We hope everyone had a beautiful and restful 4th of July! It is one of the busiest weeks in Aspen, and the weather delivered with cool evenings and bluebird days. Every year since I can remember, my mother has hosted a party to honor her late mother, my grandmother, at their house. There are no invitations; it is word of mouth, and the two rules are to bring a salad and stay home if it rains. Every year, I become more grateful and appreciative of my parent's effort to keep this tradition alive. It takes weeks of preparation and plenty of cleanup, but it is worth it. We get to open our home to our neighbors, friends, family, and clients. It spans multiple generations, from the kids jumping on the trampoline to some of the founders of Snowmass Village, who are in their 80's and 90's.
There are countless articles or experts on return on investments and how one builds wealth. Often the opinions vary from money managers who charge commission annually, to family members whose inheritance it impacts, to real estate agents, who make a one-time commission. The reason I bring this up is market dynamics, like everything else, experience ebbs and flows and while recent data indicates a healthy market, things can change dramatically in the short-term. The long-term has been more consistent though. Even those of which who bought their homes right before the financial crisis in Aspen, have done very very well on their homes. Homes are not guaranteed to escalate in value, but in Aspen Snowmass we have seen a consistent +/- 5% (often more) annual appreciation while getting an opportunity to live in one of the most desirable areas in the entire country.
Besides building equity in your home, you are building equity with your community, neighbors, and lifestyle. No doubt it is difficult to buy a house now, but in the 1980's when baby boomers were buying it was just as, if not more difficult with interest rates around 18% and inflation soaring. The point being is that buying a home will always be a major life decision. The longer you delay, often times the more costly the solution; almost always acting decisively and quickly can be difficult in the short-term, but almost always we reap the benefits financially, socially, and emotionally in the long-term.
