Christmas in Colorado Springs

The Christmas Season is in full swing in Colorado Springs. To start with, I need to dispel a misconception that Colorado Springs is THE place to come for a white Christmas. Not to be a Grinch, but we seldom have snow on the ground at Christmas in the Springs proper. To be truthful, we save MOST of our snow for the mountains to west of us, and really don't get that much all winter season. Moreover, what we do get melts off pretty fast, so even if we are lucky enough to get some good snow before Christmas, it is likely gone by Christmas Day. It may be cold (or not), but is likely brown, with some blue skies to complement the look.

Like most larger towns, we have our share of public music performances, and at least to our family, we have to attend at least one or it isn't Christmas. In past years we've seen wonderful work done at Woodmen Valley Chapel, we've done the Nutcracker ballet at the Pikes Peak Center. One year our kids chipped in on tickets for the TransSiberian Orchestra at the World Arena. New Life (our own church) has a production they do every other year called Wonderland. We will be going to that this year, although it has been scaled down a bit (one year they did it at the World Arena and it got a little 'over the top') We always love the Christmas Eve service. There are many other performances throughout the city as well, including at the Broadmoor Hotel (photo above), and Glen Eyrie Castle. For a more complete list of what is going on, check out The Gazette Music Section

Ski season 'officially' starts around Halloween most years, but it is Christmas break when most of the slopes tend to be 100% open and really ready for business. Some of the discount season pass programs black out the Christmas holidays for local passholders (it makes more room for those paying full price), but the true unlimited season passes are good over the holidays. It just a little crowded!

Hotels are not as full over the Christmas holidays as they are over Memorial Day (that is another article), so Christmas can be a good time to visit. You just have to be prepared for winter weather on some days. If there is some snow, cross country skiing tends to start up in Teller County. The Florissant Fossil Beds is a popular cross country ski destination.

It was a cold week here, with record lows overnight one night (-2 I think!), but very little snow.

Got questions about living in Colorado Springs? Call me at 719-590-4768 or 888-568-6784! www.facebook.com/rickvanwieren for more photos, www.twitter.com/rvanwieren for more frequent updates!

Being Thankful - In Colorado Springs or Anywhere Else

My kindergarten aged grandson had a Thanksgiving program yesterday, and one of the songs the kids sang was about having an attitude of gratitude. I for one, am somewhat prone to thinking of being thankful FOR something. Living here in Colorado Springs, working at RE/MAX Properties, the #1 real estate firm in the city, and part of the #1 real estate system in the state, country and the world, that is usually a pretty great list, so it isn't hard to some up with some good ones. Examples are as simple as the great view of Pikes Peak, or mild sunny weather in the middle of winter, or being a reasonable distance to world class skiing, and on and on. Having our extended family here gives us a lot of other things to be thankful for, such as having our grandkids over last night for a sleepover (complete with banana chocolate chip pancakes this morning!), being able to see them in their school programs, etc. But sometimes, I need to step back from all the things I'm thankful for, and remember that if none of them were available, it is still my job to keep an attitude of gratitude. I'm alive, healthy, I have a roof over my head, plenty to eat, and live in the most prosperous age of the most properous country in the history of the world. That should be MORE than enough to be thankful for, no matter what else is going on.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Got questions about living in Colorado Springs? Call me at 719-590-4768 or 888-568-6784! www.facebook.com/rickvanwieren for more photos, www.twitter.com/rvanwieren for more frequent updates!

The Sun is Out Again

It was a cold and snowy weekend here in Colorado Springs, after hitting 70 degrees on Thursday. It didn't help that the Broncos also lost their 3rd game in a row and now share the lead in the AFC West, after leading by 3 1/2 games at one point. Thankfully, the sun is back out, the snow is melting off (we only got 3 or 4 inches in the Springs anyway), and hopefully the Broncos will get it back on track next week.
Life has it's ups and downs. One thing I enjoy about living in Colorado Springs, is that the sun always comes back out again after a storm, and some of the most beautiful sights can be right after some of the most ugly. Today is a sparkly winter wonderland, and with highs in the 50's the rest of the week. I know it won't last, so we'll enjoy it while it's here!
Got questions about living in Colorado Springs? Call me at 719-590-4768 or 888-568-6784! Visit me on Facebook to see even more photos! Or follow me on Twitter, @rvanwieren.

