Posts Tagged ‘Mls Colorado Springs’

MLS Colorado Springs For you!

Friday, January 13th, 2012

If you are looking for a home in Colorado Springs, then a good place to start is with the MLS Colorado Springs.  This multiple listing will include all the homes that are available for sale that have been listed by Colorado Springs real estate agents.  The MLS is easily accessible by real estate agents or similar professionals, and is a good way to view at a glance, all the housing alternatives that are available.

Once you have outlined your housing needs to a real estate agent, then they will be able to look through the MLS Colorado Springs to find a home that is suitable for you.  An experienced agent will be able to manipulate the system by continually narrowing the search, using your specifications as a guide.  It is therefore important that you let them know what your preferences are in terms of housing style, as well as location and amenities.

MLS Colorado Springs includes areas such as Black Forest, Briargate, Falcon, Old Colorado City, Tri-Lakes, Ute Pass, and Woodland Park.

Using the MLS Colorado Springs it is possible to view homes based on school districts.  For example School district 20 is one of the more popular districts in Colorado Springs, so if you have school age children you might prefer to get a home that lies within this area.  The MLS search will reveal the regions located in that district namely Northgate, Black Forest, Briargate, and the Northwest Colorado Springs area.

The real estate agent can customize the MLS Colorado Spring search by zip codes, street, or subdivision.  So you might opt to look at houses in Northwest Colorado Springs.  Here you will find that there are some very reasonably priced homes available.  Depending on your budget you can search for a home with the requisite bedrooms, bathrooms, and garage size that meets your requirements.

You can also view the listed homes based on price, so if you have settled on a region in Northwest Colorado Springs such as Peregrine or Oak Hills, you can then look for houses in your price range.  If your budget is $500,000 then you can request a listing of homes at that price and lower.

The real estate agent will be able to provide you with a comprehensive listing based on your specifications. It is possible to use the MLS Colorado Springs to find the home you need, but a real estate agent will have to do it for you.  There are several reports that can be derived from the system, depending on the type of home search that is set up.  Try to ensure that the listing you get from your agent is as comprehensive as possible.  If you are not happy with what is available, you can search other regions or wait until new housing solutions come on the market.  Your real estate agent can send you regular emails with new listings as they become available. The MLS Colorado Springs may also contain homes that are being sold by owners.

Colorado Springs Houses — choose the right one!

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

If you are looking for a house to buy or rent in Colorado Springs, then you will definitely have a lot to choose from.  Colorado Spring houses are very diverse and are available in many different neighborhoods.  There are residential homes, condos, townhomes, foreclosures, new homes, and multi-family homes.  Many of the homes are moderately priced; however, there are luxury homes available in most areas.  Of course what really matters is the type of house you are looking for, and the amount you have to spend.

If you would like a house on a large expanse of land, not too close to your neighbor, then an area like Black Forest might be most suited for you.  The houses here are situated on large lots, and there are many trees dotting the landscape.  The prices run the gamut of the price range.  It is possible to find large 7 bedroom homes that sell for over 2mil, as well as smaller 2 and 3 bedroom homes that sell for $200,000 and less, it all depends.

If you are looking for a house that is really far away from it all, then a good area to consider would be Woodland Park.  Woodland Park is located at the foot of Pikes Peak, which is probably the most visited mountain in North America; it is an out-and-out tourist attraction.  The houses here are very affordable, and house prices have been deflated and continue to fall due, because of the weak US economy.   Because of this, now is as good a time as any to buy a house.

If you prefer a house in a planned community, then consider getting a house in an area like Northgate.  This is one of the areas in Colorado Springs that has some newer homes available.  It is a popular choice because it is very close to the city center, as well as to the city of Denver.  The houses here are affordable, and the lot sizes are generally quite large.  In addition, there are some nice shopping and recreational areas.

Selling Colorado Spring houses will be a little more complex than buying, as the market is really a buyer’s one.  Nonetheless, it is possible to get a good selling price in the soft market that exists in Colorado Springs.  It would be advisable to seek the assistance of a professional realtor to assist in this regard, as there are some challenges in being able to get top dollar in this type of market.

The market for Colorado Springs houses is relatively buoyant.  So far in 2011 most regions have had an average of 150 homes on the market, and some have stayed on the market for only a short time.  The average sales price for houses in most areas teetered in the region of $200,000 to $300,000.  However, this is an average value, so there will always be variances depending on the region of Colorado Springs the house is located.  Houses in the downtown and central regions are somewhat more expensive due to their proximity to the city center.

