Should I buy a ski house out West?

If you plan to ski or snowboard frequently it may be a good idea. Since it’s for skiing you may want to consider other seasonal activities that occur in the area of your choice to maintain the value of the rental prices during time your not using it. Big Bear in CA has year round activity such as mountain biking etc. that keeps people coming to the area all year long. You may want to consider if an area your considering is going to add off season event to their facilities this would cause your place to go up in value if people started to come more during the off season.

Of course the biggest consideration is do you like the conditions in the area you end up choosing to buy in. Most people go to an area several times before they commit to buying in that area. Also if you don’t go as often a time share is may be your best choice.

Just talked to a guy who owns two properties in Vail. He mentioned he was considering selling one as a hedge vis a vis global warming. He thought values would drop considerably if the snow craps out.

Also heard a snippet about how mountain resort trade org(s) are forecasting a need to market other recreational uses for resort areas & the mountains.

$.02 to take how you will.

My personal if not a little biased opinion would be to go for Utah. I am in downtown salt lake and i can get in my car and drive for 30 minutes and be at any of seven or eight ski resorts, many of which are nationally ranked, and very highly for that matter. while kevbo raises a good point about global warming (and our season did start later than normal here) if you think you want to run that risk then go for it. The Utah mountains are also used for many off-season activities, including hiking, mountain biking, and camping. I actually work in a building that is on the Bonneville trail, so you really don’t have to venture far to get to a good hiking or biking trail. The other strong point is that there is a large airport here and there is direct service from several major cities, although the airport is on the other side of the city from the mountains.

It all depends on your situation. My personal feeling is that if you do buy a place , you should be sure that there is a rental or management company that can rent the place when you are not using it.