In a fit of I don’t know what, we decided to sell our house this spring after nearly 23 years of tucking away clothing that might come in handy if I’m ever reincarnated as the person I was two decades ago, and collecting random gardening tools, sprinkler parts and old holiday cards that just seemed […]
real estate
Posted inBusiness, Economy, Housing, News, Politics and Government
Colorado Democrats aim to quickly pass property tax relief to head off ballot measure from business group, conservatives
The debate over how to tackle rising property taxes is poised to dominate the final days of Colorado’s 2022 legislative session, as Gov. Jared Polis, Democratic lawmakers and Colorado Concern, a deep-pocketed business organization, hastily negotiate a plan to provide relief that’s sufficient but that doesn’t also deny local governments billions in future funding. With […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outsider
The source of Colorado’s high country housing crisis: a doubling of home prices and sales
The rules are changing in the high country. As the labor crisis lingers, community leaders are beginning to address the root cause of the challenges that are strangling mountain valleys. They are cracking down on short-term rentals. Redirecting the flow of tax dollars toward affordable housing. Adjusting economies anchored in tourism to focus on residents, […]
Posted inNews, Wildfire
Homesites destroyed in the Marshall fire are going up for sale. Who will buy them?
On a ridge in Louisville with a stunning view of the Flatirons stood a six-bedroom, five-bath home, now reduced to a pile of ash by the Marshall fire, one of more than 1,000 homes in Louisville, Superior and unincorporated Boulder County destroyed on Dec. 30. The lot, rubble and all, went up for sale in […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, Housing, News, Wildfire
Rebuilding after disaster takes a community — and a streamlined process — say Coloradans who lost homes in Waldo Canyon fire
Within 24 hours of the devastating Waldo Canyon fire on a hot June day in 2012, a unique recovery team began to form that included the mayor, builders, contractors, insurers, private businesses, the utility company and residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed. The nonprofit known as Colorado Springs Together worked through recovery from a […]
Posted inHousing, News
Aspen suspends new home construction permits as it drops the hammer in the name of affordability
Aspen’s city council this week stopped issuing not just short-term rental permits, but permits for all home construction as the city struggles with a critical lack of affordable housing and the increasing use of homes by vacationers. A moratorium, passed unanimously by emergency ordinance Wednesday night after two meetings in two days, goes beyond suspending […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outsider
Zillow spent big in Colorado’s Front Range this summer, months before collapse of home-flipping business
The collapse of Zillow Offers — the online real estate giant’s venture into buying and selling homes — announced Nov. 2 can be traced, in one small part, to its over eagerness to invest in Colorado’s red-hot real estate market. The company bought hundreds of homes in the Front Range this summer, mostly in August […]
Posted inBusiness, Growth, Housing, News, Outsider
As record-setting real estate sales continue in Colorado resort towns, buyers are now looking way down valley
The blistering pace of real estate sales is continuing in Colorado’s high country, with every resort community setting new records in each month this year. “It’s been crazy,” Crested Butte broker Frank Konsella said, “way past everything in 2019 and 2020.” Last year saw record numbers of home buyers paying highest-ever prices for properties in […]
Posted inColoradans, Environment, News, Outdoors
An abandoned coal mine near Aspen has become a mountain biking park for the masses
Gary Tennenbaum remembers the first time he first spoke with the new owners of a long-dormant coal mine up the Crystal River Valley, near Redstone. It was a few years ago and the owners, grandsons of Walmart founder Sam Walton, offered a plan unlike any other to the longtime director of Pitkin County Open Space […]
Posted inNews
5 big tax bills Colorado lawmakers passed this year that will affect your wallet
Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights keeps lawmakers from raising taxes without voter approval. But it still allows for some changes to the state tax code without going to the ballot. Democrats and some Republicans in the legislature this year significantly altered property tax rates, tax loopholes and tax credits that will affect the wallets of […]