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.

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.

Aspen On The Cheap? Not Really.

I write this from Snowmass Village -- a construction site worthy of Donald Trump. The new Base Village is being built at the base of the lifts and looks WAY larger than it did when I saw the little scale model a few years ago. Indeed, it could be the new Vail. But although condo and home values continue to boom here, the fractional market is surprisingly soft. If you want to invest in a large 2-BR, 4-week deal at the Snowmass Club, for example, they're offered at about $200,000. Devil is in the details -- this is less than they went for about a decade ago, and the upkeep is a whopping $12,000 a year in homeowner dues. Need a broker? You can't do better than the team at BJ Adams and Company, which has been operating in this valley for many years.

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.

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.