Colorado Springs Real Estate Connection » Real Estate General

End of “Tax Credit” Implications and Ideas for Colorado Springs Home Sellers

Mariana Wagner — Sat, 01 May 2010 20:39:05 +0000

The mad rush for buying a home for sale in Colorado Springs and taking advantage of the $8,000 tax credit ended yesterday at midnight.

This tax credit deadline has bulked up a lot of home buyers – making them buy a house NOW, instead of waiting for the historically popular Springs and Summer months to find and buy a home in Colorado Springs.

If you are trying to sell your home and did NOT go under contract by yesterday’s deadline, be prepared for a lull in the market. At least for a couple months, before more buyers start filtering back into the marketplace.

Here are some suggestions for dealing with the potential slowing in buyer activity:

1. Consider taking your home off the market for a couple months and re-list it when the market picks back up. This will also re-set your clock for how long your home has been on the market and your home will look like a NEW listing when you decide to re-list it.

2. Take this time to freshen up your house - do a little Spring Cleaning. Do the things that will make your home MOST appealing to the home buyers that start wandering into the market. You definitely want to stand out among the GLUT of homes for sale. Here are some cheap/free ideas:

Add a fresh coat of paint to the living areas.
Clean out your gutters and service your furnace.
Clean your carpets – or replace them if they are too bad.
De-clutter. Remove a lot of the stuff that makes it YOUR home. Appeal to the Buyers’ desire to make it THEIR home.
Wash your baseboards.
Dust your blinds.

3. Adjust your asking price to be the best home for the best price. If your goal is to actually SELL, then pricing it aggressively is VERY important – especially when there are less home buyers out there.
Read More: Selling Your Colorado Springs Home: The Importance of Proper Pricing from Day One

4. Offer home buyer incentives. These can include:

Pay their closing costs. This is usually about 2% of the purchase price.
Buy down their interest rate. This could be VERY helpful if rates jump up.
Consider doing an owner-carry 2nd, to appeal to home buyers that may not have enough money for an adequate down payment.
Offer more to the co-op agent. In a slowing real estate economy, real estate agents may be inclined to show your home more often with the promise of a higher paycheck.

Now may not be the best time to sell, but if you NEED to sell, a little effort on your part could go a long way.

For more information on selling your home in Colorado Springs, please contact the Wagner iTeam: 719.434.7525

Related Articles:

Habitat for Humanity Dedicated 3 Colorado Springs Homes

Mariana Wagner — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 03:44:42 +0000

On Saturday, April 17 2010, Habitat for Humanity broke ground for new Colorado Springs homes for two local families: The (appropriately named) Greathouse family – currently living in a cramped trailer, and the Simbenga family – an African refugee family who fled the war in Congo.

The homes are being built in the Woodmen Vistas* neighborhood (N/E corner of Woodmen and Powers) should be complete in about 6 months.

The local Habitat for Humanity has made a positive impact on many families – building affordable housing in the Colorado Springs real estate market.

“Since 1986 Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity has built 95 homes in El Paso County. Their goal is to eliminate poverty housing by building simple affordable housing.” Chris Ornelas – ColoradoConnection

More Information:

*Woodmen Vistas is a neighborhood in N/E Colorado Springs, offering affordable homes in Academy School District 20.

For more information on homes for sale in Academy School District 20, please contact the Wagner iTeam: 719.434.8346

Check Out:

Three Key Ingredients to Selling Your Colorado Springs Home

Mariana Wagner — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:45:32 +0000

If you are looking to SELL your Colorado Springs home, (as opposed to just listing it for endless months as you watch your property value keep going down …), then you must understand the 3 key ingredients that MAKE a successful home sale.

1. PRICE

How you choose to PRICE your home for sale will be the NUMBER ONE factor for determining if and when it sells. ANY home will sell … when priced correctly.

Correct price will always overcome shoddy marketing and poor condition.

