Are you looking for a way to beat the heat!  Come to Summit County, Colorado!  The weather is perfect in the 70’s and sunny during the day and 50’s at night, great sleeping weather.

There is so much to do in the summer time in Summit county.  This weekend is the Dillon Mountain Arts Festival gong on today through Sunday. Also enjoy the Farmer’s markets in Dillon and Frisco going on every Friday from AM-PM.  On Saturday night there is a free concert at the Dillon Amphitheater and fireworks to celebrate Dillon’s 125th anniversary.

Now is a great time to look at properties, Saturday we are having an open house tour and the featured property I am having is in Keystone with views of the golf course. For more information contact Leah at leah@leahbaxter.com or visit my website www.leahbaxter.com to find out what is happening this summer.

Inventory levels have increased since the winter in Summit County.  The market here is becoming a little more neutral than a full on Seller’s market.  Now is a good time to buy in Summit County because of the choices.  Some properties have been on the market for more than a few months and perhaps the seller may be a little more negotiable than in prior years when there are not a lot of choice. 

Our market has never experienced a bubble like other areas in the nation.  WE have been consistently growing anywhere between 10-25% appreciation a year.  It has stabilized a little this year due to the economist portraying doom and gloom everywhere.  However, we are not experiencing a decline in prices or do we experience foreclosures here.  Generally if a property is going to foreclosure, it is usually sold or rectified before that even happens.

If you are interested in new projects that are in the planning phase, click here.The following are inventory levels in each town which include condos, duplexes, town homes and single family homes:

Frisco-current inventory 110 properties

Copper Mtn. -current inventory 61 properties

Breckenridge-current inventory 653 properties

Wildernest/Silverthorne- 214 properties

Dillon-130 properties

Keystone-142 properties.

Feel free to contact Leah at 970-389-6367 to help you with your property needs.  www.leahbaxter.com

Even though the calendar says April, in Summit County it is more like the middle of winter.

Skiing and riding are still fantastic, I skied in a foot of powder on Monday.  April is a great time to come out to Summit County.  The restaurants are having specials, ski areas have discounted lift tickets if you buy on-line.  You can also get reduced lodging specials.

It is snowing again today. This weekend there is a great  fun race fundraiser at A-Basin.  Registration is at 7:AM and there will be great prizes for everyone.  It is supposed to be a warm weekend. 

APRIL 3, 2008

Are you looking for a luxury parcel of land to build your ranch on?  Well, there is a new development called  The Daley Ranch in Silverthorne, Colorado.  This is a 289-acre natural sanctuary of forests, meadows, ponds, and trails.  The acreage is broken down to 35 acre parcels and sells for 2.5-3.5 million dollars. 

It is located by 4 world-class ski resorts and will have a 3200 acre lake within 31 miles.

The views are spectacular and you can see Copper MT., Keystone, the Ten-Mile Range.There will be a pasture area with Hay Meadows for feeding the horses, x-country ski trails and snowmobiling trails.  Also a Nordic Hut to warm up as well as a Ranch house and Caretakers cabin.   More amenities will emerge as the new owners partake in the decision making process.

This is a Equilibrium resort development.

If you would like more information, please contact Leah Baxter at leah@leahbaxter.com or www.leahbaxter.com.

Oh, by the way if you are looking to relocate to Summit County, the Climax mine ,www.reuters.com/article/GlobalMiningandSteel08/idUSN1157688120080312 which is between Copper Mtn. and Leadville is having a job fair on April 5th.  Yes, they are re-opening and now may be a good time to get a good job with benefits, which is hard to find in Summit County.www.purchasing.com/article/CA6518791.html.

Also, a lot of seasonal employees leave at this time of year, so several of the local businesses are looking for people to work.  If you are dedicated  you should think about moving to Summit County, especially if you enjoy the outdoors and everything that the mountains have to offer. 

For more information on relocating, contact Leah at www.leahbaxter.com or send me an email to leah@leahbaxter.com. 

