What should you do when the property you want to sell is not your own home and is not located in your home state but is located in a Colorado ski resort, out of sight and out of mind from your own home? A second home or mountain resort property in another state is a completely different ‘animal’ and requires someone with a local expertise and a different mindset.

The resort real estate market has a mind of its own, whether in Keystone Resort, another area in Summit County or another resort somewhere else

Yes, you know all about the properties around your own neighborhood, but do you know as much about the market in another state, even if it’s your own property? Maybe somewhat, but probably not as much as where you live full time.

If you own a second home or mountain property, again, whether it’s in Keystone, Summit or another resort market area, what should you do? How can you gain the market knowledge you need to make the right decision on pricing, on marketing, or just choosing the right broker to represent you? It’s not like you can do what you do with your own home:

• Drive around your neighborhood to keep track of the other properties listed for sale.

• Stop at some local open houses to see how other properties compare to yours;

• Read the local newspaper to see what was on the market;

• Keep up-to-date on the local real estate market through family, friends and co-workers;

• Or just discuss the local real estate while standing in line at the bank or grocery store.

You thought that someday, when you are ready to sell your vacation/mountain home, the information you have gleaned just by talking to other property owners in the same project or nearby area would give you enough of a handle on the market there. And you thought that you even have a pretty good idea which local realtor to use to get the job done.

However, your local real estate market has little to do with a market located halfway across the country- or even a few hundred miles away – and contracting with the “wrong” out-of-state broker could cost you dearly. As a result, you’re left with questions like: “Is it still a buyers market? Has the market bottomed out yet? When is the best time to sell? What are the average days on market running? How much is my resort property worth?”

Although some Internet websites may offer a great deal of information, they aren’t necessarily good resources for determining value and/or identifying successful marketing strategies for your specific mountain resort real estate.

So, how do you gather the information you’ll need to make an informed decision? While it’s always a good idea to work with a real estate professional – a proven way to save you time, money, aggravation and give you peace of mind – it’s especially important to find the right real estate professional when you are not living near the property that you want to sell.

Who should you call? Who can you trust? As a seller of an out-of-area property, you want to have:

• A broker with experience in resort sales;

• A broker who has already achieved the results that you are trying to achieve;

• A broker who has had the most success in the resort market you want to sell in;

• A broker who not only has the most number of listings sold of all of the brokers in this area, but also the highest percent of listings sold;

• A broker who has achieved the highest average sales-to-list price ratio of all brokers in the area; and

• A broker whose listings have had the shortest time on market of all their competition.

Call Craig Walsh at The Walsh Group of RE/MAX Properties of the Summit/Keystone when you’re ready

to sell. You can reach him toll free at (800) 594-1010, email him at info@walshgroupproperties.com or

just visit him on the Web at http://www.KeystoneColoradoProperties.com.