Franchise Business Review' awarded Sotheby' International Realty Best in Category for Real Estate Franchisee Satisfaction award for the second year in a row today.The Best in Category award measures franchisee satisfaction with their franchisors and is part of the 4th annual Franchisee Satisfaction Awards presented by Franchise Business Review.  Sotheby's International Realty Affiliates LLC also was ranked No. 7 for all franchise categories with more than 200 locations.  This is the second year the brand was rated in the top 10 of all franchise categories."Our goal is to provide our franchisees with the resources they need to better serve their clients and remain leaders in their markets," said Michael R. Good, president and chief executive officer, Sotheby's International Realty Affili... 04/07/2009

Ok, so real estate sales are slower, but smart buyers are noticing and evaluating the deals that have not been seen in many years and stepping up to take advantage of it.  Who knows when the market will rebound?  Meanwhile, you can stop paying rent and enjoy your very own home or vacation getaway!  The last 30 days have seen 16 sales which you can view in detail here.  If you've not yet bought, contact Trish for a short list of what I think are great buys and current list of foreclosures in the Crested Butte area.  Contact me for more information or to see these properties and visit my website to search for your dream Crested Butte vacation home. 04/04/2009

It's spring skiing with extra powder in Crested Butte!  Crested Butte Mountain Resort reports 18 inches in the last week but I was out there for a bit yesterday and it would seem to me that we have about 12 inches of fresh snow and the skiing was fabulous!  Today, bluebird sky and sunshine.  Come get a few more days in the snow and sun before the season ends on Sunday. Meanwhile, Crested  Butte is in the running to be voted one of the Budget Travel Top Ten Coolest Small Towns and we need just a few votes to make it!  Click here to vote before the polls close tomorrow. Courtesy of your Crested Butte real estate broker.  Visit my website for a a list of cool things to do in Crested Butte or to search Crested Butte real estate and homes. 04/02/2009

As the end of ski season approaches our temperatures are rising.  So is interest in Crested Butte real estate!  Sellers have, in many cases, dramatically reduced prices to entice buyers to make a move ... and savvy buyers are making a move!  Phone calls, emails, showings and under contracts are up and a few are taking advantage of low pricing and low interest rates to get into homes they could only dream about before.  Since March 1, here are the properties sold: Crested Butte Town Sales: 8 Teocalli  $900,000 Mt. Crested Butte Sales: 369 Grand Lodge, West Tower $125,000 620 Gothic Road   $412,500 A103 West Wall Lodge   $825,000 Skyland: 12 Alpine Court  $435,000 To view the details and photos of these properties We currently have a short list of Crested Butte foreclosure properties whic... 03/30/2009

Award-winning historic Home in the heart of downtown Crested Butte includes artists studio and separate rental property for income.  This home is just steps from everything you want and offers magnificent views and an extraordinary property - for gardening, entertaining, or just enjoyment of the outdoors.  Amazing location and property.  Priced to sell $1,195,00 Visit our website: www.Homes-in-Crested-Butte.com to search the MLS for listings of Crested Butte real estate, homes in Mt Crested Butte, golf course homes and condos at the Club at Crested Butte or to see all our Crested Butte area real estate listings or call Trish at 970-596-8480. 03/25/2009

Every week on Tuesday in Crested Butte brokers hold "Brokers Open Houses" to showcase their new or improved listings to the other brokers in the community.  This is a great way to see several properties in a short time.  Today I saw some very good new-to-the-market homes and townhouses in the town.  Prices have been coming down and becoming much more affordable.  This is a great time to buy!  We analyze the Crested Butte real estate market daily.  A few properties stand out as exceptional values.  We will make available this list of CRESTED BUTTE HOT REAL ESTATE VALUES to  you, at no cost or obligation.  If you would like to receive this list via email, please email us at Info@Homes-in-Crested-Butte.com and put the words "CB HOT VALUES" in the subject or body of the email. There is no c... 03/24/2009

Now it's the day after and all had a LOT of fun in the Al Johnson Race yesterday!  I was one of the happy people at the finish line so I got to see everyone come in ... what FUN!  Here's one of my favorite costumes on this bluebird sky day!  Today I am back to work and it is snowing in Crested Butte!  Hope to get out tomorrow for a few turns.  Meanwhile, call or email me about your Crested Butte real estate, to look for that beautiful Crested Butte condo or go to my website to search the MLS for your dream Crested Butte home.  970-596-8480  CrestedButteBroker@gmail.com 03/23/2009

As I trying to figure out what sort of costume to wear to the Al Johnson Race ... no, I am not competing!  I have not yet tried telemark skiing and don't think this is the most appropriate venue for my eventual experimentation with the sport.  If I managed not to hurt myself, I would likely hurt someone esle, and that is just not cool!  I am going to help out at the finish line and enjoy the show while I'm at it.  Join us on the mountain and say hello - the finish line is the bottom of the Last Steep (the run, not the bar).  There are probably 200 contestants.  Jake helped with the registration this morning and he said it was busy!  This year the race is raising funds for Adaptive Sports, an organization that helps people with disabilities learn about their abilities on skis.  No real e... 03/22/2009

