Ultimate Escapes - higher dues for some, no dues for newcomers

Ultimate Escapes, the luxury destination club formed by the merger of Private Escapes and Ultimate Resort, is raising dues for 2010 for some current members while offering a "no dues for one year" pledge to new enrollees.

The club, the second largest in terms of members, has a full page ad in the Saturday Wall Street Journal of Dec. 5, 2009 promising no dues for the first year to lure rich folks into becoming members.

Meanwhile, current members seem to be on a bumpy flight. On the Destinations Club forum, some members say they've been hit with an 11% increase in dues for 2010, in line with a rise in the consumer price index (CPI). Yet in the same thread, another member says: "We pre-paid our dues last year, would not pay the assessment, were suspended and then reinstated and have no intention of paying the dues this year. Good luck to everyone else."

On a brighter note, the club is adding three new "Elite Club" residences at See Forever Village at the Peaks in Telluride, CO.(Typical cabin pictured above.) Elite is its top level of 3 tiers of membership (Elite, Signature, Premiere) but within each of these there are 5 sublevels.

Vacation Home Inventory Glut in Steamboat Springs, Colorado

One real estate agent in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, notes that at the recent pace of property sales in that mountain second home community (163 sales in the first 2 quarters of 2009) he expects to see only about 320 sales in 2009 total. Yet there are more than 2,300 listings available in the community, including commercial. This, says Doug Labor, broker-owner of Buyer’s Resource Real Estate and manager of MLS statistics as quoted in the Steamboat Pilot, translates into an inventory that would last about seven years, he said. A typical rate of supply is about a year, Labor said.

Home Sales in Aspen Decline 34 %; $43-million Mansion Still Available

You can still buy this $43-million vacation estate here in Aspen, but why hurry? According to an analysis by Land Title Guarantee Company as reported in today's Aspen Times, the dollar volume of real estate sales through June was down 34 % from the same 2008 period, to a mere $471.57 million.

Sound like a lot of dough? Not by Aspen's lofty standards. Since 2003, the Pitkin County (Colorado) market has topped a billion dollars every year. If the second half of 2009 parallels the first, the yearly total won't reach that mark.

Wnat's selling? According to the analysis published in the Aspen Times, the answer is fractionals. They've accounted for $139 million so far this year, a jump of 396 % over last year.

The $43-million property? There were two! The first, a 21,400 square foot 11-bedroom "mountain palace," in the phrase used by the Aspen Daily News, was sold in early July. It's got 15 bathrooms and is located in the Pitkin Green area of town. The broker said the views are spectacular. Could they be anything less for that price? It was said to be the most expensive house sold in the U.S. this year.

But since you missed it, how about another $43 million house, the one pictured above, in West Buttermilk? On the other side of Aspen It's only 16,000 square feet and 7 bedrooms, but it is "Tuscan style" and "18th-century inspired" It includes a theater, exercise room and wine seller and comes furnished.

Aspen Sales Drop for Multi-Million Dollar Vacation Homes

Aspen, welcome to the real real-estate world.

The dollar volume of Pitkin County (Aspen) real estate sales was down nearly 50 percent in 2008 compared to 2007, according to the Aspen Times. “You’re probably not in much of a mood to spend $10 million on a second home in Aspen,” Timberline Bank President Mike Taets told the paper, referring to wealthy corporate honchos.

The paper suggests that attitude is related to the rest of the not so filthy rich world. "When a CEO of a struggling company spends millions on a vacation home, it sends the wrong message to that company’s employees," it says.

Taets believes that real estate buyers are out there, waiting to see the relative bargains they might pick up as sales stagnate. "They want 30 percent or so off the top prices from 12 to 18 months ago. Patient sellers aren’t giving in, so it creates a logjam," it paraphrases Taet as saying.

Shopping? The brand new home finished last summer pictured about is listed at $60-million by Joshua & Co. in Aspen

Vacation Home Blogs Crucial to Sales, Rentals, Says NY Times

A front-page NY Times Escapes article Friday spotlighted "the growing importance that blogs play" in today's vacation home market. "For brokers, blogs are, of course, a handy marketing tool: they’re economical, practical and easy to update. But for prospective buyers, a sophisticated blog... can help potential buyers forge a connection to a faraway community, learn the landscape of an area and... make informed purchasing decisions....

"Ultimately, agents’ blogs are tools to attract new clients. 'If you’re going to sell a home in the mountains, you’re going to have to sell the mountains,'" Elwin Wood, an upstate New York broker was quoted as saying.

Hello, buyers, developers, brokers! Vacation Home Insider is a great place to start. Use the search box to locate a region or town, then click on individual posts about these spots in such desirable places as the Colorado mountains, Mexico etc.

The Porches at Steamboat: Family-Friendly Houses, Reasonable Prices

Sales momentum at premier Colorado resorts has slowed, but The Porches at Steamboat, which I visited recently, offers multigeneration-sized single-family homes that would cost a whole lot more in Vail or Aspen. Looking for five-bedrooms? You’d have a hard time finding that big a house for $3-million in those towns. Yet the 5,000 square foot homes at The Porches qualify for that often-misused term “affordable luxury.”

