Ski lessons, life lessons, and the annual market update

This photo was taken last Sunday.  It was my son Dylan's first day of skiing on the "big mountain," as he calls it.  He's five.  He's been skiing, if you can call it that, since he was two.  He kind of abandoned the sport for a couple of years, truth be told, and I do realize he may have given up all hope for the Olympics as a result.  He's been on the "big mountain" before, but the last time was when he was three, and there wasn't any picture taking because of all the crying.  It didn't seem particularly cold that day two years ago as we ascended the slopes on the high-speed lift.  But by the time we reached the mid-point of the mountain it started snowing, and then blowing.  By the time we were at the top it was downright cold, and I started to get that queasy feeling in my stomach that you get as a parent when you feel like you're responsible for your child's discomfort.  It was all I could do to get him off the mountain without a complete meltdown.  Needless to say, skiing wasn't Dylan's favorite outdoor activity from that day forward.  And I was fine with that.  When I was in college I was a ski instructor, predominantly for children, and I watched many parents encourage their children into the activity long before the child was mentally or physically ready for it.  They were on ski vacations, and had committed thousands of dollars to the laudable effort of creating a life outdoors with their families.  By the time the skis had been loaded, the arduousness of traveling had been completed, and the family settled, it was a little late to wonder if little Johnny was really ready for the slopes. 

I remember my own childhood experiences in Summit County.   I started skiing at age six, and I quit lessons after a half-day.  My parents wanted me to go back in the afternoon for obvious reasons, but I refused, and I was willing do just about anything to get them to acquiesce.  "I'll show you I can ski without lessons," I said.  And I marched over the bunny hill lift before they could get of their own skis to stop me and skied down a run called Checkerboard at Keystone.  I pulled it off out of the sheer will of not wanting to go back to the dreaded ski class.  That half day was the only ski lesson of my life.  I taught myself from watching others, as my parents were learning right along with me.  I don't recommend it.  Seat belts weren't a requirement then either. 

It's funny how your kids sometimes travel in your footsteps even when you don't want them to.  I tried to get Dylan into ski school a couple of times and he took one lesson.  He showed enthusiasm for trying to ski again this year with all of his little Durango friends telling tales of their adventures, and I told him I'd take him myself as long as he listened to me.  Yeah, right.   There's another thing I don't recommend-- teaching your own children to ski.  They'll listen to some college kid who hasn't yet figured out how to pull his pants up long before they'll take the simplest instruction from you.  That certainly hasn't changed since I taught.  But I had to give him the benefit of the doubt and trust that he'd stand by his word that he'd take some direction from me.  When I woke up Sunday morning it was with a little bit of dread.  It had snowed five or six inches the night before, and the last thing I really wanted to do was get Dylan's gear together, dress him in his ski clothes (don't forget the mittens, hat and helmet), make sure we had enough snacks and water and make the drive up to the mountain where I invariably would have to carry everything what seems like 100 miles from the parking lot to the lifts.  "You sure you don't want to take a ski lesson with the other kids," I said, selfishly thinking about the powder runs I could take without him.  He did not.  Eventually, after the arduous lugging and slogging of gear and Dylan we stood on a beautiful and relatively warm day at the top of Purgatory Mountain.  "Do you remember how to turn?" I asked.  He didn't.  I tried to stifle the exasperation in the tone of my voice and restrained myself from suggesting the lesson again.  It was going to be a long way down.  Maybe I shouldn't have started up here today.  How could I make the same mistakes I'd been warning others against for over twenty years?  He was much heavier than when he was three, when I had literally carried him like a baby in my arms all the way down.   But there we were.  I gave him a couple of tips.  It seemed like he was paying attention.  It seemed like there were little sparks of remembrance coming to him as he showed me what a pizza pie and french fries looked like in ski-form.  I skied down a hundred feet or so while he waited and then beckoned him to come to me.  And then it happened, a little miracle.  He started down in his pizza pie straight for me, and suddenly turned left.  Then he turned right, this time somehow transitioning out of the pizza and into french fries.  He then came to an easy stop right in front of me.  "How was that Poppa?" he said.  I was speechless for a few seconds. 

