Colorado Springs Area Real Estate Podcast with Tiffany Lachnidt

A Look at the Latest Colorado Springs Market Numbers

info@thedistinctivegroup.com (Tiffany Lachnidt) — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 07:38:00 -0800

The latest market numbers spell great things for 2019.

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January’s numbers are finally in, so today we’ll be taking a look at the latest happenings in our Colorado Springs housing market.

We currently have over 1,614 active listings on the market. 902 homes were sold in January 2019, a decrease of 3.4% from the same time last year. Pending sales are currently at 1,460, so I don’t anticipate seeing a decline in sale numbers in February or March.

“2019 is shaping up to be a great year for real estate.

Home values are up 3.4%, currently sitting at about $344,000. While interest rates rose a bit in January, they’ve since come back down to between 4.25% to 4.5% for conventional loans.

These numbers mean 2019 is shaping up to be a great year for real estate. We’re seeing more homes being listed, and the market is still strong for sellers. So if you’re looking to buy or sell a home, feel free to reach out to us. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

What to Do if Your Home’s Roof Has Been Damaged By Hail

info@thedistinctivegroup.com (Tiffany Lachnidt) — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 11:14:00 -0700

Our area’s been hit hard by hail storms recently, so I’ve brought in a professional roofer to offer some expert advice for anyone whose homes have been damaged.

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Our area has experienced some difficult hailstorms and windstorms over the past couple weeks, so today I’ve brought in Chris Higbee of On Top Roofing & Restoration to talk about roof repair and what you need to do if your home’s roof has incurred any serious damage.

If you live in Colorado Springs, you’ve probably gotten a knock on your door from a roofer offering a roof inspection or at least seen one of their business cards left at your doorstep. When your roof gets damaged and you have an insurance claim for, say, $30,000, you probably shouldn’t just hand over a contract like that to one of these roofers. Before you hire a roofer, do your due diligence, research their company’s history, and check the reviews from people who work with them on a regular basis. If you’re going to do business with them, you need to make sure you’re taken care of.

Roof work isn’t as difficult as plumbing or electrical work, but if it isn’t done correctly, it can cause problems for home sellers. Sometimes we work with sellers who’ve just gotten a new roof installed on their home, but the roofer didn’t pull their permits correctly. Or, they pulled the permits correctly but didn’t clear them, in which case we have to chase that paperwork down after the fact. We also see the vents on roofs get missed sometimes, which can cause mold.

“If you have hailstones sitting in your living room, you’re better off calling your insurance company first.

If your home gets damaged by hail, your first step should be to take advantage of the free inspections one of the many local contractors in our area offer. On Top Roofing also offers video inspections to ensure their clients get a clear idea of what they find. How quickly you can get an inspection done on your roof depends on a couple factors, but they can typically send someone out to your property within one or two days.

Chris recently saw extensive damage done to homes in Fountain, with hailstones as big as three inches penetrating all the way through people’s roofs. If you have hailstones sitting in your living room, you’re better off calling your insurance company before you call a roofer. Otherwise, always call a roofer before calling your insurance company so they can give you their opinion on whether you actually need to file a claim. That’s another advantage of working with Chris—he actually works with the adjuster to calculate the amount you need to get covered.

As roofs age, their shingles typically deteriorate and crack, and this is something Chris has seen a lot of lately. He’s also seeing the boots around pipe jacks crack and deteriorate, which can let water in and cause a whole list of problems. In our climate, the age span of a roof is usually between 25 and 50 years, depending on the type of shingles you use.

If you have any more questions for Chris or you’d like them to do an inspection on your roof, you can call their office at (719) 896-2533 or visit their website at www.ontoproof.com.

As always, if you have any other questions for me or you need other types of roof repair, you can call or email me anytime. I’d be happy to help you.

