Steamboat Fly-Fishing - Brown Trout

My amazing wife Wendy caught this stunning brown trout today in the Yampa River a little south of Steamboat Springs, CO. She was out fishing with her dad and one of his best friends on the More Ranch also known as Yampa Tailwaters Preserve. Needless to say they had a great time and caught quite a few great wild trout. If you would like to know more about this water and property give me a call for the inside scoop. I have intimate knowledge of this property and can help you understand if it fits your goals. Call Jon Wade at 970-819-6930

Technorati Tags: Steamboat Springs fly-fishing, Yampa River Property, More Ranch, Yampa Tailwaters Preserve, wild trout

Life and Real Estate in Steamboat Springs

Home Prices rise in 30 of 50 States

Somehow news like this rarely reaches the front page and instead the gripping headlines with bad news are almost always chosen. While the national market clearly has issues it is not all bad and there are often encouraging stats like this if you red some of the more thoughtful media.

According to the Office of Federal Housing Oversight's Housing Price Index for the 2nd Quarter of 2008 released August 26th, 30 of the 50 States had positive changes in house prices from June 2007 through June 2008, including Colorado!

Only 4 States (Arizona, Florida, Nevada, and California) experienced overall price declines of more than 5 percent.

The 20 ranked cities in the United States with the worst price declines over the last 4 quarters were ALL in Florida, California, and Nevada.

I really do sympathize with the people of these four fine States. Some of the price declines they have experienced are simply horrible! However, there are 50 States and only 4 with truly bad news for the last year. The rest of the country is simply experiencing a market correction from a rapid increase over the last 5 years combined with some sloppy loan practices that hurt the lending industry. The United States overall had a -1.71% change over the last year (skewed down heavily by the 4 troubled States).

However, even with the challenges over the last year, if you step back and look over a few years like any long term investment should be evaluated the United States STILL has had a 34.84% increase in home prices over the last 5 years! - That is not bad at all and the states that are down the most now are still up more than the national average. Over the last 5 years, Arizona STILL gained 62.68%, Florida STILL gained 54.03%, Nevada STILL Gained 50.81%, and California STILL gained 41.81% despite the losses of the last 4 quarters.

It is time for the news media to put away "The Sky is Falling" focus of their reporting and report the good news along with the bad. There are many signs that the market is working through the current challenges, inventory is going down and prices are stabilizing. While we still have challenges and some real problems the market is making progress.

Here in Steamboat we are up quite a bit more over time and prices have held stable and even increased in higher end properties. Only a few low end properties have been effected and those are still up by large percentages over a few years time. Give me a call if you would like to hear more about what is going on here in Steamboat. For more click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page.

Dallas Morning News Features Steamboat Springs

Steamboat Springs is featured in a nice article by the Dallas Morning News this weekend with several quotes from Pat Stefanek a friend who has a "tough job" as a Master Guide at Marabou Ranch. Poor Pat has to Ski all winter and Fly-fish about 10 months a year.

Perfection in land of hoppers and droppers Saturday, August 16, 2008

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. – The first year Pat Stefanek spent in Steamboat Springs (1991), he had three jobs, just trying to make ends meet. One thing he knew for sure. He'd do whatever it took to live his version of a Rocky Mountain high.

"I was lucky because I made my passion my living," said Stefanek, master fishing guide and river keeper for three miles of upscale private trout waters on Marabou Ranch, just outside of Steamboat Springs, and 40 miles of private trout waters on North Park Fishing Club in nearby Walden, Colo.

"Steamboat Springs is the world's greatest place to live," Stefanek said. "The name alone is very cool, but there's a terrific outdoor lifestyle here that's hard to match. There are great trout streams in every direction, many of them public waters. I had 110 days of skiing on the mountain last winter – lots of powder days.

"Everybody is hiking and riding mountain bikes – it's just a great, healthy lifestyle. Whatever you think you're good at, there's a 12-year-old girl in Steamboat Springs who can kick your rear." (8 or 10 years old would probably be more accurate, I am a pretty fast skier and I get blown away by the kids all of the time) For the whole article click here

For more click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page.

Snow in the Steamboat Springs area last night

It came a day later than predicted but I have heard several reports of snow on the continental divide just north of the Steamboat Ski area. 4 to 6 inches in the higher elevations is the word. My heart is beating a little faster now, how about yours?

UPDATE: Two people told me today there was a good covering of snow in the Flattops south of Steamboat Springs so we are in the storm track. It is far to early to keep snow and I have more summer to enjoy but I never mind seeing a storm remind me where I live.

From the Aspen Times "At Rocky Mountain National Park, Trail Ridge Road was closed due to weather conditions. Howard Marco in the park's information office said at least half a foot of snow had accumulated on the road, which reaches altitudes of more than 12,000 feet and is billed as the highest continuous paved road in the country. Elsewhere there were trace amounts of snow in the mountains overnight, said Chris Cuoco, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction. He said more precipitation could fall. For more click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page.