To make The Porches unique in the Yampa Valley, co-developer Bruce Shugart and partners combined an amenity package with a neighborly atmosphere designed to woo those who want their children and grandchildren or grandparents with them in snow country. At the center: “The Barn,” a clubhouse whose wood floors, reclaimed from an 1883 barn in Pennsylvania, reflects Steamboat’s cowboy heritage. There’s nothing old-fashioned about its interior, which includes soaring windows and a generous exercise facility with Nautilus equipment. A concierge and property management team handles everything from stocking the fridge to producing poolside birthday parties.

The goal, says Shugart, is “an environment you can bring families to. We fill a niche – large private homes with services,” including ski shuttle and equipment storage at the base of the ski mountain less than a half mile away. The Porches also is marketing several of its homes – as six-week Private Residence Club fractionals starting at $340,000. And yes, the houses do sport rocking chair-ready porches.

Does Your Second Home Waste Energy?

Two studies in super-affluent Colorado communities show that second homes and condos "use as much energy per square foot per year as fully occupied units," even though second homes remain empty an average of 277 days annually, the Aspen Times reports. The studies were released in 2007 in Aspen (where an estimated 58 % of homes are not primary residences) and this month in nearby Snowmass Village (estimated 61-68 % second homes.)

The head of the local Sopris Foundation, which commissioned the studies, told reporter Scott Condon she'd like to see local officials exert “bold leadership” to cut energy use by such means as banning heated driveways and sidewalks and/or limiting house sizes. One expert also is quoted as saying owners can be taught to save energy with easy steps like "drastically" turning down hot water heaters when not using a home.

Location: Aspen or El Jebel?

What's in a name? Plenty, if the name is Aspen, associated with the glitziest of the Colorado mountain towns. A townhome development underway more than 20 miles down the Roaring Fork River valley from Aspen, in a community whose post office name is El Jebel, is calling itself ShadowrockAspen. The developer wants everyone to know that 80 percent, or 24, of its first phase of 30 townhomes is sold out. The subdivision's online literature talks about an "opportunity to own a part of Aspen." Prices start at $875,400, according to advertising materials. For those familiar with the valley, the homes are opposite the huge City Market in El Jebel.

Vail Real Estate: No Slowdown

Upbeat news from the Four Seasons, now under construction in Vail, apparently not much hurt by national real estate troubles. Fractionals (1/12th shares) are still selling at a brisk clip, says Jeff Meier, senior director of sales and marketing, who adds, “About 18% of our buyers have come from outside the United States.” The project between Vail Village and LionsHead is an amalgam of 120 hotel rooms, 16 whole-ownership units and 19 fractionals. First release fractional prices: $379,000 to $689,000. Completion is set for 2009.

Near Vail: Cordilllera's New Paramonte

Cordillera, the luxury community in the Colorado mountains in between Beaver Creek and Vail ski resorts, is going fractional. It is selling 1/8th shares in its new Paramonte residences, which are 3 BR, 3 1/2 furnished homes. Prices start at $400,000 -- not cheap, but Cordillera has a sterling reputation and ownership base. (Resales on existing houses are listed from $1.2-million to over $5-million.) Fractional buyers are guaranteed a minimum of 28 days per year as well as additional time subject to availability. Cordillera is known for its spa and four golf courses, among other amenities.

Heart of Vail: Willow Bridge Fractionals

Real estate market woes? What woes, says Vail, Colorado, which is in the midst of a building boom. Among the new properties coming on stream: fractionals at One Willow Bridge Road beside Gore Creek in the heart of town, where 1/7th interests are available in a 2-BR unit, priced at $650,000, and in 3-BR units for $850,000. Sound like mucho dinero? Not when you consider that whole ownerships were priced starting at $3.6-million and that it will be managed by the well-known Sonnenalp Resort. There will be access to the Sonnenalp, which is a block away. So far, says a spokesman, 72 percent of buyers are from the East Coast. Note that there is a similarly named development even closer to the ski lifts called Willows of Vail, which is not quite finished yet.

Better Value For Destination Club Members

The 5,000 rich people who hold "destination club" memberships will be thrilled to hear they will soon have a bigger choice of destination vacation homes to visit. Two of the largest clubs -- Private Escapes, based in Colorado, and Ultimate Resorts, based in Florida, are merging. Together, they will create a company that becomes No. 2 in this field. The biggest is Esclusive Resorts, based in Denver, with 3,000 members. The combined new entity will have with $200 million in assets, 1,200 members and about 120 employees.

