so what does the 1/2 point drop in rates mean?

[Glenn]

I'm wondering how this will shake out in the ski home/condo area. My wife and I would love to get a place in VT...I'm wondering if we'll see prices sag a bit more. With things being dicey now, you don't want to pull the trigger. But on the other hand, you'd hate to look back 3-4 year from now and say: "Man, we could have saved $xthousand if we pulled the trigger back then..."

 

[drjeff]

I'm wondering how this will shake out in the ski home/condo area. My wife and I would love to get a place in VT...I'm wondering if we'll see prices sag a bit more. With things being dicey now, you don't want to pull the trigger. But on the other hand, you'd hate to look back 3-4 year from now and say: "Man, we could have saved $xthousand if we pulled the trigger back then..."

Since I bought my latest VT place at Mount Snow almost 18 months ago now, based on what I paid for it, and what I figure I could REALISTICALLY sell it for now (assuming of course that a buyer could actually find a bank willing to loan someone some $$ for a 2nd home right now ), I'm down about 10%. And what I paid for my place was down about 10% from the peak values.

Unfortunately the way things are looking, it wouldn't suprise me to see things down another 10%+ this time next year. One thing though with 2nd home area real estate values is that they tend not to see as much of a decline as those in more "primary" residence areas just simply because many folks buying a second home aren't seeing themselves maxed out $$ wise as some primary home owners are.

I will though be very curious to hear this weekend at the annual association meeting for where my place is by Mount Snow, what the rentals/leasing/pseudo sales manager for our complex says about the market not just where my place is, but in general in and around Mount Snow and the Deerfield Valley.

 

[Glenn]

I've seen a few condo's at Snowtree going for about $119k. I did a little quick research and found the recent sales are about 5% under asking. So a one bedroom loft would be about $112k....in theory of course.

Where did you end up getting a place?

 

[drjeff]

I've seen a few condo's at Snowtree going for about $119k. I did a little quick research and found the recent sales are about 5% under asking. So a one bedroom loft would be about $112k....in theory of course.

Where did you end up getting a place?

I'm up almost at the top of Timbercreek.

The other thing I can personally say about 1 bedroom loft's in snowtree (my wife and I had a seasonal rental in the Maples building of Snowtree back in the 2000-01 winter) is that that theoretical 7k you could save, you'd quickly spend in heating costs there We could practically fly a kite from the loft in the unit we had that winter. I made ALOT of trips to the woodshed outside of each building that winter!

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I've seen a few condo's at Snowtree going for about $119k. I did a little quick research and found the recent sales are about 5% under asking. So a one bedroom loft would be about $112k....in theory of course.

Where did you end up getting a place?

For $112k you could stay at a steezy hotel 500 nights..

 

[Glenn]

I'm up almost at the top of Timbercreek.

The other thing I can personally say about 1 bedroom loft's in snowtree (my wife and I had a seasonal rental in the Maples building of Snowtree back in the 2000-01 winter) is that that theoretical 7k you could save, you'd quickly spend in heating costs there We could practically fly a kite from the loft in the unit we had that winter. I made ALOT of trips to the woodshed outside of each building that winter!

Cool! Timbercreek is nice!

LOL! I knew they had the ceiling fan up there for a reason! Our next weekend adventure will be at "Glen Run" (kinda partial to that name :grin: ) so I'm interested in seeing how those go. We'll be up at Season's in Dec. I remember staying there when I was younger. I'm always split between what to get...house or a condo? Granted, it's a few years off...but something to dream about.

LMAO! Yeah, that would buy a lot of nights at a steezy hotel. I may be able to tollerate that for a night or two, but Mrs. Glenn wouldn't. :lol:

 

[drjeff]

Cool! Timbercreek is nice!

LOL! I knew they had the ceiling fan up there for a reason! Our next weekend adventure will be at "Glen Run" (kinda partial to that name :grin: ) so I'm interested in seeing how those go. We'll be up at Season's in Dec. I remember staying there when I was younger. I'm always split between what to get...house or a condo? Granted, it's a few years off...but something to dream about.

LMAO! Yeah, that would buy a lot of nights at a steezy hotel. I may be able to tollerate that for a night or two, but Mrs. Glenn wouldn't. :lol:

My wife and I had a BIG debate about the stand alone house vs. the townhouse also before we bought. It was literally flip a coin type descion between a stand alone essentially new house maybe 1/4 down the road from the entrance to Haystack and where we bought in Timbercreek. The prices within 5 grand of each other and both within our target price range.

