Jackson Hole – Wyoming – Disaster Free?

Maybe not exactly but Wyoming ranked 5th for Distaster Resistant real estate locations from the MSN real estate site:

Here’s the link:  http://realestate.msn.com/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=25641997&GT1=35006 

Here’s what they had to say about Wyoming and Jackson Hole:

Wyoming

Want to live tax-free, but don’t want to deal with hurricanes? Welcome to Wyoming, where individual and corporate taxes are as nonexistent as oceans and gulf currents. Residents may wonder how their state can be considered so safe when it was declared a disaster area in July after a serious bout of flooding. Simple: With only eight major disasters declared since FEMA started keeping tabs back in 1953, the least-populous state (roughly 540,000, or fewer than in Tucson, Ariz., alone) takes calamities including floods, tornadoes and winter storms in stride. With all that cash savings and little worry about impending doom, Wyoming newcomers should feel free to splurge on such homes as Sotheby’s $7 million, four-bedroom, seven-acre spread in Jackson Hole with a stone fireplace, infinity-edge outdoor hot tub, heated concrete floors, six-car garage, guest house and a 30-foot window wall with a view of the Tetons.

All I can say is somehow Utah beat us?  I beg to differ!

Receive emergency updates from Teton County

The Gillespie Real Estate Team has recently learned about a message alert system called NIXLE through Teton County Emergency Management.  This system allows local emergency services in Teton County to send an immediate email or text message to subscribers to the system.  This enables you to know firsthand what is going on in the valley whether it’s an accident, closure on Teton Pass or an earthquake.

There are two ways you can subscribe to the NIXLE system:

1. Visit www.nixle.com and click “sign in here” in the upper right corner, then click “register now for free”. (Tip: If your actual address won’t register, just use the intersection of N Cache and W Broadway as your address.)

2. Text your zip code to 888777 from your cell phone. If you do this, you will only receive text message alerts. If you follow the weblink in the text message, you can access more detailed information which is included in the email alerts.

NIXLE is a completely free service that costs nothing for subscribers or for taxpayers. We hope you will find this service useful and please feel free to forward this message to friends, family and coworkers who also may wish to receive timely emergency information via text message and/or email.

(Note: Local emergency services to not have access to your information, as it is held on a private and secure server managed by the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System.)

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Opens All Lifts!

For the first time in resort history, Jackson Hole opened “wall to wall” this weekend.  Christy, Katie and I all hit the slopes on Saturday and did our duty in cutting all the fresh, virgin powder.  It was exciting to say the least to be skiing in November let alone skiing the Hobacks.  The early snowfall has covered the mountain extremely well and we believe there is already more snow on the lower part of the mountain than we ever had last year.

We also spoke with the director of the Four Season Resort who mentioned that booking at the luxury hotel are extremely strong for the winter months.  This should bode well for the real estate market.  Buyers will be ready to swoop in and buy some of the excellent values on the market.  It has been a few years since we saw a strong push of buyers but we are anticipating a great selling season this winter.  If you would like information of the real estate market in Jackson please feel free to contact us. Jackson Hole Sotheby’s International Realty has just finished our biannual Catalogue of Fine Properties so if you would like an copy we’d be thrilled to send you a link.

For more information on the wonderful skiing here in Jackson or for in depth real estate information please contact Garth and Christy Gillespie, associates for Jackson Hole Sotheby’s International Realty at 307-413-5243 visit our website – Jackson Hole Experts.

Gillespie Real Estate Team’s Top Values in Jackson Hole Real Estate

The Gillespie Real Estate Team at Sotheby’s International Realty in Jackson Hole Wyoming has just updated the “Top Picks of the Week”. Please follow this link: Top Jackson Hole Real Estate Values to see the top values in the Jackson Hole real estate market. Every week or so the Gillespie Real Estate Team will update the Top Picks to showcase great deals in Jackson Hole including townhomes, condos, houses, golf course property, ranch land, ski-in ski-out properties and other great values we see in our real estate market. We also showcase a Listing of the Week, a Sold Property of the Week and a Price Reduction of the Week.

Don’t miss out on learning about the great values in the Jackson Hole Real Estate Market brought to you by The Gillespie Real Estate Team of Garth & Christy Gillespie, Katie Colbert and Don Alsted.

