Me and Jman are looking to buy a vacation house. Our first thought was Colorado.

We want to be able to go up there whenever we feel like it. Sometimes just for a few days or more to relax and have fun, sometimes for a month at a time to grind 8 hours a day and ski and relax the rest of the time, with no distractions.

We were thinking of spending something in the neighborhood of $600k, but we aren't really deadset on that.

Recently I talked to some people who've suggested other places, one being Sun Valley, Idaho, another Park City, Utah, or even Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I don't know much at all about it, but from what we found online, it looks nice. Can you help us decide on a place to buy, EDF? Maybe you have some other suggestions of just experiences in areas.

Some things we like:

Places near airports
Places near ski slopes
Places near places that deliver food
The word 'places'
Places where young people might live or vacation
Maybe some golfing, or just any other fun activities

Thanks guys.

-Me and Jman (mostly jman i suck at conveying thoughts)

i have heard only good things about the lake tahoe area, but not rly sure where it is

Now that Raptor is getting a house with another guy, hopefully everyone will stop making all those clearly untrue Raptor & Durrr gay jokes!

dear god, trade lives please.

did u ever get that costa rica home you posted about 2 yrs ago or is this just another dream to get you motivated?

Mammoth ldo.

Denver sounds like what you're looking for.

i made enough money i just decided that costa rica sucks and theres better things to do with my money than invest it in a third world country that i wouldnt end up ever visiting. i have no motivation and this isnt about building any, its about finding a comfortable place to relax.

also guys, please more info on the different locations, im not really looking for 1 word responses that i can research. i can type top 50 places to ski in google and figure those out myself. im looking for experiences, actual thoughts, etc etc. thanks!

I'm looking for more gay jokes.

Edit: And this was a terrible OP and the antithesis of this forum.

WRT skiing I've skiied all these places.

Park City is really nice, lots of high speed lifts. I like the other Salt Lake ski resorts as well.

Sun Valley was crowded when i went there, presidents day though.

Jackson Hole I dont remember specifically, but no bad memories.

There is a recent thread in oot about coolest mountain towns.

I live in Tahoe now, and have lived in Breckenridge and Crested Butte so if you have any specific questions for those areas feel free to ask.

Also be more specific about what you want:
what type of skiing do you want, does it matter how much it snows, how long the season is, if the place is isolated, if you mind dealing with a ton of tourists, etc.

Whistler is probably a hell of a flight, but it's great.

Only place I've skiied in Colorado is Copper Mountain, and as a rule I'd stay away from Intrawest resorts, they're all pretty cheesy and more or less the same. It wasn't anything special, decent terrain, starts going early November most years, towns thereabouts are pretty friggin nice, one of the highest tax brackets in the states.

Heard excellent things about the skiing/boarding at Breck, don't know anything about town life though. Oh, and Mammoth gives you pretty sick summer options as well as amazing winter skiing, check it out.

raptor,

i may have been a drunk douche that one time we met - but ski areas are something i know about!

i lived in south lake tahoe, CA, and this is a place with great skiing, great weather(snows a fair bit during the winter, never rains otherwise), casinos, young people from the bay area coming over all the time, beautiful scenery, tons of stuff to do during the summer. it's about 1 hour away from reno airport, about 3 hour drive to san francisco. the casinos spread small stakes dork poker when i was there, but that may have changed since i know harrahs has spread a few circuit wsop events there.

it's not the quietest town ever - but you'll have in town access to heavenly ski resort, and 3-4 other very good ski resorts in pretty easy driving distance, unless it snows.

another town in CA i know a fair about is mammoth lakes, but it lacks good proximity to an airport, and is probably more expensive too.


the other town i lived in was steamboat springs, CO. this is a quieter town. plenty of young people live in town during the winter, and the summer is OK too with hiking and biking. the actual snow quality is much better in CO(lighter, more dry) - but it will also be significantly colder than the california ski areas. it has an airport that is very close - like 20 mins from downtown or so. nightlife is basically smallish bars with specials, microbreweries with live music, that sort of thing. the mountain features a lot of mogul runs and very good tree skiing. if you like really steep, unfeatured(not bumpy or treeish) runs, this mountain isn't ideal. I believe prices have been going up in that area, but it's still plausible you could get something you'd enjoy for 600k or less. you'll really only have access to steamboat mountain and this little ski bump called howellson(spelling is wrong) hill, but this was plenty of skiing for me during the time i was there as it's a pretty huge mountain. there is also an awesome natural hot spring area called strawberry string, which are clothing optional at night!

another option is breckenridge, which is somewhere inbetween south lake and steamboat as far as how 'civilized' the area is...there are 3 mountains very close by, and pretty good night life..but i'm not an expert on the area as i would be in the others.

