Non Region Specific Ski Town Real Estate

[chris_the_wrench]

I sold my house in Bend that I bought in 1997 for triple the price in 2005. So glad I left that place. Way to many people crowded in that area. It was a great place to grow up in the 70's and 80's.

How much longer till the sprawl connects Bend to Redmond? Out of control...

 

[Muleski]

My niece and her husband can work from anywhere, in very senior tech jobs. Like “we’ll send the plane for you if needed.” They finished renovating a house right in SF, made an astounding killing...the typical sold in a day, $100k over asking. Big price.

They relocated to Bozeman. Yes prices have shot up there, and long time resident friends of mine think it’s just been ruined. Newcomers seem to just love all about it. Financially, they took some of their equity, and paid cash with an over asking, no contingencies offer. Great property. I’m sure the neighbors could not grasp it. Millenials. But not alone in those moving there.

We’re in Maine, at Sugarloaf. They have recently had ZERO inventory. Not a single property to rent seasonally or long term, not a single condo or single family home for sale. First time ever. As Newfy knows, there is almost nothing up there. Calling it even a four seasons vacation resort is a real stretch. But people are moving there, particularly for the school year. Wild. We’ve had a bunch of property over the last 30 years, in hot markets and stone cold ones. This is nuts.

It seems to be the same all over the place. My brother tried to sell a big house on a big piece of land in CO ski country for four years. Lots of price reductions. Late this spring, bidding war ensues among three buyers. All wanting to move there. Sold for cash, $300K over the listed price. Land was permitted for a helipad, which was very important to two buyers. Nuts.

Covid delivers for some!

Our home is in an oceanside town. Lots of appeal. It has gone crazy since late March. Just off the hook. Great if you own. Impossible almost to break into. When interest rates do rise, I bet we’ll see some changes. Like young couples not buying their first starter homes at well over $1Mil.

Real Estate brokers are just killing it. And here, also record low inventory...

We’re nosing around about other possibilities as well. Unlikely that we’ll do anything, but some are tempting. Here in New England there are some places really hurting, but not looking at any of them!

Strange times in many ways.

 

[martyg]

Where are you located?

Durango.

 

[martyg]

I sold my house in Bend that I bought in 1997 for triple the price in 2005. So glad I left that place. Way to many people crowded in that area. It was a great place to grow up in the 70's and 80's.

Bob Woodward and I go back a long ways. He is not happy with Bend these days.

 

[slowrider]

How much longer till the sprawl connects Bend to Redmond? Out of control...

Not yet. No subdivisions or Commercial zones.

 

[slowrider]

My place West of Redmond goes up $1800.00/mo. It's just a shack on a rockpile. Idaho here I come.

 

[WadeHoliday]

The only people who love this market are realtors. And those with buyers are having a very hard time.

Not all realtors love this market, Amy. Many do not, we also like our area as it was before the onslaught. A few extra bucks income doesn't make up for change in culture/lift lines/traffic.

I am still a happy realtor, but I enjoyed my work and my area more before the craziness of this year. I can't really complain, so I"m still quite happy, I'm just a slightly less spoiled to ski so often with so many people moving up here and having the flexible schedule.
And, yes, I also work with lots of buyers, and it's been tough. Someone mentioned a multi million dollar property going 250K over, I sold properties this year under 1mil that went that much over.

Where to go from here... ohio, newfy?
maybe austria? A buddy of mine asked if I'd be in for a partnership in a chalet in the alps, less than 150euro! I may be in for a vacation chalet in the old world .

Sorry you got shut out, Amy, sucks.

Cheers!
W

 

[tch]

Ironic historical reversal: In the early years of the 20th C., beautiful places were often empty. Too far away from services, business, centers of human interaction. Aspen was a virtual ghost town by 1930 -- pop. 1,000. When Henry Beston built his Outermost House in Nauset, MA, everyone thought he was nuts to live out on the "wild" dunes and it's unclear he even had to buy the sand to put it on. Today, with universal electrification, the internet, and online shopping/living/working, people can live anywhere. So why not in beautiful places?

The unfortunate outcome is that the rich will overrun the attractive places, drive out the poor(er) who will be segregated to the less-attractive places. It's one more ugly fact of a system out of control.

 

[Bad Bob]

It is all in the "ski town" you choose. Chewelah, WA 10 miles from 6 chair ski area that gets 300"/year and 1900' vert. Prices are up but comparatively not that bad. A name hill and you will pay. https://www.realtor.com/realestatea...-Lincoln-Ave-B_Chewelah_WA_99109_M12356-56954

 

[ADKmel]

Yes Prices are WAY Up! I'm 3.5hrs N of NYC in S. ADKS- the buyers fleeing populated areas are paying crazy prices. bidding wars on all my lake houses they are selling WAY over list price. We'll see how long it lasts. I don't foresee interest rates staying this low much longer, with higher interest rates prices will drop- that and higher taxes tank markets..

