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"Great home for the first time home Buyer"

If you are thinking about using the extended and expanded home buyer tax credit to purchase a home this year you better act fast.  Now is the perfect time to get a great deal on a home in Summit County or surrounding areas. The tax credit can be used on homes purchased by July 1, 2010, but the homes must be under contract by April 30, 2010. The prices of Single Family homes and other types of properties (i.e. Condo’s, Duplexes, Town homes) have come back down to price points we were seeing in 2006.   You have a little more than a month to locate your new home. Check out the MLS on current listings in Breckenridge, Keystone, Copper Mountain, Frisco, Silverthorne or Dillon.

What does this mean?  The tax credit is for two types of buyers, first time home buyers (home buyers who have not owned a home in the past 3 years) or home owners who have lived in their home for 5 of the past 8 years and want to purchase a new primary residence.
Important aspects of the tax credit include:

• Homes must be closed by July 1, 2010, under contract by April 30, 2010.
• Homes must have a value of $800,000 or less and must be the buyer’s primary residence.
• There are income restrictions, $125,000 for singles, $225,000 for couples.
• The credit is also affected by being single or married. Married couples who file together are entitled for up to $8,000 for a first home buyer, up to $6,500 for current homeowners. Single people are entitled for up to $4,000 for a first time home buyer and $3,250 for a current homeowner.
• The credit will need to be repaid if you sell your home within a time period of 36 months.

Leadville is only 30 minutes to Summit County and there is a perfect 3bd/2ba home for Sale for $230,000.  The Summit Stage runs between Copper Mtn. and Leadville for $5, so you don’t have to even worry about the commute.  What are you waiting for now is the time and it is  running out! Contact Leah Baxter,  or  email leah@leahbaxter.com at ReMax in Frisco  to start looking for your new home if you intend on using the tax credit.

Phone direct-970-389-6367

It is now the end of April, we are finally heading into our Spring.  Most of the Ski resorts are closed for the season and everyone is gearing up for our Summer Season.

Have you been thinking about buying property for quite some time, but wonder if it is a good time or not?  Now is a great time to buy properties in Summit County!  We are experiencing price points from 2007 and 2006.  Our market is currently flat,  and Seller’s seem to be a little more motivated these days .  The best part about buying now are that Interest rates are at an all time low under 5%. 

Resort real estate is a great long term investment, even if you are just trying to get into the market, you can get a studio for as low as $124,900.  That is the lowest prices studio in Summit County.  There isn’t as much competition between buyers now, so don’t wait until the frenzy begins again, which historically will happen as soon as consumer confidence emerges. 

So, if you have thought about that mountain property, and would like to see what is available, give me a call 970-389-6367 or check out my website www.leahbaxter.com.

Also check out all of the properties Summit County has to offer, what are you waiting for?

 If you are considering a second home in Summit County, but don’t want to own a Single Family home what are your options?  Well, your choices are a Condo, Duplex or Town home.

 Condo is a property that shares interior hallways and sometimes has a common exterior door.  The property that you own is inside your front door. The common areas (which are considered the exterior, grounds, etc.) are typically for the use of everyone and these areas are maintained by a homeowner association.  The association dues are what you pay for this exterior maintenance, ( i.e. trash removal , water, sewer, grounds, exterior insurance,  snow removal, and  usually cable TV is included).  As an added bonus, sometimes the heat and gas may also be included in the association fees. Several of the condos do have various amenities which may include a clubhouse, pool, hot tub, fitness area, tennis courts.  The fees are pro-rated according to the square footage of the condo that you own.  Also, the more amenities and maintenance that is  required, the fees may be higher. If you don’t want to worry about anything as far as maintenance is concerned, this is probably a great option for you. Here is an example of a condo listed in Frisco.

Town home- Typically have their own exterior maintenance and there may be only 3 units attached to each other.  These units usually have a garage, in most cases, and you usually do not share hallways.  The association fees typically operate the same as a condo complex, however, generally speaking,  the heat and gas are usually not included.  These units are usually larger than condos, and  typically have rooms upstairs and downstairs which makes it  feel more roomy than a condo. Example of a town home listed in Frisco.

Duplex- This is the closest that you will come to a single family home.  A duplex typically has some land with it (your own yard) or space.  There is only one other property attached to this.  In Summit County, several duplexes are attached at the garage area, so you may not even notice your neighbors.  The advantage of a duplex is that they can be as large as a single family home, if not even larger.  The price is usually not as high as a single family home.  Most duplexes have some type of association agreement, but usually you are responsible for maintenance and upkeep of your own property including water, sewer, heat,cable etc.  The fees are much lower on a duplex. This is a great option for an owner to occupy full-time or as a second home.

This is an example of a duplex listed in Frisco.

For more information on listings in Summit County check on the MLS.

Contact Leah Baxter at Leah@leahbaxter.com or 970-389-6367 for more information.

