The Challenge of Buying and Selling Simultaneously

When you move, you're faced with the challenge of buying a home and selling a home at the same time. Luckily you have options for navigating this situation in our market.

Interested in buying a home? GO HERE to perform a Full Home Search, or if you're considering selling, CLICK HERE to receive a Free Home Value Report. For any other questions, please reach out to me at (719) 299-5778, or email me at Donny@IntegrityTeam.net.

When you sell your home, you're faced with the question of where you're going to move to. This means many people are faced with the problem of buying a home and selling a home at the same time.

There are multiple ways to make that transition as smooth as possible. The first step is to get your home on the market. In some places, contingent markets are the norm, so you'll be able to put an offer in on a new property while your current house is up for sale as long as the market conditions allow for a relatively quick sale on your old home.

You have multiple solutions available to buy and sell at the same time.

I'd encourage you to find your new property, or at least have a general idea of what area you intend to live in, at the same time you have your current property listed. We've seen people leasing back their property from buyers, meaning they can close on the property and have 30 to 45 days to move. Leasebacks make your situation a lot easier and a lot more fluid.

I'd love to help you in this transition if you're considering a move in the Colorado Springs area. Give me a call or send me an email soon - I look forward to working with you.

Is It Smarter to Rent or Buy a Home in Colorado Springs?

Interested in buying a home? GO HERE to perform a Full Home Search, or if you're considering selling, CLICK HERE to receive a Free Home Value Report. For any other questions, please reach out to me at (719) 299-5778, or email me at Donny@IntegrityTeam.net.

As a real estate agent, people always ask me if they should buy or rent their home. You'd think as an agent, my obvious answer would be to buy a home, but that's just not the case. A lot of it is personal preference, as well as market conditions.

As we've seen the market rise here in Colorado Springs, the cost to rent today is 20% more than it was just two years ago. So today, buying a home with really low interest rates and high rentals makes the most sense. As the market shifts though, that might not be the case. In markets like Denver, for example, the prices have gotten so high that you're better off renting, and not paying the top of the market prices.

"Luckily, the Colorado Springs market has not peaked yet."

Luckily, the Colorado Springs market has not peaked yet. I would say today, your best bet is to buy a home, but you really have to determine what your long-term goals for homeownership are. Treat your home like an investment, not just a place to live. Buying the right home will protect your financial investment for years and years. Whether you're buying a new home or a resale home, you want to think not about what it's worth today, but what it will be worth in the long run.

Most homeowners live in a house for three to five years, so you want to try to guess what your home is going to be worth three to five years from your move. By looking at your house this way as an investment rather than just a place to live, you can avoid what's happened in previous markets, where collapse has left people upside down on their mortgages.

If you have any questions about buying versus renting, let's talk soon. I can help you find the right investment for years to come.

What Happens After the Home Inspection?

Interested in buying a home? GO HERE to perform a Full Home Search, or if you're considering selling, CLICK HERE to receive a Free Home Value Report. For any other questions, please reach out to me at (719) 299-5778, or email me at Donny@IntegrityTeam.net.

Many people ask me what happens after a home inspection.

After the inspection, an inspection resolution is delivered, which determines what items are requested to be repaired on the home. In most cases, if these items are minor issues and are worth it to get through to closing, we can get those fixed. The seller has the option not to fix these items, but assuming that everything is decided on and is satisfactory, after that, the loan process takes over.

"The seller has the option not to fix items that come up."

The next step after the inspection is typically the appraisal, which is conducted by a licensed appraiser to determine the home's value. After the appraisal is done, the inspection items are completed, the value of the home is verified, and we proceed to closing. Then you get your keys and move into your new home!

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me. I know many reputable vendors and contractors that can fix repairs that come up during an inspection to keep the process smooth and painless. Let's talk soon.

Are You Ready to Buy a Colorado Springs Home?

Interested in buying a home? GO HERE to perform a Full Home Search, or if you're considering selling, CLICK HERE to receive a Free Home Value Report. For any other questions, please reach out to me at (719) 299-5778, or email me at Donny@IntegrityTeam.net.

Determining whether you’re ready to buy a home or not is more of a personal decision than anything else. 

