Living Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs Real Estate Market Improves in January – A Little

Rick Van Wieren — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:27:17 +0000

Home sales in Colorado Springs ticked up again in January, by 3% over January of 2011. The inventory of unsold homes also shrunk, to only 3,156 homes, a 10 year low. The bad news was that prices also shrunk, with the average down 2.9% from 2011 and the median down 4.3%. The lower prices are likely affected by the mix of distressed properties, 23.8% of total sales. January prices are usually the lowest of the year, because they reflect contracts from December that often include homes that are distressed and are being cleared off the books by motivated asset managers at the banks.
Interest rates remain in the upper 3′s, making this historically one of the lowest cost of housing periods on record.
For more details please visit www.LivingColoradoSprings.com/market-conditions.

Colorado Springs Rental Rates Make Buying a House a No Brainer

Rick Van Wieren — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:50:11 +0000

When newcomers ask me about renting a house in Colorado Springs, it makes me smile a little inside, because once more begins the age old question of rent vs buy. Don’t get me wrong, renting is the best answer for some people based on factors that go way beyond just the financial issues. Some people CAN’T buy right now because of credit, debt or job factors, and some people SHOULDN’T buy because of their job situation, etc. But for those that can, here are some hard facts.

A house that sells for $200,000 or so in our market will typically rent for $1200/month or so (depends on area etc)
The principal and interest payment (PI) on a $200,000 loan (not purchase price, loan amount) is only $926 at the current VA rate of 3.75%. This is plus taxes, insurance and mortgage insurance if required, and you have to allow some maintenance costs on a house you own, but this is quite a spread. To put that in perspective, at the height of the market when rates were 6.5%, the same payment would have been $1264.
A $200,000 house today might have been $230,000 or so in 2006, making the spread even wider.
The selection of rental homes is shrinking, and while our current inventory of homes for sale is at a 10 year low, there are still over 3200 homes for sale, and this number will grow as the selling season arrives (typically there are closer to 5,000). You have more choices when you buy. Moreover, many rental homes have rules regarding pets etc that you don’t have to worry about when you buy. And you can ‘feather your nest’ any way you like, not worrying about nail holes in the walls, etc.
Rental rates are likely to increase over time, but when you buy a home on a 30 year fixed mortgage, they can’t raise the rent on you, or decide to the sell the house to someone else and make you move. And at the end of 30 years, you own the property outright, eliminating your mortgage payment altogether.

There are lots more reasons for buying Colorado Springs real estate vs renting a home, but you can see it’s good sound business.

Colorado Springs Real Estate Market Poised for Recovery

Rick Van Wieren — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 16:52:24 +0000

With a new year comes new hope. Sometimes that hope is even based on fact, which is the case for the Colorado Springs real estate market. Those facts are:

Homes sales for December were up 3.5% from last year, the 6th consecutive monthly increase.
The inventory of unsold homes in December was down a whopping 25.5%, the lowest number of homes on the market in 10 years
Fewer than 1 in 5 homes sold in December were indicated to be distressed (ie short sales, foreclosure, bank owned, etc)
Sales for 2011 were up 3.3% for the entire year.
Interest rates are now in the upper 3′s, making this one of the most affordable times in history to buy
Prices are roughly equivalent to 2004 – again making this an insanely affordable time to buy
Ft Carson’s large population of roughly 30,000 troops is largely home now, adding to the local economy
New civilian jobs are being added fairly steadily, with unemployment falling
Gas prices have fallen back below $3.00 per gallon, making some of the more rural settings in our area more affordably accessible
The I25 widening project from Woodmen to Interquest Parkway is finally going to start, bringing a few construction jobs, but more importantly, easing the connection between Colorado Springs and it’s northern suburbs and neighborhoods, and ultimately the Denver job market.

It’s not all good news. Prices fell in December (the average was down 9.6%, the median 6.8%). There is still uncertainty in the world economy. International developments could put our troops back in harms way, or escalate the number required where they currently are deployed.

But for now, there is hope for the Colorado Springs real estate market. Probably even more than for the Denver Broncos to advance in the playoffs

Home Sales Increase Brings Christmas Cheer to Colorado Springs

Rick Van Wieren — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:07:06 +0000

November Colorado Springs home sales were up 19.2%, the 5th consecutive month of double digit increases over 2010. Is the housing recession over? Maybe. Interest rates under 4% are sure helping sales, and any major changes in that department could derail things, but so far, so good.
Recent Colorado Springs employment news has been strong, with new commercial construction as well as manufacturing and call center hiring. On top of that, the wind down in Iraq is bringing troops back home to Fort Carson, hopefully to stay, which further fuels the Colorado Springs economy in terms of car sales, furniture, etc.
For more details, housing trend information and more, please visit www.LivingColoradoSprings.com/market-conditions.

