Gals Guide to Steamboat Springs: 26 Ways Downtown Steamboat Rocks!

Posted on October 27, 2010 by Susana

Steamboat's marching band on skis

I am partial to Downtown Steamboat Springs. As a place to live , to work and to play, give me downtown Steamboat Colorado any day,
with its:

  • 43 restaurants and 78 shops
  • 1 cowboy salon and 1 rodeo arena
  • 10 art galleries and 2 museums
  • 4 spas and 4 fitness centers
  • 1 movie theater and 2 bookstores
  • 2 health-food grocery stores and 1 deli
  • 1 drug store with 1 old-fashioned soda fountain
  • 3 schools, 1 college and 1 public library
  • 1 bike/walking path which is plowed year-round
  • 1 Alpine Slide and 1 Water Slide
  • 5 Ski Jumps and 6 churches
  • 1 post office, 2 banks and 1 county courthouse
  • 1 free-flowing river that runs through it

and cool things for a mountain gal (and guy) to do…

 cliff jumping Nationals front shot only 2007

  • Fishing and river tubing on the Yampa
  • Soaking in the Old Town Hotsprings
  • Night skiing and snow tubing at Howelsen Hill
  • First Friday Art Walks and Art in the Park
  • Winter Carnival, parades and fireworks
  • The Haunted House of Horrors and the Halloween Stroll
  • Hiking and mountain biking on Emerald Mountain
  • Cross-country skiing and swimming in the “C” Hole
  • Storytime at the library, book clubs, movies and speakers 
  • The playground at Little Toots and dog frisbee at “stinky park”
  • Outdoor concerts and the Writer’s Group at the Depot
  • Yoga at the Bear River Center overlooking the river
  • Community Celebrations and vigils on the courthouse lawn…

Tread of Pioneers Museum decked out for July 4th

But that’s just me. And like I said, I’m partial! How about you? How do you think Downtown Steamboat Springs rocks? And can it rock even more? Please share your thoughts in the Comments below…

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You Can Buy a Steamboat Springs Colorado Condo for 3% Down

Posted on October 19, 2010 by Susana

Today’s HOT Property to buy in Steamboat Springs Colorado, is NOT hot because it has great WOW factor (it doesn’t, but it doesn’t have a YUCK factor either; it’s quite nice), or because it has a killer location (it’s fine; it is on the free bus route and near the ski mountain) or knock-dead views (it does have views).

It’s the featured property I’d buy (and remember it’s not my listing; I’m an Exclusive Buyer Agent) if:
1. I needed two bedrooms and two baths
2. in a newer building
3. with a garage
4. a deck
5. some views
6. near the ski area and free bus route
7. for less than $300,000 (it’s priced at $304,900, but I’d expect we could get that down below $300,000.00)
8. with low HOAs
9. and a washer/dryer

And
10. I NEEDED Financing with LITTLE MONEY DOWN, And HELP with Closing Costs.

If you’ve been shopping for condos in Steamboat, you know that condos are hard to get financed here with less than a 24 – 30% downpayment, and your left leg. (FHA, with its 3.5% down program, is only lending on a couple of condo complexes in town. And USDA, with its zero-down program has income restrictions and currently doesn’t have any funding , but hopefully will get funds soon.)

For a $300,000.00 home purchase, we’re talking $75,000.00 – $90,000.00 cash for a downpayment! That limits most primary-residence home buyers (and cash-strapped second-home buyers) from being able to buy what would otherwise be considered an affordable home so close to the ski mountain in Steamboat Springs (with a heated garage). 

So, what I think is so sweet about this bank-owned, 1037 square foot condo is that it can be bought for as little as 3% down with Fannie Mae’s HomePathMortgage Financing. So now we’re talking $9,000.00 for a downpayment. Much more do-able!

And if the buyer will be using the condo as their primary residence and can close by December 31st, 2010, they can get up to 3.5% in closing costs assistance, which saves our cash-strapped buyers even more.

The last Quail Run condo that sold, closed last month. It too was bank owned. It even had granite countertops (this one doesn’t) and stainless appliances (nope), and it sold for $270,000.00 (via a USDA loan before the money ran out).  So I’m thinking…maybe $260,000.00 for this one?

Give me a call if you’re interested (970-846-3728) or pass this blog post on to a cash-strapped friend that’s itching to own a home in Steamboat Springs close to the ski slopes. Thanks!