"Wow," I said.  "You were turning."
 "Yeah," he said, "I know how to turn." 

And that was the end of the lesson.  He followed me all the way down.  He fell once.  He laughed when he fell.  We went fast down a pretty steep part.  He laughed then too.  The euphoria of the experience of watching my son enjoy skiing for the first time swelled in my chest, literally made me a little teary-eyed.  I told him I was proud of him and that he was doing great so many times that he finally said, "Poppa, you already said that a bunch."  When our day was over I couldn't wait to go skiing with him again.  I realized that we now had a lifetime of doing this together in front of us, and I couldn't wait to get started.  I knew now why my Dad was willing to carry my skis the miles from the parking space to the slopes at Copper Mountain (they invented the parking lot tram about six years into my skiing career by the time I would have been able to carry my own stuff).  And why my parents bought a condo in Summit County, Colorado so we could spend most of our winters skiing together, and playing board games with hot chocolate in our hands in front of the pine wood fire at night before we passed out from our exhaustion.  "The family that plays together stays together" was something amazing to live by.  It has been our great fortune to have these experiences together in our lives, and I'm grateful for the time ahead with Dylan joining our skiing family, even as I recognizing how his childhood has already flown by. 

The rest of this posting is about numbers, but they all really pertain to what was written above.  If you're reading this you already have made a mountain lifestyle your lifestyle, or you're considering it.  We've been telling you that the market is shifting, recovering in Durango, a town that didn't feel near the impact of the changes in the real estate markets over the last couple of years that much of the rest of the country did.  The most recent data simply supports our previous postings, and reaffirms our feelings about the market. 

Link to Durango Area fourth quarter and 2009 annual real estate statistics

If you look at the link above you'll see that prices rose in a couple of the major segments of the Durango market in the fourth quarter, particular in residential single family homes and condos in-town, as well as in rural homes.  This area has historically led the resort market, and you'll see that prices continued to soften in the resort.  Land throughout the county is extremely soft, and still offers the most value of all segments for buyers.  The year as a whole shows price reductions in most segments, as well as reduction in the number of sales.  Durango condos actually showed an increase in median price.  But each quarter in the year, as we've noted in our analysis, has demonstrated continued strengthening. 

The report linked above begins with the statement, "The 4th Quarter of 2009 had a greater number of transactions, higher volume, and a higher median price than the 4th quarter of 2008. The statistical data is suggesting a likely bottom of the real estate market in La Plata County occurred in September of 2009."

We certainly concur with this suggestion.  If you, or someone you know, are interested in property in our area, this may be the best opportunity we'll see for our buyers.  Affordability is at over a twenty year high with rates beginning to make their expected creep back upward.  Those who wait and buy later will do so with a likely loss of thousands in either price or interest expense.  Sellers hang in there, the tide is turning and we're expecting price appreciation across all categories with the exception of vacant land in the next twelve months. 

In some of my recent calls to long-time clients, I've noted some confusion over the role of our new company.  I've been asked if we can sell the ski resort properties on numerous occasions.  The answer is an emphatic yes!  The brokers operating at the resort, like we once did, are independent just like we are.  There's no difference in cost to the buyer in working with us verses working with a resort broker.  They are brokers who represent buyers, not the seller, just like we do.  Commissions are identical in either case.  Our skills at negotiating and our experience is our most valuable asset to our customers beyond our customer service, but most importantly we have no pressure whatsoever to sell one developer's project over another, or one community over another.  We're focused on finding the best property for our buyers without exception.  Additionally, a significant component of our efforts and business model are focused on listing and selling resale property for individual sellers.  Don't make the mistake of working with a broker who's focus is project first rather than customer first.