Tag Archives: colorado springs

Food for thought, From the inbox

Can I Move in Before Closing?

Great question! In Colorado Springs, it’s not the norm to move in or take possession of the property prior to closing. It does happen but it’s not the norm.

Why is that?

There are a few primary reasons:

  1. The transaction might not close. There’s a greater than zero chance a given transaction will not close. If the home sale were not to close and the seller has allowed a buyer to occupy a property, things can get messy.
  2. The seller is at risk of increased liability. If something happens to or around the home, it’s likely the seller’s insurance policy which will have to cover it.
  3. Home improvements can cause issues. If a seller allows a buyer to move in ahead of closing and the buyer starts making improvements and the property doesn’t close, who bears the cost of those improvements?

These are a few reasons it’s not likely and often not recommended for sellers to allow buyers to move in or occupy a property before closing.

If you are looking to buy or sell residential real estate in Colorado Springs, please give me – Rob Thompson, Realtor® – a call at 719-440-6626!

Colorado Springs, Economy, Food for thought

Survivorship Bias in the Housing Market

In the real estate industry, agents and lenders speak often of average days on the market, closed to list price ratios and other metrics.

There’s something we need to really consider to gain perspective on the overall market conditions, though. That concept is survivorship bias.

This form of bias results when one mistakes one part of the data for all the data. In the case of housing, if I share the following stats with you:

The closed to original list price ratio for the last 30 days for Single Family Homes in El Paso County is 98.56%.

I am sharing that homes are selling for 2.52% below their list price on average in the last 30 days.

Contrast that with this same time last year, in which homes were selling for a median of 98.51%

One might infer from this that the market hasn’t shifted much.

However, the homes that did not sell in the last 30 days increased by a factor of over 70%.

Looking only at one set of the data – the homes that sold – would blind an observer to the fact that quite a few more homes have fallen out of the market in these last 30 days.

Here’s a bit more technical analysis via my GrokTheMarket blog.

Colorado Springs, Economy, State of The Market

July 2021 End of Month Stats

We are closing out July 2021 w/an average closed price of $476K, an average of 7 days on the market and an average closed to list price of 104.03%. Conventional loans have dominated the market this month. Meridian Ranch continues to dominate as the top subarea for volume of sales.

Colorado, Colorado Springs, Economy, Mortgages, State of The Market

CoS: Top 10 Subareas July 2021

Here are the top 10 subareas month to date. Meridian Ranch continues its reign at the top!

Here’s how to read this chart:

Meridian Ranch has 29 sales month to date at an average closed price of $515K, a median of $512K, an average closed to list price of 103.72% (selling for 3.72% above list price), an average of 6.17 days on the market, a median of 4 days on the market, an average seller’s concessions of $244 and a median seller’s concessions of $0.

Seller’s concessions are often referred to as closing costs. I dislike this reference because it lends itself to confusion; I like the more accurate description of “seller’s contribution (concession) to the buyer’s closing costs

Colorado Springs, Economy, From the inbox, Mortgages, Real Estate Investing, State of The Market

Is Cash King?

Cash has the (significant) advantage of no appraisal but does it command the discount many feel it does? Let’s look at the data.

Below is a breakout of the purchase types of the sales YTD in the PPAR region. You can see there have been app 9,856 sales, 1646 of which have been cash. These on the average are paying 3.66% above list price. Contrast that with the 3.87% for conventional, 3.84% for FHA and 3.42% for VA and it’s immediately apparent that cash isn’t currently commanding the discount it has a reputation for.

Colorado Springs, From the inbox, Front Range

From the inbox: should I search on Zillow for homes?

Good question! The short answer is: Yes, it is a tool you can use in your home search. But it has a limitation. 

Zillow is a great platform for home searches and cannot/should not be discounted. However, there are a couple of things you should know when searching for homes in the Colorado Springs market.

Sites like this are fed from an IDX (Internet Data Exchange) via the MLS (Multiple Listing System).

awesome graphic from Rob
awesome graphic from Rob

In the case of Zillow, it’s also manually updated by homeowners, property managers and agents. However, Zillow is no longer automatically updated by the local MLS. The result is that it no longer represents the totality of the market.

It is a tool in the search, but I also recommend checking TheHousingNetwork.com (full disclosure, that’s my website) and/or PPAR.com to see the current listings in the Pikes Peak region.

If you’re looking to buy or sell a home in Colorado Springs, I’d be honored to earn your business.

Colorado Springs, Economy

Boulder area hits average of $1M for a four bed…

mountains-with-road-300px
photo from OpenClipArt.org

Wow. Boulder is now one of the most expensive housing markets in the nation, according to the Denver Post.

By contrast there are 414 four bedroom homes on the market at the time of this post for $300,000 or under in Colorado Springs.

In the market? I’d be honored to help!

Colorado Springs, Rentals

State of the Market: Rental Options

Screenshot 2015-09-17 19.53.53Looking to rent a home in Colorado Springs?  Interestingly, there are 124 MLS listed Single Family Homes (SFH) w/3+ bedrooms on the market at $1500 and below.  There are 87 on the market at $1501 and above.

This differs from July by a total of 4 homes, which makes for an interesting market.

If buying is an option, I’d be honored to earn your business!

DATA SOURCE: PPAR MLS derived statistics