Telluride versus Aspen for second home (Vail, Mountain Village: sales, rentals, condos)

[StepRN3]

My husband and I are looking for a condo or house to buy that is close to skiing and we could rent it out at other times of the year. What is the main difference between Telluride and Aspen? We are especially interested in doing this now since the prices have dropped due to the economy. Any input is appreciated.

[zionvier]

Personally I prefer Telluride because it's still has more of the smaller mountain town feel. You'll get more for your money in Telluride. Aspen has much more glitz and glamor to put it nicely. I personally prefer the skiing and snowboarding in Telluride over Aspen as well. But on the other hand, when dealing with investment properties, I'd think Aspen would be the better of the two. I guess it kind of depends on how nice of a place you're looking to buy, whether you're planning on doing a Vacation Rental of it or if you plan on getting a 6month or year lease from a local.

Based on your post I'd assume you're thinking that you're thinking of going with a vacation rental as opposed to a 6 month rental. Which in that case, I'd think Aspen would probably give you more opportunities to rent it.

I'd probably jump on VRBO® is Vacation Rentals By Owner and look up what other vacation rentals are renting for in the area. Then assume the VR management company will be taking anywhere from 40-60% of that for management costs and that it will probably be rented a lot in late November through mid January and then in March... Then compare the prices between the two areas to actually buy it and see which would give you the best return on investment. Telluride has a good chance of one day exploding in price (but that might take 30+ years) where Aspen you can pretty much know exactly what your rate of return will end up being.

Hope some of that helps.

[lalahartma]

Another vote for T-ride. I probably will not be returning to Aspen.

[dufc2008]

Originally Posted by StepRN3

My husband and I are looking for a condo or house to buy that is close to skiing and we could rent it out at other times of the year. What is the main difference between Telluride and Aspen? We are especially interested in doing this now since the prices have dropped due to the economy. Any input is appreciated.

You can't completely compare the two. Telluride has a small Alps-ish feel but not as much Apres-ski. Aspen is more like a city. It has good nightlife, etc, and in my opinion the skiing is better. But its expensive so lets hope you have lots to burn.

[Scott5280]

Aspen has a stronger vacation rental market, while Telluride has held it's peak value a bit better..especailly Mountain Village..but that being said when anything falls below $1,000 psf. in Aspen your doing very well. Look East to the properties near Smugglers..more for your money. As a former Aspenite who's family established one of the original merchantile's in town I easily choose Aspen, of course no bias what so ever.. Aspen is the grand daddy of High Country splendor with the best restaurants..yum the original Compo Di Fiori.

[Nav]

You never mentioned your price range in your original post. In Vail, a small house, even 20 miles out of town will cost you around 700k. In town, substantially higher. Condos will run between 450k and up for small units. Telluride is cheaper, but not by that much.

A condo in a ski town is everyone's dream...that is, until pricing reality sets in.

The economic downturn hit a lot of areas, but those who own houses and condos in either place were pretty much immune from its impact. To most, its an "affluent playground" for weekend getaways. There are not a lot of "working" class residents owning these properties so available selections with good prices will be rare.

Nav

[lalahartma]

Telluride. Aspen annoys.

[KateG7669]

[quote=zionvier;6504104]Personally I prefer Telluride because it's still has more of the smaller mountain town feel. You'll get more for your money in Telluride. Aspen has much more glitz and glamor to put it nicely.

I would have to agree, Telluride is much smaller and is a really neat historic town, where Aspen has more of the city vibe to it. So it all depends on what fits you best. Skiing is good in both areas I would suggest spending a few weekends during the season at each to see which fits your life style better. good luck!

[jazzlover]

If you want to surround yourself with rich, mostly pretentious jerks--some of whom fancy themselves as rich current and former hippies, then Telluride is your place.

If you want to surround yourself with REALLY, REALLY rich, mostly pretentious jerks--a few of whom fancy themselves as REALLY, REALLY rich current and former hippies, then Aspen is your place.

Neither is a "real" town--both are cartoon versions of what a bunch of wealthy out-of-staters think Colorado should be. By the way, my former in-laws grew up in Telluride back when it was a real mining town. They don't even like to visit there now.

[sunsprit]

I'll take Aspen any day over Telluride.

Both have their share of excessive affluence and all the various personalities, glitz, and glamour that come with the territory ... but Aspen has a lot more of all the "stuff" that makes the town what it is.

Aspen is much more accessible, which means more traffic for your rental market. Telluride sits at the end of a valley with essentially only one way in and out, and the airstrip is rather limited in it's capabilities compared to Aspen. I can fly into Aspen and usually bum a ride into town or get the bus, or ride my bicycle up to friends houses in the area in the summer months; Telluride is an expensive cab ride into town (and then back) no matter what as the airstrip is on a mesa outside of town up a steep hill. Plus, Aspen has ready access to all the other activities of the valley (Reudi res, for example), while once you're in Telluride, you're going to be doing everything just in Telluride.

In the summer months, the arts/culture scene is much stronger in Aspen with the many concerts, conferences, and activities. Telluride has a couple of festivals, but not on the magnitude and scope of the Aspen summer season.

As an aside, I'd have to take exception to Jazzlover's generalization of all the folks in Aspen (or Telluride, for that matter). I know too many people who are hard working people doing construction, ski patrolling, instructing, guiding, working long hours in the "back side of the house" restaurant jobs, hospitality work (cleaning rooms, maintenance crews, laundry, carpentry, HVAC), retail sales ... often times, several of these jobs at the same time. Many work a long winter day, starting with snow removal, ski industry jobs, then a hospitality job in the evening ... just to make ends meet so they can afford to live up there and ski now and then and absorb the "magic" of the place. Most have shared housing arrangements, and very modest living conditions ... with no savings, no retirement, little or no benefits. I know many who have been in Aspen for 20-30-40 years and still must work those schedules because they've never been able to save any money at the prices up there. Yes, there are a bunch of pretentious ultra-wealthy folk up there, and I know a number of them, too, and have been their frequent house guest through the years ... but I also know a number of low key ultra-wealthy folk up there, and you wouldn't know that they have the money they do by their behavior. Their first rule of wealth is to not act in any way that draws attention to their wealth ... other than the fact that they can quietly afford to be in an expensive neighborhood, they're not driving the flashy cars, wearing the pounds of jewelry, flashing the bid wads of cash and conspicuously spending it in a "look at me!" manner. Many of my college friends from the 1960's families had condo's or homes in the area way back then ... and now, my generation owns the places; many are not by any standard "rich", they've had decent careers and are now retiring, but certainly don't have the resources to play the snobbery games. If it wasn't for the rental incomes they get for their places, they couldn't even afford the taxes on them, let alone the upkeep/maintenance/furnishings to stay in the rental market. And I'd hardly characterize them as "old hippies" ... they weren't into that scene as college age kids, and they aren't now.