Live It Up – Controversial New Brand for Colorado Springs

Rick Van Wieren — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:37:50 +0000

I guess most towns have their own slogans, nicknames and logos. And once in a while, they change them. Colorado Springs just spent $111,000 to get re-branded, but not everyone here is sure we got our money’s worth. The new tag line – Live It Up has some cleverness to it, because at our elevation and with the mountains towering in the background all the time, up is a physical thing as well as a state of mind. Live obviously reflects that one our great assets here is a great lifestyle. And even “It” covers about anything and everyone. But for me at least, Live It Up sounds too much like ‘party hardy’ and connotes a bar scene, that quite frankly is NOT one of our assets.
There is a group working to at least get a more interesting logo. We’ll see where it goes, but it is probably an uphill battle (no pun intended) to unseat the one that has already been bought and paid for. While there are many that don’t think the new brand (slogan and logo) really do Colorado Springs justice, that fact is, no one sentence phrase or postage stamp sized logo can do justice to a place that is so diverse, so beautiful, so rich in recreational opportunity, as Colorado Springs.
So come to Colorado Springs – and Live It Up!

Here is a video of the Mayor Steve Back introducing the new brand.

Finding the Best Secure Storage Facilities

Rick Van Wieren — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:21:37 +0000

Finding the Best Secure Storage Facilities – A guest blog by Matt Schexnayder

Going off to college? Moving to a new city? Need to store your ‘excess baggage’ while marketing your home? Maybe you’ve been relocated for your job. Whatever the reason, the question of what to do with your belongings will come up. One option is, you could pawn off your belongings with your friends or instead, you could use a reputable online company like SpareFoot to help you find secure storage.

Instead of driving around or searching the yellow pages the “old fashioned” way, this website can guide you through the process of finding reasonably priced and convenient storage companies. It’s easy and it’s as simple as knowing your new zip code.

This service works especially well for smaller, less populated cities. For example, the move-in rate for towns like Colorado Springs are seeing a sudden increase, due to the fact that more and more people want to get away from the hectic lifestyle that comes with living in a big city. Even though it is less of an urbanized area, there are still numerous Colorado Springs self-storage facilities to choose from and using SpareFoot makes picking the right unit so much easier. It will save you hours of what would be wasted time checking each facility individually.

Using the SpareFoot website is like shopping online without any obligation to buy. You can easily click on one of the storage facilities on your screen to see a snapshot of what they have to offer. Easy-to-read bulleted lists will tell you the essentials including what amenities/services they offer. For example, some storage facilities offer 24-hour access, while others are only open for 40 total hours during the week. Certain facilities even offer specialty storage, which you can search for as well, allowing you to store those winter toys like skis or even snowmobiles in a safe and secure place.

Go online and check out SpareFoot for yourself. Just a few clicks online can save you hours of work and frustration and free up tons of space around the house you never even knew you had.

About Matt:
Matt Schexnayder is on the SpareFoot marketing team and writes for the SpareFoot blog. SpareFoot is the largest online marketplace for self-storage. With more than 5,000 self-storage facilities listed nationwide. SpareFoot offers consumers the most complete comparison shopping experience in the storage industry and has been a big part of the national moving and storage industry for over 3 years. Matt also writes for the self-storage facility operators at SelfStorage.com.

Colorado Springs Considers Every Day Veterans Day

Rick Van Wieren — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:46:20 +0000

Veterans Day is here again. A time to remember the fallen, honor the living, and give thanks to those who have served or continue to serve in the military.
Colorado Springs is a military town. With 5 bases here (the US Air Force Academy, Fort Carson, Norad, Peterson Air Force Base and Shriever Air Force Base), we have somewhere upwards of 50,000 active duty military personnel calling Colorado Springs home at any given time. Considering that a significant portion of the Air Force officer corps come through the academy, there is a large number of veterans that have lived in Colorado Springs at one time or another. A recent study by Livability.com rated Colorado Springs as the #2 place in the US for veterans.
The city is full of special privileges for active duty (with ID of course), but the bases in particular have some perks for veterans, including PX, BX, health care clinics, recreation facilities and more. Livability.com lists some of its own perspectives too. Statjump.com also tracks the cities with the highest percentage of veterans, and they show Colorado Springs at #14 with 20.2% of the population having served.
Colorado Springs also does a good job honoring our vets. The annual parades, participation in city activities by military units, even church services with military honor guards, give you the sense that the town really appreciates the sacrifices that military families face every day.
So happy Veterans Day, and many thanks to all of you who have served and continue to do, and to your families for all the sacrifices they make. This year Veterans Day is extra special to our own family, as we just found out that our son (who is a veteran and was stationed at Ft Carson at one point) is returning home from Afghanistan, where he has been working as a contractor for the last 18 months. We are very grateful for his safe return, and appreciate all the effort it takes for our military to keep he and his co-workers safe.

