FHA Loan Limits Finally Back To Reality

Colorado Springs has never been a town whose real estate prices were blown way up with speculation. Many of the sales here tend to be owner occupied, and either FHA or VA, which is the last real "low down" financing options out there. The trouble has been that FHA loan limits were reduced to only $271,000 late last year, really putting a damper on the low down (3.5%) financing option. The limits are now back up to $325,000 in El Paso County effective late this week, enabling thousands of buyers to look at homes that their down payments otherwise would not have provided for. Many areas of town don't really have too many homes under $271,000, so this should be a big help for areas such as Briargate, where the average inventory is at $354,000.

Speaking of Briargate, I listed a nice home this week in the Wedgewood area of Briargate. Priced at $309,900, it has excellent views nicely updated, good sized at 4 bed 4 bath 3100+ sf finished, and very close the mall, Rampart HS, Parliament Park, Focus on the Family, etc. It has brand new Corian counter tops with molded sink, many new Pella windows, nice hardwood floors throughout the main level, and a huge master with a 5 piece bath. Here is a link to more information: 8330 Sutterfield Dr Please call me at 719-331-7675 if you'd like to see it!

Water Supply Key to Growth

One of the ongoing local political struggles is something called the Southern Delivery System, an ambitious project to pipe water from the Arkansas River up to Colorado Springs. The city has the water rights, but the not the means to deliver it - yet. A backup route was approved yesterday by Fremont County that makes it more likely than ever that it will happen, effectively keeping the city of Pueblo from having a veto over the project.
In a climate that yields less than 16 inches a year of precipitation, water is important. Our water supply is primarily melting snow from the mountains west of here, and the Arkansas River happens to drain some very high snow producing terrain. Battles over water rights have waged for decades all over the west, and the competing interests of growing population centers, recreational users and agriculture all have merit. My hope is that this settles out with a good balance that preserves something for everyone, and does not end up as a big "win - lose".
The dry warm weather we are having this winter here in the Springs (it was 65 yesterday, and will be over 60 again today) is not helping the water supply. People are going to be watering their lawns if we don't get some snow!

It's Good to Be Home

We went to Lake Tahoe this weekend for a wedding. It was gorgeous (always has been, always will be), and it was great to see our California based extended family. We stayed on the north shore on the Nevada side, and I missed the non-smoking environment we have gotten used to here. Our kids commented on how similar they felt the scenery was to our own mountains, although Colorado does not have a lake the size of Tahoe.
In getting home last night, I really appreciated how good the airline connection was (less than 2 hours in the air from Reno to Denver, nonstop on United), and how well traffic flowed.
We have had a REALLY dry and mild winter here so far, and it continues with a 60 degree day again today.

First Time Homebuyers Can Use the Help

Ever since they did away with down payment assistance last fall, we've had an issue for 1st time homebuyers. While many here in the Springs are eligible for zero down VA financing, there is a substantial group that is not. FHA financing requires 3.5% down, which is not awful. Sellers have always been able to help with closing costs, and that has not changed either. Still, the new stimulus package makes it nice for buyers to be able to tap their tax payments for up to $8000 to make it happen, and the new provisions make it so that this does not have to be paid back. For people who have plenty of equity, this won't be any help, but it does help some younger buyers 'get into the game' and may free up some 'move up' buyers who needed to sell their homes before they could buy something. We'll see how much real impact it has, but I know I am working with some first time homebuyers who will definitely like the help!

Qualifiying For A Loan Is Not Always Easy

These days there are lots of misconceptions about how hard it is to get a loan to buy a house in Colorado Springs. But not all of rumors are UNtrue either. Yesterday we got burned by an issue that has hurt many a loan before - what will a lender consider as income.
It is commonly known that self employed borrowers have the toughest time getting a loan, because after all, small businesses are sometimes risky, and subject to lots of ups and downs. But some employees are being treated as if they were self employed these days, and that is where the 'sucker punch' comes from.
The test that the lenders use is simple. Is your income reported on a 1099, or is it on a W-2? If you get a W-2 that documents your income, congratulations, you win major bonus points for the It's Easy To Get a Loan game. Assuming your credit scores are good, you don't have a lot of debt, and the income that is documented is sufficient, you are a likely winner. But no matter how good your credit score, how high your income, how low your debt, if you are a 1099 person, you need 2 years of tax returns from the 'business' you are deriving your livelihood from before they will consider it real. Even if it is guaranteed by contract. Even if it is in a field of expertise you've been in for a long time. No exceptions. This can really hurt someone who is in any number of fields where in fact the employer simply does it that way to avoid some payroll taxes and insurance, like some truckers, some construction workers, some technology workers, etc.
What is the answer? In general, it is best to qualify and purchase before setting out in a new direction, even if it means taking a little less pay for a while in exchange for the security of the W-2. Once you have the house, it is far easier to make major changes in your compensation structure or even line of work. Otherwise, a co-signer is likely your only fall back. If you are considering going to work in a 1099 environment that should really be a W-2 (there are surprisingly many of these), consider negotiating a slightly altered deal, where the employer can recover some of the payroll processing costs in exchange for you getting paid with a "real" paycheck. It might make the difference between owning a home or not.

Fun Isn't Always Expensive

While my favorite sport, golf and skiing, are not exactly cheap, one of our other pastimes is watching movies (yes I'm a big Netflix fan), and Saturday night we learned a good inexpensive way to do that at the theater. The Picture Show at Citadel Crossing in southern Colorado Springs is a theater that specializes in taking movies that have finished in the mainstream theaters, and making them available on the big screen for a small price - $1.50 to be exact. No, the seats aren't as nice as Cinemark, and the pop corn is just as pricey, but we saw Australia, which was gone from the theaters too quick to be able to catch it for us.
The other thing we discovered this weekend was Borriello Brothers Pizza, a New York style local operation that has been expanding. Their new store at Research and Powers makes a good replacement for Rotelli's (who used to occupy their space), a nice little Italian place still functioning at some other locations, but no longer so close. I really enjoyed the 5 Boroughs combination, the thin crust and unique cut to the fresh Italian sausage was really good. We are normally Papa Murphy's fans (the take and bake thing works for us), but this was a nice alternative, I'll do it again.

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.

Ground Hog's Day

No, Ground Hog's day is not really a big deal here in Colorado Springs. Generally, he would always see his shadow here, because we get so much sunny weather. January and February are our driest months, with plenty of sun. This week is no exception, and we are now looking at some warm temps as well, with highs around 60 for a chunk of the week. While we could use some more snow, you won't find me complaining, this is so much better for showing property! Our snowiest months are March and April, I'm sure we'll see some more by then.
While it feels very busy, and the model home sites seem to be seeing an uptick in traffic, January statistics are likely going to show home sales down another 20+% from last January, and prices will take another hit, down 12-15%. Part of the problem seems to be the nature of the closing cycle, some of our higher end sales are under contract but not yet closed, and many January closings were written in December. February should be much better. We've had some very low interest rates for the last few weeks (although heading up a little), and the lending system has had a bit of rush to keep up.
That was quite a Super Bowl yesterday. I managed to see most of it after showing property all day and writing a contract, and unlike some years, this one was a great game no matter who you were rooting for.

