Colorado Springs Real Estate Market Is Heating Up

Despite a miserable showing in January, the local market here in the Springs really is heating up. It is especially obvious when you work with buyers in the more popular price ranges ($200k plus or minus). Here is an example. Early this week one of my clients sent me a list of 10 homes they wanted to see this weekend. By the time Friday had arrived, 6 of them were under contract. They sent me 4 more on Saturday evening, and by Sunday one of those was also under contract. They found a house they really liked, and while we were still discussing writing an offer, the listing agent called to let me know they had an offer coming in. These sorts of things were not happening in the prior 6 months. The good news is that we got our offer in quickly, and were able to come to terms on the house.
While the real estate market is improving, there are still clouds on the local economic horizon. Our favorite Chilis at Powers and Union has announced they are closing on February 18. This is such a bummer for us, as it was one of the first restaurants to open in the northern section of Powers, and was a super convenient place to stop for lunch after church, a quick and easy meal on a week night, and with clients, especially when working in the Cordera area. My personal opinion is that is is a mistake, as there is a new very large apartment complex opening soon within walking distance, and if they only had given it more time, they would be doing fine. There is no shortage of restaurants in town, or even Chilis, but it is disappointing to have such a convenient family favorite close.

Yesterday was our annual awards ceremony at RE/MAX Properties. It was surprising to me that I came in #11 out of 275 agents, given that it really was a pretty tough year. I have hopes for a stronger 2008, and have mentioned the rationale for them in this space before, but they bear some repeating.
1. Interest rates are in the mid 5's, which is great
2. We are starting to get some of our troops home to Fort Carson who have been on deployment in Iraq
3. Fort Carson is growing
4. Some our private sector employers seem to be growing
5. Colorado Springs is an awesome place to live!
They are calling our weather today "the warm before the storm", with highs in the 50's today, and the 20's tomorrow. It's always interesting at least!
We celebrated our Valentine's Day a little early last night, with dinner at the New South Wales Restaraunt. I have to say we were a little disappointed. The food wasn't bad, it just wasn't special. I had the rib eye steak, and Holly had a fish with some kind of artichoke sauce on it. They had been closed for a while with all the construction at I25 and Nevada, and have only recently reopened. Hopefully things improve for them, it is really a good location, and the menu looked like it should be very good.

The new Chilis at Union and Powers (behind the new Target) is finally open! Actually it opened 2 weeks ago, but we finally got to eat there yesterday. We love Chilis, because they always have something for everybody, they are reasonably priced, and the food is consistently good. This one also has a great view out the front, though I did not have my camera at the ready to share it with everyone.
Merry Christmas!

We went to see the Tran-Siberian Orchestra last night at the Colorado Springs World Arena. It was amazing! Our kids all chipped in for a great evening of dinner and a concert for our Christmas gift. The World Arena is really a great venue, big enough for a show like this, but small enough to feel like you actually saw it. TSO puts on an amazing show (the lights and pyrotechnics are almost as great as the music), well worth seeing. We followed the concert with dinner at Sonterra, and it was fantastic as well. The food was delicious, and the service excellent. Every time we have dinner downtown, we ask ourselves why we don't do it more often, it was really a nice evening.
While on the subject of local cultural events, I really should mention the Pikes Peak Center . My wife and her mother really enjoyed seeing the Nutcracker performed there a couple of weeks ago, and it is a great and more intimate setting than the World Arena. The Colorado Springs Philharmonic Orchestra calls it home, and they offer a wonderful range of performances.

Today's Pike Peak View is from Black Forest, just south of Hodgen and Black Forest Road. Taken last winter after one of the bigger snows, it is a good sample of the views from this special area.

This month our "From Your Friends" program postcard was for a free lunch at Texas Land and Cattle. They are in the old Lonestar restaurant at Montebello and Academy. We like to test these, since they are mailed to all of our local past clients, and got a chance to last Saturday. Their smoked sirloin is a unique thing I have not seen (or tasted) anywhere else, and it was delicious. The sweet potatoes and the wedge salad at the Lonestar were always good, and it was nice to see those are on this menu as well.

What kind of winter we are going to have? It is supposed to be 70 or so and sunny again today, and stay warm for a few days. Starting the sprinklers back up is a pain, but we really have had a dry spell since we shut them off for the year, and it is getting tempting to turn them back on the longer this dry spell goes, despite the occasional overnight freezes.

We visited the Flying W Ranch for the dinner show Saturday night to celebrate my sister in law's birthday. It was great fun, and boy can those guys play! I've always enjoyed this particular local attraction as a true "western feeling experience", and once again it did not disappoint.

Speaking of not disappointing, the Broncos pulled it out in the final seconds on Sunday, what a nailbiter that was! I am a football fan, I'll make no excuses or apologies for it. I don't get time to follow college ball too well, but I do love the NFL. It is only about an hour's drive to Mile High (Invesco) and this year is particularly interesting with it being Jay Cutlers real debut as the new starting quarterback. It wasn't the best game we'll ever see, but it was exciting.

The weather has really changed. It is cool and gray today, rain in the forecast and breezy. It is the first morning I remember since spring that the temperature was below 50, so fall is giving us a little preview. I like the variety.

Saturday I showed property in the $150's. It had been a little while since I had shown in that price range (the median has been closer to $225 for some time), and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality. We saw several fairly nice houses in the Cimmeron Hills area in particular.

Fallish is the word I would use to describe today. Definitely NOT one of our 250 - 300 days of sunshine we normally get. Our morning walk was breezy (ok, downright windy), and the with temps in the 50's an overcast, it did not feel like a typical Colorado Springs summer day. Still, the flowers were very pretty, and a light jacket still did the job, and after all, we all need some exercise!
Tried a new place to eat last night, the Cubanican (Cuban cuisine), really enjoyed my meal (Ropa Vieja), and especially the plantains (fried bananas basically). It is nice to have the ethnic diversity we now have in our restaurants.