Every engagement starts with a written agreement, and the fee is set inside it before any work begins.
I represent buyers and sellers across Colorado Springs and the Denver metro, and I keep a second set of services for people who already own a house here. What each service delivers is stated below, and which home you want is never part of it.
A buyer engagement sets a ceiling that you choose, and every showing after that sits under it.
A lender states a maximum, and a maximum is the number that gets a signature. The ceiling we work from is the payment you told me you want to live with, and I model that payment in full before we book a single showing.
- A written buyer agreement is signed before we tour, and it states the compensation in full.
Since the 2024 industry settlement the compensation for representation is agreed in writing in advance, as a flat amount or a stated percentage, and the agreement also names the term and how either of us may end it.
- How that fee is paid is decided in the same conversation, not at closing.
It can be paid by a seller concession, by you, or by a combination, depending on the offer we write. Whichever route we take, the figure goes into the payment model so it sits inside the number you are reading.
- The ceiling comes from a payment you name, and the model carries every part of it.
Principal, interest, taxes, insurance, association dues, and the interest across the life of the loan appear together, along with the month the loan ends.
- Touring is evidence gathering, and every property you ask about comes back with its record.
Closed comparable sales, condition notes, carrying costs, roof age and hail exposure, and drive times in minutes. What that material means for your household is yours to weigh.
- Each offer is written with the comparable sales attached to it.
The price, the escalation if we use one, and the inspection terms each rest on closed sales I can name, so the offer can be explained line by line to you and to the other side.
- The inspection is read as a priced repair budget before anything is requested.
Every finding carries a figure and the source of that figure, so the written objection is a negotiation built from costs rather than an argument about condition.
A seller receives a written pricing memorandum, and the list price is a decision made from it.
The first two weeks of exposure are the weeks the most buyers see a home, so the first price matters more than any later correction. The memorandum exists so that price rests on evidence you can read yourself.
- The memorandum names the closed sales it rests on and the adjustment made to each.
Size, condition, and date of sale are each adjusted separately, the days on market those homes needed are reported, and the months of supply for the metro is recorded with the association that published it.
- Preparation is scoped against what it returns, and nothing else is proposed.
A repair or a staging item goes on the plan when the expected return exceeds its cost, and the figures sit beside each line so you can strike any of them.
- Marketing runs through the MLS and its syndication, and every showing is reported to you.
You receive the showing count, the feedback, and the online views each week, so the market response to the price is visible while there is still time to act on it.
- Negotiation is conducted from the figures in the memorandum, and every counter is explained.
Each counter names the number it rests on and the term it protects, so you see the reasoning and not only the result.
Owning a house here has a calendar, and I keep that calendar for people who are not transacting.
Most of what a Colorado house asks of you happens in a year when nothing is bought or sold. These services exist for that year, and none of them assumes you are going anywhere.
- The ownership calendar sets out what each season asks of a house at altitude.
Hail season and the roof inspection that follows it, radon testing, sprinkler blowout before the first hard freeze, gutter and grading checks after snowmelt, and furnace service before winter.
- The property tax protest window is short, and I read the notice of valuation with you.
The county assessor publishes a value and a filing deadline, and a protest rests on comparable sales from the assessor's own study period, so the evidence has to be assembled before the window opens rather than after.
- Insurance and roof questions get read against the policy language itself.
Hail is the largest single insurance factor on the Front Range, and many policies here carry a percentage based wind and hail deductible along with roof coverage that depreciates by age. Both are worth knowing before a claim rather than during one.
- The annual review reads the payoff, the escrow, the policy, and the assessed value together.
It arrives in writing with a sentence on each reading saying what, if anything, is worth acting on, and it usually takes a single week from the day you send the four documents.
A move on orders runs on a clock, so the military desk is built around that clock.
Three inputs shape a relocation that an ordinary purchase does not have. An allowance arrives on a fixed schedule, a report date sets every other date, and the VA loan carries its own rules on fees, appraisal, and occupancy.
The desk holds the current BAH tables for both Colorado housing areas grade by grade, the funding fee table, the county loan limits, and a timeline that works backward from the day you have to be here.
Open the military deskThe whole engagement runs in stages, and each one ends with something written down.
We agree the scope and the fee in writing before anything else happens.
A buyer agreement or a listing agreement names the work, the compensation, the term, and how either of us may end it. Nothing about the cost of representation is learned later.
You choose the payment you want to live inside, and I model it in full.
Principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and any association dues go into one figure, alongside the interest the loan costs across its life and the month it ends.
You look at properties, and I bring the evidence for each one you ask about.
Closed comparable sales, condition notes, carrying costs, and drive times arrive for anything on your list. What you want out of that material stays your decision.