The troops are coming home! Another group of a couple hundred arrived again this week. Fort Carson is scheduled to grow over the next few years, but even more importantly, many of the troops who have been deployed over the last 6 years will get a chance to be home again. Colorado Springs has a huge military presence, but of our 5 bases (Fort Carson, Cheyenne Mountain, Shriever Air Force Base, Peterson Air Force Base and the US Air Force Academy), the largest by far is Ft Carson, with over 30,000 troops scheduled to be based there by 2011.
We've got a couple of nice days again (50's) before it gets cold for Super Bowl Sunday. I thought I'd get a shot with a dusting of fresh snow on the Peak before it warms up too much and melts whatever we have. This shot was from a couple of days ago, from the front porch of a new listing of mine in Cordera. At $393,000, it is a very nice rancher that is only a few months old, over 3,000 sf finished, with a nice view from the front porch.

Short Sales - Not All They're Cracked Up to Be

This past weekend I showed a LOT of short sale properties. In the lower price ranges for Colorado Springs, the percentage of properties that are in some level of distress is much higher than in more expensive price ranges, (under $150k it is 1/3 of the homes in our MLS). The problems with short sales are multiple.
1. You don't know if you get the house for quite a while, even if the seller likes your offer. You can wait for weeks to find out that even though the seller likes it, their bank doesn't, and you are back to square 1
2. Many sellers in short sale situations have no real intention of trying to make things work, and so they make it intentionally difficult to show their homes (must be present, short showing window, 24 hour notice, no showings during the week, etc)
3. Some of the agents listing short sale properties are playing games with pricing, using listing prices that they know will not work in hopes of generating calls and showings and multiple offers, with no expectation that the house will sell at the price in the listing. This is pretty hard on first time home buyers or someone who is buying the house to live in, because it really means the house is not in their price range. This happened to my own buyers twice this weekend (separate buyers), where a house was such a good deal they wanted to write, only to find out the property had been bid up 10-20% higher than the list price anyway. The irony is that the sellers lender may still not approve the transaction at the higher amount. In both cases the properties were listed at less than 2/3 what the seller owed to the bank.
4. The house is almost always "as is". For VA and FHA financing, even something as small as peeling paint can blow up a deal, and with short sales, the deferred maintenance can go WAY beyond peeling paint
If you are buying for investment only, have some cash on the side to do repairs, have patience and time to deal with the vagaries of short sales, they can be a great opportunity. If not, they can be the source of a lot of headaches.
The sun is out again today, and the temps should be back into the 40's, about average for this time of year.

New Life Church - When Can We NOT Be In The News?

This week's new revelations about former pastor Ted Haggard from New Life Church saddened me from a couple of perspectives. Besides the obvious sorrow over a fallen leader, selfishly, as a New Life member for the last 10 years or so, I would like our church to be OUT of the news. First it was Ted's grandstanding antics as pastor, and then it was his "indiscretions", then it was the shootings, now it's more revelations of Ted's bad behavior. Personally, I am so ready for people to be able to come to church and just worship learn more about God, and not be dealing with this junk. Brady Boyd has done a stellar job so far, and his sermon on forgiveness this week was spot on (you can hear it at www.newlifechurch.org). I am sure this season will pass completely some day.
The weather took a nasty turn to cold this weekend. It was in the teens all day yesterday, and last night's snow was not in the forecast at all. It is a sunny, sparkly day today, and maybe I'll get some photos to share of how pretty Pikes Peak is with a new mantle of white!

A New Record for Colorado Springs?

Yesterday we set a new weather record here, with a 70 degree high temperature that made it feel like June instead of January. It won't last of course, but this week of incredible warm, pleasant sunny days has been a nice little break in what can be a cold month. The ski areas are ready for some more fresh powder, it is due this weekend from what they are saying. After seeing the record COLD temperatures in the eastern half of the country, it is nice to be on the other end of that.
The warm temperatures have made it very pleasant for showing property as well, which I have been doing quite a bit of. There are some great "spec" homes available at the moment in Cordera, as well as Indigo Ranch / Ridgeview at Stetson Hills. In uncertain times, builders that have some completed inventory take all the risk out of the new construction process, because the house is done, you don't have possible delays, and (heaven forbid) if the builder fails or pulls out of town, the house is already done so you aren't left hanging. Builders also make their best deals on completed homes, since they now have a sizable investment already made in them, and they tie up lines of credit.

Another One Bites the Dust

The big news nationally is the inauguration, but locally in the Colorado Springs real estate community, the buzz is about John Laing homes closing up shop here in Colorado. New construction is obviously hurting all over the country, and it is no different here. John Laing has had 4 communities they were building in here of late, and they join Lennar, Beazer Homes, Pulte Homes (single family), Reflection Home Building, Anthony Homes and a few others in leaving the area or going under. I have personally never sold one of their homes, not because they aren't good, but because the price point and amenities offered never seemed to match up for my clients. Fortunately their competitors can easily pick up the slack.

Colorado Skiing Can Still Be Affordable

Martin Luther King's birthday is an important event on the Colorado ski calendar. With thousands of kids getting a day off school just after the snow really starts to get good, it's no wonder. This weekend we ventured up to Ski Cooper, a small, family friendly resort where the ticket window price is still only $42 ($33.25 at King Soopers!), and ski rentals only $15. Less than 3 hours from the Springs, it is one of the only resorts that are on the Arkansas River watershed side of the Continental Divide, and also one of the only resorts that does not make any snow. Not a problem for us yesterday, the snow was great, and despite being a Sunday on a holiday weekend, it was not very crowded. I liked this a lot better than Monarch, a similar sized resort to the south, mainly because the lift setup seemed much more efficient, the runs seemed longer, and the scenery was amazing for the relatively small size of the resort.
We chose this smaller resort of mostly green and blue runs mainly because my wife had just decided she wanted to try skiing again after taking almost 15 years away from it. With equipment advances, she had been hearing how much easier it is now, and she was not disappointed. She was "cruisin the blues" with confidence by the days end, and we can now enjoy MY favorite sport together again! I'm sure we'll visit this little gem of a resort again, especially if we've got any newbies with us, or if it is another holiday weekend.
We came back to some really warm weather, and it looks like we are in for a few days in the 60's this week. January is not normally a big golf month here (it can be hard to spot your ball in the snow... :-), but I'm guessing the courses will be busy, especially today, the official MLK holiday.