A Discussion of Our Mid-Year Market

info@thedistinctivegroup.com (Tiffany Lachnidt) — Wed, 8 Aug 2018 14:19:00 -0700

How is our Colorado Springs market looking now that summer is halfway over with? We’re still in a strong seller’s market, but the outlook is better for buyers.

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I recently sat down for a Facebook Live interview where I discussed the current conditions of our Colorado Springs market and how things are affecting buyers and sellers.

Below I’ve provided timestamped segments of the discussion in the video so that you can jump ahead to the points that are most relevant to you:

0:50 - Why, although we are seeing some price corrections, we are not necessarily shifting into a buyer’s market.

2:06 - How sellers can make themselves stand out from the competition.

3:28 - What kind of market activity we’re seeing in certain price points in Colorado Springs.

4:55 - How weather has been affecting the home sale process for buyers and sellers in our area.

6:08 - Why now is a good time for buyers and sellers to jump into the market and how you can get started if you’re thinking of buying or selling.

If you have any questions about our Colorado Springs market or are thinking of buying or selling a home, please feel free to call or email me anytime. I would be happy to help you.

Is It Business as Usual for Our 2017 Market?

info@thedistinctivegroup.com (Tiffany Lachnidt) — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 12:38:00 -0800

Lack of inventory continues to be the story for our market. As you’ll see, whether you’re buying or selling, the time to act is now.

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Welcome to our first real estate market update of 2017!

2016 was a phenomenal year for us in Colorado Springs. Overall sales were up about 12%, and our sales price for December rose about 7.9% compared to December of 2015. The good news is if you did not get your home sold last year, you are in great shape to sell it this year, and you will probably see an improvement in your home value.

As far as market statistics go, if you’ve been following my blog the last couple of years, you know that the story has been all about our lack of inventory. That number has not changed much lately. We’re down again about 28% for active inventory and have about 1,500 active listings currently on the market. We sold 1,200 last month, and we have 1,700 that are currently pending. If you do the math on that, we don’t have enough active listings to keep up with the sales volume that we’ve been experiencing in the last couple of years. Pending inventory is at 0.8%, and that’s another indication of our lack of overall inventory.

“

If you did not get your home sold last year, you are in great shape to sell it this year.

”

How long will this trend last? When are we going to see things slow down? The truth is, I don’t think we will until we see interest rates rise. I do believe that this is the year we will see a rate hike, but what happened in the past and should happen again after a rate hike is that some of our first-time home buyers get forced out of the market. This segment of buyers creates a trickle-up effect because the homes that they’re buying are from move-up buyers who are moving into more expensive homes.

If you are interested in selling your home, I wouldn’t wait until spring. We’re seeing the same trend this year that we’ve seen the last few years, with really heavy volume happening in January, February, and March. In fact, just yesterday, we saw a six-offer situation involving a home in the upper $200,000 price point, and we’re seeing the same effect in the higher price points, as well.

If you’re a buyer, you shouldn’t wait to jump into the game either. Interest rates are still hovering around 4%, which is phenomenal. While home values are up, your overall purchase power will be much stronger than next year after the expected rate hike.

If you have any questions about our market or have a topic in mind you’d like to see me discuss in a future video, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I look forward to hearing from you!

Why Didn’t Your Home Sell?

info@thedistinctivegroup.com (Tiffany Lachnidt) — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 07:51:00 -0700

A home usually fails to sell either because of its price, condition, or marketing. Most agents will emphasize price and condition, but marketing is equally as important.

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So you listed your home and it failed to sell. What happened?

It can be frustrating hearing about how hot the market is and watching your own home sit idly on the MLS. The good news is, you’re not alone—close to 50% of homes that are listed fail to sell the first time around. The answer to why it failed to sell comes down to one of three things: price, condition, and marketing.

Many agents will tell their sellers that it’s price and condition, and it often is. But it’s important to also look at the marketing to make sure that your home is being shown in the best possible light. A great example of this is a home we listed two weeks ago. This home had been on the market about six months, through the height of the spring and summer selling seasons, and it failed to sell. The sellers reported that they had a few showings, but no offers.

