Search for Colorado Springs Homes

Related Articles:

• Relocating, it’s all about the schools
• Military relocation? 6 tips to read before you buy a home
• It’s against the law
• Research who you are working with
• 10 things to know about Colorado real estate
• Don’t forget about the Better Business Bureau
• I can’t be there to see it, now what?
• Private schools in Colorado Springs provide options
• District 11 continues to be the biggest

There are many different ways to evaluate Colorado Springs schools, but one measurement is the graduation rate.    The percentages are based on a federal formula that takes the number of students receiving a regular diploma  divided by the number of students who started 9th grade + students transferred in – students transferred out.  Graduation rates are one indicator of whether the local Colorado Springs public school system is doing what it is intended to do: enroll, engage, and educate youth.

The complete reports are on the Colorado Department of Education web site, and you can download the data into an Excel Spreadsheet.    For someone who loves statistics (which is me),  it’s full of amazing information including the graduation rates by gender and by race; and you can even pull data by each High School in the districts.   As an example, in District 11, Mitchell High School has a 74.4% graduation rate vs. 81.2% for Coronado High School vs 61% for Wasson.   Also, it’s interesting to note that the average graduation rates in Colorado is 73%.    For another take on the information, check out the article in the Gazette, the Local Colorado Springs newspaper.

There is another web site that I’ve recently been seeing television commercials for called www.coloradoschoolgrades.com, where you can search for schools by many different ways including by district, by zip code, by address.  It grades the schools (A-F); and breaks down the grades by different subjects including Reading, Math, English and Science.  It rates the Cheyenne Mountain Grade School an A+, and Chipeta in District 11 in Mountain Shadows is also rated an A+.

Here’s a quick recap of the Colorado Springs Schools High School graduation rates:

If you enjoyed reading this article, why not Subscribe to be notified of the next one?

To find out more information about buying a home or an investment property in Colorado Springs area, call ….

Kathy (719-287-1049) KTorline@msn.com

Search for Colorado Springs Homes

Related Articles:

• Is Investing in Colorado Springs Real Estate for you?
• Analyzing real estate investments
• 6 tips for purchasing Colorado Springs Investment Property
• FHA loans and fourplexes in Colorado Springs
• Location, Location, Location for Real Estate Investment Property
• The Perfect Storm, it’s time to buy Investment Property
• Rents keep rising

There was an interesting article in DS News about how cash investors are pushing down prices.  According to a quote in this article “In December 2011, data collected for the HousingPulse Survey shows that the overall proportion of cash buyers in the housing market surged to a record 33.2 percent, up from 29.6 percent a year earlier.”  There is also a Press Release put out by Campbell, that essentially was repeated by DS News.

I did a quick calculation of Colorado Springs home transactions for 2011 and came up with the following information on what type of financing was used for home purchases in the area;

Cash 19%

Conventional Financing  31%

FHA Financing  19%

VA Financing  31%

One of the reasons that the numbers are different from the national average  in the Colorado Springs Housing market, could be because of the strong military presence in the area which is shown by the 30% of home buyers that use VA financing.

This article has several key points on why they think cash buyers were bringing down prices

1. More cash buyers are the winning bidders on REO properties, and REO banks prefer transactions that can close within 30 days
2. Even though investors may not be the first offer accepted, they often end of getting the property because other buyers can be eliminated because of lengthy mortgage approval timelines.  Since cash sales can typically close in 20 to 30 days and financed offers, especially VA and FHA can take closer to 45 – 60 days, REO banks have a strong preference for cash.

In my opinion, investors are important in this market.    They often buy homes that are distressed and can’t be financed because of the condition of the property.   If the house is in disrepair, most lenders don’t want to lend on them.   As an example, the roof may be in bad shape, plumbing may not work, the house may have been stripped of all of the appliances and cabinets by the foreclosed home owner.    Seems to me it’s much better to get the house sold, and fixed up, vs. letting it sit empty.  (Although I have to admit that I’m biased, as I’m also a real estate investor).

If you enjoyed reading this article, why not Subscribe to be notified of the next one?

To find out more information about buying a home or an investment property in Colorado Springs area, call ….

Kathy (719-287-1049) KTorline@msn.com

I’ve decided to start a new Series, Don’t Assume Anything in Real Estate.

This series is really just a bunch of random articles about the many assumptions buyers and sellers make when selling, leasing, or purchasing a home.

Search for homes in Colorado Springs

Related Articles

• 9 reasons to use a buyer’s agent to help you find a house
• 6 things to add to your budget when buying a house
• 10 questions to ask the Neighbors
• It’s taking longer
• 7 tips to be a good Real Estate buyer

You aren’t under contract yet!

Some buyers are under the mistaken impressions that once they write an offer on their dream home, or their first investment property,  they are under contract to purchase the home.   This is definitely not correct.

