Is It the Right Time to Sell Your Park City Vacation Home?

I am continually amazed over the misconceptions by both buyers and sellers regarding the Park City real estate market during the COVID-19 pandemic and more recent national challenges over very unfortunate current events. Buyers continually believe the Park City real estate market is in peril and sellers think it’s a terrible time to sell. The question is, could now be the right time to sell your Park City vacation home?

Let’s take a look. I’m here to tell you factually, that while the over all volume of Park City real estate activity is down, home values are holding steady due to several factors:

1. Inventory is low- sellers are keeping their properties off the market if they don’t have to sell.

2. Demand is high- buyers who were quarantined in cities with justifiable but strict guidelines are escaping to the more rural mountain west. My colleagues in other ski resort communities are experiencing the same surge of buyers from the big cities that Park City is experiencing. 

3. Buyers are serious- the challenges of city dwelling have kicked their dreams of mountain living into a reality. The quarantine has proven to many that they can work from home and live where they please.

4. Sellers are more serious and less likely to overprice their Park City home or condo from the get-go. There is less of a “let’s just list for my dream price and hope someone comes along to buy it” mentality. 

5. Buyers and sellers are cooperating with one another during the transaction therefore we are seeing more successful closes. 

May Market Statistics Park City.jpg

The big question for vacation homeowners is whether we will have a robust ski season. What will social distancing guidelines do to the Park City ski industry for the 2019/2020 ski season? Will the tourists stay home? Will your ski vacation rental get booked solid? Can you afford to keep your Park City ski home or condo if you don’t get bookings? These serious questions for current owners need to be addressed. Ia now the time to sell your Park City vacation home? If your answer is that you can’t afford the carrying costs of your vacant ski rental, you should sell. Maybe it’s time. This is where buyers might find the deal they have been waiting for. But it certainly isn’t in the single-family home market. Well priced Park City area single-family homes are moving quickly. 

I’ve always told my investment buyers to purchase based on overall appreciation of your Park City vacation home, not cash flow. Think of it as having a free place to stay for the best family ski vacation, with tax benefits. And someday, at least a few years down the road, you get to sell it for a profit. Those vacation owners should be able to weather another possible storm or resurgence of the pandemic. 

Keeping Current Matters

Keeping Current Matters

Vacation rental owners that require cash flow in order to be able to afford a ski property are at risk. Such owners need an honest financial analysis of their rental business and make a decision. Remember to calculate your losses on a daily, weekly, and monthly schedule. How much loss can you endure? Perhaps it’s time to sell.

Mary Ciminelli