Warmth works

For three months it was snow and cold, snow and cold.  What a winter!  Properties of all types were being listed and sold.  NOW....it's snow, warmth and melting.  The warmth is making a difference.  The snow is going away here on the valley floor, but still many feet of it remain in the mountains.  Not only is the snow going away, but buyers are starting to feel the energy of Spring.  It seems as though the temperature and the number of buyers have popped.  What a great place this is!

Regular snow in paradise

After tons of winter snow in Buena Vista have just about melted, it snowed yesterday.  This, however, was a regular snow.  Here in the valley, a regular snow is one that melts soon after the sun comes up...so usually...even at 8000 feet in the winter there is little snow on the ground.  This morning, on schedule, the snow melted and every was able to get here for a big closing.  Life here certainly is great!

Snow no deterrent

Here in Buena Vista, at 8,000 feet in the Colorado Rockies, we have just experienced the snowiest and coldest winter on record.  Today the sun is out and the temperature is in the 40s and the snow is melting.  And through it all, buyers of second and retirement homes have been quite busy, getting the real estate sales season off to a great start.  The hottest section of the market is $350,000 and upward which is typically where the custom-built resale market is. 

Needless to say, there are some great properties to be had and many of those will be going this season.  Here is one that I think is one of the best.  It is cozy, affords living on one level and has plenty of guest room on the lower level walkout.  For additional information go to http://www.bvcre.net/Trails%20End.html

 

Mountain retreat in popular Game Trail.  $585,000

Welcome to Colorado's banana belt!

What a winter it has been.  The snowiest, coldest and windiest on record.  This has been a winter like no one here can remember.  Usually we get a bit of snow...it melts...and the rest of the day is sunny.  This year the snow has come and stayed and then more has come. On the other hand, it has been a real mountain winter and the ski areas are loving it.  Those with long driveways...not so much.  I must admit, the soft snow on the mountain peaks, pasted on the deep blue Colorado sky make it a dreamland.  It always seems that no matter what the weather is here, I know that this is a special place.

A sign of the times

Business has been booming and it seems that there has been no time to get to the high country...really high that is.  Fortunately, long-time hiking friends from Michigan let us know that they were headed this way, so I took myself off the schedule with the hope of getting some hiking in.  As it turned out, the night before a planned walk on the new CDT, south of Cottonwood Pass, it snowed and the result was enchanting.  The walk was cold and the trail slippery in spots, but the texture of the views, with turning aspen and willows, new snow and all gradations of rock color was stunning,  This is the important stuff!

                                     

                       Continental Divide Trail at 12,300 ft                                Cottonwood Pass Road

Trail is great...business is great...how good is this!

Every year I help work on the further development of the Continental Divide Trail..one of my passions. Last week I spend four days above 12,000...how great is that!  The first two days were spent walking the proposed new trail.  Some of that is in and some just sited.  With that effort we now have a GPS trace of the proposed trail between Cottonwood Pass and Tincup.  The second two days were spent cutting in new trail along with 25 other volunteers.  When done the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail will stretch 3100 miles from the north to south...border to border.  (www.cdtrail.org)

 And then it was time to go back to real estate...buyers everywhere and I haven't been this busy in months. A couple million in deals can make one feel pretty good.  I think I might try sneaking up to the trail again.

 

Saturday morning at the office

The phone has been a bit quiet this morning and I was thinking that perhaps it ought to ring a bit more.  And that may be my biggest problem...how good are things?

 We've had a lot of rain this month and the wild flowers in the mountains are phenomenal and the valley is lush green.  Don't know that I have even seen a better batch of flowers. I got some great pictures of them while I was checking out new construction on the Continental Divide Trail.  I had helped survey for and site a new section of the trail for the last two summers and it was great to see the newly constructed trail.  It is nearly a piece of art in the talus-laden back country of Colorado.

Meanwhile, I have a number of folks that are considering properties and my listed properties are getting shown.  I developing a class for the Colorado Associatio of Realtors and right now I'm feeling pretty good.

 I guess an occasional time at the office with no phone ringing is OK.

           Colorado Columbine                                       and me!

 

Happy 4th of July!

With the celbration of the 4th lasting for about a week, Buena Vista is bustling with visitors.  It appears as though every room in town is taken and that will be the case now for much of the summer.  This is one of the most intersting, beautiful and out-door oriented places in the country.  It is so much fun working with new comers to help them find a property that suits them and allows them to come live where, in many cases, they have come to play over the years.

Now that the Upper Arkansas Valley has really caught on as a place to be, there are more brokers than ever and most seem to be do doing some business, but the key for me is the service.  I work to make every transaction, fun, effortless and seamless.  In each transaction that may mean different things for me deal with, but for the buyer or seller it should be a smooth ride.  I'm usually available by cell...except when enjoying my Rocky Mountain High!

 

Everything is heating up!

Yesterday the temperature in Buena Vista, Colorado hit 90 degrees.  Tyically that happens once a year...occasionally twice.  The air here at 8000 feet in the Heart of the Rockies is quite dry, so that a breeze in the 80s often feels cool.  But at this altitude, the sun is strong, so you can be quite comfortable in the sun, with little wind, in the 50s and 60s...so for me 80s seems hot.  Hopefully there will not be any more 90-degree-days.

But the visitors love it and they are here in full force and that heat-up we do love.  That means land and home sales will be picking up...although they have been quite good anyway.  There doesn't seem to be much of a down-turn here in the mountains.  Everyone is looking for their Rocky Mountain home.  Oh yes, the prices are also going up.  That makes it always a good time to buy.

This house needs a family!

The holiday is over and is usually the case, lots of visitors fell in love with the valley.  Some dropped in our office before they left town and I'm sure that we will get calls and e-mails from others before long.  And so begins another season of matching buyers and sellers. If you are in the market in our market, I have a new listing that must be looked at.  This is a newer, well-cared-for and well-priced in-town house and they are a bit hard to come by.  For further information you can go to:  http://www.bvcre.net/Windwalker.html