Good representation!

Just the other day I was sitting in on an ethics class at the Pikes Peak Association of REALTORS. The purpose of the course is to go over how important it is to treat clients with great care as well as treating other fellow real estate professionals in a competent and professional manner. During the class there was a case analysis portion where the class was told to form groups and discuss whether certain situations where deemed a violation of the code of ethics or not. After reading each case, it became clear to me that one of them could be deemed okay, however, the other was extremely unethical.
The case in question involved an open house, a represented buyer and of course a greedy agent.....
The point of this post isn't to go in detail on what transpired in the case study but rather some reactions that other people had in the room after finding out which one was obviously unethical. I heard "I would do that" and "there's nothing wrong with that." Hmmmmmm. Even though they knew that the situation was "unethical" they still insisted that they would STILL DO IT! When you are deciding on which professional you want to use to aide you in listing or buying a property or if you should leave the one you have already chosen stick with the following criteria:
1. Do they seem like they want to make a quick sale? If they do, you better run like hell.
2. How do they talk to other real estate professionals? If they seem like a jerk to their peers it will be highly unlikely that they will be able to negotiate a fair deal with their counterpart and therefore could jeopardize your offer.
3. Do they explain how the process works? It can be very scary to buy a property and a good REALTOR will walk you through the process while explaining what you can expect. Unexpected surprises are rarely a good thing in real estate!
4. Do they answer your questions? Again, similar to #3 it is important to understand the process. A professional will get you an answer to your question even if they have to ask someone else and get back to you later.
5. Are they quick to cut their fee? Be careful here. It looks good on paper but sometimes agents will try to cut their fees to make a quick sale. Also, this should send some signs to you that they are probably not that successful at what they do or in some cases desperate for a deal to close. Good agents earn every penny of the fee that they charge!
6. Are they ethical? Will they truly treat you as a principal and therefore carry out their fiduciary responsibilities.

There are many individuals, myself included, that are proud to subscribe to the code of ethics established by the Pikes Peak association of REALTORS. Just make sure that your working with one of the good guys. :)

CSBJ Blog: 4,800 more soldiers coming to Fort Carson

CSBJ Blog: 4,800 more soldiers coming to Fort Carson

GREAT NEWS FOR OUR LOCAL ECONOMY!!!!!!!

Commercial Property in the Springs

In the most recent issue of the Colorado Springs Business Journal there was a very promising article on the state of the commercial real estate industry in Colorado Springs. Many of the areas commercial real estate professionals stated how lucrative Colorado Springs has become to outside investors and that our city is primed for greater economic growth.
So what?
By having our city attract a larger amount of outside investment in addition to the creation of jobs, we WILL see a much GREATER upside in our residential real estate market. Homeowners rejoice! Though we are in a market slowdown it's strides like this that will make Colorado Springs a prime investment area for commercial and residential property owners.

How to price your house

Read an article from the Wall Street Journal on how to determine house value.

Good article from the Denver Post regarding reaction to Bush's new plan of action for the housing "crisis"

I think this is an interesting article from the Denver Post in regards to the Bush administrations goal to extend the ARM deadlines for certain circumstances. I of course disagree with it (as I posted in my reply) however, I feel it's important to look at all sides of a given issue.

CSBJ Blog: Realtors’ housing market outlook a little rosier

CSBJ Blog: Realtors’ housing market outlook a little rosier

This is great news!!!!! I think that we will all be very pleasantly surprised in 2008.

Q & A session with Penelope Culbreth-Graft (Colorado Spring's new upcoming city manager)

A very Politically correct approach? In Culbreth-Graft’s Q & A session with the Colorado Springs Business Journal (vole 19, number 39) one could sense that her answers, to hard community issues, where deliberately…………politically correct. One of her greatest challenges will be trying to grow Colorado’s infrastructure in tandem with following the rules and regulations that TABOR http://http//72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:5cm7ZKJ1CoUJ:www.springsgov.com/doccenter/PublicCommunication/TABOR%2520ABCs.pdf+colorado+springs+tabor.&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=12&gl=us presents.

When asked about how she plans to address these issues, Culbreth-Graft responded “These questions will take time to answer and address effectively.” Additionally, when asked about what some of our city’s greatest weaknesses are she responded “As with all growing communities, meeting public service demands within a limited budget tops the list.” I think it’s far to say that what she meant to say was how difficult it is going to be to grow this city to where it needs to be all while staying within (voter approved) TABOR guidelines. I can say that I don’t envy her position nor do I think that her job will be an easy task. Culbreth-Graft’s first act should be trying to really understand why Tabor was passed by voters to begin with. It’s no secret that the citizens of Colorado Springs have felt that their tax dollars were not being spent effectively in the past. TABOR gave them an answer by forcing the city to operate within very limited parameters along with designated funds for particular projects. Of course this outcome has had its many shortcomings. Our roads have been slowly deteriorating, some of Colorado Spring’s cultural and educational programs have been cut and our crime rate has risen. Additionally, our primary job growth has decreased along with management and other professional positions. The persistent problem with getting funds to help alleviate some of these issues is that voters in Colorado Springs ABSOLUTELY HATE to pay extra taxes. We are currently one of the bottom three Colorado cities in total amount of tax dollars paid by its citizens. Add the sheer fact of why TABOR exists and Culbreth-Graft will quickly realize that this community does want to grow, however, not at the expense of city accountability. I personally think it would be interesting to see the city open up its books to the public. How much city do positions pay? How much money is spent on particular projects? How much is spent on entertainment? Taxes and funding will come if the city can truly prove to its citizens on how much money is going where. I wish Mrs. Culbreth-Graft the upmost success and I think we as a community should welcome her with open arms. Changes need to be made and hopefully she will bring us several steps closer.

Don't be fooled.

I just wanted to throw out some information regarding Colorado Springs and the real estate market. I was down at the PPAR office the other day and was looking at some stats that I think you all need to know. As of now (in Colorado Springs), the market change from last year is only -.076 percent. That’s right! -.076 percent! One thing that everybody needs to understand is that the media rarely advertises the positive. Unfortunately, we as a society seem to only take interest in what is wrong rather than with what is right. Have you ever been in one of those really long traffic jams only to find out that’s there was an accident on the side of the road that everyone was stopping to look at? It’s funny, you never hear about a traffic jam caused by people startled by the beauty of Pikes Peak do you? Newspapers, magazines and news channels all know this. You are much more likely to pick up an article because of a major disaster being reported on or a story on a major economical issue. Here are the facts that I know. Lending practices will never be the same and that’s a good thing! In my opinion, some lenders were being very predatory in their lending practices. On the flip side, people were being very irresponsible with the facts and how much they could really afford. President Bush is launching some measures to counter some of the effects of these practices but in reality it will only really impact a few individuals (http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-US&brand=msnbc&vid=d229e8ba-b8f2-4d22-a252-715931131f12) if you go off of the data, you will realize that you can sell your house as long as it is well maintained and priced effectively. The goal is to be IN the market not just ON the market. If you’re a buyer you will most definitely not see these kinds of deals on the market for quite some time. The inventory is there for your picking! Buying a house is one of the single most important things that you can do to further your financial status. If you need some powerful words from somebody who has been teaching it for quite some time, pick up a copy of David Bach’s “The Automatic Millionaire Homeowner.” It will change your perspective and give you further proof that not only how you should buy a house but rather how you NEED to buy a house.