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This is has been updated by the bank and is now ready to move in and enjoy! All new paint and carpet in this beautiful custom home. Over 6400 square feet, 5 bedrooms and 5 baths. Top of the world views will wow you as you sit on the deck.

Main level library also has it’s own deck for taking a break during your reading. Luxurious master suite features fireplace, large bath and walk in closet.

This home is an entertainer’s dream! Very large kitchen, family rooms and main level formal spaces. Fully finished basement has room for game room, theatre and more!

Interested? Contact me for your private showing. This one is priced to sell! You won’t find a better opportunity in Colorado Springs right now!

Flying Horse Ranch living at it’s best!

This gorgeous Vantage rancher has so many upgrades and options to wow you! Dramatic entry with vaulted ceiling. Formal dining room. Gourmet cooks will appreciate the dream kitchen with granite counters and stainless appliances. Built-in computer center in casual dining area. Kitchen walks out to low maintenance covered deck with phenonenal views of the front range, Pikes Peak and USAFA! Perfect for a glass of wine or a cup of coffee after dinner.

Spacious master suite offers a see through gas fireplace, five piece bath and a walk-in closet to die for! Your guests will enjoy their bedroom and bath on the main level as well.

Walk-out lower level is perfect for entertaining. Custom wet bar looks out over the large family room plus a huge bonus area perfect for a pool table or game area. Two more bedrooms, a full bathroom and a convenient office nook round out the lower level. Plenty of storage is also available.

This home has so much to offer the discriminating buyer. The total square footage is just ove 4500 and there are 4 bedrooms and 3 baths. Membership to The Club at Flying Horse is available at an additional cost. The Club offers a Spa, Fitness Center, Golf  plus casual and formal dining. Contact me

What does this mean? Can I now unlock my doors at night? Probably not but it does confirm what I have always believed about our city. This is a great place to live all around! I feel safe going downtown to a restaurant with friends. Of course I don’t stay out that late and don’t frequent the downtown nightclubs that seem to have weekly incidents involving police. The places that I go, day or night seem to be safe and well lit.

The key here is to look at all of the factors that made up this safety study. Our air quality is excellent. We get the best water in the whole world cold and tasty right out of the tap. As for life expectancy, my grandfather was a Colorado Springs native (b.1900) and he lived to be nearly 99! Our clean living and penchant for fitness makes it easy to live a long time here.

The large military presence in this city gives financial stability to the region. Job losses are less than other cities due to our guaranteed military payroll every two weeks. We never boomed as much as other cities during the past ten years so our job losses have been much less than other areas similar to Colorado Springs.

Housing areas can be safe in most area of the city. Even in lower price ranges, a good safe home can be found. It all depends on who is assisting you in your search. I am a lifetime native of Colorado Springs. I know the areas that are most popular with buyers based on typical needs such as safety, convenience, schools etc. If you are considering a move to the area, feel free to contact me. I would love to assist you!

I made my monthly trip to the commissary this weekend and yes, it was worth it! For you who are civilians and reading this, you might want to just skip to the next post. This will not mean anything to you but for military people who are moving to Colorado Springs, this could have some meaning.

I do admit that I split my shopping between the King Soopers in my neighborhood and the USAFA commissary. I think that most people do that unless they happen to live on base. I don’t have time to drive up to the Academy if I am out of milk but definitely use the store for my big shopping.

As commissaries go this one at USAFA rates a 6 on a scale of 1-10. My dream store would have a much bigger selection and of course be just like my neighborhood grocery store. The store at Peterson AFB is much larger and nearly new but still has that “commissary” feel to it.

Things I like about the USAFA commissary:

Close to my house (I live in Flying Horse Ranch near the North Gate of USAFA).

Small and usually not crowded

Good selection of the basics that I like to stock up on

Things that I hate about the USAFA commissary:

The produce department is terrible! I just skip it other than maybe buying potatoes.

Holiday displays make this small store too crowded.

Not enough selection of certain items. This is typical of all commissaries so it’s not that big of a deal.