When we visited the home, we discovered that it needed some staging. It was in excellent condition and showed well, but some of the rooms were not utilized as well as they could have been with staging. We restaged the home, then, and because it had such a unique layout, we used a new marketing tool called Matterport. This takes a full video of the home so that buyers can take a walking tour from behind their computer screen and get a first-person view of what each room looks like.

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Don’t forget about marketing when selling your home.

”

Within two weeks, the house was scheduled to close by the end of the month. What this tells me is that because the buyers were closing so quickly, they were probably in the market when the home was marketed originally. We did make a price reduction, but only at 2%. I believe, therefore, that the house was not being shown well enough to draw in the buyer activity it needed.

This constitutes a very happy ending for the sellers, and we would like to do the same thing for you. The fall and winter months are great times to be on the market. Inventory is down, but that means less competition and buyers are still out there.

If you’re interested in buying or selling, please give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

Checking in on the Colorado Springs Market

info@thedistinctivegroup.com (Tiffany Lachnidt) — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 13:17:00 -0700

I wanted to provide an update on the Colorado Springs real estate market. We've had a great year so far, and fall is shaping up to be a healthy, balanced market once again.

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I wanted to stop by today with a quick update on the Colorado Springs real estate market for September 2016.

We've had a great year so far and fall is shaping up to be the same. I do think we're going to continue to see strong conditions in and around Colorado Springs for the foreseeable future. There are some whispers of a shift coming; I say the fastest way to create a shift is to talk about a shift, but we're not seeing any increase in inventory right now and we're not seeing values dropping.

We've actually had a pretty stable increase in values for the last couple of years, so I think that if we do see any correction, it's going to be fairly minor, and I don't think it's coming in the near future.

“

We've had a great year so far and fall is shaping up to be the same.

”

Coming into September, our average sales price is $295,000, which is up 8% from 2015. We currently have 2,655 active listings at the beginning of the month, which is actually down 4% from August, and is down a whopping 21% from 2015. As I said, we do have a shortage of available inventory.

In Colorado Springs we sold 1,465 homes in August, which is down 2% from July, but is up 5% from 2015. Our average days on market is only running 28, which is down 61% from 2015, so we have strong selling conditions. I think fall is one of the best times we have to list because we see homes coming off the market from our less motivated sellers who feel like they may have missed the market. I emphatically disagree with that, because buyers don't believe in that.

If you're looking at buying, this is a great time to jump in because we're not seeing quite the multiple offer situations that we were before. All in all, we're getting back to more of a healthy, stable market than what we had the past couple months.

If you have any questions or you're wondering what your home is worth, give us a call or send us an email. We'd be happy to help you out.

Mid-Summer Market Update for Colorado Springs

info@thedistinctivegroup.com (Tiffany Lachnidt) — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 13:17:00 -0700

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The numbers are in for June, so we wanted to give you a midsummer market update for the Colorado Springs area.

Our market continues to get hotter here in CO Springs. We closed 1,651 units in June, which was a record month for us, up a whopping 17.8% from last year. Pending sales are up by 15.8% as well. These record sales numbers have led to a shortage of inventory. We only have around 2,634 homes available for sale now, or just a little more than what we sold last month.

The average home sale price is up to $294,000, a 5.6% increase from last year. If you’re a homeowner, it’s very possible that your home has at least increased in value by this much in the last year. If you’d like, I would be happy to provide you with a free market analysis for your property.

“

We need homes for sale in

Colorado Springs.

”

We need homes for sale in Colorado Springs. Demand is sky-high and will continue to be as long as interest rates stay as low as they are. This might be a great time to get your home listed and sold in a hot market while also being able to capitalize on those low interest rates.

We’re also finding out it’s not okay to slack off as a professional agent in this market. Marketing, staging, photography, and pricing are all keys to getting your home sold for top dollar. Homes that do not have all these areas covered are continuing to sit on the market.

