That makes sense. Let’s face it: there is a smaller pool of buyers in the luxury market place than ever before and as such, if they are going to spend their money, chances are they are going to spend it one of two ways: 1) on a property that is a real deal, or 2) on a unique property.

Finding a property that is a real deal is not too hard to do these days so let’s tackle the latter and talk about unique properties. As of late, I have seen more and more activity on properties that are really one-of-a-kind. For example, finding a home on the water in Colorado is no easy task. There is a luxury home in Larkspur, Colorado that has its own 25-acre water skiing lake. It’s stocked with trout; the home is 6500 sq. ft. of luxury on 35 acres with a barn, greenhouse, and outbuilding. It has a 17,000-gallon koi pond, a boat launch, and 2000 ft of sandy beach. Now that’s a unique property and as such, people are looking at it.

Land is a tough sale these days, but if it’s unique with a spectacular location, it will get some showings. For example, there is a 154-acre parcel for sale in Colorado Golf Club. The reason why this is unique is it’s the largest parcel of land available in the prestigious Golf Club and it’s the only one of this size. It has magnificent views of the front range from every angle, views of Betts Lake, and the golf course. It’s set up to be the perfect equestrian site and truly qualifies as a unique property for someone to build their dream ranch.

In Sedalia, Colorado there is a home that’s 12,000 sq. ft. on 10 acres, but what makes it unique? For starters, it backs to 400 acres of open space. That qualifies as never having someone in your backyard. It also has a large unfinished space with 20-foot ceilings that would make the perfect indoor basketball court, squash/handball court, or a real stadium-style theater.

Recently, the Wolfe Team at Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty had the Phipps Mansion for sale and that went under contract right away. Obviously, that historic landmark more than qualifies as a unique property, but emphasizes that even in this market there are buyers for luxury properties particularly if they are unique.

There are lots of stories around Colorado about unique properties. Feel free to drop me a note about yours and I might just write about it.

Dan Polimino is a Realtor with Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty. He can be reached at DPolimino@fullerproperties.com and www.coloradodreamhouse.com/denverpost

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Today’s realtors are stressed out more than ever. The pressure to sell homes, sell them quickly, and sell them in a “not so hot market” has never been greater. Talking with agent after agent each day, I have concluded that they are getting sucked in the toxic dance that has been happening with buyers and sellers. I have a short story that illustrates this point well.

I called an agent inquiring about putting an offer in on behalf of my buyers on his listing. On the phone he was charming, helpful, eager, and it sounded like it would be pleasant to do a transaction with him. We put the home under contract with his sellers and my buyers and the agent went from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde. During the subsequent weeks while we were going through inspection, appraisal, and amendments he was defensive, uncooperative, and combative to say the least. I got to thinking why? Why are more and more agents finding it so hard to get along? Don’t get me wrong, it’s ok for an agent to be a hard negotiating advocate for his or her clients, but this isn’t war. The only explanation I could come up with is, “it comes from the top down.”  We clearly have a trickledown effect from the sellers to agents, buyers to agents, and brokerage firms to agents. The mood of the country is essentially setting the mood of all parties involved.

Back to the story: We ended up closing deal and the buyers got the home they wanted, but it wasn’t remotely smooth. It caused a lot of unnecessary trouble and stress for my buyers and all because the listing agent had a mindset of “who wins, who loses, and who gets their way.” It could have all been avoided.

What’s the moral to the story? It’s three-fold: 1) The economy has put a lot of people in a bad mood, but as agents, buyers, and sellers we need to find a way to rise above that. 2) Buyers and sellers need to understand that in most cases agents want to do a great job for them. Beating them up (figuratively) is not going to help. 3) The story above just underscores how valuable a truly good agent can be. It can make all the difference between a smooth and pleasant transaction and one that is a Nightmare on Elm Street.

Dan Polimino is a Realtor with Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty. He can be reached at DPolimino@fullerproperties.com and www.coloradodreamhouse.com/denverpost