You may not have heard of this area called Southside Estates in Breckenridge, Colorado.  Southside Estates is a very private area located within walking distance to downtown Breckenridge.  Only 6 homes may be built in this exclusive area each with a 4 acre parcel.   This home is located at the end of a cul-de-sac on Southside Dr. This home is one of the most beautiful luxury homes close to Breckenridge and very private.  You can walk to town from here, yet you feel like you are on your own private mountain.

This home features vaulted ceilings, an outside climbing wall, and an outside fire pit alongside your own private waterfall.  If you enjoy tuning your own skis or boards this home provides you with a private ski-tuning room.  For the artist, this home features a private art studio, which could be converted into an office or another bedroom.  The wine connoisseur will be enthralled by the amazing wine cellar. To keep in shape when you are not participating in the beautiful outdoors, you can enjoy working out in your own private exercise room that features state of the art equipment.

This home is 6863 square feet.  In addition to the other areas in this home, there are two living areas, five bedrooms and five baths. There is expansive custom rock-work throughout the home, as well as a large entertaining kitchen.  The custom finishes in this home are exquisite!  I have previewed several million dollar homes in Summit County,  and typically they begin to resemble each other.  This home, on the other hand, is one of the most unique and beautiful custom homes I have seen.  The property was originally listed at $3.45 million and is now priced at $2.9 million. If you want luxury, privacy, yet within walking distance to town, you must see this property.

Contact Leah Baxter, ReMax Properties of the Summit at 970-389-6367 or leah@leahbaxter.com.

Summit County  real estate buyers are looking for lifestyle when they are choosing homes and locations. The lifestyle in Summit County is pretty relaxed.  Noone seems to be in a hurry, which is great, you can leave all your cares behind.  There is so much to do in Summit County, bike riding, hiking, fishing, dirt biking, skiing, snowboarding, nordic skiing , sailing, wine tasting, dining, etc.  You get the idea, so what are you waiting for, now is the best time in history to buy that mountain property .  As you may or may not be aware interest rates are extremely low, some under 4%.  Most people are aware of the old adage  ”would’ve,could’ve, should’ve” That time to buy is now!

Summit County Real Estate is quite different than the typical real estate market.  Did you know that 65% of Summit County properties are second homes or investment properties? Since most of these properties are mostly vacation rental properties, the owners are able to generate income to help cover their ownership costs.

Just because a property is for sale doesn’t necessarily mean the owner is desperate to sell. There are several circumstances that may motivate Sellers.  They may be wanting to take advantage of the lower prices and trade up to something bigger, they may want to cash out and move on to other things in their lives, or they may have some pressing financial issues that they need to address.

As a buyer, it’s important to take many aspects of a property into consideration before determining how much to offer. Offering an arbitrary percentage off of the asking price or some specific price per square foot is simple, but can often cause animosity with the seller and can result in an outright rejection of your offer and/or an unwillingness to negotiate with you.

Do your homework…or better yet, have a local Realtor do the homework for you. If you have a solid, fact based rationale for your offer, sellers are much more likely to enter into negotiations based on the facts. Here are some things to consider when determining your offer price:

• Look at all of the comparable sales in the neighborhood and the condition of those properties vs. the property you are considering.
• Compare and adjust for the age and style of the properties…compare apples to apples.
• How is it furnished? Is it up to date or will you have to remodel to get it to the comparable standards
• Is it the highest or lowest priced property in the neighborhood? Based on price per square foot,  is it already a great deal?
• Is it the right location for you?  Remember the old rule of “location, location, location” still holds true.
• Have there been numerous price reductions and is it now priced to sell?
• What is the county assessed value? Are you starting off with immediate gain, loss or are you breaking even?

If this is the right property for you and your family to create many memories in, whether full-time or part-time, then make an offer. Overall today’s home buyer wants to find a home in a location where he can feel a part of the community and take advantage of all that a community has to offer.

The highs and lows of the economy have many people revisiting their priorities. Family and quality of life is skyrocketing to the top of most people’s lists. What is important to you? If you are a homebuyer, this is a great time to sit down and capture your priorities. Sharing your list with a local Realtor can help assure that the homes you look at meet or exceed your criteria.

Sellers of real estate can grab onto the fact that homebuyers are looking for lifestyle and promote those aspects of what their homes have to offer. Emphasizing the lifestyle aspect of your neighborhood and all that it has to offer can open a buyer’s eyes to your unique community.

Click here to read “Homebuyers Make Lifestyle Options Priority” from Realty Times.

Sourced from: Kinetic Content Library

Leah Baxter, Realtor at ReMax Properties of the Summit

Frisco, Co

970-389-6367

leah@leahbaxter.com

www.leahbaxter.com

If you a fan of Copper Mountain., and would like to take advantage of the new beautiful homes that are built right next to the mountain, Lewis Ranch is the place for you.  It is a private small gated community with  19 high end custom homes.  It is actually quite reasonable compared to Vail.  For example, a 7 bed/8 bath home near the ski slopes in Vail will  cost you  $11,900.00 and that is not new construction.  Currently, there is a 7 bed/8 bath home, 5742 square feet available at Lewis Ranch right on the ski slope for $3,495,000.  This is a contemporary designed home that has amazing natural light.  For a virtual tour click on the link above.

Currently at Lewis Ranch,  13 luxury homes and duplexes are on the market.  The duplexes start at $1,590,000 , the duplex that is currently listed at this price is a 4 bed/4 bath 3,336 square foot custom built home, and of course, right on the slopes.  So if you are looking for a private secluded exclusive community, Lewis Ranch is it!  For more information on these properties or any other properties in Summit County, contact Leah Baxter 970-389-6367.