If you have any questions for us or know someone who does, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to answer them.

What Does the Colorado Springs Market Look Like?

info@thedistinctivegroup.com (Tiffany Lachnidt) — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:21:00 -0700

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Real estate in Colorado Springs is hot right now! Inventory is extremely low. As of May 1st, there are 2,080 homes available on the market.

In April, 1,268 homes were sold and closed in our marketplace. That’s approximately 61% of all homes that were listed. Compared to this time last year, we're at a larger deficit.

Although this trend causes prices to increase, they rise in a slow-stable manner. Last year, the average sales price was $265,000, but this year, it’s up to $275,000. That’s healthy growth. In other markets, we’re seeing double digit increases that could potentially create a bubble or small crash, but I don’t foresee this happening anywhere near here. Inventory should continue to stay low.

What does this mean for you as a consumer? If you’re a buyer, you need to be incredibly strategic about your approach. You will likely face a multiple offer situation, whether it’s only one other person or a dozen. There are a few ways to strengthen your offer. If you want to learn how to get your offer accepted in a bidding war, you can refer to this video blog from last month.

Sellers, don’t get complacent. This is your time to shine. Because inventory is so low, the market favors you over the buyers. You have more power in this type of market. If you approach it correctly, you have the opportunity to maximize profits and earn top dollar on your property. For instance, the profits you earn could be influenced by how the photos or staging are done to what day and time your listing goes live.

Interest rates are still incredibly low, which makes it an opportune time to both buy and sell. Buyers benefit from locking in low rates while sellers benefit from buyers with low rates. I anticipate an upward movement on interest rates this year, so be aware they could increase sooner than you think. When this happens, it will greatly affect buying power.

If you’re thinking about buying or selling a home in the surrounding area, give me a call or send me an email at your earliest convenience. I’d be happy to serve your local real estate needs and answer any questions you might have!

Don’t Get Left Behind in a Colorado Springs Bidding War

info@thedistinctivegroup.com (Tiffany Lachnidt) — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 09:33:00 -0700

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Unfortunately for home buyers in Colorado Springs, we are having a wild market shape up where homes are selling quickly and with multiple bids on them.

However, there are things you can do to increase your odds of winning a home.

Work with a reputable local lender. Sellers will always want to know that you can actually afford to buy their home, so bring all the necessary documents and have it signed by an underwriter if you can.
Eliminate concessions and pay what closing costs that you can. The fewer contingencies, the better off you will be as a buyer.

Know that appraisals are becoming challenging because home values are rising. Prepare for this, especially if you are using a government loan.
Remember that the highest dollar amount will not always win a home. Sometimes sellers prefer convenience over monetary gain, so making better terms on your offer can be just as important as offering a fair price for the home.

Remember these tips when you’re competing for a home, and don’t be afraid to compete for a home! We can help you write a compelling offer that will maximize your chance of being picked by the seller.

We look forward to hearing from you. We expect this spring to be a very busy one for us!

Are Home Values Rising in Colorado Springs?

info@thedistinctivegroup.com (Tiffany Lachnidt) — Mon, 7 Mar 2016 12:38:00 -0800

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Today I have a real estate market update for the Colorado Springs area. I’ll be looking back on February of 2016 and analyzing what happened, as well as looking ahead to make some predictions about our local market.

So far in 2016, sales are up by 21% compared to last year at this same time. The number of unsold homes has dropped by 27.5%, which is good progress since last year. Overall, inventory is very low in the area.

Some good news is that pending home sales are up by 21%, and the average sale price increased by 8% since last year. The beauty of this market is that it is slow and steady. This is a good, healthy market!

If you’ve been thinking about selling your home, now is a great time to put it on the market. We need homes to sell! Inventory is low, and you can capitalize on this opportunity with a profitable home sale!

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions you might have. We expect this spring to be a good one, so don’t miss out!