What it finally came down to for us was the following that saw us buy in Timbercreek. #1 at Timbercreek, there's always a maintenance person/people in general around to watch/look out for the place when were not there - the stand alone home wouldn't have had that. #2 townhome for us = all the extreior maintenace from painting to windows to roofing to trash and plowing and mowing and even wod delivery is included in our quarterly association fee, whereas I would have had to line all of that up in a stand alone. #3 Townhome has a community clubhouse with an indoor pool, raquet ball courts, basketball court and fitness center as well as x-country ski trails/snowshoeing trails, skating pond and tennis courts in the summer all on property and included in the association fee, stand alone didn't/ Lastly, from Thanksgiving weekend through the end of March on Weekends + Holiday weeks, the Moover stops about 50 feet from my front door and takes me to the base area every 15 minutes between 7:30 and 5:30 - wouldn't be that way at the stand alone.

For a second home, the townhome and the association made more sense both interms of opportunities and peace of mind when I'm not there, and in the big scheme of things, my yearly association fee isn't that much more than I would have paid for property up keep/security of the stand alone.

 

[ctenidae]

We jsut got another 1/2 point this morning. Fat lot of good it'll do...

 

[Glenn]

My wife and I had a BIG debate about the stand alone house vs. the townhouse also before we bought. It was literally flip a coin type descion between a stand alone essentially new house maybe 1/4 down the road from the entrance to Haystack and where we bought in Timbercreek. The prices within 5 grand of each other and both within our target price range.

What it finally came down to for us was the following that saw us buy in Timbercreek. #1 at Timbercreek, there's always a maintenance person/people in general around to watch/look out for the place when were not there - the stand alone home wouldn't have had that. #2 townhome for us = all the extreior maintenace from painting to windows to roofing to trash and plowing and mowing and even wod delivery is included in our quarterly association fee, whereas I would have had to line all of that up in a stand alone. #3 Townhome has a community clubhouse with an indoor pool, raquet ball courts, basketball court and fitness center as well as x-country ski trails/snowshoeing trails, skating pond and tennis courts in the summer all on property and included in the association fee, stand alone didn't/ Lastly, from Thanksgiving weekend through the end of March on Weekends + Holiday weeks, the Moover stops about 50 feet from my front door and takes me to the base area every 15 minutes between 7:30 and 5:30 - wouldn't be that way at the stand alone.

For a second home, the townhome and the association made more sense both interms of opportunities and peace of mind when I'm not there, and in the big scheme of things, my yearly association fee isn't that much more than I would have paid for property up keep/security of the stand alone.

Awesome, I appreciate your insight on that. We were really thinking "house" at first. Then we stayed at SnowTree for a night a few weeks back. We really really liked being that close the mountain. Plus, there's always the opportunity to rent the unit out to help offset some of the costs. But that would certainly have to be looked into; especially if you go through an agency and what their cut would be. But you bring up a good point of someone always being there and that's really important up there during the winter: No snow removal worries, mechanical issues can been quickly addressed....

But there are things about a house I still like...quiet, land, storage space.

My buddy jokingly said: "Get a condo now...then get a house down the road. Keep the condo and rent it out..." Sounds good on paper.

 

[drjeff]

Awesome, I appreciate your insight on that. We were really thinking "house" at first. Then we stayed at SnowTree for a night a few weeks back. We really really liked being that close the mountain. Plus, there's always the opportunity to rent the unit out to help offset some of the costs. But that would certainly have to be looked into; especially if you go through an agency and what their cut would be. But you bring up a good point of someone always being there and that's really important up there during the winter: No snow removal worries, mechanical issues can been quickly addressed....

But there are things about a house I still like...quiet, land, storage space.

My buddy jokingly said: "Get a condo now...then get a house down the road. Keep the condo and rent it out..." Sounds good on paper.

Mount Snow itself actually has a pretty good rental program that they send you info on soon after the ink is dry on your mortgage. We don't opt in, simply because we actually use our place just about every weekend during ski season, and close to 1 weekend a month in the summer.

If you choose to rent through them, you get the benefits of your unit being listed through their central reservations line so you get volume exposure, plus they have things like ticket discounts and rental management services for you.

My place before we bought it was actually year in and year out rented for the full summer(as are many units by the "snowbird" population who winter's down South and summer's in VT), and the couple that used to rent it actually called contacted us directly (as well as through Timbercreek's onsite rental manager) to see if we'd reconsider our move to take it out of the rental pool. For a couple of reasons we chosen not to. First off, with just my family using our place, we never have to worry about "our stuff" and what might be happening to it by someone else. Secondly, and more importantly there's just as much fun, enjoyment, and relaxation to be had in the warm weather months as in the cold weather months up there!

