Critical Decisions to Make When Purchasing a Condominium

When it comes time to find your perfect Vail resort condominium, there are a lot of things to consider. That includes more than just price and location. In fact, there are at least 22 things to keep in mind when making sure you're maximizing your purchase.

Give me a call at 970-331-6867 or email me at dave@davecole.com and I would be happy to get you that list in any way that is convenient for you. Thanks for joining me today!

2013 Vail and Beaver Creek Market Update

Welcome back to my blog. Today I wanted to talk about what the real estate market has done in 2013. According to Land Title Company, October sales totaled $165 million, making it the best year of the month. This indicates a great ski season!

The year to date sales increased by 8% from last year. The average sales prices in Eagle County was a fantastic $997,000 and the year to date sales have totaled $1.38 billion.

If you're looking to buy or sell a home in the Vail Village, Lionshead or Beaver Creek Village, call me now! There are terrific opportunities for both buyers and sellers.

Thanks for visiting!

The Best Time to Buy a Condo

Welcome back! If you've been thinking about buying a condo in the Vail resort, you might be wondering when you can get the best price. A lot of people think buying after the ski season would be the best because sellers want to sell quickly and avoid costs during the off-season.

The truth is most sellers are financially strong enough to cover those costs. Their main concern is getting the price they want; they are willing to wait for the buyer who rises to their asking price.

I suggest buying right before season so that you can immediately enjoy your investment and see positive cash flow.

If you have any questions, please give me a call at 970.331.6867

The Best Time to Sell Your Condo

Welcome back to my blog. Today, I wanted to talk about when the best time is to sell your condominium in Vail. There are two things to consider.

1. Try to sell during a rising and appreciating market. When the market is on the rise, buyers are more open to higher prices and less concerned about negotiating down to the last dollar.
2. Consider the effect of seasonality. Try selling at the beginning of ski season; this is when you will get the highest price. Or consider selling after the season so you don’t have to worry about off-season costs.

If you have any questions about your property, give me a call. I’d love to be your real estate resource.

Thanks for listening.

Happy to Be With Berkshire Hathaway Home Services

Welcome back to my blog! I have great news; we have now joined with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services.  This is huge for both me and my clientele.

It’s with great excitement and anticipation that I invite you to the Berkshire Hathaway Home Services brand. 

While the change of name is significant, it’s how we use it to leverage ourselves in the market using it.

Berkshire Hathaway was recently named one of the most respected companies in the world. Not only does the brand represent tremendous admiration and respect, it also brings the financial resources to give you the best service possible.

If you are thinking about buying or selling, please give me a call 970.331.6867

Thanks for watching!

How to Handle a Low Offer

When you put your home on the market, you want a great offer. What if a buyer gives you a low offer?

The first thing to keep in mind is not to be offended.  As the market continues to recover, buyers want to get the best deal possible. Remember, though, any offer is the start up for negotiations.

When you receive a low offer, talk to your REALTOR about how to handle the situation and how to counteroffer. The most important part of agreeing on a price is communication.

If you have any questions or are getting ready to buy or sell, please give me a call!

Why Now Is the Time to Buy in Vail/Beaver Creek

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to my video blog!

If you’ve been thinking about buying a home in the Vail/Beaver Creek area, now is the time.

1. You will have the best selection. You will beat the competition for the best properties.

2. If you choose to rent your condominium, you can start out with positive cash based on the peak rental income during the ski season.

3. You will catch the sellers a little off guard. Because we are early in the season, sellers will have lower home prices. As ski season approaches, inventory will drop and prices will increase.

4. Interest rates are rising. Rates are still historically low, but they are expected to increase. Take advantage of the market now!

For further information, please call me, Dave Cole at Prudential Colorado Properties at 970 331-6867 or email me at dave@davecole.com

Interest Rates

We recently experienced the lowest interest rates in the history of the Vail/Beaver Creek market. Those rates, though, have been on the rise recently. How does that impact you?

Let’s look at the difference a jump from four percent to six percent creates. At four percent, every $100,00 you borrow costs around $477 a month. If the rates increases to six percent, every $100,000 costs $599 a month. That’s a difference of $1,465 a year.

While that may not seem significant, what if you need a larger loan? If you need to borrow a million dollars that $1,465 difference a year is now $14,655.60. This will eliminate a lot of buyers.

Increased rates slow the market. They decrease the buyer’s pool and thus home prices drop for sellers. Now is the time to take advantage of the market. Give me a call or send me an email at dave@davecole.com

Beaver Creek is a Screaming Deal for Buyers Right Now!

If you are looking for a beautiful ski home, Vail and Beaver Creek are experiencing incredible markets right now. With great prices and historically low mortgage interest rates, now is a fantastic time to buy.

Beaver Creek prices are considerably cheaper than prices in Vail Village and Lionshead. While the price per square foot in Vail Village and Lionshead are anywhere from $1,100 - $2,300, the average per square foot in Beaver Creek is an incredible $800-$950.

