March 11,2007

Is This the Time to Buy or Sell Real Estate at Okemo?

Depending on which side of the coin you are on, the answer is obvious...or is it? Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few years, you know that real estate all over the country is "soft" or has taken a downturn. It has become a Buyer's market.

If you and your family have been toying with the idea of investing in a vacation home here at Okemo and the Ludlow region, you have hit the jackpot! Your procrastination has finally paid off. Whoever said all good things come to those who wait, must have been in real estate.

Some would argue that prices peaked during the winter of 2004-2005. Some would say earlier, others would say later that summer. Whatever. The bottom line is that prices have been coming down for the past two years or thereabouts. Now, dust off that crystal ball you keep in the attic and see if it will tell you whether prices will continue to fall or have bottomed out and will soon begin to climb.

Now, I do not  have a crystal ball, but I do know the history of what has happened here at Okemo. First let me say that, to a point, many of the clientele investing here are somewhat insulated from the general real estate market trends. It's all about family and the quality time spent together. To that end, we can buck the trend...a bit. What Okemo and the Muellers plan for the resort can, and has, affected real estate demand. (Are you catching all my qualifiers?)

Coming out of the crazy 80s it seemed that real estate settled into a situation where prices  climbed steadily while demand continued to rise. If you purchased a mountain condo in 1986 or 1987 and then tried to sell it in 1990 or 1991, well good luck.  By then the market tumbled and you found out that you bought at the high.  If you purchased your condo in the early 80s and decided to sell ten years later...you had enough equity in your property that even with the downturn in the market, you made a decent profit. 

What  happened at Okemo in the late 1980s and early 1990s is similar to what is going on today. During that time the Mueller's were investing millions of dollars into the infrastructure of the resort, i.e., development of Solitude's lifts and trails, development of the South Face lifts and trails and all the other mountain improvements. It became obvious that you either realized radical change was going to happen and you bought property (at the low I might add), or you procrastinated and missed out.

The market turned around and demand, by those who were able to grasp the obvious, drove prices up and up and up for the next ten years or so. Until here we are...if you bought your Solitude, Jackson Gore or most any other mountain property in 2004 or 2005 and now you're trying to sell it, well good luck. But you know, the same thing is happening again.

There are literally millions being invested by the Muellers to make Okemo Mountain Resort a true 4-season destination playground. For those of you who have not seen it, it's not just more condos, but a new health and aquatic center called the Spring House and a hockey-size ice skating rink called The Ice House, which will house tennis courts during the summer. On the very real drawing board is a conference facility, a six-person heated gondola and a nine hole executive golf course.

So what do you think is going to happen to the real estate market? Okemo becomes a 4- season resort with demand occurring ten months out of the year. (hey, there's still mud season). Whether you're gazing into a crystal ball or crystal chandelier, it has to be telling you that values will go up.  To me the question is not if, but when. 

If you purchased your Mountain condo, or in the case of Jackson Gore, locked in pricing, no later than the late 1990s, you can still make a very decent profit even during today's buyer's market.

So is this a good time to buy or sell real estate at Okemo? Most definitely yes...well maybe.  If you're a buyer and have the cash or wherewithal to take advantage of the deals that are out there, don't procrastinate...again.  Unless you want to wait another ten years for the cycle to repeat itself.  If you're selling, don't be greedy. Yes, prices have come down from their high a few years ago, but like I said, if you purchased early enough, you can make a very decent profit on your property even during this buyer's market.  Unless you want to wait until..........

Gene Felder
Broker/Owner