colorado: Adopt a fire hydrant in Summit County, Colorado
- 01/09/08 03:12 AM
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 … (20 comments)
colorado: Employers are hiring in Summit County, CO
- 10/23/07 03:03 PM
This is the time of year when it is easy to find a job in Summit County. Employers are hoping to fill all their job openings, and with good snow starting already, they are planning on a busy season. Ski areas are big seasonal employers, and they encourage many students from overseas to come over on a four month visa and work from December 1 to March 31. My cousin from New Zealand did just that, working at Vail for four months a few years ago. We had lots of emails going back and forth as she looked for housing to rent, and I remember … (13 comments)
colorado: Closing on a vacation home in Summit County is different!
- 10/12/07 10:06 AM
How does a real estate closing work where you live? Do you have attorneys involved? Do the Buyer and Seller both meet at the closing, hand over keys, talk about the strange characteristics that only this house has that the Buyer needs to know about, and wish each other luck? It doesn't work that way in Summit County, Colorado, about 90% of the time. I don't remember the last time that I had both Buyer and Seller closing together, in person, looking at each other across the closing table. The majority of our closings are "mail outs" meaning that they are done … (33 comments)
colorado: Summit County Colorado real estate update
- 09/11/07 04:47 PM
Our Summit County, Colorado real estate market continues to be strong. It is a topic of conversation everywhere I go these days. A couple of days ago I met with some Realtor friends for lunch and some client friends for dinner, and the market conditions were discussed in both places. When the rest of the country is in a slump with no real signs of any upward swing yet, and the mortgage market in the mess it is in, people assume that our market is also down. That is not the case! Why would Summit County, not be affected? In my opinion there are several reasons. Of … (17 comments)
colorado: Are you ready to ski Colorado?
- 09/07/07 03:53 PM
Not only is September Emergency Preparedness month, it is also ski preparedness month! It is time to buy season passes to Breckenridge, Keystone, Copper Mountain and Arapahoe Basin. It is also a time when we anxiously await the equipment reviews in Ski magazine, the ski swap announcements, the Labor Day tent sales and Sports Authority's Sniagrab sale. We watch the weather forecast closely, hoping that it will get cold enough to snow, and every morning we check the peaks for traces of white stuff. I give my legs an extra workout in my pilates classes in hopes that when the first day of … (33 comments)
colorado: Summit Medical Center, a new hospital in Summit County, Colorado
- 08/23/07 02:28 PM
Our new hospital in Frisco, Colorado, has been open for nearly two years now and not only does it offer great care, it has awesome views, a good array of services and some very nice people. Cheerful volunteers greet you at the information desk at the front of the lobby, with its huge fireplace and soaring ceiling. Prior to December 7th, 2005, if you tore an ACL or broke a bone, you were taken to the hospital in Vail. If you had something life threatening, you were transported to Denver, either by ambulance or Flight for Life. Today, Summit County has a Level III Trauma center, which means … (16 comments)
colorado: We have cheap houses but you probably can't buy one.
- 08/13/07 05:27 PM
This was the title of a post I did a couple of months ago on my outside blog. I was reminded recently, when I read a post by Esko Kiuru about the lack of affordable housing in Las Vegas, that not every resort area has good programs to help locals get affordable housing. Summit County, Colorado has a great program that is funded both by a sales tax and a tax of about $1 per square foot on new construction. I don't know that the method they used to fund it was such a good idea, but I guess the locals figured that the rich second … (26 comments)
colorado: Report from resort real estate markets as I attend the Resort Symposium
- 06/25/07 02:12 PM
On Saturday I attended the Rocky Mountain Resort Alliance meeting as the representative from my Board. Today I attended the NAR sponsored Resort Symposium in Vail, and I will be there again tomorrow. Attending the Resort Symposium is a way to help earn yet another designation, the RSPS, which stands for Resort and Second-home Property Specialist. I signed up for last class I need for the designation, an online course on 1031 exchanges, last January, but somehow blogging got in the way and I haven't got around to taking that last course yet! The RMRA affiliation and the symposium are a good way … (4 comments)
colorado: Who causes prices to increase, Realtors or Sellers?
- 06/21/07 06:47 PM
We get the blame for our markets getting expensive. How many times have you heard that the Realtors are the reason prices are going up? If those darn Realtors wouldn't suggest such high prices we would be able to afford that house! I lost out on two listings this week to agents who suggested higher prices than I did. Or maybe they just went along with the Seller in order to get the listing. Our market is very hot in Summit County, Colorado. It is a resort market with primarily vacation homes, the fastest growing segment of the market, according to NAR. I … (14 comments)
colorado: A not so typical Colorado day
- 06/07/07 04:51 PM
June 6th and 2 inches of snow with 90 mile an hour winds. It is supposed to be summer! The snow is not too unusual at 9,000' feet of elevation, and we get some wind every now and then. But on June 6th? And both at once! I was blogging away last night and could hear the wind howling outside. Then I heard things blowing around and stuff hitting the windows. I got up and took a look. My house backs to Forest Service land and my lot is heavily treed with lodgepole pine, which are tall, fairly skinny trees. Those trees … (5 comments)
colorado: Breckenridge land, for millionaires only
- 06/03/07 10:03 AM
Today, June 3, 2007, with a total of 93 lots for sale in Breckenridge, only 12 are priced under $250,000. Of those, 3 are in RV parks and 5 are at an elevation of about 11,000' where summers are very short. Looking at the other end of the price range, 16 lots are priced over $1,000,000 with the highest priced lot being a ski-in/ski-out acre at the base of the Peak 8 base area, priced at $2,500,000. If you don't need as much land you can find a half acre lot for a mere $1,800,000. These numbers don't really reflect the true state of the market however, at least … (12 comments)
colorado: What makes a house a vacation home?