Other major festivals happening in Summit County to celebrate the end of the season are the Breckenridge Spring Massive Festival.  This will occur between April 1-April 20.  There will be live entertainment, FIS ski races, spring shopping sales and much more!

While you are in Breckenridge, why not take a look at some Mountain properties, because summer is right around the corner and if you have not spent summertime in the Rockies, you are missing out!  It is absolutely gorgeous and plenty to do for everyone! 

Give Leah Baxter a call 970-389-6367 or email at leah@leahbaxter.com.  www.leahbaxter.com

Ski season is approaching the end for the 2007/2008 season.  It has been a great ski season with record snow fall.  There are all kinds of activities happening in the mountains over the next couple weeks.  Copper Mtn. is currently hosting the 2008 USASA National Championships . The USASA is the first governing body exclusively for competitive grassroots snowboarding. The organizers believed that by forming a national association for snowboard competitors, rules of competition could be standardized, an annual national championship event could be established, and the recreation and fun of this rapidly growing sport could be preserved and flourish. The competition begins on Sunday, March 30.

Next weekend on April 5-6 Copper Mountain will be hosting their annual Sunsation festival.

They will have 2 days of live music FREE beginning at 12:30PM.

It is still a great time to look at properties in the mountains, so if you don’t want to miss out  on experiencing some appreciation before next year, call Leah Baxter 970-389-6367 or check out my website www.leahbaxter.com.

Now is a great time to buy in Summit County .  I know the news media is portraying doom and gloom for the housing market, however, they are basing their information on major cities.  We are not a major city.  We are a resort community.  People love the mountains to relax and play.  Our economy is not based on the national economy.  People choose to come in for fun or because they want to live in the mountains.

Interest rates are low,our prices are not going down, so don’t wait, because we are not in a housing bubble.  Our market continues to be strong and the sales prices continue to rise slowly, but steady. 

Source:  National Association of Realtors via Associated press:msnbc.msn.com & data research Associates. Believed to be accurate but not guaranteed.

Contact Leah Baxter at leah@leahbaxter.com or www.leahbaxter.com for more information on purchasing in summit county.  Search the Summit County MLS  free.

The first thing you need to do is find the right parcel of land.  There are a lot of variables in land in Summit County.  Do you want to have a septic system and well system?  Do you want to already be connected to City water and Sewer? Is the land located on wetlands, and if so, is there any way to build on these wetlands?

The difference is going to be in the price.  If you don’t want to spend a lot of money on land, than you are probably going to need a septic system and well system.  When you begin to look for land, you want to make sure that it is buildable.  One way of doing this is going to the Summit County Building Dept. and doing some preliminary investigation.  The Building department can give you an idea if this is possible if you have a parcel of land that you are interested in.  Just because the land is for sale and is located in a neighborhood, don’t assume that it is buildable.  Look before you leap.

The safer route is to buy land that is already on water and sewer, than this is one less thing that you have to worry about.  You still need to to your due diligence on whether or not it is a big enough parcel for you to build that dream home. 

There are a lot of restrictions on height, how far is it from the road?  There are certain requirements that you must adhere to when designing your home. Contact Leah Baxter or email at leah@leahbaxter.com for more information.

Yes, it is still possible to build that dream mountain home at a ski area.  One of the latest developments is at Copper Mountain.  This development is called Slopeside.

If you are familiar with Copper Mountain, Slopeside is located in Lewis Ranch and is right next to the Union Creek Chairlift.  There are only thirteen large building envelopes, which are all ski in ski out.   These lots are big enough to build a 5,000-8,000 square foot home.  The master planned community has been approved for a future gondola. 

There is an affiliated construction company that will help you build your high-quality home.  One of the home sites has a  beautiful model home that was featured in the Summit County Parade of Homes.  This particular property won several awards on Best Interior Design and Finishes, Best Kitchen, Best overall floor plan, Best interior decorating, and the list goes on. 

Click here for previous article on building.

If you are interested in finding out more about building your luxury ski-in ski out masterpiece, please contact Leah Baxter at Leah@leahbaxter.com or www.leahbaxter.com.