With a nationwide downturn in real estate values this summer, and a general "stay put" mentality of buyers, the perception is that the real estate market has hit the doldrums.
But inside this dark cloud, there may be a silver lining for land owners who have been waiting to build, or for buyers who want to relocate and build that dream home.
One builder reports that his costs for building materials have dropped by 7-8 percent, and the labor market, particularly carpenters, have come down off their "high horse" prices of $26-$28/hour to the $18 - $20/hour range. Assuming a 45% - 55% split between labor and materials in a typical 2,500 sq. ft building project, with a budget of $140 per foot, this project could now be built for about $117 per foot, or a savings of $59,000, or almost 17 percent.
The trades (electricians, plumbers, roofers, HVAC folks are reportedly softening their "silver-spoon" subcontractor pricing practices to reflect the decrease in demand for their services.
Local lenders report that their rates have dropped to historic lows, although their credit requirements have tightened (thanks to the sub-prime debacle) and their appraisals are more conservative.
Land values have remained stable, however, in Ouray County at about $125,000 for an in-town building site, and $150,000 for 1 - 5 acres in a County Planned Unit Development. Of course, big views, golf course amenities, or swanky neighborhoods generally move that higher, but even the front row center lots in Pleasant valley have seen some softening. 3-4 acre lots that sold in the mid-$400k range a year ago have dropped to the high $300k range.
So, before you think this is not a good time to buy or build, consider that the softening labor market, plus reductions in building materials costs and interest rates that might just open a door for you that was closed as recently as the end of 2007.
To discuss this trend further, give me a call at (970) 417-9517.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Winter Daydreaming - Need a Beach Fix?
Wow! What a difference a month can make! Ouray County is coated - no, covered up in snow. Long-timers say they haven't seen this much snow since the early 80s. A drive through Ouray tells the story: Snow is piled up 10-12 feet in places, and the normally wide sidestreets are one-lane wide. Parking spaces at the Courthouse are scarce, and look like they were tunneled-out of huge piles of the white stuff. And it continues. Snowpack levels on Red Mountain are said to be 190% of normal, and the pass that never closes has already seen a couple of two and three day stretches where traffic had to divert around to Lizard Head due to avalanche control.
As I stare out my window here west of Colona, my thoughs turn to beach fixes. I notice that my sun-sand-surf loving wife is getting a little edgy. Might be time to plan another trip south.
We've done the Mexico thing, and even gave Panama a whirl a couple of years ago. But our hearts and minds have fallen in love with Nicaragua, where we spent the best 9 days with kids last year.
For those of you who might raise their eyebrows and perceive this as a dangerous third world nation, let me assure you otherwise. The only thing "third" about it is the prices - about one-third of any other sunspot we've tried. Lobster dinners $9. Beer $0.65 each. and the Flor de Cana rum (to die for) is a whopping $4 a litre. We rented a villa at the swanky Piedras y Olas (Pelican Eyes) resort that slept six comfortably, had a full kitchen with all the amenities, a fabulous restaurant and two pools over looking the picturesque bay at San Juan del Sur for a price of $108 per night. And THAT was the most expensive place in town! We chartered a fully crewed sailboat all day for a cruise down the coast toward Costa Rica, that included drinks, snacks and an awesome lunch on a remote beachhead - total bill? $400 for our whole group.
We spent two nights in the beautiful and ancient city of Granada, on the shores of Nicaragua's largest lake. Founded in the 1500s by the Spanish Conquistadors, it is like a trip to old Spain. And the zip-line tour we took down the side of a volcano through the rain forest canopy was memorable, even for my 10 yr old.
Anyone who wants to learn more can simply dial-up http://www.toursnicaragua.com/ and contact my good friend Mike Newton (formerly of New Orleans) or Richard (an ex-Boulderite) to plan a very cost-effective trip to Nicaragua. Even the airfares (under $600 ex Montrose) are reasonable.
