Steamboat Pilot & Today

On the Market

Tom Ross' On the Market column appears Sundays in the Real Estate section of the Steamboat Pilot & Today. Contact him at 871-4205 or e-mail tross@SteamboatToday.com.

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Steamboat Springs — The Aspen Times reported Thursday that assessors and commissioners from six counties across the state, including three from the Western Slope, are participating in a task force formed by the state legislature to re-examine property tax policy that allows owners of expensive rural homes to value their lots at steeply reduced agricultural tax rates if they or an independent farmer realizes income from farming activity on open space in the developments.

Times writer Janet Urqu­hart reported that the group’s current emphasis is tending toward removing residential uses from the overall development and excluding them from the agricultural exemption.
 The lobbying entity Colorado Counties also is participating in the work of the task force.

Routt County Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Nancy Stahoviak said Thurs­­day that the issue was discussed Aug. 9 with other county officials and that the board decided it would not have any input for the task force at this time.

Prudential Steamboat teams earn state awards

Prudential Steamboat Realty’s Pam Vanatta and The Vanatta Group, along with Lisa Olson and Beth Bishop, of The Olson Team, won top awards for the second quarter statewide.

The Vanatta Group won first place for residential gross commission income and second place for residential units sold among all Colorado Prudential agents. Among the group are Pam Vanatta, Heidi Flint, Mark Dudley, Anne Mayberry and Kelly Stahl.

The Olson Team claimed third place for residential gross commission income and third place for residential units sold among all Colorado Prudential agents.

Pam Vanatta is a top-producing agent for Prudential on a national level, ranking in the top 0.5 percent during the past 20 years. Learn more about The Vanatta Group at www.steamboatestates.com.

Lisa Olson has ranked in the top 5 percent of Pruden­ti­­al agents nationwide since first coming to Prudential Steam­boat Realty in 2003. Since Beth Bis­hop joined her efforts in 2005, the two have been ranking in the top 1 percent as a team. For more information about The Olson Team, visit www.lisaolson.com.

Bank sales 14.5 percent of total July dollar volume

A half-dozen bank sales of property in July accounted for nearly 15 percent of gross dollar volume for the month, according to Routt County statistics researched by Bruce Carta, of Land Title Guarantee Co., However, one sale in particular had a heavy influence on the trend. 
Carta reported last week that six bank sales last month totaled $5.37 million, or 14.5 percent of the $36.925 million total volume for the month. Alpine Bank’s sale of a home on Graystone Drive for $3.2 million pushed the average price of bank-owned sales for the month to $895,167.

July volume is slightly up from same month in 2009

July real estate closings produced $36.9 million in dollar volume, up about 3.7 percent from July 2009.
 Carta reports that year-to-date dollar volume is up more dramatically. The $292.1 million sold in 2010 is 174.75 percent of last year’s seven-month total of $167.2 million.