Old Town Fort Collins Has a Great New Coffee Joint!

There's a great new place in Old Town Fort Collins where you can hang out, get work done, meet clients, and enjoy a wonderful cup of coffee (not to mention some tasty pastry and savory snacks).  The Crooked Cup at 147 W. Oak Street in Fort Collins, CO has all the charm and warm ambience you'd expect a coffee shop to provide - plus the baristas are amazingly friendly and happy to concoct just about any coffee combination you are likely to need!  For those of you Harry Potter devotees, The Crooked Cup offers a mug of genuine Butterbeer that Madame Rosmerta's Three Broomsticks may not be able to rival.

The owner, Gabe Armstrong, is a long time Fort Collins entrepreneur.  A graduate of Colorado State's hospitality, hotel, and business management programs, Gabe "gets" what coffee shops are for - and coffee is only part of the mix. 

There's no doubt that the U.S. has a love affair with coffee but our love affair with cozy, comfy, and welcoming meeting places is just as strong.  As much digital dialogue as goes on in our lives, there's still a ton of face to face connections that need to be made on a daily basis and having those connections happen at a coffee shop makes them all the more powerful.

The Crooked Cup has been open for just a couple of months and already enjoys a decent following of regulars who duck in from the street to grab a cup of joe meet a client, or just catch up on some emails.  Marilyn is the barista I see most often and welcomes me by name every time I stop in.  She knows my drink of choice (medium Cappucino, wet, in a mug), and always provides gracious attendance.  It is a place I think of as my own - and Gabe and Marilyn know that's what builds loyalty and returning customers... a sense of place, a sense of community, a sense of ownershp, a sense of belonging.

Chris Hardy is a coffee lover and REALTOR/broker/owner of Elevations Real Estate in Fort Collins, Colorado
Check out Northern Colorado Real Estate information at www.buyfortcollinshomes.com

Here is the real estate market review for Old Town Fort Collins CO for April 2013:

41 homes have sold so far in 2013 in the Old Town neighborhood area, priced from a low of $150,000 to a high of $710,000, with a Median Price of $295,000 and an Average Price of $319,893. The Old Town market is a quickly moving one, with an Average Days to Offer of 41 and an Average Days on Market of 70. Home values are holding up well, with the Sale Price/List Price Ratio at 97.3%. This lovely and unique neighborhood is very much one of Fort Collins' most desirable locations.

There are 45 homes currently on the market, priced from $174,500 to $739,000, providing a wide range of choices. If you would like to check out these homes, take a look at the Current Inventory for Old Town. And if any of these lovely homes catches your interest, please give us a call - we would love the opportunity to show you what's inside. Because homes tend to sell quickly in Old Town, if you would like to follow what is happening, let us know and we'll set up an on-going search especially for you, with your own customized web site - you'll be notified as soon as new listings are posted.

If you're not familiar with Old Town, please take a look at our Neighborhood Overview blog post for a brief introduction.

Mary & Dick Greenberg Elevations Real Estate LLC 106 East Oak St. Fort Collins, CO 80524 970-689-4663 www.maryanddick.com

New Listing - 2024 Sterling Lane, Fort Collins CO 80521 MLS# 700449

This charming updated ranch-style home sits on a quiet 7,840 sq.ft. cul-de-sac lot just minutes from Old Town and the Poudre River Trail. It features 3 bedrooms; 1 & 1/2 baths; a large living room with hardwood floor; a spacious updated eat-in kitchen with tile floor, hickory cabinets, and gas range; a big family room with a wood-burning fireplace; a laundry room with shelves and a sink; a 1-car attached garage with shelving; a patio; and a fenced back yard with a dog run and a shed. It is in excellent condition, and is offered for sale at $204,900.

If you'd like to see this home, please give us a call - we'd be pleased to show it to you. And if you'd like to take a look at more homes like this, check out the other 3 bedroom homes for sale in Fort Collins CO. If you run across something interesting, let us know - we're always available at your convenience.

