March News

Well it's March and I am just getting this edition of the newsletter to you. Sorry about that! I was truthfully waiting for the local radio station to get me an electronic copy of a real estate show I was on recently so I could send that to you. I was on with another gentleman in the business. The problem was he seemed to think he was the only one on the show and took up most of the time! Thus I am having the station edit him out, and that will take days, they tell me. I will get it to you the end of this month...

In the meantime, I have become extremely busy! It is possible I'm the only one who can say that in this town. Friends of mine come to me to complain about how they have nothing going on. Not to suggest I'm rolling along as if the market is perfect, but I have several clients looking to buy in the near future. Why? Because they see the opportunity to own real estate in one of the most consistently performing markets in the World, and at great prices.

I have been asked many times recently if I thought prices would come down further in 6, 8, 12, 14 months. I can honestly say - maybe. As I've mentioned before, no one has a crystal ball. Some experts claim the economy could turn around by this summer. Some say it will be 10 years. No one really knows when the upswing will take place, but when it does, this market, as it has consistently in the past, will go right along for the ride upward.

And there is an interesting balancing act that is taking place in this market: many of the listings currently on the market are there voluntarily. Sure most of these sellers would like to sell and are willing to make a deal. In some cases they are willing to take a loss to a certain degree. But truthfully, many of the current sellers would be much more likely to simply take their homes off the market versus take a huge hit on their pocket books. If they were indeed desperate to sell, we would be seeing fire sales all over the place, but we're not.

Prices could very likely come down in the future, but because most of our sellers do not need to sell right now, inventory would likely drop with prices. If that happens, we will see a lot less selection available. So, yes you could wait to buy when (or if) prices drop in several months, but the likelihood of finding the property of your dreams (or at least one you sort of like) could be very slim. Typically in Vail Village, I would show a client a short list of properties and they would say: "these are OK but do you have anything else?" or "Let me know when something better comes along". And most of the time, within a year or two, something better does come along. Today, we have inventory in the ski villages like never before. A buyer literally has the pick of the litter! How nice it is to be able to show my clients 10 properties (versus 3) and have them say: "I like them all!" Now you can find several homes that are more than just acceptable.

If you are looking for the home in the mountains for you and your family to enjoy - a home that you will be able to watch your children grow up in - a home that you will daydream about when you are at work - for the reasons stated above, this may very well be the best time to buy. If you are looking for a steal, or "blood in the water" well then I would wait. But when those sorts of deals come along, you find out very quickly that you're not the only one waiting in line...