Jason & Deanna Long Breckenridge Real Estate

Before Breckenridge became a world famous ski resort, it was a town. A mining town but a great quaint Victorian town. Over the past 150 years, the spirit of the town hasn't changed much. Part outcast, beautiful, frontier living, and relaxing. With Breckenridge's 150th anniversary taking place in 2009, it is important to reflect on the history, heritage and especially the characters that made this Victorian mining town what it is today.

Take a look at some of the events celebrating Breckenridge's incredible history:

While your in town stop by and see Deanna and I at The Long Group Real Estate. And have some fun!

970-631-6757

www.skihomessummit.com/

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend! Boy was it eventful here in Summit County Colorado. Thanksgiving day was cloudy with a few snow flurries but over all was a great day to enjoy the family and local activities.

Friday however was something different. We woke up to snow and with the exception of a few breaks here and there it never stopped until this morning. That's right nearly 3 days straight of snow. The I-70 closed both East and Westbound for some time yesterday and has now reopened.

The resorts are reporting great skiing conditions with a big blast from mother nature. Below are the Snow totals and on mountain conditions for all 4 Summit County CO resorts.

Have a great Holiday and enjoy the snow more is on the way!

Jason & Deanna Long

Colorado Ski Home finder

It's almost that time again, you know the end of the year and all of the changes that come with it. We had our first snow here in Summit County Colorado last week. In fact it was flurrying when I got to the office this morning. I began to think about the coming winter, the ski season and realized Christmas and the New Year are just a few short months away.

I had a couple that I showed vacation homes to this weekend and after thinking about them and the rapidly approaching new year I was reminded about all the questions they had in relation to buying their first second home / investment property. They began to ask me many questions which invariably led to 1031 exchanges.

I realized that I had not yet done an update to our blog about the changes coming to 1031 exchanges for the 2009 year. Our blog has previously covered 1031 exchanges (see How to do a 1031 exchange) so we will not deal with the entire 1031 process in this entry but focus on new changes that may impact you for 2009.

An owner of a property would typically use a 1031 exchange to defer gains and other tax payments upon the sale of an investment property. To defer these taxes, the seller of an investment property buys a replacement property of equal or higher value.

The seller has to satisfy timing requirements and other rules, but if those are met, he or she is able to sell an existing investment property and then buy a new property without having to pay the IRS any taxes. One of these requirements is that the new property purchased must be used for investment purposes.

for 2009 there is a new limit on excluding a gain when converting an investment property to a primary residence.

The Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008 signed by President Bush and pushed by congress became law on July 30, 2008. It includes a provision which limits the amount of gain that can be excluded when you sell a house used as a primary residence if you also used the house for another purpose, such as a rental.

Under the rules of Section 121 of the Internal Revenue Code, you will not owe capital gain taxes up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000 of gain if you are married and filing jointly, when you sell a house used as a primary residence for two of the previous five years. The two year period does not need to be consecutive to qualify for the exclusion.

Under the new law and as of January 1, 2009, the amount of gain that you can exclude will be reduced to the extent that the house was used for something other than a primary residence during the period of ownership. The exclusion is reduced by pro-ration by comparing the number of years the property is used for non-primary residence purposes to the total number of years the property is owned by the taxpayer.

Ok, lets try to make all that easy to understand by using an example in the real world. A couple that is maried uses a 1031 tax deferred exchange to acquire a house for $500,000 they plan to use as a rental in 2009. The couple rents the house for three years, and then moves into it and uses it as their primary residence for the next three years. The couple decides to sell the property at the end of the sixth year for 1 million dollars, netting a total gain of $500,000. Under the new rules, instead of being able to exclude the entire $500,000, the couple will not be able to exclude some of the gain based on how many years they used the home as a rental. Since they rented it for three years out of six, 50% of the gain, or $250,000, will not be able to be excluded from their tax liability. Because of this new limitation, the couple will be able to exclude $250,000 of the gain rather than the entire $500,000 under the rules before 2009.

There are several exceptions to this new restriction that I believe buyers and investors today must know. Any periods where the property is used other than as a primary residence that occurs prior to January 1, 2009 will not reduce the excludeable gain. Using the example above, if the three year rental period occurs prior to January 1, 2009, the exclusion would not be reduced and the couple would be able to exclude the full $500,000. In other Words if you have a second home now and plan on using it as a primary residence in the near future you may want to consider doing so before January 1, 2009.

Another important exception is that property that is first used as a primary residence and later converted to investment property will not be affected by this new law. For example, you own and live in a house for 18 years. Subsequently, you move out and rent the house for two years before

selling it. Because your investment use occurred after the last day of use as a primary residence, all of the gain accumulated over your 20 year ownership of the property can be excluded, up to $250,000, or $500,000 if you are married and filing jointly.

As always consult your tax or legal professional for advice related to investment properties. But these new rules will give you something to think about before the new year.

Jason and Deanna are real estate brokers in Summit County Colorado with a focus on second and investment properties in the resort region. See our free MLS search for Colorado resort properties.

