STR in Colorado mountains, help requested for newbie

[Nick P.]

Hello All,

Ive had a passion for owning a home in the Colorado high country for a very long time. As for some background, Im 35 and Im a physician who finished subspecialty medical training a year ago. I currently travel to several states to work in ICUs and when not working, I have a camper van that I live out of and travel to different parts of the country to visit, ski, and recreate in. Im very passionate about skiing and have spent a good deal of my free time skiing in the backcountry the last few ski seasons. I have friends and some family in Colorado and certain parts of the state just feel like home. I do work a lot, and one of my main purposes of having this nomadic job/lifestyle  is to earn enough capital to make a real estate investment before transitioning to a less lucrative but more "normal" job. 

Im looking to purchase a home in or near a mountain town (near skiable mountains) with the hope of using it as a STR and occasionally to enjoy for personal use (when its vacant). This may not be the most lucrative business strategy, but its something Im passionate about making work. Im particularly interested in steamboat, Glenwood, winter park, the south of the state/durango... possibly even summit county and other areas.

Ive been looking up properties on zillow and cross referencing my search area with mashvisor to look at ABNB occupancy and COC-ROI rates but I feel like Im at a standstill. I dont completely trust the mashvisor data, and many/most available properties dont appear to be able to have positive STR cashflow since they are so $$$. When I do find an property that appears to have some value (and not exorbitantly priced), I dont really trust mashvisor for comparable occupancy rates. AirDNA Ive been told may b e more accurate, but I dont have one geographic area pinned down for my search.

I guess Im just looking for any help/advice in searching for a property in the state. Or any other pointers anyone can offer given my circumstance.  

I really appreciate it!

[Erik Stenbakken]

Hey, Nick. I own several STRs in Grand County (Winter Park is in GC), though mine are north of WP a bit. 

You are correct not to trust the data of all the analyzers. There just isn’t as much data to cross reference as there is in say San Fran or Pigeon Forge. Add to that the ton of owners from the front range that USE their units themselves. I don’t know that the data analyzers can tell the difference between an owner stay and guest stay. I’ve personally called condo owners and asked them what you’re asking. At that time (2018? 19?) the best-case scenarios were breaking even. Most owners were ok owning and having the property subsidized by rental. 

Steamboat is even rougher. Summit County has a ton of deed restrictions, so careful there. 

The HOA fees and extreme seasonality is what kills the numbers there. Though WP is trying to generate better summer traffic.

Cost of entry will be lower in south-central— but so will occupancy. It’s a trade off. 

This is not to say it cannot be done. There may be an equity play to be made. But I would not promise myself that I’ll make up the cash loss in for-sure in equity gain. 

It’s tough to make the numbers work buying where the rich go to play!