Investment Property

Selling an Investment Property or Second Home

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PRIMARY RESIDENCE MARKET AND THE INVESTMENT PROPERTY OR SECOND HOME MARKET

Apart from the properties having common features like front doors, roofs and windows the market variables are huge when comparing the investment property market to the primary residence market.

The primary residence market is basically homes that people want to buy to live in.  The investment property market and second home market are properties that people buy to use for recreation and vacations and/or to invest some of their income and savings into an appreciating asset to ultimately achieve a return on investment.

Within the Summit County real estate market, seventy percent (70%) of all properties are held for investment and second home usage.  The average 'Days on Market'  DOM (the average number of days from the first day it is marketed for sale until the actual day of sale) for real estate in general in Summit County in the year of 2013 was 247 days.  In the boom years of the mid 2000's that figure averaged 165 days (all figures taken from the Summit Association of Realtors MLS).  % List Price is the percentage of Sales Price to List Price ratio.  i.e.  The average sales price a property actually sold for compared the asking price (list price).

Differences occur between property types and location.  Here are some examples for Breckenridge 2013:

                                                    Days on Market( DOM)            %List Price

Single Family Homes                            258                                        92%

Condo/Townhouses                             242                                        93%

Land                                                  670                                        79%

For different areas -  Keystone, Copper Mountain, Dillon, Frisco, Silverthorne/Wildernest and Park County
contact me, Andrew Biggin at 1-970-547-7751.     

"Why does it take so long to sell property in Summit County?  It only takes from weeks to a couple of months at the most where I am from."  I hear you say.

The average Buyer will visit Breckenridge or Summit County in the skier months of winter.  They will visit with a Realtor near the end of their ski vacation and ask to see some properties.  The Realtor will not be able to show  many of the properties on the Buyers preferred list because nearly all of them will be occupied by people like him or herself - Skiers up for their vacation!   The Broker will recommend that they visit in early summer, as this is when it is easy to show properties and the largest inventory available for sale is at that time.  The Buyer will then visit during the summer, view many properties, see how stunning it is up here during that season and then buy before next ski season.  That takes on average 195 days.

The average Buyer for second homes and investment properties will take their time. They may search for a few years until the right property meets their requirements.  That is very different from a primary residence buyer, who is being relocated by their company or having to move into a larger or smaller house to live in.  They are on a time schedule.