Those of you following our blog (all of the previous entries posted here on our homepage can be found in our blog by clicking the “Blog” tab in the upper right of our home page), have been hearing the news about Steamboat’s hometown ski heroes at the World Ski Championships in Liberac, Czech Republic, this past week. We’ve specifically been following the men’s Nordic Combined team (ski jumping results combined with a cross-country skate ski race, which I describe in an earlier blog post). At our last writing, the Steamboat local, Todd Lodwick, had won two Gold Medals, and Billy Demong, originally from New York but trains a lot in Steamboat, had won a bronze medal, bringing the total number of medals EVER won by the USA in this event to five.
Then just this morning, before coming into the office, I watched the live feed over the computer, of the final 2009 event. Billy Demong took the Gold!! I cheered in the final leg of the 10K race as Billy regained his lead after a challenge, pumping my arms up into the air. And then broke down crying as I watched him cross the finish line to claim the Gold.
To understand the significance of Billy’s win, I need to tell you what happened two days ago in Liberac. It was the team event, and the USA had a great chance of medaling, if not of even taking the Gold. It started with the jumping event and Billy Demong was the first of the four Americans on the team to jump. But he didn’t, because he couldn’t, because he couldn’t find his jump bib. And the regulations say you have to be wearing your jump bib – it has the number which identifies you – to compete. So, he was disqualified, and as a result the USA came in last.
Can you imagine the disappointment? The cameras caught the look of confusion on his coach’s face. And caught Billy’s words to Todd, “It’s all my fault.” (The missing bib was later found inside Billy’s jump suit, down by his ankles, where it had fallen after Billy had tucked it, at one point, into the collar of his suit.) And I know it must’ve hit the other two team members – Johnny Spillane and Eric Camorata – especially hard, since it would’ve been there one chance at medaling.
From the great highs of the first two events, emotions plummeted to the great low of Billy’s disqualification.
But what does Billy do with that loss, that failure, that great turning of the tides? He fully accepts responsibility, and uses the energy from that crisis to earn his personal, first-ever Gold today. And so I cried. At his fortitude. At his redemption. At this phoenix rising so quickly from the ashes.
Is what happened with Billy and the USA team that unlike the wave of great exuberance and then great loss we’ve all felt this year with the economy and our housing investments? Do we stay wallowing in the pain and shock of our loss, after such great earlier success, as Billy and the US team could have done?
Or do we, like Billy, pull ourselves together and take stock of the still existing opportunity: Mortgage rates are at an all-time low, housing inventory in this world-class resort of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, is at an all-time high, and buyers are in the position of power. Do we, as potential buyers and livers of the dream, stay self-absorbed in our pain only to, years from now, ask What If? Or do we rouse ourselves in time to see we still have a chance, and win? I’ll see you at the finish line, and I’ll be crying.
First time homebuyers and those who have not owned a home in the past three years are going to benefit by as much as $8,000 with a tax credit from President Obama’s Stimulus Package. This amount is based upon a percentage of the purchase price of the home. Theoretically, that credit will reduce the price one will pay for a property by the amount of the credit. Not bad!
If you’re a first time homebuyer or looking for an inexpensive single family home in Steamboat, the list price on a foreclosure that I have been keeping my eye on was just reduced today by $25,000 to $474,900.
This is a three bedroom, two bath, 2,040 square foot home near the Steamboat ski area. It has a nice yard, views of the surrounding mountains and two car attached garage. It’s within walking distance to the city bus and is located in a very nice neighborhood. With the median price of a single family home in Steamboat at $1,100,000, a little sweat equity in this property could go a long way!
If you would like additional information about this Steamboat home, please give us a call today.
Winter has returned to the northwest Colorado Rockies today with dark and snowy skies. This turnaround from the warm and sometimes rainy weather we’ve had the past week should make the 8,400 + skiers coming in on Saturday to the Yampa Valley Regional Airport happy. That will be a record number of en/deplanements to the airport since it opened in the 1960’s.
When you do good business, word gets around. And that statement is no more evident than what happened today, as our efforts at Buyer’s Resource have been recognized by a national newspaper, The New York Times!
An article published today regarding the luxury real estate market included quotes from myself along with one of my clients, Sutton Hamlin. If you would like to read the article, here is the link:
The luxury Steamboat condominium property Sutton purchased into is Christie Club. Christie Club owners enjoy one of the best ski-in, ski-out locations in Steamboat. Combine that location with excellent guest services and amenities, and you can see why Ms. Hamlin is very pleased with her purchase.
