For the past three years, my brother has been making the case for Colorado Spring's cool factor by assuring me that there's a sweet brewery in a strip mall off of Centennial road, but somehow I remained skeptical. And I remained skeptical because I grew up in Colorado Springs and headed to Boulder as fast as I could and I've basically never looked back.
And, by basically, I mean my family still lives there and I have a ton of little nieces and nephews, so I'm there all the time. While the brewery in the strip mall has never done it for me, the latest trends in real estate are starting to turn me around on the city.
First things first, Colorado Springs is currently very Airbnb friendly, and supposedly, planning to stay that way. Unlike the Denver market, there is no primary residence restriction, Airbnb will collect your taxes for you and there is currently no limit on the number of units in a single building that you can rent out (think multiplex.)
Added to that, Colorado Springs is on the way up. Ranked 11th in 2016 for the Hottest Housing Market in the US, it remains cheaper than Denver, but is quickly appreciating as the spillover population moves south. Bolstered by a job market supported by Aerospace, Technology and Tourism, the city has enough diversity to suggest long-term economic stability and has an unemployment rate of 3.8%. And, finally, inventory is up, prices are down and they have the fewest foreclosure since 1999. It's almost like these people have never been to Colorado Springs before. More likely, it seems that between the Denver cost and the natural beauty of the Springs, people have moved there and some of their more stringent conservative attitudes have relaxed.
Anyway, if you are thinking about a Colorado Springs investment, we have connections down there and know the city well. If you want to learn more about their real estate prices and options as compared to the Denver market, please reach out to us and we're happy to discuss.