Cherise Selley

If you’re part of the real estate community, then what are you doing to enhance your business during this winter season?

The answer might require complex strategies as this relates to improving your business acumen. On the other hand, your response may very well be as simple as trusting in your belief system.

For if you place your entire beliefs within your business model, most likely, you can probably look forward to higher peaks of expectation followed by lower valleys of disappointment, especially when the markets are severely challenged by geo-political and economic trials.

As for myself, as a Colorado Springs Realtor, my spiritual beliefs are what guide my leadership skills that are required for leading our group of Colorado Springs Realtors. As a result, this brings extraordinary inspiration and comfort during the midst of business uncertainties.

But what is the real question at hand? Which do you believe in more regarding the outcomes of your life? Are your beliefs being tested under trials? Or is the strength of your business as a measure of success being tested? I contend it is your beliefs, which then sets the tone for your measure of true business significance.

Of course, during some of the slower winter months, it’s only prudent to prepare, strategize, and to gain vision and to refuel to effectively run a Colorado Springs Real Estate business in the future. Yet your beliefs, especially rooted transcendently and found in the Word, when under fire, ultimately refine and test the character of who you are and what you do…

Creative financing is a thing of the past. Here’s how the FBI defines mortgage fraud, “any material misstatement, misrepresentation or omission relied upon by an underwriter or lender to fund, purchase or insure a loan.”

Our company of Colorado Springs Realtors encourages their clients to avoid any white lie, hedging, puffing, or anything else that might breach honesty when filling out a Colorado Springs Real Estate loan application. Some of the common examples of mortgage fraud include undisclosed kickbacks, silent second mortgage, falsifying employment income, non-owner occupant claiming occupancy, down payment gifts you will repay, inflated purchase price and falsifying deposits.

Today – mortgage fraud is pervasive. In fact, the FBI reports a 1,411% jump in reports of mortgage fraud between 1997 and 2005. The numbers are rising and as a result, mortgage fraud has impacted the economic slump found on Wall Street as well as the Colorado Springs Real Estate market.

This Colorado Springs Realtor encourages everyone to be more accurate with the essentials of doing Colorado Springs Real Estate ethically and profitably.

During the recent NAR Convention, Chief Economist Lawrence Yun made some bold predictions regarding home sales and Realtor® income for the upcoming 2010 year.

Yun predicts that home sales will rise about 15% and Realtor® income will increase to around 20%. His optimistic forecast is predicated upon the continuation of the extended federal tax credit, which in turn continues to reduce inventory in the lower price ranges of actual home values, and thus allows the principles of “supply and demand” to impact the higher price ranges in the national real estate markets.

Colorado Springs Realtors have seen this trend occurring over the Colorado Springs Real Estate market for the past 18 months. Nearly 90% of homes sales have been concentrated at the price ranges below $400,000, and now that listing inventory has dropped significantly with an increase in overall home sales, there is some momentum of homes sales in the higher ends of the Colorado Springs Real Estate market that is now taking place. Personally, I’ve written two contracts during these winter months of $525,000 and $730,000 - something not really typical for Colorado Springs Realtors over this past year.

So in effect, the tightening inventory at all price points has helped to improve market performance for both the Colorado Springs Realtor with an increase of his or her income, as well as for the consumer who purchases Colorado Springs Real Estate properties at more stabilized prices.

I think Colorado Springs Realtors can continue to expect to see some slight peaks regarding home sales, and then followed by some dipping lows over the course of 2010.

Yesterday I was conversing with one of our Colorado Springs Realtors about some of the trends that he has noticed recently regarding the activity in the Colorado Springs Real Estate market.

The consensus among Colorado Springs Realtors is that the worst of the downturn has already hit rock-bottom. But I hesitate to jump on the band wagon of believing that all the pain of the Colorado Springs Real Estate market, as well as other financial markets, has been totally alleviated by the Obama stimulus, the federal tax credit and other debt-producing programs.

From previous blogs I’ve continued to keep the consumer apprised about the market from different angles. And when comparing the Colorado Springs Real Estate market to other real estate markets, we certainly have some distinct advantages over other regions.

Yet, I suspect we’re still going to experience some rough spots on our way to fuller recovery. My conversation with this Colorado Springs Realtor proves this point.

For instance, one of his current buyers is looking for a home in a well-established area of Colorado Springs, boasting of good schools, shopping convenience, safety, cleanliness, parks and such. The price range we’re talking about is from $250,000 to $300,000. Within the buyer’s selected searches of 7 homes, 5 happened to be short-sales. Now this isn’t the accurate ratio of short-sales on the Colorado Springs Real Estate market, so please don’t think that short-sales and foreclosures completely dominate our inventory. This is not the case. However there are more distressed properties popping up in this price range.

But the point is this. Buying and selling Colorado Springs Real Estate really can’t be done as effectively if slow-paced perusing or dabbling or indecision is the backbone of one’s mindset. This market requires knowledge and sacrifice, even for the mentioned buyer of this blog. It’s about listening to the expert advice of your Colorado Springs Realtor, then integrating this information into a sound strategy for buying and/or selling. Sometimes innovating thought about the transaction must be implemented in practical terms, different than we’re used to seeing. Sometimes it requires the process of renting before getting into another home. Sometimes the buyer and/or seller must fully evaluate all of the tangential factors about what it really means to get that best deal.

As a Colorado Springs Realtor, I try to craft these blogs with objectivity mixed with some optimism. Because the reality is this: Perception turns in to reality. And having the right attitudes without embellished positivity, even with the Colorado Springs Real Estate market, makes the biggest difference with how the consumer chooses to purchase his or her next home and/or investment property.

Amidst some of the doldrums of today’s news, there is a bit of optimism to be noted regarding the number of El Paso County single-family home building permits. For October 2009, the home building permits totaled 105, which is approximately a 52.2% jump over last October’s numbers.

According to Ralph Braden, board president of the HBA of Colorado Springs, he expects to see only a slight increase in single-family permits in 2010. However, Mr. Braden offers some encouragement about the housing market in response to the expansion of the federal tax credit until April 2010.

For more information about this credit from Channel 5 news reporting, please click on to the link below to here from one of our Colorado Springs Realtors, Nancy Wile: