Summit County Real Estate Blog

Ski In Ski Out Breckenridge Vacation Homes

A-Basin, considered a  Breckenridge Home mountain, has announced plans for it’s new high speed quad chairlift.  Long considered a favorite of those who live here and invest in Breckenridge Real Estate, Arapahoe Basin is going to name the new chair the name that was suggested by one of it’s snow making employees, Black Mountain Express.  The Black Mountain Express will replace the current (and slow) Exhibition Chair lift.  The chair will not ascent Black Mountain, but will have views of the expert back-country terrain.  Black Mountain contains some steep and challenging chutes.

The new chair will be about twice as fast as the current Exhibition lift, which is inherently slow because it is a fixed chair.  The total time it will take to rise the almost 3000 vertical feet will be about 2 minutes and 50 seconds.  The chair will be erected at the end of the 2010 spring season, in June 2010.  Now if they would only install a detachable Quad in Montezuma bowl, we could take full advantage of everything A-Basin has to offer without the long lift lines that bottle neck in the amazing terrain of that bowl.

Contact Summit Mountain Home for more information on Mountain Town happenings or investment in Summit County Real Estate.

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Summit Mountain Home for Breckenridge Homes

A Breckenridge Home is going to be sold at an auction that will be conducted on a national level and possibly even internationally, as it is possible to bid on this home through the internet.  The Breckenridge Home, located at the Breckenridge Golf Club (near the Highlands Subdivision) area of Summit County Real Estate, is being auctioned by Sheldon Good and Company.  The actual address of the home is 65 The North Road.  The opening bid suggested for this home is $150,000.00 and it is located on the 2nd hole of the Breckenridge Golf Course and located in the Stonehaven Subdivision.  A certified check or cashiers check in the amount of $24,000 is required to bid.  You can inspect this home every Tuesday and Saturday from 2pm – 5pm.  The home has 2,259 square feet.  The Breckenridge Home is one of seven residences that will be auctioned off.  The residences are spread throughout the United States.  The auction will take place on March 19.  This one day auction will have no restrictions on pricing and will be sold absolute.  With a sale absolute, the transaction takes place even if the price is below market value.  This is part of a Chapter 7 liquidation that we came upon when searching for Breckenridge Foreclosures. We are Summit Mountain Home are continually looking for Investment Opportunities in the Breckenridge Real Estate Market.  The other homes that are being auctioned off are located in Vacation Communities in Florida, New York and California.  Prices originally paid for the properties will range from 700k to over one million.  The physical address and time of the auction will be Denver Marriot City Center at 1701 California Street in Downtown Denver, Colorado.  The bidding will take place at 1pm MST.  In addition, you may bid on the internet through Proxibid.  For more information in this investment opportunity you can contact Summit Mountain Home.

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Breakdown of Breckenridge Home Sales in Summit County and Surrounding Counties

The Breckenridge Homes and Summit County Real Estate Market took a hit in 2009.  That hit was similar to the surrounding counties in the high country of Colorado.  However, a few very large transactions took a bit of bite out of the blow that saw transactions decrease by 32 percent over 2008.  The transaction that carried the Breckenridge Real Estate Market was the record 8.3 million dollar home that sold recently.  Another large transaction that carried the over numbers in Summit County was the 107 million dollar sale of Copper Mountain.

As far as large transactions go, they were down in Summit County for 2009.  When comparing recent years for transactions that were over one million dollars, 2009, 2008 and 2007 saw the following totals: 136, 177 and 208 respectively.  However, there were more very big transactions.  In 2009, the county had eight transactions over 3 million dollars, which is more than the two preceding years put together.

Despite the number of transactions being down for the year, the large transactions raised the bar with regards to average home price.  The average home price of a single family home sold in Summit County during 2009 was just over 900K, compared to just over 830k in 2008.

The surrounding high country ski counties, of Eagle and Garfield, had a much tougher time in 2009 than Summit County did.  Eagle County, home of Vail and Beaver Creek Ski Resorts, was down 60 percent volume wise when compared to 2008.  And in addition, 2009 was the first time in 14 years that the total volume of real estate transactions fell below one billion dollars.  Garfield County was down almost 70 percent in total dollars volume sold and 60 percent in number of transactions.

Pitkin County, home of the famed Aspen Ski Resort and Snowmass, was not as affected as Summit, Garfield and Eagle.  Pitkin was only down 21 percent.  However, Pitkin was hit harder in previous years, so they were starting from a lower base starting point for the year.

Finally, let’s take a look at the median transaction.  The median transaction for the counties of Pitkin, Eagle, Summit and Garfield were as follows:  $714,000, 503,000, 396,000 and 299,000 respectively.

A trend to note in Summit County Real Estate is the abundance of cash transactions.  Investors in Breckenridge Real Estate that have been sitting on the sidelines have been using their cash to leverage lower purchase prices.

For more information on investing in Breckenridge Real Estate, contact Summit Mountain Home, your local specialist in Breckenridge Foreclosures.  You can contact us at 970-409-9145 or click here.

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Lithuania Champion of Breckenridge Snow Sculpture Contest.

The 20th Annual Breckenridge International Snow Sculpture Championships have been completed.  Breckenridge Home Owners and those investing in Breckenridge Real  Estate have been enjoying this annual display of frozen artistry for the past two decades.  The contest is know internationally as a prestigious event.  And the Champion of this prestigious International Competition is Lithuania, who took the Gold Medal for their sculpture which depicted the Victory signal and was supposed to have spoken as to the fragile nature of victory and how fleeting that moment can be.

The Silver Medal was won by Team Canada.  The Canadian Team, which hailed from Ontario had an elaborate sculpture known as “Memories from My Youth”.  One side of the sculpture was of a beautiful Japanese woman.  The other side was a depiction of her memories

of her childhood which included a bridge over a brook, pagoda and magnificent gardens.

The third place team was Team Mexico.  They were awarded the Bronze Medal for a sculpture that detailed Quetzalcoati.  Quetzalcoati is the Mexican depiction of the God of Life and Death.

The images of the second and third place sculptures are shown below.

2nd Place Sculpture in Breckenridge Home area

For more information on Artistic Events in Breckenridge or Breckenridge Real Estate, contact Summit Mountain Home, the local leader in information on Breckenridge Foreclosures.  You can contact us at 970-409-9145 or click here.   Contact us for all of your Breckenridge and Summit County Real Estate needs.

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Mardi Gras Breckenridge

Mardi Gras in the Mountains will take place in Breckenridge starting on Saturday February 13, 2010 and going until Fat Tuesday.  Those of us who own a Breckenridge Home are familiar with the world-renowned party atmosphere of Breckenridge.  That is one of the reasons we decided to buy Breckenridge Real Estate in the first place.  The following schedule of events has been given to you by Summit Mountain Home.  You can call us at 970-409-9145.

Saturday at the Beaver Run Resort from 6 to 10 PM is the Bacchus Ball featuring live music with Tiny Barge and the Big Chill.  Dress is Summit County formal which basically means anything from your formal best to your snowboard clothes.  It is up to you.  Cost is $40 per person or $75 per couple.  There will be the crowing of the King and Queen and masks and beads will be available for purchase.  The cost of admission includes a cajun style buffet and cash bar.

Monday at the Riverwalk Center will be at concert with the Inner City All Starts at 4:30pm.  Tickets for the Old School Funk and New Orleans Jazz Band are $5 at the door.  A portion of the tickets sales will benefit Wounded Warriors Family Ski Weekend in April.

Fat Tuesday will feature the Main Street Breckenridge Mardi Gras Parade.  It will take place at 4:30 pm.  ( I am surprised that the town did not decide to have it start at 4:20, which would be most appropriate for this little Amsterdam-like Hamlet.)  The parade starts at the south end of Main Street and heads north.

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Mountain Complex as Breckenridge Home

The question on the mind of those who invest and own in Breckenridge Homes is has this Breckenridge Real Estate Market bottomed out yet?  The past two years have seen major price corrections in the form of dropping prices and diminishing levels of transactions.  There are mixed feelings amongst local experts as to whether we have hit bottom yet or not.  Some feel that we have seen the bottom while others feel that we are close but not quite there yet.  It seems that in general, the homes that are selling are the ones that have seen a big decrease in price.

We at Summit Mountain Home are here to help the investor in the Breckenridge Real Estate Market.  We do not feel it necessary to try and time the exact bottom of the price curve.  There is the chance that prices might drop slightly, but the majority of the corrections have already taken place.  It is similar to buying stock.  You can’t try to time the exact bottom.  Instead, you look at the long term value of a stock and if major corrections have taken place, then you buy, even if further slight downward corrections are possible.  You buy with a view to the long term and a belief in the underlying value of that stock over the long term.

The same goes for an investment in Breckenridge Real Estate.  You buy on the downward curve so you don’t miss it.  It is a better opportunity than buying on the upswing.  If you would like information on investing in Breckenridge Real Estate, contact Summit Mountain Home at 970-409-9145.

One trend that we are seeing is those with large sums of available cash coming into Breckenridge and using cash as leverage to lower prices.

The Town of Breckenridge is looking forward to real estates sales picking back up.  Breckenridge charges a 1% Real Estate Transfer Tax and that has dropped significantly over the past three years, leaving the town with less revenue.  The Breckenridge Real Estate Transfer Taxes collected are as follows: 2009 $2,860,000 2008: $3,730,000 2007: $5,680,000.

Activity is down as well as far as transactions in Summit County Real Estate go.  2005 and 2006 were right around 2500 transactions.  2007 dropped to 2100 transactions.  2008 was about half of 2007.  2009 saw under 1000 transactions.  These transaction figures cover all residential real estate in Summit County and do not include time shares, for sale by owner or commercial property.

Finally, let’s look at prices in Breckenridge Real Estate.  Prices are back down to approximately August of 2006 levels.  In our eyes, that makes this a good time to buy.  A lot of potential buyers have been sitting on the side lines and waiting this out.  Once they feel the bottom has happened there is going to be some fast and furious forward momentum that will drive activity and prices back up.

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A recent sale of a Breckenridge Home broke the record for the most expensive Breckenridge Home ever sold.  The price tag of this new watermark for Breckenridge Real Estate was 8.28 million dollars.  The sale of the home, built in 2006, took place on December 30, 2009. For more information on Breckenridge Investments and Breckenridge Foreclosures contact us at 970-409-9145.

This record sale of a single Breckenridge Home breaks the previous record of around 5 million dollars.  That is an increase in the record of 2.7 million dollars.  Both were ski-in, ski-out homes in the same Breckenridge neighborhood.  The neighborhood is the Timber Trail subdivision, which is located off of Trygve’s Run on the Breckenridge Ski slopes.

The record-setting home is just over 6500 square feet and has 7 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms, a great room, library, media room, 3 garages, 4 fireplaces, thousand of square feet of heated patios, hot tub and built-in grill.  With views of the Breckenridge Ski Area, it is an awesome home for entertaining friends and family.  The home also comes with access to the pool and fitness center near by.

The home was purchased for cash at a cost of almost 1300 per square foot.  The owners, Ty and Kimberly Pennington bought the 8.28 million dollar home with cash.

The market for homes in the over 2 million dollar range is expanding.  In 2009, the number of Breckenridge  real estate sales that closed for over $2 million increased  from 21 to 23 homes over 2008. And surprisingly, most of these high price tag homes sold for prices close to the retail price.  Most of them were within 10 percent of the asking price.

In summary, the Breckenridge Real Estate market is still strong, at least in this price range.  Two factors that lead to the sale of Breckenridge Homes are continued interest in having a home in a ski town and the realization that the current stock market is shaky at best, so an investment in Breckenridge Real Estate is much more stable.

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Breckenridge Home Owners honor ULLR in hopes of new snow!

Why should you own Breckenridge Real Estate (click to search MLS for free) ?  Well as if there were not enough good reasons already to have a Breckenridge Home, the New York Times recently announced that Breckenridge was one of the top 30 places to visit in the WORLD.  Now all of us locals figured out what the NY Times had just announced, that Breckenridge is a premier destination and not just for skiing and riding.  Breckenridge has become a true four seasons resort.  The summers here are amazing and offer world class fly fishing, golf, art festivals, music festivals, hiking, wildflowers and more.  Those of us who make this place home, knew all along that we are lucky to live in such a special hamlet.  However, for the NY Times to name us to their exclusive list of the Top 31 places to visit in the World in 2010 is something that we did not see coming.

The NY Times named the top 3 places to visit in the world as Sri Lanka, Patagonia and Seoul.  Breckenridge came in at a pretty amazing number 23, right after the Republic of South Africa, who are the hosts of the World Cup soccer tournament this summer.  The article then went on to say that Breckenridge is the ski and party capital of Colorado and now we are known as the Copenhagen of the United States.  That comment was brought on by recent legislation that decriminalized small amounts of marijuana.  Take note though!  Breckenridge was the ONLY ski destination to make the list.  Of all the ski areas in the world, we were the only one chosen for the list of the best places to visit in the world!

Today is the Ullr festival parade.  Let’s hope that Ullr is watching and listening and graces us with some new snow.

For more information on Breckenridge Events or Breckenridge Real Estate, You can contact us at 970-409-9145 or click here.  Contact us for all of you Breckenridge and Summit County Real Estate needs.  Summit Mountain Home is also the market leader in Breckenridge Foreclosures.

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Breckenridge – Another decade is coming to a close in the high country of Breckenridge and Summit County, Colorado.  This list of events for New Years Eve in Breckenridge and Summit County is sponsored by Summit Mountain Home, where we specialize in Breckenridge Real Estate (click to search MLS for free) and Breckenridge Foreclosures.  You can contact us at 970-409-9145 or click here.  Check out some of our Breckenridge Real Estate listings by clicking here.  Contact us for all of you Breckenridge and Summit County Real Estate needs and to find out more about activities and events here in the high country.

Well, it has been 10 years since Prince sang that we are going to party like it’s 1999.  In addition, we all survived the Y2K threat of the year 2000.  Below you find some of the many New Year’s Eve activities that are happening here in Breckenridge, Keystone, Frisco, Copper Mountain and the rest of Summit County.

Breckenridge – The Victorian Hamlet Destination Ski Area

* Mother Loaded Tavern will have live music, never a cover and some of Momma’s Home Cookin!

* Embers – an new restaurant in town is taking reservations and is offering a fixed price menu at $75.00 a person.

• The Fuqua Livery Stable (110 E. Washington Ave.) from 6-9 p.m. Participants will create artist trading cards using mixed media. Light refreshments are provided, and the cost is $25.

• DJ at My Thai, as DJ Joss Stone lights up the night from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. My Thai will have a champagne toast at midnight and an appetizer menu available all night. Tickets are $15, and advanced reservations are required.

• New Year’s Eve Prix Fixe Menu at Blue River Bistro, with appetizer and choice of saffron-scented seafood chowder, pan-roasted sea scallop, homemade goat cheese ravioli or vegetarian entree, all paired with wine.

• A seven-course meal featuring tender meat and seafood for $100 is offered at Spencers, followed by drinks and dancing in Base 9 from 9 p.m. to midnight. These are just two of the dinner specials in town; check Summit Daily ads throughout the week to find more.

• Copper Top Bar & Cafe, located slopeside at Beaver Run Resort and offers customers the opportunity to watch Breckenridge Firworks from the deck.  The party starts at 9 p.mwith a DJ and dancing.

• The Gold Pan Restaurant and Saloon is the oldest continuously running liquor license west of the Mississippi and  hosts DJ Crisp.

• Park Avenue Pub hosts DC as a DJ. Cover starts at $20 per person, so get there early before the price goes up. Cost includes favors, hats and a champagne toast at midnight.

•  Jake’s Dive Bar and Liquid Lounge, also will have DJs.

• Yamn will bring their own version of Jam Band Music to the Riverwalk Center, Yamn, for three sets of an all-ages thrilling jam-rock and an electrifying light show at the Riverwalk Center in Breckenridge from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 on the day of the show and are available at www.yamnit.com, Affordable Music in Dillon and Space Cowboy in Breckenridge.

• Breckenridge Ski Area comes alive with a torch light parade and fireworks. The parade is a Breckenridge tradition. Skiers and boarders proceed from the top of Peak 9, down American, to The Village at Breckenridge, starting at 6 p.m. Best views: Anywhere you can see Peak 9.

Information on Freworks.  Take note that this year’s firework display takes place in a new location, between Peak 8 and 9. The new location provides a better view from town for the fireworks than previous years, and with clear skies, these fireworks can be seen from most locations in downtown Breckenridge. For more information, contact the Breckenridge Welcome Center at (970) 453-5579.