After they put together their offer, their Buyer’s Agent submits the offer to a Listing Agent, and the offer is then presented to the seller.    The seller has many options on how they respond.

1. They can reject the offer and not respond.
2. They can counter the offer
3. Or they can accept the offer.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO UNDERSTAND ……….. Until the offer is completely accepted and all of the appropriate documents are signed and acknowledged, a buyer and seller are not under contract.     Another offer can always be presented to the seller from a completely different buyer and the seller can accept it.

The terms “under contract” may seem like a technicality, but it’s not.   After a seller presents a counter-offer to the buyer, it’s important to remember that another offer can come in on the property and the seller can certainly accept it.

If you enjoyed reading this article, why not Subscribe to be notified of the next one?

To find out more information about buying a home or an investment property in Colorado Springs area, call ….

Kathy (719-287-1049) KTorline@msn.com

Search for Colorado Springs Investment Properties

Related Articles:

• Is Investing in Colorado Springs Real Estate for you?
• Analyzing real estate investments 
• 6 tips for purchasing Colorado Springs Investment Property
• FHA loans and fourplexes in Colorado Springs
• Location, Location, Location for Real Estate Investment Property
• The Perfect Storm, it’s time to buy Investment Property
• Rents keep rising

Since I’m a real estate investor, as well as many of clients are also investors, I’ve continued to realized how important it is to have a team of people to help you when you are an investor.

Henry Ford was famous for saying he did not know all the answers, but knew where to find them. An investment team is no different. You don’t have to know all the real estate answers, just know where to find them.

Here’s a quick list of some of the professionals you may want to have on your team:

1. Real Estate lawyer
   1. Tenant issues, leases, evictions, etc.  
   2. Ownership of the property.   LLC, Corporate, etc.
2. Home Inspector
3. CPA/Accountant
4. Insurance Agent
   1. Make sure you know what your policy covers and does not cover.  Also, not all insurance policies will cover a property when it is going thru substantial renovation and is vacant
   2. Also, it’s good to have a name you can refer renters to; as you want any renters to have renter’s insurance
5. Contractors
   1. Overall handyman/carpenter
   2. Painter
   3. Flooring installation and purchase
   4. Flooring refinishing for wood floors
   5. Cabinetry, including countertops
   6. Landscaping
   7. House Cleaner
   8. Plumber
   9. HVAC
   10. Roofer Pest Control

If you enjoyed reading this article, why not Subscribe to be notified of the next one? 

To find out more information about buying a home or an investment property in Colorado Springs area, call ….

Kathy (719-287-1049)   KTorline@msn.com

Search for Colorado Springs Foreclosed Homes

Related Articles:

• 8 biggest mistakes made by Colorado Springs home buyers
• Buying a short sale vs. a foreclosure, what’s the difference?
• 9 key things to know about buying a bank repo 
• Banks, how low will they go? 
• 7 things to know about Bank addendum’s and Foreclosed Homes

One of the fastest way to “kill” a short sale you are trying to purchase, is for the lender to receive an inflated BPO.

Let’s start with the basics

What is a BPO?  The initials stand for Broker’s Price Opinion; and most lenders will order at least one, maybe two or three BPO’s , which is how they come up with a value on a property.

Who does the BPO?

BPO calculations are not an exact science, they are based on an opinion.   Most lenders will hire Realtors to put together a BPO on a property, and in turn pay a Realtor a fee for the BPO.  The fees can range from $25.00 to $125.00; and in my opinion the lenders get what they pay for.  As an example, a typical BPO order requires the Realtor to drive by the property, take pictures, upload the pictures, find 3 active properties and 3 sold properties; and put all of the information together in some of format that the lender requires.  A BPO can take from 3 hours to 7 hours to complete.    If the lender is paying $25.00 that equates to $8.00 an hour; not much pay for how much work they are asking to have completed.  At 7 hours it equates to less than $4.00 an hour.  Most Realtors will try to complete the BPO as quick as possible.

Many lenders don’t have many requirements for a realtor to be qualified to do a BPO; hence a brand new agent who doesn’t have any experience actually selling properties can qualify.

It’s important to know that BPO’s are not an exact science.  As an example, if I was hired to do a BPO for a house selling in a Stratton Meadows, a subdivision in Southwest Colorado Springs, near Fort Carson, I could choose from 40 houses that have sold in 2011.   If I narrow the list down farther to houses less than 1000 square feet there are 27 houses that sold.  The sold prices have ranged from $45,000 to $105,000.   Hence if I pick the higher-end houses for the BPO, my final value for the BPO will come out higher.  If I choose the lower end houses for the BPO, my valuation will come out lower.  

