Three years ago, Summit County Sellers had buyers lining up to buy their property.  They were getting top dollar and receiving a nice appreciation.

It isn’t a surprise that it is a  buyer’s market out there which is great news for buyers, not so great for sellers. Sellers are no longer in a position to dictate the rules of the game and have to be careful how they respond and counter to offers, due to the fact that if a buyer doesn’t get his way he might just move on to the next seller, and there are a lot of sellers out there.

Summit County is usually last to feel a recession and last to recover. Interest rates are still very low, and now is the time to get in the market for the buyer.

If you purchased your home in Summit County within the last few years, you should not expect to make any money if you sell today.  This is the type of market we are experiencing. The good news is, if you owned a home in another part of the Country, you would be fortunate if you didn’t have to take a loss on your home.  Also, if you purchased your home within the past 5-10 years, you will most likely be able to experience a return on your investment.  The problem that we see is the Seller’s still want more money back, if this is the case than hold on to your property for a few more years.

There are a few difficult things about being a seller today. A seller doesn’t know how long it will take to sell his home and when he gets a contract he can’t guarantee whether another one will come or not. What this means is that if a seller has to sell his home then he has to be wary of scaring the buyer away.

The inspection is one aspect of a contract where a seller can lose his shirt. If trying to sell your home it is a wise idea to have your home inspected before listing your home. This way you can make the necessary improvements and will avoid being surprised by unexpected requests. Because sellers are not in a position to capitalize on their real estate investment it is more important than ever to be on top of things, in order to retain as much value as possible.

An experienced Realtor is incredibly helpful in maneuvering a tricky real estate market, enabling a seller to evaluate his home, price it appropriately and sell it in a reasonable amount of time. For more information give Leah Baxter a call 970-389-6367 or if you would like a free market analysis leah@leahbaxter.com – www.leahbaxter.com for a list of all the properties available in Summit County.

Sourced from: Kinetic Content Library

"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

]]> http://blog.leahbaxter.com/2010/03/30/thinking-about-using-tax-credit-toward-buying-a-home-in-summit-county-colorado-act-fast/feed/ 0 http://blog.leahbaxter.com/2008/12/10/its-a-great-time-to-buy-in-summit-county-colorado/ http://blog.leahbaxter.com/2008/12/10/its-a-great-time-to-buy-in-summit-county-colorado/#comments Wed, 10 Dec 2008 20:07:08 +0000 lbaxter http://blog.leahbaxter.com/?p=72

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.

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.

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