Back To "Normal"

The holidays are officially over - our last house guests left yesterday morning. It has been a busy beginning to the new year, and it was kind of nice to just "chill" a little yesterday after church, including a nice Indian lunch with our daughter before her going to back to college for the new semester.
The NFL playoffs were kind of weird, only 1 in 4 home teams won despite generally being heavily favored. It shows once again that on any given Sunday... Our big news of course is that the Broncos signed Josh McDaniels as their new head coach. I am still not 100% convinced that firing Mike Shanahan was the answer to their problems to begin with (they never asked me:-), so we'll see. Any one of either a decent kicker, some healthy running backs, or some healthy and fired up players on defense would probably have gotten the job done this year (to at least have made the playoffs), but I guess you could fairly lay all of that on the coach.
The Golden Globes were kind of lame last night, and I have decided that I just won't watch such things again. They add an hour of commercials into what is really 30 minutes of content plus another 30 minutes of bad humor and other filler, I would have enjoyed playing with our new Wii a lot more.
We woke up to 2 or 3 inches of fresh snow this morning. It was sunny and cold yesterday, and we had not really expected either the snow, or the fact that they did not delay school for it. They (correctly) assumed it would clear out quickly and quit snowing, and it did, although I suspect my wife will be going nuts with her classroom full of kindergartners all stuck inside for recess.

A Better Year in Colorado Springs

Low interest rates promise to make this a better year for Colorado Springs real estate. While we don't know how low or for how long, the current rates are around 5%, which is unbelievably great. Add that to the great selection and prices we currently have, this will definitely be a better year. Yesterday we were out at the model homes in Cordera, and I was blown away by the price reductions the builders have done to make things move.

I usually have a camera in the car, and yesterday on the way back to my office, I saw a fox run across the road in front of me into a vacant field next to the Focus on the Family campus in Briargate. He (or she?) was going too fast to get anything very close up, but I kind of liked this shot with the Garden of the Gods in the very distant background. It was such a beautiful warm day (sunny and 60), I'm sure he was out jogging with everyone else in town!

December Colorado Springs Real Estate Sales Statistics

The preliminary numbers are in, and it was another brutal month on the statistics front, at least for sellers. In summary:
Unit Sales - down 23.1% from last December
Average Price - down 10.5% from last December
Median Price - down 16.2% from last December
The inventory of unsold units has dropped to its lowest level in 2 years, giving some hope that once we sell through the backlog of foreclosure properties, things should bounce back fairly well. Interest rates are great, prices are great, selection is great, so this is a great time to buy a house in Colorado Springs! Even the weather is great, it was almost 60 again yesterday!
For more complete statistics, click here.

End of the Year 2008

Today was too nice a day not to get some outdoor stuff done, so I got my hot tub drained and cleaned this morning. Mid 50's, sunny, you can't beat it! I'd take down my Christmas lights too, but I have a thing about taking them down too early, it just does not seem right. I hate for Christmas to be over, when you get right down to it!
This was not a great year by some measures. Colorado Springs real estate sales, which is how I make my living, were down significantly. The line between making a living and not making a living can get a little blurry in these times! My mother in law's health problems have been an interesting new season for us. And I lost my own dad at New Years last year, so the year started with a pretty major funeral in our family history. And the Broncos and the Rockies both missed the playoffs (ok, not that big a deal).
But even a tough year had some nice silver linings. My 2 oldest sons completed some important educational milestones this year. Our newest granddaughter, Ashley was born. We have all been pretty healthy. We have survived the toughest year economically that I can remember. Heck, I even got a Wii for Christmas! Life is good in Colorado Springs :-)

Christmastime in Colorado Springs

We had a wonderful Christmas at the Van Wieren home this year, we hope yours was as well. We spent Christmas Eve at a candlelight service at New Life Church, and then a low key meal and a sampler of gifts with part of the family.

Christmas Day itself started with coffee and cinnamon rolls at home, and then a visit to my mother in law at the Life Care rehabilitation facility, where she is getting stronger and healthier by the day. We took today's photo there. She opened some gifts, and then we headed home to put on a beef roast and open gifts with everyone.

My kids were amazing, in that they decided, despite the tough economy and their own thin resources, to all chip in on a Nintendo Wii for me! I am a little famous for not giving very reasonable ideas for Christmas gifts, and I'm afraid they took me literally on this one. It is SOO much fun though, we are all enjoying it immensely, and it was such a complete surprise!

The weather here was dry, sunny and mild for Christmas day, and continues to be sunny, though not even 30 here today. We'll see 50 again for the next several days, so despite the mountains getting hammered with snow, we probably will lose what little had hung around from the last storm. The days are already getting longer, and the sun stronger.

Like in most places in the country, the malls were packed the day before and after Christmas. One of my sons works at Chick Fil A at Chapel Hills, and he has been very busy over the holidays.

Happy New Year!

WOW!

I have never seen an interest rate drop flow into the mortgage market as fast as this one has. The 3/4% rate cut by the Fed almost immediately flowed in to the mortgage market. My daily quote on 12-17 that I get from Dana Hines at Adams Bank was 4.75% with .25 discount point, and no origination fee.

I talked to someone who had been on an ARM for quite a while, and he told me that he had refinanced earlier in the year into a fixed, but the lender had stuck him with a 3 year prepayment penalty. These should be outlawed if you ask me, (which the congress never does). I have seen some pretty ugly scenes where unscrupulous loan officers have stuck unsuspecting clients with these things, locking them into situations that are just not right. A 2 or 3% penalty for moving or refinancing is just not neighborly!

Today's photo is of my grandson, Tyler, at his preschool's Christmas program last week. Some of our favorite memories of Christmas when the kids were growing up, were these kinds of programs. While his sheep outfit isn't going to win any Academy Awards for Costume Design, it was really fun to see the next generation repeating a great tradition!

Free Money?

The Fed's surprise decision to lower rates by 3/4 instead of 1/2 a point yesterday makes the cost of money for banks darn near free. So how do I get me some of that action? :-) It shows how serious they think the economic problems are, and that is good, because they are serious. Unemployment here in Colorado Springs is close to the national average at the moment, but may be rising with the newly announced layoffs at Atmel.
The ski season technically started over a month ago, but the mountains are finally getting a good series of storms, just in time for the holidays. The weather in the mountains is very different than it is here on the plains, despite the fact that Pikes Peak (at 14,110 ft) is so close. We often have sunny, breezy weather here when it it is dumping at the resorts 2 hours drive away (they expect 1-2 feet in the next 48 hours). It makes for a nice thing, in that we don't drive around in a lot of snow, but we can get to it fairly quickly when the mood strikes. Christmas Day looks like it will not be white, currently forecast for a high of 48 degrees and partly sunny. These things change quite a bit, so I'm not banking on THAT one yet, but since we hardly EVER have snow on Christmas, it isn't too far fetched.

The Big Chill

It was really cold here in Colorado Springs this weekend. Well, at least on Sunday and Monday. The weather was a fairly balmy and clear 50 degrees or so on Saturday (that was good, since I was out showing property most of the day :-), and then a cold front came through that dropped us into negative temps (it was -10 on our way to Denver airport on Sunday night!). Sometimes when it gets so cold, even with little snow, they will cancel or delay school, but not this time. The very cold temps with 3 inches of fresh snow had reasonable good traction to it. Although it was clear and sunny yesterday, it was still single digits most of the day. Thankfully it was already 25 degrees this morning, and warmer is expected, so like most weather here, whether you like it or not, it does not last long!
The Denver Broncos playoff prospects took a little hit on Sunday, with their loss to Carolina and San Diego's amazing comeback against Kansas City. If the Broncos don't win the division, it will be the most spectacular late season swoon in my memory anyway. They went into the game on Sunday with a 3 game lead with 3 games left, we'll see how it plays out.