The thing about Tahoe is the poker kinda sucks, although it's probably better than Colorado ski towns. Most Colorado ski towns are not as convenient to an airport as you might think. It's a few hour drive from Denver airport for the most part.

If you decide on Reno/Tahoe, decide if you want to live in the snow or near it. Living in the snow means living on the California side for the most part, which can be a real PITA. There's a lot more maintenance, the cost of the house itself will be sky high, and the local politicians make life miserable for homeowners. You can live on the Nevada side in Reno or a nearby small town and be an hour or less away from the ski resorts.

There's a good excuse for visiting the Tahoe region coming up - the WSOP circuit event in mid-November is being held at Harvey's in South Lake Tahoe.

edit: And oh yeah, Carson City, home of the Moonlight Bunny Ranch, and other legal brothels, is right next door.

Easy:

North Lake Tahoe




North is much more balla than south shore. Its where the rich ppl from the Bay Area come, while south is where the poor college kids go.

Skiing

Awesome! Squaw Valley is so sick. It has a great village w/ bars, cafes, restaurants, etc... and great skiing. It is hard to pput into words how big this place is. You can prolly ski a week w/o going on the same trail. Night skiing as well incase you have trouble waking up early.

North Star:

Prolly even better village. Tons of stuff to do there, though I am not as acquainted. The village on the mountain is much better than Squaw's b/c it feels much more cozey. Skiing here is great too, prolly half 2/3 size of squaw, but still huge. They constantly develop it to make it better, unlike some resorts.

Other nearby ski resorts:

Alpine Meadows (very big)
Homewood (smaller, and less crowded)
Sugar Bowl is a bit of a drive, but not too bad. It is known for its great snow (much higher base altitude)

Diamond Peak: kind of [censored] IMO, but if you stay near it, you will be much closer to the casinos (Reno, north state line, and south shore). Amazing views though of the nevada desert from the peaks. Worth the view IMO; you see a desrt on one side and you see snow covered forest w/ lake on other side.

BTW you can also see this if you go to Heavenly Vally, the biggest mountain in Tahoe.

Gambling:

Obv South shore wins, but IMO I dont go to tahe in winter to gamble. Now, that said, you can drive (maybe 1-2 hour depending where on north part you at and wht time your driving) to get to the big casinos. I dont like the atmosphere there, but you will action. State line (north) has some low class casinos, that dont spread poker. If you need a slot machin or BJ fix, they are suitable.

Next option is to drive to Reno (prolly 1-2 hour also depending on weather, etc...).

Activities

I'm guessing south might have more activities suitable for young kid, like maybe a few clubs, w/e. North would be more for like 30+yo demographic and family demographic. Incline Village is kinda shady IMO, but has all teh casinos. Tahoe City is super nice, but offers little besides restaurants, small bars, and nice views. IMO youd have to hit up either the Village @ Squaw or Northstar to find college type of atmosphere. Maybe even a club or something. But I cant imagine south shore is crakin like crazy either, IDK.

High Class

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Tahoe+CIty,+USA&sa=X&oi=map&ct=title

IMO the best places to stay are from Homewood (on the west side) up to Dollar Point (north west) this region gives you many options for skiing, keeps you close to city life, and keeps you in a nice neighborhood.

Now, home prices have plunged in the last year I believe, and by "high class" I dont mean you need 1mill to buy here. I'm guessing you can find a decent 2bed 2 bath cabin for maybe 500k. Although 700k would prolly ensure that its not a POS.

HOwvere, IMO: renting is by far the +EV move here, b/c IMO renting out when you are not living in the house will not be even close to covering the mortgage payments. IMO it is best to pay 1k-5k a week(or 20k if you and your balla friends wanna live like kings?)in the winter. Owning here would not be a good RE investment IMO, simply b/c the prices are sky high, and the market that rents only rents for seasonal purposes.