Christy and Garth Gillespie – The Jackson Hole Experts – The July Jackson Hole Real Estate Newsletter

Every month we update our Realty Times Real Estate Newsletter which includes a Jackson Hole Market Update and some National Real Estate Market information. Here is the link but we have also posted our July newsletter market update text below. Feel free to read or visit or newsletter.

July NEWSLETTER

Looking back on the first 2 quarters of sales activity in Jackson Hole we see that there was not a lot of activity. Again – another record low quarter but we have bounced back from the awful 1st Quarter of 2009 where we only had 17 sales. During the 2nd Quarter we witnessed 38 transactions, more than doubling the 1st Quarter results. 22 sales occurred below $1,000,000 and 16 sales occurred above $1,000,000. Of the higher priced properties the highest priced property to sell was listed at $5,625,000 but there was substantial negotiation given. Of the total 38 transactions 4 of them were fractional resort condos and 8 properties did not disclose the closing price.

For current activity, Christy and I have witnessed a surge in activity. The market is not on fire by any means but again we are starting to see some activity that indicates the market has some life. The most interesting aspect of the current activity has been the variety of properties going under contract.

There are currently 16 “Under Contract” residential properties which does NOT include pre construction projects (Terra, Pine Glades, 199 Pearl) or vacant land. There are 8 properties under $1,000,000 and 8 properties over $1,000,000. There are only 3 condos verse 13 single family homes. In the past week, the most exciting activity we witnessed was a property north of town listed for $5,150,000 go under contract (both sides of the transaction are being represented by Sotheby’s International Realty – Jackson Hole). There are currently 4 properties under contract listed for more than $4.8 million. There are 5 under contract vacant land parcels.

As for Active Listings….there are 571 Residential Properties for sale in Jackson Hole and 214 Vacant Land Parcels for sale in Jackson Hole!

If you have time – check out our Top Real Estate Picks in Jackson Hole located at JacksonHoleExperts.com.

We hope this helps you understand the current market activity in Jackson Hole. If you would like us to expand our thoughts or if you have any additional questions please email or call the JacksonHoleExperts – 877-739-8056.

Make sure you check out www.jacksonholeexperts.com . We have a lot of great new listings and have just updated our extremely popular Top Picks Page. Christy and I select great values on the market every few weeks and update them on the Top Pick page. Thanks for reading and if you would like additional information of the Jackson Hole market please call us toll free at 877-739-8056. We also love referrals so if you have anyone interested in Jackson Hole real estate or thinking about listing please let them know about us!

Looking for the Top Real Estate Deals in Jackson Hole?

Beatiful South Jackson Hole

Beautiful South Jackson Hole


The Jackson Hole Experts – Christy and Garth Gillespie – have just updated our Top Picks of the Week! Every other week the Jackson Hole Experts update our Top Picks with the Best New Jackson Hole Listing, the Most Notable Closed Jackson Hole Transaction and the Best Jackson Price Reduction on a Listing. At the bottom of that page we have a link that takes you to our Top Picks of the Week.

The Top Real Estate Picks of the Week in Jackson Hole is a selection of properties Christy and I feel are well priced for our market and can be considered a Top Pick of the Week. We currently list 3 properties.

In new exciting news the Jackson Hole Experts contracted with our wonderful website designer to create the “Jackson Hole Real Estate Power Rankings”. Here we will start to rank the Top Ten Real Estate deals in Jackson Hole. This is going to be an exciting challenge as we have the opportunity to move properties up and down the list as new listings come aboard, current listings have price reductions or the real estate market changes in certain locations. Stay tuned as we will be getting the Jackson Hole Real Estate Power Rankings online in the next few weeks.

The current market is showing some signs of activity. Yesterday at the Sotheby’s International Realty – Jackson Hole Brokerage – Wednesday morning meeting multiple properties were announced as “pending-under contract”. The list included a condo at the Aspen’s, a vacant lot in the Jackson Hole exclusive neighborhood of Indian Springs and a small, older home in the Town of Jackson. This is great to hear!

For more information on Jackson Hole Real Estate please contact the Jackson Hole Experts toll free at 877-739-8056 or visit our website.

Cheers to Dancers’ Workshop – Jackson Hole

Christy and I had a wonderful weekend here in Jackson as we attended 2 events put on by Dancers’ Workshop. What a show the Elisa Monte Dance Company delivered on Saturday at the Jackson Hole Center for the Arts.