Incidentally, Christie Club just happens to have one of the best deals right now for a slopeside luxury condo. It is a two bedroom, two bath, professionally decorated residence consisting of over 1600 square feet and overlooks the Steamboat Ski Area. Christie Club has a year-round shuttle and picks owners up at the Hayden and Steamboat airports, as well as a shuttle to town, the grocery stores, or anywhere else an owner or guest has a hankering to explore. Owners also enjoy a Members’ lounge, ski storage, heated outdoor pool and spa, concierge, valet parking, and world-class service. When purchasing a Christie Club condo, owners also have membership to The Registry Club, a vacation home exchange network with other luxury residences around the world. And when you’re not here being pampered, you can benefit from the excellent rental income a premier slopeside residence provides.
This Steamboat condo is listed at only $1,075,000, or $665 per square foot. This is an excellent buy. Other slopeside condominiums average $893 per square foot, and most of those listed are much older than Christie Club, which was built in 2002.
If you are interested in receiving a “Cash Flow Analysis” of this property to see how affordable it can be, as well as additional information on why we feel this property is such a great deal, please let us know. It financially outperforms all other properties in our analysis, and all of the owners that we have assisted in purchasing in this property have been extremely pleased with their decision.
Today the National Association of REALTORS released their January report. Below please find some of the interesting highlights of their findings:
Existing-home sales declined in January with some buyers waiting to see how details of the economic stimulus package would affect them, according to the National Association of Realtors®. At the same time, inventories fell to a two-year low.
Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – fell 5.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 4.49 million units in January from a level of 4.74 million units in December, and are 8.6 percent lower the 4.91 million-unit pace in January 2008.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said there was understandable hesitation by some home buyers. “Given so much stimulus package discussion in January, some would-be buyers simply sat out for clarity and certainty on the nature of housing stimulus,” he said. “The housing market will soon get a lift from very favorable buying conditions – not only from improved affordability, but also from the stimulus of an $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit, and higher conforming loan limits that will allow more people to tap into 50-year low mortgage rates.”
NAR estimates the impact of the stimulus package and lower interest rates on the housing market to be about 900,000 additional home sales in 2009 compared to conditions before the stimulus package. Inventory is expected to fall below an 8-month supply by the year end, which would be consistent with home price stabilization.
Total housing inventory at the end of January fell 2.7 percent to 3.60 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 9.6-month supply2 at the current sales pace. Because sales were down, the January supply is up from a 9.4-month supply in December.
“The drop in total inventory is an encouraging sign because the number of homes on the market has declined steadily since peaking in July 2008, and inventory is at the lowest level in two years,” Yun said. In January 2007 there were 3.54 million homes for sale.
According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage fell to a record low at 5.05 percent in January from 5.29 percent in December; the rate was 5.76 percent in January 2008.
A high prevalence of distressed home sales, and of those in lower price ranges, has skewed the median price to be markedly lower than under normal market conditions. The national median existing-home price3 for all housing types was $170,300 in January, down 14.8 percent from a year earlier when the median was $199,800; the median is where half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less.
McMillan said we are living in a bifurcated market divided between distressed sales and traditional homes. “It appears that in many instances a buyer can get a really good deal on a distressed sale, although that home may require some significant effort to bring it up to standard.” A preliminary analysis by NAR suggests that non-distressed properties are holding their value much better.
“Distressed sales activity appears to be leveling off, although there are wide differences locally. For example, close to 80 percent of all sales are either foreclosed properties or short sales in Santa Ana, Calif., but less than 20 percent in the Chicago region,” Yun said. About a quarter of all inventory is listed as being distressed, but NAR estimates that distressed sales – foreclosed or those requiring a lender-mediated short sale – comprised about 45 percent of all sales in January. “Home buyers are evidently competing for homes with deep discounts,” he said.
Yun said it will take a while for the stimulus to show in housing data. From the time a buyer starts looking for a home until it is reported as a closed sale can take as long as five months: a median of 10 weeks to search and make an offer, about 6 weeks to close the transaction and up to 4 weeks to collect and report the data. “This means improvement from the economic stimulus isn’t likely to show as closed home sales before summer, although we may see an earlier lift from lower mortgage interest rates,” he said.
Significant local market variations continue. “A majority of markets experienced sales declines of more than 20 percent from a year ago, but some markets appeared to have reached the tipping point of accelerating home buying,” Yun said. “For example, home sales in Las Vegas have more than doubled with some reports of multiple bids.”
