First time home buyers; should you be buying now in Summit County Colorado?
Summit County, and especially the towns of Breckenridge and Frisco, have traditionally been very expensive places to live. First time home buyers usually bought in Dillon or Silverthorne, where it was more affordable. In recent years prices climbed so high that even town planners started referring to their housing programs for locals as “attainable” rather than “affordable”.
The County and the towns recognized some time ago that we needed local’s housing here rather than having all our workers drive home to Leadville, Fairplay or Kremmling. Many local workers do that anyway, as generally the lower priced homes here in the county are fairly small condos and townhomes. Most are without garages and good storage. In order to keep the prices down, the planners required restrictions of some sort on housing built for locals. Glen Cove Condos, a small complex of local’s homes in Dillon, doesn’t allow short term rentals, which limits buyers to full time locals or part time second home owners. Restricting the buyer pool keeps the prices lower than other comparable units. Glen Cove is made up of duplex units with two bedroom condos and garages on the first floor and a three bedroom unit upstairs. There currently is a three bedroom unit for sale listed at $359,900 and the last two bedroom sold for $334,500. Spyglass Townhomes in Wildernest has a similar restriction and prices are similar. Two, two bedroom units are for sale for $330,000 or less and two, three bedroom units are listed at $365,000 and $385,000. Spyglass also has garages. Another complex with similar restrictions, but in Frisco, is Cobblestone Condos. A three bedroom unit is for sale for $430,000, higher because it is completely remodeled, but also because it is in Frisco. A two bedroom unit sold last summer for $350,000. Cobblestone also has garages.
Some complexes have additional restrictions. In Breckenridge, the Wellington Neighborhood has many homes that are deed restricted, which requires a buyer to work in Summit County at least 30 hours a week. A few homes in the neighborhood are market priced, but most are deed restricted. Recently a restricted three bedroom, two bath single family home of about 1300 square feet, with a garage, sold for $338,700. The Wellington Neighborhood goes even further in their restrictions, also capping appreciation. The caps are generally tied to the Consumer Price Index, keeping prices relatively low.
Many locals prefer to buy homes in areas with no appreciation restrictions. They tend to feel that if a second home owner can get the full appreciation, they should be able to take advantage of it too. They tend to end up in less expensive older condos in Wildernest or Dillon. Complexes without hot tubs have turned into local’s housing, as many second home owners want to rent their condos part time and renters prefer having access to hot tubs. Few of these older complexes have garages, so they give up some convenience in order to have a market priced unit.
So what would I advise a first time home buyer in Summit County today? First, take advantage of the combination of low interest rates and lower prices, and then get the first time homebuyer tax credit of $8,000. If you have owned a home before, but not in the last three years, you still qualify as a first time buyer. Look carefully at homes and consider whether you are willing to accept deed restrictions to get more space, or if you want an unrestricted unit but might have to live in a smaller, older condo. The time you are planning on living there should also have some impact on your decision. First Bank still has some really good first time buyer programs for locals and the Summit County Housing Authority has low interest down payment assistance programs. Good credit is a “must” these days, and while second home owners are needing to put more money down than they used to, the government is very interested in helping people buy first homes, so have made sure they are keeping the down payment amounts between 3% and 5%. First time home buyers are going to be a very important key in the housing recovery, as once they start buying, the Sellers of those homes will be able to move up and it will all trickle up. Eventually, Summit County vacation homes will feel the uptick too, and our local economy will be back to normal again!
For more information on deed restricted homes, read this post about “cheap homes”. Wildernest is also a relatively inexpensive place to live. Read a post about affordable homes in Wildernest.
