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Q: Paul, we know it has been a crazy year for real estate in Mammoth. In spite of it all, we are curious what your New Year's resolutions for Mammoth real estate are going to be?
A: Thanks for the challenging question amidst the final craziness of the year (the pre-Christmas closings) and up against a short deadline. 2005 has indeed been a chaotic year. Thankfully there was a nice, but short, summer lull in between. Last year's post-election sales push lasted almost as long as last winter. This year the pre-winter sales were starting strong when the Ski Area sale announcement hit, creating a torrent of activity that may pause during the holidays, but should be re-energized by late winter.
I'm not really a New Year's resolution kind of guy. I guess I'm not into short- term thinking. And I don't want to beat myself up too much. But here I go:
First, I resolve to be at peace with Intrawest, as should all owners of Intrawest built properties. Be at peace that the poor craftsmanship and inferior products used to finish your property is balanced by the location. From my experience, the better the location, the inverse of quality. But that concept must be good business because Intrawest has recently reported record profits and their stock (at this writing) is at record highs. The only solace to these owners is that Intrawest built these properties on some of the very best locations in all of Mammoth and we all know what the three most important things about a piece of Mammoth real estate are–location, location, and VIEW! Remember, buy the best location for that your money can buy. I'm at peace.
Second, I resolve to forgive all of those people I hear around town saying things like "I'm just going to wait for the bubble to burst and then I'll buy" or "Wait until we have a bunch of earthquakes, things will be dirt-cheap." Now nobody can really see the future but when people say things like this you know they just don't have the intestinal fortitude to buy a property (i.e. responsibility).
Those of us that were around the Mammoth brokerage business in the "pre-boom" era remember those same people saying the same kind of things–and prices WERE dirt-cheap! Jeez, I was standing in the check out line at VONS a few weeks ago and I heard a guy boisterously talking this way. It was dejavu from ten years ago. I realized as I was walking across the parking lot to my car that I had shown him property (and I wonder how many other agents.) I could almost remember the exact homes and prices. There was owner financing and great first-time homebuyer deals. The peasants among us bought. The Latino brothers bought and created wealth! If you're still making excuses, then don't tell everybody, at least not so loudly. Okay, I forgive.
Third, I resolve to gain serenity over the actions of all the out-of-town real estate professionals (?) who come to town thinking they know all about Mammoth. The term "carpetbagger" comes to mind. They either want to buy for themselves or represent their "good" (does that mean stupid?) clients. The ones with clients in tow usually don't last very long. And if the clients are serious (smart), they come back on their own and find an experienced agent. The really amazing ones are those that have represented themselves and then e-mail me a year later and want my opinion of their decision (in other words they weren't very happy with their representation). All this just to save a few bucks.
See, Mammoth might be a small town but the real estate within the minute confines of privately owned land is greatly varied. For example there are nearly a hundred condominium projects, each with their own nuances. Some properties that look good on a summer day are a nightmare in winter. Some properties that look good in winter are a disaster in summer. Knowledge and experience in this market can't be gained overnight. A conscience makes it even more difficult for a quality agent. Sometimes I think, "the more I know the less I understand." Bottom line, if you want to buy a piece of Mammoth, find yourself a good, experienced agent to start the process with. Alright, serenity.
My fourth resolution is that we should all be more tolerant of the public officials making the decisions, especially the development decisions. These are not easy decisions. There is a lot of history that newcomers to the community don't have. Just the Just the information that needs to be read, consumed and understood is overwhelming at this point. Back when I was a Planning Commissioner the decisions were easy because hardly anybody believed it was all going to happen. The anti-development crowd is pretty easy to handle when there aren't towering cranes and bulldozers everywhere. And more and more of those are proposed to come, and soon. And no matter what anybody says, this WAS all planned.
I'd love to jump up and down about the concessions made to the developers (especially when I look at their financial performance,) or about the densities of government-sponsored housing (where are they going to park when it snows?). But anyplace that gets this much snow, gets such a crush of people at peak periods, has so little (and such expensive) private land, and has such expensive building costs, can't be perfectly planned and executed. How would Disneyland function with 400 inches of snow?
And lets not forget, Mammoth is a big work in progress. Rusty always said that the pieces of the pie all have to come together at the same time. Air service, well run hotels, and extensive, quality public transportation, etc. all fit together. We're on the verge of that. In the meantime, people want gated residential neighborhoods, taller hotels, trophy homes, single-family homes to rent for vacations, and on and on. None of this would be such a big deal if Mammoth hadn't stayed retarded during the 80's and 90's. Mammoth is packing 30 years of resort maturation into 10 years. For this community, it's tough to get to the altar and not say, "I do". I'm glad I'm not a volunteer decision maker, I'm having a hard enough time keeping up with my business. So maybe we should be a little more tolerant. Well…, you can make your own decision on that.
My fifth resolution is easy. Ski more often and ski harder. After all, that is the most important part of Mammoth real estate. So resolved! Now if we can just get the market to cooperate. Happy New Year!
Paul Oster is Broker/ Owner of RE/MAX of Mammoth. An archive of his past Q&A columns can be found a www.remax-mammoth.com. You can send him your real estate related questions to P.O. Box 2618, M.L. 93546-2618 or email him at pauloster@earthlink.net. All questions will be researched and presented with the greatest care but accuracy is not guaranteed. For legal, accounting, construction, etc., advice, seek out the appropriate professional
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