Affordable ski towns

[Christy]

Did this Outside Mag article from last month already get posted? I enjoyed this account of one person looking for their place.

I Knew It Was Time to Move to a Mountain Town. I Just Didn’t Know Which One.

Weary of Seattle, one longtime ski bum heard the high peaks calling her back—but felt paralyzed by decision. So she made a spreadsheet and took a road trip, visiting friends across the United States to look for a new home that fit the bill.

tinyurl.com

 

[mustski]

When we originally looked in Reno, we could have purchased for around $300,000. Covid came and a year later, we ended up buying for $425,000. Since we were selling in CA - which had also gone up - it was no big deal for us. Years ago, 1995 to be exact, we were looking for a home in San Clemente, CA because we wanted to live there. Everything was just "that bit" too high. We bought in Oceanside, CA which was not as desirable but offered the same amenities - albeit a bit more of a commute for me. Thank goodness we did because very quickly prices rose and we would have been priced out of the market.

My point is this - sometimes, it is better to get into the market where you can afford than to spend years looking. Once you are in, you are in; if you get a fixed mortgage rate, it can't go up but you can refinance down. Once you buy, at least you have equity and the opportunity to grow wealth because earnings will go up and home payment will remain fixed.

The only caveat (advice from my dad) ... never purchase any property in which you cannot live long term If necessary. During Covid, I lived for 2 years in my uninsulated, 900 sq foot cabin, with only 1 bathroom. We are still married, but did sell the cabin post Covid.

 

[Jenny]

The only caveat (advice from my dad) ... never purchase any property in which you cannot live long term If necessary. During Covid, I lived for 2 years in my uninsulated, 900 sq foot cabin, with only 1 bathroom. We are still married, but did sell the cabin post Covid.

Couldn’t stand to even look at it anymore, lol?!

 

[mustski]

Couldn’t stand to even look at it anymore, lol?!

The cabin was fine. Sharing one bathroom with hubby ... not fine!

 

[Jenny]

The cabin was fine. Sharing one bathroom with hubby ... not fine!

Understood!

 

[NWSkiGirl]

Did this Outside Mag article from last month already get posted? I enjoyed this account of one person looking for their place.

I Knew It Was Time to Move to a Mountain Town. I Just Didn’t Know Which One.

Weary of Seattle, one longtime ski bum heard the high peaks calling her back—but felt paralyzed by decision. So she made a spreadsheet and took a road trip, visiting friends across the United States to look for a new home that fit the bill.

tinyurl.com

Aw, thanks for this! I feel like I could have written it. Lots of options, but none of them perfect. And yes how we spend our days is how we live our lives.

I would have bought years ago, when housing was affordable in Seattle, but I wasn't sure I wanted to be here long term. And now 12 years later I'm still renting and I still don't feel like this is the place for me.

I bet with an unlimited budget the author would have found her perfect place! Although they say money doesn't buy happiness...

 

[NWSkiGirl]

When we originally looked in Reno, we could have purchased for around $300,000. Covid came and a year later, we ended up buying for $425,000. Since we were selling in CA - which had also gone up - it was no big deal for us. Years ago, 1995 to be exact, we were looking for a home in San Clemente, CA because we wanted to live there. Everything was just "that bit" too high. We bought in Oceanside, CA which was not as desirable but offered the same amenities - albeit a bit more of a commute for me. Thank goodness we did because very quickly prices rose and we would have been priced out of the market.

My point is this - sometimes, it is better to get into the market where you can afford than to spend years looking. Once you are in, you are in; if you get a fixed mortgage rate, it can't go up but you can refinance down. Once you buy, at least you have equity and the opportunity to grow wealth because earnings will go up and home payment will remain fixed.

The only caveat (advice from my dad) ... never purchase any property in which you cannot live long term If necessary. During Covid, I lived for 2 years in my uninsulated, 900 sq foot cabin, with only 1 bathroom. We are still married, but did sell the cabin post Covid.

Yes, they do say the two ways to build wealth are through real estate and stocks. For most people a job is not going to do it!

I think things are changing though and financial experts are no longer saying that renting is foolish. I think it's just not feasible for all people any longer. :-(

 

[ChollaKicker]

I have a nine month old baby I want to ski with. Seattle is getting too expensive for us, but I’m not sure where we should move?

I work from home and can live pretty much anywhere in the US, but I’d like to stay on the West Coast. It’s just more my style. Perhaps a small town in Washington state or even Montana? Washington state doesn’t have income tax, and I’m not interested in moving only to start paying that.

I’d like to be within 30 minutes of a ski resort. I realize this is the wrong time to try to move to a ski town, as all the housing has been bought up by vacationers and housing prices are exorbitant.

Any ideas or suggestions? It’s just baby and me. She’s already starting to walk so she may get on skis next spring!

This may not be "West Coast" but Northern Arizona has some really neat & less expensive places to ski. Flagstaff & Sunrise Ski resort near Greer are two I can vouch for. Mt.Lemon is a quaint little ski spot in the Catalinas just North of Tucson, with limited snow. The Flagstaff & Greer locations offer more snow & more resort amenities. You might find AZ has more to offer than meets the eye.