Colorado School Report Cards Are Out

This week the state released the annual School Accountability Report. The Colorado Department of Education keeps some pretty good information on their web site (www.cde.state.co.us). They have tons of stats on every school (not just district) in the state, and this report kind of sums things up. One of the first criteria (after price range!) we recommend to buyers when looking for a home, is the school district. Everyone has to decide for themselves what is the most important aspect of that, and raw test scores are certainly not the whole picture. But the summary report in the Gazette on Tuesday (when this report was released) had some interesting tidbits.
1. On scale from Low to Excellent, some school districts came in with every school either High or Excellent, while others did not have a single school at that level. Academy D20 had all High and Excellent except for their alternative high school, Aspen Valley. Cheyenne Mountain D12 had all Excellent, except for Pinon Valley and Skyway were "only" rated High. The same for Lewis Palmer D38, only Grace Best and Palmer Lake Elementary were rated High, all their other schools were rated Excellent. Falcon district 49 had quite a few schools rate High, but no schools achieved Excellent. Harrison D2 had only one school that even rated High (James Irwin Charter School), and no schools that were rated Excellent. D11 has a huge number of schools, and only 6 were rated excellent. Of their 5 high schools, 3 were rated High (Palmer, Coronado and Doherty), and 2 were rated Average (Mitchel and Wasson)
2. Charter Schools (which we have been involved with for 13 years, my wife teaches at the Classical Academy) continued overall to do quite well, but it depended on the theme. The "academically rigorous" schools that include (for example) Cheyenne Mountain Charter, The Classical Academy, Monument Academy, Rocky Mountain Classical Academy, Colorado Springs Academy, Colorado Springs Early Colleges, etc all were rated High or Excellent. The more experimental and / or alternative schools did not do quite as well.
3. While there is not a really great set of statistics to back this up, the average home prices in these areas correlates pretty well with the school achievement levels. Cheyenne Mountain Schools District D12 has the highest home prices (avg $518k this year), Lewis Palmer D38 the 2nd highest ($411k), and Academy School District 20 the 3rd highest ($339). D49 was $233k, while D11 was only $203k. Which came first, home prices or school performance? Conventional wisdom and some national statistical analysis shows socioeconomic levels play a huge part in educational achievement. Where the parents are wealthier and better educated, the kids usually follow suit with better test scores.

Snow Day

Today was a snow day for Academy D20 schools in Colorado Springs. Because a portion of the district is in Black Forest, where the snow is typically deeper, more windblown, and in general not school bus friendly on snowy days, they tend to close or have late starts a little more often than for example, Colorado Springs School District 11, where it snows less, melts quicker, and is almost entirely city maintained streets. My wife loves these kinds of days, because as a school teacher at the Classical Academy in D20, she gets a day to catch up on other things, like wrapping Christmas presents, etc. Best of all, because we live more in town, the roads are usually not bad enough to really stay home, so she can even do some shopping! In the case of today, we probably had 3 or 4 inches in Briargate, and the sun is shining now, though it is only 23 degrees by noon! I usually work from home on these kinds of days anyway. Unless someone needs to sign something that requires an original signature, email phone and fax work just fine.
We have all wheel drive on both of our cars. For years I drove only front wheel drive, and occasionally got studded tires, but often a dry winter would just wear out the studs, and the extra traction was seldom an issue. The bigger problem with cars and winter driving in Colorado Springs is more stopping than going, and while the AWD tends to make the car handle better on snow and ice, my son managed to hit a curb last week with my wife's because he had not slowed enough for turn. Realignment is often required with these sort of mishaps, and in this case a new wheel as well, because the old one was bent. Yet another good reason to stay home until the roads melt a bit, often just an hour or 2 is all it takes!
Interest rates are holding in the mid 5's at the moment, exciting since usually these kinds of dips only last a day or 2 in this volatile market.

Yesterday's service at New Life Church in Colorado Springs was pretty somber, and yet hopeful and healing, as we commemorated the anniversary of the shooting death of 2 of our young members 1 year ago. It was an amazing service really, and Pastor Brady Boyd did a great job covering the subject of Good Grief (available for online listening at the New Life link above). David Works, who lost 2 of his daughters and was himself wounded, spoke for a few minutes, and then Pastor Brady delivered his sermon. The church is dedicating a memorial to Rachael and Stephanie Works tomorrow afternoon. Because the church is so large, this tragedy affected many people, and listening to a father share about the loss of his daughters a year ago, just before Christmas, drew tears from many of us, myself included.
You can see from today's photo (taken yesterday) that the meltoff from our last storm is pretty complete in all but the north facing yards. It is pretty common for the sunny areas to get melted and dried up fast, one of the better arguments for a south facing driveway. Today we are under a winter storm watch, we'll see what this one does.

Colorado Springs is having an "up and down" winter so far. We've had a couple snow events since Thanksgiving, but we are in our 2nd day above 50 this weekend, before another snow event tomorrow night. It makes some interesting observations as your drive around town as well. I was driving by Patty Jewett golf course yesterday with my windows down, and noticed a number of people playing. When I got back to the house in Briargate, 15 minutes north, there is still snow hanging around on the ground almost everywhere except the streets and south facing driveways. I think I better get my lights up while the getting is good, I'm guessing the opportunities are diminishing as time goes along :-)

The Christmas gift of dropping gas prices every week seems to have run its course. After hitting a low of $1.429, we are up to $1.499 at our favorite station.

Today's photo is another from several years ago of the foxes that hand out at Patty Jewett. While I took this quite a while ago, my recollection was that there is a golf ball in his mouth.

Colorado Springs foreclosure and distressed properties are not as prevalent as in some areas of the country, but we have our share. Last month the bank owned and distressed properties made up 34.5% of our sales, which is why prices appear to be down so far. When digging behind the numbers, I discovered something interesting (at least to me!). Homes with more than 2500 finished square feet were only 14.5% of the "distressed" sales, and when looking for more than 3000 finished square feet, it was only 9.3% of the mix. What that means to me is that our averages are being drawn down a lot by homes that are both distressed and on the smaller side. Larger homes are not as big a part of either the distressed "pool", or of the kinds of homes being sought by investors or bargain hunters. Homes that have larger areas for living space are much more likely to be a normal sale, and likely to be owner occupied after sale.

The El Paso County Trustee's office does a nice graph of foreclosure trends for Colorado Springs, here is the link to the current report: El Paso County Foreclosure Report

We got a dusting of snow overnight, but it is expected to pick up a bit during the day, with another couple of inches supposedly coming. Given how cold it is (it was 18 degrees this morning), it is very light and more "broom" type than shovel type snow.

