According to BankRate.com, here are the current mortgage rates in Colorado Springs.
This is based on a $200,000 loan, 30 year fixed, 1 point.
30 yr fixed mtg, 0.1 – 1.0 Points
The range is between 4.01% APR – 5.54% APR
Average rate in Colorado Springs – 4.21% RATE
Click here for the full list.
The other morning I woke up at 5 a.m. I was shocked to sudden awareness of the outside world when my son got up to use the bathroom. With wanton disregard for the proprieties, Mason turned on the light in the bathroom, left the door open, and created a light and sound extravaganza I could have lived without. And then when he was done, he dutifully flushed the toilet.
What is great at 9:00 a.m. was not such a great thing at god-awful 5:00 a.m.
He was LOUD!!!!
I was ANNOYED!!!! I wanted to be asleep, not listening to my son’s adventures. Instead, my brain kicked in and I was awake for the day.
Fast forward a few days. We were up visiting my wife’s parents in Woodland Park, CO. My niece (who is in the potty-training stage of life) interrupted a conversation I was having with her mother to inform us that she HAD to got the bathroom NOW!
And truthfully, that was annoying too. But in the end, it was far better to be annoyed than to clean up an accident. It made our day a lot easier. My annoyance led to a purely positive result. The annoyance I suffered was literally for my own good.
Sometimes, as a real estate agent, we have to annoy you (our buyers and sellers) for your own good.
Here is what I mean. Let’s pretend for a moment that you are a buyer visiting me in my office. When you first come in, I am going to take you back to my desk and spend some time interviewing you. It will be annoying.
Here’s how it will go:
1. We will talk about your loan. How are you going to afford a house? Do you have a down payment? Have you been pre-qualified to buy a house? Do you have to sell another house first? If you haven’t been pre-qualified, the first thing I will do will be to ask you to talk to a lender. You can’t buy unless we know what you can spend.
2. I will spend about 30 minutes doing an in-depth buyer consultation. We will talk about house styles, yards, neighborhoods, schools, bedrooms, and the type of kitchen you dream of. I need to know what you want in a house so that I can help you find it. You might not even know what you are looking for when we start, but I want to help you identify what is important to you.
3. We will then look at some homes on the MLS. We will hone what we talked about during the buyer consultation to make sure that I understand what you are looking for visually, stylistically and what just plain jumps out at you. We will narrow, narrow, narrow. It is a lot like making a fine sauce-it’s all in the reduction.
4. Finally, I will ask you to sign an agreement that lets me legally represent you as an agent. This insures that I can work on your behalf and let’s me get paid for my services when you do buy a house.
I am spending all that time and going through all those steps for your own good. I’m doing it so that I can better do my job of finding you a house. (Fortunately, I offer a cup of coffee and maybe a cookie to help ease the pain.)
After all of that (and often before) many buyer’s ask themselves, “Why didn’t he just take me out in his car to look at homes?”
Ultimately, it is because I don’t want to waste your time. There is no point in looking at homes that you will hate. I would rather annoy you a little upfront than annoy you a lot when I take you to homes that don’t meet your needs.
There is no one who walks into my office that does not have some idea of the house that they are looking for. They might not even realize what that idea is, but one of my jobs is to help you identify what is important to you in a house so that we can find what you are looking for.
I’m not trying to be annoying (though I am). I am trying to help you find a house you can love which is my ultimate goal as a buyer’s agent.
Colorado Springs median sale prices are up since last year. The median sale price in Colorado Springs has gone up 4.8% since last year.
That is great news.
Zillow Stats
This past weekend marked a momentous event. My mother-in-law (who I must add is an extraordinary woman) turned an age that ends with a 0 and starts with a 6. (No, not 600.)
We had a great celebration. My wife’s grandparents came to town and we celebrated my mother-in-law’s amazing life, generosity, and ever increasing wisdom. We watched a slide show that included embarrassing pictures of my wife in middle school, so that was a blast. (Imagine my wife now punching me in the arm.) And we reflected on getting older.
My mother-in-law has aged gracefully. She has continued to learn. She challenges herself daily to help others and to live an outstanding life. She is well poised to enjoy great years going forward.
However, aging well is not a given. Some things age well and others don’t. Cheese ages well. A fine wine only gets better with time. A painting by Picasso or Monet only gets more valuable with each passing year.
Contrast these items with things that DO NOT age well:
Broccoli
Milk left on the counter
Bananas
Popcorn left out all night
Meat that is not refrigerated
Real estate listings
Real estate listings do not age well. The “best if sold by date” on a real estate listing is about 30 days. When your house goes on the market, there are buyers that are actively looking for houses. Every day they are checking out homes that come on the market–searching for that perfect house.
