'We're now busier than ever'

Procrastinators snap up rentals on eve of convention

By Chris Walsh, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 16, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Brokers and real estate agencies helping locals rent out properties for the Democratic National Convention say business is blooming as a swarm of procrastinators seek condos, houses and rooms at the last minute.

"I would say that 85 percent of our bookings have come within the last month, and around July 20 is when it really started to heat up," said Matt Conway, reservations manager for Denver ConventionHousing.com, which connects visitors with residents who want to rent out their homes.

"We're now busier than ever."

That's a significant turnaround from this spring and earlier this summer, when the market for DNC rental properties was somewhat anemic compared with expectations.

Still, it won't be enough to push overall demand - and prices - to the levels many property owners initially predicted.

Conway's company initially set a target of renting out 200 properties for the DNC. Its tally is at 80 with a week to go, representing about a third of the 250 homes and condos it has listed.

Conway says demand didn't materialize as expected, in part because the Democratic National Convention Committee downplayed the hotel situation.

"When hotel rooms sold out, they were still saying there would be plenty available in Denver," Conway said. "Our phones are now ringing all day long with people saying they didn't think finding a hotel room was going to be an issue."

Conway and others also said pricing levels were much too high to begin with. Some homeowners - including those far from the downtown core - were trying to rent out their places for several thousand dollars a night.

"I think some of the initial projections of what people thought they would fetch for these units was over the top," said Mark Beyerle, owner of Denver Realty Services, which is marketing and managing DNC properties.

But business is cooking now, partly because the only remaining hotel rooms are located far out into the suburbs, and they're going for triple or even quadruple the normal rate.

Denver Realty Services recently booked an 11-unit deal with locally based production company Citizen Pictures, which will use the downtown condos to house its guests during the convention.

Of the two dozen properties Beyerle has helped rent, the most expensive went for $2,000 a night, while the cheapest garnered $650.

Apartments and condos located within easy reach of the Pepsi Center obviously are seeing the strongest demand.

Sandy Jackson listed her 650-square-foot, one-bedroom condo on 17th Street and Glen- arm Place downtown last month through DenverConventionHousing.com. After a couple of weeks, she was able to find a renter for $950 a night, minus 30 percent for listing and management fees.

"This is great because I'm newly divorced and a professional artist, so it'll give me some nice additional income during a stressful time," Jackson said. "The money I get is going to be twice the amount of my monthly mortgage."

Many individuals listing their places on Craigslist and similar classified-type sites haven't been as successful. Several said they haven't received any response whatsoever or have been forced to lower their asking prices significantly. Others say there are simply too many places on the market.

"I think there's much more supply than demand, and it really hasn't all come together like people thought it would," said Deviree Vallejo, a broker with Kentwood City Properties who has tried to rent out her two-bedroom condo in Riverfront Park.

"I live downtown in a brand- new building close to the Pepsi Center, and I haven't gotten any interest. At the office we get inquiries literally every single day from homeowners who want to do this. But I don't know of anyone, including myself and my clients, who have been able to rent their places out."

Tony Shaw tried to price his three-bedroom house in the Green Mountain area competitively, listing it more than a month ago for just $200 a night. The response, he says, has been tepid.

"We had one guy from a radio station in Baltimore who was pretty interested, but later he wrote back and said he found something else," Shaw said. "Other than that, we've only received a few scam e-mails."

And then there are others who waited a bit too long.

Jon Sanders, who works in real estate himself, is kicking himself for not taking one of the offers he received several months ago.

"I'm not afraid to admit it, I got greedy," said Sanders, a Steamboat Springs resident who is trying to rent out his two-bedroom condo in Denver. "I was turning down offers of $700 a night in April and May. I had people from real estate companies in town saying I could lease it for $1,000 or more a night, so I held out. Now I'm only getting offers for $500 to $600."

walshc@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2744

Common rental trends

Real estate experts say the types of properties being rented for the DNC have some common characteristics.

* Location: Properties that have the best chance of landing renters are within walking distance - no more than eight blocks - of the Pepsi Center. Those inside the perimeter are among the most popular. Places downtown are in demand, but the farther away from the Pepsi Center, the harder it is to rent.

* Style: Condos, mansions and lofts are in, while demand for single-family homes has been anemic.

* Quality: Most of the properties snapped up by out-of-towners skew toward luxury, while housing that doesn't fit that category has been a tougher sell.

* Price: High-end, one-bedroom condos near the Pepsi Center are garnering $1,000 a night, while two-bedroom units get $1,500 a night. Places within a cab ride or short drive of the Pepsi Center are going for hundreds of dollars less.

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