Today's photo was taken from Highway 9 south of Hoosier Pass in June. I thought of it as ski season is finally getting underway, with over 30 inches of base at many resorts. I like it closer to 40 myself, as the rocks are still showing some at 30, but with it being all nice and fresh, I am getting the itch to go! Vail reportedly got 24 inches this week, there should be some nice stashes of powder for while now. I love the web cams they have at many resorts, here is Copper Mountain's.

Preliminary data on Colorado Springs real estate sales in November indicate unit sales for single family homes are down 25.2% from last year, and the average price of $215,470 was 14.5% below last November. These are not good numbers, but keep in mind that the election was pretty much on every one's mind during the October period when most of these sales were put together (or should have been putting together:-). Also, interest rates have improved quite a bit, to 5.5% in the last week, so there is at least some reason to be optimistic about the future! For more details about Colorado Springs Homes Sales Data Trends, click in the link on menu on the right side of this screen.
The weather has turned cold and gray, with snow in the forecast. Quite a bit melted off yesterday in the 60 degree sunny breezy weather, but not all of it. Once again, they are not predicting a lot of snow, but we'll see....
Yesterday we did the inspection on a bank owned property that is only 2 years old, scheduled to close this month. With the house being so new, we were kind of surprised to find a problem with a tankless water heater the prior homeowner had installed. In El Paso County, you are supposed to get a building permit and inspections for this sort of thing, and they did not do either. The new buyer is extra handy and knowledgeable of such things, so it was not a show stopper, but it goes to show how even newer construction can have quirks. This could have been a major safety issue for a buyer, as the venting for both water heaters was partially disconnected, allowing exhaust gases into the living areas.
I could not decide on a photo for today, so I left it off. I'd love to hear suggestions of things you may want to see photos of!

Over a foot of snow in Black Forest! The Colorado Springs weather forecasters even admit they really missed this one, they were predicting 1 inch originally. Living in Colorado Springs means living with snow and uncertain weather forecasts sometimes. There are a few easy coping mechanisms.

1. Don't sweat it. If you have to postpone something because of weather, try to enjoy it and don't fret, it's part of the "spice of life".

2. Be prepared for it. Even when the weather man gets it wrong, they usually have a clue something is going on. During the winter season, bring an extra layer of clothes, never leave without coat, hat and gloves, throw boots and a shovel in when going out in questionable weather. It all improves your odds of not being as impacted even if you do get stuck. Stock up the cupboards. There is no point in getting stuck in the snow during a storm just because you need an extra cup of sugar or gallon of milk.

3. Remember that "this too shall pass". After a foot of snow on Sunday, it is a beautiful blue sky day today, and we are expecting 60 degrees by tomorrow. Although it won't all melt off this late in the year, it will definitely be less of an issue, and the roads will be cleaned off pretty well.

Today's photos are of some trees in our back yard this morning that caught some nice snow. What a great way to begin December and the Christmas season!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Colorado Springs. After some teaser snow storms just after Thanksgiving, we got a real one today - and as usual, they did not predict it. I would guess maybe 8-12 inches? It was nice fluffy stuff, perfect powder for skiing, and easy to shovel, thankfully! My wife and college age son are hoping for a snow day tomorrow, we'll see. If it quits early enough in the evening, the plows get the school bus routes cleared, they will have school anyway. It could still be a late start though. That is when the kids don't go in until 10 or so, to give the plows a chance to do their job. It should be a gorgeous morning, with fresh snow and sunshine.
Hope your Thanksgiving was as good as ours! We had our usual family group, less a couple of families (between work, hospital stays and in laws, it gets harder as time goes on to have everyone at once), and had some guests who were new to the Springs, so it was very nice. I ate too much - as usual, before and after "the feast". I guess it will be a busy month on the tread mill for me!

People looking to buy a home in Colorado Springs were given a little holiday gift yesterday, with an unexpected drop in interest rates. I got one client locked at 5.5% yesterday, hopefully it won't change much today! For all the attention that things like stimulus checks get, lower gas prices and interest rates really make more of a difference in terms of people's ability to buy things. The difference between 6% and 5.5% on a $300,000 mortgage was $95.28 every month. Over the course of a 30 year mortgage, that is $34,300!

We are also supposed to get another holiday gift on Thanksgiving day, some snow. It has been warm and dry here for almost a month, and it will be nice to have some wintery weather to welcome in the holiday season. For Colorado residents, there are still some season pass deals to be had, Copper Mountain in particular is still available for $369 for the season, a great deal on my favorite mountain.

One of our traditions on Thanksgiving is to go around the room and have everyone share what they are thankful for. One the many things I am thankful for is the opportunity to live in this great state, and sell real estate for a living. While this is certainly not my best year in the business, I am so grateful I get to do what I do!

Today's photo is from Prospect Lake again. This goose is undoubtedly thankful he is NOT part of someones holiday feast!

Gas was $1.45 a gallon yesterday at my regular Western Convenience station at Briargate and Union in Colorado Springs. Lower gas prices should have a short term boost to consumer spending, but from a real estate perspective, it should ease the concerns people may have about buying further from the city center. One of the unpleasant side effects of the Oil Crisis of 2008 is that people have been a lot more worried about buying homes further from town. El Paso County is pretty spread out, and there are significant developments that are not conducive to walking, biking or busing to work. Areas like Woodland Park, Monument, Falcon, and Fountain should benefit from softer gas prices.

We wrote an offer on a property yesterday, and were pleased to get a quote below 6% on the interest rate. It was a 2nd home purchase, and the lender was also only requiring 10% down, which I think is pretty good considering the kinds of press that has been out there about funds not being available. It was a bank owned property, and the asking price was more than 25% less than the house had sold for in 2006 as new construction. You can see why the banks have a problem with these, and why distressed property made up 27% of our sales last month.

Today's photo was taken on Saturday at Prospect Lake at Memorial Park, where the ducks and geese were having a lot of fun in the shallows.

Like most towns, Colorado Springs has it's share of families that unite over the holidays. Our daughter came home for Thanksgiving, and today she and I went for a walk around Prospect Lake at Memorial Park between hospital visits to my mother-in-law. It was a very pleasant day today (50's and sunny), and there were lots of birds out on the water. So many in fact, that we decided that many of them had also travelled for the holiday. I love the holidays, they make such a great excuse to just hang out and do the things you should be doing more often - like taking a walk along a beautiful lake with your kids!

We have LOTS of luxury homes for sale right now in Colorado Springs. Yesterday was our tour of luxury homes for the south end of town. Our office's Luxury Home Professional designation requires us to attend a monthly tour, and there were some beauties this time!

My favorites were of course the most expensive, after all, what is not to like about a $2.5 million home? Here is a link to the homes we viewed: RE/MAX Properties Luxury Home Tour

These homes are all in the Southwest area of town, which is often locally referred to as the Broadmoor area, named for the The Broadmoor, our only 5 star rated hotel and resort, and home of this years Senior PGA Open. Check out the link, they have some gorgeous photos on this site that really set the stage for what this area is like.

