How to pick the right buyer's agent in Vail

Five Steps to Buying a Home in Vail, Colorado

 Number 1 is choosing an area in Vail. There is two main distinctions when you think about Vail and those two are the real estate that is on the north side of I 70 and the real estate that is on the south side of I 70. Here is a breakdown of all the communities that are in the south side of I 70. Starting on the east side and work west.

 East is the closest to Denver and our first community is going to be East Vail. It is absolutely beautiful and is just east of the Vail Golf Course community. The Vail Golf Course community is also beautiful and it has great views of the Gore Range.

Next is Vail Village. Vail Village is home to our ski resort as well as Lion's Head. It is the next community on the list being a very significant base area for many attractions. Continuing West is the Cascade Village, and Cascade is also a base area where they have chair 20 where you can jump on that chairlift and go skiing for the day.

 We next head to Highlands which is more rural community away from the core, but still on the south side of I 70. Then we come to West Vail South which has Intermountain. That is the furthest west.

 Now let for the north side of I 70, starting again on the east. There is the Booth Creek area. Booth Creek is also the home of the Vail Mountain School which is our big, beautiful private school here so if you are moving here with some children this community might be a really wonderful spot for you to live because of the close proximity it is to the school.

 Next up, we have Spring Creek which is the only gated community in Vail. It's a very short street that has some extremely sprawling homes on it. Continuing west, we come to Potato Patch. Potato Patch is right next to the Sandstone subdivision which leads down to Buffer Creek continuing West. And then finally, West Vail North. There are a lot of different communities to choose from when we are deciding where we are going to concentrate our efforts when looking for real estate.

 Number 2 is price point. We want to choose a price point that fits your budget. The closer you get to Vail Village and Lions Head, the two really two big core communities, the more expensive the real estate becomes.

Here is a good example: Presently, there is a five bedroom home in West Vail that is for sale for just over $2,750,000. It has a two car garage, 3000 square feet, very, very nice indeed. If you were to go and spend that same money in Vail Village, you would be looking at a two bedroom and two bath that's probably around 1100 square.

The outlying communities mentioned that are away from the core are incredibly charming. Most of these communities actually offer pricing in all ranges, and the real estate also comes in all sorts of sizes and bedroom counts. So don't be afraid to look beyond the real estate where you're just a stones throw away from a chairlift in Vail Village, for instance.

 Number 3 is choosing a property type. That sounds easy enough, right? What are your goals? Are you going to be renting the residents out when you are not in town? To supplement some of the carrying costs that are associated with some of the buildings that are in the core of Vail or Lions Head for instance. When you're thinking on that level and you're purchasing a condo, it's probably going to be run by a property management company that takes care of that specific building. They are going to be taking care of the turnovers and the cleaning, doing the maintenance replacement of anything that breaks, like dishes or glassware. They will also be doing also all the repairs when it's needed so you don't have to stress about that aspect.

 The management company will send you a check every single month. So that is a really great option if you are looking to make as much money as you can when you're not there. If you're a more of a hands-on person then you may want to run your own Airbnb, for instance.

 When doing that, you're obviously going to be taking on your own cleaning crew and you may want to hire a regular property manager that's going to help you with any of your maintenance needs. Another option is a  townhome or a duplex that's on the bus route where renters can easily jump on the bus to go skiing.

 If you do not want to rent it at all, you could be possibly looking at a beautiful single family home in East Vail or in Buffer Creek or in the Highlands area on the south side of I 70 or even West.  

 Number 4 is, do you choose new construction or existing real estate that is completed? Now this goes just a little deeper because it also has to do with timing. Some of these new construction projects that are about to break ground are probably two and a half years away, and you have to show a great deal of patience after purchasing your real estate as the building is being constructed.

 Whereas if there is something that is already done and ready to go, you can simply start enjoying it immediately. Something to also keep in mind here is that Vail was incorporated in 1966 and four years later they opened their ski resort. A lot of those buildings actually still stand today so some of these people have kept them vintage, and by vintage, they haven't updated them much if at all.

Not to say they aren’t absolutely beautiful. They've taken very good care of them, but you, th the buyer is probably going to want to do a renovation here or there. That's another thing to think about when coming into town to look at real estate. Have an idea whether you want a project where you're going to be doing renovation or you're looking for something that's already done, and all tricked out and looking great.

 It just really depends on what your goals and what your lifestyle looks like with a home here in Vail.

Number 5 is choose a knowledgeable, focused, dynamic and driven professional realtor to put this entire action plan to work for you.Get to know your realtor and when purchasing real estate. The process should be a fun, exciting, educational, and an exciting experience. Be specific when choosing who you want to work with. This way you can brag to all your friends about the amazing property that you got in Vail, Colorado, and you can brag about the realtor that helped you do it.