The market in Summit County, Colorado which consists of Breckenridge, Keystone, Copper Mtn., Frisco, Dillon and Silverthorne ended up pretty well last year. 

The most expensive condo to sell in Summit County was $2.4 million. The Most expensive single family home sold for $5.5 million . There were 646 condominiums sold in Summit County with the lowest price of $122,500.

The lowest priced  non-modular home Single family  home sold for $300,000. A total of 324 Single Family homes sold in Summit County.  The average Sold price was $950,000 and the Median Sold Price was $755,000.  The percentage of Asking price was 95.7%.

The total number of residences sold was 1199.  The average sales price was $463,000 and the percentage of asking price was 96.5%.

Please visit my website www.leahbaxter.com or simple go to the MLS and search all properties available in Summit County.  Leah Baxter can be reached at 970-389-6367 for more information.

Why does the News media always portray such doom and gloom, because that is what sells News.  You can’t always believe what you read, in fact when the Press is analyzing the housing market, they are just talking in generalizations and are not specialists in every market.

It’s important to understand that Summit County has been one of the hottest real estate markets in the country…with continued increases in value averaging in the 10-20% range year after year. But unlike the rest of the country, the foreclosure rate is remaining low (the lowest in Colorado) and selling prices have not declined.

There was a correction in the market in 2008 on  listing prices.  These prices  declined last year because early in the year (when people generally list properties…and prior to the credit crunch), people were still listing their properties based on the 10%-20% annual increases they had seen over the previous 5+ years. When the properties didn’t sell, people either pulled the listings or lowered the prices to the 2007 levels.

We have definitely moved from a sellers market to a neutral market…or even perhaps one that is slightly favoring the buyer…but we are not seeing the foreclosures like the rest of the country and we’re not seeing the huge discounts and/or price reductions as people sell to avoid foreclosure.

If you keep waiting until you think prices are going to drop further, you may regret your decision.  Interest rates are at an all time low, and there are some great properties out there to choose from.  Please feel free to search the MLS and my website.  Leah Baxter can be contacted at 970-389-6367 or leah@leahbaxter.com

You may think I am crazy suggesting that it is a great time to buy, but think about it?

The interest rates are at an all time low, under 5.5 %.  There are a lot more choices to look at in our market.  Our prices aren’t really going down, they are staying flat (reflecting last year prices).  However, they are not decreasing like a lot of areas in the country. 

If you buy that second or first home here in the mountains, chances are your values will not drop, but increase down the road.  This is historically true for the resort industry.  When consumer confidence rises, so do our prices.  People are panicking now and feel lucky if they sell.  It would be a much better investment than the stock market or 401K. 

If you have children and are thinking about sending them to college some day, why not buy a mountain condo that you can use, rent out and than sell in 10 years and use that money for college for your children. 

If I would have bought Real Estate with my 401K money instead of investing it, I would have tripled it within the past 10 years, instead of losing half of it, and waiting until the market comes back. 

 There is a great article in the New York Times that discusses why now is a great time to buy.  So what are you waiting for?  Give me a call 970-389-6367 or email me leah@leahbaxter.com.  I’m sure I could find you something that you would love and enjoy!

www.leahbaxter.com -To search for properties.

Even though the rest of the country seems to be in Foreclosure mode, it is not true in the resort areas.  Everyone wants a deal, but noone wants to pay market value right now.  So what is the solution? 

Have you considered a quarter share or a 1/10 of a share.  This is not a time share, you actually own a deeded share  buyers experience all the joys and rewards of owning a second home property but at a fraction of the normal cost and with few of the normal concerns.

For example you could own a 1 bedroom condo 1/4 share in River Run for $89,000.  This will give you the use of it it for 1 week a month.  For more information on quarter shares, 1/10 shares please call Leah Baxter at 970-389-6367 or leah@leahbaxter.com.  Feel free to see current listings at www.leahbaxter.com.

The new gondola is scheduled to open on November 7, just around the corner. This gondola runs from the River Run base area and it is supposed to double the uphill capacity, which is quite impressive, since it seemed to get people up the mountain rather quickly before.

Some of the future plans for Keystone are adding a new lift from the Ski Tip area up to the east side of the mountain. There are currently cat-skiing operations in the Bergmann and Independence Bowls and this is going to be replaced with some new lifts. I’m not sure if that is a good thing, for the powder adventurist.

The Wayback chair is scheduled to be replaced and new trails are going to be formed on the front side, North Peak and the Outback.

Keystone is a great family friendly mountain as well as some extreme skiing in the outback areas. It is scheduled to open on November 7, weather permitting. We are expecting a snowstorm today!  The  Market snapshot will give you information on current market trends, current up to the date MLS listings in Summit County, including Keystone, Breckenridge, Copper, Dillon, Silverthorne and Frisco . Call Leah at 970-389-6367 or visit my website leahbaxter.com.