The evening started with Christy and me going to the Snake River Grill with friends Mike Stern and Bridget Mullen, Dana and John Wright, Heidi and Danny Yost and Ann Dwan. We had an excellent assortment of the Grill’s light menu which included tasty Fish Tacos, the incredible Steak Tartar Pizza and the just about famous Potato Pancake with Smoked Salmon.

We then headed to the Center for the Arts to attend a performance by Elise Monte Dance Company. We were both blown away by the talent on the stage from the dancers and just how entertaining it was. The first act, “Pigs and Fishes” was fantastic with a lot of soloing and also group dancing. After intermission we were entertained by a new dance called Zydeco Zare which included live music by Jeffery Broussard and the Creole Cowboys.

On Sunday evening we headed back to the Center for a wonderful family event again sponsored by Dancers’ Workshop. Jeffery Broussard and the Creole Cowboys were the headliners. The band rocked and it was refreshing to hear the sounds of New Orleans ringing through the Center. This was just an incredible event staged inside the Performing Arts Theater where friends, families and mostly locals danced out hearts out! There was excellent Cajun food ,great beer from the Snake River Brewing Company and just a general festive feeling in the aire. The weather even cooperated and was nice enough for the event to be outside but after the past 2 weeks of dreadful weather it was an easy decision to move most of the event inside. I am sure the band was happy as it got cold quickly as soon as the sun went down. Plus the acoustics were excellent inside the Center.

Thanks again Dancers’ Workshop! Babs Case, artistic director, for Dancers Workshop deserves some praise. Thank you, thank you!!

Jackson Hole Real Estate Market Update June 3, 2009

It’s time for our JH monthly real estate update and we have encouraging news on the Jackson Hole real estate market – there’s a pulse! We are finally starting to see some meaningful movement on the seller’s side of things (list prices are coming down – averaging 15%) and the result is that some buyers are taking advantage of this movement.

Today (6/3/2009) at the Sotheby’s International Realty office meeting we had many agents report “under contract properties”. This included a walk in customer who wrote a contract on an in town property priced over $1 million, a home in Rafter J, a vacant lot south of town, a vacant lot north of town at the Jackson Hole Golf and Tennis and a condo in the town of Jackson. The one area that raised our eyebrows was that fact 2 more vacant lots went under contract. We have been discussing the market with a lot of people and we keep mentioning that we feel that the vacant lot segment of the market will help pull the market out of its slump and we are starting to see that prediction come true. Construction prices are low, material prices are low, design and layout services are lower and available – there’s just a lot of indicators that make us believe that vacant lots make some investment sense at the moment.

The issue in the market continues to be inventory – over 850 listings compared to 470 at this time last year and that equals 42 months of inventory at the current sales pace. There are many choices for buyers in all price ranges. If you do not like one house there is another to look at. If a buyer makes an offer and it is not well received, there is another seller to entertain. Sometimes deals are not occuring but we are starting to see a lot more of them coming together when compared to 3 months ago.

We are still waiting for the low end market to see these indicators and to adjust to the market. There is a general consensus and there is starting to be a statistical pattern that the market is responding to a 25% discount from the high market. There is confusion on where the high was but generally the highest sale in a like category minus 25% gives us a current value. Sure there are exceptions but currently the lower end market (under $500,000) has not adjusted any where close to this adjustment and it is showing in pending transactions – 3 pending deals….

Make sure you check out www.jacksonholeexperts.com (link is below). We have a lot of great new listings and have just updated our extremely popular Top Picks Page. Christy and I select great values on the market every few weeks and update them on the Top Pick page. Next month we will have the 2nd quarter review – stay tuned. Thanks for reading and if you would like additional information of the Jackson Hole market please call us toll free at 877-739-8056. We also love referrals so if you have anyone interested in Jackson Hole real estate or thinking about listing please let them know about us!

Jackson Hole Mortgage Rates….On the Rise

One of the finest loan representatives in the Jackson Hole area is T.R. Pierce from the Bank of Jackson Hole. T.R. Pierce is the senior vice president loan officer at the largest “local” bank in Jackson Hole and for the past few years has been educating the Jackson Hole real estate agents on the current local mortgage rates. As part of our weekly updates we will be posting T.R.’s report about once a week. This should give readers a good idea of local rates. We of course recommend calling T.R. Pierce, SVP Residential Loans, 307.734.8111 for an appointment if you would like additional information on mortgages. Today’s report is below:

Conforming interest rates rise as pending home sales increase for the third straight month… the NAR reported that pending home sales rose 6.7% in April after a 3.2% increase in March. Homes under contract increased 32.6% in the Northeast, 9.8% in the Midwest, 1.8% in the West and only 0.2% in the South. This morning Wall Street is showing some caution after yesterday’s rally which was spurred by upbeat reports on manufacturing, construction spending and consumer spending.