Wow what a great year so far. Summer has finally arrived. The flowers are in full bloom, and Lake Dillon is almost full. By the 4 of July with the current runoff it should be at capacity. I can't wait to see all the sail boats out on the lake for this year's regatta. It should be a blast.

The realignment of the gondola in Keystone is on track and should be ready in time for the 2008-2009 ski season. I have seen some of the future development plans and it looks to be ambitious. This summer there may be some investment opportunities available in older units that will be directly impacted by the new Gondola. The move looks to add additional ski in/out capacity to some of the older buildings.

If it has been awhile since visiting the blog we have some great info about things to do here in summit have a look: http://activerain.com/blogsview/478233/Spring-activities-in-Summit. We update the blog regularly so check back often for the latest updates including monthly real estate numbers for the County.

Well it ceases to amaze me but Summit County Real Estate continues to buck the National trend. I will attach January - April's Colorado resort market index so take a look. As a whole the market remains strong. The major resort markets tend to be somewhat insulated from the housing bubbles that can bless or plague parts of the country. We are still averaging double digit appreciation, however days on market and inventory is up slightly from this time in 2007. We attribute this to tighter lending practices versus the last 3 years. Transaction dollar volume continues to rise as the total number of transactions fall. If any of you read the blog or have received our updates before you'll know this has been the case for several years. We see this in every major resort market, as housing prices increase the total amount of purchases fall.

Summit County new construction remains robust. For the first 4 months of the year we produced nearly a 8% increase over 2007, while nationally new construction was down nearly 21% during the same period. Appreciation is still on the rise with the average single family home selling for $40,000 more than in 2007. Summit County real estate appreciation for the first 5 months of the year increased by 5.5 % while nationally we saw a loss in value of about 5%.with some west coast cities fairing much worse.

As you can see Summit County not only is a great place to be but we continue to outperform the rest of the US. Land to build on is still available for your dream home especially in the Highlands just north of Breckenridge and a new development in Silverthorne called Anglers Mountain Ranch. There are a couple of great values on vacant land if you're interested e-mail us and I'll send them over to you. We are still projected for total build out in the next 5-9 years. Frisco is rapidly approaching build out with only 7 lots currently available.

We'll we hope to see you this summer and if you're in the area give us a call (1-800-624-1009 ex 199) we'd love to hear from you. We are in the process of revamping our website and would love some feedback on how to improve it and make it a better tool for our friends and clients. As always you can see any Summit County property available on the MLS at Summit County Real Estate MLS

Resort Real Estate Index by County in Colorado

Year-to-Date Gross Volume Summary through April 30th, 2008 closings totalling: $ 2,096,473,239.00

Percent represented by each County

EAGLE (Vail & Beaver Creek)

33%

SUMMIT (Breckenridge, Keystone, Copper Mountain & A-basin)

16%

GARFIELD (Glenwood Springs)

15%

PITKIN (Aspen)

24%

ROUTT (Steamboat Springs)

12%

Jason & Deanna are Colorado Resort Real Estate Brokers. We can be contacted at (970) 631-6757 or (970) 485-5357.

You awake to incredible views. From the massive hand-hewn beams that give these homes their warmth and character to the mountains that range away beyond your windows. Life looks better, it is better at the Fairmont Residences on the River in Breckenridge Colorado.

Your home is on the pristine Blue River, renowned for gold medal fly-fishing. Breckenridge offers you the exhilarating pleasures of one of North America's premier ski resorts. Main Street, minutes from home, offeres you an authentic history, rich culture, fine shopping and dining. The Fairmont Residences on the River opens your eyes to the prospect of something even better: a great life.

After a time, the music of the river becomes the soundtrack of your life. The land reveals its ageless secrets. The old pioneer town takes on the aspect of something like a second home. These are amenities you cherish.

There are others, all nearby, from Breckenridge Golf Club to the renowned ski resort. And there will be still more, even closer to home. An on-site lodge. A spa. Elegant spaces for casual dining and entertainment. Gold Medal fly-fishing borders a vast and pristine open space.

Amenities

• Shuttle service
• Pool
• Hot Tubs
• Lodge
• Spa
• Café & Market
• Gold Medal fly-fishing Blue River
• Surrounded by dedicated Open-Space
• Across from the Jack Nicklaus designed, 27-hole Breckenridge Golf Club
• On the town Bike Path
• Minutes to downtown Breckenridge

Interior Features

Vaulted ceilings throughout
Exposed beams
French doors open to flagstone patio doubling the living spaceCurving rock walls provide beauty and privacy
Two master suites
Niches for artwork and sculpture

These exclusive Fairmont Residences on the river in Breckenridge are offered from about 1.1 Million to 1.7 Million.

For more information about Fairmont Residences or Breckenridge Real Esate Contact Jason and Deanna Long - The Long Group at Omni Real Estate Co at 1-800-620-1009 ex 199.

Jason and Deanna Long are Colorado resort real estate specialist operating in Breckenridge Colorado.