About Summit County, UT

Yesterday emergency crews descended on the Montage construction site outside of Deer Valley Resort's Empire Lodge after a construction crew discovered what Police Chief Wade Carpenter described as an old mine vault. Dynamite has been discovered in the mine vault! The word is not out yet on how much of the explosive was found....we'll keep you posted.

Saturday Morning TV seems to be filled with shows on HGTV and the DIY network among others that show people upgrading their homes followed by a Realtor telling them how much more it is worth.

The country's present real estate market shows us that those upgrades may not all be good and definitely don't necessarily make you money in the end. This is not to say that something can't be bought at a great price have a few cosmetic upgrades done and be sold for a profit, but the days of the easy fix and flip may be gone.

The Park City area, having a resort originally built in the 60's and 70's (not to mention miners shacks from the early 1900's), has some properties that are in need of a remodel. The majority of the guests coming here expect a world class resort and accommodations to match. Real estate buyers in Park City have come to expect granite countertops surrounding professional grade appliances, jetted tubs and travertine tile in bathrooms, LCD or Plasma screen TV's, hot tubs plus plenty of snow in the winter and sun in the summer.

Maybe your Park City home or condominium doesn't currently have all this. Do you have to upgrade? If so, what should you do and how much should you spend? To answer these questions you really need to consider what end result you are trying to accomplish. Are you looking to sell soon? Are you looking for better rental revenue? Are you looking to just please yourself or spouse by making your place more comfortable? Do you just want to smile when you turn the corner and see your home come into view? Each of theses answers may lead to a different upgrade and investment in your property.

If your intention is to fix up the property and sell it, consult your local Realtor about which project to tackle first and the resulting revenue difference it may make in the sales price of your home. Remember that the most important part will be to get people to come into your Park City house or condominium, so work on the outside "curb appeal" first (this is the first and last thing people see when they come to look at your property).

If your intention is to remodel the inside of your home, take a look at the cost of remodels and the average return on that investment in the Sellers section of our website. Remember why you are making an upgrade, if it brings you happiness while you are living in the home; consider that value in your return on investment calculation.

Also, for those of you that plan to "do-it-yourself" note that it is never as easy as the ½ hour TV show would lead you to believe. Think about what type of person you are (are you a perfectionist or do you settle for adequate?), make sure that you finish the project to the end and not just do "good enough" especially if your end wish is for better resale value.

Today is Debate Day for the Vice Presidential Candidates and the whole country is no doubt interested to see how the whole thing will turn out. Which ever candidate you are routing for, tonight's debate could really be telling.

On another note, all the local developments in the Park City area are gearing up for the impending ski season and higher quantities of visitors and potential buyers. The kinetic energy around here as the season nears, tends to intensify over the months as more and more tourists arrive and business in all areas swells.

three little birdies in thier nest

In the past few days we have seen 38 properties come on the market, 14 go under contract, and 19 close escrow. The high notes are:

ACTIVE:
-April Mountain home at $5.2m; 5bd/7ba, 7678 sq ft, $677psf...seems a little high.
-Chatham Hills lot for $550,000....look for vacant land to continue dipping in price.
-Glenwild lot at $865,000.
-Promontory home at $1.599m; 4bd/6ba, 3998 sq ft, $400psf...good value here!

PRICE CHANGE:
-April Mountain townhome down $300,000 to $1.499m; 5bd/3ba, 3420 sq ft, $438psf...this could end up being a great deal. They seem ready to deal!
-Fairway Meadows home in Park Meadows down $250,000 to $894,000; 4bd/5ba, 3576 sq ft, $250psf....great value here too!
-Old Ranch Rd lot for $649,000....seems like these guys really want to sell too!

PENDING:
-Willow Creek lot at $665,000...good to see some activity in the vacant land department!
-Daystar condo in Deer Valley at $649,000; 3bd/3ba, 2439 sq ft, $266psf...the buyer got a steal!

CLOSED:
-2 Silver Star units at Park City Mountain Resort at $1.249m (3bd/4ba, 1985 sq ft, $629psf) and $1.699m (3bd/4ba, 1985 sq ft, $856 psf).
-Canyon Crossing unit in Chatham Hills for $519,500; 3bd/3ba, 2379 sq ft, $218psf....nice property.

What a great video...

So GO DO IT   A L R E A D Y  ! ! ! ! !

No Seriously....V O T E ! !

Over the past few days we have seen 20 properties come on the market, 12 go under contract, and 9 close escrow. Of note, we have:

ACTIVE:
-Park Ave condo at $975,000; 3bd/3ba, 1628 sq ft, $598psf...seems a tad high, but we'll see.
-Black Bear Lodge unit in Deer Valley at $1.995m; 4bd/6ba, 3575 sq ft, $558psf... a great deal for being across the street from Deer Valley in Silver Lake!
-Glenwild lot for $865,000.

PRICE CHANGE:
-Main St. building at $1.6m, down $399,000....this one is only about 950 sq ft, but a great location! It looks like they are willing to move on price too!
-Chaparral unit in Deer Valley down from $1.15m to $859,000; 3bd/3ba, 1992 sq ft, $431psf...this one will not be around much longer at this price and these views!
-In The Trees condo in Deer Valley down $100,000 to $1.274m; 4bd/4ba, 2415 sq ft, $527psf....this one keeps looking better....good rentals too!
-Fox Point at Redstone down $44,000 to $335,000; 2bd/2ba, 1026 sq ft, $326psf....there are some good deals in this area.

PENDING:
-Colony home at the Canyons for $5.895m; 5bd/7ba, 5660 sq ft, $1042psf...not too bad of a deal in this neighborhood!
-Home in the Oaks at Deer Valley at $4.6m; 8bd/10ba, 10000 sq ft, $460psf...for this size of a home it looks like a decent deal too.
-Racquet Club condo in Park Meadows at $479,500; 2bd/3ba, 1430 sq ft, $335psf.

CLOSED:
-Silver Star unit at Park City Mountain Resort for $1.29m; 3bd/4ba, 1985 sq ft, $649psf...people love this development.
-Newpark Townhome at $450,000; 2bd/3ba, 1345 sq ft, $334psf....nice deal for this buyer!
-Another Silver Star ski in-ski out unit at Park City Mountain for $1.475m; 3bd/4ba, 1985 sq ft, $743psf.
-Lodges at Bear Hollow at $417,990; 3bd/2ba, $308psf....seeing a good bit of activity at Bear Hollow!