A Literary Life

By Kate Jonuska

Earlier in 2010, local builder Today’s Homes announced a mini revolution, an attempt to re-brand and re-invigorate the company by streamlining their building process, creating new floor plans with quality standard features, and committing to a higher level of customer service. After a few months working under the new mission statement, sales manager Scott Vaughan says surprised and satisfied customers are really noticing the changes.

“We’ve seen stronger sales out there since the unveiling of the new models. The traffic numbers have increased at least 50 percent at all of our locations with the overall excitement of the new floor plans we’ve unveiled,” says Vaughan, who wants “to create the best possible new home buying experience out there. I feel confident that we’re doing that, and we’re making some great improvements in our customer satisfaction rating, as well.”

Today’s Homes builds in several communities throughout the Pikes Peak region, including The Residence at Stratmoor near Interstate 25 and Academy Boulevard, in Banning Lewis Ranch near Woodmen and Marksheffel roads, and in Forest Meadows near Woodmen and Black Forest roads.

But Vaughan believes the luxury town home community of Dublin Terrace, located at Powers and Dublin boulevards.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the June 20, 2010 Home & Style.

By Kate Jonuska

Having starred in many Parade of Homes, earned many prestigious awards and passed from person to person through satisfied customers, the name Claude Comito carries weight in the Colorado Springs real estate community. Along with partner Larry Nichols, their company Nichols & Comito Custom Homes stands for quality in the high-end market.

But through a separate venture, Comito Building and Design, founded in September 2009 Comito wants to share the top-notch quality, impeccable taste and thoughtful design he’s know for with a wider audience.

“A lot of people like what we have done and what we have to offer, but what we hear a lot is, ‘We would love to use you guys and have you build our home, but we don’t know if we can afford you,’” says builder Claude Comito. With this new company, “We want to bring out that we’re as competitive as anyone. We’re offering great value — and have been along — but now we are smaller, leaner and meaner. We’re able to offer some great products at a lower cost.”

Comito Building and Design is a fully custom builder who can create any client’s dream home starting in the $600,000s, hopes to build 10 to 12 homes a year, and offers some remodeling and renovation work, as well.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the June 13, 2010 Home & Style.

By Kate Jonuska

The commitment to a job done right doesn’t change with market conditions, but that strong commitment does demand that successful business professionals change their strategy, update their skills and roll with the punches. Such is the evolution of The Becky Gloriod Team, where they’re using their expertise to continue to sell high-end homes as well as expanding their skills to aid the growing number of distressed homeowners.

“We have always specialized in the high-end. In fact, we have sold the highest sales price, the most expensive home, in Colorado Springs this year,” says broker owner Becky Gloriod, referring to an Old North End home that recently sold for $1.594 million. “In 2009, we sold 14 percent of all the homes sold for more than $1 million in El Paso county.”

Such a portion out of thousands of local agents certainly distinguishes The Becky Gloriod Team at seven figures and above, but co-broker owner Jack Gloriod explains their skills aren’t that narrow.

“In the last decade, we’ve sold more houses than anyone else in town … We’ve had the total highest volume throughout El Paso county in the last 10 years cumulatively,” he says.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the June 6, 2010 Home & Style.

By Kate Jonuska

If necessity is the mother of invention, as they say, savvy and dedicated professionals often rise to the occasion in tough times, revolutionizing the way an industry does business. Such was the motivation of passionate agents at five RE/MAX offices all over the state, who banded together to introduce Colorado to way of connecting buyers and sellers, via auction.

“It’s been working across the country and the numbers are staggering, how many homes in 2009 sold through auction, but it hasn’t yet been in this area,” says Joe Clement, broker/owner of RE/MAX Properties, Inc., the auction’s Pikes Peak area participating office. “You see foreclosure auctions every now and then, but nothing like this, with a large variety of quality properties. Other RE/MAX offices around the country have had success with it, so we thought it was a great time to introduce the idea here, too.”

Clement stresses that, certainly, auctions for distressed properties have become more common, but this event is a completely different affair. It’s a reserve auction – meaning that properties have a minimum price – of highly motivated buyers who simply want to sell, quick and simply.