P.S. I don’t know what HomePath is offering as a rate (my phone call has not yet been returned), but conventional rates on a 30-year fixed, for a loan amount between $100,000.00 and $417,000.00, are at 3.875!!!! Oh yeah!

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Gals Guide to Steamboat Springs: Cowgirls & Angels

Posted on October 16, 2010 by Susana

Anyone that’s driven into Steamboat Springs Colorado has surely seen the antique-looking yellow billboards advertising FM Light & Sons’ cowboy boots. FM Light does have a wall chock-full of  boots, but if I had a wad of cash and wanted some new boots I’d also head over to the corner of 5th and Lincoln in downtown Steamboat to a cool boutique called Cowgirls and Angels.

I’ve currently got my eyes on a pair of boots and a stylin’ black dress to go with them. Yeah, this is Steamboat and we can dress that way and fit right in without anyone batting an eye.

Peta Elmes is the shop owner. You’ll see her in the video, and tell her hi for me when you see her in her shop. I’ve known Peta the entire 17 years I’ve lived here, and she’s always topped my list of the best-dressed gals in Steamboat, so it’s no wonder her shop Rocks!

Consider this a modern electronic billboard ad from one Steamboat gal to another, and head over to 435 Lincoln Avenue for western wear with a twist.

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Gals Guide to Steamboat Springs: Epilogue Book Company

Posted on October 14, 2010 by Susana

I’m like the bears that come down from the mountains in the fall and spring making their same rounds night after night. I live within my routine world, as do we all, even here in Steamboat Springs Colorado.

I typically walk, from my downtown Steamboat home, the few blocks to my office. I  hike the trails of Emerald Mountain -which start just a few blocks away-, stroll along the Yampa River on the bike path, maybe grab a sandwich at Lyon’s corner drugstore or later sip margaritas at The Cantina. All without ever getting in my car. And that to me is living the good life.

Within my walking territory in downtown Steamboat Springs, exists a favorite bookstore of mine called Epilogue Book Company.

 

I worked there for a few months actually, between the time my husband and I sold our closet company, Top Drawer Custom Closets, and I began helping people buy real estate in Steamboat Springs. Every penny I made that winter, I spent on books!

My writer’s group also met there on occasion. We’d sprawl on the sofa and overstuffed chairs, and read our works aloud over wine. Erica Fogue, the store owner who seems to personally know every book on her shelves, still hands me the book I should take along on my vacations. And she’s my husband’s personal gift-for-wife shopper as well.

On the day I took this video Erica was off reading a book somewhere, but bookseller Becky Rosendale was graciously on hand.

If your bear path has you entrenched along other routes, break out! Walk or drive over to 837 Lincoln in the heart of downtown Steamboat and step into Epilogue. Grab a cup of tea from the back and settle down into the sofa in front of the fire.  And just see if your bear-self doesn’t want to make it a new part of your routine…

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Real Estate Sales Volume for the Steamboat Springs Area, thru August, is Ahead of 2009

Posted on October 11, 2010 by Susana

At the end of each month Bruce Carta, at Land Title Guarantee Company, shares with us the numbers that they’ve run on the past month’s real estate sales in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. This is the main data that we look at, and so I thought you, being a potential Steamboat home buyer or current local home owner, would like to look at it yourselves.

The bar graph on the right shows Routt County Colorado”s Gross Sales Volume: 2005 through August 2010. The tallest bars, in blue, represent sales in 2007, which was the height of Steamboat’s real estate boom. Actually you’ll see that the boom began in September of 2006, when 2006′s numbers are basically tied with 2007′s. October of 2007 is when the numbers start to really drop. June of 2007 was when I personally heard that the lending market was starting to tighten up; that Stated Income Loans were going to become a thing of the past.

2008 is the green bar. It seems to try to rebound with a nice peak in June of 2008, and then starts its descent with an ugly low in September of that year, when all hell starts to break loose. Burgarndy is 2009 and that year was downright pathetic until November and December with the first-time homebuyer tax credit bounce, which has carried some momentum into 2010 (orange).

At least 2010 has been better than 2009 for every month so far. (And it actually even beat out 2005, but only for the paltry month of January.) I would expect September’s numbers to also be higher this year than last, as well as October’s figures. But look at 2009′s tall burgandy bars for November and December; those are going to be hard to beat.

