Our little town received a fresh layer of snow over the weekend which has everyone looking ahead to winter in the high country. New snow blowers and snow tires are frequent topics of discussion all over town. Wolf Creek Ski Area is 100% open with a midway depth of 24”. As everyone recovers from their turkey comas, I’m hearing more and more greetings of “Merry Christmas” around town.
It’s hard for me to believe, but it is once again time for our annual Parade of Stores this weekend. The Parade of Stores will be held December 3rd and 4th, and will feature more than 40 stores this year. Purchases during the event are sales-tax free at participating stores. In addition, there will be many great prizes, drawings, and other fun activities. We’re having a festival of trees on Friday, and Santa will be at the Visitor’s Center on Saturday. I encourage you to take part in this great tradition, and as you gear up for Christmas, remember to shop Pagosa first! On average, every dollar spent locally changes hands 7 more times before it leaves the community.
The fresh snow should also serve as a reminder to all our part-time residents that you still need to take care of your vacation home even when you’re not in town. If your heat is going to be turned off this winter, you absolutely MUST winterize your home as soon as possible. Temperatures have been well below zero recently, and your pipes will freeze if your heat isn’t on. Even if your heat stays on, it is probably a good idea to have someone check on your vacation home once a week or so when you are not in town. One of my real estate listings recently had the thermostat break while the property was vacant. We were fortunate to catch this small problem before it became a very big problem. When the furnace repairman entered the property, the temperature in the house was 49 degrees and falling! If you need someone to winterize your home or simply to conduct weekly property checks, please feel free to contact my office. We have relationships with several wonderful businesses that we can refer you to.
The Pagosa Springs Winter Sports Park will be open this winter. An effort by the Town Tourism Committee and many volunteers resulted in two nice areas for snow play. A sledding park is located at The Spa Trailhead on Reservoir Hill. It offers sledding from kids to adults. Behind the Post Office is a Snowboarding Terrain Park featuring The Pagosa Pipe, a natural snowboarding pipe with turns, jumps, and other challenges. The facilities are open to the public as a free service provided by the Town of Pagosa Springs.
For months, I have been telling people that this is a great time to buy Pagosa real estate, and I have recently put my money where my mouth is. In just a couple days, I am personally closing on a lakefront investment home which I am buying as a bank repo. I’m purchasing this home for less than half of what it sold for in 2006. I plan to remodel, upgrade, and then resell the property in the near future.
I hope that those of you who have some money sitting on the sidelines will consider Pagosa real estate as an investment option. Returns on government bonds and money market accounts are at historical lows, and it looks like another round of action by the Fed is set to push rates even lower. The stock market is tumultuous as ever, and Pagosa real estate is “on sale.” If you’d like to see what we have to offer, please give me a call or write me an email.
Finally, I would like to issue a question to all my newsletter readers: What would you like to see in the newsletter? As the New Year approaches, I am focusing on ways to serve my customers better. I’m looking for feedback on how to make this newsletter more interesting and useful to you, the reader. So, what would you like to see? More stats? Different stats? More local news? I appreciate any comments or suggestions you can provide.
Merry Christmas From Beautiful Pagosa Springs!
GRI, CRS
2011 & 2014 Realtor of the Year
Phone (970) 731-4065
Fax (970) 731-4068
Cell (970) 946-3856
Email: [email protected]
