The Colorado Springs real estate market is blessed to be a part of the 300+ days a year of sunshine that Colorado gets. Sunshine is not only increases the seritonin levels in the brain - making us happier, but it can also make rooms in houses look larger too!

Effective use of sunny windows can actually make a home look and feel larger. If you have a small room, open the curtains and let the sunshine in. Sunlight is an especially great ally if you are looking to sell your home in Colorado Springs.

For a great example of how sunlight can affect the perceived size of a home, check out this video of the "Penguin House" - designed by Japanese designer Yasuhiro Yamashita, in Tokyo:

Thank you GeeksAreSexy for finding this video for us!

Never underestimate the power of sunlight!

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It happened again! We RAISED the price of one of our listings in Colorado Springs to get an offer.

I know that many times the term "price change" means "reduction" - so much that " we need a price change" is almost the KLEENEX for "we need to lower the price of our home."

Read More: Colorado Springs Real Estate Answers: Why Didn't My House Sell? Part One: Price

However, a "properly priced" home for sale in Colorado Springs really just means that the home is priced perfectly compared to it's surrounding market.

Most Colorado Springs neighborhoods are subdivisions with similar homes on each street built by the same or similar builders. Finding the "right price" for homes in a relatively homogenous subdivision is not too difficult, as there are (usually) plenty of recently SOLD homes to compare it with.

Although this is true for MOST of the Colorado Springs housing market, it is not true for areas like, Old Colorado City, Westside, Southwest, Central and Midtown, Downtown neighborhoods in Colorado Springs. Why? Because these are older neighborhoods with a more diverse selection of homes for sale.

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Derek and I are Colorado Springs Realtors® who take our fiduciary duties to our home buyer and seller clients very seriously.We ARE advocates for consumer empowerment in real estate. We are also honest and pretty down to earth people who love life, our family and what we have chosen to do for a living (real estate).

Read More: About the Wagner iTeam - Colorado Springs Real Estate Agents - Keller Williams Clients' Choice Realty

Unfortunately, real estate agents, as a whole, do not have a great reputation and are often pegged as phony, insincere fibbers who care more about their commission check than their clients.

Regardless of how sadly accurate that may be of some people, that "image" is horrible and nothing like who we are.

So, on that note, here is a short video that embodies that "image" of real estate agents. We have enough of a sense of humor to find this quite funny, but also know that this is a great example of the type of Colorado Springs real estate agents that we are NOT.

Watch More: Frankly Realty's Response to This Video

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The Colorado Springs Real Estate market has seen an influx in bank owned homes for sale in the past year.

What is a Bank Owned Home?

A "bank owned home" is a home that a mortgage company, or bank, takes ownership of after the home goes through a foreclosure. Sometimes this is referred to as REO - Real Estate Owned property.

What is a foreclosure?

Per the RealEstateWiki, a foreclosure is "a legal process whereby property pledged as security for a debt is sold to satisfy a debt in the event of a default in payments or terms."

Very Basic Example: John Smith finds a home for sale in Colorado Springs that he wants to buy. He talks to a mortgage lender and gets qualified to buy the home. The loan that he gets to purchase the home is called a mortgage. John makes monthly payments on this mortgage loan every month for 3 years. At the end of the 3 years, John becomes unable to keep making payments on this mortgage loan (many reasons can cause a person to no longer make payments). The mortgage loan now goes into default, and the mortgage holder, or bank, starts the foreclosure process. After a specified amount of time, John is forced to move out of the home and the property is now the property of the mortgage lender, or bank. Now, the property is bank-owned, or an REO Property.

Read More: RealtyTrac: A Detailed Overview of the Foreclosure Process

Banks are in the business of lending money, not owning homes. So, when a bank DOES wind up owning a home, they are motivated to SELL it, even at a loss, just to get it off their books.

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If you are looking to buy or sell a home in the current Colorado Springs real estate market, having professional representation by a competent real estate agent is a must, but you need to understand the different types of representation available.

As someone looking to buy a home in Colorado Springs, this is important because unrepresented buyers WILL NOT get the best possible deal on a home. Read Also: Top 5 Benefits of Having a Buyer's Agent Represent You.

As a homeowner looking to sell their home in Colorado Springs, representation is important because, historically a competent real estate agent will get you MORE money for your home - enough to cover their commission, and then some.

But what kind of representation is available for Colorado Springs home buyers and sellers?

In Colorado Springs (and all of Colorado for that matter) we have several different types of relationships between home buyers/sellers and us, the real estate agents. Here is a breakdown of the differnt "Broker Relationships", so that when you decide to buy or sell real estate you are better informed.

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