If you’ve been a renter for years, that’s one sign you might be ready to buy a home. Let’s face it, you’re writing a check every month to your landlord, and that’s just the beginning of the picture.

Determining whether or not to buy a home depends on how long you intend to stay in one place. There’s a common misconception that when you sign a 30-year mortgage, you have to stay in the house for 30 years. 

I look at this a lot differently. Buying a home is an investment tool that increases your net worth and spending power. By owning a property, you’re applying some of your payment towards equity. This equity grows over the years. You take that equity and roll it into each property as you move forward. 

Buying the right home in this marketplace is crucial because you want to build equity for the long-term future. When you sell that home, you’ll be able to take that equity and maybe buy a larger home or downsize. 


Ultimately, whether or not you buy a home is largely decided by your goals and how you want to protect your financial future. If you have any questions, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

How Can You and Your Family Stay Safe and Warm This Winter?

Interested in buying a home? GO HERE to perform a Full Home Search, or if you're considering selling, CLICK HERE to receive a Free Home Value Report. For any other questions, please reach out to me at (719) 299-5778, or email me at Donny@IntegrityTeam.net.

We've had an amazing summer here in Colorado, but now that the fall is in full swing, there's no better time to start preparing your home for the cold winter months!

The first thing to look at is your outside lighting. It's starting to get dark a whole lot earlier, so now is a great time to get outside and replace bulbs and fixtures as needed. You don't want to wait until there is snow on the ground to do these things! You're really going to enjoy the fact that your lights are working when you arrive home after work and it's pitch-dark out!

It's been so warm here lately that there's obviously been no need to use the furnace. A bad thing about an unused furnace is that it collects dust, which is bad for your heating system and, more importantly, your health. Now is a great time to pull out the filter and clean it (or replace it altogether)!

Next, you should take advantage of the remaining nice weather days to clean your gutters. This is important: as ice and snow accumulates, it will build up in your gutters if it has nowhere else to go. Leaves and brush block the drainage system on your roof, and this is dangerous because once the ice and snow melts, it will not drain properly and could cause harm to your home and your family.

Lastly, take a look at your water spigots and your hose and make sure that no water is left in the lines. The biggest problem we have with sudden freezes in Colorado is flooded basements. If you're going to be leaving your house for an extended period of time, you need to leave your thermostat in the 60s to prevent freezing. However, even this can be risky; I suggest unscrewing your hose from the water spigot, which will allow water to flow from the hose and should prevent breakages in the system.

If you want to stay dry and warm this winter, we highly recommend taking these tips to heart! Give us a call or shoot us an email if you have any questions for us or if you need real estate assistance of any kind. We're always here to help!

Why Are First-Time Buyers Waiting Longer?

Interested in buying a home? GO HERE to perform a Full Home Search, or if you're considering selling, CLICK HERE to receive a Free Home Value Report. For any other questions, please reach out to me at (719) 299-5778, or email me at Donny@IntegrityTeam.net.

One thing we know for certain about the real estate market is that it is never going to stay the same for long. Today we want to talk about an interesting trend we’ve noticed in real estate: millennials are waiting longer to purchase their first homes than their parents did.

The typical first-time buyer now rents for an average of 6 years before buying a home, which is up from 2.6 years in the early 1970’s, according to Zillow.

We came across this great video from CNBC. I will give you my three biggest takeaways from the article.

1. Down payments are a huge factor

Renters in today’s market are struggling to save for down payments and qualify for mortgages. Most first-time buyers still depend on personal savings for at least some of their down payments, but rising rental prices have complicated the task of socking away money for a down payment.

2. Rising rental rates are complicating things as well

Rental rates are causing 46% of renters aged 25-354, to spend more than 30 percent of their incomes on rent, up from 40 percent a decade earlier.

3. Job security is important to millennial buyers

The Money Source, a mortgage lender, examined applications from 5,404 millennial buyers and found that these buyers averaged nearly 4.5 years in their field of work and had held their current job for slightly more than three years. Those figures point to how critical career stability is to a younger generation.

Thanks for joining me today. If you want to read the full article, click above. Otherwise, give me a call or send me an email if you have any questions. Talk to you soon!