Andi Leahey
As a long-time Colorado resident our city landscape has changed so much and I've enjoyed calling the Denver area home for many years. Being in real estate, the many different facets are constant and it is a great combination of concise communication, (which I have a degree in), as well as having a vision for marketing a home and always being on top of the sale process. Searching diligently to help clients achieve what their goal has always been my full-time job, whether it is buying or selling a property. Working with first-time buyers, savvy investors, as well as luxury clientele, is rewarding and it is so important to listen first to what someone's needs are, always! Knowing the city very well helps any agent do a better job for clients. Continuously educating ourselves about the areas that people ask about is critical to success. There are too many neighborhoods in our awesome city to name but knowing the characteristics is part of the job! Central Denver will always be an area of focus, but I also service many surrounding suburbs, spanning the Metro area. The growth of this city requires constant education to keep up with the pace of expanding developments and up-and-coming areas. I have been fortunate to be recognized for sales exceeding $10m annually by the Denver Board of Realtors many times during my career. I believe every sale is a great sale, no matter the price point! Working with civic organizations is a big part of giving back and being involved with non-profits such as Denver Dumb Friends League & Urban Peak Youth Shelter are just a few worthy causes that I continuously support and volunteer at. If you or someone you know is in need of real estate assistance, I would welcome the opportunity to be of service. Helping people find the property that suits their lifestyle is my goal every day! Andi Leahey
Buying a new home is exciting, but it can also be overwhelming. Here's a list of tips to help make your home buying experience more pleasant.
If you're thinking about buying a home, you'll want to carefully choose the real estate professional you work with during the process.
You should commit yourself to work with one sales associate who can learn your likes and dislikes in homes to make your home-buying process easier. Choose a professional who specializes in residential real estate and who has specific knowledge of the local real estate and mortgage markets.
The person you choose should listen to you and be interested enough in you to find out about your housing needs and preferences. Service first should be the motto of the professional you choose with services going above and beyond what you expect and need. Doing some preliminary planning before you begin your home search will make the entire process more manageable and less overwhelming. As part of your initial game plan, you should:
Even if you're sure you have excellent credit, it's wise to double-check at the outset. Straightening out any errors or disputed items now will avoid troublesome holdups down the road when you're waiting for mortgage approval.
You may see disputed items, in addition to errors caused by a faulty social security number, a name similar to yours, or a court-ordered judgment paid off that hasn't been cleared from the public records. If such items appear, write a letter to the appropriate credit bureau. Credit bureaus are required to help you straighten things out in a reasonable time (usually 30 days).
A real estate professional can help "pre-qualify" you for a mortgage before you start house-hunting. This process includes analyzing your income, assets, and present debt to estimate what you may be able to afford on a house purchase. Mortgage brokers or a lender's own mortgage counselors can also calculate the same sort of informal estimate for you.
Obtaining mortgage "pre-approval" is another thing entirely. It means that you have in hand a lender's written commitment to put together a loan for you (subject only to the particular house you want to buy passing the lender's appraisal).
Pre-approval makes you a strong buyer, welcomed by sellers. With most other purchasers, sellers must tie the house up on a contract while waiting to see if the would-be buyer can really obtain financing.
The downside is that you may pay application fees to cover the lender's paperwork in verifying your employment, income, assets, debts, and credit rating. If you later decide not to use that particular lender, you'd have to start all over again elsewhere - with no rebate.
Pre-approval will also speed up the entire mortgage procedure once you've found the house you want. The only remaining question will be whether the house will "appraise" for enough to warrant the loan.
Once you have made an offer on a home, you will need to schedule a home inspection, conducted by an independent authorized inspector. It is extremely important to hire a reputable inspector so that you know exactly what you are buying. Do not hesitate to ask friends, family, and co-workers for advice. If you are satisfied with the results of the inspection, then you can proceed to the Purchase and Sales agreement. If the inspector finds problems with the property, you may want to negotiate with the seller to lower the price or to pay for certain repairs.
Your lender may require you to get an appraisal of the house you want to buy, to make sure it is worth the money that you are borrowing. You may select your own appraiser, or you may ask your real estate broker to help you with this task.
Lenders require that you have homeowners insurance, to protect both your interests and theirs. Like everything else, be sure to shop around for insurance that fits your needs.
Finally, you are ready for the closing. Be sure to read everything before you sign! You should have both your real estate broker and an attorney present at the closing to ensure that all is in order.
Making sure you end up with the right home involves figuring out exactly what features you need, want, and don't want in a home. Before starting your search, you should make a "wish list" to decide which features are absolutely essential, which are nice "extras" if you happen to find them, and which are completely undesirable.
The more specific you can be about what you're looking for from the outset, the more effective your home search will be. Also keep in mind, that in the end, every home purchase is a compromise.
Create your own personalized "wish list" and when you're finished filling it out, share it with your real estate agent.
"When we first met you were so impressed with your knowledge and best of all your personality. The way you made us feel like we were important was very comforting, having not been through the process before. Our feelings didn't change during the search, which was great! You are different because you gave more than 100% to us. Even though house hunting was stressful, you made it more pleasant by communicating with us daily and bringing snacks in the car! We had another agent before you and he seemed disinterested in our search and basically did not want to waste his time with us.
I would say if you want a great realtor I have one, her name is Andi and she did an incredible job for us and now we live in our dream home!"
"I have worked with Andi for almost 10 years now and we met when she helped find my son a rental in downtown Denver during law school. Since then she has handled the sales for both of my kids and listings and sales for my wife and I. We used her to buy our son his first home and then two homes after that! Our daughter got married so she helped them buy a home in Castle Rock and then sell her husbands condo. They've now moved into their dream house in Denver thanks to Andi and have loved living in it. We have a luxury high rise unit that Andi helped us buy and build out and when we finally downsized, she sold our home in Cherry Hills, which took a long time but she worked hard, did great marketing and hosted events to help get it sold.
We have a fantastic working relationship with Andi and she provides excellent customer service on all fronts. Whether it was staging homes to be sold, helping us find vendors and even getting us into a home that we purchased BEFORE it was on the market! She is always looking out for our interests. We have invested millions of dollars in real estate for our family here in Denver and we did it all with Andi Leahey and we have been very happy with all of our experiences!"
“The one thing about selling your home is that it means you are then in the throes of moving…so I am a few days late in posting a huge thank you and shout out to Andi Leahey, my agent from LIV Sotheby's who is hands-down the best, most personable, insightful, trustworthy, above-and-beyond realtor I have ever worked with, in addition to being just an amazing and lovely person. She handled everything for me, including adding staging where it needed, finding vendors and got me a good price for my home in Cherry Creek. So, if you are even thinking of buying or selling, she’s the one. “ 5/19
"It's over! Andi helped me so much in finding my first home. I came to her knowing that what I was looking for was quite specific and could be a bit tricky to find. We discussed what i was after over coffee and then if was off to the races! She was patient and receptive of my concerns along the way and she also kep a good eye out while walking through places and was able to draw my attention to a variety of things I'd have overlooked on my own. I was relieved at how williing she was to offer relevant opinions and talk through things with me.
Most importantly, I always felt confident that Andi was on my side an ready to proactively step up to the plate in representing me and my best interests throughout the closing process. She also checked in regularly to make sure I was on top of the paperwork, which really was helpful as I work fulltime. Ulitmately she helped make the closing process as painless as it could be and I love my new place!"
