The instinct is to start high and leave room to come down. With average market time at 46 days and more homes on the market than a year ago, that is the most expensive instinct in Colorado Springs real estate right now.
A listing gets its best traffic in the first ten days. Price above what the comparable sales support and you spend that window on buyers who look, run the numbers and move on. By the time you correct, the listing has age on it, and buyers read age as something being wrong with the house. The price cut that would have worked in week one does not do the same job in week six, because now you are negotiating from a position everybody can see.
We price off closed sales in your neighborhood over the last 90 days, not off the county median and not off what the house down the street is asking. Asking prices tell you what sellers hope for. Closed sales tell you what buyers actually did. Our home selling tips for Colorado Springs cover the preparation side in more detail.
A PCS sale runs on two clocks that have no interest in each other. Yours is the report date. The buyer's is their lender.
The trouble is the gap between them. Orders often land 60 to 90 days out, closing takes 30 to 45 days once you are under contract, and the house needs time on market before that. Come to us the week the orders arrive and there is almost always a workable plan. Come to us three weeks before you drive out of state and the realistic options narrow to renting it out, accepting a lower number, or closing remotely from the next duty station.
Closing remotely is normal and we do it regularly. A power of attorney and a mail-away closing package are routine. It is the timeline that causes problems, not the distance. Our military relocation page covers the buying side of the same move.
When a buyer asks for money in this market, they usually do not want it taken off the price. They want it applied to their interest rate.
On a $500,000 house, dropping the price by $10,000 takes roughly $60 off the buyer's monthly payment. Putting that same $10,000 toward buying their rate down can take off more than twice that, because the monthly payment is what the buyer is actually shopping. Running that comparison is worth doing before you cut the price a second time.
Pre-inspection belongs in the same conversation. Finding the failed window seal or the aging water heater yourself, on your own schedule, is a very different negotiation from having the buyer's inspector find it on day nine of a contract.
Market figures: Pikes Peak Association of REALTORS®, August 2026 report. Last updated September 17, 2026.
Homes across the Pikes Peak region averaged 46 days on market in August 2026, up from 40 days a year earlier, and that is time on market before you add the 30 to 45 days it takes to close. Price and condition move that number more than anything else. A correctly priced house in good condition still sells quickly. An optimistically priced one sits regardless of what the market is doing.
Not automatically. Paying the loan off at closing makes you eligible to have the entitlement restored, but restoration is a request you have to file. If you are buying again at your next duty station, start it before you need it. Timing is what causes problems here, not eligibility. Confirm your own situation with your lender or the VA before you plan around it.
If your loan carries a low rate and the buyer qualifies, yes, and in this rate environment it can be the strongest feature of your listing. The tradeoffs are real: the pool of buyers is smaller, the buyer usually needs significant cash to cover the difference between your loan balance and the sale price, and your entitlement can stay tied up unless the buyer is a veteran substituting their own. It is worth pricing out properly before you decide.
Working backward: 30 to 45 days to close once you are under contract, plus however long it takes to get under contract, which has been running around six weeks. So roughly 90 days before your report date is comfortable, 60 days is tight but workable, and under 45 days usually means planning for a remote closing or a different strategy altogether.
It depends on what the numbers say and how far away you are going to be. Rent that covers the mortgage is not the same as rent that covers the mortgage, vacancy, management and the repairs you will be approving from another time zone. It also matters whether you need your entitlement back to buy at the next station. We will run both sets of numbers with you before you decide.
Commission is agreed in writing before the listing goes live, and since the 2024 industry settlement changes, what a seller offers a buyer's agent is negotiable and handled separately. On top of that, budget for title and closing fees, prorated property taxes, and any concessions you agree to during negotiation. You will get a net sheet with a real number before you list, not after.