Regionally, existing-home sales in the West were unchanged at an annual rate of 1.20 million in January and are 29.0 percent stronger than a year ago. The median price in the West was $220,000, which is 25.5 percent below January 2008.
No doubt there is no market in the country that has escaped the downturn, which means there are wonderful buying opportunities. I can’t count how many times clients have told me “I should have bought “X” number of years ago when the prices were lower.” Well, now is your time!
If you are looking for a nice single family home within the Steamboat Springs town limits, I previewed one yesterday on Uncochief Circle that is very well priced. Originally listed at $1,095,000, this four bedroom, three bath home was built in 1982 but its 2,549 square feet has been very well maintained. The property borders open space and is at the edge of the city limits. It has a beautiful kitchen with hand crafted walnut cabinets, maple hardwood floors, new appliances and an open floorplan. Living area views look past the large deck to unobstructed views of the Steamboat Ski Area, Buffalo Pass and beyond. A new roof, newly paved driveway and newly stained exterior show the pride these owners have had in maintaining the property. The list price on this Steamboat home has just been reduced to $795,000.
Give us a call today and we would be happy to provide you with additional information.
Yesterday, as Doug Labor mentioned in his blog post here, we learned that Todd Lodwick, a local Steamboat hero, won his second Gold Medal at the World Ski Championships in Liberac, Czechoslovakia this past weekend. Billy Demong, a New York native who has trained extensively in Steamboat Springs, also won his first Bronze Medal of the weekend. And there are two events more to go!
All of these medals were won in the sport called Nordic Combined Skiing, which is really big in our town; and in fact is the sport that has contributed the most to Steamboat Springs, Colorado being called Ski Town U.S.A. (We’ve sent more athletes to the Olympics than any other town; 69 and counting.)
Nordic Combined actually consists of two disciplines: ski jumping and cross-country skate skiing. And it’s not the type of ski jumping where the skiers go up in the air and perform all sorts of wild flips and things before landing back on the ground. That’s called freestyle, which consists of aerial stunts and mogul skiing.
The type of ski jumping I’m talking about occurs off a HUGE ski jump. The jumpers wear special jump suits and use special jump skis which are eight feet long or so and maybe five inches wide. From the top of the jump hill, each skier, one at a time, will drop off a bar they momentarily sit upon, down onto a cut track (a long slide-looking thing called the inrun), in a crouched position. They continue off the edge of the inrun out into thin air, and down, parallel to the hill until they touch down. In flight, the ski jumpers’ body stretches forward to where the edges of their skis, held in a V shape, are held alongside the sides of their face, and their arms are shot back like in the start of a swan dive.
When the TV cameras show you the jumper sitting on the bar at the top of the inrun right before take-off, as well as when the cameras follow the jumper off the end of the inrun and into the air, you can see the spectators at the bottom merely as pin points on the landscape; the jumpers are that high up.
The score that each athlete gets for his jump (based on distance plus style), determines at what time that athlete gets to leave the start gate for the cross-country skate ski race; the jumper who scored the most points goes out of the start gate first, the second best goes out so many seconds later, etc., until the last person goes out, which could be several minutes after the lead person took off.
The first person to cross the finish line (usually 5k or 10k in distance) wins.
Todd won this last Gold Medal after first gaining the most points for his jump, which gave him the best advantage into the race, and then holding on to the lead and claiming the medal by winning the 10K cross-country race, in just over 20 minutes. And that’s 20 minutes of racing full out!
Walking through downtown Steamboat Springs on a winter’s night, the ski jumps just across the Yampa River may be ablaze in lights. You may hear the announcer’s voice blaring out from the loudspeaker, and may make-out the jumpers soaring through the sky.
In the summer, you’ll notice that one ski jump hill looks like a bright green ribbon upon the side of Howelsen Hill. What you are looking at is the summer training ground for our local Olympic-hopeful jumpers. The summer –used inrun is made of a porcelain track and the landing hill is clothed in plastic, kept smooth by water.
Todd Lodwick grew up on a local ranch. Johnny Spillane, who won the USA’s first Gold Medal at the World Ski Championships In 2003, also grew up on a local ranch. Coincidence, or is it something about the western ranching work ethic that has enabled these young men to jump far and ski hard?
But for those of us who would just like to watch the sport, and watch it from the privacy of our own, beautifully appointed, living rooms with a nice fire crackling in the fireplace, well Steamboat has that to offer to you too. There are currently five prime downtown Loft developments with numerous units for sale which look straight at the jumps. I’d love to show you these or any other property which would meet your Steamboat real estate needs.