 

[NWSkiGirl]

This may not be "West Coast" but Northern Arizona has some really neat & less expensive places to ski. Flagstaff & Sunrise Ski resort near Greer are two I can vouch for. Mt.Lemon is a quaint little ski spot in the Catalinas just North of Tucson, with limited snow. The Flagstaff & Greer locations offer more snow & more resort amenities. You might find AZ has more to offer than meets the eye.

Thanks for this on Flagstaff. It's on my list. I wish I could tour the country in a couple of weeks and see everything!

 

[Trailside Trixie]

Flagstaff is definitely on our list but real estate seems quite high there. We've skied snowbowl and had a blast.

Thinking maybe Reno one day.

 

[ChollaKicker]

Thanks for this on Flagstaff. It's on my list. I wish I could tour the country in a couple of weeks and see everything!

The snow is great right now. Goggle those ski resorts. I have plans to get up to Sunrise either this weekend or next. We're getting a fresh dump so it should be good.
Forgot to mention that if you're in Flagstaff, the home of N.U of A, there's lots of activities going on all year, and you're not far from Utah & Colorado ski areas either. Jus'say'n.

 

[CindiSue]

One thing to keep in mind is that the ski towns where the super rich moved to during Covid have really changed in character to what they were before, not to mention a tripling of housing costs. These towns are suffering. I'd stick to 2nd or 3rd tier resort towns.

 

[slow_biscuits]

Anyone here from Alaska? Talk about wilderness...

Lived in Juneau for 7 years. Miss it every day!

 

[slow_biscuits]

This may not be "West Coast" but Northern Arizona has some really neat & less expensive places to ski. Flagstaff & Sunrise Ski resort near Greer are two I can vouch for. Mt.Lemon is a quaint little ski spot in the Catalinas just North of Tucson, with limited snow. The Flagstaff & Greer locations offer more snow & more resort amenities. You might find AZ has more to offer than meets the eye.

When we moved here to northern AZ from Juneau, Alaska, I was so happy to find that both Sunrise and Snowbowl have amazing snow and good terrain. At the time the littlest was 5 and had been skiing at Eaglecrest in Juneau for 2 years already. Now we travel to Snowbowl every weekend for the kids snowsports. Sunrise doesn’t have formal kids programs unfortunately, because we are only 40 min from Sunrise but 3 hours from Snowbowl. My Alaska friends still don’t believe me that we have such good skiing here. When we moved here (in winter 2018, during a giant snow dump), my kid said “Mom, can we move back to Alaska? There’s less snow there.” She wasn’t wrong. It’s wild how much snow falls along the Mogollon Rim. Never expected that at this latitude.

 

[Trailside Trixie]

When we moved here to northern AZ from Juneau, Alaska, I was so happy to find that both Sunrise and Snowbowl have amazing snow and good terrain. At the time the littlest was 5 and had been skiing at Eaglecrest in Juneau for 2 years already. Now we travel to Snowbowl every weekend for the kids snowsports. Sunrise doesn’t have formal kids programs unfortunately, because we are only 40 min from Sunrise but 3 hours from Snowbowl. My Alaska friends still don’t believe me that we have such good skiing here. When we moved here (in winter 2018, during a giant snow dump), my kid said “Mom, can we move back to Alaska? There’s less snow there.” She wasn’t wrong. It’s wild how much snow falls along the Mogollon Rim. Never expected that at this latitude.

While I would love to visit Alaska one day, I was very impressed with flagstaff and we had a ball at snowbowl. Decent elevation, vertical and just a good time.

 

[slow_biscuits]

While I would love to visit Alaska one day, I was very impressed with flagstaff and we had a ball at snowbowl. Decent elevation, vertical and just a good time.

The vertical at Snowbowl is surprisingly impressive.

 

[badger]

I am a passholder at Snowbowl. A two-hour drive from Prescott. And I ski regularly with a guy who grew up in Alaska!

 

[geargrrl]

Flagstaff is definitely on our list but real estate seems quite high there. We've skied snowbowl and had a blast.

Thinking maybe Reno one day.

Pay attention to water issues. It's a real issue in Flagstaff.

 

[NWSkiGirl]

I came across this trailer addressing mental health in mountain towns: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0CP8B5LCS/

I wonder if it's just mountain employees that are affected. It may be worth me buying for $.99

 

[Christy]

Wow, that looks really interesting. Thanks for posting.

I imagine even if you aren't a low paid resort employee, you could still be affected by the factors that were talked about in the other thread about this--the transient nature of the population which makes it hard to have a stable community of friends, the high cost of living, the lack of mental health services. I guess we'd need to watch this to find out if these issues are more specific to the kind of classic/"real" ski towns we've all been priced out of anyway. It seems like more of the conversation here was about larger towns within an hour of skiing; these towns are probably going to have more stable communities and more services.