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In This Issue:
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Update on Summit County Real Estate Conditions
How is the Summit County market? Owners, Sellers and Buyers all want to know, as the market has been down for so long in the rest of the country. People have assumed it would be bad in Summit County too, but it hasn’t been until recently. The first six months of the year the number of transactions was down 38% over a year ago, so we know the national economy is now affecting us.
Read more about the Summit County market.
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Summit County Real Estate – Your College Fund
 With the rising cost of college these days, even if you planned for you childrens’ college from the day they were born, you may not be adequately prepared. As they hit high school the reality of your situation may be an abrupt wake up call. Even with only three or four years until those college tuition bills are in your mail box you still have a fighting chance. Three or four years is less than an ideal time-frame to expect to accumulate enough funds for college but not hopeless. You obviously need an investment. You need one with the potential to create significant returns. You need to invest in real estate. Of course, my first suggestion is to invest in Summit County real estate. Summit County is a resort market that is less affected by general real estate trends. In general, the property values are higher than a primary home market as is the appreciation. You get the benefits of making a family getaway a cool place to go, even for teens that dread spending time with their parents. You can also rent your property, either short term or long term, depending on its location, when you are not using it to help pay for some of the costs.
Here’s a real life example of how investing in Summit County real estate can fund your childrens’ college expenses. A family from Denver purchased a condo for $200,000 and used it as their vacation home. The family frequently used the condo and enjoyed hiking, biking and skiing while in Summit County. Their teenage boys had a great time and I’m sure many fond memories were created at their condo. After about three and a half years, when the oldest boy was getting ready to head off to college, they decided to put their condo up for sale. They were able to sell it for over $300,000 which put nearly $100,000 in their college fund.
The fact that this family purchased a Summit County condo relieved some of the burden of their college expenses while creating great family memories. Ideally, start preparing for college when your children are young. But if you are one of many people out there getting a late start, don’t despair, there’s still hope. The recent housing downturn may help get a great price on your purchase of real estate and if you can hold onto the property long enough for the market to come back and possibly thrive, you could be in a better than expected situation.
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Hiking Summit County Living and working in Summit County definitely has its perks! One of the summertime perks is that we have the opportunity to do some hiking all across the county. Joanne, Jason & Meredith all try and hike at least once a week. We have seen some amazing parts of Summit County and beyond! The Summit Hiker by Mary Ellen Gilliland has been a invaluable book for us every step of the way. If you are a hiking enthusiast, give us a call when you're in town. We'd be happy to point you in the direction of a good hike, give you tips on what to bring or join us on one of our hikes. Here are some of the hikes we have done:
- Eccles Pass
- Buffalo Mountain
- Black Powder Pass
- Ptarmigan Peak
- Mohawk Lakes
- McCullough Gulch
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