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Fuller Sotheby’s agent Lori Corken took a call on her cell phone Wednesday that was typical of what she deals with this year with luxury-end properties: A doctor from Florida was eyeing Denver and was thinking of buying a couple of practices here – but was not ready to commit to buying a home. I would rather, he told Corken, rent for a few years.

Denver’s residential market, absorbing lots of move-ins from out of state now including well-paid oil and gas execs, is running faster this year in lower price ranges. But it’s still fraught with high-end homes in desirable suburban areas that sit months on the market, even though prices are well below what they would have commanded a few years ago – in some cases, half as much.

“The market has turned here,” said Re/Max Professionals agent Jackie Garcia, who last week bagged a $2.45 million sale of a luxury home on 35 acres in Bear Tooth Ranch near Golden – a good price for recent months. “But it hasn’t caught up,” she added. “I see increases in sales in the luxury arena, but it hasn’t driven up prices.”

For Corken and Garcia, both of them exceptionally experienced agents called on to sell the priciest homes, that market has led them to offer some clients the option of renting instead of selling – something that clients may see as a win-win at a time when sellers feel they’re not getting a fair price; and when buyers have no confidence the market is on its way to full recovery.

Corken showed me her listing at 9281 E. Hidden Hill Court in Lone Tree – on the market at $949,000, but available for rent, as well. At five bedrooms, five baths, in gated Heritage Hills, it could go from $4,200 to $4,500-a-month. “Logistically it makes sense,” she added. “People are still afraid. Today’s renter was yesterday’s buyer.”

That buyer may be merely cautious about jumping in before the bottom really hits; but also could be somebody still upside-down from a recent sale. “They may,” Corken said, “feel ‘I don’t have enough to bring to the table to close the deal.'”

Also keen on renting vs. buying are sports personalities – high-paid, but with no guarantees about staying in the Mile-High more than a season or two. “We work directly with their agents,” said Garcia, whose ColoradoLuxuryRentals.com division at Re/Max Professionals specializes in players (her brother-in-law is former Rockies third-baseman Vinny Castilla, now special assistant to the club’s general manager). “They usually need something more than six months but are often willing to pay 12 months,” Garcia added. “They want something secure; and we fix them up with furnishings and housewares.”

Corken finds a place like Heritage Hills a perfect fit for a sports client (she’s rented several homes to Broncos coaches, who like the 7-mile commute east to the training facility at Centennial Airport). “They know their job isn’t forever,” she said, adding that in the past, a player might have gambled on buying anyway; but not now. In Heritage Hills, they find a situation to bring in the spouse and kids on a less-than-permanent basis: 350 school-aged children in the area – “instant family, instant friends,” she added.

After waiting around for a home to sell at an imaginary price, a seller may find the rental market an amazingly active scene. “There’s not a lot of inventory,” says Garcia. “It’s hard to find properties if you’re talking about a nice home at $800,000 plus. I have Realtors calling saying, ‘My clients are going to be homeless; they’re desperate.” For a property in Greenwood Village that would otherwise be a million dollars, such a buyer will entertain somewhere between $4,500 and $7,000-a-month, depending on condition. “We’re not having any problem finding renters,” she notes.
However, she and Corken are both happy to talk with sellers who want to step back from the market until things get better. Jackie Garcia and her Mile High Dream Team are at ColoradoLuxuryRentals.com; 303-257-7788. LoriCorken is at LoriCorken.com, 303-717-2498.

Mark Samuelson writes on real estate and business; you can email him at mark@samuelsonassoc.com. You can see all of Mark Samuelson’s columns at DenverPost.com/RealEstate.