Makeovers near Chautauqua Park proving to be solid investments

BOULDER — With stunning views and a prime location, neighborhoods near Boulder’s Chautauqua Park draw interested homebuyers in, and with a real estate market on the rise it could be a good time to invest.

There’s a huge amount of interest from builders, designers and architects who would love to renovate and build something big and new and beautiful there, as well as from individual home owners that love the area,” said Barbara Silverman, an agent with Fuller Sotheby’s.

Drawn by Chautauqua’s proximity, grocery shopping within walking distance and just enough space from the University of Colorado to avoid the crush of student activity, the neighborhood north of Baseline Road offers homeowners a chance to live the Boulder dream while making a solid investment.

“That’s a sweet spot for Boulder in terms of price and location. The neighborhood is fabulous and speaks for itself,” said Richard Staufer, co-owner and associate broker at Staufer Team in Louisville.
He has a client who is selling a Chautauqua neighborhood house at 722 7th St. for a little more than $1 million. It’s roughly a 1,500-square-foot main floor house with an approved rental in the basement. The property listed a month ago and was already under contract once, though the deal fell through.

“It’s a good place to invest in Boulder,” Staufer said, and while the rapid rise in real estate prices in recent years makes a buy and flip scenario unlikely, prospective homeowners interested in a long-term investment can buy such a property, make major renovations and still feel confident they won’t lose money if they want to sell several years down the road, he said. Although, most people interested in the neighborhood are looking for “forever homes ,” said.

That’s what Hans Flygare and his wife thought when they bought a home at 824 7th St. eight years ago.

“It’s an eclectic mix of people here,” Flygare said. “And it’s an old and established neighborhood … where all the houses are nice and well-kept.”  They paid around $900,000 for the small ranch built in 1949 and put $300,000 into an addition and remodel.

He’s watched numerous, nearby remodels from small changes to complete scrapes with one neighboring property selling for $600,000 as dirt alone, being built on speculation from the ground up and resold for $1.4 million, Flygare said.

 He planned to live in his Chautauqua home for longer, but now needs to sell and is currently listing the home with Silverman for $1.1 million.

Just a short distance from Flygare, at the corner of 18th and Bluebell, Kevin Morningstar of Morningstar Homes is completing a remodel on what was a tiny cinder block original and will soon be transformed into a 2,600-square-foot custom home for a family who plans to live there long-term. He says buying now on speculation doesn’t make sense.

“The market is just so ramped up,” he said.

But for skilled and savvy buyers, opportunities exist for good investments even in today’s tight market.

“Boulder is very sophisticated,” Silverman said. “There are a lot of investors and a lot of people who are artistic enough and knowledgeable enough that they can start a project like that on their own.”