New House Tax Credit Program Should Be Good for Colorado Springs

We've seen some nice activity in the Colorado Springs real estate market from the current First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit program, but the new tax credit program should be even better. Here is a link to the IRS writeup on the new program.

For starters, it isn't JUST for first timers any more. We've needed a little extra incentives for some existing homeowners, to consider a buying move (as if 5% interest rates weren't enough!). While the incentive is a little less ($6500 vs $8000), it is a good start. It also only will apply to primary residence moves, so this won't be an investor or 2nd home purchase program. And it only applies if the prior home was your primary residence for 5 of the last 8 years, thereby excluding anyone who has bought in the last several years and is ready to move on. It will also likely require many to sell before they rebuy, putting some pressure on short term rentals. But all in all, it should help a little at the higher end, because more buyers in the qualifying categories are likely to buy in the higher price ranges than 1st timers.

Some unintended side effects of the program could be:

1. Downsizing sellers could end up putting more pressure on lower priced homes, as well as adding higher priced homes to an already glutted inventory of more expensive homes. The 90th percentile in our market was only $345,000 last month, indicating some of this was probably already happening.

2. The additional buyers this may generate will have houses to sell, adding to the inventory in all price ranges.

3. Builders will see additional activity from this, however more contingent contracts will likely appear, contributing to some increases in 'spec' homes, when move up buyers are unable to sell at terms they can afford.

It is a little cooler today, only 68 (ok, I'm bragging:), but probably the last day of the year that will be that warm. Pretty nice for November, that is for sure! Today's photo is of Mt Sopris, taken from the hills above Basalt last month. Sopris is part of the Elk Mountains, and while not a 14er, presents a nice dramatic backdrop to the Roaring Fork Valley on the way to Aspen.

Got questions about living in Colorado Springs? Call me at 719-590-4768 or 888-568-6784! Visit me on Facebook to see even more photos!

Colorado Springs City Election Presents Hard Choices

The results are in, and Colorado Springs voters have taken a hard line against any kind of increase, or even maintenance of city tax revenue. We are a little famous for being very anti-tax here, so in some ways this should be no surprise. However, it does present some 'interesting' decisions for the city council, seeking to balance a budget that has been hit hard by decreasing sales tax revenue. Of course, all the fun stuff gets paraded out to the chopping block first (parks and bus service for instance). Police and fire salaries, whether by headcount, furlough, or layoff tend to be next. Street maintenance is never far behind, although since they are already doing so little in that area it isn't that productive. Usually not mentioned are mayor and city council salaries (or size), wonder why? My personal hope is that the city will figure out some good creative ways to avoid cutting back things like park maintenance, we have some of THE best parks in the country!
I'm kind of glad Congress is getting serious about extending the 1st Time Homebuyer Tax Credit, both in time and scope. There is still some discussion going on, but I'll cover this when the final version passes, maybe by tomorrow? The extension of the program to some existing homeowners is particularly exciting.
We may set warm weather records 3 days this week, with another day in the 70's for today, pretty great for November! I'll take it, we had snow last week to offset it!
Got questions about living in Colorado Springs? Call me at 719-590-4768 or 888-568-6784! Visit me on Facebook to see even more photos!

Colorado Springs Home Sales Jump Again!

Preliminary data indicates Colorado Springs home sales jumped 19.1% over 2008 for the month of October. While prices did not keep up (Average was down 7.2%, median down 1.1%), it does reflect the continuing improvement in our market. Factors contributing to the uptick are the continued impact of troops arriving at Ft Carson, the $8,000 First Time Home Buyers Credit (currently scheduled to expire 11/30/09), and terrific interest rates, still in 5% territory.

Today's photo was taken last week from our office, just after one of the snows we had. We've got a warm (60's) and dry forecast for the week, a welcome change from the cool and snowy October we had.

Got questions about living in Colorado Springs? Call me at 719-590-4768 or 888-568-6784! Visit me on Facebook to see even more photos!