If your house is priced too high for the market, it won’t sell. A house that is priced higher than what the market dictates is competing with houses that are larger, newer or have more amenities. Your house doesn’t even show up in a buyer’s search because they are looking at similarly featured homes that are priced lower than yours.
Time passes and you drop the price. You get a little interest, but it still doesn’t sell. Now you are 120 days into your listing and you drop the price again. You are chasing the market down, trying to get ahead of the curve. Meanwhile, more houses have come on the market and you constantly face new (exciting) competition.
The market hums along and still no sale. Real estate agents and buyers start to ask, “What’s wrong with this house? Why hasn’t it sold?” Usually, the answer is because the house was priced too high to begin with and the listing missed that sweet spot of buyer consumption.
You start to run out of time. So you’ve got to offer your house at a bargain price in order to generate fresh interest and excitement. Usually, this price is lower than you could have sold house for if priced right to begin with. (Think of the bargain price meat at the market that must be sold today!) Your house still gets sold, but the whole process takes longer and costs more.
Pricing a home correctly for the market is the best way to get a house sold quickly. Find out what the market price of your house is when compared to similar properties and price it at the low end of that range. When buyers look at your house, you want the price to generate excitement. It needs to rise to the top as the best option for any buyer in its price range.
Of course, houses will still sell after they have been on the market for a long time. It happens all the time. The right buyer comes along and the house is sold. But meanwhile, time has passed. You’ve continued to pay your mortgage, insurance, taxes and maintenance. You’ve dropped the price. Ultimately, you don’t make more by pricing it high to begin with and often you’ll make less.
By the way, if you do have a house that has been sitting for a while and your agent has suggested you look at the price…just do it. Get it priced right and get it sold. Don’t wait. An aged listing, like aged meat, just doesn’t get better with time.
“Football is the most unnatural sport God ever invented.” So says the head coach of my son’s sixth grade tackle football team. (Go Grant Titans!) I have the (sometimes mis)fortune of being an assistant defensive coach for the team.
The truth is–I am a football junkie and the opportunity to coach on my son’s team is a real treat. I love having the opportunity to teach young men to knock the cleats off other young men.
But there is something I have noticed about teaching young men to play football. There are three things that I have to say over and over again. These three basic skills are really the essence of a good defensive player.
If you came out to my son’s practice you would hear me saying things like:
“Keep your head up. You can’t do anything if you can’t see.”
“Stay low.”
“I’m not hearing you! Let me hear you talk to each other. If you see a pass yell ‘pass.’ If you see a run yell ‘run.”
(You might also hear me say, “Drop and give me five.” I am a coach after all and I have to play the part despite my warm and cuddly nature. But that is NOT what we are focusing on here.)
Keeping your head up is about vision. If you can’t see what is happening, you are going to get put in the dirt by a block or you are going to miss the opportuntiy to tackle the person with the ball. It’s embarrasing and it won’t help you win.
Staying low is about being in control and being ready to make a tackle when the time is right. It is about acting when you need to act. If you are not low, then you are off balance and you won’t have success.
Leting me hear you talk is about teamwork. The only way to be a team is to act like a team. You can’t expect everyone on your team to see what you see. It’s a lot easier to make a tackle with five guys than with one. Communication is key to teamwork.
That got me thinking. I often call myself a coach or guide for my real estate clients. I wonder what I would say to buyers, sellers and even other agents. What would I say over and over that would make the real estate process easier?
Sellers:
“Keep your head up.” Be ready for change in the marketplace. Be ready to adjust your expectations about price, sales concessions, cleaning or staging in order to get the win (i.e. get your house sold).
“Stay low.” It’s not enough to just be ready. You can have a great plan, but not execute it. You can understand that you need to make a change, but have your feet planted firmly on the ground and do nothing. I know it can be hard when you are in the midst of selling your home to make a decision that might cost you money. But it will cost you a lot more in the long run when you don’t sell your house in this challenging and ever changing market.
“Let me hear you talk.” Communication is critical. You’ve got to talk to your real estate agent. Let them know what you are thinking, feeling and hoping about your house sale. Listen to what they are saying about the market. We are a team, but if we don’t talk, things are not going to go as well as they could.
Buyers:
“Keep your head up.” Your agent should help you determine exactly what you are looking for in a house. You need to have a vision of exactly what a great house will look like and have an agent that will help you go get it. You should never have to waste your time going into 20 or 30 houses. If your agent helps you identify your desires, then your agent can help you find what you really want.