The contract runs on dated deadlines, and I track every one of them.
Inspection, appraisal, association documents, loan objection, and closing each carry a date. You receive a written note after every stage that closes.
These are the questions people ask before they decide which service fits their situation.
What does a buyer sign before we tour a home, and what does it say about compensation?
Since the 2024 industry settlement, a buyer signs a written buyer agreement before touring, and that agreement states the compensation for representation and how it is paid. The figure is negotiated between us in advance, and it is written as a flat amount or as a stated percentage rather than left open.
The agreement also names the term, the area it covers, and the conditions under which either of us may end it. Whatever we agree is carried into the payment model, so the cost of representation sits inside the number you are reading. That same figure can be paid by a seller concession, by you, or by a combination, depending on the offer we write.
On what basis is a list price recommended, and what does the pricing memorandum contain?
A pricing memorandum names the closed sales it rests on, states the adjustment made for each difference in size, condition, and date of sale, and reports the days on market those homes actually needed. It also records the months of supply the association published for the metro, because the same house prices differently at three months of supply than at six.
The memorandum is a written document you keep, and the list price is a decision you make from it. A figure chosen to win a listing is not in it, and that absence is the reason the document exists at all.
What does the Seller's Property Disclosure require of me, and when does a buyer receive it?
The Colorado Real Estate Commission's residential form, SPD19, is mandatory for contracts dated on or after January 1, 2026. It asks you to disclose what you actually know about the improvements, the water supply, environmental hazards, radon testing, and any common interest community. It is a knowledge based disclosure, so it asks what you know as of the date you sign, and it is not a warranty.
I sit with you through every section before the home is listed, because an answer written carefully at the start prevents a dispute at the inspection. The completed form is delivered inside the contract's disclosure deadline, and any material change before closing is disclosed as well.
Which documents must a homeowners association produce when I sell, and how long does that take?
Colorado's Common Interest Ownership Act requires the association to make available its governing documents, the current budget and assessments, and the annual financial statements with reserves. The list continues with the most recent audit or review, the insurance details, the prior year's minutes, its governance policies, its fee schedule, and its reserve study policy. The association has fourteen days to deliver, and it may charge only the actual cost of production.
The contract carries its own association documents deadline, and a buyer may terminate on review, so I order the package the week the listing agreement is signed rather than the week an offer arrives. Section P of the seller's disclosure asks about the same association matters, and the two are prepared together.
How does the inspection turn into a repair budget, and what happens after that?
Every finding in the report gets a figure beside it before we decide anything. Some of those figures come from a contractor and some from a published range for the work, and the source is written next to each one, so a repair request is a negotiation rather than a guess.
From that budget you decide what to ask for, what to absorb, and what would make you walk. The written objection names the items and the figures, and the resolution deadline, the appraisal, and the closing are then tracked against the dates in the contract.
What does a homeowner review cover, and what do you need from me to prepare one?
The review reads five things once a year. They are the loan payoff and what an extra principal payment would do to it, the escrow balance against the coming tax and insurance bills, the insurance terms including any percentage based hail deductible, the county's assessed value, and the dates of the property tax protest window. Each reading comes with a sentence saying what, if anything, is worth acting on.
To prepare it I need the most recent mortgage statement, the escrow analysis, the insurance declarations page, and the notice of valuation from the county assessor. The review arrives in writing, and the whole exchange usually takes a single week.
Will you tell me which area or which house is right for my household?
No, and the reason is both legal and practical. Fair housing law prohibits a broker from steering anyone toward or away from an area, and beyond the law, only you know what your household needs from a place.
What I do instead is hand you the material. Closed sale prices, days on market, the condition and carrying cost of any property you name, commute times measured in minutes, and the public sources where school, census, and community data are published. You read them and you decide.
What disclosure do I receive before we discuss my finances or my reasons for moving?
Colorado Commission Rule 6.5 requires the written brokerage relationship disclosure before a broker elicits or discusses confidential information, and the rule excludes preliminary conversation about price range, location, and property style. The moment we move from that opening conversation to your motivation or your financial position, the Brokerage Disclosure to Buyer or to Seller is delivered and acknowledged first.
The disclosure states which relationship I am offering, and the Definitions of Working Relationships form explains what buyer agency, seller agency, transaction brokerage, and customer status each mean. Nothing on this site asks for a confidential figure, and the form on the contact page is written to stay on the near side of that line.
Brokerage services are provided through Real, the employing broker. Nothing on this page is an agreement, and the written agreement governs wherever the two differ.
You can bring me a house, a payment, or a set of orders, and we will start there.
A first conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing. It ends with a written note of what we discussed and the figures we agreed to check next.