Technically the southwest area falls into 3 school districts, but the main portion of the area, and the one I am going to talk about today is the portion that is School District 12 (Cheyenne Mountain). It consistently has the highest test scores of the entire area. There are actually lots of sub areas to this section of town, including the flat, large lot (and large home!) areas near the resort itself (Old Broadmoor), newer hillside homes in the Broadmoor Bluffs, the Skyway area (upper and lower), gated areas such as Stratton Preserve, etc.

The foot hill setting, plentiful wildlife (there was even a bear on the course for the TV cameras this summer at the Open), and aristocratic feel make this area a special place. Some of the best (and most beautiful) parks in Colorado Springs are in this area, including Bear Creek Park, Cheyenne Mountain State Park, and Cheyenne Canyon. This area features some of the best hiking and mountain biking in the city as well.

A cold front came through last night, and we went from sunny sixties to overcast 30's with some freezing frizzle.

After living here in Colorado Springs for 17 years, I didn't think there were a lot of things I did not know about our town, but I discovered one this week at the old St Francis Hospital on Pikes Peak Ave, just east of the downtown, west of Memorial Park. My mother-in-law is staying there for a while for recovery from surgery and other maladies, in the Select Long Term Care Hospital. What I discovered was a cafeteria with what I think is the best view of the city I have seen, at least for a place that serves lunch. Gazette employees have known about if for years, and even get a discount. The food is inexpensive, though not terribly healthy, but the view is why you go there, if you aren't visiting relatives in the hospital!

Can you believe gas was $1.65 this morning! I don't think it has been that low for years. I am not a conspiracy theorist as a rule, but the run up this summer, just before the election, really makes me wonder, who might have wanted to manipulate the oil market to such an extent? It is hard for me to believe that simple supply and demand are causing these kinds of swings.

Mortgage interest rates were down this morning, a pleasant side effect of more turmoil on Wall Street. With no points, 6 3/8%, lower with discount points. It seems like a reasonable place to be right now with the economy where it is. Lower would be even better!

I hate to keep repeating myself about the weather, but wow what a nice day, supposedly tying a record high of 73 degrees for November 18. It could just as easily be 23, and snowing at that!

I was able to help several families get a step closer to living in Colorado Springs last week. One of them now has a house under contract, one knows which house they probably will buy, when they get their job situation settled over the next month or so, and one knows where they want to be when they get their current house sold. I enjoy working with new residents a lot. This is such a great place to move to, it is always a treat to see them smile at the great views, nice (or at least interesting!) weather, or other opportunities that develop for them.
The gorgeous mild sunny weather we've been having reminded me of earlier in the fall when I caught this elk napping under a tree up in Estes Park. I think if he had had an IPOD, he would have been listening to John Denver's Sunshine On My Shoulders :-)

#1 I need to correct a prior post on Colorado Springs cost of living items. Gas has dropped to $1.92 at the nearby local gas stations. I actually saw one station drop their prices 3 times in 24 hours this week!

#2 Yesterday we had an extended briefing from John Tuccillo, former chief economist for the National Association of Realtors yesterday. He had a couple of uplifting items, and some not so much

a. He indicates we are in a "garden variety" recession, not any sort of "depression", and expects the country will be completely out of it in 2010, with some pockets recovering sooner. He expected national unemployment to top out at 8%.

b. Because of all the bail out expenses, new government programs, etc, he expects interest rates to get all the way to 8% as well (we are currently at 6%, and it may trickle even a little lower in brief pockets). For that reason, he indicated anyone who can, should be looking at buying sooner as opposed to later.

c. He believes that the FHA loan limits that are currently scheduled to expire at 12/31/08 will be extended, and that the first time home buyer tax credit may be extended and expanded as well, in the lame duck session of congress.

d. He expects an expansion of households (and by extension, homes sales) to emerge once the economy gets back on track, and home sales will come "roaring back".

It was a productive session, and I was once again reminded what a great brokerage RE/MAX Properties is to be able to have such a high caliber speaker for our monthly sales meeting!

Today's photo was taken in the fall several years ago at Patty Jewett Golf course, in downtown Colorado Springs. The foxes have always been pretty bold and plentiful there, feeding on unsuspecting geese that frequent the water hazards, and handouts from golfers.

Hospitals shouldn't be thought of as resorts or hotels or anything, but with a view like this, you can see why someone might get them confused. Today's photo is of the view of Pikes Peak from Colorado Springs city owned Memorial Hospital Central. Some of the rooms in the upper stories can even see the Garden of the Gods. We've spent some extra time there this week for my mother in law. After a very successful shoulder replacement, she developed some other issues that have resulted in her needing to be readmitted for a while.
She started out at the Emergency Room at Memorial North (at Union and Briargate Parkway), which was so close to our house in Briargate that I actually walked home while my wife stayed with her longer. Unfortunately, due to her need for kidney dialysis, they have had to move her to Central (there is no renal unit at North), so we are back to the extra 20+ minutes of driving each way to visit her. This commute is about to improve, as the overpass of Austin Bluffs over Union is done, and the "cone zone" almost ready to completely disappear. That has been a long time coming, but should really speed up both the north-south and east-west flow of traffic. Memorial Central is right next to the Olympic Training Center (at Boulder and Union), and is a landmark building here.

The forecast snow never did show up, but the cold did! It is a brisk 28 degrees or so out this morning, and even colder forecast overnight tonight.

The election is finally over. I won't recap election results for Colorado Springs here (here is a link if you want some of that: Colorado Election Results), but a couple of things seem worth mentioning.

1. Most tax increases were shot down, whether school related or not. Exceptions were Academy School District 20 and Fountain - Fort Carson School District 8, which both got approvals for their ballot measures.

2. While the numbers for the state showed a shift to the Democratic side, that was less so here, with still 57% of the county voting Republican on the presidential ticket.

Like most elections, I suspect that when all the dust settles and speeches are over, not a lot will really change from this one either.

The thing that I hope DOES change, is that people can get back to focusing on living life. Much like after 9-11, the financial market problems and election news have been great distractions. Hopefully they can start thinking about buying houses again, especially in such a great place as Colorado Springs.

We are expecting some snow showers today, and much cooler weather. We'll see if it shows up. Weather forecasters in Colorado are the only people I know of who can be wrong most of the time and still have jobs!

Today's photo is of 2 of my grandkids on Halloween night. Now THERE is the future for you!

When you first move to Colorado Springs, there are some good reasons to rent a place sometimes. Here are a few:

1. Getting to know the area. While this is generally a "30 minute town" (30 minutes north to south, east to west), there are lots of neighborhoods and school districts, and if you don't have time to get a little familiarization first, it can be helpful sometimes to rent first until you feel like you know the town better.

2. You aren't staying long. If your sojourn here is going to be only 2 years or less, and you know that up front, it is a safer bet to rent instead of buying.

3. You have bad credit. I don't mean a couple of blips, I mean BAD. If your credit score is under 620 these days, you may HAVE to rent.

4. You have very little income to work with. The landlords are more likely to let you spend your whole paycheck on rent than the banks.

