Colorado Springs Realty Patricia Beck

Sellers don't want to risk going under contract and taking their home off the market only to find out that the buyers are not qualified to purchase their home. For peace of mind, many sellers require offers are accompanied by a pre-qualification letter to ensure that the buyer is qualified to purchase their home. Is that really enough in today's real estate market?

Pre-qualifications can be completed over the phone with the buyer simply listing off their debts and income to the lender. The loan officer types up a pre-qualification letter and may not even check the buyers' credit score. Seller receives the offer with pre-qual letter from the buyers and then buyers' financing falls through before closing. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon occurrence.

Should sellers start requiring a letter of pre-approval from buyers? A pre-approval is more solid than a pre-qualification since the buyer has actually given the lender copies of pay stubs, bank statements, documentation of debts, etc... Of course, obtaining a pre-approval takes more time than an over the phone pre-qualification but if a buyer is serious, why wouldn't they get pre-approved first anyway?

Of course, real estate agents need to stay in constant communication with the lender to ensure everything stays on track in regard to the buyers' loan. I wonder if they all do though.

What do you all think? Is a pre-qualification good enough anymore?

Colorado Springs Real Estate information and services

When comparing the month of October alone, home sales have decreased since October 2005 (first data point along Y axis).

Interestingly, not only were home sales higher but home inventory was lower looking over previous years with exception of October 2007.

Home inventory did decrease in October 2008 compared to recent months and that is a good sign. The lower the inventory, the more balanced the market will become.

Homes sales dropped by 11.6% in El Paso County for the month of October when compared to the previous month of September.

Compared to October 2007, there were 74 fewer single family home sales in October 2008.  Although there were fewer sales than this time last year, there were an additional 629 single family homes on the market in October 2007.

The average ($230,012) and median ($189,000) sales price slightly decreased when compared to the previous month of September.

*Information gathered from the Pikes Peak MLS is deemed reliable but not guaranteed

Home inventory decreased by 11.4% for the month of October 2008 when compared to June 2008.  We had the highest number of Single Family Homes for sale in June which is not surprising since inventory is normally highest during the summer months in Colorado Springs.

Looking at stats for October:  Single Family Home inventory in the Pikes Peak MLS is sitting at 9 months (compared to 8.2 months last month).  Colorado Springs will reach a balanced market when inventory drops down to 6 months.

*Information gathered from the Pikes Peak MLS is deemed reliable but not guaranteed

For further information on available Homes in Colorado Springs contact your Colorado Springs Realtor, Patricia Beck.

It’s important to have a savings account in case your car breaks down or other emergencies occur but have you ever thought of having a home improvement fund?

You know those projects that you still talk about that haven’t been completed or even started for a long time? Having savings for home improvements will help keep you focused, within budget, and make it possible to complete those remodels in your Colorado Springs home.

For example, if you have $1,000 accumulated to spend on a (do it yourself) bathroom remodel, then you will need to carefully choose inexpensive but quality materials in order to stay within your budget.

If want to remodel the kitchen in your home, do some research, set a dollar amount, and start putting away a specific amount of money each month in order to reach your goal.

Once you finish one project, you can start saving up for the next. If you plan on selling your home in the near future, having a home improvement fund will be helpful for necessary repairs and bringing your house up to par with the competition.

Unless you already have the finances to make home improvements, building up a separate fund will allow you to update your home without having to worry about credit card debt to pay later. You can even use the funds to work on an update project for your home each year.

Best of all, this fund is totally separate from your normal checking and savings account and if the water heater goes out, you can leave your money untouched since you have money saved up in the piggy bank for your home.