Snow Day!

Rick Van Wieren — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:00:02 +0000

Our 3rd snow event of the 2011 Colorado Springs snow season finally closed some schools. Districts 20, 38 and 49 all closed, although Colorado Springs School District 11 was only on a 2 hour delay. Since my wife is a teacher, we kind of like these. Thankfully as a Realtor, I don’t have any urgent reason to leave home today. The 2 foot drift across my driveway really isn’t going to want me to leave anyway
Snow days are great times to give the fireplace a workout, enjoy a little conversation we don’t always have time for, listen to some good music, and otherwise relax (until it is time to shovel anyway . This particular storm looks like maybe 8″ of snow here in Monument, but the wind has definitely caused things to drift a bit, so there are bare spots mixed with some nasty looking piles. Each succeeding storm seems to be colder, so I’m thinking winter is really trying to get here. The Colorado ski industry really likes it when the Front Range gets snow, because it gets people fired up to go skiing again. I know it does for me!

October Home Sales Jump in Colorado Springs

Rick Van Wieren — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 20:31:11 +0000

October 2011 Colorado Springs home sales were up 20.1% over 2010, making it the 2nd best October since 2006. The good new was tempered by prices that remain soft, with the average and the median both down 7.8% and 7.5% respectively. Low interest rates and a recovering local economy are both factors in the highers numbers. The inventory of unsold homes dropped below 4,000 for the first time since December of 2009, and is actually at its lowest level since December of 2005, indicating we may soon be shifting back to more of a balanced market.
For more details, please visit www.LivingColoradoSprings.com/market-conditions/.

“Based on information from the Pikes Peak REALTOR Services Corp. (“RSC”), for the period 1/1/05 through 10/31/11 . RSC does not guarantee or is in any way responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by RSC may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.” Copyright © 2011 REALTOR® Services Corp. Questions about this data analysis should be directed to Rick Van Wieren, RE/MAX Properties, Inc, 1740 Chapel Hills Dr, Colorado Springs, CO 80920 ph 719-590-4768 or email rick@ricksellscolorado.com

VA Home Loans for Veterans and Service Members

Rick Van Wieren — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 22:05:43 +0000

A Guest Blog by Matt Polsky. Matt Polsky is the Senior Editor of Smart Military Money, a personal finance blog specifically for veterans and service members.

VA Home Loans for Veterans and Service Members

Veteran’s Day rooted from Woodrow Wilson declaring Armistice Day on November 11^th, 1919, following the infamous Treaty of Versailles. Wilson said, “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service.” It wasn’t until 1921 that Armistice Day was changed to Veteran’s Day, honoring not only the fallen, but all who have served.

This was further enforced in 1944, when the government first made available the VA home loan program. The program was designed to help returning troops who fought valiantly during World War II to find the home of their dreams and continues to this day. The program is a self-sustaining program and needs no excess money from the government to continue providing amazing benefits to our veterans and active service members. While this is a great program, potential homeowners still must ask themselves if this program is right for them.

While government backed VA home loans are a great option for almost every veteran, active service members must consider what buying a home will mean to their financial situation. An active duty member can experience frequent moves and deployments that have the possibility of leaving their home on the market or in disrepair for quite some time. This financial burden is a difficult one to carry, which can cause late payments, delinquencies, and eventually foreclosure, which brings on a poor credit score.

Deployed military members with a home or outstanding debt should remember to apply for protection under the Servicemember’s Civil Relief Act, which offers an umbrella of financial protection while you are overseas.

For service members and veterans in a more permanent situation, VA home loans offer many benefits. For instance qualified borrowers are not required to put any money down, which is a large hurdle for most conventional programs. While many think this could bring on more financial problems, the VA home loan program has some of the lowest foreclosure rates in the nation. Other benefits include:

No private mortgage insurance
Competitive interest rates
High loan limits
No prepayment penalty

To be eligible for the program, a person should have served on active duty during wartime for 90 days or peacetime for 181 days, served in the National Guard or Reserves for at least six years, or be the spouse of service member who died in the line of duty.

When searching for your Colorado Springs home be sure to contact an expert on the area such as Rick Van Wieren. Rick knows the ins and outs of the area and has your best interest in mind. As a service member or veteran, you have access to one of the greatest lending programs on the market today; however, it is important to be financially responsible and make sure you can handle the joy and responsibility of homeownership.

Matt Polsky is the Senior Editor of Smart Military Money, a personal finance blog specifically for veterans and service members.