Interview with Kari Hutchinson, REALTOR®
What do you all do at Dream Property Team that's different or unique?
I wouldn't say it is necessarily different or unique. I think it's just the time and the efforts that we put into our clients to help them through the process. We have a whole team behind us that all works together. Everybody can't be in one place at one time, there's always somebody that can take that phone call. Somebody can go meet an inspector, meet somebody to do something at a house. I think we all do the same thing. We do photos and we do this, and we do that. But I think it's just based on how much time and effort we put into our clients. We do staging, that's I guess one of the things that's different than most agents; we go in and we can help them do the whole process from A to Z. We'll hold your hand. No matter if this is your first time buying or selling, or if this is your fifth or sixth or seventh home, we're going to walk you through that process. Same thing with sellers. If it’s your first-time selling a home or it's your 10th time selling a home, we are going to help you through that whole process from beginning until end. Not just put a sign in the yard and then you never hear from us again.
In Colorado Springs in 2022 it's been a tough market for buyers. How do you keep it less stressful or fun?
We just keep it going, but I think the biggest thing with our business is communication with our clients. Setting our clients up with some certain expectations and some different things and avenues, making them feel like they are number 1. That they shouldn’t give up, and we've had to initially, some people have written 8-12 offers and all of them got turned down. Then just working through that process again of trying to find stuff and keeping them on track of different things, especially with buyers.
Selling now it's reversing. We're having to educate the sellers through the process because we're not seeing those 15-20 offers over the weekend and 45 showings in a line out the door. It's a matter of keeping the clients informed. I guess I'm not sure how to answer that second part because honestly, it's not sometimes fun when you're putting 10-12 offers in. But just keeping them re-motivated and re-thinking, because generally the first couple of houses or offers that they put in, it may not necessarily have been their dream home thing, and then getting to know exactly what they're exactly looking for through the process. Believe it or not, by the time we're done, the house they end up choosing was that dream home that they wanted in the beginning. It all works out in the end.
Are you seeing home prices drop in 2022? What are the trends home buyers and sellers should be watching?
Right now, in 2022, we're talking about mid going on the third quarter, hitting into the fourth quarter. We're starting to see that they're starting to even out with things and not having those multiple bids and offers, and sellers are offering different incentives to get their home sold or people to choose their house and that's just what we're in. Not that we're not seeing buyers coming in, I think it's just a time of uncertainty and the interest rates are going up, the gas prices are going up, and a lot of people are just waiting things out right now this third quarter to see what it looks like going into the fourth quarter. I think we're just in a little bit of a hiccup stage, and it will start to even itself out come the fourth quarter.
What are some of those incentives that you talked about that sellers are doing to get their house off the market?
They're offering right now, like some offer like $5,000 to $10,000 concessions to buy down interest rates for people. Because what has happened is some of the little guys, the prices went up and then the interest rates went up, and then normal middle-class family, all of a sudden, holy cow on a $425,000 house with interest rates going up to six percent, then they're paying almost $400 and some more a month, and then with gas prices it just adds on top. So the average person trying to buy a house is putting it on a hold just to revamp their budget and see what's going on. They're just like, okay, we're going to just stay in one place until we can figure out what's going on. I can't sugarcoat it, it's tough right now.
Buyers and sellers don't want a real estate agent that's going to B.S. them. How do you keep it real and set expectations?
Between the inflation, gas prices, who's in office. Believe it or not that affects the real estate industry. People say, yeah, people still have to buy homes, but they find alternatives: either renting or just seeing what happens. Us as consumers, unless we absolutely have to do something, we're going to investigate, we're going to look, and be like if I don't have to spend this, I'm not going to spend this. That's what I think the consumer is doing right now is just trying to figure out what the market is doing. But all of that stuff affects real estate all over the United States, not just here.
You mentioned Colorado Springs and military families PCSing, moving in and out. Does that make Colorado Springs' real estate market a little economy proof?
Absolutely. We're not completely economy proof, but it does help our economy that there's people moving in and out all the time. When there's a war or something going on, back when Iraq was going on and all the military guys were gone, it was like a ghost town. Once again it goes back to uncertainty and you just not having that other partner or somebody else, your husband or wife that's abroad makes a huge difference also within our economy, because then you don't have that second person in town spending that extra money to make everything go. Then when we had the Space Force come in, that generated some more housing and development so that made things grow. Then when they decided to pull back a little bit on the Space Force and not do the full-blown what they were doing, then that hurt us a little bit again. It does help drive different things for us in the different areas, like Colorado Springs or Fountain and Security-Widefield, where a lot of our military bases are, those housing prices went flat but then they rose back up through the years just because we've had a great in fluctuation of the military coming in and out.
What are some neighborhoods in Colorado Springs that are flying under the radar for home buyers?
There are some lower home prices in Fountain and Security-Widefield, right now and those are some good areas for the home buyer in that $400,000 budget range. Then we've got up north in the Monument area which has a really great school district. Northern Crossroads also has a great school district. Another hotspot is central Colorado Springs, and the reason it's a hotspot is because a lot of families are moving onto the next phase of their life and those homes are being flipped over or refurbished now. It's different all over, the aspect from Monument all the way down to the Fountain and Security-Widefield. I wouldn't say something is overlooked, but we have some really great areas in pockets, get with an agent to help you get into that next phase home. These are the homes that over the next 10 years you can grow your equity versus somewhere else within the Springs.
Do you help match the buyer's lifestyle and what they're looking for with the home and the area as well?
Correct. If you're a person that is hiking, biking, and all that stuff and likes the outdoors. You're going to like this area. If you're a person that likes at nighttime to go out and hit the restaurants and do this, then this is a great area to be close to so you can ride your bike too or walk too. Or if it's the kids, we can only do so much, but if you want the kids to go to the best school district areas and be within walking distance, this is going to be the area for you. If you want your kids to be able to play at the swimming pools or parks and do all that and have a whole lifestyle and one, here's the community for you.
On the hunt for an investment property in Colorado Springs or the surrounding areas, contact Kari Hutchinson of the Dream Property Team here.