, Boulder quietly ran a real world experiment: They offered buyers up to $200,000 in down payment assistance. 0% interest. After nearly three years? Not one person used it. “Free” money, with a catch: The program is called the […]

Hey! Read this Three listings. Three price points. Similar errors. There’s a shift happening right now that a lot of sellers are missing. The sellers coming to market aren’t distressed. They’re equity rich… and a little too comfortable. I’ve watched three versions of this play out in the last six months: Expired at $1.75mm after starting at $1.9mm. Sat. Cut. Lost momentum. Expired. They told […]

Hey! Read this Boulder OG: here’s the math on “waiting a couple years” The other day, I wrote about the Boulder OG homeowner: you bought in the mid 2000s, and now you’re sitting on a hi six, low seven figure equity win with a tiny or paid off mortgage. You already won. Actually, you killed it, congratulations. This email is about why it’s time to ring the register, […]

Hey! Read this Sellers, buyers, and what the market is actually saying (not what you wish it said) I’ve been thinking a lot about what my job really is for you. It’s not to tell you what you want to hear. It’s not to make my life easier. And it’s definitely not to put a pretty number on your house, toss it in the MLS, and hope the universe cooperates. My job is […]

Hey! Read this Captain headshot and expireds BOM at wrong price,again If you’re thinking about selling, or you’re sitting on the market already, this is for you. My job is not to tell you what you want to hear or make this easy for me. It’s definitely not to slap a pretty number on your house, toss it in the MLS, and pray the universe cooperates. […]

Hey! Read this Inspection Contingencies Are Back Rates finally move a hair, you fight through showings and offers…then the whole thing dies because of a bloody inspection report. Nationally, roughly 16-18% of contracts are getting canceled right now, and inspection/repair fights are the top reason. On top of that, about 70%+ of buyers are getting full inspections again; only a small slice […]

Hey! Read this The Erie math is real. Here’s where first-time buyers still blow it The other day, I walked us through how a $440-450k Erie townhome can easily hang with a $2,500-$2,800 rental once you use real rates, real incentives, and real math instead of Instagram fantasies. Today is about the mistake first time buyers make after they finally decide to stop renting: they ignore the structure of the […]

Hey! Read this No big decisions right now Every year NAR surveys tens of thousands of buyers and sellers at the closing table. A few of those findings are worth using in this email, because they describe people like you, not the folks in the national headlines. As you know, Boulder and most of the front range is its own animal. But nationally, […]

Hey! Read this Do you really need to make a move? Before you decide to do a real estate transaction of any kind, sell, buy, or both; there’s one question that matters more than rates, headlines, or whatever some podcast yelled this week: What challenge are you actually trying to solve? Not what your friends think. Not what I think. Not what the market thinks. What […]

Hey! Read this Seafoam green or slate? Uh, I don’t know. Nobody hires me because: I’ve sold a lot of homes. (I have). I know whether your cabinets should be seafoam or slate (I don’t). I can send you a listing the minute it hits (before? Actually, yes, that part does matter). I can determine if a foundation crack is structural (not my job anyway). I […]

Hey! Read this Top agent vs. right agent You’ve probably seen ads for new real estate sites promising that “top agents compete and pay you cash up front just for the right to list your home.” On paper, that sounds like free money and a dream come true. But on at least one review site, a seller described the experience as “a useless […]

Hey! Read this Spring Does Not Bring Leverage. Strategy Does Preview: No crash, no fire sale, just a normal Boulder County market where money is made in the gap between what buyers offer and what sellers expect. Right now, the same two stories keep getting repeated. Buyers are waiting for a crash that is not coming. Postscript from outside Boulder County: economist Bill McBride at […]

Hey! Read this What an expired listing really means In the city of Boulder last month, 871 homes were listed for sale and 210 actually sold. That means roughly three‑quarters of the people who thought they were “on the market” were really just waiting for something that didn’t happen. And worse, most of them spent real money cleaning, fixing, staging, and preparing, plus a […]

Mortgage Rates Sorry but 3.5% mortgage rates are not coming back; we’ll need to adjust ‘As the graphic shows, there’s only about half of whatever a ‘normal’ inventory for sale is nationwide right now. Economics 101 tells us less supply, equal demand means higher prices. Yes, I understand rates are high, and in my opinion going higher. And yes, that might take the marginal buyer out of the market for […]

Real Estate Property Llama makes rental spreadsheets obsolete Do your rental spreadsheets look like this: If so, then here is your solution: One of the complaints I hear most often from the buy and hold property investors I cover is how their use of spreadsheets limits their analysis of a portfolio. Often only limited to one property per excel sheet, these investors […]

Real Estate Why is ROE (Return on Equity) so much more important than cashflow and appreciation? Efficiency: ROE measures how efficiently your own invested capital is working for you in any given investment. High ROE indicates that your money is generating sufficient returns. Risk Assessment: We all love appreciation and cashflow. But by combining your analysis of ROE with these other two metrics, it’s easier […]

Real Estate Does a self directed IRA make sense for you? In the ever-evolving landscape of retirement planning and investment, the Self-Directed Individual Retirement Account (SDIRA) has emerged as a powerful tool for individuals seeking to take control of their financial future. Colorado, known for its diverse landscapes and growing real estate market, provides a fertile ground for investors looking to capitalize on their SDIRAs. […]