MLS Colorado Springs - You Must See 1st!

Tuesday, October 18th, 2011

Are you looking for property in the Colorado Springs area? If you are, be assured that this city will offer anything that you are looking for. Colorado Springs has a variety of beautiful houses to choose from. To learn more, continue reading this article. Throughout, we will discuss everything that Colorado Springs MLS listings have to offer.

When it comes to Colorado Springs, there are a wide range of MLS listings to search through. Whether you are looking for an apartment, a two story home, or a 4 story mansion, a Colorado Springs realtor will surely be able to help you find what you are looking for. Let’s take a look at your options. The first thing that you need to consider when looking for a new home is your price range. Whether you are looking for a small, simple, bachelor style home for under $100, 000 or a large, 5 bedroom, 3 car garage mansion, you will find a home to suit your needs in Colorado Springs. On top of finding the right price range, a Colorado real estate agent can also help you to find the perfect type of housing. Perhaps you are looking to buy a house? Or maybe you are interested in renting an apartment? Whatever you are looking for, you will be able to find it within the Colorado Springs MLS listings.

Aside from searching for the right price range or housing type, Colorado Springs MLS listings and real estate agents can also help you to find your perfect home by searching different amenities. With MLS listings, you can easily limit your housing search by searching for number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, or any other preferences you may have!

When it comes to MLS listings in Colorado Springs, you may also wish to search by location. There are plenty of great locations within Colorado Springs including Blackforest, Briargate, Old Colorado city, Peyton, and Pueblo to name just a few. If you already have a location in mind, feel free to limit your search to this specific area. If not, take time to explore each area separately. Each area in Colorado Springs has something unique and different to offer. The one thing that all of these locations have in common? They are all beautiful, well cared for neighborhoods that are the perfect place for raising a family.

If you are looking for a home in the Colorado Springs area, check out some of the cities many MLS listings. If you do not feel comfortable doing this yourself, a real estate agent will be happy to help you through the process, narrowing down your housing preferences as you go. Feel free to search the MLS listings by location, by price range, by housing type, or by special amenities. Colorado Springs has plenty of beautiful homes and apartments to choose from, so be sure to take your time and look around carefully. If you haven’t found what you are looking for yet, be assured that you will shortly! Colorado Springs has plenty to offer and has something for everyone!

Learn the Top 10 Questions that VA home buyers ask Pink Realty Agents

Sunday, September 4th, 2011

With Colorado Springs houses County, Colorado being home to Fort Carson, Peterson Air Force Base, Schriever Air Force Base, Cheyenne Mountain, the Colorado Springs Air Force Academy, and countless military contractors who heavily recruit retired military personnel, VA Mortgage Loans are not only a common loan type, but local market driver. Because of the demand for these types of mortgages in Colorado Springs, we at Pink Realty want to answer the Top 10 questions that military and retired military home buyers have about VA mortgages.

Question 1: What is the VA Mortgage Lending Limit?

According to our in-house lending specialist, Tammy, the VA mortgage lending limit is $417,000 in Colorado Springs. While this limit is set for most areas of the country, the VA lending limit can be as high as $1M for other parts of the country that have higher average home prices, such as Washington DC, California and Hawaii. Additionally, while the VA sets their limit, this does NOT limit the veteran to a house priced at $417K or less. For example, let’s say you want to purchase a home priced at $500K. That’s $83K higher than the VA guarantee limit of $417K. If your VA eligibility is $417K and you qualify for the higher loan amount from your lender, you can purchase the $500K home with a down payment of 25% of the $83K difference ($20,750) and your lender will lend you the other 75% of the difference or $62,250. Therefore, your loan amount would be $417K, plus $62,250 or $479,250.00. As long as you qualify for the higher loan amount and have the cash for the down payment, you can buy that $500K house.

Question 2: What is the VA Funding Fee?

The VA charges a VA Funding fee of 2.15% of the mortgage amount to first-time users who do not put pay a down payment on the home. This fee covers the cost to operate the VA loan program. After the first VA loan, the funding fee is increased to 3.3% of the mortgage amount if the veteran does not pay a down payment. This fee does not have to be paid by the veteran out of pocket. It can be financed into the loan along with other closing costs, so there is no down payment required and no out of pocket expenses to the veteran.

Question 3: Can the VA Funding Fee be waived?

Did you know if you are discharged from service with at least a 10% disabled status you can get the VA funding fee waived? That’s right! Nearly 70% of the veterans today are discharged with at least a 10% disabled status. This not only gets the veteran a tax free check every month, but also allows them to purchase a home without having to pay the standard VA funding fee!

