All new and ready for quick closing! This beautiful Pinon Valley tri-level has been updated for you! All new interior paint and carpet. New lighting and hardware in kitchen. Formal living room plus the added bonus of a lower level family room with fireplace. Three bedrooms and two baths. You’ll love the deck just off the master suite. Perfect for enjoying your morning cup of coffee!

The Pinon Valley area is known for its parks. Ute Valley Park is within walking distance. This park features hiking and biking trails for avid outdoor enthusiasts. The grassy Pinon Valley Park is the perfect place to take the kids and dog for a walk or to throw a frisbee. Schools for this home are among the highest rated in the city. Chipeta Elementary is very close and Holmes Middle School and Coronado High School are within a short drive.

This home offers the peace and quiet of the area while still being an easy drive to everything you need to get to. Contact me today for your private viewing.

In Colorado Springs we get to enjoy wonderful, clean drinking water. What a privilege it is to just go to the faucet and get cold water that tastes great. My Arizona friends are not so lucky. In Scottsdale, everyone has to have a water cooler with those big five gallon jugs of water. This drives me crazy! The cooler takes up space in the kitchen and the jugs are really heavy when you have to change them out.

Colorado Springs Utilities publishes reports on the water quality and sends them out in the billing statements.  The report can also be viewed online along with lots of other interesting data about our water.

The water we drink in Colorado Springs mostly comes from mountain streams. Sources near Aspen, Leadville and Breckenridge provide the crisp clean water that we many times take for granted. This water is stored in reservoirs on Pikes Peak while it waits to be used.  The fact that the water travels in underground pipelines makes me feel better. This keeps the water from contamination from herbicides and pesticides. The city also uses local surface and ground water sources such as wells and creeks.

We are very lucky to have such good water here! If you are planning amove to the city soon, don’t worry about drinking bottled water. Ours tastes great right from the tap!

Your home is overpriced

Buyers are very tuned into local market conditions. They know all about your competition and based on the many internet data systems that show current home values (correct or not), they know what they need to pay for a home. These buyers now control the market. They determine your home’s value. Realtors can come up with comparable sales to justify a value but that does not mean that buyers will pay that price. You can ask for the moon and set your listing price well above comparable properties in your neighborhood, but at some point it will be up to you, the seller, to accept what the buyer thinks your home is worth. Once the price is set, we need to monitor it closely.

Most real estate agents, and hence most qualified buyers, will see your listing in the first 30 days on the market. If the initial price is too high by as little as 5%, it will be duly noted and interest in your property will fizzle. You likely already priced out buyers who might have qualified for financing at a more reasonable price. Even if you manage to find a buyer at your inflated asking price, the property may not appraise at that figure and the financing will fall apart.

An overpriced house is like an overpriced sweater in a store at the mall. It becomes shopworn if it has been hanging there more than a few weeks. People overlook it and buy the newer inventory. Fresh pricing is a key part of the home selling process!

Staging is a must!

Today’s marketplace is competitive. Imagine that you are a buyer. Do you want to view homes that are dark and cluttered? No way! Buyers will stay much longer in a home that has been professionally staged for showings. Give your home a makeover and do it now! If you want to compete, you have to show an effort. New paint, carpet and a good cleaning can go a long way to help buyers take an interest in the property.

 You’re in a bad location

We all know the phrase “location, location, location.” The fact is that it’s true. Your location can’t be changed. If your home is on a busy street, reduce the price. If your home backs to apartments or a busy shopping area lower the price. If you are in one of the less popular school districts, price will be affected. The point is, location rules in real estate.

If your home’s location is less than desirable, your options are somewhat limited. You certainly can’t change your location but you might be able to do a bit of landscaping to help hide the problem. The key is to do the landscaping early. Trees don’t grow overnight. Plan ahead for best returns. The best way to compensate for a poor location is to reduce your asking price.

You chose the wrong listing agent

Sorry that this happened but it is common. Some agents will take a listing at any price just to have a sign in a yard. Some agents just put the house in the MLS and nothing else.  Again, the rules have changed. You need to make sure that you have a proactive Realtor with a high-tech marketing campaign. Also make sure your agent has a good reputation in the area. I try very hard to establish good relationships with my fellow agents. After all, they are really my biggest customers 

You have no ongoing marketing for your home

In this day and age, most home marketing is done online. We use a variety of channels to market our listings. Our listings are marketed using a combination of many portals such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. Our web site shows a page describing your home. Google instantly indexes our site to show all of our listings within minutes of them being posted. We have gotten very creative with ways to get the eyes of buyers on your home.  We can’t afford to just sit back and wait for something to happen!

Take action now! 

If you would like to talk to us about why your home is not selling or if you have not yet listed with an agent and want to make sure that your home does sell, contact us. We would love to help you achieve success!