- 05/24/07 04:51 PM
In Summit County Colorado, most of our homes are vacation homes. The ideal vacation home has a big garage, but not because you have lots of cars parked in it. You need a place to store your skis, your snowmobile, the bikes and your raft. Oh yeah, and the canoe and the sailboat. The car sits out on the driveway. We find that we lack storage in many of our condominiums. That is because the builders figure that if you are only there 3 days at a time, why do you need big closets? Well, ski clothes are bulky, for one, and … (2 comments)
colorado: Who is the King of Breckenridge, and why?
- 05/18/07 06:08 PM
No one has proclaimed a king, at least not since Ullr Fest in January, but he is King of the week long party that is the tribute to the Norse god of snow, not the Town. We do have a town fool competition at the end of ski season each year, but I have yet to see a king of Breckenridge crowned. Kingdom days are coming up mid-June, and it got me wondering how the term the "Kingdom" of Breckenridge came about. I found a couple of interesting facts. Breckenridge was founded in 1859, and was named after the then Vice-President Breckinridge, who, … (2 comments)
colorado: There is a Frisco in Colorado too?
- 05/11/07 04:42 PM
At the base of Peak One and along Lake Dillon is Frisco, centrally located to all of Summit County with the major ski areas, including Vail, just a short drive away. At the Frisco recreation peninsula is the nordic center, where you can find the finest in cross country skiing, snow-shoeing, and dinner sleigh rides. Frisco's Historic Park In the summer there are two campgrounds and boat launching facilities to enjoy Lake Dillon. Main Street in Frisco is a vibrant business area with many "one of a kind" shops and restaurants. The Frisco Peninsula has an 18 hole disc golf course, a multi-purpose … (1 comments)
colorado: Moose in Colorado!
- 05/05/07 11:13 AM
I saw a moose on my way home yesterday, and it led to a post on my other blog. Rather than post all the photos again, here is a link to it (and I hope that is ok on AR!) If not, let me know, someone, and I will delete this posting. http://www.mountain-living.com/blog/2007/05/05/moose-on-the-loose/ These kinds of posts are fun to write. … (6 comments)
colorado: New carpet can make a difference!
- 05/03/07 04:05 PM
But why is it that they all want to "wait and see"? In Summit County, Colorado, home to several ski resorts, we have lots of ski condos and vacation homes. Many of them were built in the 1970s and 80s and there are a lot that have just had personal use from their owners, with no rentals. That often means that the dark brown carpet that was all the rage in 1979 is still in wonderful condition! Why replace perfectly good carpet? We do have a few perfectly good harvest gold refrigerators here and there too, but the carpet is much more … (8 comments)
I have a good friend who is the Executive Director of the American Sheep Industry www.sheepusa.org and I was fortunate enough to be invited to their house for dinner last night. Pete's wife, Amy, knows how to cook lamb! They know when I am coming to dinner that they had better buy extra, and they always do. I grew up eating lamb, as I was born in New Zealand, where the sheep outnumber the people about 12 to one. Of course, we always have an argument about which is better, Colorado lamb or New Zealand lamb. I usually think it is … (2 comments)
colorado: New group started for vacation and second homes.
- 04/24/07 04:35 PM
It may be redundant, but vacation homes are not always in resort communities, and in fact, are often very different. So I thought it would be worth a try. I am recruiting members for our group, so please sign up if you would like to share ideas, tips and tricks, rent by owner websites, and lots of other valuable information. So far we have Colorado and Oregon represented. How about Florida, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Michigan, Idaho, Utah. There are lots of you out there and I want to pick your brains! … (3 comments)
colorado: If summer falls on a Sunday this year, I think I will have a barbeque.
- 04/23/07 03:37 PM
My husband claims that he overheard someone say this in the grocery store one day. He might have made it up, but it does show how short our summers can be. Nevertheless, it is a glorious time of year! I put plants on my deck from Memorial Day to Labor day, but keep sheets handy to cover them up in case we have frost. Those plants make the most glorious display. I guess they know the season is short and they all bloom at once. The perennials in my garden do well if I am careful in choosing which ones I buy. I … (4 comments)
colorado: Easy referrals you are probably missing
- 04/20/07 03:55 PM
Have you ever asked one of your clients if they have thought about buying a second home? Not just a rental property, but a vacation home at the beach or mountains. If your clients are baby boomers and they live in a nice house, chances are they already have a second home or they have thought about buying one. There is your opportunity! Those of you who live within two hours of a resort area probably have lots of clients who are possible buyers. I live in Summit County, Colorado, home of Breckenridge, Keystone and Copper Mountain ski areas, and we are only 1 1/2 … (10 comments)
The Colorado mountains, real estate, ski resorts, lifestyle and vacation homes is my focus. We talk about buying and selling ski condos in Breckenridge, Keystone and Copper Mountain. Homes and land in Frisco, Dillon and Silverthorne are also in our market areaTrack Who's Online
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! 
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