Throughout the state of Colorado property owners are paying substantially more in taxes than they should due to one fundamental flaw in the assessment. Here is a recent example: I was asked to evaluate a property in CO springs for a loan. The purchase price...
In my blog last week Is affordable housing causing the surge in ski town home prices? I asked the question what was the impact on affordable housing in relation to ski prices . I was pretty surprised at the resounding answer regarding affordable housing What...
What is the main culprit for increasing prices in ski towns? The list is endless but typically at the top is the huge increase in nightly rentals and the big bad mega passes bringing more people to the ski towns. Unfortunately, this answer is incorrect, it is a...
The appreciation over the last seven years throughout Colorado has been astounding, but now it is time to pay the piper. What cities in Colorado are most at risk of rewinding most if not all of the Covid appreciation gains? Why are “suburban” markets more at risk...
My wife and I were out for a longer day hike when we crest the hill and got a dead-on view of a new wildfire. We knew immediately it was in the direction of our house, and it was growing rapidly. The evacuation notices immediately go out, giving some folks less than...
Over the last 30 years I continue to hear about the “affordable housing crisis”. Do we really have an affordable housing crisis or a leadership crisis within the ski towns. A recent proposal in Steamboat pegs the build cost of one affordable housing unit over 1.7m....
Crested Butte, CO it the latest to propose a vacancy tax with one major shift, nightly rentals would be covered by the new tax along with second homeowners. Who knew that Colorado ski towns would be taking economic lessons from Portland Oregon,one of the worst...
In my blog last week, One CO town proposes to tax employers for hiring workers, I asked the question was are proposed linkage fees a good idea. I was very surprised with the results of the survey. My base case was that there would be an even split, but the...
Reading the headline, it sounds absolutely crazy to propose taxing businesses for creating jobs, but is this really a crazy idea? Is every job worth the same in Colorado? For example if someone builds a large hotel in Steamboat creating 15 jobs, should the developer...
Colorado ski resorts have continued holding strong in the face of higher interest rates. Why are interest rates not the best metric for Colorado ski real estate? Which ski towns are performing better than others? What two factors are driving the difference in ski...
It seems like anytime there is even a hint of snow or the slightest breeze, I70 gets shut down for hours turning an 1.5 hour drive from Denver into a 5 hour adventure! What does this mean for ski real estate? Will ski traffic lead to lower real estate...
Colorado has continued pushing for statewide zoning in the last several legislative sessions. The new proposal, House Bill 26-114 would radically alter every community in Colorado. The new bill mandates 2k foot min lot sizes statewide (no exceptions for any cities)....
Colorado is having a tough year. Snowfall was down nearly 60% over the holidays, resulting in only about 11% of skiable terrain being opened in December and skier visits are down 20%. Vail resorts, the largest ski operator, is getting hit hard as seen in the stock...
Two high end Colorado ski towns are taking radically different stances on tourism. Vail had proposed a 17% short term rental sales tax, while Steamboat is taking the opposite approach by proposing to tax vacant homes. Which solution is correct? What does each one...
Have you seen the viral video about Colorado ski real estate where it predicts “entire communities evaporating and the seemingly perfect town that has seen its median home price slashed by over 30% in just 6 months”. How real are these bold predictions? Hint, look...
A fall from a lift in Crested Butte, leads to a 21m loss for Vail even with the ski safety act (first ever). Is the lawsuit actually a win for Vail resorts (even though they lost money)? Why is this case so monumental? What does this case mean for Colorado...
Typically most of the mountain towns seem to replicate each other. In this case, Breckenridge(Summit County) has made radical changes that will help real estate owners save considerable money. On top of that, the changes implemented were free. Why are other ski...
After the legislature last year approved the ability to tax second homeowners more, one ski town is going all in establishing a “vacancy tax” for property owners. Ironically nightly rentals can be considered "vacant". What is in the new Vacancy tax proposal? What...
There is one ski town that bans non residents from buying real estate? What ski town has implemented this change? (Do you know based on the pic above?) Why was the ban put in place? What has happened to real estate values in this town and surrounding towns? Should...
Colorado ski resorts continue holding strong in the face of higher interest rates. Why are interest rates not the best metric for Colorado ski real estate? What two factors are driving the difference in ski town fortunes? Will these trends continue heading into...
Why is Steamboat Springs leading the way? Although in the last legislative session the initiative to charge second homeowners more was defeated, it is rearing its head again in the form of a new backdoor “vacancy tax”. The leaders of this new push are the Colorado...
The Colorado Rocky Mountains were blessed with abundant snow over the holiday season and unfortunately ski traffic was also brimming with accidents snarling traffic throughout the high country. At one point I saw i70 shut down an entire day leading to 90...
Denver county approved hundreds of millions of dollars in new taxes for hospitals, schools, and everything in between, but they voted down an affordable housing bill in the November election. Along the same lines, Steamboat also recently voted down an affordable...
As I predicted, we are starting to see some big changes in Colorado ski real estate. Even as prices in many markets throughout the country are staying flat, some Colorado ski real estate is still increasing while others are starting to correct. What is causing the...