“Let me hear you talk.” Be as honest with your agent as possible about what you are looking for in a house. Give them feedback along the way about what you like and don’t like in the houses you see. If you tell your agent what you want, there is a much better chance that you’ll get it.
“Stay low.” When the time is right and you have found that house, don’t hesitate. The whole point of staying low is making the tackle–finding success. For a buyer, staying low means preparing in advance by getting prequalified with a lender, preparing mentally to make an offer and actually making an offer when you see a house that meets all of your needs and most of your wants.
And to other agents I say, “Drop and give me 5.”
Ok, maybe I wouldn’t say that. Actually, I think the most important thing we can do as agents is listen, guide our clients and help our buyers and sellers get what they want–a win. If we’ve done that, then we have a been a great coach.
I’ve had a tough time concentrating on work this week. I’m going backpacking with my son this weekend and I keep getting distracted by thoughts of where we are going and the trails we are going to take.
I think we are heading to the Flat Tops Wilderness in Colorado. Our plan is to take the the Lost Lake trail from Stillwater Reservoir and then circle around and catch the Chinese Wall trail back toward the lake. It’s about a 30 mile loop.
I think that is what we are going to do, anyway. But when I open the map, I am struck by the endless possibilities. Colorado is gorgeous and there are so many great options, it’s sometimes hard to decide what will be the best option for Mason and me.
Right now, behind the window where I am typing this I have 14ers.com open so I can reconsider climbing Mt. of the Holy Cross. I’ve climbed it once before, but Mason and I could try a different route. I also considered Fulford Cave. (Ok, so I just got distracted again. I’m back after 5 minutes).
If you’ve read my newsletter, website, or blog, you’ll know that I often use a trail and guide metaphor for how a real estate agent can help sellers and buyers. There are so many choices, so many different options, so many ways to get lost in the Real Estate wilderness.
I was reminded of this recently when one of my friends asked me about a short sale versus renting their house out until the market gets better. They may need to move to another part of the country due to a job change situation. They bought their house four years ago at the height of value. Now their house value is upside down compared to what they owe. It is a familiar situation for many people in Colorado Springs, CO.
My friends have three (reasonable)options.
1. They can sell at a loss and make up the difference themselves.
2. They can rent the house out.
3. They can do a short sale.
Three different paths with three different options. Option one would be the absolute best. They could pay off their loan and walk away with perfect credit and the ability to buy a new house. The only problem is that they don’t have $20,000 to pay all the costs. So that path won’t work.
So which is better: renting a house out or doing a short sale?
The answer–of course–is, “It depends.”
It’s a complicated question that involves a lot of considerations, but here are five questions you should ask yourself.
1. What are rents in the area? If you rent your house out, will the rent cover the mortgage? If not, can you pay the difference each month? Figure out how much holding on to your house will cost you at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, etc. Is this an expense you can accept? Then maybe it is worth renting.
2. Do you have a financial reserve? When renting a house, you are usually responsible for big maintenance items. Do you have a reserve to take care of an emergency plumbing call or furnace that isn’t working? Also, do you have someone who can manage the house for you or are you going to try to do it long-distance? What will that cost?
3. If you rent your current house to someone, what will you do for housing where you are moving? Can you qualify for a second home or are you going to need to rent too? A short sale will most likely keep you from buying a home for approximately two years. For most people, you will have to rent in either case so this might be considered a wash.
4. Are values stabilizing in your area? Are they starting to rebound? If values are going back up and you are not too far upside down, it might make sense to hold on for a year. Maybe then you can sell without taking a loss.
5. How important is your credit? Are you going to need a new car or other big ticket item in the next couple of years? A short sale will most likely drop your credit anywhere from 100-150 points depending on how far behind you are on your mortgage. Can you live without great credit for a couple of years? If you can, maybe just moving on and getting rid of the headache is the best idea.
Here’s the good news. We live in the United States of America. There are lots of paths you can choose from.
We don’t have debtors’ prison and we have an understanding government and less understanding but still reasonable financial system that rewards people for making good faith efforts.
Your home situation might not be ideal, but you can get through it. Look at your options, get some good advice from a Realtor or Real Estate Attorney, and make the best possible choice you can. And then get on with your life.
P.S. Ok, I’m back now and the Flat Tops were awesome.