Vacation Homes Still Hot in Rockies, Southwest

My recent trip to Aspen, Snowmass and Santa Fe showed that these second-home and vacation-home hotbeds are still going strong, although maybe not strong enough to suit some real estate agents. In Aspen, Snowmass and Vail, huge cranes signify ongoing big construction projects-- new homes, new condos, new fractionals. In Crested Butte, a smaller Colorado ski town, sales have slowed while new buildings abound. In Santa Fe, the action has also slowed down but that means you might have a little wiggle-room in making an offering on a house you crave. My recommendations: talk to top brokers such as BJ Adams in Snowmass and Aspen, Red Lady in Crested Butte, Barker in Santa Fe about their listings.

Boomers Search for "Middle-Class Luxury"

Realtors from around the U.S. and elsewhere who specialize in second homes and resort real estate converge are meeting this week in Vail, CO this week and at least one speaker reports that condo hotels, fractionals, and timeshares are still doing well in the strongest markets. Bob Waun, CEO of Vacation Finance, told the group that the baby boomers are still fueling these purchases. They "are seeking unique alternatives that make fiscal sense and create ownership opportunities that are not burdensome. Many Americans do not want just one second home, they want one in multiple locations," Waun told the National Association of Realtors Vail symposium. "Luxury is a new middle-class expectation," he declared, and "making it affordable requires thinking outside the box of traditional ownership."

Where Should I Rent a Vacation Home in July?

Late May is the time for last-minute decisions on summer rentals. I'd like to hear from anyone out there who thinks they have a great vacation rental deal for July. I want to be in the mountains where it is cool and where there is plenty going on both outdoors and indoors, but I don't want Vail or Aspen prices. Suggestions?

Like Pizza, Slice of Vacation Home Better Than None

Once upon a time, even the most mid-level middle-income folks could afford a getaway shack, cottage or cabin on a lake, by the seashore or near the mountains. The place I owned in Snowmass Village in the 1980s cost us only $100,000 for a 2-bedroom condo at one of the nation's great ski resorts. Now, the same kind of money will get you only a few weeks -- a timeshare, or fractional ownership, as the sales crowd likes to call it.

There were 188 "fractional interest" projects in the U.S. in 2005 with $2-billion in sales, a 28 percent jump over 2004, according to NorthCourse.com, a research firm that keeps tabs on the market. A newspaper article recently spotlighted a California family that paid $56,000 for the use of a two-bedroom, furnished home in the Old Greenwood development (photo above) at Truckee, near Lake Tahoe, for at least 21 days a year. With their purchase of a slice of the house comes membership in the Tahoe Mountain Club, which includes access to private restaurants and recreational and spa facilities. And of course owners can take a tax deduction on the mortgage interest.

Buying With Friends? Put it in Writing

For more than a decade I owned a vacation condo in Colorado with a friend. When it came time to sell, we agreed that our "business" arrangement worked better than our marriages had! One reason: we had a written agreement as co-owners. This New York Times article points out the plusses & minuses of owning "as a team."

Portofino: First Two-Tiered Destinations Club

The universe of ultra-luxe "destination clubs" changed today as two clubs -- Portofino and Signature -- merged. According to a press release, the newly named "Portofino Destinations Club" will be the first residence club with two tiers and will "provide its members access to high-end homes all over the world: the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Italy, France and the United Kingdom."

Membership for the Portofino properties cost as much as $250,000, plus annual membership dues of up to $19,800. Signature membership costs as much as $150,000, with dues of up to $11,500. Each has a core of members in a particular region: Signature is based in Colorado while Portofino's focus is the Pacific northwest.

Vacation Home Slowdown? Not in Aspen

The bubble may be deflating elsewhere, but it's still aloft in Aspen, where the Residences at The Little Nell have set a new records for fractional purchases, According to a press release. The owners say 4-bedroom units are now going for around $2.5 million, while 3-BRs now sell for $1.475 million. That's for a 1/8 share, which guarantees 4 weeks of use, two in winter prime season and two in summer prime. Owners also may reserve two additional weeks on a first-come-first-serve basis, and may extend their stays on a space-available basis.

Got some loose change you need to spend? Visit RLN's Web site and shop for your very own unit. Don't book your flights just yet, though; the condos are still under construction adn the owners hope they'll be done in time for the 2007-2008 ski season.

Intrawest Sale: Good or Bad for Second Homes?

Do you own any property at an Intrawest resort? Should you be concerned that a private equity firm, Fortress Investment, is in the process of acquiring the currently-public company? I think it's too early to judge. IDR was up for sale for months. But JMP Security's respected analyst Will Marks has downgraded his firm's rating of the stock from "strong buy" to "market perform." The resort giant has a piece of 10 mountain resorts including Whistler in British Columbia (an upcoming Olympic venue), Tremblant in Quebec, Copper Mountain and Winter Park in Colorado and Stratton in Vermont. It's building the new Snowmass Village near Aspen and has real estate projects in Las Vegas and Orlando.

The announced sale is a victory for a leading activist shareholder, Pirate Capital, which got its wish for a spike in the stock price. Fortress has valued its offer at $35 a share, a 32 percent premium over the recent stock price.