vacation home in the mountains...

[TenaciousTgarden 14]

We are considering buying a vacation home/rental/land in either in New Mexico or southern Colorado. The purpose of this would be to GTFO of Austin in the hellscape that is July/August with our boys (7 and 5) since we can both work remotely, and then rent out at other times to make some income/offset the costs. 

We have not spent a ton of time in either area - been to Ruidoso once which we loved, and been around many parts of Colorado but never for longer than a week or so. Looking for an area that is not crazy pricey (i.e., most of the mountain areas near Denver are too expensive, and are also a bit far north if we are driving from ATX).  Loved the scenery around Ruidoso but worry that it's kind of a crappy area otherwise? 

Curious what your favorite mountain towns are to spend time in and around.  Ideas floated so far are Angel Fire, Red River, Taos, Ruidoso, Pagosa Springs, Durango. 

 

[Chewbacca 7780]

My favorites in southern CO are Telluride, Ouray and Durango.  All are very pricey with Durango probably being the least expensive of the 3.  Telluride is by far the most expensive.  At this point, you've got to pay to play if you want to be in a popular area.  Durango and Telluride are going to have the most to do outside of the outdoors.

 

I tried to get my wife to move to Durango (full time) a few years ago.  She said no.  

[Biff Tannen 45691]

2 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

My favorites in southern CO are Telluride, Ouray and Durango.  All are very pricey with Durango probably being the least expensive of the 3.  Telluride is by far the most expensive.  At this point, you've got to pay to play if you want to be in a popular area.  Durango and Telluride are going to have the most to do outside of the outdoors.

 

I tried to get my wife to move to Durango (full time) a few years ago.  She said no.  

Yep, I've been looking in that area since last summer.  Prices went nuts over the past year, but are starting to stabilize.  Still not cheap.  Everyone had the same idea.  Telluride is the next Jackson Hole, price-wise.  Billionaires gonna be driving out the millionaires.

[ChickenSandwich 9843]

Family place in Cloudcroft is great.  Super small town, 9 hole golf course...an hour to Ruidoso, or white sands.  Beautiful area

[Texas St. Armadillos 1381]

That's where I see myself in 5 years.

[MoJames 8244]

2 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

My favorites in southern CO are Telluride, Ouray and Durango.  All are very pricey with Durango probably being the least expensive of the 3.  Telluride is by far the most expensive.  At this point, you've got to pay to play if you want to be in a popular area.  Durango and Telluride are going to have the most to do outside of the outdoors.

 

I tried to get my wife to move to Durango (full time) a few years ago.  She said no.  

No Durango sucks, don't come here.

[Chewbacca 7780]

11 minutes ago, MoJames said:

No Durango sucks, don't come here.

I heard it was full.  Same goes for Grand County.  The last piece of buildable land got sold last week.  

[immamac 42864]

Probably cheaper and less headache to just rent a place for 2 months in the summer. 

[ztejas 43475]

3 minutes ago, immamac said:

Probably cheaper and less headache to just rent a place for 2 months in the summer. 

I hear timeshares are great. 

[Chewbacca 7780]

12 minutes ago, ztejas said:

I hear timeshares are great. 

I hear that if you french fry when you're supposed to pizza, you're gonna have a bad time.

[ChickenSandwich 9843]

4 hours ago, immamac said:

Probably cheaper and less headache to just rent a place for 2 months in the summer. 

Or a RV

Edited October 7, 2021 by ChickenSandwich

[gmr548 16580]

Probably cheaper and less headache to just rent a place for 2 months in the summer. 

This x 100

[Quagmire 2147]

Pagosa is my favorite , wolf creek is never that crowded

[Chewbacca 7780]

Or a RV

Only if you spring for the sex tent.

[topochico 1049]

Location is up to you. Every place you are looking is great. I suggest narrowing down to a location or two and keep visiting it during each of the 4 seasons to see if there is enough enjoyment for your family year round.  If Durango wasn't full, that would be my choice from your options. 

We initially dreamed of a remote mountain home, but after looking at in town, remote and stuff in between, we realized that we did not want to deal with maintaining it from 2 states away. Get a good realtor that knows the area and will show you a variety of options.

You definitely need to plan on maintaining the property while you are gone. Condos/Townhomes are much easier than a free standing home. HOA will deal with roof/exterior maintenance and snow removal but you do have neighbors. For the most part, it will be lock and leave which is really nice. I like not having to spend my time up there fixing stuff every day instead of enjoying the area.

Smart home features can make things easier (cameras, leak detectors, automatic leak water heater shut off, wifi thermostats etc), but nothing replaces having eyes on it with snow, storms, animals etc. Someone above me had a hot water heater leak about two months ago. Thankfully, we caught it early. Get a trustworthy caretaker to come by at least once a month. It saved me from extensive damage.You also need to plan for outside lawn care and snow removal for a free standing home. It can really suck to drive up at night and and see a driveway full of snow. 

All that being said, if they fit for you, it can be pretty awesome. Just make sure you will use it enough to make the headaches that will pop up worth it. If we weren't planning to eventually move up permanently I don't know that we would have taken the plunge. But so far, no ragrets. 

 

[txhorns 2409]

Check out Creede, Co.  It's a neat little town east of Pagosa Springs by about an hour.

[Bernard 879]

7 hours ago, immamac said:

Probably cheaper and less headache to just rent a place for 2 months in the summer. 