All in all, this store is a good one. When I was an active duty spouse, my first thing to locate when we made a PCS move was the commissary. Having a decent place to shop has always been important to me.  The store at USAFA certainly does meet my needs. If you plan to live in the northern part of Colorado Springs, this is the closest facility. The store at Peterson AFB is new and mega big but it is located on the far east part of the base and is about 40 minutes from my home. Just not worth it for me but for you it could very well be great.

Fort Carson has a wide variety of on post options for housing. The problem is the waiting list can be very long. There are 15 different housing communites on the Mountain Post. Some of  the homes are older but several communities have been built in the past few years. They look just like homes available for sale in Colorado Springs. The newer homes were all ready at the same time so if you think about it they would have had all new occupants at the same time. This means that there won’t be any availability for a while.

All of the housing at Fort Carson is managed by a private company, Balfour Beatty Communities. The curious thing is that this is not an American company. They are headquatered in the UK. I have to wonder why we could not find an American housing management company for our American troops! Typical for big government I guess.

All of the typical amenities are available for Fort Carson housing. They provide trash pick-up, recycling and utilities. The rent amount is equal to the service member’s monthly BAH. Really, now that housing is privatized you are just renting a home on post. For some, this represents a great convenience. For others, it means living under the watchful eye of the Army at all times. It just depends on what you like.

Currently, this is a great time to buy a home in Colorado Springs! Think about it–the home buyer credit has just been extended until Spring. Prices are low right now as are interest rates. A VA mortgage is fast and easy to obtain. Why not investigate buying a home? Colorado Springs is a wonderful place for military members to buy a home even if you plan to be here only 2 or 3 years. Many people choose to rent their homes when they PCS on to the next destination. This means your investment can continue to grow while you move on to a new post.

Cash Back for Military Members

We offer a great incentive for military home buyers. When you choose to work with eSaleHomes Realty to buy a home, we give you a cash incentive after closing. This can range from $500 to $3000 depending on the sales price of the home. Sure, other companies offer incentives as well. When you work with me, you get top-knotch service and the benefit of 20 years of local full time real estate experience. Other companies will just “assign” you to an agent. Don’t you want someone that you choose?

For information on how you can buy a home near Fort Carson, feel free to contact me. I am very familiar with the stresses of a PCS move. There are so many ways that I can assist you with the transition from your current destination to your new one at Fort Carson.

We made the top 40 in something! Yippee! Actually, Business Week magazine just named Colorado Springs number 24 in the Top 40 Strongest U.S. Metro Economies. The article gives facts about our gross metropolitan product (down 2.7% over last year) and home sales. According to the author, home sales were flat as compared to the same time last year. Flat? That sounds, well, flat.

Actually in this case flat is a good thing. Compared to other cities in the US, we are not doing too bad in our real estate market. Colorado Springs was never as much a boom town as other areas were. Think of cities like Phoenix. Their market has declined as much as 30% in some areas with more room to fall as more Alt-A loans begin to reset. In this case our being flat is a thing to cheer!

Our market remains fairly stable in most parts of the city. I have to believe that this is due to a very steady payroll coming into play every two weeks from the five military installations here. The military is key to our success and survival. As the overall economy improves, other businesses will consider moving to the area for many reasons.

We have a great quality of life here! think about it–we drive to work every day with a view of Pikes Peak. I don’t even have to drive to work to see it since I work from home. My loft/office has a perfect view of the mountains and I love it! Our water and air are clean. Schools are great and offer many educational options from pre-school to Ph.D programs.

We don’t have the high excitement levels that many large cities have. No beach, no Broadway theater (don’t even try to compare a traveling version of Mama Mia at the Pikes Peak Center to Broadway), low crime, no real high rise buildings. I am fine with all of that. That’s why God gave us DIA. If I want to go to the beach or to see James Gandolfini on Broadway, I can easily do it. The good news is that I don’t have to breathe smoggy air or drive in traffic on a daily basis.

Now for a long distance dedication (you can tell that I was an AM radio geek in the 70’s). This post goes out to the cities that didn’t make the top 40 this week. So sorry but right now Colorado Springs is THE place to live, work and play. Good job CS!!