“We had a nominating committee that each property had to go through at each office before they were accepted into the auction, and we had certain criteria of quality,” he explains. “We wanted good properties and we wanted properties where the reserve price was attractive, better than what you might get on the house in a regular transaction scenario.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the April 4, 2010 Springs Home & Style.

Phenomenal down-market success paints even brighter future
By Kate Jonuska

The real estate market has struggled under a cloud the last few years, and yet with the right combination of quality product, ideal price and customer service, Aspen View Homes has proven that a bad economy can’t keep a good builder down – or from continuing upwards with incredible success, for that matter.

“From 2008 to 2009, we grew 35 percent, and then we’re projecting to grow between 80 and 100 percent from 2009 to 2010,” says Aspen View’s division manager Bruce Martin. “The first six months of 2010, we’re probably going to triple our closings from last year to this year.”

Currently active in three communities, Aspen View is more than 90 percent sold in Country Side North and 60 percent sold in Freedom Heights, both near Fort Carson. Near the Black Forest in their Forest Meadows neighborhood, building is entering its third phase of development, offering 60-foot spacious frontages, mountain views, park-adjacent lots and walking trails.

“Our success has really improved our ability to offer great customer service. We’ve been able to hire more people to stay on top of the building process and follow our customers through the process of signing the contract all the way to handing them their keys,” says Martin. With more resources to devote to buyers, he knows their impressive customer satisfaction figures in the 90th percentile and the 30 percent of customers who are personal referrals will only increase.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the March 7, 2010 Springs Home & Style.

By Kate Jonuska

When it becomes clear that you want to build your next home, the first choice you’re forced to make is between national and custom builders, as if they’re two diametrically opposed sides of a scale. On one side lies choice and personalization, while cost and convenience weigh heavily on the opposite. But with a unique method of operation, honed over decades of building experience,

G.J. Gardner Homes had found a way to bridge the gap, offering completely customizable homes in an efficient and cost-effective manner – astonishingly cost effective, starting in the high $100,000s.

“We bring all the good things about an international builder to the table, things like proven systems, scheduling, buying power,” says Brook Swientisky, who directs G.J. Gardner’s Colorado operations, explaining that each office of the international company is a local franchise. “There are a lot of efficiencies builders like us have, but then we partner up with local builders, growing locally owned and operated businesses, too.”

When the Colorado Springs G.J. Gardner opened almost two years ago, it was 25-year veteran of custom building in El Paso County Dennis Wheets who took the helm, along with his wife and family.

“In the last two years, I still haven’t built the same house twice, not even close,” says Wheets, who teamed up with the company because “they built their reputation on custom building, and that is what I was doing in my work, so it’s a really good partnership. The G.J. Gardner systems that they have in place have helped me tremendously with things like scheduling, supervising, advertising, but I don’t have to change anything about the quality of service I offer.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the the Feb. 7, 2010 Home & Style.

Charming vintage rancher a hot ticket into a great neighborhood
By Kate Jonuska

Many of the properties that grace the cover of Springs Houses are lavish, upscale homes because, honestly, they’re pretty fun to read and dream about, but in addition to luxurious amenities, such homes come attached to high-end price tags. Therefore, this week’s featured property is a breath of fresh air, an adorable and attainable 1950s rancher in Skyway that’s sure to awaken the real estate dreams of families with limited resources but big plans.

“Skyway is one of my favorite neighborhoods. Many young families are discovering the area, moving into the classic ranchers and revamping them,” says Eric Scott of the Stuart Scott Limited Group at ERA Shields, who lists the three-bedroom, three-bath rancher for $273,500. “To get into (School) District 12 and the Skyway neighborhood at this price point – especially in a single-family home in a mature neighborhood – is a great opportunity. District 12 has won numerous awards and it’s had the highest CSAP scores in the state since 2006.”

With its brick exterior and bright white shutters, the home charms from the outset. Surprisingly open plan for a home built in 1956, the original hardwood floors lead through a living room with a bay window and a refinished natural stone fireplace into the dining area. Completing the circle is the kitchen, which offers black and stainless steel appliances, including a flat-top range.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Feb. 6, 2010 Springs Houses.