The lender will typically take the BPO price and come up with a decision from this document on what to accept on a short sale offer.  In this particular Stratton Meadows subdivision, my BPO can be as low as $50,000 or as high as $90,000.   The high BPO valuation could definitely kill a deal, as a qualified buyer may only want to pay $60,000 to $70,000; but the bank may say that they’ll only accept a minimum of $70,000 based on the recent BPO they received.

Seems to me the process is flawed.  Maybe a lender should always get 2 to 3 BPO’s and average them out?   Every realtor who has ever been involved in short sales has a story about a transaction that didn’t go through because the BPO was too high, hence the transaction never went through.

Seems like there should be a better way.

If you enjoyed reading this article, why not Subscribe to be notified of the next one? 

To find out more information about buying a home or Short Sale Home in Colorado Springs area, call ….

Kathy (719-287-1049)   KTorline@msn.com

Related articles:

• 5 reasons lack of building permits cause big problems
• Colorado Springs Building Codes and Permits – Part I 
• Colorado Springs Building Permits – Part II
• Colorado Springs Building Permits – Part III
• Colorado Springs Building Permits — Part IV  
• Colorado Springs Building Permits — Part V 
• Why do you care about building permits?

Some people complain about getting a building permit from the local code enforcement office for changing something in their house, erecting a deck, adding a garage or making any other improvement to their property.   I think it’s very important to get permits.  

Before you start your next home improvement project, here’s 3 reasons to get a building permit:

1. It might be a law that if you make enhancements of a certain nature to your property you must get a building permit to begin the work.
2. The permit keeps everyone honest.  There won’t be any shortcuts by the contractor that might affect your investment or safety.    If there have been shortcuts that affect safety, the code enforcement officer would typically find it.
3. You get free inspections of the work the contractor does.   The code enforcement officer typically comes out to check the work and to ensure the work is up to code.   Wouldn’t you prefer to know about problems on your your remodeling project?   Especially before you make the final payment to your contractor.

As an example, we’re currently getting the electric panel upgraded on a Colorado Springs rental house that my husband and I own.  Even though we’ve done our homework on the contractor we’ve hired, we won’t know if the work is “up to code”, as we’re not trained electricians.   Pikes Peak Regional Building will come out and inspect the work to make sure it meets code requirements.  It certainly gives me peace of mind.

According to information on the Pikes Peak Regional Building web site, “The main goal of the Department is to safeguard life and limb, health, property and public welfare by regulating and controlling the design, construction, quality of materials, use and occupancy, location and maintenance of all buildings and structures within all zoned areas of El Paso County through the enforcement of minimum building code standards.”

   If you enjoyed reading this article, why not Subscribe to be notified of the next one? 

To find out more information about buying a home in Colorado Springs or Manitou Springs, call ….

Search for Colorado Springs Homes

Related Articles

• 9 reasons to use a buyer’s agent to help you find a house
•  6 things to add to your budget when buying a house
• 10 questions to ask the Neighbors
• It’s taking longer

Real Estate buyers in Colorado Springs come in many varieties, each with their own special requests and their wish lists.  Some want a home for their retirement, others their first home, some are looking to relocate, some want to downsize, and yet others are looking for a second home    It’s important for all buyers to understand how to be a good real estate buyer.  Here’s my tips:

(1) Do your research.  The more you understand the housing market, real estate terms, and the buying process; the better you can make an informed decision.   Remember, not everything you read on the internet is correct and the real estate process is very different on a state by state basis.    Research, research, and then research some more.

(2) Be Realistic.  Yes, it is a Buyer’s market and yes prices are down, but that doesn’t mean every seller will accept an offer of 20 to 30% less than their asking price.   Your Realtor can provide you comps for most any neighborhood you are interested in which will help you access the asking price and what you would like to offer.   Also, it’s important to be realistic about bank-owned properties, banks will not give away their properties.

(3) Get pre-qualified by a reputable lender.   If you are really serious about looking at homes; make sure and know what you are qualified for.  If you are a cash buyer, be prepared to have access to your funds.   If you are only qualified for a $200,000 house; don’t look at $300,000 homes.

(4) Be prepared for other costs.   Once you get under contract, be prepared for inspection costs.   Never ever scrimp on inspections.

(5) Be Honest.   If you are not prepared to buy for 6 months or a year, tell your agent.   If you don’t have the down payment yet, tell your agent.   If you are going to use multiple Realtors, be honest, tell all the agents you are working with that you haven’t committed to one agent yet.

(6) Know what type of property you want.  If you want a bank-owned property, ask your agent to explain the process and the good and the bad.  If you want to buy a short sale, understand the process. 

(7) Remember real estate is local.  It doesn’t make any difference what the national news says or what the national web sites say; conditions vary locally and also vary neighborhood by neighborhood.

If you enjoyed reading this article, why not Subscribe to be notified of the next one? 

