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WINTERGREEN BLOG BY TY DWYER

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Tuesday, April 06, 2010

The Real Estate Market in Wintergreen Today

Hi everyone,

It's officially the end of ski season in Wintergreen. Everyone has put away their winter equipment and clothes and preparing for the beautiful weather of Spring & Summer. The resort is a great place to come. With over 5 swimming pools, 3 golf courses, hiking trails, walking and biking trails, kids activities galore, and the like there is so much to do here. We hope that you will consider our services next time you come around. We are more than just real estate agents, we live and work the area, know the locals, and the nooks and crannies of the area, that few visitors know about or ever see.

The views on the moutain are eaten up by trees in bloom, but with the spring and summer come day trips to local wineries, hiking trails, golf cart rides, and swimming in Lake Monocan. Don't forget your bathing suits. The Lake has a pier, canoes, kayaks, paddle boats, large inflatable rafts, and beach with volleyball, on-duty lifeguard and snack shack!

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Picture 1

posted by ty at 12:47 PM

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Thursday, December 10, 2009
Ski Season Begins this weekend!!!
Hi Wintergreen enthusiasts. I have to say I'm excited to welcome 2009-2010 ski season!! It officially starts Saturday and on top of that the real estate market has come back! Yay! This is the first time in 3 years I have actually been inundated with requests for listings. So if I'm getting busy, everyone must be. I have checked the condo log of actively listed properties and there are some great, GREAT deals out there. Some properties are selling at pre-bubble prices, this is a huge turning point. My beef has always been the longer people keep the real estate market artifically inflated, the less property will sell. Now we are seeing strong corrections in real estate listing prices across the board, and when prices fall, demand comes right back online. So to all of you ski and snowboard enthusiasts, my clients, my friends, and my fellow wintergreen real estate agents I say enjoy Ski Season and all the wonderment that comes with it. Ty
posted by ty at 4:08 PM	Comments [0]

Monday, November 16, 2009
Just like the Energizer Bunny
Hi everyone. This is Ty Dwyer from WintergreenConnection.com logging on to update my blog. I know it has been a long time, and I've made quite a few promises to update the blog more frequently. I've done a lousy job. I of course am back again to say hello. I still work on the mountain, and I have to say the times have changed here! The real estate market took a major downturn, and the peak of the bubble was somewhere in the middle of 2006 or there abouts. Just like everywhere else the real estate market slowed down to a crawl, and two years went by with resort real estate sales practically screeching to a halt overnight. 2008 was probably one of the slowest years in Wintergreen's history. I can honestly back that statement up because I went back through all the sales in Wintergreen as far back as 1997, and 2008 was seriously lame for real estate sales. I definitely have seen real estate pickup between this time last year, and today. Finally! Now the scoop and a partial rant. First many of you know that I have been selling real estate in Wintergreen since 2003. I have done a lot of deals on the mountain, and at one time held various sales titles here (unofficially.) I have seen the real estate culture in Wintergreen do a complete 180 degree turn. and zig-zag all over the place. I remember back when the average home cost $180,000. The average lot was $18,000 and condos were selling for 1/2 of what houses did, or less. I watched a lot of greed push the real estate prices through the roof, between 2004-2006. We all knew that it couldn't last. Let's put it this way in 2002 I purchased my first condo for $76,000. It was a two bed-two bath in Tanners Ridge. It was in average shape at the time. Do you know that when I sold it in 2006. It appraised for $226,000!?! That means, what? That it over tripled in value in 5 years, would you be surprised to know the majority of that happened over the course of 1 year! 2005 was probably the absolute best year Wintergreen ever had when it came to real estate sales. Just ask any agent that was here at that time if they don't say 2005, or even hesitate for more than a second, they weren't here and you should think twice about hiring them as your agent. LOL. I'm kidding of course, but 2005 will likely not repeat itself for many decades to come. So my rant now is where are real estate prices now? If you watch the media you probably realize that the real estate bubble did occur, and it did pop. Some said it would sizzle out, and in a sense it did. However the real beef I have with the real estate market in Wintergreen now is some outside force seems to be keeping the property values inflated higher than they should be right now. I've done constant analysis on where property values should be, with the real estate bubble factored out of the equation completely, and our market overall still has some room to fall. Now look I'm a real estate agent in Wintergreen, I make my living selling here, so you would think I would not say these things. But I am because it leads me to my next rave. I think even though the overall market in Wintergreen is pretty inflated still. There are some excellent deals. I'm also seeing the lot market, and single-family home market coming back online finally in 2009. Yes, there are still some very overpriced listings on the market. Yes, there are people that are probably underwater, and want to get their money back out of their property, but honestly I just don't see many of the houses at their current list prices selling. I'm seeing price drops everyday. This is a good thing, it's called a correction, and Wintergreen has been due one since the market peaked in 2005. I don't have a researched number, but I'd guess that almost 60% of all the real estate in Wintergreen turned over between 2004 and 2008. That means there are probably a lot of people that are, like everywhere else in the country, upside down on their mortgage. Either that or they've lost a good amount to all of their down payment money. With that said, it's important to find an agent that knows this market. I'm not just talking about myself. There are a lot of agents up here that know this market a lot better than me. I'm sure many have the same opinion I do about many aspects of the real estate culture here. My advice to anyone and everyone is be careful what you pay for a property. Make sure you are working with someone that knows how much something should be worth....(to be continued)
posted by ty at 10:50 PM	Comments [0]

Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Cool video I found on Youtube
These guys filmed themselves going down Cliffhanger from top to bottom, it's about a 1.4 mile run. They make it look easy, but it's not as easy as it looks. Apparently they did it during an offer day, because there were no lift lines when they got to bottom. I love finding cool things like this on youtube.com...
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Har7CdlMiKM&NR=1
posted by ty at 9:07 PM	Comments [0]

Monday, August 04, 2008
My background Part 4
Now in 2008, although I have left the mountain, and reside in Charlottesville. 80% of my business has been in the resort area. I have the contacts, connections, and knowledge of any of the best realtors on the mountain. I've sold hundreds of properties, and have a lot of testimonials. I have access to all rental history, condo fees, special assessment fees, tax documents, what sellers paid, historical sales data, and good relationships with all the realtors that work the mountain whether with my company or another.
posted by ty at 12:55 PM	Comments [0]

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Welcome to my web-log, created completely for the enjoyment of reading about Wintergreen Life, and those areas adjacent to it. I'll have my personal opinions, along with local news, and/or events that affect the area. I try to update the website as much as time permits, and add content from 3rd party websites for things pertaining to either Wintergreen, Stoney Creek, Nellysford or the whole of Nelson County