There are a number of things we think about in relation to a home purchase. Of course we all know the mantra of “Location, - Location – Location”. It’s one of the reasons why the Downtown Denver Real Estate Market is so popular.
Location includes access to restaurants, shopping, transportation and amenities. It has led to the measurement tool of Walkscore.com to help give home shoppers a tool to measure the value of a location.
The list goes on and on… but one that seems to grow in value every year would be a category called Technology.
With technology we aren’t just talking about having WiFi in you building. It’s a big enough category to be a focus on the Urban Land Institute's recent trends report entitled “What’s Next – Real Estate in the New Economy”.
The focus of technology can mean many things. For many high rise buildings such as the SPIRE lofts, it can involve the infrastructure in the walls. Some buildings have older cabling that restricts the flow of data. Others might be wired with high speed fiber optic cable. Once that just impacted how fast you could download your itunes music. In today’s world of technology better infrastructure determines the performance of your high definition broadcasts which might be from your local carrier or might be on demand from such services as Netflix or Apple TV.
Beyond entertainment technology is allowing for the optimization and measurement of your heating and cooling systems. Remote management and monitoring can provide for significant utility savings.
More importantly, the actual heating, cooling and management systems themselves can have huge implications not only on a homeowners annual utility expenses. Many clients are looking at how the technology of their home enables a sustainable living lifestyle.
SPIRE focused on steam generated heating. Some developers are installing radiant floor heat, solar panels, even composting areas. Technology in home and multi dwelling design translates into decisions over which sinks, water heaters, even toilets go into a new home. Want to see an example (without knocking on a neighbors door), check out the bathrooms at Linger next time you stop in for a drink.
All of us at New Era Realty look at each element of a home buying decision to provide our clients with detailed information about every aspect available. Technology is just one that we like to mention because many forget how important it can be.
To learn more about sustainable downtown Denver lofts and sustainable downtown Denver homes please contact anyone on our New Era Realty team.
And if you stop in at Linger feel free to stop in and visit us. We are just down the street in LoHi.