The skinny on Steamboat Springs real estate.

18Apr 2022 by Olson | Tolan Team Blog

STEAMBOAT FREE SUMMER CONCERT SERIES ANNOUNCES SUMMER 2022 LINEUP

by steamboatsir | Apr 18, 2022 After much anticipation, the Steamboat Springs Free Summer Concert Series (SSFSCS) is back in action. Summer 2021 held a shortened event only over Labor Day Weekend, as opposed to the multiple concerts over the course of the summer that our community is used to. Of course there were no concerts during the summer of 2020 as we battled the beginning of the pandemic. Steamboat Springs locals and visitors alike are thrilled to flock the base of Howelsen Hill this summer for some needed live music and outdoor gathering with friends and family. Many may not realize this year represents the organization’s 30th season – what began in 1993 as a small concert series on the lawn of the Routt County Court House presented by a small record…

05Apr 2022 by Olson | Tolan Team Blog

BUILDING GREEN: A GUIDE TO LOCALLY SOURCED MATERIALS

Design Trends, ENVIRONMENT, Helpful Advice, STEAMBOAT LIFE STYLE

by steamboatsir | Apr 5, 2022 When settlers first came to the Yampa Valley, they built cabins from logs harvested from trees on their own land. Today, between materials that are engineered and those that are imported from the other side of the world, the carbon footprint and ecological cost of construction materials is staggering. Purchasing materials within a 100-mile radius of your home will greatly reduce the carbon footprint of building. For John Shively, who has been building homes in the Yampa Valley for 35 years, terms like “sustainable” and “green” when applied to building can be misleading. There’s a lot more to consider in the bigger picture and how impactful some of these materials that are billed as sustainable are going to function over the long run in terms of energy…

22Mar 2022 by Olson | Tolan Team Blog

IMMACULATE LIVING: 5 WAYS TO CLEAR THE CLUTTER

Helpful Advice

by steamboatsir | Mar 22, 2022 The words “spring cleaning” might not make you want to jump out of your chair and do a happy dance, but the truth is, the state of your home does affect your state of mind. It also affects the value of your property. When our brokers prepare a home for sale, it means getting the property into the best possible shape it can be to attract a buyer and to garner the highest possible price for the home. Even if selling your home is the farthest thing from your mind, don’t you deserve to get the most value out of your own home when you’re actually living in it? Taking the time to refresh and clean out your home will deliver a return on your investment, guaranteed.…

08Feb 2022 by Olson | Tolan Team Blog

Stop Stressing: You Don’t Need a 20% Down Payment to Buy a Home

BUYING AND SELLING REAL ESTATE, Helpful Advice, HOME BUYER HANDBOOK

02/08/2022 Olson Tolan Team Many Americans may be unnecessarily talking themselves out of homeownership. Thirty-seven percent of non-homeowners say not having enough saved for a down payment is holding them back from homeownership, but 62% of Americans incorrectly believe you have to have at least 20% of a home’s purchase price to buy, according to NerdWallet’s 2020 Home Buyer Report. “These days, you don’t need to put a full 20% down on a home,” says NerdWallet home and mortgage expert Holden Lewis. “Lenders offer mortgages with far less — as little as 3% down — which allows far more people to get into homeownership sooner.” So, how do you know just how much you need to save up based on your specific goals? It requires a little strategizing. Before you can…

07Feb 2022 by Olson | Tolan Team Blog

BLOWING THINGS UP: THE MAN BEHIND THE WINTER CARNIVAL FIREWORKS DISPLAY

SOTHEBY'S NEWS, STEAMBOAT LIFE STYLE

by steamboatsir | Feb 7, 2022 The story behind the Winter Carnival fireworks display will blow your mind—pun intended. For starters, the largest firework in the world was detonated at the Steamboat Winter Carnival in 2020. The mortar the firework was shot out of was 26-feet long and weighed 7 tons. The firework itself weighed 2,800 pounds. It was shot a half mile into the air at 300 miles per hour and the mortar was blown almost 23 feet into the air. “There were 56 pages of engineering for building just the mortar,” says Tim Borden, the mastermind behind every Winter Carnival and Fourth of July fireworks display in Steamboat for the better part of the last two decades. “I had the mortar made in Washington and brought down here on a semi-truck.…