 

[Magoo]

Bob Woodward and I go back a long ways. He is not happy with Bend these days.

People have no idea of how great Bend was pre parkway. It isn't even Bend anymore.

 

[Magoo]

How much longer till the sprawl connects Bend to Redmond? Out of control...

I think the only thing that has stopped it is BLM land. That is the problem with the population there. There wasn't any room to expand in the 80's so they have just crammed all those people in the same amount of space.

 

[ella_g]

More than a few families in Jackson we know with kids at home are renting their houses and living somewhere in Idaho, some in rentals, some in RVs. They are making a killing. The Jackson real estate market is completely insane. We have thought a lot about moving to somewhere in that vicinity but if we ever took the plunge would live on the Idaho side, which is dramatically cheaper.

 

[Sibhusky]

Actually, I think once all these people are vaccinated, we'll have a few frigid winters with a ton of snow and they'll decide they like somewhere else better. It's dark here most of the winter.

 

[martyg]

More than a few families in Jackson we know with kids at home are renting their houses and living somewhere in Idaho, some in rentals, some in RVs. They are making a killing. The Jackson real estate market is completely insane. We have thought a lot about moving to somewhere in that vicinity but if we ever took the plunge would live on the Idaho side, which is dramatically cheaper.

The mtn town thing is a tough deal in a lot if respects. In a different life, I helped mtn towns, ski hills, and brands understand data, and create action plans around that data. That saw me spending a lot of time in all the cool places.

The thing about the current crop of cool places - places like Telluride in "the day", is that they often are remote, and lack infrastructure. Things like places to go out to dinner, a plumber that isn't stoned, people who give a shit about something other than skiing pow. People who only care about skiing pow is all good and fine, until you need to rely on one of them to accomplish something for you - from walking your dog to helping with a load of firewood. Glacier, WA is my model of that place.

Bottom line, every mtn town has pluses and minuses. We looked at Big Sky so that I could teach at TYC. Too much winter. Started to build in Park City. Found one builder who was kind if doing things right. They flaked, and attorneys were involved. We stettled in Durango, which is a lot like Bend, when Bend had 15,000 residents. A big driver was our builder.

That mtn town dichotomy is a weird tipping point. We want authenticity. However sometimes that authenticity is a bit too real. And as more people more to a mtn town seeking that authenticity, they help destroy the very thing that they are seeking in the first place.

 

[Bad Bob]

Everybody looking for the old Bend, I think I found it.
Got fortunate 2 years ago and spent the best part of a year in Twin Falls, ID. The skiing is there, but a bit farther Sun Valley, Pomerelle (a very cool little place with good snow), Soldier Mountain (a sleeper of a little area) are within 90 minutes. Fishing, golf, biking, climbing, all there.
Medical, good shopping, decent food, jobs, schools all pretty good and all in high desert. About 40,000 people and the prices have not gone nuts yet. It is a place I could live easily.
If you are traveling through to SLC or JH get off the highway and take a look. A pretty cool town.

 

[Blue Streak]

Every time I do a real estate search anywhere in ski country I become very depressed. And the same holds true for rentals.

It seems like every yuppie in New York, Chicago, or LA has invaded Colorado, buying or renting in already severely undersupplied markets.

It sucks. I hope Covid gets over, and they go back where they belong. (Did I say that?)

 

[slowrider]

 

[locknload]

So here is my question: If real estate is up everywhere (which it sure sounds like it is), it has to be down somewhere. Not everyone is buying second homes. Many are leaving behind primary homes and moving to a new primary home (we moved from DC to CA this summer). Its not possible for it to be up everywhere at once...San Francisco, notably, seems to be losing owners and renters and seems the same chatter for NYC. Obviously, we are living in the gilded age where there is a crop of people who have ridiculous amounts of tech $ etc...but they probably aren't in the same buyers market as most of us anyway. It can't be up everywhere all at once...if people move, they leave a house behind and there are a finite amount of us here in the country.

I believe the Covid effect has definitely caused some to move out on their dream of living in the mountains and probably for many to live near the ocean. Once Covid settles out and we return to some semblance of "normalcy" and interest rates bump up, I've got to believe we'll see some correction. I could be wrong, but I don't believe in the logic of "it goes up forever infinitely" and this is coming from a guy who lived and owned in DC for 20 years where my property values did go up steadily year over year because there are so many desirable jobs.

We've been eyeing our dream ski property as well, but we're not quite ready to buy and I just believe the markets are really frothy. We're gonna save more $ and invest in our current property which is in a frothy market so that it's value stays high and that gives us options if we decided to liquidate and/or buy a small second home somewhere in ski country.

 

[newfydog]

Everybody looking for the old Bend, I think I found it.....
Twin Falls, ID. A pretty cool town.

Good to hear. Last time I stopped there I ended up parked next to a hunter with a dead mountain lion in his truck and some dogs who got torn up treeing the cat. Some places could use a bit of encroaching civilization.