The current super low mortgage rates have many people wondering whether or not now is the time to refinance and if you are in good shape there, now is a great time to get into the Resort Market in Summit County, Colorado. For 23 weeks rates have been under 5%, last week headlines touted that the average rate for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage was 4.19%, the lowest recorded since mortgage rates began being recorded. With such history how could now not be the time to refinance? Oddly enough, now might not be the right time for you.

Here are some things to keep in mind to determine whether refinancing is right for you:

• Do you have equity in your home? If you are underwater on your mortgage you will have a hard time refinancing.
• Costs of refinancing. How much is it going to cost to refinance and how many months will it take to recoup the cost? Will you be in your home that long?
• Taxes. Mortgage insurance is a write-off come tax time. Is lowering the interest in your best interest?

These are just a few points to think about when considering refinancing your real estate. If you have plenty of equity, good credit and overall financial stability this could be the best time. There are a lot of things to think about when refinancing, for example, if you have less than 20% equity you will have to have prime mortgage insurance (PMI) which will add to your monthly costs. Take time to evaluate your financial and real estate picture. The historically low rates are eye-catching and are great for buying a home but they may not be ideal for refinancing your home.

Now is a great time to buy that second home, prices have come down in Breckenridge, Frisco, and several of the other Mountain towns in Summit County. So if you are ready to buy your Mountain Property, contact Leah Baxter www.leahbaxter.com or leah@leahbaxter.com

 Sourced from: Kinetic Content Library

Have you been dreaming about that Mountain home in the heart of Breckenridge, but can’t spend over a million dollars?  Well, I have the solution for you.  You could own this luxury 4 bedroom, 3 bath, fully furnished  3931 square foot home for $425,000.

Yes, it is true, it is called a quarter share ownership property.  The way that this works is you have a deeded 1/4 share and use the property one week a month.  The weeks rotate forward every year, so you will get a holiday week at least every four years,if not, more often.  It is a great way to own property in Breckenridge without robbing the bank. 

This property is a perfect mountain home with all the trimmings, located in Breckenridge and offering million dollar views!  Exquisitely furnished to the last detail to insure you feel completely at ease including your own personal storage spaces.This 25% Fractional Ownership Opportunity is designed for the buyer with discriminating taste that will appreciate this beautiful home .

For more information contact Leah Baxter at 970-389-6367 or email leah@leahbaxter.com.

Currently, there are 1648 properties on the market in Summit County.  These include Condos, Town Homes, Duplexes and Single Family homes.  The least expensive property is $114,900 which is a modular home, and the most expensive home is a single family home for $5,995,000 in Breckenridge. 

Summit County is still a bargain for a resort area considering that the highest priced property in Vail is $19,200,000 for a little over 6500 square feet.  The highest priced property in Aspen is $60 million dollars!!!  So don’t wait too long to buy your resort property.  Even though our inventory levels are up, the prices are still steady. What happens now that winter is coming, many homeowners will take their properties off of the market and rent them during the winter and then raise the price next spring.  So if you want to get that special piece of property, don’t wait!  Contact Leah at 970-389-6367 or email me at leah@leahbaxter.com. . 

Summit County is not experiencing the over abundance in inventory and low sales that the news media is portraying in other parts of the country.  In fact, we currently have $3 million  dollars in pending sales and currently  have inventory levels of 4-5% for sale.    This is normal in comparison to last year at this time.

Summer is just around the corner and that is our busy season here, so if you are thinking of buying, now is a good time. Mortgage rates are at 6% for a fixed 30 year loan. Search the MLS for free.  If you would like help on your property search, please contact Leah Baxter at leah@leahbaxter.com or 970-389-6367 direct.

In the quaint mountain town of Frisco, Colorado spring has finally arrived!!!! Frisco is in the center of Summit County and is a wonderful small town with world class restaurants.  The snow if finally melting and I’m sure many of the locals as well as myself are thrilled.  Even though it has been an epic season for skiing and riding and other snow sports, we are definitely ready for biking, hiking, camping, fishing, boating, etc.

On May 17th, the town of Frisco will host the annual town clean up day followed by a BBQ at Walter Byron park.  The Marina Season Opener is scheduled for May 24th at the Frisco Bay.

Frisco is located 1 hr/minutes from the west side of Denver.  It is convenient to Copper Mtn. (5 minutes), Breckenridge, Keystone, Loveland, and 25 minutes to Vail.  It is a charming town with world class restaurants, local shops, bike paths that will take you all over Summit County, and a great marina to go sailing and boating.

If you are interested in property in Frisco, check out this beautiful duplex that has awesome views of Mt. Royal.  For any more property information in Frisco or Summit County please contact  leah@leahbaxter.com  or search the MLS for free on my website www.leahbaxter.com.

Keystone is in the preliminary plans of a huge redevelopment of the Mountain House base area.  The Keystone Citizens League who represent property owners at the resort, is in full support of the plan.The Mountain House base area is the original base area for Keystone, so it is definitely up for redevelopment

The development plans would include total improvement which would cover 88.4 acres. Out of the 88.4 acres 48.4 would be slated for redevelopment and the other 40 acres would be designated for recreational trails, public transit, open space, wetlands and interpretive  facilities.

The area that houses the existing cafeteria, ski school, and ticket offices would  also be redeveloped.  Vail Resorts would be in charge of this redevelopment process.

  Now would be a good time to purchase real estate in Keystone.  If you are looking for a nice large two bedroom property that overlooks the golf course in Keystone, click here.

For more information on properties in Keystone or Summit county please contact leah@leahbaxter.com.  or check out my website www.leahbaxter.com to search the MLS for free.