Question 4: Is my eligibility lost if I file Bankruptcy?

Filing Bankruptcy does affect your VA eligibility, but depending on what type of Bankruptcy you file, your VA eligibility is affected differently. If the veteran files Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, which is a total liquidation of their debts, the veteran must wait 2 years before they can qualify for another VA loan. If, however, the applicant files Chapter 13, which is a re-organization of their debts, the VA will consider lending to the applicant for another home purchase in as little as 12 months into the bankruptcy if the applicant receives permission from the bankruptcy court and can show they have paid 12 months of payments on the bankruptcy in a timely manner.

Question 5: Is my eligibility lost if I lose my house in foreclosure or sell my home as a short sale?

There have been a lot of foreclosures in Colorado Springs in the past couple so Pink Realty agents get this question quite a bit. Whether a veteran looses their home in a foreclosure or sells their home as a short sale, if the VA suffers a loss, they do not forgive or forget the loss. However, this does not mean the veteran loses their eligibility. The amount the VA loses on your home, whether via a foreclosure or short sale, gets subtracted from your total eligibility. What this means is if you were elegible for a VA guarantee of $200K and the VA lost $100K on your loan, your VA eligibility is reduced by the amount of the loss and is now $100K. If the deficiency is repaid to the VA, the veteran’s eligibility is fully restored.

Question 6: Can I use my VA eligibility more than once?

Yes! Veterans can use their VA eligibility as many times as they want but only on one house at a time. To use the eligibility again, the veteran must pay off the previous loan and provide proof to the VA, and your Pink Realty agent can help you with this. When a veteran has a VA loan on their home and they sell it, they must notify the VA that the home has sold and the mortgage has been paid in full. This restores the veteran’s VA eligibility so that it can be used again to buy their next home. If the veteran allows his VA mortgage to be assumed by another eligible veteran (and this is never a good idea) and the assuming veteran is not willing to substitute his own VA eligibility to the original veteran, the original veteran’s eligibility is reduced by the amount of the loan that was assumed. Once the assuming veteran pays the loan in full, the original veteran’s VA eligibility is restored.

Question 7: What kind of properties can I buy?

The VA does not lend on any property that is not intended to be used as the applicant’s primary residence. Should an applicant want to purchase a duplex, tri-plex or any 2 - 4 unit building as an investment, the VA will grant a VA mortgage loan as long as the applicant intends to occupy one of the units as their primary residence. The VA also requires that the home be in move-in and livable condition at the time the loan is made. The VA does not lend on uninhabitable properties, raw land, commercial property or any other property that will not be considered the applicants primary residence.

Question 8: Can I buy more than one property at a time?

The VA only issues mortgages on the veteran’s primary residence. This does not keep the veteran from being able to purchase other properties, though. If the veteran wants to purchase another property, such as an investment property, and they qualify for both mortgages, the veteran can secure other, non-VA financing to purchase other property. If you would like to discuss the other loan types that may be available to you, our in-house Pink Realty lender would be happy to help you. Just call our office at 719-393-7465 (Pink) and ask to speak to the lender.

Question 9: Who can apply for a VA loan?

VA loans are for military personnel and veterans. If a military applicant wants to include another person on their VA mortgage, the only acceptable co-applicants are the applicant’s spouse or another VA eligible applicant. Family members, friends, relatives and/or ’significant others’ can’t be on a VA Loan with the applicant. If there are
credit issues with an applicant’s spouse, the applicant does not have to include the spouse on the application.
However, the debts of the spouse must be included so the VA has knowledge of the total liability at stake. Sometimes, the spouse’s total debt causes the debt to asset ratio to be too high to qualify for the loan. In this case, if the spouse works and has been at their job at least 2 years, the spouse’s income, up to the total monthly debt liability, can be included on the application to offset the spouse’s debt. This generally allows the debt to asset ratio to fall back in line for approval of the loan.

Question 10: What does my Credit Score have to be?

At time this article was written, the VA looks for scores of 620 or higher. (Please feel free to call Pink Realty at any to check to see if loan guidelines have changed. We are always here to help.) If the applicant’s score is a little lower than this, Pink Realty lender will work closely with the applicant to see what can be done to raise their score, and many times we can help a borderline applicant buy a new Colorado Springs homee. The first item addressed is whether or not the credit report is accurate. More than 80% of the credit reports run today contain errors. Just removing the errors alone may raise the applicants score. Improving their credit score may also mean paying down a credit card balance so the outstanding balance is 50% less than the credit limit on the account or it may be as simple as paying a few low balance accounts off. Sometimes this is all that’s needed to bring the credit score up to the approval score limit. Remember that your credit score is very specific to you, and we would be happy to evaluate your situation for free any time. Just call our office at 719-393-7465 (Pink).