Daily Real Estate News | July 28, 2010 |
J.D. Powers collected 3,000 evaluations from 2,817 respondents who bought or sold a home between March 2009 and April 2010. Overall satisfaction with the buying experience is determined by rating satisfaction with the practitioner, the office they represent, and a variety of additional services. Four factors are examined for the home-selling experience: the quality of the practitioner’s performance, marketing, the office they represent, and other services.
“Among both home buyers and home sellers, the importance of [practitioners] and salespersons has increased substantially in 2010, compared with 2009,” said Jim Howland, senior director of the real estate and construction practice at J.D. Power, in a statement.
“Buyers are increasingly relying upon negotiating skills of [practitioners] and seem to be satisfied with the purchase prices they are obtaining. Despite the fact that sales practitioners appear to be doing a good job of negotiating and marketing on behalf of home sellers, the tough economic conditions are negatively impacting their overall satisfaction with real estate companies,” Howland added.
On a 1,000-point scale here are the scores in the home buyer segment:
1. Keller Williams, 817
2. Prudential, 811
3. Coldwell Banker, 805
4. Home-Buyer Segment Average, 803
5. RE/MAX, 801
6. Century 21, 798
7. ERA, 785
8. GMAC/Real Living, 765
Satisfaction ratings on a 1,000-point scale from home sellers:
1. Prudential, 760
2. Keller Williams, 751
3. RE/MAX, 744 4. Coldwell Banker, 743
5. Home-Seller Segment Average, 742
6. Century 21, 727
Source: J.D. Power and Associates (07/28/2010)
14 years ago a gorgeous woman walked up to me at a concert and asked if I would like to go out for tea sometime.
Why tea? Well, this lovely lady did not drink coffee. Ever. She later explained that coffee didn’t make her feel very well. It made her jumpy. It hurt her stomach. We started dating and I bought her loose leaf tea, tea strainers, and other tea related gifts.
Fast forward thirteen and 1/2 years. My formerly coffee-hating wife Teresa decided to try a little coffee one morning. Just a small cup with a lot of sugar and creamer.
Then she started drinking a cup every morning. Lots of creamer. Lots of sugar. We started making a larger pot in the morning.
This morning, things took an extraordinary turn. Teresa walked over to the coffeepot, poured herself a cup, added a touch of milk, skipped the sugar and took a big sip. WHAT!!!!
Suddenly, everything I thought I knew about my wife (and my very life) experienced a tectonic shift–an earth-shattering quake of massive proportions. I knew–KNEW–that my wife would never drink coffee. I knew–KNEW–she would certainly never drink it every day. I knew–KNEW–she would never drink coffee without sugar.
What I knew became wrong. It didn’t start out wrong. I was right14 years ago. I just wasn’t right this morning. What I knew had changed.
The same thing can happen when you list your house. You interview agents. You pick one that you can relate to, communicate with, and who can help you price and sell your house. You get it on the market…and nothing happens.
Sometimes that means that the agent didn’t help you understand the market in the first place. However, there is another option. The real estate market is a volatile place right now. There is a real possibility that the market can shift radically from one day to the next.
For example, a couple of months ago the $8000 tax credit expired. On April 30th the market looked one way. On May 1st, it looked completely different.
Or maybe you look at the market, examine competing listings and sales and determine a price based on all available data. You list your home and then one week later three houses in better condition come on the market for the same price. Your market has radically shifted. Suddenly what you knew–KNEW–is no longer true.
A good real estate agent will help you understand what is going on after your home is listed, not just before. Here are few things they should consider.
1. Current listings: What is happening with active inventory? How does your house compare? Where do you fit into the picture?
2. Sold and pending properties: What has gone under contract and sold since your house went on the market? What made those houses sell when yours didn’t? Understanding this information will help you make smart choices about your house.
3. Communication: It’s not enough for an agent to look at these factors. The mark of a truly effective agent is how honestly they communicate about what they see, no matter how hard it might be to talk about.
In the end sometimes what you think you knew–KNEW–to be true turns out to be an entirely different situation and you have to adjust your home selling strategy or (far worse) share your coffee. When that happens, you have to shift what you knew to what is true and the best agents will help you get there.
This great home in Woodland Park is offered for $254,900.
One of the great reasons to live in Colorado is so that you can enjoy the mountains.
You’ll get exactly what you are looking for with this wonderful home minutes from Woodland Park on 1.91 acres.
Large master bedroom. Jetted tub. Large deck to enjoy the wildlife.
When we bought our home, it was only beautiful in our minds.
The neighborhood was the first thing we fell in love with. It was like a secret retreat in the heart of Colorado Springs. With only one entrance there is never any traffic that is not supposed to be there.
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