5. Your job security is not good. If you think you are prone to getting to getting laid off or fired soon, a rental with as short of a lease as possible is probably better to keep you "light on your feet" in case something happens.

6. Your down payment is tied up in a house that is not yet sold. While there are some good ways to work around this, sometimes you just have to wait it out.

There are some caveats to these arguments of course.

1. Because of the way our MANY school districts work, even if you rent when you first arrive, if you have kids, you will probably want to make a school district decision that can last, because otherwise you may not only be moving more than once, you may end up in different schools and school districts in the process.

2. For a given comfort level, you are not going to save a TON by renting. Rents tend to run about the same as the interest rates, so a $250,000 house is going to rent for around $1250 - $1400 per month. The same house can usually be bought for a similar house payment, allowing that maintenance, taxes and insurance can make it slightly more per month, even with very little down. After a few years, the rent while likely be higher, the house payment will not be.

3. If you have pets, you are much more restricted in the places you can rent.

4. Moving twice can be a royal pain!

Preliminary sales statistics for October homes sales show sales down 10.2% from last October, and prices down 5.4%. With all the uncertainty of the financial markets and the election, I'm actually a bit surprised it isn't worse. My personal opinion is that life will settle down after the election, and people will go back to buying and selling.

Our summery fall weather is supposed to cool off a bit this week. I actually had to turn my sprinklers back on yesterday because the grass was getting crunchy already since our little snow of a week or 2 ago.

Today's photo is of my wife Holly, on the New Santa Fe Trail on Saturday, where the trail hits the south entrance to Air Force Academy. This is a very pretty, easy piece of walking and we enjoyed the 70+ degree weather on Saturday.

One of the questions people often ask, is what do things cost in Colorado Springs, and how does that compare with other places? While I can't speak for other places, I thought I'd list a couple of common expenses and what they cost here.
1. Gas - yesterday gas was $2.36 / gal at the King Soopers (Kroger) around the corner from our house
2. Milk - this has been running about the same as gas, around $2.49 / gallon
3. Rent - If you decide to rent (not recommended by this Realtor!), single family homes in reasonable areas start at around $1100, but plan to pay more like $1800 if you want the best school districts or a larger, nicer, newer home.
4. Property taxes - This varies by school district, but in general we figure on 3/4% of the market value as a planning figure. It is often less, for example I have a listing at $295,000 where the taxes are only $1600.
5. Sales Tax - 7.2% in the city of Colorado Springs, but it excludes groceries, labor etc.
6. Utilities - This depends on a lot of factors. Our own tend to average $300 / month for everything except trash service, but that is for a 4200 sf house with a hot tub. Obviously smaller, newer and no hot tub make them lower, but if you keep your house at 75 all winter or water your grass 3 times a day in the summer, it will be higher.

I voted on Thursday! It took an hour and a half to get through the line at the Chapel Hills Mall, but at least it is done now. I am so sick of political ads, pollsters, etc it will be great to have this election thing over with.

With all the money that is being thrown at the banks, you'd think mortgage rates would be at 5% or less right now, but no such luck. In fact rates have actually been rising, and are back up to 7% right now. So much for well intended programs. When the Fed will loan the banks money for 1%, it seems crazy that they turn around and charge 7% to loan it out to someone who qualifies for a mortgage.

We are still having a nice summery stretch of weather here in Colorado Springs. It is a little unusual to stay this nice this long, but you aren't hearing any complaints! The photo above was taken in the Maroon Bells a couple of weeks ago.

Today's paper had an interesting article about graduation rates of Colorado Springs area high schools. It was interesting to me that the districts with the top test scores (12, 38 and 20) also had the highest graduation rates (typically mid 90's). Also, a couple of districts that have typically suffered in the area of test scores also had lower graduation rates (2 and 11). The good news was that almost every district in the city had graduation rates above the national average (except 2 and 11) See complete details at The Gazette.

Speaking of Colorado Springs area schools, many have ballot initiatives, and that brings up the story of when I tried to vote earlier today. The Chapel Hills Mall has early voting (along with lots of other goodies, including a Department of Motor Vehicles office), and since it is right across the street from my office, I thought it would be a quick stop. WRONG! I think everyone in the city had decided to vote today, I've never seen lines like that in a regular polling place! So I grabbed a sample ballot, and figure I'll either go again at a better time, or just vote at my precinct on the 4th.

The ballot itself is huge this year. Part of this is because of something we call TABOR, or the Taxpayers Bil of Rights, that requires all tax (or spending) increases of any kind to be voted on by everyone. It kind of hamstrings the state legislature, and taxes are not popular here, but it makes for some very ugly elections sometimes, with initiatives that are so complicated it would take an hour to vote if you had not prepared in advance. I think I would prefer we let the elected officials do their job, but I suppose if we did that, who knows how high taxes would be. As it is, our taxes here (income, sales and property) are pretty low. I am excited that my youngest kids are voting in their first presidential election this year!

It look like Colorado Springs is going to miss it's annual Halloween snow storm this year. It is one of the more predictable weather events here. Moreover, it looks like we may even be back in the 70's for most of the week, which is even more rare. Don't get me wrong, it is very pleasant to have blue skies, warm temps, and some color still in some of the trees. And while snow season is eagerly awaited in the high country, down here we like to have dry roads to get around on. One of the things we noticed when we first moved here is that the churches and the malls tend to have a lot of indoor activities to compensate for the sometime chilly and snowy weather we get at Halloween. Some of these events may be less well attended this year, and I suspect the door bell to be ringing pretty steady, and the stores will run out of candy, as it is just going to be really nice out!

The new home statistics that came out this week show a continuing brighter picture, although it is still not great. Many of our builders are offering some nice year end incentives to close by 12/31. Once the election is over, it appears to me that we'll have a pickup in activity, as people will get back to living their lives and not worrying about "what if".

Apparently Colorado Springs is not the only place where sales actually increased on a year to year basis last month. The National Association of Realtors, in figures just released today, is now saying that sale of existing homes increased last month over the prior year across the whole country, and especially the West. Seasonally adjusted data shows a 1.4% increase, with a whopping 34.4% in the Western region. When seasonal adjustments are ignored, the West was up 42.9%. The corresponding number for our local market was 9.6% (ignoring new construction and seasonal adjustments), but still, these are very good numbers.

In the story behind the numbers, what seems to be happening is an increased recognition by investors and home buyers alike, that people still need homes. In addition, it has become obvious that the stock market is not any safer than real estate as an investment vehicle (and maybe a whole lot less so), and there is an increasing conviction that prices and interest rates will not stay this low forever, or for that matter, even much longer.

Today's photo was taken last Sunday 10/19 at Parliament Park in Briargate. The leaves really got blown down a lot in the days immediately after this was taken.