Mary & Dick Greenberg Elevations Real Estate LLC 106 East Oak St. Fort Collins, CO 80524 970-689-4663 www.maryanddick.com

The office has been remodeled, the grand opening parties are over and the mess cleaned up, everything is in place and working, the last partner is finally on board, and we're officially open for business (22 homes under contract and 25 listings already!). Now all that's left is to get out there and sell some homes. But before I quit posting for now about our big adventure, I wanted to do one last post introducing you to the Broker/Partners of Elevations Real Estate LLC.

Here we are:

Chris Hardy*: Chris has been in real estate for 10 years, and has his ePro and CNS designations, along with Integrity Selling coach certification. He has 9 years experience managing real estate offices. He was the Fort Collins 2011 Realtor of the Year, and is the Chairman of the Board of our regional MLS. He is also a fanatic fly fisherman.

Pat Hardy: Pat has been a Realtor since 2001, and holds the CRS and CNS designations. She has been a managing broker and teaches HUD certification classes.

Susie Ripp* - Susie began her real estate career in 1996 and holds CRS, GRI, ePro, and SRES designations. Her husband Bob is a Senior Residential Appraiser.

Josh Forster* - Josh has been a Realtor for 9 years. Prior to that, he worked in construction and was one of the true heroes in our office restoration. He holds his CNS, CSP and EcoBroker certifications.

Amy Black - Amy has been in real estate for 12 years, slightly interrupted by having a couple of children. Amy was a 2011 Northern Colorado Young Professional of the Year finalist.

Mike Sibbald* - Mike is in his 9th year as a Realtor, following a career in his family's construction and property management business. He holds GRI and CNS designations. He is also an accomplished bicycle racer and has managed a local racing team.

Josh Dowling* - Josh has been in the business for 6 years, the baby of our family, but he's already well-established in the business and building a strong future.

Steve Balmer - Steve became a Realtor 9 years ago, following a career in the construction industry. He has his CNS certification and was the Colorado Up & Coming Realtor for Coldwell Banker in 2009. Steve was also one of the people who really drove our office restoration.

Janet Stewart - Janet has been a Realtor in Fort Collins for 22 years, has her GRI and CRS designations, and more performance and production awards than you can shake a stick at.

Vicki Krug - Vicki has been a Fort Collins Realtor for 28 years. She has not only been there and done that - she's done it excellently. She probably taught half the agents in Fort Collins how to be a professional Realtor. Vicki is married to Bill Krug, the owner of KEM Homes, one of Northern Colorado's finest residential builders.

Scott J. Lee* - Scott is in his 18th year selling real estate in Northern Colorado. He has his GRI, and, until his asset manager became a licensed agent and ran away with the business, was the finest REO agent I ever ran across. With a well-diversified practice, that was only a minor bump in the road.

Mary Greenberg* - With 20 years of experience, and her CRS and GRI designations, Mary was recently nominated by me as the "Best Realtor I know". What more can I say?

Dick Greenberg* - 19 years in the business, with my ePro, IMSD and EIEIO designations, and a strong commitment to ActiveRain, I pretty much cover the technical and marketing stuff, the occasional commercial client, and provide comic relief for Mary & Dick.

Dani Martinez - Dani has been in real estate for four years, working as staff for one of the other real estate companies in Fort Collins. We stole her to be our office manager. She is truly awesome - but she has to be, since she has 13 bosses.

I can't imagine a finer, more professional group of Realtors, nor a bunch of friends I'd rather spend my time with, be it business or personal. These are some very good people and Mary and I are extremely proud to be associated with them. We've got to get out there and do some real estate now, but somewhere down the road, I'll give you an update on how were progressing and how we're meeting the challenges of our partnership model.

Oh yeah - one last important thing. All of us here want to thank you for your very nice comments and good wishes as I have shared the story of Elevations with you over the last month. You're all very kind and your support is immensely appreciated.

