All Forum Posts by: Robin Searle

@Vincent Pirrone I have both LTR and STR in the Springs. Be aware if it isn't your primary anymore it will not be possible to do short term if it's zoned R1. If it's R2 then you have to check to see if there are any STRs nearby and if so it's a no. You can go to the city website to check and see the process for a permit. We've done well with our short term in Old Colorado City. That said it's a triplex and I tried mixing long term and short term and it's less than ideal. Now converting the whole thing to short and mid term. Feel free to message me if you want more info on my experience here!

Our STR is doing fine in Colorado Springs. We let a military couple go month to month while their move orders were on hold and now we are getting short term reservations again. I'm in the process of converting the other two units on the property to short term as well. Avoiding being highly leveraged has always been our strategy due to living through multiple housing downturns and lots of layoffs (my husband is a builder). I feel that our property will become more valuable as more people move their STR's to LTR's. I think keeping yourself in a solid financial position is the wisest course no matter what investment strategy you choose (real estate, stocks, etc.)

@Jordan Malara We did the mini split because we wanted both heat and a/c - it's a short term rental and I've found not having a/c really dings you in reviews!

We did a mini-split for both heat and a/c in a lower level unit on our triplex.  Have had no issues with it providing enough heat. 

@Wade Megan If you'd like to PM me, I have a good resource for checking out stats on various parts of Colorado Springs I'd be happy to share.

I’ve decided for myself I’m not showing right now but I have other agents who are willing to who I compensate if a buyer wants to go out. Fortunately all of my sellers are not in a rush to sell so are holding off. I do not think this will impact prices in the Springs as we have so much pent up demand. I could certainly be wrong. I am continuing to close my current UC clients - just had one today!! 

No shelter in place as of now in Colorado Springs per The Gazette! 

@Chris Lopez I love your conservative financial plan that you shared! My husband has been a builder for over 30 years and I've been a Realtor for 10 so we've seen our share of ups and downs! Because of the things we've been through, we have a 100% debt free/mortgage free mentality and lifestyle. I'm so thankful for that as our STR property (we had one unit in a triplex and were just in the process of furnishing the other two to get them online when this hit) is now going to be sitting vacant until we are through this - and you know what? I'm not losing any sleep at all. We may put some clients in there if they end up between homes but I'm not in the least worried that it'll all be fine. I may also convert to medium term once I get these other two units furnished.

My other long term rental has a great government worker tenant in there so I'm not concerned about her job, but if I did have a tenant who ran into financial hardship - I'm in a position where I could help. I'm also in a position that if the rental market were to drop (I don't foresee that), I can lower my rents and still be okay. I'm in no way saying that my way is the only way to invest in real estate but it works for me and I have peace of mind no matter what the economy does.

As for the market here in the Springs - I had two listings close in the past two weeks and one set to close this week. I have several upcoming listings and buyers under contract.  So far I've only had one set of buyers cancel their offer and was totally supportive of their decision. We just have to be here for our clients and provide them with the most up to date information we have. What I'm seeing right now is that our market is still a very strong sellers market and there is still a lot of demand especially for entry level!

Well this is from a consumer perspective so wouldn’t help you but I’d like more space on either side. We are packed in there like sardines! Lol

Just thought I'd throw this out there in case you haven't looked at what people are paying but we just bought a camper and are storing it at Bill's storage on Volmer in the Springs. We pay $60 a month for a 30 foot space. I talked to the owner of Darby's and they have owned that land since the early 70's. I can't imagine how much they rake in every month from all of the RV's they have on their lot. I think with the price of land here now it would be much harder to have a decent ROI.