Colorado Springs woke up this morning to our first snow of the season. Not on the Peak, on the ground. A balmy 25 degrees out, the wind made it feel a LOT colder. This aspen in front of our house has lost 1/3 of it's leaves, and they had not even turned color yet! But never fear, this is Colorado, and while we probably won't see 70 again this year, we'll be back in the 60's yet this week. The tree below is one of our neighbors, and is not an aspen, although I am not sure what it actually is (maybe a maple of some sort?)
The local employment news was not very good in the Gazette this morning. a gain of only .1%. It is understandable in some ways, given the loss of some good high tech jobs at HP and Intel, as well as the massive contraction of the local residential construction industry, and the continued deployment of many of our troops from Fort Carson. Still, it would be a lot better if we could get back on a bit more of a growth track soon.

Yesterday was probably one of the last "summer like" days of the year in Colorado Springs. A series of cold fronts will likely knock a lot of leaves down soon, and the sprinkler systems are going to have to be drained pretty quick, as a hard freeze is on its way. We'll miss those 70 plus degree days for a while.

Fall is an important home maintenance season. Draining and shutting down the sprinklers is really important here, along with disconnecting any hoses that might be out. Cleaning the gutters while it is still safe and possible is always smart, and of course changing furnace filters and smoke detector batteries are good to take care of as well. The leaf raking and bulb planting are good too, although I think the bulbs do better if planted a little later yet.

Today's photos were taken Sunday at Parliament Park, very near my office and Chapel Hills Mall. It is an extremely popular "senior picture" spot in town, and I could not resist capturing how much the fall color season has now reached us here in the Springs. I am embarrassed to say that while I have driven past this park literally thousands of times, I never stopped for a few photos of my own until yesterday.

My mother-in-law had another surgery this week. The health care system in Colorado Springs is really quite good, we have been very pleased with the care she has received for her many maladies. We are starting to call her the Bionic Grandma, as this was her 3rd joint replacement (hip, knee and now shoulder)! We now have 4 regular hospitals (Penrose Main, Memorial Central, Penrose - St Francis North, and Memorial North), in addition to military hospitals and some specialized care facilities. Memorial North is only 1 1/2 years old, and Penrose - St Francis North is only a couple of months old.
After this week's wild ride in the stock market, interest rates settled back down to 6.5%, and gas prices dropped to $2.85. While that is small consolation to anyone selling stock at the bottom, it is a pleasant side effect for everyone else, even "Joe the Plumber" :-)
Today's photo is of Pikes Peak last Sunday morning, taken from the Shops at Briargate. I love the 1st snows on the Peak.

Colorado Springs is not immune from the craziness in the financial markets right now. Interest rates shot up to 7% yesterday along with the freefall of the stock market. But while all this was going on, gas prices fell almost 20 cents ($2.93!), and it was a gorgeous day, so I guess you have to put things in perspective.
Yesterday was also our office's Luxury Home Tour (this link will show you what we saw), and we saw some really beautiful homes, all in the $600's. They ranged from mountain lodge style homes, to country style rural playgrounds, and it was really fun. Yet another reason I enjoy being a part of RE/MAX Properties.
Maybe the most important thing that happened yesterday was the opening of Arapahoe Basin and Loveland ski areas. Ok, maybe not that important, but still great? Opening day of ski season for me is a while down the road still, but it is always fun to see the first ones open. Generally the conditions are terrible for these openings, and you don't want to scratch your equipment up on the exposed rocks.
I will be glad when the election is over, however it turns out. Last night's presidential debate was much better than the last one, it seemed like the questions were much more interesting, and there was less repetition of the stump speaches, but I'm pretty convinced that whoever wins, very little will really change.
Today's photo is from a couple of weeks ago at Rocky Mountain National Park.

One of the reasons I like working with Colorado Springs local builders is that I like how they think. There is a commitment to community, to the customer and to their suppliers that gives you that "warm fuzzy" feeling you are working with someone who cares. A case in point was a conversation I had yesterday with Lee Bolin, president of Saddletree Homes. We had a lunch engagement we were rescheduling, and in the course of the conversation, he mentioned they were dropping their prices by 5% for a while, essentially to "employee pricing" levels, to ensure continuity of work for his subcontractors and employees. His comment to me that hit me hard was this (paraphrased): When you've got 20 plus years of experience working with the same subs, you have a commitment to their well being as well. That is what I want for my clients. These are tough times for builders, and I respect that kind of commitment.

This was contrasted with a client who called yesterday, to tell me that the large national builder who had built their home had abandoned all responsibility for the covenants and / or HOA for their area, and wouldn't even give them a contact for someone who might be able to help with covenant issues. This builder had closed all of their local operations as soon as the economy softened, along with several others.

Today's photo is of a hike we took Saturday out of Frisco. Hiking in Summit County is really accessible, and there are so many great trails, it is hard to pick one sometimes!

This morning's rate cut by the Fed says that the world banking crisis is far from over. With another stock market crash yesterday, and rate cutting today, they are definitely running scared. Seems like it wasn't very long ago that they were more worried about inflation than recession / depression. Such volatility can't be good for anyone. Speaking of which, it is fascinating by how oil prices could shoot up to such heights, and come back down again so fast, without gasoline prices following suit (although in fairness, we are at $3.30 / gallon here, not great, but not awful). This year will be etched into a lot of people's memories, both for the presidential election, as well as the energy, housing and banking catastrophes.

To add insult to injury, Colorado Springs Utilities is now proposing a rate increase estimated at 23%. This is allegedly because of higher natural gas and coal prices, as well as to cover lost revenue that they had planned on with new customers that never came on line, due to the lack of new homes being built. We currently have some of the lowest utility costs in the country, it will be interesting to see if we keep that position, you'd think other utility providers would have similar problems.

Today's photos are from the Maroon Bells again. The park is surrounded by jagged peaks, some of which are almost as interesting as the actual bells.

The implosion of the financial markets is predictably having at least some impact on the mortgage industry in Colorado Springs, if for no other reason than they both compete for the same funds. Generally when the stock market tanks, interest rates go down, however, this has not happened quite yet, as they are still hovering around 6% despite the Dow closing below 10,000. Mortgage guidelines continue to tighten, however, the new rules are not all unreasonable. They are simply bringing the rules back in line with what have been common sense rules historically. By paying attention to the percentage of income people are making in house payments, and requiring reasonable credit scores and documentation, it is a bit like closing the barn after the horses have already gotten out, but it has to be done. Most of these rules are not that strenuous, and will be good for the market longer term.

I am getting a chuckle (between bouts of nausea) out of the new court fight between CitiGroup and Wells Fargo over Wachovia Bank. Citi made a sweetheart deal with the backing of the FDIC, and Wells figured out it was worth a lot more than that, and moreover did not need federal funds to do it. Now CitiGroup wants a court to award them $60 billion to cover their "lost opportunity" to steal the bank. Is there no shame? As things like this develop after the passing of the "bailout bill", on top of the millions in last minute bonuses at Lehman Brothers before it went under, is it any wonder that people are disgusted with the banking industry in this country?

I am a sucker for mountain scenery. The top photo today is, of course, the famous Maroon Bells, near Aspen. The lower photo is Mount Sopris, taken at Carbondale. Both pictures are from Sunday, October 5, 2008.