*ActiveRain member

Mary & Dick Greenberg Elevations Real Estate LLC 106 East Oak St. Fort Collins, CO 80524 970-689-4663 www.maryanddick.com

Before:

After:

The new office of Elevations Real Estate LLC is located just 1 block from the center of Old Town, a ground floor unit in a building that exploded from a gas leak in 1977 and was rebuilt. It measures just a bit under 1300 sq.ft., which means that we're packed in here like sardines, so it's a very good thing that we have some space planning skills among us (and that we all get along well).

Before we leased the space, it was being under-utilized as storage for a The Cupboard, Fort Collins' premier kitchen store. It was dark, worn and dingy and basically needed new everything. We got possession on November 15th, and began our renovation, which included building a new office, a bunch of cubies, a small kitchen space and a reception desk (including a very cool concrete counter), new lighting and new ceiling, new carpet and tile, new paint, HVAC modifications, and a ton of other stuff, such as ethernet and electrical outlets. With the exception of the electrical, HVAC, and carpet, we basically did everything ourselves. Chris Hardy, Steve Balmer and Josh Forster used to build stuff and really know how to do quality work; Pat Hardy is an artist with a paintbrush; and Scott Lee and Mary did the interior design. The rest of us helped out where we could. And a few days after New Year's, we began moving in.

The space is efficient, comfortable and fun. We could have leased space elsewhere which would have given us each more room and private offices, but there are no regrets - we're all really enjoying being in Old Town, and the whole process continues to build our strength as a team.

Mary & Dick Greenberg Elevations Real Estate LLC 106 East Oak St. Fort Collins, CO 80524 970-689-4663 www.maryanddick.com

We're finally all together now. Even though Elevations Real Estate was officially opened in November and the office became habitable around the beginning of the year, it has taken until last Friday to get all our founding partners officially on board. Things have gone extremely well so far - we've hired a great office manager, we're getting our systems and technology fine tuned and up and running, the office finish turned out gorgeously, and we're all having a lot of fun.

We're also all very busy selling real estate, which was kind of basic to the whole concept. Our clients have been extremely supportive, and our peers have been very curious. Even this early into it, we're all very optimistic - it really looks like this thing is going to fly!

In upcoming posts, I'll have some pictures of our office, and do introductions of our founding partners, many of whom are already AR members. But for now, if you're in the area Wednesday evening, drop in and celebrate with us - we'd love to show you around.

Mary & Dick Greenberg Elevations Real Estate LLC 106 East Oak St. Fort Collins, CO 80524 970-689-4663 www.maryanddick.com

This is the real estate market review for Old Town Fort Collins CO Real Estate for 2012:

164 homes sold during 2012 in the broadly-defined Old Town neighborhood area, priced from a low of $135,000 to a high of $710,000, with a Median Price of $266,500 and an Average Price of $301,176. Home values held steady, with the Sale Price/List Price Ratio at 97.7% and market performance was strong, with an Average Days on Market of 81. This lovely and unique neighborhood is very much one of Fort Collins' most desirable locations.

There are 24 homes currently on the market, priced from $148,000 to $995,000, offering a great selection of choices. If you'd like to browse what is currently available, check out Old Town Fort Collins CO Real Estate. And if you'd like to see any of these lovely homes, please give us a call - we would welcome the opportunity to show you what's inside. Because homes tend to sell quickly in Old Town, if you would like to track this market, give us a call and we'll set up an on-going search especially for you, with your own customized web site - you'll be notified as soon as new listings are posted.

And if you're not familiar with this very special neighborhood, please take a look at our blog post, Old Town Fort Collins CO Real Estate: A Brilliant Lifestyle Option, for a brief introduction.

Mary & Dick Greenberg Elevations Real Estate LLC 106 East Oak St. Fort Collins, CO 80524 970-689-4663 www.maryanddick.com