Summit County, Colorado Realtor l Joanne Hanson

Is there such a thing as affordable real estate in Summit County?

One of the areas that is seen as a good value is Wildernest. It is near Silverthorne, but not actually in the Town of Silverthorne. Wildernest is a large subdivision that sits at the base of Buffalo Mountain. (A great hike, by the way!) There are a lot of condominium complexes on the hillside and it has more reasonably priced real estate in it than many other parts of Summit County. The name is confusing as there is also a property management company named Wildernest, and they handle a lot of the properties there, but they are not exclusive to the Wildernest area. You can see a list of properties they manage at http://www.wildernesthoa.com/. There, they have all the Home Owner association documents online for the condo complexes and home owner associations managed by Wildernest Property Management.

When people are looking to buy a condo as a short term rental, we suggest that they find one that has access to a hot tub, as many skiers like to soak in the hot tub at the end of the day and having it improves the rental income. Some of the Wildernest complexes that fit that requirement are Timber Ridge, Buffalo Ridge, Buffalo Village, Treehouse, Snowscape, Gore Trail, Watch Hill, Salt Lick, Prospector Village and Forest Park. Others that allow homeowners to have their own hot tubs are Miners Creek, Buffalo Mountain Townhomes, Saddle Ridge and most of the duplexes that are dotted over the mountain. Condo complexes that don't have hot tubs are turning into local's housing, with second homes scattered among them. Those are Aspen Shadows, Villamont, Silver Queen West, Silver Queen East, New Lamartine, Buffalo Woods, Snowbird, Woodworks and Summit Point. A new townhome complex, Rolling Ridge, is now under construction at the base of Wildernest. It will have roomy townhomes with garages that will be priced between $500,000 and $600,000.

The Summit Stage has a bus that services the area, connects with the Silverthorne busses, and from there enables people to access other parts of the county. Wildernest is not far from I-70 and is central to the four ski areas in the county, being about 20 minutes from Keystone and Copper Mountain, and 25 minutes from Arapahoe Basin and Breckenridge. Vail is only 30 minutes away in good weather.

The names of subdivisions in Summit County are often similar to each other. To make things even more confusing, nearby, in the National Forest, is the Eagles Nest Wilderness area, which people often call Wildernest. There is also a subdivision named Wilderness (no T on the end) in Breckenridge.

If you are looking for a place has great space for the money, check out Wildernest. In our MLS you would need to search the Silverthorne area, as the two areas are combined together. Let us know if you have any questions. We know the area well!

I am the representative from my Summit Association of Realtors to the Rocky Mountain Resort Alliance. We meet three times a year and compare notes on our markets, trends and activity levels. RMRA is composed of Boards of Realtors in resort areas in the Rocky Mountains, from Whistler to Park City to Telluride.

Each representative gave a report on the state of the real estate markets in our areas, comparing sales for 2007 to 2006, and reporting on what we are seeing as trends for 2008. The general trend seemed to be very similar to what we have in the Summit County Colorado real estate market, where our number of sales was 14% lower than a year ago, but the average price was up 19%. Total dollar volume was up about 14%. Fewer units sold could be construed as a weak market except for the fact that we did not have a lot to sell most of the year, and as a result, with more Buyers than Sellers, prices increased dramatically.

The Telluride representative reported that high end single family properties were still moving strongly; that Buyers are cautious but still buying. In the Mountain Village, properties are selling for about $800 a sq ft with the highest sales currently around $1200 a sq ft. Two new projects are scheduled to be built soon, and pre sale prices are projected to be around $1900 to $2200 per square foot. Those prices are much higher than we are seeing at the base of Peaks 7 and 8, where ski-in Breckenridge condos are selling for $1000 to $1500 per sq ft.

Jackson Hole, Wyoming has three new condotel projects underway, and they will be selling for $1300-1600 per sq ft. They also had a lower number of transactions and higher sales. Commercial property sales in Jackson have been very strong this year as well.

The other Summit County, (Utah), home of Park City and Deer Valley, also saw increasing prices in the high end. Lower priced properties that are older and dated have been slower to sell. We also have seen that Buyers in our county want the remodeling done before they buy it. Second home owners want a base to play, not another place to work on. Preparing the home to sell is very important today, and I don't just mean staging, but keep it updated as well.

Whistler, in British Columbia, Canada, actually had more transactions than the year prior, and prices were up about 8%. They have a shortage of high end single family homes, which have been selling for about $1300 per sq ft. The demand from many international Buyers is causing inventory levels to fall and prices to increase. The winter Olympics are coming to Whistler soon, and the community will benefit from the amenities that are left as a legacy when the Olympics are done.

In Vail, new condominiums being built in the Lionshead area are selling for $3000 to $3600 per square foot! The higher priced units have ski mountain views and a great location, and it just goes to show that Buyers are willing to pay more for a premium location. The trickle down effect from the high end condos and homes caused lower priced properties further away from the mountain to increase too, and it makes affordability problems for locals, who end up commuting longer distances in order to be able to afford a home of their own. Most areas are actively trying to provide affordable local's housing.

Aspen had 19 sales of homes over $10,000,000. However, they now have enough property for sale in that price range to last three years, so it is possible that prices may moderate a little this year. The last quarter of 2007 was slower than expected, and they actually ended up about 2% lower in total dollar volume. New construction in Aspen is running about $3000 a sq ft, while 10-15 year old homes are going for around $1200 per sq ft.

Overall, with the exception of Sun Valley, who had fires this summer, prices were up and sales were down because fewer properties were for sale. Most Realtors are seeing that Buyers, many of whom can pay cash, are cautious but still ready to buy when they find the right property at the right price. The loan problems haven't really affected the high end of the market. Sellers need to have their properties priced realistically, updated and staged to sell. If the location is good and the finishes are updated, the property will sell. Summit County Colorado vacation home prices are excellent values compared to the other resort areas, and we have the added advantage of being close to Denver, so that most people don't have to drive more than a couple of hours to be at their second home. Most of our homes and condos, even new construction, are $400 per sq ft or less, something hard to find in other resorts! We have four world class ski areas within minutes of each other, so you can be away from the ski area base, not pay the price for location, yet still be very close to skiing at your choice of mountains.

Many Summit County homes have nearby fire hydrants that have been buried under piles of snow. Our recent plentiful snows have been a boon for skiers but make street and home maintenance difficult. The Lake Dillon Fire Department is asking that if you have a fire hydrant near your home, you "adopt" it, and dig it out!

Clearing around the fire hydrant will save precious time if it is needed in an emergency. It is tough enough to fight a fire in freezing conditions, but shoveling around it to find it first makes it that much more difficult. Notice in the photo the little marker on a metal pole that sticks up above the snow. We routinely have those on all our fire hydrants, plus our road markers are always double the height that you might find elsewhere. It helps when the heavy equipment is moving the snow to know where they are.

The second photo was taken on Granite Street in Frisco. When we have a lot of snow, it isn't good enough to just move it to the edges of the street. To keep the street at two lanes wide, it has to be piled high. The town then has to come in with highloaders and trucks and move it elsewhere. By the end of the season (if it has been a snowy one) the snow storage lots get pretty full! When I see it snow as much as it has been lately, I wonder how the early settlers in Frisco, Breckenridge and the surrounding mountains managed with just mules and shovels. It must have been a tough life!