 

[Glenn]

Mount Snow itself actually has a pretty good rental program that they send you info on soon after the ink is dry on your mortgage. We don't opt in, simply because we actually use our place just about every weekend during ski season, and close to 1 weekend a month in the summer.

If you choose to rent through them, you get the benefits of your unit being listed through their central reservations line so you get volume exposure, plus they have things like ticket discounts and rental management services for you.

My place before we bought it was actually year in and year out rented for the full summer(as are many units by the "snowbird" population who winter's down South and summer's in VT), and the couple that used to rent it actually called contacted us directly (as well as through Timbercreek's onsite rental manager) to see if we'd reconsider our move to take it out of the rental pool. For a couple of reasons we chosen not to. First off, with just my family using our place, we never have to worry about "our stuff" and what might be happening to it by someone else. Secondly, and more importantly there's just as much fun, enjoyment, and relaxation to be had in the warm weather months as in the cold weather months up there!

We just realized the same thing when we went up for the Brewfest. "Gee, you could spend a weekend here in the summer easily and have plenty to do." I'm in agreement with the once a month thing in the summer...that's totally doable. It's not a bad drive from CT, but it's far enough away to feel like you're away.

I noticed Mt. Snow is pretty good with their rates...as well as their stay requirements when you book a condo through them. They don't have a minimum number of nights and the rates are really inline with what you can get through the local realestate agencies.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

We jsut got another 1/2 point this morning. Fat lot of good it'll do...

Sucks I want them to go up so CDs go up..

 

[Moe Ghoul]

Sucks I want them to go up so CDs go up..

Keep dreamin, Fed will cut to 0, they prolly saved the other 1/2 point for the FOMC meeting later this month for a Halloween treat. SCAAARRRRRRYYYYYYY!!

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Keep dreamin, Fed will cut to 0, they prolly saved the other 1/2 point for the FOMC meeting later this month for a Halloween treat. SCAAARRRRRRYYYYYYY!!

So does that mean in a few years when I buy a house in the burbs..I'll get uber low interest rates???

 

[Moe Ghoul]

So does that mean in a few years when I buy a house in the burbs..I'll get uber low interest rates???

I have no idea. That's way too far out on my time horizon. I'm looking out 6 months to a year max. Depends on the election, if Bernanke stays or resigns, lotsa balls juggling in the air right now until year's end. Guaranteed that you'll prolly be in a sweet spot pricewise to buy a house, though.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I have no idea. That's way too far out on my time horizon. I'm looking out 6 months to a year max. Depends on the election, if Bernanke stays or resigns, lotsa balls juggling in the air right now until year's end. Guaranteed that you'll prolly be in a sweet spot pricewise to buy a house, though.

I read somewhere that home prices are going to drop another 13% or so before leveling off which would be awesome..

 

[ski_resort_observer]

AIG promised, as they all did, not to widely spend money like the drunk cowboy's they were when they the company was worth something in acepting OUR money. Lo and behold they went to a top executive retreat over the weekend and spent 400,00 of OUR money on all those things you get at a fancy spa resort.

They went before the congressional committee today to answer to the gang who passed the bailout. They got in trouble, their hands got slapped and a senator said "I am really upset now"! :lol:

Edit: I first put in Wachovia but changed it to the correct firm, AIG

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Wachovia one of the big banks involved in the bailout promised, as they all did, not to widely spend money like the drunk cowboy's they were when they the company was worth something. Lo and behold they went to a top executive retreat over the weekend and spent 400,00 of OUR money on all those things you get at a fancy spa resort.

They went before the congressional committee today to answer to the gang who passed the bailout. They got in trouble, their hands got slapped and a senator said "I am really upset now"! :lol:

400,000 is alot to spend at a massage..even if they all got massages with the happy endings..and took a giant mud bath together..something smells fishier than the fresh flown in sushi they indulged on at the expense of US taxpayers..

 

[roark]

Not that it wasn't outrageous especially given recent news events, but to play devils advocate a bit...
The majority of the AIG party funds were already spent (deposit - see the invoice here) and was probably not refundable. This party wasn't for the finance division either.

 

[Moe Ghoul]

Not that it wasn't outrageous especially given recent news events, but to play devils advocate a bit...
The majority of the AIG party funds were already spent (deposit - see the invoice here) and was probably not refundable. This party wasn't for the finance division either.

I think it was for there top independent agents.