As I stare out my window here west of Colona, my thoughs turn to beach fixes. I notice that my sun-sand-surf loving wife is getting a little edgy. Might be time to plan another trip south.
We've done the Mexico thing, and even gave Panama a whirl a couple of years ago. But our hearts and minds have fallen in love with Nicaragua, where we spent the best 9 days with kids last year.
For those of you who might raise their eyebrows and perceive this as a dangerous third world nation, let me assure you otherwise. The only thing "third" about it is the prices - about one-third of any other sunspot we've tried. Lobster dinners $9. Beer $0.65 each. and the Flor de Cana rum (to die for) is a whopping $4 a litre. We rented a villa at the swanky Piedras y Olas (Pelican Eyes) resort that slept six comfortably, had a full kitchen with all the amenities, a fabulous restaurant and two pools over looking the picturesque bay at San Juan del Sur for a price of $108 per night. And THAT was the most expensive place in town! We chartered a fully crewed sailboat all day for a cruise down the coast toward Costa Rica, that included drinks, snacks and an awesome lunch on a remote beachhead - total bill? $400 for our whole group.
We spent two nights in the beautiful and ancient city of Granada, on the shores of Nicaragua's largest lake. Founded in the 1500s by the Spanish Conquistadors, it is like a trip to old Spain. And the zip-line tour we took down the side of a volcano through the rain forest canopy was memorable, even for my 10 yr old.
Anyone who wants to learn more can simply dial-up http://www.toursnicaragua.com/ and contact my good friend Mike Newton (formerly of New Orleans) or Richard (an ex-Boulderite) to plan a very cost-effective trip to Nicaragua. Even the airfares (under $600 ex Montrose) are reasonable.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Politics: Ouray County, Colorado - style
The Silent Majority "Shouted It Ot!"
Election times are always a scream in Ouray County. Besides the obvious two main parties, The Elephants and the Jackasses, there exists an ever growing number of Independent voters who now might just be deciding the important questions. I am proud to be a new member of that nebulous, murky, mostly silent bunch - the G D I's. In this last election, the silent ones look like they swayed the vote.
Earlier in November, 2007 the voters sent down to the bottom of the proverbial septic tank two proposals: One a not-so-thinly veiled measure that would eliminate term limits (so a standing RINO county commissioner could be re-elected) and the other a sales/use tax on construction spending - that would shift the burden of improving our "rapidly declining gravel county road system" to the newcomers, or anyone else who wanted to expand or improve their property.
One sitting commissioner, Don Batchelder, is a Republican. Batchelder is term limited due to an amendment to the Colorado State Constitution that limits County Commissioners to two terms (unless, of course, the local county voters vote to abolish term limits for that office. It had already happened for the County Assessor position.)Yet his support base is largely DEMOCRAT (short for: lock the gate, stop development, give the highways back to the deer, and let the public do whatever they please on private lands while government regulates the heck out of what a private landowner can do on his own land.)
His coronies figured out that the best way to re-elect him in 2009 was to re-elect him in 2008 - by removing term limits so he could run. With a local grass-roots organization called ROCC (Ridgway-Ouray Communist Council) trumpeting these positions, there was quite a public campaign to eliminate term limits, mainly a letter writing campaign signed by the usual suspects.
Despite their best efforts to "turn out the vote" the de-facto re-election of Batchelder was sent down in flames by the silent, but voting majority.
Election times are always a scream in Ouray County. Besides the obvious two main parties, The Elephants and the Jackasses, there exists an ever growing number of Independent voters who now might just be deciding the important questions. I am proud to be a new member of that nebulous, murky, mostly silent bunch - the G D I's. In this last election, the silent ones look like they swayed the vote.
Earlier in November, 2007 the voters sent down to the bottom of the proverbial septic tank two proposals: One a not-so-thinly veiled measure that would eliminate term limits (so a standing RINO county commissioner could be re-elected) and the other a sales/use tax on construction spending - that would shift the burden of improving our "rapidly declining gravel county road system" to the newcomers, or anyone else who wanted to expand or improve their property.
