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Mary Calvert Team RE/MAX Properties, Inc. Email: russ@marycalvert.com
630 Tenderfoot Hill St.
Suite 100 Colorado Springs, Colorado 80906
United States
Please click here if you would like to read our policy with regard to protecting your privacy! © Copyright 1999 - 2010 Mary Calvert Team All Rights Reserved |
This page is for active & retired Military Members Relocating or Buying in the Pikes Peak Region!
Read on and find out about the RE/MAX Properies, Inc. "MILITARY FIRST" Program!
Hi! If you came to our Website because you are being transferred to the Pikes Peak Region or if you are just considering moving to or within our incredible community, you have come to the best Website available. Not only will the Website be the best you can find, but we are prepared to help make your relocation as painless as possible.
Our sales history is here on the site for you to see for yourself. Please take a look!
A high percentage of these transactions were on behalf of military personnel.
If you are only interested in renting, please click here!
We Served!
It is important for you to know that Russ, our website manager, is retired from the military. We take great pride in that because we feel that through him we have a special bond with and understanding of military life. Because of his experiences we recognize the difficulties of moving continually and raising children under the duress of constantly changing schools and relationships. We also understand the pay structure of the military and the difficulties associated with trying to save money and amass wealth when so many decisions with regard to your future are not often yours to make. We are sensitive to the uncertainty and anxiety associated with buying a home when you are not confident that you can sell it when necessary to move on to the next assignment.
As of the writing of these words in May 2009, the Colorado Springs housing market is showing signs of stability after a considerable period of declining sales and prices. It certainly appears to be a safe investment for buying and selling real estate within a 3-4 year period as prices have dropped and there are still a large number of homes on the market. As of this update, the median price of homes is currently around $185,000 and the average days on the market for homes is still about 90 days. While the number of homes on the market is still large making it a buyer's market, things are expected to continue to improve over the next year.
The market here was very strong for about six years until 9/11 and the subsequesnt recession. Generally it has been suitable for military members to buy and sell again in as few as two years and usually leave with money in their pocket after paying all the fees and commissions associated with real estate transactions.
So, if you are coming here in the near term and you would like to have that BAQ working for you, then we encourage you to let us find you a nice home, and if you want to sell it when you leave, we will do everything within reason to help you come out well. If that isn't possible we have an excellent property management division through which you can rent your home until conditions in the market improve.
Saving Money?
MILITARY FIRST PROGRAM For Active & Retired Military Personnel
The benefits of buying and selling your home just got better. The Military First Program, exclusive to RE/MAX Properties, Inc., was created as a way to say "thank you" to our active and retired military community by offering our local service members a cash bonus at closing. Military First beats most other cash bonus programs currently availalbe. So, why not work with the number one real estate company in Colorado Springs since 1989?
Here is the bonus information.
NOTE: The cash bonus does not apply to those transactions where a referral fee is due.
NOTE: The cash bonus will only be paid on full fee structure transactions.
Purchase Price; $0-$99,000; Bonus = $450
Purchase Price; $100,000-$149,999; Bonus = $800
Purchase Price; $150,000-$249,999; Bonus = $1150
Purchase Price; $250,000-$399,999; Bonus = $1450
Purchase Price; $400,000 or more; Bonus = $1700
USAA
Russ has been a member of USAA for over forty years and accordingly, we certainly understand the benefits of doing business with them. During those forty years, USAA has expanded the number and type of items offered to its members. Since it's difficult for one company to have expertise in all those areas, USAA has selected various companies to provide the services that it can not provide itself. While it's true that the prices offered by these companies are certainly competitive and a member does have some recourse if things go awry, it does not mean that better service at even cheaper rates can not be found elsewhere.
We are occasionally asked if we are members of the USAA Realtor program. The answer is that we are not. We checked into the program when we first entered the real estate business and elected to not join because at that time, USAA had established a relationship with Cendant, a very large player in the real estate industry. It was our impression that Cendant simply acted as a clearing house to screen whichever Realtors applied, and then rotated the military clients referred to them by USAA through the Realtors who joined up on a fair and equeal basis. Cendant then collects 35% of the Realtor's commission and gives a portion back to the military client and keeps the rest. This was not attractive to us then and it surely isn't now. We have had clients come to us after they arrived asking for assistance becasue their USAA referred realtor did not provide the service they expected.
Along the same lines, USAA offers mortgage services and we are under the impression that those services are farmed out as well. We have had many problems with USAA referred lenders who provided mortgages for our military buyers. Recently we have had two such occurances. In one instance, the military client had to leave the USAA lender to go to a local lender to get the loan after she located the home she wanted to buy. She had already been pre-approved by the USAA referred lender, but they could not provide the money until almost three weeks after the scheduled closing date. In another instance, the lender made a $100,000 error on the paperwork and caused us a great deal of needless confusion and anguish before we got it sorted out. We really would like to see our clients, especially our military clients, have a good experience with buying a home and the lender plays a critical role in the process. So, please take these words under advisement and carefully examine all of your options. If you want help with loans, go to the mortgage center right here on our site.