And before you know it, you’ll be jumping up and down too when our local boys make it big on the world stage. Yep, you’ll be claiming them as your own. And me? I’ll be right alongside you.
This weekend was an exciting one for Steamboat Springs skiing as Todd Lodwick came away with not one, but two gold medals at the Czech Republic at the 2009 FIS Nordic World Championships. His first gold came on Friday, winning the nordic combined event.
It was also historic as Lodwick shared the his second trip to the podium for gold with fellow USA Nordic teammate Bill Demong as he received a silver medal for the individual Gundersen event.
As reported by the Steamboat Pilot & Today, Lodwick became the first American Nordic combined skier to hold two world championship gold medals. U.S. teammate and fellow Steamboat Springs resident Johnny Spillane (16th in Sunday’s race) won the gold in 2003 in Val di Fiemme, Italy.
We would like to congratulate Todd, Bill and the rest of the athletes, coaches and trainers of the USA Ski Team and their success.
If you are looking to make a successful Steamboat Springs real estate investment, read onn…
Some of the most expensive real estate in the Steamboat Springs area has water (lake, river, pond, springs, etc.) as a major feature. Just listed is a property located only 12 miles north of Steamboat Springs on the Elk River consiting of 38 acres and a cute cabin for only $649,000! The property justifies a larger residence, so the new owner will be able to use the cabin as home base while a new home is built, or rent it out while the market comes back for a savvy investment. The last 15 acres located on a river such as this sold for $985K in Oct 08, making this an incredible value. Buy it now and enjoy the benefits right away as this property appreciates in value.
The Elk River is a great fishing river, and the North Routt area is an outdoor recreation paradise! The owner of this property will have all of that right out their door.
If you would like additional information about this great Steamboat Springs real estate buy, please give us a call today!
It’s easier than ever to get to Steamboat. The recently completed eighteen million dollar expansion at YVRA (Yampa Valley Regional Airport) not only added an entirely new departure ticketing lobby and doubled the size of the hold rooms but it also allowed more and larger aircraft to be stationed on the ramp. This means that there are more direct flights than ever landing just twenty four miles west of Steamboat Springs. Saturday is the busiest flight day as we offer direct flights from Atlanta, Chicago, two from Dallas Fort Worth, two from Houston, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Newark, LaGuardia and Salt Lake City. Add this to the five flights from Denver on United Express and the three flights from Denver on Frontier and you end up with 2,117 seats available every Saturday.The Stimulus package that just passed congress should allow an acceleration of phase four improvements at YVRA which will include an additional arrival area and bag belt, increased concessions and the relocation of the administrative offices. Once these offices are relocated the current administration building will be razed and allow for even more aircraft. YVRA is also the first airport in the lower 48 states to launch a cutting edge radar system that will allow controllers to see the aircraft all the way to the ground allowing more frequent and safer landings. All of these improvements set Steamboat Springs and the Yampa Valley as the standard bearer for mountain resort airports. If you fly in or out of the Yampa Valley Regional Airport frequently you may want to take a look at purchasing a garage adjacent to the airport. The Hayden Airport Garages are currently offering the remaining eight units on their latest phase, building C, at only $24,900.00. The regular price for these secured, heated garages is $39,900. The complex offers on call shuttle service to and from the terminal as well as an owner’s lounge with T.V. and internet service. For more information, please give us a call.
I had the pleasure of hosting a 5th grade classmate of mine that I hadn’t seen in over 30 years. Rick had spent some time in Steamboat shortly after High School and has always wanted to come back (boy, how many times we have heard that). It was interesting seeing Steamboat through someone else’s eyes, particularly someone who hadn’t been back in over three decades. As I was playing tour guide and pointing out all of the great things that we, as a community, have accomplished and how we did so through the spirit of cooperation, it amazed even me what this community is all about. I thought he may criticize the density around the base area but instead Rick appreciated the effort to keep the valley floor open. After Rick and his wife, Connie, took a trip to the top of Rabbit Ears pass then down through Stagecoach and Oak Creek they remarked how special it was to see open land and unobstructed views, not at all like the Vail valley of Aspen. We spent the evening recalling old times and they were intrigued by my tales of how the community got together to build the initial playgrounds at the elementary schools and how we were able to accomplish the funding and construction of our core trail which parallels the Yampa River. How diverse groups compromise to achieve a world class fishing habitat coinciding with a kayak slalom course and several play holes. That the citizens of Steamboat had the ability to see and fill the need for an indoor ice rink and a world class tennis center with six indoor courts, even an eighteen million dollar addition to the Yampa Valley Regional Airport without having to go to the voters. His assumption was that our property taxes must be daunting but found out it was about half of what they pay in the Seattle area. As the Ellsbury’s left to journey back home Rick looked at me and said “you know, it’s great to see a place where things are done right!” I couldn’t agree with him more!
