Cherise Selley

Every day in real estate should be a day of learning, and today was no exception. This is definitely something that all Brokers, Buyers, and Sellers need to be aware of:

I am representing a Seller and her home is currently under contract. The Insurance Objection Deadline is coming up, and I received a call from the Buyer's Agent asking for something that no other agent has asked me for in the past. He needed a copy of the Seller's CLUE report which would show the previous loss history (or previous claims made) against the property.

This opened up a whole entire discussion with my managing broker since the burden of obtaining property insurance is the Buyer's obligation per our Colorado Contracts. However, the Buyer's Agent brought to my attention that recently, an insurance company did not pull the CLUE report on this other property until AFTER closing, which put his Buyer in a bind as USAA deemed the house not insurable (again, after closing). The agent did not want to go through this experience with this current Buyer, so to be proactive, he asked me for a copy of the CLUE report.

Yikes! The Seller did not want to release this information because the burden of this research is the Buyer's obligation in the contract, and understandably the Seller did not want to be liable for something that was out of her scope of obligation. Now we are at a stale mate! What to do?

I called my own insurance agent for a clue (no pun intended). He is with American Family Insurance and told me that they NEVER pull the CLUE report on the previous owner which would give the past loss history on the house, they ONLY pull the CLUE report on the current Buyer. Danger, Danger: what about a past fire, flood, mold issue, etc? Unless the Seller discloses this the Buyer would not have a clue (ok this pun was intended) about these incidents.

In a normal transaction, this is usually not a huge issue, BUT, what about Bank-Owned properties? Buyers, you need to be understand that just because you may be able to obtain property insurance, you may not ever see the history of the house unless the Seller provides you with the CLUE report, or better yet, the Seller can authorize the Buyer to talk to their insurance agent so that the burden of investigation is still on the Buyer.

According to KRDO News yesterday, Obama signed the stimulus package that will give 2.8 billion dollars over next 2 years to the state of Colorado - out of that 2.8 billion dollars, 15 million dollars will be allocated for foreclosures. Will this make a dent? I really am anxious to find out!

Today, KRDO news in Colorado Springs interviewed me to see what my thoughts were concerning the economic impact of the Fort Carson troops arriving into Colorado Springs. Here is a few thoughts that I have about it:

•· Of the 5,000 troops that I understand are coming back from Iraq as of this month, about 30% of them will live on post. That leaves 70% of the troops living off base. Of that 70%, about 60% already own a house, according to Economist Fred Crowley of UCCS. Taking those numbers into account, about 1,400 troops would be looking for housing. An additional 5,000 troops are supposed to be here by July from the 4th Infantry Divison (according to a News 13 reporter).

•· Most of that housing will be under $200,000.

•· The Powers, SE, and Fountain area will benefit, but we have buyers looking also in the central area and as far north as Briargate.

•· About 1/2 of the inquires that I am receiving are for rental homes in Fort Carson.

•· Of the remaining 1/2 of inquiries, about 1/4 of the buyers actually qualify in this market.

•· In short, I think it will directly benefit our single family home sells in the 100's not 1,000's, and there will be a trickling effect that will benefit our housing market in other ways: MORE HOMES WILL BE LEASED WHICH MAY HELP INVESTORS AND WILL HOPEFULLY GET SOME OF THE SURPLUS OF FORECLOSURES PURCHASED. APARTMENTS WILL HAVE A LOWER VACANCY RATIO BUT NOT NECESSARILY HIGHER RENTS. THERE WILL BE SOME SINGLE FAMILY SALES INCREASE - IT WILL HELP SOMEWHAT.

•· The mortgage amounts for home buyers will be close to rental rates, so there may be an upside for troops to buy in this market, as well as having historically low interest rates, and the $8,000 tax write off for first time home buyers may help some of these troops as well.

That is my take on things! Let me know your thoughts!

Today, I attended the Garden of the God's Bank Customer Advisory Meeting. This is one of the most productive groups that I am affiliated with, and appreciate participating with a group of people who are leaders in their own industry and have valuable input relevant to our marketplace.

When sharing with the group about the median price of homes (which dropped about 13% Jan. 09 vs. Jan. 08) a developer within the group made a great point. "The median price does not actually indicate that homes are selling 13% less than last year, it simply means that people are BUYING less expensive homes." I think it was a comment worth mentioning here, because it may mean that the market has not declined to the degree that the media spins this recession into. One more interesting fact to point out is that the LIST PRICE to SALES PRICE differential in Colorado Springs is between 2-3% (in most MLS regions for homes within that mid $200 range). This gives some good news to Sellers, knowing that IF their home is priced right to begin with, they may not have to come down more than 3% with the offer and possibly pitching in some closing costs for the buyer.

Education can be a great remedy to dispel fear! Today, I feel a lot more equipped to help my clients.

Today, our Elite 25 group met and we had some discussion on sales in the Colorado Springs marketplace for homes over $700,000. If my ears were hearing correctly, there has been a 40% decline in homes sold over $700,000 for 2008 vs. 2007. There are many opportunities in the upper end market, in fact a listing that one of my group members pitched today was a brand new home, bank-owned, currently listed for $725,000 with over 5,000 of custom square feet with a walkout basement in a Premier neighborhood. There are many opportunities for buyers looking for million dollar home quality without the price tag in this market!