I was driving to a conference in Colorado Springs last week. It has been so warm that I literally didn't bring a jacket, just a couple of heavy sweaters. Sometimes I forget that I live in a place where the seasons seem to change in an instant. The weather in Durango is so phenomenal with 300 days of sunshine that often I forget that the other 65 days come on their own schedule. One minute you're driving in a t-shirt wondering if there will be enough snow for skiing this year, and the next you're saying things like, "Are those snowflakes?" And a few miles later, "Wow, it's really coming down!" And a few miles later you are turning around at the pass because there's just no going forward into the blinding white room of a Colorado snowstorm. We received three-feet from that storm in Durango and the ski area went from holding "pray for snow" parties to praying it would stop just long enough for us to dig out and enjoy it. I took the photo above on a snowshoe hike at lunchtime today just behind my office. I came across these snowbirds that were formed naturally as the snow piled up on two side-by-side trees on the Elbert Creek trail that eventually winds its way up to the top of the same mountain range where Purgatory's trails begin. I didn't make it quite that high, but I realized that an hour in the deep snow on snowshoes is equivalent to about two hours of any other kind of exercise. I looked down at my heart rate monitor and I had burned over 1000 calories by the time I walked back in the office. Snowshoeing is a fantastic way to experience the unlimited backcountry this area has to offer. We're unique in all of ski-country in having millions of acres of backcountry right out the back door. Snowshoeing is low impact, great exercise, and allows instant access to areas off the trail. I am smiling in the photo below before the incline really started.
Speaking of snowbirds, I was checking airfares the other day for some of my clients in Dallas and found out something interesting. Flying directly into Durango is now just as inexpensive as flying into Albuquerque. Enplanements are up so substantially in Durango thanks to its burgeoning airport, that airfares are competitive price-wise for the first time in my recollection (twenty years at least). My family and I usually fly out of Albuquerque, but no more. I thought you might want to know. And the best part of this news is that the major airlines that fly in here (United, Frontier, America West) are all changing over their fleets to jet-only flights. No more prop planes? It seems impossible that our little mountain town may now be spared the dreaded prop-plane turbulence. My fondest memory of the prop planes happened years ago in college while flying out of Durango to go home to Denver for the holidays. The plane had been sitting on the runway for an extraordinarily long time with its engines buzzing as the crews attempted to de-ice. The gentleman next to me turned to me about a half hour after the delay in taking off began and said, "How far do you think we are from landing?" I pointed out that we had yet to take off. Those old prop-planes make such a racket and vibrate so much that he was sure we were already in the air. Good riddance.
I started writing this on Sunday, and it's now Monday, a day later. Since I typed the first words, we've received another 20 inches of snow. We're up to four and a half feet of fresh snow this week. Early season conditions rarely get this good this early. Time to look at those cheap airfares and plan a trip.
If mountain and resort real estate is on your holiday shopping list, there are a couple of developments in the market you should be aware of -- Peregrine Point, Durango Mountain Resort's (Purgatory) first new whole ownership condominium project in thirty years has slashed prices on their remaining inventory. There is a two-bedroom condo for sale in that building, which is only a couple hundred yards from the main ski lift, now listed at $299,000. We haven't seen a condo price like this in seven years, even in thirty-year-old condos. In fact, this is just the latest price reduction in new product. Alpenglow, a slopeside townhome project slashed $600,000 off of one of their new townhomes. Our office has successfully negotiated prices on these projects for numerous sales.
Our independent minded approach in offering real estate services in our market is something new in a market that was once dominated by brokers who worked on the behalf of resort developers and their interests. We recently updated our website to include testimonials from many of our customers and would encourage you to look at them as you evaluate which real estate professional in the market is best suited to help you. Here's a link to our testimonials:
The Wells Group is involved in one of every two real estate transactions in this area, so if you're a buyer, we're the most familiar with the market. And if you're a seller, there's no better exposure in this area to your listing.
Our favorite recent article appeared in Business Week and is titled:
"If You Don't Buy a House Now, You're Stupid or Broke."
Click on the title for the link. This was an obvious Realtor favorite from the beginning, though we'd never call anyone stupid. The author, who often writes about real estate in various publications, makes the case that affordability is at an all time historic high. We've been saying that for a while, and the national news has begun to say it more voluminously. Here are some other articles you may be interested in:
"If You Don't Buy a House Now, You're Stupid or Broke."
Click on the title for the link. This was an obvious Realtor favorite from the beginning, though we'd never call anyone stupid. The author, who often writes about real estate in various publications, makes the case that affordability is at an all time historic high. We've been saying that for a while, and the national news has begun to say it more voluminously. Here are some other articles you may be interested in:
In closing, here are a few photos I took at The Broadmoor, one of Colorado's premier resorts. After our nine hour drive (usually five hours), the sun came out the next morning and the light was wonderful for some Colorado winter photos. One of the neat things about the Broadmoor is that they allow up to two pets per guest. They treat your pets with the same five-star service as they treat the humans. Many resorts, including Durango Mountain Resort, have begun allowing pets in their high-end properties. Let us know if we can help you find a great place to stay for you and the four-legged members of the family. Happy holidays! Chris