There are even some areas, such as Highlands Lodge and Highland Slopeside, with even better steals than that. If you are a fan of Vail/Beaver Creek and want it to be part of your permanent family lifestyle, the time to act is now before prices and interest rates take off again.

Please call me with any questions at 970.331.6867 or send me an email at dave@davecole.com

Advice on Buyer’s Offer and Pricing Strategy

Hey everyone. I have some advice on a buyer’s offering and pricing strategy. It’s helpful to know a few things at the start.

The first thing to know is Vail is really two separate real estate markets: the downtown market and the out of town area. The downtown market is the ‘beachfront’ properties, where you can walk to skiing, shopping and all the restaurants. Pricing for a one bedroom condominium in this market starts at around $500,000. The out of town area starts about five blocks from the ski lifts. Here, the one bedroom condominiums start around $200,000.

Both markets have large multimillion dollar properties and a wide range of types of living from duplexes to condos to single family homes, etc.

It’s also important to know that rarely do Vail’s affluent property owners have to sell. Most will wait for an acceptable price. Desperation and foreclosure sales are rare. It is not productive to wait for one. I have only seen one or two of these sales in my 40 years as a Vail realtor.

We are currently experiencing the lowest inventory since 2008. Sellers know the selection is limited and prices are on the rise again.

My strategy is to represent you as your exclusive buyer/broker so I can be a tough negotiator. Most discounted sales are within the 2%-10% range. When you offer you want to make a sensible bid so that the seller will counteroffer at a less than listed price. You don’t want to offer too low, though, because you don’t want to anger or insult the owner.

My goal is to get you the best available price and not leave anything on the table. So if you want to buy in the Vail area, give me a call and we can get started!

Resort Condominium Expenses

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Hi I'm Dave Cole with Prudential Colorado Properties in Vail and Beaver Creek Colorado. Today we are discussing resort condominium expenses, such as what condominium expenses will you have besides a mortgage, if any in real estate taxes. There are two types of condominium expenses, rental management expenses and property management expenses. Rental management expenses only apply if you rent the property. So let's assume that you will rent only short term, meaning night to night. Your expenses will be items such as maid service, advertising, credit card commissions, travel agent fees, supplies, linens, and managers profit etc. These expenses will run 35 to 50 percent of your gross rental income.

Property management expenses are recurring items that you are responsible for, even if the property just remains vacant. This covers the expenses of the property just to maintain it include working order. Items in the assessment vary from building to building, but generally include water, sewer, fire insurance, management fee, trash removal, snow removal, lawn maintenance, pool maintenance, elevator maintenance, commonary cleaning, and common utilities etc. Items generally not in the condominium assessment include debt service, if any, contents insurance, firewood, electricity, telephone, heat, cable, television, real estate and personal property taxes.

For further information please call me Dave Cole at Prudential Colorado Properties in Vail and Beaver Creek Colorado. That's at (970) 331-6867 or email me at Dave@DaveCole.com. Thanks!

Rental Management Gross Revenue Split

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Hi, I’m Dave Cole with Prudential Colorado Properties in Vail and Beaver Creek, Colorado. Today we are discussing why the rental management gross revenue split with a condominium owner is at 35% -50%. The reason that this split sounds so high is because the person asking the question has a reference point of the rental commission to rent a single apartment unit. The only expense involved is the rental commission and perhaps some advertisement, which typically costs 6% - 15%. Such expenses such as maid service, supplies, linens, credit card commissions and travel agent fees are not involved or included. However, in renting a condominium by the night with professional rental management you are effectively in the night-to-night hotel business. This means that you now have the expenses of daily maid service, advertising, credit card fees, travel agent fees, linens and processing, etc. These quickly add up to 35% - 50% of the gross rental income which needs to include a profit for the rental manager.

For further information, please call me, Dave Cole at Prudential Colorado Properties in Vail and Beaver Creek, Colorado, at (970) 331-6867 or email me at Dave@DaveCole.com. 

Are "Days on Market" Actually Important?

 

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Hi, I’m Dave Cole with Prudential Colorado Properties in Vail and Beaver Creek, Colorado. Today I would like to talk about the subject of days on the market for a listing. Many buyers and their Realtors will ask how many days a property has been on the market. A large number of days may mean that the seller is anxious and will be more likely to make an aggressive price reduction or it may indicate that there is something undesirable about the property and buyers that have seen it have shied away from it for that reason.

In the second home resort market this information is often useless because the sellers are generally so affluent that they can and will wait for their price or close to it because they have no financial pressure to sell. Or because the average market time (which can be nine months or more) runs up quickly because we have spring and fall sales off-seasons of 120 days or more that run up the days on the market meter and this may result in misleading information.

For further information, please call me, Dave Cole at Prudential Colorado Properties, (970) 331-6867.