Lots of times I'll talk to ppl who are filthy rich as I am sitting on a chair lift of gondola. I have even gotten high w/ a dude on a chair lift, as he was kind enough to offer me a free toke out of his pipe. Its really a mixture of pleasant ppl. And I have always seen it as an extension of San Fransisco in terms of atmosphere and friendliness.

Lastly, there are lots of hot girls.

Other random pictures to convince you to come to Tahoe:












Sidenote: most extreme weather conditions I have ever felt in life @ 8600ft altitude. Roughly 140-160 MPH winds at the ridge of a peak I was on. It was blowing off all the snow , and visibility was about 15 feet. You could not tell which way was up down or left, b/c the wind was pushing you so hard that you could not ski down (w/ gravity). They closed the upper part of the mountain. Was an amazing experience, total adrenalin rush.

voight,

was your sidenote typical of skiing at the peak?

BTW, if you plan on spending 2+months a year in the house, you might wanna buy (if you would rent for balla house prices, which I am sure you would)

IDK your financial situation, so I would first say this: rent, and see if you like it there, before making any big decisions.

Thanks so much for the suggestions guys.

We don't care much about local casinos. We won't be playing much live poker.

Lake Tahoe looks great to me bc of the location. I have a lot of friends and relatives in LA and San Diego, and Vegas isn't too far away. It'd be nice to be able to drive (I know it's still far) to or from these places.

This sounds appealing to me too.

I was busy today but I'll look into everything you guys suggested tomorrow, including that other thread.

Thanks again.

tahoe is much easier for me to visit than CO, fwiw

Have you thought about trying to buy something that would double as an investment? There are tons of stories of condos in Aspen being bought for 70k 25 years ago and sold for 2m or whatever.

no, this has happened only once in the 12+ times I have visited that specific peak. Conditions really range from perfect to insane, and are very dependent on the exact location. On that specific day the wind was brutal on the top peak, but if you descended 200-300 feet (vertically), the wind was almost unnoticeable.

Only other comparable instance was when I was skiing at squaw again (possibly another portion of mountain though, I don't remember) well into the night. And I experienced possibly the coldest weather of my life. I knew it was cold b/c even though I was snowboarding and active (and dressed in "winter" type cloths) I was shivering. This freaked me out b/c usually I am hot/warm. I thought I was suffering from hypothermia.

Anyway, I get down to the bottom, which about 2,000 feet lower in elevation, and as I walk by a building, I see that the temperature at the base is in the single low teens (Fahrenheit), maybe 12-14ish. And it felt pretty damn warm down there.

are you going to rent the house out when you are not there? how much time would you spend there?

BTW, I think longterm (like 20+) most winter resort locations would be +EV to buy, b/c that is really a limited market. Most cities (@ least in cali) heavily monitor the construction of new buildings as to preserve nature. So essentially I think house prices and rental prices for such locations will go up, and thus owning would be +EV. Now if you wanna get nitty about it, you might wanna compare how an RE investment would compare vs a modest Stock/Bond investment. Althoug in your situtaion, I think you just wanna have a plce that you know is free to you 100% of time, and no hassle w/ rent/finding a place, etc...

Now if I was in your shoes, I would buy, simply b/c I feel it would not let me spend money on liabilities (cars, hookers, etc..)

[end conservative mode]

lastly: driving from tahoe to SD = I might hang myself on the way

I had a post typed out about why Tahoe is awesome, but I was basically just re-iterating stuff other people said. FWIW Im 21, Ive lived in the bay area my whole life, went to Stanford, and have made a bunch of trips to Tahoe. Its really a fun place, and should suit all of your requirements. Its also within driving distance of a lot of other desirable destinations (bay area, beaches, vegas, etc). One drawback is that your money wont go nearly as far in Tahoe as it will in the other places you listed. Real estate, particularly in the north, has appreciated substantially in the past decade. I almost bought a really nice place a few years back for a little over a million, but decided on cape cod instead. That same place would cost roughly 1.5 now.

-evan

You guys can PM me if you have any specific questions re: tahoe/bay area, but Im sure the forum can handle them just fine.