04Feb 2022 by Olson | Tolan Team Blog

8 Popular Home Design Features for 2022

Design Trends

2/04/2022 Olson Tolan Team There’s a lot to consider when selling your home, from the market and appraisals to where you’ll go next. Don’t forget, however, that design is also a key factor. It’s often one of the first things buyers notice when they walk into a home, and it’s also a detail that you, as a seller, can easily control. According to Realtor.com’s 2022 housing market forecast, home for-sale inventory will increase from last year, as will the projected number of overall sales.1 This means, if you’re looking to sell in the near future, now is the time to consider how you can stand out. Updating your home design is one way to do that. Changes like new security features or upgraded siding can add value to your home…

20Jan 2022 by Olson | Tolan Team Blog

SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY® 2022 LUXURY OUTLOOK REPORT

SOTHEBY'S NEWS

by steamboatsir | Jan 20, 2022 SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY® 2022 LUXURY OUTLOOK REPORT REVEALS RETURN OF INTERNATIONAL BUYER, HYBRID WORK MODEL FUELS REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT Steamboat Sotheby’s International Realty Debuts Second Annual Luxury Trend Report for the Year. Steamboat Sotheby’s International Realty is pleased to announce the release of its 2022 Luxury Outlook report, which identifies the trends likely to shape the world’s prime housing markets in the year ahead. The comprehensive report offers insight into the high-end real estate industry as the starts-and-stops of the pandemic’s reopening fueled even stronger demand and inventory struggled to keep pace. The global report reveals that relief from the market frenzy may not happen quickly as prices are expected to rise in 2022. In addition, a shift to a hybrid work model is fueling more buyers to…

18Jan 2022 by Olson | Tolan Team Blog

Thinking About A Remodel?

Design Trends, Helpful Advice

01/18/2022 Olson Tolan Team Remodeling? Refinancing With a 203(k) Loan Can Help When your house is in need of some serious TLC, it can be tough finding room in your budget for renovations and repairs. One way to pay for those projects is by refinancing your home with a Federal Housing Administration-backed 203(k) loan. The FHA provides mortgage insurance on loans originated by lenders, backing them financially in case borrowers default or don’t follow the loan terms. Anyone can obtain an FHA loan — first-time buyers, repeat buyers or current homeowners looking to refinance. With an FHA 203(k) loan, you can roll the cost of home improvement projects into a single monthly mortgage payment by refinancing with one of two options: the limited 203(k) insured loan or the standard 203(k) insured loan.…

17Jan 2022 by Olson | Tolan Team Blog

A Return to ‘Normal’? The State of Real Estate in 2022

BUYING AND SELLING REAL ESTATE, Helpful Advice, SOTHEBY'S NEWS

Olson Tolan Team 1/17/2022 Last year was one for the real estate history books. The pandemic helped usher in a buying frenzy that caused home prices to soar nationwide by a record 19.9% between August 2020 and August 2021.1 However, there were signs in the fourth quarter that the red-hot housing market was beginning to simmer down. In the month of October, only 60.3% of sales involved a bidding war—down from a high of 74.5% in April.2 While this trend could be attributed to seasonality, it could also be a signal that the real estate run-up may have passed its peak. So what’s ahead for the U.S. housing market in 2022? Here’s where industry experts predict the market is headed in the coming year. MORTGAGE RATES WILL CREEP UP Most…

04Jan 2022 by Olson | Tolan Team Blog

END OF YEAR MARKET WRAP-UP

SOTHEBY'S NEWS

by steamboatsir | Jan 4, 2022 When long-time tenured Brokers in Steamboat Springs say prices are at an all-time high and it’s the most competitive market they’ve seen, you know it was a truly an unprecedented year in real estate here in the Yampa Valley. We’ve been watching over the last few years, and particularly since the start of the pandemic, dramatic increases in prices, reduction in inventory, and a challenging buyers’ market like we’ve never seen before. At the end of 2020, many thought, there’s no way 2021 could outpace 2020, yet still records were beat again. While 2021 saw it’s first reduction in the number of residential sales as compared year-over-year since 2009, down 2% from 2020, the lack of inventory and high buyer demand drove prices higher than we’ve seen…