One sitting commissioner, Don Batchelder, is a Republican. Batchelder is term limited due to an amendment to the Colorado State Constitution that limits County Commissioners to two terms (unless, of course, the local county voters vote to abolish term limits for that office. It had already happened for the County Assessor position.)Yet his support base is largely DEMOCRAT (short for: lock the gate, stop development, give the highways back to the deer, and let the public do whatever they please on private lands while government regulates the heck out of what a private landowner can do on his own land.)
His coronies figured out that the best way to re-elect him in 2009 was to re-elect him in 2008 - by removing term limits so he could run. With a local grass-roots organization called ROCC (Ridgway-Ouray Communist Council) trumpeting these positions, there was quite a public campaign to eliminate term limits, mainly a letter writing campaign signed by the usual suspects.
Despite their best efforts to "turn out the vote" the de-facto re-election of Batchelder was sent down in flames by the silent, but voting majority.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
New Affordable Housing Site Designated in Ridgway
So what if you could buy a 3 bedroom two & half bath townhome for about $100,000 lower than the free market price, and sit on your porch each evening and watch the Alpenview glow against the Cimarrons?
Now you can. Homepoint Construction of Ridgway has just announced tri-plex townhomes starting at $248,000 being offered under the Town's affordable housing program. Contact Brian Kolowich @ RE/MAX Cimarron Realty (800) 530-8791 to see how you can pick up one of these properties.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Watching the Big Game
Ridgway is full of transplanted fans from all over the country. West Coasters ( shout-outs to Al Campbell and Randy Gregory) bring their affinity for California teams such as the Chargers, UCLA, the Dodgers and the Padres. Midwesterners, such myself pull for anything Detroit _______or Michigan _______(just fill in the blank.) Good southerners (Frankie Pope, and me, again,) love our North Carolina teams like UNC and Wake Forest.
Then there is the Louisiana sub-culture that has settled into Ouray, bringing an authentic slice of New Orleans (awesome food seasoned with authentic "yat" accents and witticisms) whose epicenter is The Papillon Bakery, where proprietor Jody Honold cranks out Shrimp Po-Boys, Jambalaya, Etoufee' and heavenly pastries, which can be washed down with a cup of Community Coffee or a Barq's Creme Soda. He hosts a New Orleans Saints or LSU "lovefest" each weekend for any or all who want to cheer the Black & Gold or the Bayou Bengals.
But today is the grandaddy rivalry of them all: Michigan vs Ohio State. Where to watch? Gotta be the Doghouse Bar & Grill in Ridgway! Proprietor Darrin Grieves has created Ouray County's best sportsbar atmosphere and eaterie, which features fat, plump hot wings, sandwiches, big burgers and a choiceof 7 or 8 beers on tap. Darrin is a die hard Ohio State Buckeye fan, who will allow Michigan fans through the door and take your money, but drop by often to grind it in if Ohio State is winning. Last year he welcomed Michigan fans by setting up a child's table and chairs in the foyer, with a black & white TV and a sign "Michigan Section." It was all in fun. But with three big HD screens, the Doghouse Grill is my favorite spot in town to watch any sporting event.
Next: Have Jeep-Have Fun!
Then there is the Louisiana sub-culture that has settled into Ouray, bringing an authentic slice of New Orleans (awesome food seasoned with authentic "yat" accents and witticisms) whose epicenter is The Papillon Bakery, where proprietor Jody Honold cranks out Shrimp Po-Boys, Jambalaya, Etoufee' and heavenly pastries, which can be washed down with a cup of Community Coffee or a Barq's Creme Soda. He hosts a New Orleans Saints or LSU "lovefest" each weekend for any or all who want to cheer the Black & Gold or the Bayou Bengals.
