Colorado Ski Condos

Owning a condo for sale at copper and having been in that market for 15 years, i can tell you the prices are down10-15% from the peak of two years, but its still not cheap...but copper is reasonable compared to aspen, vail and telluride, which can be several times more expensive per square ft...Keep in mind that Copper has realively small village with not a great of deal of condo space available so supple and demand will keep prices from falling too much at copper...anyone looking at copper for ownership and or rental can PM me and I would be happy to direct them in the right direction.....

 

Hey Rob et al- sale prices in Aspen and closeby are down +/- 8 to 10% from the peak, although the occasional ' bargin' can be found. But, while the market isn't as soft as many might think ( or wish ), there's lots of great deals on ski packages this season, especially outside of the prime time periods of Christmas/ New Years, X-games, and Presidents' Day, soo...., if you ever wanted to ski/board this place, now would be the time. Presently lots of early season snow cover and cold temps. P.S. I'm an ski patrolman, not a 'dirt pimp',so I'm not priming the fiscal pump as it were.

 

Yup. 4 mountains, Peaks 7-10. 7 is the one on the right.

Too big, looks like Vail to me.

 

Breckenridge is a great group of peaks to ski and has runs to suit all levels of abillity and committment, but avoid the weekends if possible, as a very inexpensive area ski pass is available to the Denver crowd, which is predomiately weekend folks. Course, you could buy one too and save a bundle! I don't know the details, but I'm, sure someone else does. I think you get Vail, Copper, A-Basin and Keystone, too

 

Breck is large, but IMO, if you're going to buy a place somewhere, there had better be a lot of terrain. We bought in Breck years ago. I probably ski 20 days/year (out of Dallas) and never get tired of it. I'd go crazy if the ski area was too small.

 

There are a couple of different passes you can get. One is limited to Breck, A Basin and Keystone. It's much cheaper than the one that includes Vail & BC. Currently $399 vs $599 I think.

 

Wise move.

Rob, I have had a little bit of experience in the vacation home biz, but not as much as some here. Plus, as a CPA, I have been asked this question hundreds of times over the years.

My stock answer is, "Realistically, how many weeks a year are we talking about?" If the answer is less than 5 weeks, screw it, rent. You will be so much better off for dozens of reasons I don't feel like getting into right now.

If, however, you can actually spend a couple of months a year at your second home, buying MAY be the best option. However, may I suggest the "gateway" approach?

For example, I have given serious thought to buying a second home in Colorado. (I already have a home in Florida on the water.) After giving it a bit of thought, I'm thinking Colorado Springs. Compared to mountain property, Colorado Springs is cheep. It is out of the Denver mishmash. However, you can still get to the big airport in a reasonable amount of time. (I have done the boogie from Aspen to the Airport, and it ain't fun.) However, within 2 to 3 hours or so, you can be anywhere you want to be in Colorado without screwing with I-70.

Just a thought.

Dale

 

Condo prices have tanked in Steamboat and Telluride. Aspen not so much.

But you need to decide what you like. As a part time resident being close to the slope may be more important than quiet and privacy. We found a way to get both, but I have been checking Aspen out for 35 years. And the RE has been a great investment for me.

We have a neighbor that commutes here on weekends from Houston. So it can be done.

We live here because of the Music Festival in the summer. And we enjoy the fine dining. there are lots of places to ski for alot less money. but you get what you pay for. nothing beats Aspen as a good investment IMVHO.

If you want to be close to Denver Winter Park is the closest. Heavy weekend traffic and crowded slopes in WP, Vail, Breckenridge and Copper. Not crowded in Aspen after New Years. No lines where I ski in Snowmass.

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Denver day skiers don't make it as far as Vail, and due to the cost, don't stay in Vail hotels. We usually only get busy in Vail for the Xmas week once the terrain is fully opened. But, that said, on weekdays we're doing laps.

CW

 

When I lived in Denver we day tripped to Vail and it was jammed. many Denver people own condos in Vail and use them just about every weekend. Haven't been skiing there since moving to Aspen in 2003. Glad to hear there are no lift lines now on weekends.

 

Generally speaking, there aren't lines here but for the big Holiday weeks and weekends. There's just so much terrain and so many lifts. But, and this is important, you have to know where to avoid and when. It's easy to get stuck in LONG lines if you're following the crowd around.

I70 does get backed up, but East of Eisenhower to Floyd Hill, mostly. This indicates to me that the heaviest traffic is to and from Summit County. Once you get past Silverthorne, it thins out considerably.

Anyway, how's the season coming over there? We've got just two runs open so far. They're icy, packed (with knuckleheads and beginners!) and dangerous. Virtually 100% man-made. Technically, it's skiing, but...

CW

 

"Rob, I have had a little bit of experience in the vacation home biz, but not as much as some here. Plus, as a CPA, I have been asked this question hundreds of times over the years.
My stock answer is, "Realistically, how many weeks a year are we talking about?" If the answer is less than 5 weeks, screw it, rent. You will be so much better off for dozens of reasons I don't feel like getting into right now.
If, however, you can actually spend a couple of months a year at your second home, buying MAY be the best option.
Just a thought.

Dale"

Rob......I am in Dale's camp on the concept of a second home. I think there are two options. Either the 2nd home needs to be within a 2-3 hr drive from your primary home OR you need to live there for a few months. When I lived in DE I had a beach home that I could reach in 2 hrs. That made it very easy to use for weekends, holidays and of course vacationing in the summer. Owned the o-front home for 10 yrs, used the heck out of it and made money when I sold. But I know too many people that have homes so hard to get to that they just don't use them enough to justify the effort and expense of ownership.

When I moved to FL I often thought about CO as I do like to ski. My wife does not care for any cold weather though. So CO was out. However we do want to escape the heat here in the summer. For me to commit to the investment we agreed that we would live in the 2nd home for 4-5 months. We chose the mtns of NC because it was easy to get to within 1/2 day travel. So in addition to our plan of living in the mtns from June-Oct we can also make a few trips up from here in FL at other times of the year. And same for the reverse in summer.

There is a reason for the phrase "beauty of renting". I think your plan of owning a plane and traveling about is a sound concept.