To find out more information about buying a home or an investment property in Colorado Springs area, call ….

Kathy (719-287-1049)   KTorline@msn.com

 Search for Colorado Springs Investment Property

Related Articles:

• Is Investing in Colorado Springs Real Estate for you?
• Analyzing real estate investments 
• 6 tips for purchasing Colorado Springs Investment Property
• FHA loans and fourplexes in Colorado Springs
• Location, Location, Location for Real Estate Investment Property
• The Perfect Storm, it’s time to buy Investment Property

There are (174) active listings of single family detached homes available for sale in the Colorado Springs area that are priced under $100,000!    Even though 34 of these are short sales, that still leaves 140 homes on the market that are less than $100,000.    I don’t have exact numbers, but several years ago, there were very few livable homes on the market that were priced under $100,000.

These homes range in price from $27,000 to $100,000, and from 480 square feet to 2600 total square feet.   Most have 2 to 3 bedrooms, and some also include garages.

Some of these active listings do qualify for FHA & VA financing, and some only offer Cash or Conventional financing.      Here are some of the areas where there are homes under $100,000:

• 33 Homes in Central Colorado Springs
• 12 Homes in Southwest Colorado Springs
• 4 Homes in East Colorado Springs
• 22 Homes in Southeast Colorado Springs
• 19 Homes in Fountain Valley (close to Fort Carson)
• 9 Homes in Powers area (close to Peterson Air Force Base)
• 9 Homes in Old Colorado City area of Colorado Springs
• 12 Homes in Southwest Colorado Springs (close to Fort Carson)

Whether you are buying your first home, or your first investment property, some of these homes are amazing deals.

If you enjoyed reading this article, why not Subscribe to be notified of the next one? 

To find out more information about buying a home or an investment property in Colorado Springs area, call ….

Kathy (719-287-1049)   KTorline@msn.com

Search for Colorado Springs Homes

Related Articles

• Colorado Springs on list of most affordable Homes in Colorado

Why should you care about Days on Market?  Why is this number important? Sellers know that the longer their house is up for sale, the less likely they have of being offered their asking price and are often willing to discuss a lower price.   Buyer’s often look at properties and want to know the Days 0n Market; and essentially the longer the property has been on the market, the more buyers think they are in a better negotiating position.

But just as important as the current days on market, is the trend for the days on market.   If the days on market continues to drop in a neighborhood, the market is starting to become more of a seller’s market in this particular area; and the more the days on market continue to increase, the more the housing market in this particular area becomes a buyer’s market.

Here’s some of the facts about days on market in Colorado Springs:

• Single Family homes in the Colorado Springs area lingered on the market this year 136 days as of June 30th versus 105 as of June 30th, 2010.
• It took an average of 31 days longer to sell single-family homes in the Colorado Springs area in June 2011 than it did in June 2010.
• The average days on the market for June was 90 days for the 2nd quarter in 2011 vs. 70 days for the same quarter in 2010.  
• Denver is currently at 86 days for a house to sale.   Phoenix is 106 days on market.  Las Vegas is 159 days.
• Breckenridge is 90 days.   Pueblo is 125 days.   Fort Collins is 59.   Aspen is 300 days.

I know I always write articles about real estate is local, but this chart really shows the differences in the Colorado Springs area.     The shortest days on market in the area is 78 days in the Southeast, which also happens to be one of the lowest priced areas in the city.  The highest days on market are in Black Forest and Manitou; which are areas where the house prices are above the average in Colorado Springs.

If you enjoyed reading this article, why not Subscribe to be notified of the next one? 

To find out more information about buying a home or an investment property in Colorado Springs area, call ….

Kathy (719-287-1049)   KTorline@msn.com

Search for Colorado Springs Homes

Related Articles

• 9 reasons to use a buyer’s agent to help you find a house
•  6 things to add to your budget when buying a house
• 10 questions to ask the Neighbors
• How accurate are real estate listings on the Internet?
• Embracing Technology

One of the many things I do when I’m getting ready to write an offer for a buyer, is to look at the property at the Assessor’s Office.  In El Paso County, the Assessor’s web site site, provides a wealth of information for perspective buyers.

In El Paso County, you can search by address, by a range or addresses, by Schedule Number, of by Last name.

Once you go to a specific Colorado Springs address, or schedule number, the web site will tell you the owner’s name, the owner’s mailing address; as well as it will give you the legal description of the property.   It also includes information on the assessed value.

Part II of this article, will show you how to find information on previous sale information, assessor maps, year built, and square footage.

Remember Knowledge is Power

If you enjoyed reading this article, why not Subscribe to be notified of the next one? 

To find out more information about buying a home or an investment property in Colorado Springs area, call ….

Kathy (719-287-1049)   KTorline@msn.com