After above-average snowfall in December and January, Steamboat Ski Area needs a snowy final nine days of February to reach the month’s 10-year average of 75 inches at mid-mountain.
The inch of fresh snow at Thunderhead on Thursday fell on top of 6 inches from Wednesday and brought the month’s total to 38 inches, according to statistics kept by Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. spokesman Mike Lane. The season total now stands at 287, well within striking distance of achieving Steamboat’s season average of 315 inches by early March…as reported this morning in the Steamboat Pilot and Today.
Today’s weather will not get us any closer to that 75 inch average, but if you’re looking for sunny, blue skies and warm weather to ski in, you’ll be grinning from ear-to-ear.
As I hope you are aware, we publish a monthly newsletter called the “Steamboat Real Estate Analyst”. It can be found on our web site. Each month we select a different topic to write about. We do this for our clients and it assists in our mission of having “the most educated buyers in the Steamboat Springs real estate market.”
Steamboat real estate topics we have discussed in the past include quarterly and annual real estate reports; condominium, single family home, townhome and land purchase considerations; the timeshare and fractional ownership markets; geographic trends, and forecasting. Depending upon how quickly our research comes available, this month we are hoping to compare how Steamboat Springs real estate has fared relative to other ski resort real estate markets.
However, we don’t want to miss a topic that may be of interest, so if you have any topics that you would like us to roll our sleeves up and write about, please let us know.
A recent search of our MLS here in Steamboat Springs, Colorado revealed some interesting information about the Steamboat Grand Resort Hotel & Condominiums.This 4-star condo hotel, with 1, 2, 3 and 4-bedroom condominiums, suites and penthouses, is extremely popular among frequent visitors to Steamboat because of its close proximity to the mountain (it is directly across the street from the gondola) and its great amenities, including a year-around outdoor pool, state-of-the-art health club and spa.However, people who really love it often purchase either a fractional ownership (in a 1/8 or 1/4 share interest) or a whole-ownership condominium.Regardless of the size of the interest owned in a unit at the Grand, the owner still enjoys all its benefits, including a private Owner’s Lounge in the hotel and private Owners Club at Gondola Square, First Tracks Ski Program, ski storage, and a highly coveted parking space in its underground parking garage.
In the past, it has been rare to see more than one whole ownership condo listed at the Grand at a time.Hence, I was surprised to find 5 new listings of whole ownership condos there within the last month, to make a total of 6 units available on the market.They range in price from $599,000 for a 2 bed/2 bath “Nordic” standard condo with a full kitchen, to a $2,400,000, 4 bed/5 bath luxury penthouse on the 7th floor, with two master suites. And there is a one 2 bed/3 bath unit on the 4th floor listed at $650,000 with a very motivated seller.
A unique feature of whole-ownership at the Grand is the potential for the owner to split it into either 1/8 or 1/4 shares and sell them separately. Fractional ownership at the Grand is deeded by calendars, which rotate yearly to give all owners equal opportunities for holiday weeks. With a 1/4 share, an owner gets 13 weeks a year, and with 1/8 share, those 13 weeks are split so that the owner gets 6 weeks one year, and 7 weeks the next.When owners stay at their condos, they pay housekeeping fees, which are based on the size of the units.
There is also a “space available” program which is great for Front Range residents.If the hotel is less than 90% occupied, an owner can stay in the hotel and pay only housekeeping fees.The owners are also able to enroll in the rental pool, which often covers their HOA dues. There are a few models, such as the Nordic, which is mentioned above, that have a lock-off potential with a double-queen hotel room, so the owner could potentially rent one side and stay in the other at the same time.They can also enroll into the RCI program to exchange weeks at other resorts around the world.
One of the things that people love about owning at the Steamboat Grand is the fact that because it is run as a hotel, they really feel like they are on vacation when they are staying there.And because it is so close to the ski area, it’s easy for various family members to ski on their own schedule. With the whole -ownership condos available, as well as 47-fractional ownerships ranging from $54,900 to $425,000, there are many opportunities for a wide range of buyers.
If the Steamboat Grand sounds appealing to you, please give us a call today.
