John Nichols Broker in Vail Colorado

He is very informative, detailed, and treats you like a friend. I was very comfortable with John and of course very pleased when my home was sold to the third showing. In this difficult market having someone with experience helps and John will do the job.

 Michael Hoerl

Orange Electronic Services

Tel: 970-977-7203

If you would like to see the detailed information, just email me and I will forward it on to you.

Activity is picking up and my appraiser friends tell me the decline in prices has slowed to a point where stabilization is on the horizon.

 Gateway November Newsletter

I went back to 2007 and used it as a starting point going foreword as most consider that last big year before the real estate bubble popped for Vail Colorado.  I grouped all sales for the year (condos/townhomes, duplexes, single family homes) took the total sales dollars and divided it by the number of closings to get an average sale price.

I decided to compare Eagle-Vail to Homestead, and Wildridge as these 3 areas are considered to be related in size of homes, quality and mix of year round vs second home ownership.

I collected data on the three areas for the years of ’07,’08 and through the first 10 days of October to get a general picture of how average sale prices have changed since the melt down.

The overall picture surprised me.  Homestead’s average sold price has stayed static at $693K, while Wildridge has seen a price decline of 13% to an average sale price of $749K.  What was most surprising was Eagle-Vail’s decline of 43% for an average sale price of $461K thus far in ’09!

24 Deer Run, Eagle-Vail

I would have anticipated Eagle-Vail to have seen the lowest decline with all of its amenities not found in Homestead or Wildridge and it’s location on the Valley floor between Vail and Beaver Creek.

I then used the same years for sales and broke each area down by condo/townhome, duplex and single family.  In each category, Eagle-Vail has seen the biggest decline in average sale price and not by just a little bit.

Looking at the numbers it is abundantly clear to me that Eagle-Vail is undervalued and therefore a Vail CO Real Estate Deal.  If you are looking for an up valley deal, Eagle-Vail the place to focus.   Call me (970-331-6611) and let’s find the right property for you.

This is new construction from Hermes Resort Properties.  Hermes is selling 2,700+ sq ft 3 bed, 3.5bth homes starting at $1,068,765.00 in a community where trophy homes sell for more than $5mm. 

One Of Three Style Of Homes In Juniper TrailYou pick one of 15 remaining lots. All lots are $395K and are part of the purchase price of the home. If you close by years end on the lot, Hermes will hold the cost of the home for one year. That gives you time to pick one of the floor plans that fits on the lot you choose, time to pick the finishes and time to secure a construction loan (your lender or Herme’s lender). Lot Map For Juniper Trail

Deal?  You bet.  You are buying a luxury home in an exclusive community of trophy homes that sell in the $3mm to $5+mm range for a fraction of the price.  Not to mention you can personalize your home 

If you are one of the next 5 buyers, you will have a chance to win a $140,000 membership to the Red Sky Club.  One of the next 5 buyers will be the lucky recipient of a Red Sky Club membership courtesy of Hermes Resort Properties.

Contact me for additional information or for a site tour.

Click here to access the Vail MLS.

 Other links to Red Sky Ranch

Additional link to Red Sky Ranch

Juniper Trail Blog

Blog on Juniper Trail

Below are 10 reasons why short sales are so difficult.

1.  The listing broker does not know how to present a proper short sale package to the lender.  Short sales are complicated.  Often times the listing broker is not aware of  the short sale package required by the lender.  There are a specific set of documents (short sale package) the lender requires from the buyer before considering a short sale.    

2.  Hardship needs to be proved by the Seller.  Banks won’t consider a short sale if the Seller has other assets such as a 401K retirement fund.

 3.  The Seller naively thinks the lender will agree to take less than is owed.  Assuming the Seller gets the Bank to agree to a short sale, there is the matter of the dollar difference between what is owed and what the property will sell for, known as a deficiency.  Most likely the lender is going to want the Seller to pay the deficiency especially if the Seller has other assets like a 401K.

 4.  The lender is not the only lien holder.  Most properties that are in trouble have more than one lien.  The additional lien holders have to agree to release their lien.  Without being paid something they are not likely to agree.  If the property goes to auction they are out so if they are going to loose they will want the Seller to loose as well by forcing the property to go to auction.    

5.  The mortgage is held by an investor.   Chances are pretty good you make your mortgage payments to a servicer of your mortgage not the lender you got your mortgage from.  Your mortgage is part of a large block of mortgages (several hundred) held by an investor.  Culling your mortgage out of the block of mortgages and getting the investor to agree to take less is could take months.  By then the property will most likely have gone to auction.