We keep our Clients!
We do not forget our clients after the first transaction is completed. When you need advice on local vendors or professional contacts or have questions on your home or its value, you can always call us and we will give you straight answers. Basically, we consider you our clients until we can no longer provide you real estate services. We do frequently work with our former buyer clients to sell their homes in a more cost effective manner because they are loyal to us and we, in turn, want to reward them. But, we do not market our services by lowering our standards of service to save you money.
Our Website reflects our value to you!
This website is highly recognized on the Internet because it has so much which is useful to you, our prospective client. We have carefully assembled all the information you will need. The information is either part of our site, or available in links to other sites. If there is something that you can not find, please feel free to contact us and we will endeavor to find the information you are seeking and we will put it here for you.
We have chosen to place links to carefully selcted Web locations which offer access to a wide variety of information on the Pikes Peak Region. We cannot possibly duplicate this information on our site, so accessing this information will necessarily take you off our site, and, as you look at various homes, study particular educational institutions, examine job opportunities, calculate Colorado taxes, read about our sports teams, etc., please remember www.marycalvert.com. While we feel it is an essential part of our service to you to provide you access to the best and most comprehensive information available, we do want you to return and take advantage of all we have to offer on our site, so please BOOKMARK this page now.
| Send me an e-mail! You will be answered as quickly as possible by Russ or Beth. We will help you with the initial steps associated with buying a home.... relocation information, getting prequalified, whatever needs to be done to prepare you to purchase a home. |
RELOCATION TOOLS
7 Steps to a Successful Relocation
1. Pre-qualification
This is a simple step, but it is the most important step! It consists of contacting a Colorado lender and submitting personal information in order that a lender can provide a letter assuring the real estate agents involved and potential sellers that the client is qualified to purchase a home. Pre-qualification generally includes a good credit history and sufficient income to repay the amount of the loan necessary to purchase a home. The process can normally be done over the phone or by e-mail and it is free of any fees or obligations. If you are paying cash, then it is important to provide your realtor a financial statement which supports that the cash is available. Either a letter of pre-qualification or a Financial Statement normally accompanies an offer submitted to a seller to buy a property. Having completed this step, a client can expect to be taken seriously by everyone. Here are links to help with this key step in relocation.
2. Selecting an Agent The second most important step!
There are very few instances where it makes any sense for a buyer to not select an agent to represent their interests when purchasing property. The system is structured so that in most cases, the fees for the buyer's representation are already rolled into the seller's costs. A buyer could approach the listing agent and request to have the price of a home reduced by the amount of the buyer agent's commission, but then that buyer would have no representation... the listing agent is obligated to be an advocate for the seller, not for the buyer. The buyer would have no one to assist with pertinent questions about soils, drainage, termites, home warranties, no one to help with determining a fair offering price, or to negotiate on the buyer's behalf. This is the way the system used to work and it was ultimately deemed to be unfair.
This is true with builders as well. They include the expense of a buyer agent in the price of the new home, and they do not offer to give money to a buyer just because the buyer opted not to have an agent.
Even though the Colorado Buyer Agency Contract makes a buyer ultimately responsible for the buyer agent's commission, that rarely happens. A listing agent normally sets aside one-half of the commission to be paid by the seller at closing for the buyer's agent who brings the buyer. This information is required to be presented in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) with each home that is listed.
In the case of a home which is being sold by the owner, a buyer's agent should approach the sellers before showing the home and ask the sellers if they are willing to pay the buyer's agent a commission if their client buys their home. It is common for the seller to agree. If the seller should refuse and the buyer wants to proceed, than the buyer's agent must rely on his clients to pay the commission. In either case, the agreement reached for paying the buyer agent's commission is included in the offer to buy the home. Also, in either case, the seller has no representation, as the buyer's agent is obligated to be an advocate for the buyer, regardless of which party pays the commission.
When selecting an agent, it is a good idea for the buyer to let the agent know that as long as he or she performs to the buyer's satisfaction, the buyer will be loyal. The best way to do that is to sign a buyer agency contract early on. If a buyer enthusiastically signs a contract, their agent will feel more comfortable and will not hestitate to go the extra mile for them. Remember that the agent fronts everything... all the costs associated with being in business, all the energy and time, and the agent receives nothing if the buyer does not buy. The agent gets paid only if and when there is a closing. Here are some links that will be helpful at this point! Our sales history is here on the site for you to see for yourself. Please take a look!