That’s what I said in the summer of 2011 while leasing a studio apartment two blocks off Main St. in Frisco, Colorado for $800/month. At the time, studio condos at the nearby Cedar Lodge Condominiums were selling for $100,000 to $110,000. Why bother buying? Now that same apartment is renting for $1,500/month (saw it on Craigslist last week) and the condos are selling for $425,000. #shouldhaveboughtone

OP just go ahead and buy the most expensive house you can possibly stomach. You’re going to lease it out most of time anyway. Think of it as an investment, not an expense. The only actual expense is the opportunity cost you incur when you occupy it yourself.

Bernard

[Hate 20112]

That’s what I said in the summer of 2011 while leasing a studio apartment two blocks off Main St. in Frisco, Colorado for $800/month. At the time, studio condos at the nearby Cedar Lodge Condominiums were selling for $100,000 to $110,000. Why bother buying? Now that same apartment is renting for $1,500/month (saw it on Craigslist last week) and the condos are selling for $425,000. #shouldhaveboughtone
OP just go ahead and buy the most expensive house you can possibly stomach. You’re going to lease it out most of time anyway. Think of it as an investment, not an expense. The only actual expense is the opportunity cost you incur when you occupy it yourself.
Bernard

This is exactly right. Reserve it for what ever times you and your family plan on being there and then lease it out for the rest of the time. You’ll have it paid off in 10 years, it will appreciate during that time, and you’ll get to enjoy it as often as possible.

[Chewbacca 7780]

That’s what I said in the summer of 2011 while leasing a studio apartment two blocks off Main St. in Frisco, Colorado for $800/month. At the time, studio condos at the nearby Cedar Lodge Condominiums were selling for $100,000 to $110,000. Why bother buying? Now that same apartment is renting for $1,500/month (saw it on Craigslist last week) and the condos are selling for $425,000. #shouldhaveboughtone
OP just go ahead and buy the most expensive house you can possibly stomach. You’re going to lease it out most of time anyway. Think of it as an investment, not an expense. The only actual expense is the opportunity cost you incur when you occupy it yourself.
Bernard

OP, look into local short term rental rules. Mountain communities are really struggling with housing and many are introducing restrictions on short term rentals. If you can't get a STR permit, you can't do short term rentals. Only long term.

[Chewbacca 7780]

This is exactly right. Reserve it for what ever times you and your family plan on being there and then lease it out for the rest of the time. You’ll have it paid off in 10 years, it will appreciate during that time, and you’ll get to enjoy it as often as possible.

Is not quite the panacea you are suggesting. Nobody rents in October, November, April or May. And September & June are not super busy.

I would not buy as an investment. I would only buy if you plan on using a lot.

[TenaciousTgarden 14]

Thanks for the advice - and topo thanks for your experience.  Still trying to figure out if we actually want to do this, and Durango is in the lead mostly because it's a slightly bigger city and might offer more opportunities for summer day camps for the kids while we have to put in work hours. Telluride is definitely far beyond our budget but probably my favorite place in Colorado that I've ever been to.  I see the convenience in a condo or townhome but blergh, would love to have space and not share walls.

I do think about moving full time down the road, especially as climate change makes summer here less and less bearable (no CR, just the facts), and also like the idea of being able to make rental income when we aren't using it. We would hire a property manager for when we are not in town, which does eat into income, but would cut down on hassle some. Prices for rentals throughout the summer seem to be at least $300/night for anywhere decent, and some places are already booking up for 2022.  Renting a place for two months in Durango in the summer is pretty damn pricey - a 12 night stay at a pretty basic 2 bedroom house outside of Durango was around $5k - would much rather be investing in property than dumping $10k+ every summer.  

NM is cheaper, but rental prices are not going to be as high.  I just prefer Colorado overall (I know Durango is full, but so is Austin - ATX will be happy to lose us for a period of time).

I think we are going to start out by spending a couple weeks in Durango next summer and go from there.  

Edited October 8, 2021 by TenaciousTgarden

[Brew 3049]

On 10/7/2021 at 12:18 AM, Chewbacca said:

Is not quite the panacea you are suggesting. Nobody rents in October, November, April or May. And September & June are not super busy.

I would not buy as an investment. I would only buy if you plan on using a lot.

This with a caveat, you don’t necessarily have to use it a lot for it to still be worth it just maybe not financially. We use ours probably 12 weeks +/- every year and have been as little as 6-8. For the two months that we are there in the summer, owning it is a much better deal. All of our crap is already there, I bought the mattresses so I know what I’m sleeping on for two months, all the kitchen stuff is ours, etc. If I was doing it a week at a time off an on, I would go back to renting. For an extended stay, owning is the way to go if you can swing it.

[Chewbacca 7780]

Just now, Brew said:

This with a caveat, you don’t necessarily have to use it a lot for it to still be worth it just maybe not financially. We use ours probably 12 weeks +/- every year and have been as little as 6-8. For the two months that we are there in the summer, owning it is a much better deal. All of our crap is already there, I bought the mattresses so I know what I’m sleeping on for two months, all the kitchen stuff is ours, etc. If I was doing it a week at a time off an on, I would go back to renting. For an extended stay, owning is the way to go if you can swing it.

I would classify using it 6-12 weeks a year as using it a lot (or at least a moderate amount).  I'm only 2 hours from my mountain house.  I'd guess we use it roughly 100 nights a year, give or take.  12 weeks puts you at 84, so not far off.