By definition it may be easy to pin the buyer's market distinction on Crested Butte real estate. Days-on-market is high, inventories are flush with offerings, the number of transactions is low and now we are seeing asking prices drop. But, is all of this translating into real estate bargains?If you are shopping ski area condos or vacant land you are going to get a deal. No doubt, it is a buyer's market. With big inventory levels and flat demand great deals are happening. In some cases, we've returned to pre-Mueller era pricing for Mt. Crested Butte condos and on home site parcels in places like Crested Butte South, Buckhorn Ranch and today a parcel on the 12th hole at the Crested Butte Country Club was lowered to $250,000!But there may be reason to put an asterisk next to our buyer's ma... 03/19/2009

This small, not too well-known mountain town is not, nor should it be, on everyone's Places I Must Go To List.  It is a very special place that happens to be a little out of the way, so that only those who really want to come make it.  And, there are a bunch of reasons to come visit: 1.  Spring skiing - over 3000 vertical feet of powder with usually bluebird skies and sunshine that requires sunscreen with short lift lines - the longest ones take about 5 minutes and that's a great time to get to know some of your fellow skiers 2.  12th Annual US Telemark Extreme Championship on Friday, March 20 - Over 100 free-heelers take to the slopes to compete in this Telemark freeskiing event complete with welcome reception and awards party. The two-day big mountain event attracts the biggest names ... 03/18/2009

Good morning from Crested Butte, Last Thursday, Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR), Mt Crested Butte town council, the Crested Butte Town Council and hundreds of locals, business leaders and ski resort employees gathered at the Mountaineer Square ball room to listen to CBMR's presentation of their Master Development Plan for the ski resort. The hottest topic and the reason 99% of us were at the meeting was Snodgrass and the progress the ski company is making toward getting its resort expansion plans approved. CBMR wants to expand skiing onto Snodgrass because the main mountain consists of only 31% intermediate terrain, while over 50% of their overnight guests are intermediate skiers. The resort says the lack of quality and diversified intermediate terrain puts them at a competitive di... 03/12/2009

As I sit in front of my pc writing this blog it is snowing outside and everything is white and magical in Crested Butte, Colorado.  Tomorrow, there will be first tracks!  Yay!  I spent the entire day adding some really cool content to my website, such as descriptions and photos of Red Mountain Ranch, one of the communities offering ranch-style living.  Contact me for Crested Butte real estate information or if you are interested in Crested Butte condos and land.  Come and enjoy this awesome community! 03/07/2009

Yesterday's NY Times had an article (link below) about a few Crested Butte locals who live here and work "real" white collar jobs elsewhere. They frequently travel for business but are able to live in this magnificent place and enjoy all of the perks of a local's existence. Could anything be better? I know a few others, not mentioned in the article, who do the same thing. They have high paying, sometimes high powered jobs, but are able to balance out the associated stresses by living here a great deal of the time. I worked the same balance when my house here was my second home, and I came here mostly on the weekends from California. Unfortunately, my job wasn't flexible as to my physical presence, so I couldn't spend much time here during the week. How I envy those people who can teleco... 02/07/2009

We're three months or more into this new adventure and every day something new and usually wonderful comes up!  At our 6th yoga session this morning, not only did we expand our lungs and body, but also found out about meditation classes on Thursdays!  Then signed up for nordic skiing lessons tomorrow!  In between all that I am spending hours researching and learning about this unique resort real estate market.  All my skills and experience as a full time realtor for over 20 years will come handy when it's time to listen to what my clients really want ... is it a ski in/ski out condo or a slopeside 5+ bedroom home to host family and friends at?  Good listening and understanding and negotiation skills will come in handy.  Meanwhile, another trip around town to check out the inventory and ... 01/28/2009

Diane's Blog 1/19/09 My Butte Heaven? When I moved to Crested Butte full time in 2000, I had an interesting experience at the post office. While waiting in line for a package, I noticed the man at the counter looked very much like my old boss from the trading desk at Drexel Burnham in New York. Indeed, it was he. After saying hi, and then watching the stunned look on his face relax, I couldn't help but thinking that this was a movie moment. Since Drexel had gone down in infamy after then U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Rudy Giuliani went after us, I was reminded of the Steve Martin movie My Blue Heaven. In that movie, Steve Martin is a mobster who joins the Witness Protection Program and is sent off to a San Diego suburb. There he finds other WPP Mob squealers, and ... 01/19/2009

This is my first ActiveRain post. I've been blogging for 3 years on my personal website (http://www.crestedbuttebroker.com) using the Moveable Type blog platform. While my blog and web site are number 1 ranked on Google, Yahoo, MSN and various other niche search engines for our local real estate market (Crested Butte Colorado) I soon realized the "requirement" of adding ActiveRain blog posts to the mix to create maximum market online exposure, specifically for outlets like Google News alerts. The point I am trying to make here? To be the best you must continue to evolve as a real estate broker and you must strive to hit on all cylinders when it comes to real estate promotions - specifically electronic sales and marketing. As soon as you think you've got the Internet thing figured out a ... 12/14/2008