“We want to determine our history by ourselves. In peace, calm, and honesty.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy President of Ukraine
The news cycle has moved away from Ukraine, yet their fight continues. My wish is that they find peace, calm, honesty, and the chance to rebuild.
Move Faster
What a difference air makes…
I recently spent a long weekend in California at an elevation of 56 feet. Colorado Springs sits at 6033’, and I live over 7000’ in Black Forest. While in California, I was able to run every morning. My pace per mile was faster, and my wheezing was almost non-existent. What a difference air makes! It reminded me that many years ago, I trained with a heart rate monitor. When I went down to Sacramento, CA, to run a marathon (elevation 55’), my heart rate was 10 beats lower for the same pace per mile. From my experience and from what I’ve read, the extra red blood cells the body creates by living at altitude diminish after 3 days. After my short weekend run and feeling such a difference, I am definitely going to look for a race the next time I am at 56 feet elevation.
Rental Market
According to RenterVibe, which works primarily with large apartment complexes, 65% of property managers experienced two or more types of fraud in the past 12 months. Income and document fraud led the way at 58%; Rental history fraud came in at 25%; followed by identity fraud at 17%. 38% of the property managers didn’t catch the fraud until after the tenant had already moved in. The potential for fraud is one of the reasons why, even if an applicant has a qualified Portable Tenant Screening Report, we will still run a potential tenant through our rental screening process at no charge to the tenant.
The American Pet Products Association 2025 report stated that 71% of U.S. households own at least one pet. If we take the number at face value, not allowing pets reduces the rental pool for a rental to 29% of the overall rental population.
Residential Sales
Homes.com reports that as of March 6, 2026, applications for home purchases were up 9.3% according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. This increase is largely being driven by Freddie Mac reporting that interest rates averaged 5.98% for a 30-year mortgage for the first time since September of 2022! It is believed that buyers have been waiting and saw a psychological barrier for loans starting with a 6. Colorado Springs is still a buyer's market with an average time on market close to 2 months (depends on neighborhood). Seller concessions and inspection items being repaired as part of the sale are all part of today’s “normal sales transaction”. Although there is still uncertainty in the market, all signs are looking like 2026 could be a good sales cycle. If you have questions, reach out to Rob@MileStoneRES.com. I am available to answer any questions you might have.
Legislation
The 2026 legislative session is in full swing. As the Colorado Springs NARPM Legislative Chair, Spencer is busy tracking legislation that directly affects property management. The Colorado Housing Coalition supports housing legislation that is fair and protects the tenant and the landlord. You can join at https://www.coloradohousingcoalition.org/
Warm and Dry
This year it has been warm and dry, which is great for outdoor activities. Unfortunately, it’s not so great for the yard. Please hand-water your grass and shrubs; they'll be much happier and healthier if you give them water when it’s warm. Remember, that just because it’s 60 today doesn’t mean it won’t be 9 degrees tonight. Always unhook hoses from water spigots. Repairing frozen pipes caused by hoses hooked to the outdoor water spigot would be your responsibility. Sprinkler activation traditionally does not start until after Mother’s Day. If you’ve lived in Colorado Springs long enough, you know firsthand that snow can come virtually anytime of the year. Activating sprinklers and leaving hoses connected after Mother’s Day is normally a safe. The chance of damage due to freezing is minimal.
The Good Stuff...
"I told my wife she should embrace her mistakes…
So, she hugged me."
And with that, I’m done…
