All Forum Posts by: Robin Searle

Yesterday I attended the annual UCCS Colorado Springs Economic Forum led by Tim Quinlan, Director & Sr. Economist with Wells Fargo Securities and Dr. Tatiana Bailey, Director of the UCCS Economic Forum.  Tim spoke to the broader outlook for the US and Tatiana focused on Colorado and more specifically Colorado Springs.  Last year Tatiana was predicting a slight recession at the end of 2019 and has revised her outlook to be extremely positive for our growing city.  We have had significant growth in the higher wage categories of technology and healthcare with our new median salary beating out Denver at $73,125 for those categories.  Employment is strong, population growth projections are huge, yet our housing affordability index remains one of the best in the nation (even after an 11% housing price increase since 2017).  Our mayor, John Suthers, also spoke and we are making some good strides in addressing homeless issues (city council just allocated an additional $500,000 to the Springs Rescue Mission and Salvation army), and they are actively working to increase our funding for fire fighters and police. Vacancy rates remain low and the rental market is projected to stay extremely strong.  Our population stood at 674,933 in El Paso County in 2015 and is projected to grow to 1,083,676 by 2050.  Great news for those of us fortunate enough to live and work in the Pikes Peak Region!

LATEST UPDATE: I attended the Colorado Springs City Council Work Session on 9/24/18. No public input was allowed but we got to hear different council members opinions on the fate of STR's in the city. The outcome was a bit confusing. Several council members are in favor of putting a cap on the number of allowed STR's (similar to Manitou Springs) but it was put forward by Meghan Herrington and Jill Gaebler that we don't know how many there are until everyone gets registered and then the data will be there. The council asked Meghan to do some more work on the proposed regulation and her boss suggested it be brought back to the council October 23rd at 1 pm for a vote. At this point, we have no idea what changes will be made but Meghan did say she wanted to make sure everyone on both sides of the issue (STR owners and public who are against STR's) get to see the revised regulation prior to the meeting. I'm moving forward finishing construction on my 2/2 in Old Colorado City with the back up plan of doing corporate or travelling nurse rentals if STR's are shut down. I've already invested in a lot of furniture so had to come up with an alternative plan!

Hi Ken - I specialize in purchases but am always happy to help people find rentals.  When we get about 2 months out from you needing a rental, reach out to me and I'll see if I can help!

@Mauricio Rezende you are very wise to keep your job unless your girlfriend can pay all the bills for awhile. It can take a long time to get going in this business. If you don’t have a huge personal sphere consider joining a team for a year as they will provide you leads and support you while you learn. Most of my business is repeat and referral so my best advice is always treat your clients right, put them first, and learn to ask them for referrals and you’ll do great!

@Buckner Toney Yes the Gallagher amendment came up at the meeting of the CS Short Term Rental Alliance this week. From what I’ve read they will have a tough time reclassifying since a lot of people live in their STRs either part or full time (if they rent out a room for example). Definitely something to keep an eye on though.

@Richard Reeves any info you want on the local Springs market please feel free to ask! I’ve been a very active agent here for 8 1/2 years.

@Isaiah Williams I'm not a lender or an attorney so please verify this - what I've been told by the lenders I work with is that FHA requires owner occupancy for one year and after that you can rent it (again - please verify as this is what I've been "told"). You wouldn't be able to use another FHA loan to buy a second property while you had an outstanding FHA loan so you might consider refinancing. Conventional now has some lower down payment loans as well. If you end up just staying in your house, I'd just find a full time roommate - maybe a local college student. I think you'll find it hard to rent to someone for 3-4 months at a time.

@Isaiah Williams are you thinking of doing it via Airbnb or VRBO or are you talking more long term rental? If long term, I'd treat it just like any other rental and do a thorough screening. The tenant screening offered through this site is one of the best I've found. If you are doing short term vacation rentals then I'd first start with checking into local regulations to make sure the city (or HOA if you are in one) allows that. Then do a ton of research both on this site and places like YouTube which has great videos on setting up STR's and what you need to do in order to get good reviews.

@Tobin Bereznak At the planning commission it was split pretty much 50/50 on residents who want no STR's and those who are fine with them. I think the point is that the council tasked their employee to work with the citizens and she listened to both sides and spent several months putting together a very fair piece of regulation. I do think it's important for STR owners to show up and voice their support of her work. Otherwise the council will only hear from opponents.

@Violet Minnella sorry - just saw this. I posted an update 10 days ago in the short term rental forum here on Bigger Pockets - search for Colorado Springs Short Term Rental Update. I’d also encourage you to join the Colorado Springs Short Term Rental Alliance FB page.