Families can experience ideal Colorado living in model-quality Monument home
By Kate Jonuska

In real estate, you usually begin describing a home at the front, because obviously that’s where you begin to experience it. This week’s featured property, however, is best done in reverse, starting just past the backyard fence with the lovely mountain view.

“The best feature, of course, is the the view. Pikes Peak, Mount Herman, the Air Force Academy, it’s all there, and the air shows looks fabulous from here,” says Kathryn Newman of The Platinum Group Realtors, who lists the six-bedroom, four-bath home for $454,670. “The home was really built around the views,” she continues. “I often tell clients to come here in the evening to watch the sunset from here. It’s pretty stunning.”

Such thoughtful planning is certainly why the view is best enjoyed from the heart of the home, a great room with a combined bayed informal eating area, the kitchen and a soaring two-story living room. The latter includes a floor-to-ceiling wall of windows, a gas fireplace, built-ins, and several art niches and shelves. The kitchen appliances have been recently upgraded to stainless steel, adding to features such as a five-burner flat-top range, cherry cabinets and custom tile counter tops with a leather-like finish.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Jan. 30, 2010 Springs Houses.

Kings Deer custom dream home, ready for dream owner
By Kate Jonuska

They chose the neighborhood. They chose the site on the Kings Deer Golf Course. Along with their builder, they made careful choices about every detail, from the counter tops and baseboard to the flow of the floor plan and the landscaping materials. In other words, the sellers of this week’s featured property spent time and resources to create the perfect permanent home after a lifetime of travel, and now that they’ve found they cannot stay, another family is sure to find their own dream home there, turn-key ready and beautiful.

“Of homes at a comparable price point, this home has hands-down the best floor-to-ceiling quality because everything was upgraded,” says Dean Weissman of The Platinum Group, Realtors, who lists the four-bedroom, four-bath home for $849,000. “It’s a house that is very well designed to be functional and stylish, elegant and comfortable. You don’t have to dress up in order to come home.”

Located off Roller Coaster Road near Monument, homes in this area of Kings Deer perch atop rolling hills, each with their several-acre estates, this one surrounded by lovely yet low-maintenance rock beds, pines and grass. The stucco-and-stone exterior offers an oversized front door with stone columns, which opens to a massive great room that makes up most of the main level.

“Because we are elevated, we have a commanding view. That’s one of the reasons we selected this lot,” says the seller, walking the wide-plank hardwood floors up to the wall of windows. Sure enough, the mountains and golf course sit front and center. Not a small segment of the golf course either, but a swath that at this time of year resembles part of a ski slope meandering past. “We have privacy without the feeling of isolation,” he adds.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Jan. 23, 2010 Springs Houses.

Golf course home offers amenities usually accompanied by higher price tag
By Kate Jonuska

In any circumstances, this week’s featured home would be a crowd pleaser: a remodeled four-bedroom, four-bath rancher located on the 16th hole of the Country Club of Colorado’s scenic golf course. But when economic forces align just right and the deal is sweetened with membership to the country club with purchase, homeowners are sure to be awed by the level of luxury that lies within their reach.

“It’s fabulous in that it includes many of the features that we usually see in multi million dollar houses,” says Stuart Scott of Stuart Scott Limited and ERA Shields, who lists the home for $680,000. He cites the throughly modern and stylish gourmet kitchen, three wet bars, a theater room with equipment included and, he says, “added to the purchase is the inclusion of a membership to the Country Club of Colorado. It’s a really astounding facility, the best in Colorado Springs, I think, because of its beautiful lake.”

It’s difficult not to notice the lush greens and lake from the first step into the 4,810-square-foot home, which opens into an expansive great room with a peaked ceiling, ending in a floor-to-ceiling wall of windows. An elegant chandelier, the first wet bar and a toasty fireplace invite you in, and the hardwood continues into the open kitchen and dining room.

“If you’re lucky enough to have a view, you should try to walk right into it from the beginning. So few achieve that goal, but this one just strikes you with it,” says Scott. Stepping onto the partially covered deck, which stretches the length of the home, he observes that golfers are teeing away from the home, allowing all of the beauty of golf course living with none of the danger or damage.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Jan. 16, 2010 Springs Houses.