- A Detailed Explanation of Buyer Agency
- See Agency definitons
- See a buyer agency contract!
- Why Choose Mary
- Relocation Information Request form
3. Locating the Neighborhood
Rarely do buyers select a home before they first select the area of town in which they will be most comfortable. There are too many other determining factors, such as work location and the resulting commuting times, schools, crime, resale value, personal preferences like proximity to shopping, country clubs, or an airport.
It's best to tackle this problem by providing a client access to all the information possible before they arrive. This process normally narrows the neighborhoods of intrest to two or three general areas. Once a client arrives, looking at homes within those neighborhoods helps to confirm the previous work or it points the search in a different direction. After a few hours, most buyers have a good idea where they would like to concentrate their efforts.
Here are some links which will assist in helping you select the best neighborhoods for your needs:
4. Selecting Homes
This is the step most people want to do first! It is human nature to project oneself into the future. but really, steps one through three have to be done first.
Picking out the home which best meets a buyer's needs is always affected by budgetary limitations, as well as other considerations. When not constrained by time, selecting homes in a buyer's price range for them to drive by may be desireable. Then, when they have found some homes they would like to invesigate further, arrangements can be made for showings on these properties.
Often, buyers have only a few days to actually look for a home, making time another constraint. This is another reason it is important to have done a good job at selecting an agent. A really good agent takes pride in having taken the steps necessary to find out ahead of time what neighborhoods and what homes are most likely going to suit a client's needs. That way the agent is prepared to show the buyer numerous properties quickly and efficiently, so that the buyer has time to decide on a "First Choice" and a couple of alternative homes in order of priority, all of which are desireable. This offers a back up course of action if negotiations on the primary become difficult, another buyer gets the most desired home, or some fault is discovered making one of the homes no longer a viable option.
5. Making an Offer & Negotiating
This is another stage of buying a home where having an agent again becomes essential. People normally do not obligate themselves to this big a purchase without some sense of interest, anticipation and excitement. A buyer might want a home warranty or the seller's refrigerator. That is why rational, well thought-out buying strategies are key to reaching an agreed-to price between the buyer and seller.
There are a variety of factors at play from the time a buyer decides to make an offer to the time when the final offer is accepted. the buyer's agent should determine the fair market value of the home by studying the market history for similar homes in the same neighborhood. The listing agent normally does that for the seller when the home is put on the market. The price determined by either, however, will not necessarily be the agreed-to selling price.
The various factors at work in determining a price acceptable to both parties can include such situations as the following:
This is where negotiating experience is very helpful and two good agents can really help to bring the transaction to the closing table.
An earnest money check is included with the contract to show the buyer's intention to proceed with the sale. The amount of this check is agreed to by the agents during the negotiation and usually is in the $1000 to $5000 range. This check is placed in the escrow account of the listing agent and held until closing, at which time that amount is included toward the purchase price of the home and shows up as a credit to the buyer.
6. Inspections & Appraisal
The period from the time of contract acceptance by both parties to the actual closing is used by the buyer to inspect the property, by the lender (selected by the buyer) to appraise the property and approve the specific loan under the conditions of the contract, and by the title company (selected by the seller) to complete the research required to provide title insurance. The buyer's agent has a role here to insure that all contractual obligations are satisfied ...the buyer's agent will often have a transaction coordinator working on the buyer's behalf who specializes in this aspect of real estate.
A full disclosure by the seller of all known aspects of the property which might affect the value or desireability of the property is completed at the time of contract acceptance. This information, along with the results of whatever inspections the buyers deem appropriate (these must be conducted within a time specified in the contract), are used by the buyers to confirm that they wish to proceed with the purchase. Items which need to be fixed to the buyer's satisfaction are negotiated with the seller, and if these cannot be resolved, then either party is free to get out of the contract within the time period specified in the contract.
It is important to note that the buyer's lender who selects an appraiser may not determine the same value for the property as the agreed-to selling price. In this case, if the appraised value is more than the agreed-to selling price, the situation is unchanged. If the appraisal comes in lower, then the seller has the option to lower the price to the new value or back out of the contract, and the buyer has the option to make up in cash, the amount of money the lender will not loan to buy the property.
7. Closing the Transaction
This is the final step in getting a buyer situated in their newly purchased home. The day prior to closing, the buyers normally do a quick walk-through to insure that the property is in the expected condition. Closing is typically conducted at a title company previously selected by the seller, and that company provides a "closer", whose job it is to insure that all the appropriate paperwork is signed in the right number of copies by all parties concerned, and, more importantly, that the distribution of money is in strict compliance with the contract and applicable governing laws. A represenative from the lending company, along with both parties and their agents, normally attends the closing which lasts about one hour. There are provisions to handle situations where any or all of these parties cannot be present at the closing.
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