Stay posted and I’ll keep bringing you the graphs as soon as I get them. I’d expect September’s sometime soon.

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Steamboat Springs’ Foreclosed Home Deals

Posted on October 5, 2010 by Susana

Home buyers love deals, and we’re no different in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  A Bank-owned home in Steamboat Springs had a 3-4 times greater chance of selling this year than a normal home did. 

So far this year, 13% (35) of all the homes which have sold, from North Routt through Steamboat Springs and into South Routt, have been Bank-owned properties. Their average days on the market were 113, with the median at 100. 

Today, 16% (12) of the homes which are currently Under Contract, in these same areas, are Bank owned. And their days on the market are likewise relatively short.   

When we look at the number of Bank-owned homes which are For Sale right now within this same stretch of geography, it’s only 4% (33) of the entire number (787). Average days on the market so farhas been 58 for the Bank-owned homes.

If no more foreclosed homes came on the market, we theoretically would get through this inventory of homes pretty quickly.   

So, what are the hot buys right now? Let’s look at five of the 34 current Bank-owned homes on the market. Remember, I am an Exclusive Buyer Agent, representing only buyers, so none of these are my personal listings. I am sharing them with you, not from a “need” to sell them, but because I think they represent good value. 

Take a look at the price per square foot. If you were to build something with high end finishes today, like most of these have, it would cost over $300 per square foot, and that doesn’t include what you would have to pay for the land. Only one of these is over $200 per square foot, and it’s sitting on 5 acres within Steamboat’s city limits!   

 Are these going to stay on the market long? I doubt it.   


Morningside at Stagecoach
$437,900.00 (once priced $695,000.00)
0.42 acres, 5 Bedrooms, 4850 square feet
Built in 2006 with high-end finishes
Price per square foot: $125.65  
Days on Market: 33    

 Canyon Valley Ranch
$399,900.00 (Started at $599,000.00) 
20 minutes west of Steamboat
35 acres, 5+Bedrooms, 4672 square feet
Built in 2001
Price per square foot:$85.60 
Days on Market: 124  
 North Routt - Pearl Lake
$699,900.00 (once priced at $3.1 Million!)
Maybe a 40-minute drive north of Steamboat
37 acres, 4+Bedroom lodge, 10,116 square feet
Built in 1972 but since remodeled
Price per square foot: $69.19
Days on Market: 97  

 
Elk River Estates
$679,000.00
10 minutes from Steamboat
3 acres, 6 Bedrooms, 3814 square feet
Built in 1995, remodeled in 2009
Price per square foot: $178.03
Days on Market: 35 

 
Fish Creek Area
$999,999.00 (Started at $1.25 Million)
Within Steamboat city limits
5 acres, 4 Bedrooms, 4850
Built in 1997 with a 4-stall Barn 
Price per square foot: $206.19
Days on Market: 81

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Has Reba Found Her Perfect Steamboat Springs Summer Home?

Posted on September 19, 2010 by Susana

Meet Reba 

Reba is searching for the perfect summer home in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. She lives in Dallas, Texas. Our summers are a lot nicer here, which she knows from years of visiting her in-laws who have a summer place on the Rollingstone Golf Course.

Reba is in no hurry to buy; she’s leased a home here for two months and knows she can do it again next summer if she doesn’t find the perfect home. This is the second year I’ve shown her properties, and three weeks into it this time around, I’ve got a darn good idea of what she’s looking for. I personally think this one might be it.

We didn’t see it until now because it had been Under Contract but just came back on the market after that buyer got cold feet. And before that, the house had been priced above the range we were considering.

Meet the House

It’s located in what’s called the Mountain area of Steamboat Springs, near the ski slopes, and was built as a “Spec” home (built as an investment, on speculation that it will be bought versus a custom home that is built to a buyer’s specifications) at the height of Steamboat’s housing  boom in 2007. It was priced at $1.8 million when it was completed in 2008. Now after several price reductions it just dropped to $749,000; within a price range Reba is willing to consider. It’s never been lived in. It’s not a short sale. It’s not bank-owned. It’s just a great home at a great price.

Meet Reba and the House

What do you think? Will she make an offer? Will she make this house her home?

She’s sending this video to her husband who’s back home in Dallas. He gets a say in it also. So you’ll have to stay tuned.

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