November Pending Sales are up 25% in Colorado Springs

info@thedistinctivegroup.com (Tiffany Lachnidt) — Tue, 8 Dec 2015 08:45:00 -0800

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Where is real estate in Colorado Springs today? The market has certainly not cooled off coming into December! Our November sales increased by 4.4% over last year. This has slowed some since October but our, our pending sales are up by 25.5%! This will mean for great increases in December and January closing.

The number of unsold homes in our inventory is down 16.2%. This means our listings are active and selling quickly. Likewise, our average sale price has increased by 8.8%.

Some are mislead to believe now is not a good time to buy or sell in the area. However, that’s not true. Our numbers say otherwise! The early winter and early spring is a great time to have your home on the market. Last year, during this time, we had some of the most valuable transactions happening compared to the rest of the year.

If you’re thinking about waiting, don’t! If you don’t think you or your home is ready, we’d love to talk to you during the early stages of the process. We want to help you sell quickly and for top dollar. Give us a call or email today!

How Can You Stage on a Budget?

info@thedistinctivegroup.com (Tiffany Lachnidt) — Fri, 20 Nov 2015 09:30:00 -0800

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If you are looking to sell your home, my goal is to get YOU the most money possible in the shortest amount of time. One of the best ways to add value and appeal to your home is through home staging. There are a lot of options for how you want to go about it. You could hire a professional staging company, but that comes with a hefty price tag. Most of the time, a few simple fixes is all it takes to transform a living room.

Today, I want to share a video from HGTV that can help you stage your home when you go to sell. Tiffany Brooks recommends her favorite inexpensive home staging tips for you. I hope these will help you save both time and money when it comes time to sell your home.

A fresh coat of paint is always a good idea. Neutral, warm colors work best for highlighting the natural light in your home. This will make it easier to punch up the room with some colorful accessories and pull everything together.

A common design problem facing many homeowners is that they have no real entry way, as their front door opens up to the living room. To fix this, you can add a table, some lighting, and a rug to "fake a foyer" and make it feel like the living room and entryway are two different spaces.

A patterned rug, some pillows, or bright curtains add a ton of texture and an eclectic layer to the space, which is essential to a well-designed room.

In some cases, a "make-under" is just what you need. In the case of most fireplaces, taking some accessories and clutter away enhances the look and feel of the room greatly.
You could spend well over a few thousand dollars with a staging company, or you could do these fixes yourself for around $500. That's a small investment considering the value that you add to your home by adding those pieces.

If you have any questions about staging your home or anything else real estate related, give me a call or send over a quick email. I'm always here to help, and would love to hear from you!

What Do Recent Colorado Market Trends Mean for You?

info@thedistinctivegroup.com (Tiffany Lachnidt) — Wed, 4 Nov 2015 12:02:00 -0800

What trends have we seen in the Colorado Springs market lately? Is now a good time to buy or sell real estate? These are the questions many people have about our current market, and we have the most recent data to try to answer them for you.

The average sold price for homes in Colorado Springs was $266,340, which is up 4% over last year. The median price is also up 4% over 2014, sitting at $234,000. Not only are prices rising, the number of homes sold is up 19% over this time last year. We've sold a whopping 11,332 so far in 2015 as compared to only 9,542 at this point last year.

The great news for homeowners doesn't stop there. The average days on the market dropped 19% since this time last year and currently sits at 71 days. All in all, now is a great time to list your home; conditions are ripe for a quick and profitable home sale.

On the buyers side, if you're looking for a home $500,000 and up, you have a distinct advantage, as homes are not going as quickly in that price bracket. When taking historically low interest rates into account, now is a great time to upgrade affordably.

This is just a brief overview of the current market. If you would like a more in-depth analysis, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We're always available to chat!

