Claire Garlick, Author at Blessings Realty | Colorado Springs and Monument Realtor

Grow Some Great Ideas for Your House and Yard at the HBA Home Show

April 18, 2018 By Claire Garlick Leave a Comment

The HBA will wrap up its spring series of home shows April 20-22 with the Home Show. Bring your project list to Chapel Hills Mall – 1380 Briargate Parkway (located on the North Side of the mall between Sears and Burlington Coat Factory).

Meet with Colorado Springs’ top remodeling and landscapes pros throughout the weekend and experience the latest in indoor renovation ideas and outdoor displays. Grow some great ideas to enhance your living spaces!

Seminars will be offered throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday. Learn about the latest ideas to update your home inside and out from some of the area’s top home professionals. Register for a chance to be the lucky winner an iPad Pro courtesy of Hanson HotSpring Spas, and enjoy free Sky Sox tickets while supplies last on Sunday. There are plenty of reasons to not miss the Home Show!

Friday, 3-7 PM * Saturday, 10 AM-6 PM * Sunday, 11 AM-5 PM

See information on exhibitors, seminars and more at springshomeshows.com.

Are You Aware of How Much Equity You Have in Your Home? You May Be Surprised!

March 23, 2018 By Claire Garlick Leave a Comment

CoreLogic’s latest Equity Report revealed that 675,000 US homeowners regained positive equity in their homes in 2017. This is great news for the country, as 95.1% of all mortgaged properties are now in a positive equity situation.

“U.S homeowners with mortgages (roughly 63% of all the properties) have seen their equity increase by a total of $908.4 billion since the fourth quarter 2016, an increase of 12.2%, year over year.”

Price Appreciation = Good News for Homeowners

Frank Nothaft, CoreLogic’s Chief Economist, explains:

“Home-price growth has been the primary driver of home-equity wealth creation. The CoreLogic Home Price Index grew 6.2 percent during 2017. The largest calendar-year increase since 2013. Likewise, the average growth in home equity was more than $15,000 during 2017, the most in four years.”

He also believes this is a great sign for the market in 2018, saying:

“Because wealth gains spur additional consumer purchases, the rise in home-equity wealth during 2017 should add more than $50 billion to U.S. consumption spending over the next two to three years.”

This is great news for homeowners! But, do they realize that their equity position has changed?

A study by Fannie Mae suggests that many homeowners are not aware that they have regained equity in their homes as their investment has increased in value. For example, their study showed that 23% of Americans still believe their home is in a negative equity position when, in actuality, CoreLogic’s report shows that only 4.9% of homes are in that position (down from 6.3% in Q4 2016).

The study also revealed that only 37% of Americans believe that they have “significant equity” (greater than 20%) when in actuality, 83% do!

This means that 46% of Americans with a mortgage fail to realize the opportune situation they are in. With a sizeable equity position, many homeowners could easily move into a house (either larger or smaller) that better meets their current needs.

Fannie Mae spoke out on this issue in their report:

“Homeowners who underestimate their homes’ values not only underestimate their home equity, they also likely underestimate 1) how large a down payment they could make with their home equity, 2) their chances of qualifying for mortgages, and, therefore, 3) their opportunities for selling their current homes and for buying different homes.”

Bottom Line

If you are one of the many Americans who is unsure of how much equity you have built in your home, don’t let that be the reason you fail to move on to your dream home in 2018! Let’s get together to evaluate your situation!

Spring Break Fun!

March 21, 2018 By Claire Garlick Leave a Comment

Day Camps at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is hosting a full week camp, for ages 4-5, 5-7, and 8-11. Each day will include time inside and outside as well as up-close and personal time with some Zoo animals. Details for each age group and daily breakdowns can be found at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo or by calling 719-424-7827.

Climbing Camp at CityRock
It’s Springtime! So, come out of hibernation and join us for our indoor camps! Our camp program keeps kids ages 4 and up engaged and entertained with climbing, games, obstacle course challenges (including some of our favorite ninja obstacles), and more! For more information visit City Rock or call 719-634-9099.

Nature Camp with Art and Movies
Join us March 27,28,29 at Monument School of Fine Arts for some Spring Break fun out in nature. Local walks with nature talks, some fun creativity and art projects, and make some movies, too! More info at StartMyArt or call 719-357-7454.

Royal Gorge Dinosaur Experience
The Royal Gorge Dinosaur Experience gives kids of all ages the opportunity to experience science-focused interactive displays, full-scale dinosaur fossil casts, hands-on exhibits with real dinosaur fossils, skinned animatronic dinosaur exhibits and guided tours. We also highly recommend the family bonding multi-story ropes course. More details and ticket information at Dinoxp.

Kids Paint Camp
Join us for a fun week full of fun, art, and animals! Each painting will lead your little one into a fantastic adventure through art! Receive $25 off if you register for all 5 days. Please call to receive discount. (719) 465-3098. Juice and snacks will be provided with the class. Kids 7 and older can be dropped off with a signed waiver. Kids under the age 7 require a parent to help them paint. (parents are not charged to help paint on the same canvas) Calendar and details at PinotsPalette.

Mad Hatter, Saturday March 24th
Get ready for the tea party! Your little ones will enjoy a fun afternoon of Wonderland characters, ice sculptures and hat decorating at this family friendly event. Dress up as your favorite character and join the fun! Ticket info at MadHatter.

Colorado Wolf Adventures
Have you ever met a Wolf? Ghost, Spirit and Apache are wonderful wolf ambassadors of the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. Donations are accepted for pictures with these furry beauties. More info at ColoradoWolf.

Spring Break at Pikes Peak Library District
PPLD is offering a wide array of kids programming for Spring Break! History, Science, Ventriloquist and more! There is no registration required for these free events. Detailed calendar of activities at PPLD.

Family Staycation Itinerary Ideas
Looking for fun things to keep your family entertained on vacation? Look no further than our family vacation itinerary and trip ideas. With a variety of attractions and activities perfect for kids of all ages, you are sure to find the right itinerary for your family. More details at Family Itineraries.
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And if you’re still looking for something else to do during spring break, here is another resource for kid’s activities from Colorado Springs to Denver: My Kids Week.

We’d love to hear what your spring break plans are! Head over to our Facebook page and share photos from your adventures.