Former Model in The Boulders Broadmoor

Great floorplan in this casual living home! Main level master suite. Newly finished wood floors. All new stainless appliance package. Large open dining room plus living room. Family room offers built-ins and walk out to patio for outdoor entertaining. You’ll appreciate the fully finished basement complete with wet bar, built ins and large open room for pool table or home theater. Five bedrooms and four baths. Over 4700 square feet.

Prestigious area with an easy commute to downtown, Fort Carson or Peterson AFB. Located in Cheyenne Mountain School District 12.   For your private showing contact us 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

A good home inspector will look at the quality and safety of the home including the basement. He may or may not check to see if the basement was finished with a building permit. Guess what–this info is available to the public online.

The Pikes Peak Regional Building Department web site has a feature that allows for an address search of any area property. The search will yield info on all of the building permits that have been pulled for that property. If there are no basement finish permits, this could indicate a future problem with the home. If no permit was pulled for the work then more questions need to be asked. The basement may look fine but the issue could be with what we cannot see.

The building department does periodic inspections during the construction process. The insures that the framing, electrical, plumbing etc. all were done according to the local building codes. If these inspections were not done, the new homeowner may be required to prove that the code has been followed to bring the permit current. This might require cutting into walls to show how the work was done.

Many buyers do see this as a major inspection issue. This is because when they get ready to sell in a few years, their new buyer might want the inspections to be completed. If not done, resale value can be affected. Safety can be greatly impacted if wiring or plumbing wa not done correctly. Just because your cousin Billy used to work in construction does not mean he is qualified to wire a basement properly!

Bottom line here is that all work done on a home needs to be properly inspected if it impacts the structure or safety of that home. A new deck require a permit. New kitchen cabinet installation does not. For more info on local building permit issues, contact me or leave a comment below.

This was the view of Pikes Peak yesterday as I dropped my son off at CSCS for his delayed start. This was the first day this year that we have have the delayed start. As I was on my way home, I was reminded of the exact reason that we have this program in our area. Two cars had been going too fast on the ice near Discovery Canyon School and collided, serving as a reminder to       other drivers to just take it slow.

What about closures?

In Colorado Springs, winter snows are just a fact of life. Schools do not want to close unless they really have to. They do build a few snow days into the yearly calendar but if those get used early in the season, kids may have to extend their school year to make up the lost days. My son’s school has an online program to keep kids current with their work in case of a snow day. He hates this idea since it keeps him from having what he calls a “real” snow day but I think it is a great idea.  The kids have to log onto the system and then do their work for the day and turn it in when they return to school.

How do you know when there is a delay or closure?

We usually know the night before a storm comes in if it is going to have an impact on school times. I try to set my alarm for 6 am or just a bit earlier so I can find out the latest school news. Every TV station will have the school and employer updates on the crawler on the screen. If there is a 2 hour delayed start, I can roll back over and sleep for another hour. If there is a total cancellation, I usually hear the grateful yell of my son who has just heard the news himself followed by a few more hours of quiet. Many school websites also have delay and closing info but the TV news system is the simplest for me.

What about winter driving?

You have to remember, I am a native of Colorado Springs so winter driving is not an issue for me. If you are planning an upcoming move to Colorado Springs, you will want to think ahead. Owning a four wheel drive vehicle is a big help in our area. We have up to ten inches of snow coming in the next few days to the northern part of the city. If I did not have my four wheel drive, it could be difficult to get out of my neighborhood. Once I am on the main streets and the highway, I have no problems. The major roads are plowed right away and also treated with a de-icing chemical. If you are in the market for a new car in your current city, do not buy a two wheel drive SUV! It will be useless here in Colorado Springs! The resale value will be so low since nobody wants that kind of vehicle here. I suggest trading your two wheel drive truck or SUV before you get here–you will thank me for this later!

How long will it last?

Our snow season will run from mid-October through the end of April. Remember, we live here at 7000 feet above sea level and Pikes Peak is right out our front door! The benefit to all of this snow is that we usually have plenty of water. Our water tastes great right out of the tap. Very few people buy water in this area. That would seem crazy! Our water comes right off Pikes Peak and is cold and clear. You will love it!

If you are thinking of a move to Colorado Springs in the future, contact me or leave a comment below. I am a native of the area and can tell you which areas get more snow than others! My area, Flying Horse Ranch, gets plenty but I love it! Hopefully you will adapt to the snow and love it too!

World class runners come from all over to compete in this race. The course begins at 6295 feet above sea level and rises to the top at 14,110 feet.

The winner of the women’s group this year was Anita Ortiz, with a time of 4:28.20. The men’s group winner was once again Matt Carpenter with a time of 3: 37:2. These people are in top running condition and have trained for many months/years to accomplish this feat.

I was interested to see that the oldest male runner that finished the ascent was 80 years old! My gosh–that is really something! I rode the train up Pikes Peak once and that was enough for me. This race is great for the Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs areas. It brings lots of attention to our beautiful mountain and community.

For more information on the race or if you are like me, the train…please post a comment here or call me at eSaleHomes Realty Inc. 719-264-7777