The rub is the commissioners want to eliminate the mansions these TDRs make possible. They cite their excessive energy use. Officials are set to amend the land-use code next year and have been clear they plan to reduce the current allowable square footage maximums. Those same bureaucrats have decided TDRs are the culprit.
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We locals have no shortage of pursuits, and those activities are usually gear centric. And, like children who never want playtime to end, we wait because we don’t want to miss a single, waning day of fall should the weatherman get it wrong. I love that about us! But, the same thinking can just as easily catch us by surprise, leaving the procrastinators digging the grill out of the snow.
I couldn’t help but equate the process of buttoning up, taking cover from the coming cold, and storing and protecting our gear to the sudden and recent shift in the housing market. By now, experts, buyers, sellers, and prognosticators agree we are in new territory — coming as weather predicted, if not already upon us.
A week ago last Thursday, we were abruptly reminded there may not be another day, that every experience and adventure is not guaranteed. Life can end in an instant; one breath, one laugh, one experience can be the last without warning or reason. The sudden, tragic death of an Aspen High School student hit home hard, bringing his family and friends to their knees in grief.
No one wants to contemplate their own demise or that of their loved ones. Around here where we tend to live life “full send,” the very idea of “the end” is not just a buzz kill but an annoyance. Live now, don’t think about tomorrow is our mantra. Perhaps we cling to that view, as it’s difficult to imagine an afterlife that beats the mountain paradise we’re living right now.
Ask any local or frequent visitor to the valley why they live or vacation here — natural beauty is the No. 1 answer. Snow-covered peaks, turquoise and high-alpine lakes, fall colors and our endless, colorful vistas are literally baked into our name! Not far behind is lifestyle, which usually equates to all of our awesome outdoor year-round activities. People the world over flock to our state to enjoy biking, camping, fishing, floating, hunting, outdoor concerts, and although it’s still a few months away, skiing and other winter pursuits.
Since June 1, we’ve seen dozens of price reductions from Aspen to Carbondale on everything from single-family homes to condos and lots. We’ve also seen our fair share of contracts falling out, especially midvalley homes priced in the upper 2s and over $3 million. More buyers seem reluctant to shell out “mansion money” for 3,000 square feet.
We’re also seeing more listings than sales as sellers position themselves to take advantage of the busy summer season at the same time the tourists and visitors they hope to attract wait for prices to drop and more choices to come to market.
While not necessarily good news for those listing now and folks like me who make money when deals close, it is a healthy shift for the market as a whole, eventually realigning buyers and sellers and stimulating more activity.
Life in the modern world is always evolving, changing, and by its very nature is a dynamic creature. Prior to the COVID-19 age, that “fluid” status quo was more or less predictable, expected and manageable. But since weathering the pandemic, and now that the worse seems to be behind us, the “new normal” — at least since the beginning of the year — is even more an unpredictable landscape of wild swings, record highs and lows, all in a very compressed period of time.