When a home is overpriced (priced over the comparable competition) then that means that all the comparable homes, that are priced lower, will HAVE to sell before the “overpriced” home will even get an offer. An educated Buyer will NEVER pay over market value for a home.

Read Also:

2. CONDITION

In the current Colorado Springs real estate market, the best priced homes in the BEST condition are selling fast and getting multiple offers (which drives up the price). Condition matters.

When home buyers have their pick of MANY homes for sale, they do not need to “settle” for a home that is sub-par … or even PAR. Buyers can get a lot more for their money right now.

Remember Location! Location! Location! ? Well, location is now a part of condition – the condition of your location matters. A home in a run-down area, however nice of home, will not get the same $$ as the same home in a better kept, or covenant-controlled area.

Make sure your home is clean and tidy. Consider hiring a stager to make your home appeal to more buyers. Want the best bang for your buck? Put up a fresh coat of neutral (not white) paint and replace your nasty old carpet.

Read More: Colorado Springs Real Estate Answers: Why Didn’t My House Sell? Part Two: Condition

3. MARKETING

Today, someone looking to buy a home for sale in Colorado Springs is probably doing a lot of the initial footwork themselves – looking online (and even in home magazines) to begin the elimination process of homes and neighborhoods that they will or will not want to live in.

Your Colorado Springs real estate agent MUST know how to market your home to reach the MOST amount of home buyers possible.And since 24% of the Colorado Springs population moves in and out EVERY YEAR, online marketing for a Colorado Springs home is CRUCIAL.

Because think about it … How will a home buyer want to look at their home if they don’t even know it’s for sale??

Read More: Colorado Springs Real Estate Answers: Why Didn’t My House Sell? Part Three: Marketing

If you can align all three of these key ingredients, you should have a happy and healthy home sale … regardless of the real estate market conditions.

For more information on how the Wagner iTeam helps our sellers implement these 3 key elements, please contact us today: 719.434.7525

This Month in Real Estate – Homeowner Equity on the Rise?

Mariana Wagner — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:20:30 +0000

The Colorado Springs Real Estate Connection would like to share a video from Keller Williams for the real estate outlook for October 2009.

This video is about the Federal Reserve’s report on homeowner’s equity … and is actually some really good news!

Click here to view the embedded video.

For more information on Colorado Springs home values, please contact us at 719.434.7525 or send an email to team@wagneriteam.com

Colorado Springs Home Sellers Beware! Your Lockbox Could Endanger You.

Mariana Wagner — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:47:56 +0000

In the Colorado Springs real estate market, we were just notified that someone is pretending to be a real estate agent, calling real estate companies and getting lock box codes to gain access to homes for sale. Although no criminal activity has been reported, this is a potentially GREAT risk to home sellers security.

If you are selling your home and have a blue GE infrared Supra iBox lockbox on your home, then this will not apply to you – as only licensed real estate agents have the ability to gain access to the keys inside the lock box.

However, if you have a lockbox that requires someone to punch in a code or combo directly into the lockbox, then you may want to ask your agent a few questions:

What type of verification do they (your agent) require before giving someone the code to your home? Do they verify that the caller is, in fact, a licensed real estate agent?
Why did they choose to install a combo box instead of the more secure electronic GE Supra iBox?
Would they consider switching the combo lockbox out for an electronic one?
If they cannot replace it, would they consider re-coding the lockbox on a regular basis, to prevent unauthorized re-entry?

The Colorado Springs Real Estate Connection (Wagner iTeam) uses the GE infrared Supra iBox lockbox on almost every home that we list. We ALWAYS use this lockbox on homes where people are living, and in the rare instances that we use a combo box, it is always on an unoccupied home and we (and our office) are VERY strict about who gets the code … NEVER giving access to an unlicensed person.*

*Only the homeowner will get the code, if they should want it.

The sale of your home can already be a hectic time - Don’t let security EVER become an issue.

Looking to sell your Colorado Springs home? Contact us for a free, no-obligation home value report: 719.434.7525 or team@wagneriteam.com