Renting vs. Buying a Home in Colorado Springs

Stop throwing your money away by renting, when you can afford to buy a home of your own!!! Colorado Springs is a wonderful place to live. However, the large number of people migrating to Colorado Springs has created a very "tight" rental market. In many cases, it is LESS expensive to buy a home than to rent! A typical 2 bedroom apartment will rent for $750-900. Homes rent for $1,000-$1,800, depending on size and location. BEFORE you commit to a lease, call the Emerson Team and we will help you to see if buying does not make more sense. Sometimes we have clients who come here and decide to "rent" for 6-12 months before buying. With our average sale price of homes currently at $242,000, and appreciation at an average (since 1990) of 6-10% per year, renting for a year will cost you almost $20,000 in lost appreciation!  OUCH!  Give us a call and let us see if we can get you into a home right away!

The following is a detailed explanation of steps you can take towards the purchase of your home:

1. Get Pre-qualified with a lender PRIOR to looking at properties. By doing this you'll be comfortable knowing exactly how much house you can afford, and at the same time you'll already be working with a lender that you know and trust when it comes time to write an offer. Your lender will be happy to show you the difference in dollars between renting and buying, as well as explain the MAJOR tax advantages. Should any discrepancies or problems arise from your credit report or otherwise, your lender will be fully prepared to help you rectify the problem to get you ready for home ownership. The Emerson Team would be happy to refer you to one of our preferred lenders in Colorado Springs.

2. Call The Emerson Team to get started on finding the home you're looking for!  Let us show you what's available based on the criteria YOU specify. The lender that pre-qualified you in Step 1 will tell us what you can afford, and then YOU can give us all the other information such as: style of home, square footage, number of bedrooms/baths, lot size, location. We have all the resources, including MLS, to be able to show EVERYTHING currently available. We can work with you on the purchase of any home listed with ANY realtor, and in some cases even represent you with homes For Sale By Owner. We can set you up to have listings emailed to you automatically, with your criteria!  Call us for details.

3. Work closely with The Emerson Team as well as your loan officer. Purchasing a home is a "team effort," which involves constant communication and feedback. We will keep you informed of what's out there, any changes in the market, etc., and your lender will keep you apprised of any new loan programs or changing interest rates. If you should see a home that interests you in an advertisement, an open house, or just out driving around, CALL THE EMERSON TEAM ASAP! By not acting right away, you're basically allowing someone else to buy the home YOU want!

4. Don't call the listing agent from a sign or flyer! They are working strictly for their SELLER to obtain the highest possible price for the home! You need a Buyers Agent," like the Emerson Team to negotiate the best possible deal for YOU, the buyer! For more information on Buyer Agency, go to our website at click on "The Process of Buying a Home."

5. Working with For Sale By Owners (FSBO). Buying a home FSBO can be a risky venture. Since the seller is attempting to sell their home themselves, without the assistance of a Realtor, they are the ones who have set the price, not a Realtor using a sophisticated Market Analysis. Are they selling the home by themselves to save on the commission, to hide defects/deficiencies, or deferred maintenance on the home? If you find a home you like FSBO, I will contact them for you and track down the details. Many Realtors do not like to work with FSBO sellers because they generally end up doing both sides of the transaction for half, or less, of the commission. Call The Emerson Team for more details.

6. Once we find your home, we'll write the offer, get it accepted and follow it through to closing! The Emerson Team will handle all the details in order to make the process as smooth as possible for you. Our goal is to guide you through the home buying process so that you'll look back on buying your home and be glad you worked with the Emerson Team!!!

WE LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU!!!