What Do Recent Colorado Springs Market Conditions Mean for You?

info@thedistinctivegroup.com (Tiffany Lachnidt) — Thu, 3 Sep 2015 12:19:00 -0700

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Today, I want to give you a brief market recap of what we've seen in Colorado Springs this summer and what kind of conditions you can expect moving forward. It's been a great year so far. Through July:

-Average sales price is up 3.1%, which puts us at $275,000
-Unsold homes are down 19%
-Inventory is sitting at only 2.5 months
-Pending sales are up 21.8% (2,309 properties)

Many people think August is a bad month to sell, but our market has stayed strong. We didn't see a drop in the number of homes sold, and properties are still moving quickly. Most of the time, homes sell within 60 days of being listed.

For the fall, I expect these fantastic market conditions to continue. If you plan on selling, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, please don't hesitate to reach out. I'm always available to help!

What Is Most Important When Renovating Your Home in Colorado Springs?

info@thedistinctivegroup.com (Tiffany Lachnidt) — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 12:36:00 -0700

Plan Ahead When Renovating

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Today, I want to share a video from HGTV to discuss how you can plan ahead when it comes to home renovations. Renovating your home can be an exciting process, but it's important that you don't get ahead of yourself. You can't just go willy-nilly into a major project and expect it to go perfectly. Planning properly for these types of projects can assure a smooth project, and one that may even cost less!

HGTV’s Amy Matthews recommends making a very detailed timeline of your project, including potential things that could go awry and making backup plans in order to prevent these things from happening. Putting your plan onto paper is a good way to start this process.

Another major step is choosing a good team of contractors that you can communicate with. If they don't know what you want done, they can't do it.

Just remember, there is no such thing as too much planning! If you plan on renovating your Colorado Springs home, please contact us. We know great contractors and could also give you advice on what projects will bring you the highest return on your investment.

We look forward to hearing from you!

What Does the Colorado Springs Market Look Like?

info@thedistinctivegroup.com (Tiffany Lachnidt) — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 09:22:00 -0700

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Hey everyone, thanks for joining us today. A lot of people have been asking us lately about the real estate market in Colorado Springs, and what the latest numbers are.

While summer has been slow to heat up, the real estate market has not. We've had an incredibly strong spring and June is heading in the same direction. Here are some of the latest statistics for Colorado Springs:

Our overall sales are up 24.3% from last year
Unsold homes are down 27.9%
Our inventory is down 42%. We have just over 2 months of inventory available, which is staggeringly low
The Average sales price is up 13.9%

If you have considered selling in the last few years, but your home's value wasn't quite where you wanted it to be, we think you will be pleasantly surprised to see what your home is worth now. Homes in the $200,000- $300,000 range are selling quickly and for a great price.

If you are buying and struggling to find a home under contract. We have a list of homes coming on the market that aren't active on the MLS yet. We'd be happy to send you the list, as well as any homes that come on the market and match your criteria.

If you have any questions for us, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We would be glad to help out!

The Colorado Springs Real Estate Market Is Heating Up

info@thedistinctivegroup.com (Tiffany Lachnidt) — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 11:53:00 -0700

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I know it sounds cliche, but the real estate market here in Colorado Springs is really heating up. I'll give a brief breakdown of what's happening in order to show you.

There are currently 2,346 active homes in El Paso County.
Last March there were 839 homes sold, and I expect that number to grow this year.
This means we will sell over 1/3 of our active inventory.
If you're thinking of selling, now is a great time to do so. We're seeing lots of multiple offer situations.
We had a home last week that had nine offers in 24 hours!
Low interest rates and high affordability will likely draw a lot more buyers to our market, so if you're looking to sell, you could be in a profitable position.
If you're buying, you can expect some competition, so get pre-approved and be ready to purchase when you find a good home.

Hopefully you can use this information to your advantage this spring. There is going to be a lot of activity on the market, so prepare to make moves quickly if you decide to buy or sell in Colorado Springs.

As always, please refer to me with any questions you might have about real estate in Colorado Springs.