Residential Mortgage Rates for June 2, 2009

The following rates are thirty (30) day quotes for fully documented, owner-occupied and/or second home loans for borrowers with a minimum credit score of 700 which feature a one (1%) percent loan origination fee and the escrow of taxes & insurance.

PLEASE NOTE THAT CONFORMING LOAN AMOUNTS OVER $417,000 TO $693,750
ARE AVAILABLE AT HIGHER INTEREST RATES THAN INDICATED BELOW.

PROGRAM CONFORMING
(Loans to $417,000)
JUMBO
(Loans over 417,000)

30 Year Fixed
5.250%
7.875%

15 Year Fixed
4.750%
6.875%

10/1 ARM
5.250%
7.875%

7/1 ARM
4.750%
5.000%

5/1 ARM
4.000%
4.500%

3/1 ARM
5.375%
6.625%

30 YEAR FIXED RATE FHA LOANS TO $693,750: 5.250%
PRIME RATE: 3.250%
ONE YEAR LIBOR RATE: 1.607%

Rates are still great but we are starting to see an upward tick in the rates. Don’t be left behind – Now is the time to look at the inventory on the market. For more information call the Jackson Hole Experts at 307-413-5243. We have been tracking the market and have selected some great Jackson Hole deals. To hear more or to see what we have picked check out our TOP PICKS page.

Melody Ranch — Great New Listing – Value Priced

Large 4 Bedroom Home in Melody Ranch

Large 4 Bedroom Home in Melody Ranch

Christy and Garth Gillespie are pleased to have been selected to market a new listing in Melody Ranch. 4215 Balsam Lane is a wonderful family home located on open space and is 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and is 2,600 square feet. The price reflects an excellent value at today’s market. Additional information can be found at the following link – 4210 Balsam Lane

Below is some interesting information about this wonderful community.

Melody Ranch, just four miles south of the Town of Jackson, is a place of wide-open spaces, remarkable views and a strong sense of community. While residents appreciate the development for its close proximity to town and its natural beauty, they also love the fact that it feels like a true neighborhood, a place where people have chosen tomake as their year-round home in Jackson Hole.

Melody Ranch has deep roots in Jackson Hole history. In 1888, the area was settled as Cheney, one of the first townships in the valley. In the 20th century, an out-of-towner named Paul von Gontard visited the area as a boy and was so bowled over by the soaring mountains and grassy meadows that he later returned to establish a cattle ranch on the land. The main lodge and outbuildings from those days still stand, and their historic character is complemented by the design of today’s Melody Ranch homes, which are in the Western mountain and ranch styles, in natural earth tones.

As a planned residential community, Melody Ranch retains all the openness and close-to-nature attributes of its ranching heritage. Development started in 1995 in accordance with amaster plan that emphasizes preserving open spaces. Today, in fact, open spacesmake up 70 percent of the community.As Melody Ranch Development states, “Our philosophical approach is thatmaintaining these views and landscapes will enhance and protect what we value so highly – the freedom to live in, and appreciate, the wide open spaces of the hard-won West.”

Flat Creek, the water source for the haymeadows of Melody Ranch, still meanders through the development, and thanks to careful planning, the Teton and Snake River mountain views that made such an impression on young von Gontard more than 50 years ago can still be enjoyed in full. Cottonwoods, spruce and aspen dot the landscape and add a sense of privacy. Melody Ranch “has incorporated time-honored concepts of historic ranch development into its master plan, to preserve the open character of horse and cattle pastures and haymeadows while allowing native and natural vegetation to protect and shade its buildings,” the developer says. The development features manmade improvements that give residents a backyard playground. There are bike trails, trout fishing ponds, playgrounds and playing fields that make the development ideal for families with children. Schools, grocery stores, shops, restaurants and all the other amenities of town are within easy reach, as are Grand Teton National Park and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. But at Melody Ranch, staying home is just as an attractive option as getting out to other parts of the valley. Great views are just the beginning.

For additional information or to set up a showing call Garth and Christy Gillespie – the Jackson Hole Experts at 877-739-8056.