Aspen (homes, building, run)

[carnut]

I realize that.............

Not looking for criticism here, looking for answers.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by carnut

I realize that.............

Not looking for criticism here, looking for answers.

I wasn't meaning to criticize, just stating some facts that may not always be readily apparent to everyone.

[sunsprit]

There's almost always a few larger homes ... 4bd/2-3-4-5 bath ... available for long term lease in the area.

Last place we looked at for some friends was up the creek past the Aspen School of Music, and leased for $10,000/month. It was right on the creek, had about 200 yards of creek frontage with a hot tub built right to the high water edge of the creek. Nestled in aspen trees on 2.5 acres against a hillside, it was private, seemingly remote site with (mostly) good access year 'round. An attached oversized 2 car garage helped with storage of skis, bicycles, etc. 4 bd/3ba, log cabin style, 2 fireplaces, modern kitchen. It was light and airy, lots of windows. Fairly energy efficient with triple pane windows, high efficiency propane boiler for the heating and domestic hot water. You'd need to arrange your own snowplowing service for the driveway, and utilities/services would average about $800-1000 per month for propane, electric, trash, satellite dish, etc.

It was available for lease while the owner was completing another house in Snowmass. The place sold for about $2.5mil to the folks who leased it. That was 3 years ago, and probably one of the best "values" available at the time in the area, not "fancy" or "pretentious" ... it was an older small non-winterized cabin that had been built out with a two-story "shell" around the original structure to gain square footage and a master suite on the upstairs level. Some of the interior walls on the lower level had the original log faces showing and the logs were now peeled and sealed with varnish. Comfortable, cozy, and charming ... very livable year 'round house for the right people.

The best way to find lease properties in/around the area is to contact drectly the property management/real estate offices in the various locations ... Aspen, GlenwoodSprings, Basalt, and so on.

As jazzl mentions ... land values in the area are rather "high". Other friends have paid in excess of $1mil for building sites nestled in parceled up ranch properties in the area; the sites "shared" common ground acreage for the development (don't forget HOA fees, which are steep), but only "owned" fee simple a "site" of a portion of an acre within the development. Another couple I stay with bought a home in Starwood ... about 2-3 acres, nice place ... about $18 mil, partially furnished at the time they bought it ... they were able to write a check for it. From what I'm told about most folks up that way, they don't get mortgages for these places ... if that gives you any feeling for the affluence of the people up there. It's not uncommon for them to have a garage full of very expensive collectable cars, either, for their local use in nice weather ... think Italian or German or English 7-figure cars.

I used to assist (with mechanical repairs) a dealership in Denver that kept high end cars for many of that group of people in on-call storage in Denver. When the owners flew into town, the cars were readied, and (generally) a chauffeur was provided to drive the owners (or their guests) up the hill. That predated the era of light business jets ... where the owners now fly directly into Aspen's airport or Eagle or Hayden (if they need a longer runway).

[Idunn]

Per your desire, two suggestions:

158.54 acres overlooking the Ruedi Reservoir. Never built on and adjacent to BLM land. Small creek crosses corner of property. Price: $4,900,000

20 acres of land with senior irrigation rights. A rare property with incredible views. But four miles from Aspen. Price: $10,700,000

Of course you could go down market with a custom built home near El Jebel on five acres for about 2.5m. I only spent a little time looking, and no shortage of lovely properties if one has the money. To find that you like best you've really just got to have feet on the ground and do some exploring. In doing so don't forget to also look up CO 133 towards Redstone, although perhaps farther from Aspen than you would prefer.

Not in the least inexpensive, but an area you might like would be on the far side of Aspen, towards Independence Pass. Something of a narrow if beautiful valley, with ready access into town.

[sunsprit]

I recall that the "lighting" budget for remodeling the house my friends bought up in Starwood was over $1.5mil for new fixtures and installation.

The interior decorator had a $3.0mil budget for draperies, curtains, wallpaper, painting, wall hangings, and a newly designed kitchen.

This is a weekend home during summer and winter months for my friends. They'll use it probably a total of 12 stays each year.

All in all, a rather ordinary budget and use for that location.

[carnut]

Seems like we will build our own home so we can get what we want. We have built many of our homes for that very reason, we could not find what we wanted.

So it seems we will have to lease until we locate the ideal building site.

So I suppose the next question would be the best schools. That has been touched on some. I think Basalt and Glenwood Springs has been mentioned as having good "stable" schools. The drive from Glenwood to Aspen is @ an hour??? (???)

I personally like Glenwood Springs better for so many reasons already mentioned here. I am thinking maybe we could find some land between the two cities for the final home site.

What about Carbondale?

Also, I have heard the HOA fees are high. But compared to what, and what is included for the fees. I know some places had 1,000 a month fees but it included everything from structure insurance to CATV. So yes they may seem high to some but actually were not bad if the bundled amenities are good. I have also seem some that were 1,000 a month and had nothing included. What is the norm for the area?

[carnut]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

I wasn't meaning to criticize, just stating some facts that may not always be readily apparent to everyone.

Sorry for the misunderstanding.

I know it is a resort community and strife comes with that sometimes. It is easy to see why some would not like an area because of the instability temporary populous.

[ditto]

Found this video clip of Aspen

[Mike from back east]

....is a story on Fab Homes and Fat Wallets....

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_7732987

[carnut]

Originally Posted by ditto

Found this video clip of Aspen

Hmmm. I suppose the lack of parenting would come into play here.

Thanks for the clip. I had heard they had the same problems as the big cities. It seems drugs are rampant everywhere we go.