Blogs by Author - Brian Lee Burke

Nov 10, 2026 • 5 min read

How Buying a Home Changes Your Life: 8 Benefits of Owning in Colorado

The benefits of buying a home go far past a front door key. Homeownership in Colorado changes your monthly budget, your long-term wealth and your sense of stability. Here is how buying a home changes your life, the case personal-finance author Dave Ramsey makes for owning, and how our Home Loan Readiness Program gets you there if your credit or debt is not quite ready yet. If you are looking for

Home Buying

Tips & Advice

Recent Blogs

Mar 25, 2024 6 min read

5 Ways to Attract Buyers to Your Colorado Home

To attract buyers to a Colorado home, do five things in order: price it to the closed sales on your street for the first 14 days, fix the hail, furnace and sewer items an inspector will find, stage it for the light at 5,280 feet, list it on REcolorado with 30 or more professional photos and a floor plan, and show it every time a buyer asks. Denver metro homes that do all five go under contract in

Mar 22, 2024 7 min read

Renovating a Historic Home in Colorado: The Real Rules

A historic home on the Front Range comes with a second layer of approval that a standard remodel never touches: a landmark or historic-district review, on top of the usual city permit process. Understanding both before buying, or before pulling a permit on a home already owned, keeps a renovation from stalling halfway through.A historic renovation has to satisfy two separate reviews: the standard

Mar 20, 2024 5 min read

Do You Need a Licensed Electrician in Colorado?

Colorado law requires a licensed electrician for nearly all wiring work beyond swapping a light fixture or an outlet cover — new circuits, panel work, and anything tied to a permit. A homeowner can pull an owner-occupant electrical permit and do limited work on their own primary residence in most Front Range cities, but the work still has to pass the same inspection a licensed electrician's work

Mar 15, 2024 4 min read

Rent to Own New Construction Homes in Colorado: How It Works

Welcome to The Kenna Group at Keller Williams DTC, where we specialize in making homeownership dreams a reality through our innovative Rent-To-Own programs. If you've ever dreamed of owning a brand new home but have yet to find traditional mortgage options out of reach, our Rent-To-Own program might be the perfect solution for you.Rent-to-own, also known as Lease-to-Own or Lease Purchase, is a un

Mar 14, 2024 6 min read

Basement Renovation Budget Guide for Colorado Homes

A basement renovation in a Denver metro home costs $30 to $75 per square foot, or roughly $30,000 to $75,000 for an 1,000-square-foot basement, depending on whether the scope is a simple open living space or a full suite with a bathroom and bedroom. The budget rarely blows up on the framing and drywall — it blows up on the parts unique to a Colorado basement: the permit, the egress window, and th

Mar 11, 2024 7 min read

How Colorado's Housing Market Has Changed

The Colorado housing market has shifted on four fronts since the pandemic years: inventory, migration patterns, mortgage rates and how homes get marketed. None of those four move in a straight line, and a number that was true for Denver eighteen months ago does not hold up today — check current data before pricing a home or setting a budget.Inventory, buyer competition and pricing power have all

Mar 8, 2024 7 min read

5 Ways to Improve Property Management in Colorado

Five changes move the needle on Colorado property management: answer maintenance requests inside 24 to 48 hours instead of a week, inspect and service the systems that fail in Front Range weather before they fail, run rent, maintenance and screening through one platform instead of email and paper, keep tenant communication consistent and in writing, and stay current on the state's landlord-tenant

Mar 6, 2024 6 min read

Interstate Move to Colorado: Time and Money Tips

An interstate move into Colorado takes more lead time than a local one — a licensed long-distance mover, a plan for mountain weather, and a list of what changes the moment you cross the state line. Here is what to line up before the truck leaves your old address, from the first quote to your first month as a Colorado resident.Start with the moving company at least four to six weeks out, since lon

Mar 6, 2024 5 min read

Motorized Window Treatments: Worth It in Colorado?

Motorized shades cost $300 to $900 per window installed in the Denver metro, more than double a manual shade, and they earn that premium back through UV protection and heat control on south and west-facing rooms that get direct high-altitude sun most of the year.A motor built into the shade housing opens and closes the covering on a schedule, a remote, a smartphone app, or a smart home system. Ro

Mar 6, 2024 6 min read

Best Privacy Fencing Materials for Colorado Homes

Cedar and vinyl are the two privacy fencing materials that hold up best on the Front Range: cedar for natural resistance to rot and insects at a lower cost, vinyl for near-zero maintenance against Colorado's intense sun and freeze-thaw cycles. Both need a permit check and, in most subdivisions, HOA approval before installation, and the right choice comes down to budget, maintenance tolerance and