We hope this article answered some of your questions about VA mortgage loans so when you are in the market for a VA loan, you are ready. For more information on VA home loans, you can call a Pink Realty agent or lender at any time.Please stay tuned for more informative articles. Stop by the website regularly for new and updated information.

Investors Trending to Snag the Keepers

Sunday, September 4th, 2011

While the economy has created a ‘buyers’ real estate market with home values plummeting and Colorado Springs foreclosures soaring, who’s buying up the properties that are for sale? While first time home buyers are on the decline and previous buyers are being turned down because of tight credit conditions, Pink Realty agents are seeing that those with cash are the ones bringing the deals to the table. And today, it’s typically the investors that have the cash! Per Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist for the National Associate of Realtors (NAR), “Increases in all-cash transactions, the investor market share and distressed home sales all go hand-in-hand. With tight credit standards, it’s not surprising to see so much activity where cash is king and investors are taking advantage of conditions to purchase undervalued homes.”

On February 23, 2011, Jon Prior of the NAR summarized the housing sales for January 2011. All-cash sales increased to 32% of all sales in January, which was up from 29% in December 2010. Additionally, it was investors that grabbed more of the market share by accounting for 23% of all buyers in January, up from 20% in December 2010 and up 17% from one year ago.

While many investor home purchases will result in a traditional fix and flip sale, the current rental market and trends are also providing a great profit opportunity for investors. The demand for rentals in Colorado Springs is on the rise because more people are being turned down for home loans and more people are being displaced because of foreclosure or selling their home on a short sale. Colorado Springs has become a hot rental area because of the number of military personnel in the city, but also because the economy and housing market has caused so many homeowners to lose their homes to foreclosure or because they had to sell their home as a short sale. All these people are in need of housing and looking for rentals. This demand has resulted in less than 1% vacancy in Colorado Springs. Traditionally in Colorado Springs, the 3 bedroom home was always the highest in demand and considered the ’sweet spot’ in the rental market. The 3 bedroom homes were always rented, never vacant and there were never enough of them to meet the demand for them. The larger homes that were for rent were not in demand and stayed vacant.
However, today the demand for 4 and 5 bedrooms homes is increasing. As more and more middle class families are displaced, the need for the larger rentals increases. These larger rentals also bring a nice price point to the balance sheet. The current rental rate for a 3 bedroom single family home is $1140 per month and the 4 and 5 bedrooms are $1374 and $1789 respectively.

Call Pink Realty today at 719-393-7465 (Pink) to talk to an agent and see what great deal is out there waiting for you!

There is no doubt the opportunity for investors to ’snag the keepers’ is now.

While wholesaling and fix and flips bring fast and big profits, more investors are adding the right ‘keepers’ to their portfolio mix as rentals for additional long-term passive income. With the market trend shifting toward larger rentals, investors should also note that the larger homes with higher mortgages tend to get discounted more by the lenders when working a short sale. Many of these higher end homes are simply in need of paint and carpet. We have seen nice homes in the Stetson Hills area that needed as little as paint, carpet and linoleum flooring, but the homeowners couldn’t sell to a retail buyer because the buyers wanted a completely fixed home. Investors can buy homes for sale Colorado Springs for around $125K and get them turned into great rentals for about $10K. Cash flow on these short sales or bank owned properties would be very high.

If you call a Pink Realty agent, we would be happy to scour the market for you and find you a great property that will meet your needs.

Are you an investor who wants the upside of an investment property and today’s really cheap prices and huge cash flows but don’t want to at it alone?

The owners of Pink Realty are active, experienced investors and are always looking for partners on deals. Just give is a call at 719-393-7465 (Pink) and ask to talk to Russ or Monica about partnering on deals. We would be happy to talk to you. Just tell us what you want to bring to the table and we will see how we can work together.

• Do you qualify for the loan to buy the house? A common strategy investors are using now is to buy houses with cash, remodel the houses and then refinance the property with zero money out of pocket. We have investor friendly lenders ready to do these types of loans.

• Maybe you have a small amount of cash available and we can short a 2nd loan and bring the 1st mortgage current on a good property.

• Maybe you have a larger amount of cash available making 1% at the bank or in an IRA and you want to do something more productive with it but don’t know exactly how. We can find a really cheap house that we can buy, fix up, and rent.