Colorado Springs Real Estate

by Ann Douglas Renting is a very frustrating way of life. The money you pay every month disappears, leaving you with few benefits other than a roof over your head. Compared to owning a home , renting is a futile exercise that leaves you with nothing after your lease is up. It’s no surprise that people want to get out of the rent race, and here are 10 reasons why people decide to buy a home versus renting . 1. They Want to Build Equity Homebuyers build equity as their property increases in value over time. This equity has many benefits, including the ability of a homebuyer to leverage equity in lines of credit to make repairs or additions to their home. Equity is a powerful thing and a natural consequence of home ownership. Renters never gain equity in their rental space, and at the end of their lease they are thrown out on the street with nothing to show for years of on time rental payments. 2. They Don’t Want to Throw Their Money Away Without equity, what does paying your rent on time...

by Dean Hartman In the choppy seas of mortgage finance, you need someone who can navigate the ever changing product guidelines, interest rate environment, and understands your individual circumstance. These professional mortgage originators are worth their weight in gold. Most people enter the maze of mortgages every five years or so, and the industry has evolved so much that it is barely recognizable (and its evolution continues and is likely to appear vastly different five years from now). The must-have qualities in a loan officer (LO) today are: 1. Superior Product Knowledge Knowing all the nuances of the loan product menu is crucial for a loan officer. How will your ability to be approved, your rate and your fees be impacted by your FICO score, Loan-To-Value, or liquid reserves? Being well versed in loan products and being able to see your personal situation as an underwriter is normally a function of experience. 2. An Educated Opinion On Interest Rate Movements No one is right all...

by The KCM Crew The greatest hurdle standing in the way of a complete housing recovery is the backlog of distressed properties that must be liquidated. The banks must release these properties to the market in a controlled fashion. If released too quickly, they will crush house values. If released too slowly, the recovery will be further delayed. However, the control of the flow may no longer be in the hands of the banks. The issue is rather complicated. It starts with the formation of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS). What is MERS? According to a white paper by the National Association of Independent Land Title Association (NAILTA): MERS is a creation of some of the most powerful forces in the real estate and mortgage banking industries. In the mid-1990’s mortgage bankers decided they no longer wanted to pay recording fees for assigning mortgages between institutions. This decision was driven by securitization – a process of pooling many mortgages into a trust and sellin...

by Steve Harney The world around me is evolving rapidly. Sometimes I wonder if I can even keep up with all the advances and changes. One big change that seems to have occurred while I wasn’t looking is that it now seems that being an EXPERT is a bad thing. I’m not sure when this happened but I’m really confused. I grew up thinking we should respect people who have become experts in their field: those who have taken the time to truly learn the nuances of their industry. I’m specifically talking about the real estate industry in this post. Today, it seems that people are upset that agents would consider themselves experts in this field. Why? Let’s look at the definition of expert: a person who has extensive skill or knowledge in a particular field. There are those who believe that, if you consider yourself an expert, you need to be infallible. You cannot give advice unless you are 1000% sure of everything that will happen. That is a standard that is well beyond the definition and is unre...

by The KCM Crew The real estate market has experienced difficulty over the last five years. From 2000-2006, house values climbed to unsustainable heights. Since then, we have seen much of this appreciation disappear. Now many look at the housing market as dead and lying in the ashes of its previous glory. However, there is growing evidence that, just like the Phoenix, there is a new market currently rising from those ashes. Buyer activity is increasing The first sign of an improving market is buyers again beginning to shop for a home for themselves and their family. That is taking place right now. Pete Flint, CEO of Trulia said in a recent press release: “We’re seeing a national resurgence of buyer and seller activity on Trulia.com. In January alone, we experienced an unprecedented level of site traffic including 11 million unique visitors – which is more than 70 percent year-over-year growth… (We) are now experiencing 100,000 property views per minute.” The latest Credit Suisse Monthl...

by The KCM Crew We have seen many headlines recently reporting that foreclosures and foreclosure sales have decreased over the last few months. However, though the headlines are technically accurate, they don’t reflect what is actually taking place. Foreclosure statistics are being impacted by the issues surrounding the challenges with faulty paperwork which the banks have spent the last several months trying to correct. James J. Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac addressed this issue in a recent press release: “We’ve now seen three straight months with fewer than 300,000 properties receiving foreclosure filings, following 20 straight months where the total exceeded 300,000. Unfortunately this is less a sign of a robust housing recovery and more a sign that lenders have become bogged down in reviewing procedures, resubmitting paperwork and formulating legal arguments related to accusations of improper foreclosure processing.” While these issues are being addressed, the number of foreclosures ...

by Dean Hartman In many municipalities, it is that time of year when homeowners have an opportunity to grieve their taxes. In most places, your real estate tax bill is determined largely by the value of your home. With the tumble in home values continuing, many homes have an over-assessed value attached to them. So, if you own a home, I suggest you explore the complete process: the forms required, the data you need, and the deadlines you need to hit. Real estate taxes are calculated by a simple formula: Assessed Value x The Tax Rate = Your Taxes The lower the assessed value is, the lower taxes. Understand that many municipalities cannot afford the loss in revenue, so they increase The Tax Rate to compensate. That means if you DON’T grieve your real estate taxes, your taxes can actually increase….even though your home has decreased in value! The value of a tax grievance to a home seller The value of a grievance starts with the understanding that home buyers buy primarily based on the fu...