  6.  The listing broker does not know how to find the Loss Mitigator.    Loss Mitigators like to deal with professional investors with proven track records.  If the broker doesn’t know how to contact the Mitigator, the file will sit at the bottom of the stack.   Even if the broker finds the Mitigator without a rapport or past history, the file will sit at the bottom of the pile

7.  A short sale contract will most likely end up in a stack of 200 to 300 other files.   Once the Seller accepts a contract it is sent off to the lender who turns it over to a Loss Mitigator which means it goes to the bottom of the pile.  If and when the Mitigator gets to the file and the package is not presented perfectly it will be thrown out.

8.  Buyer’s think they can purchase short sales for pennies on the dollar owed.   If you are an investor buying a block of short sales maybe.  If your offer is not close the the Broker Price Opinion (BPO) your chance are two, slim and none.

 9.  Supporting documents justifing the price offered are not submitted with the offer.  When the Mitigator gets the file and there are no supporting documents to justify the price offered, ie: repairs needed with costs,  the file will very likely be rejected or thrown out.

10.  The property goes to auction before getting a response form the lender.  Depending on how far along the foreclosure process is, there is an excellent chance the property will go to auction before the Mitigator reviews the offer.  Everyone looses.

If not short sales, then what?  Find a good broker and buy a well priced property—-before the market turns.

Below is a well priced property

24 Deer Run, Eagle-Vail

Short Sales In Vail Colorado

Find all Vail Colorado Listings

Link to Eagle-Vail information

What is a “short sale”? A short sale is a sale of real estate in which the proceeds from the sale fall short of the balance owed on a loan secured by the property sold. In a short sale, the bank or mortgage lender agrees to discount the loan balance because of an economic or financial hardship on the part of the seller.

The operative words being financial hardship. Lenders will sometimes agree to a short sale as a way to prevent foreclosure. Banks will consider short sales because it might result in a smaller financial loss than going through the foreclosure process.

In my opinion short sales are actually long sales or no sales. In many cases the Seller has not been in touch with the lender to discuss a possible short sale. Listings which advertise “possible short sale”, in my opion, mean the seller and or the lsiting agent have not discussed a possible short sale with the lender.

So what gernerally happens is a buyer comes along and submits an offer of 50 cents on the dollar the broker told him was owed to the lender. Couple of problems here, usually there is a 2d or even a 3d mortgage on the property which does not show up in the foreclosure records and the other lenders are going to have something to say about a short sale. Then there are the interest and penalty fees due that have been accuring since the seller stopped making payments.

The buyer submits a “low ball” offer which the seller agrees to because he thinks the lender will accept the offer and forgive the difference owed to the lender and everything will be just rosie for the seller and the buyer.

Months go by and no response from the lender. Why? Well, the seller never talked to the lender about a short sale, which means the seller did not, among other things, fill out a short sale package demonstrating a “financial hardship” to the lender.

The buyer no doubt, did not supply lots of written evidence to justify the low ball offer. Why? His broker didn’t know better.

So, the Seller submits the accepted low ball offer to the lender, who knows nothing about the short sale, the selling broker shows the listing as under contract, and the signed contract between the buyer and the seller ends up at the bottom of a pile of several hunderd other similar deals.

Months go by, the property shows as under contract, the buyer thinks he/she has made the deal of the century and one day a notice comes from the lender to the seller informing him he is now in foreclosure. Game over.

The buyer wasted months waiting to hear the bank has gladly accepted is low ball offer, the listing agent is out time an money spent marketing the property and the seller is now in foreclosure. Everbody looses.

This short sale senerio is a very simplistic demonstration to get the point across that short sales are strickly for the big boys and girls. Short sales are for savvy, knowlegdable investors who know how the short sale process works.

Banks are not going to accept offers of 50 cents on the dollar, banks are going to sell to investors who have a proven track record with them. The investors will then turn around and sell the property usually below market and pocket the difference.

If you are a buyer in this market there are lots of “steals” in the Vail Valley that come with no strings attached. All you need is a good broker to guide you.

If you are looking for a ranch deal, look no further.  This remote property is located in the heart of the Routt County National Forest, playground for outdoor enthusiasts.   Hunting , hiking, biking, snowmobiling, fishing, horse back riding and most any other outdoor activity you can think of is out your front door.

38 fenced acres with pasture, wetlands, pond, gladed Aspens and two streams and a home that is not your ordinary cabin.    Electric, phone, cell antenna, propane, septic.  This property is not only a deal this property is a steal.

For more information click on the flyer below.

More pictues and maps

Other ranch properties on the West Slope

Search Vail MLS for Ranch Properties

Click on the link below for more info.

3bed,3.5bth,2car garage, sited on a quiet street.  Completely renovated from the roof to the basement.

For more information click on the flyer below.