Steamboat Season Pass advice

I often advise my friends to think about how much they will be out here for the coming season. Most people assume it doesn’t make sense to have a season pass because they live in XYZ etc but nearly everyone would like to ski here more and are pretty goal oriented about making that happen.

1. Take a minute to look a little deeper and do the math. http://steamboat.com/plan-vacation/tickets-passes/results/
2. The $979 pass price divided by $70 per day (assuming you get a good deal) equals 14 days of skiing to pay for it.
3. In Steamboat kids under 12 get a free pass for every adult that buys one, this is a big deal.
4. A large part of the value of having a season pass is the flexibility it provides. With Steamboat’s short lift lines you can have a great ski day in 2-3 hours and either “Work from Home” or trade off with your spouse and spend time with younger kids doing something else. It is getting to be a distant memory but I did a lot of working from home my last few years at HP and my rankings & results went higher the more I did. Hmmm, could getting a season pass be a great career move?? Be careful because you might end up moving here like me.
5. Make it a goal to be here more this winter not just some time in the future. I know that you have achieved much bigger goals than this so I am confident you will succeed.
6. Say you ski here a couple of weeks a year or a week and two long weekends you are well within reach.
7. If you are flexible why not watch the snow reports and plan on doing an extra trip on frequent flier miles when the conditions are perfect.
8. If you fly a lot for work tack on a few ski legs onto your itineraries over the winter.
9. If you have been meaning to delegate more or bring on a manger so you can get away more what better reason to push you over the edge?
10. A 20 day Super Value pass is $799 or $40 per day, 15 and 10 day versions are also available. 10-12 days is break-even , why not extend a stay or add a boys /girls trip to your winter plans?
11. Don’t think so much, just do it and you will be amazed how you will figure out how to use the extra days to enjoy our favorite mountain.
12. I have so many more ideas it is a little scary but I was once a remote local like you and spent more than a little brainpower figuring this all out. I am happy to advise you on the best strategy at any time.
    

Let me know when you are coming so we can get out and use those new passes or do something fun. For more click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page.

Sunny & 91 today, Snow above 10,000 ft in Steamboat area tonight

Greetings from Steamboat! I hope that you have had a great summer and thoughts of winter are starting to creep into your consciousness just like they are with me. I walked outside last night and was surprised to get my annual epiphany that the seasons are turning and winter is coming again. It was a cool night with that extra twist if winter in the air that always tells me it is time to pack in more summer activities, start buying ski movies (bought one yesterday afternoon because I am helpless when shown a great powder day) and start thinking skiing.

It’s sunny and 91 today but they are predicting snow above 10,000 ft in the Steamboat area tonight. Here we are in the heat of August and we are already seeing signs that winter is coming. Even though last year’s record season is still fresh in everyone’s mind the snow gods can’t help but remind us to be good this fall so they can bring us another great winter. I am doing my best to be good and I hope that you will do your part. Don't get the impression that winter comes here in August. We have plenty of hot and sunny days ahead of us but mother winter lets us know that we live in a ski area and it is time to prepare for another winter. It is generally very nice through about mid October and possibly longer. I often ride my mountain bike until early November but we can expect a good snow storm close to the peak season for Aspen viewing in the 3rd week of September, often a foot or two on the mountain and some in town.

If you can, I recommend getting out once more in the summer or fall to enjoy some of our best weather and the changing leaves then start thinking about winter plans. I already have several requests from friends who don't live here YET to pick them up some skis in the fall sales.

For more click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page.

Pending Home Sales Rise Nationally

It is nice to see some more positive news on the housing market coming out. I frequently find good signs in more authoritative sources like Forbes and Barron's but the papers seem to look for the worst headlines. Things in Steamboat are generally quite a bit better with volumes at approximately 2006 levels and prices generally firm to up with the exception of some lower end properties.

"Some improvement is projected for existing-home sales in the months ahead, with broader gains seen by the fourth quarter as buyers take advantage of new provisions provided through the recently passed housing stimulus bill, according to the latest forecast by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in June, rose 5.3 percent to 89.0 from a downwardly revised reading of 84.5 in May, but remains 12.3 percent below June 2007 when it stood at 101.4.

In the West: rose 4.6 percent to 101.0 in June but remains 1.7 percent below a year ago

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says sales have been in a pattern of rising and falling within a fairly narrow range.

“The vacillation of data from one month to the next indicates a housing market in transition,” he says. “The rise in pending home sales was broad-based with all four regions showing gains. This is welcome news because a rise in contract activity is necessary for an overall housing recovery. With a tax credit now available to first-time home buyers, increases in home sales could be sustained with the momentum carrying into 2009.”

Across the Region

Here's a deeper look at the index throughout the country:

• South: jumped 9.3 percent to 92.4 in June but is 16.6 percent below June 2007.
• West: rose 4.6 percent to 101.0 in June but remains 1.7 percent below a year ago.
• Northeast: increased 3.4 percent to 79.6 but is 15.4 percent below June 2007.
• Midwest: rose 1.3 percent in June to 79.6 but is 13.3 percent below a year ago."

For more click back to the Steamboat Springs blog main page.