THE TAXMAN COMETH …..AGAIN

Vail Valley home tax assessments up 13% on average

 Vail Valley property owners received an economic jolt this week. The real estate tax assessment which happens every two years raised the average residence tax value up 13%.

 The hardest hit areas in the recent down turn had some major increases.

    Eagle up 25%, Gypsum up 17.5% ,Avon up 14.5% ,Edwards up 10%.

County wise single family homes were valued up 13% and condominiums up 13.5%.

 Appeals can be filed in writing or email before May 29^th and the assessor has been inundated with irate calls. Unfortunately the period set by law for evaluations were done on the sales between January 1^st 07 and June 30^th 08 which was right at the top of market here. It is only that small window that is used to assess homes for the next tax period.

 This comes at a time when the Vail Real Estate for the first time in decades is seeing property values decrease. It is good to know that we can increase our values by 13% in a year, but, when will we see that again. We are starting to see short sales, foreclosures as well as auctions as a means to get properties sold.  The first major auction in Vail is to be held on July 28^th.

 How long do we expect the down turn to last? The adage is Vail is the last to go down and the first to come up. This is due to the make up of the owners here. Check the past stats on www.vailvalleyliving.com to see the historical trends in the Valley.

 Those at the higher end of the economic spectrum feel the effects of down turns last. They also see the turn around first and capitalize on that. Once comfortable that a turnaround is coming, they began to re-allocate funds to real estate.

 We have seen from the continued influx of lookers that there is a pent up demand for Vail Real Estate.

Two things are going to happen:

1. Those that don't need to wait and see prices at very good values historically will buy.

2. Those who have been waiting and see the first tier properties disappear will not want to miss the chance to get a premier property and will begin buying.

 I am not saying there will be a major spike in prices, there just will be a dwindling supply of unique properties and every time a property sells it typically will not come back on the market again for 5 to 7 years. By then it certainly will not be coming back at the last sale price.

 There is also the constant shift of retirement and semi-retired people. The west continues to be one of the major areas that people look to for their second home and retirement home.

 So the bottom line is now is a great time to position yourself to "Experience the Best of The West^TM" Get ready to participate in the auctions, track the short sales, watch the foreclosures and be ready to move on a property that uniquely fulfills your  ideal of a home in the mountains.