But today is the grandaddy rivalry of them all: Michigan vs Ohio State. Where to watch? Gotta be the Doghouse Bar & Grill in Ridgway! Proprietor Darrin Grieves has created Ouray County's best sportsbar atmosphere and eaterie, which features fat, plump hot wings, sandwiches, big burgers and a choiceof 7 or 8 beers on tap. Darrin is a die hard Ohio State Buckeye fan, who will allow Michigan fans through the door and take your money, but drop by often to grind it in if Ohio State is winning. Last year he welcomed Michigan fans by setting up a child's table and chairs in the foyer, with a black & white TV and a sign "Michigan Section." It was all in fun. But with three big HD screens, the Doghouse Grill is my favorite spot in town to watch any sporting event.
Next: Have Jeep-Have Fun!
Friday, November 16, 2007
Gotta Start Somewhere ... Here goes!
If you found this, you're among the first. I decided to start this blog because I seem to spend most of my time answering questions and giving people the "inside track" on living and enjoying Ridgway, Ouray and Southwestern Colorado. If you have specific questions, feel free to email me ort post a comment and I'll clarify, expand, or do what I do best - embelish!
I'll also try to post regularly, on whatever comes to mind - kind of a "subject du jour" if you will.
HOW I GOT HERE-Some little known history of Ridgway and Loghill Village
I was first exposed to Ridgway on a male bonding trip through Colorado with my father, Fred Kolowich in 1971. I was a tender 15 years old. Whether he had brought me along to tell me about the birds and the bees (too late, I had figured it out already) or to buy me my first beer (too late for that, too, thanks to my oldest brother Michael) I do not know. But he shooed away my mother Lynn from the trip, claiming we were going to "rough it, and she would not enjoy herself. Having never taken me camping up until that point, I should've guessed it when we "roughed-it" right into the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, then on to Cripple Creek where we toured a mine (not operating because gold was $35/ounce,) then on to Telluride for Fourth of July.
My dad had been chairman of Denver-Chicago Trucking Company, based in Denver, but among the nation's largest coast-to-coast carriers until the mid 1960s. We still lived in a suburb of Detroit, though, Grosse Pointe Farms.
Fred got a call from an old aquaintance, William "O. "Bill" Wright, who had discovered the valley around Ridgway and had a vision of a 21st century city and thinktank called the Free Enterprise Institute. This was to become an institutional thinktank for conservativism and capitalism, set on a 60 acre site in what is now known as Loghill Village.
My father was not an avowed conservative, but a bit of a capitalist. Wright tried to entice him into investing in the venture, but my dad was skeptical of his timelines and projections: 12,000 residents on land he had optioned on Loghill Mesa stretching from current Loghill Village clear back to the McKenzie Buttes.
He opted, instead for an opportunity to acquire a ranch in the valley, then owned by the Schell Brothers of Montrose. It was a broken down place, with a homestead cabin allegedly settled in 1873 by Mike Cuddigan. It was later lived in by Wade Carmichael, who operated a meat market in Ridgway in the 1940s and 1950s. I think he paid $135,000 for the 275 acres, along with some very good, high-priority water rights. Part of this ranch is now known as Eagle Hill Ranch (more on that later)
The deal was if he bought the ranch, Wright and his cronies would change the water rights from agricultural to domestic use, then construct a pumping system to pump up the face of Loghill Mesa through the Cass Stanislawski property, and into a water system to serve the envisioned communities. This all took place, and for twenty or so year we leased water to Dallas Creek water Commpany, which is still the vendor of treated water to Loghill Village, Divide Ranch & Club, and its environs.
While all this was going on, I visited Ridgway regularly. During my college years in 1973-1977 I fixed up the old cabin and called it home for ski trips to Telluride or summer journeys to the San Juans. New Orleans had become my home during those years because I attended Tulane University. But by then, the San Juan region was getting under my skin. I will tell some of those stories, including the ghost in the cabin later.
