Janelle Walston's (jwalston) Blog

I wanted to share with everyone a wonderful resource we have in Colorado for educating Realtors about historic preservation and their local historic resources. Many people feel that real estate, by nature, is not compatible with preservation efforts. Realtors and their business organizations are ...

I recently had a troubling experience with a loft deal downtown. It was not a new one by any means; I have run into this problem before. Loft financing works differently than normal residential financing due to the commercial spaces that are generally part of any downtown loft building. These com...

The National Association of Realtors did a study that estimated less than 2% of listings are sold from an open house.  So, why bother doing them? For us, its a great way to not only expose our listings, but also to pick up buyers!Many are out wandering without an agent, and my office came up with...

There has been a fierce debate raging in downtown Colorado Springs over the conversion of our main downtown thoroughfare from a one way street into a two way street. For a number of years now, a small (5 block) portion of Tejon Street has been one-way. It was converted 35 years ago in an effort t...

As my blogs have probably made evident, I am a dauntless crusader for downtown Colorado Springs growth.  We have a great community here, and its all about supporting one another.  So, it is in support of a new high density housing project in our downtown area that I write today.  As real estate p...

As a member of the Colorado Springs Business Improvement District Board, it has come to my attention (probably sooner than other citizens) that a budget crisis in our city is forcing leaders to consider cutting public transportation.  One of the routes on the chopping block is our free downtown s...

It seems that all real estate professionals have noticed a reduction in market activity lately.  Historically, this time of year is one of the slowest.  Combine that with the recent market fluctuations, and some of us are just twiddling our thumbs, waiting for things to get better. Well, not me. ...

Our second loft project in downtown Colorado Springs(like the first, Daniels Lofts), also entailed the renovation of a historic building.  When completed, it consisted of 5 individual residential units and 2 street level retail spaces.  Some of the features of this project were: Lofts ranging in ...

Over the last several years, I've been selling lofts in downtown Colorado Springs, and receive many questions about why lofts are so expensive.  I have met every reaction to sales prices from initial surprise to soft chuckles to downright hostility.  What many don't understand is that renovatiing...

I thought it might be nice to highlight some of the projects we have completed in the downtown Colorado Springs area to give everyone an idea of where, what and how much lofts are.  Our very first project, done in collaboration with S&R Constrution, began in 2000 and was completed in 2001.  Tejon...