December vs. January is like black and white.  Showings on the homes that are for sale are up, not only from December, but from a year ago.  I have had at least three times as many showings on my listings in these first three weeks than I had in the whole month of December.

I had two open houses this weekend, one in Cherry Creek East and one in Hilltop.  Both were busy but Sunday was non-stop!  I felt like it was a summer day, people out walking, running and being pulled by their dogs.  Some were looking for ideas, thinking that moving might be in their future.   There were others that had a plan: their homes are going on the market this spring and they are doing research on the neighborhoods they love so that they can make a smart decision.  And then there were those beautiful people moving here from another city and state because we have such “a great city with a great quality of life.”

The interest rates have also had a positive impact for our buyers.  They can afford more now than they could in December.  There wasn’t the fear I heard just a few weeks ago, there was hope.   Sunday evening after the non-stop open house I heard Warren Buffett talking about the consumers fear tuning into hope, just confirming my experience over the past two weeks.

Today I am mesmerized by the television, talking about the Marade today celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, adding to the excitement of our new leader, Barack Obama, taking office tomorrow.  The news talked about changing their theme today, not just reporting on all the negative but telling some positive stories as well!  Wow!  I hope they can keep it up.  This is a way they can give back to the community and do their part in making this a better world.  I think I may change my watching habits just because of their commitment to hope.

In December, I thought how nice it would be if we could just flip a switch and go from dark to bright.  I will be watching carefully and report back to you, it seems as though the switch has been flipped.  I think we have one of those energy efficient bulbs, where is just takes a minute to warm up, then it is bright, cost efficient and will reduce our carbon footprint.