By the time I graduated from college in 1977, I knew I wanted to be here. I had earned a real estate license via coursework at Tulane, and got the Colorado equivalent in the Summer of 1977. That was the year Loghill Village went on the market, so I was placed in an office in Ouray (under the able tutledge of John Lesnefsky) and attempted to snag tourists off the sidewalk. Sold some lots that summer, made some money and got a real taste for real estate. Why? I could think of no better place in the world to be working and selling people on the area - although it did pretty much sell itself.
I'll end now, and pick-up later with some more contemporary topics, but promise to add some historical tidbits.
I'll also try to post regularly, on whatever comes to mind - kind of a "subject du jour" if you will.
HOW I GOT HERE-Some little known history of Ridgway and Loghill Village
I was first exposed to Ridgway on a male bonding trip through Colorado with my father, Fred Kolowich in 1971. I was a tender 15 years old. Whether he had brought me along to tell me about the birds and the bees (too late, I had figured it out already) or to buy me my first beer (too late for that, too, thanks to my oldest brother Michael) I do not know. But he shooed away my mother Lynn from the trip, claiming we were going to "rough it, and she would not enjoy herself. Having never taken me camping up until that point, I should've guessed it when we "roughed-it" right into the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, then on to Cripple Creek where we toured a mine (not operating because gold was $35/ounce,) then on to Telluride for Fourth of July.
My dad had been chairman of Denver-Chicago Trucking Company, based in Denver, but among the nation's largest coast-to-coast carriers until the mid 1960s. We still lived in a suburb of Detroit, though, Grosse Pointe Farms.
Fred got a call from an old aquaintance, William "O. "Bill" Wright, who had discovered the valley around Ridgway and had a vision of a 21st century city and thinktank called the Free Enterprise Institute. This was to become an institutional thinktank for conservativism and capitalism, set on a 60 acre site in what is now known as Loghill Village.
My father was not an avowed conservative, but a bit of a capitalist. Wright tried to entice him into investing in the venture, but my dad was skeptical of his timelines and projections: 12,000 residents on land he had optioned on Loghill Mesa stretching from current Loghill Village clear back to the McKenzie Buttes.
He opted, instead for an opportunity to acquire a ranch in the valley, then owned by the Schell Brothers of Montrose. It was a broken down place, with a homestead cabin allegedly settled in 1873 by Mike Cuddigan. It was later lived in by Wade Carmichael, who operated a meat market in Ridgway in the 1940s and 1950s. I think he paid $135,000 for the 275 acres, along with some very good, high-priority water rights. Part of this ranch is now known as Eagle Hill Ranch (more on that later)
The deal was if he bought the ranch, Wright and his cronies would change the water rights from agricultural to domestic use, then construct a pumping system to pump up the face of Loghill Mesa through the Cass Stanislawski property, and into a water system to serve the envisioned communities. This all took place, and for twenty or so year we leased water to Dallas Creek water Commpany, which is still the vendor of treated water to Loghill Village, Divide Ranch & Club, and its environs.
While all this was going on, I visited Ridgway regularly. During my college years in 1973-1977 I fixed up the old cabin and called it home for ski trips to Telluride or summer journeys to the San Juans. New Orleans had become my home during those years because I attended Tulane University. But by then, the San Juan region was getting under my skin. I will tell some of those stories, including the ghost in the cabin later.
By the time I graduated from college in 1977, I knew I wanted to be here. I had earned a real estate license via coursework at Tulane, and got the Colorado equivalent in the Summer of 1977. That was the year Loghill Village went on the market, so I was placed in an office in Ouray (under the able tutledge of John Lesnefsky) and attempted to snag tourists off the sidewalk. Sold some lots that summer, made some money and got a real taste for real estate. Why? I could think of no better place in the world to be working and selling people on the area - although it did pretty much sell itself.
I'll end now, and pick-up later with some more contemporary topics, but promise to add some historical tidbits.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