Keystone

• Snake Thursday at the Snake River Saloon. Money Shot takes the stage at 9:30 p.m., as part of the Snake River Saloon’s nine-day live band lineup.  Money shot will be playing mostly 80’s retro type music.

Snake River’s party starts Saturday and Sunday with the Arnie Green Band. Then White Water Ramble fills Monday and Tuesday with dance-grass. Wednesday and Thursday, Money Shot goes into its arena rock, followed by Friday, Jan. 1 and Saturday, Jan. 2’s Hit List, which pulls out the dance rock. Arnie J. Green smooths out the nine-day lineup with his blues and rock on Sunday, Jan. 3.

• The Goat Soup and Whiskey Tavern ushers in Filthy Children Thursday, with a deep funk sound.

• Keystone Ski Resort hosts a plethora of events Thursday, including a murder mystery dinner , the funk band, Funkifikno and two sets of fireworks.

Fireworks will blaze over the skating rink at Keystone Lake at 6 p.m. for the early birds and 10:30 p.m. for the late-nighters.

Edgewater Cafe offers a family dinner buffet ($24.95 for adults, $12.95 for children 5-12).   This will take place from 5:30 to 8pmThe price includes skate rentals, so you can glide on North America’s largest Zamboni-maintained rink during the ice skating party with Frosty, which goes from 5-10 p.m. If you’re looking for a smaller bite to eat, the Adventure Center will be selling hot dogs, chicken fingers, fries, popcorn, sodas, hot chocolate and spirits.

Keystone Lodge & Spa gets a taste of a murder mystery, dinner included from 8 to 10 pm.

At 9:30 p.m., Funkiphino rocks the resort, for those 21 and older, at the Adventure Center, until 1 a.m. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. The horn-driven band is known for getting people dancing, with its popular funk and soul songs.

The easiest place to park for the action is the Keystone Lodge lot, across Highway 6, with tunnel access to the village.

Frisco

• Harmonious Junk, featuring Damon Wood of the James Brown Band (from 1999 to 2006), brings its sounds into Johnny G’s. The band will play originals, in addition to covers by Phish, the Grateful Dead, Ween and more. Tickets are $10, and the show starts at 10 p.m.

• String Board Theory plays at Ollies Pub and Grub in Frisco at 9 p.m. The Steamboat-based band has been constantly touring all over Colorado for the past two years and a half years, attracting more and more fans with its unique, high-quality blend of super jammy, funky, reggae, psychedelic rock — with a slight electronic feel.

Dillon

The New Year’s Eve schedule for movies  for Skyline Cinema in Dillon changes slightly for New Year’s Eve.   There will not be normal lateshows (after 9m), as most have been canceled. The movie lineup: “Sherlock Holmes,” “It’s Complicated,” “Avatar in 3D,” “Did You Hear About the Morgans,” “Up in the Air,” “Alvin and the Chipmunks II,” “Princess and the Frog,” “Blind Side” and “Invictus.”  Invictus stars Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon.  Up in the Air is critically acclaimed as one of the best movies of the year and stars George Clooney.

Copper Mountain

Copper rings in the new year country style with line dancing, music and fireworks. This year, the Conference Center hosts a package deal. For $50 (children 5-18, $25), you’ll get dance lessons, kids’ entertainment and a buffet. Instructors will teach Country Western dance steps from 7:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. (that’s a lot of two-steppin’ and Electric Sliddin’). The Kid’s Corral runs until 10 p.m. with movies, games and crafts in the Copper Conference Center’s lower level. The buffet will be out from 6:30-8 p.m., featuring signature soups and salads, entrees such as crab stuffed sole, seared stuffed chicken, vegetable en croute and prime rib. And, be sure to save some room for desserts,such as flambé peaches with short cake to assorted truffles and tartlets. Oh, and there’s kid appropriate food such as mac and cheese, chicken tenders and pizza.

Kokopelli’s deck offers exclusive viewing of fireworks at 9 p.m., or you can stand slopeside to watch the event. Reservations for the country celebration are required; call (970) 968-3027.

And be sure to not celebrate too much, because on New Years Day, there will be a 5k race at the Breckenridge Golf Course Nordic Center.

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