SPEAKER_1: Alright, so last time we discussed the general area around Pueblo and Colorado Springs. Now, let's dive into the specifics of the I-25 corridor, which might feel familiar to someone starting in Raton. SPEAKER_2: Right, the I-25 spine is a logical corridor to explore. It runs from Raton through Trinidad, Walsenburg, and up to Pueblo, offering potential real estate opportunities along the way. SPEAKER_1: How can the I-25 corridor be effectively used as a search tool for real estate? SPEAKER_2: Consider it a ladder, with each town serving as a potential hub for supplies or a starting point for exploring rural properties. Focus on the proximity of listings to towns like Trinidad, Walsenburg, or Pueblo, rather than just their distance from Denver. SPEAKER_1: What do the current market trends indicate about property prices along this corridor? SPEAKER_2: Walsenburg stands out with a median home sale price of around $79,900 and a median price per square foot of $166. Homes average 131 days on the market, indicating a slow, calm market, which can be advantageous for patient buyers. SPEAKER_1: Wait — $79,900 median? That's dramatically below anything we've talked about so far. SPEAKER_2: It is. And buyers there are commonly closing around four and a half percent below asking price. So there's real negotiating room. The trade-off is liquidity — if someone ever needs to sell quickly, Walsenburg moves slowly. But for someone buying to stay, that's less of a concern. SPEAKER_1: So what about Pueblo itself? Because that's the bigger supply hub — groceries, hardware, medical care. SPEAKER_2: Pueblo is more expensive but still manageable. The city median sold price over roughly the last six months came in around $269,450, with the middle half of sales closing between about $188,000 and $365,000. So a buyer at $250,000 is right in that active range. SPEAKER_1: And the market conditions — is Pueblo competitive right now? SPEAKER_2: Actually, no — and this surprises people. Colorado Realtors data through mid-2026 shows Pueblo County with roughly five to five-and-a-half months of supply, days on market pushing toward 100, and prices essentially flat or slightly down year-over-year. One segment analysis even found nearly twelve to fourteen months of inventory in some price bands. That's a buyer's market. SPEAKER_1: [short pause] So the narrative about Colorado being impossibly competitive — that doesn't apply here. SPEAKER_2: Not along this corridor. Pueblo and Walsenburg behave very differently from Denver or Fort Collins. The southern I-25 spine is genuinely under the radar. For example, one investor analysis notes that even after about 38.6% price appreciation over five years, ownership costs there still run far below Colorado's larger metros. SPEAKER_1: Now, Steve's situation adds another layer here — he still needs to sell in Raton before he can close on anything. How should that influence the order of searching this corridor? SPEAKER_2: It actually works in his favor along this corridor. Because Pueblo and Walsenburg have longer days on market — 77 to 131 days depending on the town — there's less pressure to move instantly. He can identify target properties now, get his Raton home listed, and then make offers once he has a clearer picture of his proceeds. SPEAKER_1: But every listing still needs to be screened before anyone drives out to tour it. What's on that checklist? SPEAKER_2: confirmed acreage — at least one usable acre with legal road access. Two: well and septic documentation. Three: current property tax and insurance estimates, because rural Colorado insurance has gotten expensive. Four: actual drive time to the nearest supply hub, not the GPS estimate — winter road conditions can add twenty minutes or more. SPEAKER_1: And what about the gap between list price and what things actually sell for? Because one data point mentioned average listing prices around $401,000 in Pueblo — way above the median sold price. SPEAKER_2: That gap is real and it's useful. That tells our listener: don't be scared off by the asking price. Sellers are often overpriced, and the market is correcting them. SPEAKER_1: use the I-25 ladder, score each town by distance to supplies, and let the market data do the filtering before spending time on tours. SPEAKER_2: Exactly. And remember — this corridor is the most familiar starting point, but it's not the only one. Next we move west from the interstate, into the foothills and mountain valleys where the properties start feeling more like the cabin our listener is actually picturing.