Our mountain home
With more people moving into Colorado every month, everyone wants a little piece of Rocky Mountain High, or a little property as the case may be. The real estate market along the Front Range has never been hotter, or more frustrating for new residents. I’ve lived a lot of places during my life, especially as a single girl, but have never seen real estate so in demand as it is now.
Memories of spectacular wildfires seem to fade quickly. For anyone moving into the WUI (Wildland-Urban Interface), wildfire as to be a concern. In 2012, when it felt like the entire state of Colorado was on fire, the real estate market here in Nederland and other mountain towns slowed down considerably. What person in their right mind would want to live in the middle of a fire pit?
But now it’s three years later, and the last two summers here in Colorado have been very quiet in terms of fires. They’ve also been very warm in terms of temperature which makes buying a home in the mountains even more tempting with our pleasant summer temperatures and cool mountain nights.
The market has gotten so tight, that people putting their homes for sale are seeing offers come within days, often multiple offers. Houses are frequently under contract within two weeks. I ran into some locals a couple of weeks ago that were talking about the strategy of how to win a bidding war. In addition to being pre-approved, putting down a sizeable down payment, and putting an offer in above the asking price, a personal letter seems to be the way to go. Said letter should provide some sort of meaningful personal connection to the buyer of why you want their home.
It’s crazy to think about, and makes me realize that we would never be able to afford our home or living in this neighborhood now. Estimates on our home are currently 35% more than what we bought it for. Back when we purchased our home in 2010, the economy was still lethargic, the unemployment rate high, and homes were plentiful in Nederland. Many of the homes we looked at including our current home had been on the market for six, nine or twelve months. We actually made an offer significantly below asking price because of how long the house was on the market.
Today as part of our daily mail pick-up, we are regularly receiving solicitations from realtors in Boulder and Nederland asking if we are interested in selling our home. We’d gotten used to getting the pre-printed mailers and postcards, but a few weeks ago, we received a handwritten letter from a realtor saying a client specifically wanted a house on our street and would we consider selling? I guess it’s flattering to live in a place considered so desirable, but also a little scary. We could never sell, because we’d never afford anything else in this area.
Truth be known, we don’t want to sell and there’s probably no amount of money someone could offer us. Seeing this house for the first time was like falling in love at first sight with your future spouse. The instant we walked in the door I just knew. I knew this was my forever home where I wanted to stay for a good long time. My mountain refuge to grow old in. My perfect spot to sit on the back deck and watch the mountain turn pink from Alpenglow. Sell? Hell no!
