Guide for Finding the Perfect Second Home Part 6

Which location is right for you?
Ski-in Ski-out? That’s where you will pay a premium price, but you can get more income if you are renting out the unit too (more on that in a future blog). There is the true ski-in ski-out where you literally take off your skis at the door and then there are the neighborhoods where you are a short walk to the slopes. You will have a lot more choices if you are willing to take the short walk. Some of the areas you might consider are parts of the town of Breckenridge, most of Copper Mountain Resort, and the River Run Village and Mountain House areas at Keystone.

Resort Living? That’s my term for a property that is a short bus ride away from the slopes or lake. You have the benefit of the resort location, yet the price of the property will be less. Summit Stage is a free bus service that makes frequent stops around the towns. Breckenridge, Keystone and Copper Mountain each have a bus service within the resorts.

In Town? Some people like to be within walking distance to shops, restaurants and parks. Breckenridge, Frisco and Dillon have many choices of properties in town. Silverthorne is a little more spread out, but the town is working on a bike and walking path along the Blue River. Years ago I sold a condo to a buyer in Frisco; she told me she had a choice of 15 restaurants and bars within walking distance of her property.

Outside of Town? Others would rather feel like they are in the mountains. I think Wildernest is the best of all worlds, lots of condos with lots of choices, forest service land within a short walk and yet town is just 10 minute drive away. They are some neighborhoods of single family homes out of town too. To give you an example of a few; above Silverthorne are Mesa Cortina and Government Small Tracts. Outside of Dillon are Dillon Valley, Summit Cove, Soda Creek and Whispering Pines. Outside of Breckenridge is Blue River (really an incorporated town, but no businesses), Silver Shekel, Crown, Highlands and many others. These neighborhoods are all going to be in a subdivision with the lot sizes usually between a third and one acre. Some areas have city water and sewer, the rest will be well and septic, most have access to cable TV and high speed internet and county maintained roads.

Really Outside of Town? In general the farther you get away from the slopes and Lake Dillon the prices go down. If you are willing to go north of Silverthorne to Heeney (24 miles) or Blue Valley Acres (29 miles) you will get more for your money. The same is true if you are willing to go south of Breckenridge at the base of Hoosier Pass in Quandary Village (also called Northstar). If you want a larger piece of land you will have the best selection north of Silverthorne among the 20 and 40 acre “mini ranches”.

One way to figure out which location is best is to think about what you like to do. Do you enjoy eating out, shopping and would like to be able to walk home after a night on the town? Would you like the flexibility of having a bus stop nearby so that members of your group can come home on their own schedule? Do you want to be able to leave your car in the garage and ride a bicycle or walk to your favorite activities? Would you like to be able to hike out your own back door?

Guide to finding the Perfect Second Home Step 1

I thought it would be good to start from the beginning to help buyers finding that perfect second or vacation home.

I used to say, pick a Realtor who knows the area. A lot of people don't want to make that commitment, or waste the real estate agent's time when they aren’t sure what they want. Now days with the internet there are ways to get to know a community before going there in person. One of my favorites is Google Earth, you can see the satellite views of almost anywhere and street views of many places (even Heeney Colorado).
View Larger Map I’ve used Google Earth to check out a Paris apartment and a beach house in Hawaii. Another source is the local chamber of commerce. Here’s a link to the Summit County Chamber. It’s a good place to see what kind of businesses are in the area. They also have a lot of statistics to give an idea of what is going on with the local demographics and economy. The County and/or Town web sites are good for checking out public data and other government issues that are affecting the area. Here’s the link for Summit County, Breckenridge, Frisco, Dillon, and Silverthorne. In Summit County you would want to check the ski area web sites, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Arapahoe Basin and Keystone.

On my web site I have a lot of information about Summit County follow the Relocation link.

Instructions on how to Search the Summit County MLS

Did you know you can get really up to date information on what is for sale in Summit County Colorado? Personally I get frustrated with web sites that give me old information - the properties are off the market, sold or have a major price change. Or even more irritating something is for sale and its not showing up. I've received calls on properties that sold a year ago that someone found on the web through a source that I have no control over. Anyway - enough of the ranting. Through my web site you can search the mls, it is always up to date with what is on the market and price changes.

Here is what the search page looks like:

You can pick Residential, Land, Commercial or Partial Ownership searches. Residential includes single family homes, duplexes (half of a duplex), town homes, condos and mobile homes. Most homes on large acreage are included in the single family homes, but a few are listed under Sf/Mf/Acreage and Farm/Ranch. It just depends on how the agent entered the information into the MLS. Besides picking the type of property you can also pick the area. The Breckenridge area starts at Hoosier Pass at the far south end of Summit County. That includes the town of Blue River and also areas to the east, west, and north of Breckenridge as far as Farmers Corner (where the Blue River runs into Lake Dillon). That area tends to be almost half of the property for sale in Summit County, because of the large area of development.

Frisco comprises the town and surrounding neighborhoods. Usually it has the smallest number of properties for sale.

Copper Mountain is just the resort.

Dillon includes the town and nearby neighborhoods to the east toward Keystone. A few are Summit Cove, Whispering Pines and Soda Creek.

Keystone includes the resort and east to the continential divide which includes Montezuma.

Wildernest/Silverthorne comprises a large area from the town of Silverthorne, neighborhoods to the east and west (Wildernest) and north to the Grand County line past Heeney and the Green Mountain Reservoir.

Also listed are Grand County (Kremmling and outlying neighborhoods usually), Park County (Fairplay and Alma) and Leadville. Anything that does not belong in one of those areas will be entered in Other.

You can search including multiple types of properties and areas. Give it a try.