Buying in Silverton -- good idea or dumb?

[cloud cult]

We are looking for a home in the Durango area but are priced out at the moment, and the rentals are depressing AF. There's a bunch of homes in Silverton that would do for us short-term -- like a $250,000 3/2, a place where we might live for a couple of years then move down valley. We are looking in the 300k range.

Question for those who know: how hard is it to sell a home in Silverton? Or is it just a really annoying place to live (train traffic, Texans on ATVs, etc.)?

Edit to say, what I mean is that if we buy a place there, will it be a serious PITA to sell?

[Vt-Freeheel]

Zillo shows lots of houses on the market that have been listed a long time.


https://www.zillow.com

[t-the-east]

From that link^


Estimated payment is only $94,700 a MONTH. And you’d have to relocate. You got this op

[Meadow Skipper]

PM Buster Highman.

[Name Redacted]

I've heard there are some weird small town conflicts. Not a deal breaker but something to be aware of.

[Viva]

I loved Durango in the 90s, but no longer really care for it. The place is increasing becoming tragically hip, and too many "Bro-Brah" types. Fucking nauseating!

I ended up in the Pagosa Springs area, about 40 minutes east of Durango. Fucking love it here! Home prices are increasing, however, and properties that are well-priced sell quickly, a fair number to Texans and Okies.

I'm about three and a half (3.5) hours from both Taos and Telluride. Wheeeee!

[Mudfoot]

I think if you spent any time in Silverton you would not consider living there. Hundreds of thousands of tourists in the summer, and then mostly shut down, cold and isolated in the winter. Some long term locals love it, but that is a very small select group. If you are using it as a bedroom for working in Durango then you have two almost 11,000 ft. passes to cross each way. Slow tourists on switchbacks in the summer and dicey no guard rail drops in the winter. The only other paved road out of town is Red Mt. Pass, which is even worse.

[skiing-in-jackson]

I've heard there are some weird small town conflicts. Not a deal breaker but something to be aware of.

It’s like being perpetually in middle school.

[fastfred]

do you want to really live in a small mountain tourist town that is cold and more like winter all year than summer?
or is it just a fantasy that you made up in your head about how great life will be?
seriously? See it all the time, people have a made up version of what living in a ski/tourist town is like, the reality is nothing like the fantasy

boomers retiring are driving up property prices, as soon as they all make their way to nursing homes, the cost of property will start dropping, only a couple more years

[glademaster]

do you want to really live in a small mountain tourist town that is cold and more like winter all year than summer?

Yes, yes, one thousand times over, yes. Been there, done that, left it for the sprawling, temperate suburban wasteland and I can't wait to get back. Give me frost from September to June.

[Tele 'til You're Smelly]

Yeah it's takes special person to want to live in Silverton for all the reasons listed above- and if Durango is your aim you are 2 passes and at best an hour away. Look at Mancos or Bayfield if you want to be in the Durango area.

[vendul]

do you want to really live in a small mountain tourist town that is cold and more like winter all year than summer?
or is it just a fantasy that you made up in your head about how great life will be?
seriously? See it all the time, people have a made up version of what living in a ski/tourist town is like, the reality is nothing like the fantasy

boomers retiring are driving up property prices, as soon as they all make their way to nursing homes, the cost of property will start dropping, only a couple more years

We did just that and love it!!! Mud season is our vacation time, the rest of the year is like living in paradise, but we live and work in the same Village... actually in the same house.
And yes, Buster is the man to ask for advise... especially on Silverton

[Meadow Skipper]

It’s like being perpetually in middle school.

Or a gun control thread on TRG.

[stradissimo]

boomers retiring are driving up property prices, as soon as they all make their way to nursing homes, the cost of property will start dropping, only a couple more years

This is the biggest fantasy of all.

I’ve owned a cheap house in Durango for 15 years. Even during the great real estate crash of 08, the value of it barely dropped. There are always more people who want to buy cheap houses there than want to sell houses.

The exception would be for million-dollar, rich-people houses, but unless you are a dentist they are out of reach anyhow.

[Buster Highmen]

We are looking for a home in the Durango area but are priced out at the moment, and the rentals are depressing AF. There's a bunch of homes in Silverton that would do for us short-term -- like a $250,000 3/2, a place where we might live for a couple of years then move down valley. We are looking in the 300k range.

Question for those who know: how hard is it to sell a home in Silverton? Or is it just a really annoying place to live (train traffic, Texans on ATVs, etc.)?

Edit to say, what I mean is that if we buy a place there, will it be a serious PITA to sell?

Houses do not move fast in Silverton. Places do sell, but it can take time and is likely more susceptible to economic downturns. A lot of the homes for sale are older and funky and most people with sufficient second home bling want something nicer. I think that contributes to a slow turnover rate.

As far as the tourists and trains go, the 4th of July is stupid there with lots of dentists in leather riding Harleys trying to look tough. 3 years ago, the town voted in the legality of riding atvs in town, supposedly limited to certain streets. This has brought the yahoos in in droves through July. Last couple of years, there was a flight for life virtually every day in July because of mixing idiots with atvs.

But then by the second week of August, it calms down again and the fall is gorgeous and quiet. Winter is fantastic, quiet with lots of snow and so many great places to ski and a wonderful ski community with a ton of resources. It's a super nice place during the school season with great groups of people, some of whom are pretty hermitian. It's getting better and better with the Avalon and Wyman being upgraded and of course the Avalanche and Coffee Bear.

Silverton, like many small towns, can have some pretty divisive dynamics. There's the old miner, redneck types who love the atvs, guns, hunting, fishing, off roading and lack of restrictions. Then there's the newer (only 20 years there or so) more hip folks who prefer a quieter, more environmentally conscious lifestyle. We think it's a beautiful, unique place.

There's a big demand for lodging there in summer. I'm told some people get over $500/night for a couple of rooms and a kitchenette and that they can make their mortgages on summer sublets/Airbnb . So there is some financial backing for owning a place there.

If Durango is your locus, like others have said, it's more likely that you can find something better to service Durango access than Silverton, like Bayfield, Mancos, Hesperus, Piedra, even Farmington (though I'd skip Aztec). Basically, you need to get outside the Ft. Lewis College convenient student commute to find something less expensive. I do, however, know several people who live in Silverton and commute to DGO.

If you want references for a realtor there I can point you in a good direction. Good luck!

[ate'em]

I've lived in both Durango and Ouray, and would say Silverton would be a pretty rough place to try and commute from. Hwy 550 is a beautiful scenic drive but a shitty way to get from A-B.

I agree with the others recommending Mancos or Bayfield. Pagosa is a nice niche of its own but maybe a bit further than I'd want to commute to Durango from. I'd never consider Farmington or any of the other commutable spots in NM. Not nice places, IME.

Also, Silverton (and Ouray) are haunted as fuck, especially the older houses that have seen their share of sorrow. I never believed in that until I lived it in Ouray. It's no joke. You've been warned.

[Name Redacted]

Also, if access to definitive medical care is a consideration for you, like a prego wife, or age, or health conditions, you might want to look elsewhere too. FFL isn't always an option. This is why a lot of older folks avoid these small remote towns.

[glademaster]

Also, if access to definitive medical care is a consideration for you, like a prego wife, or age, or health conditions, you might want to look elsewhere too. FFL isn't always an option. This is why a lot of older folks avoid these small remote towns.

As my dad would shrug and say "hey, sometimes, it's just your time."

[iceman]

Or as my Dad would say, "hey drive me over to the world-class medical facility that's just down the road, please."

[Name Redacted]

As my dad would shrug and say "hey, sometimes, it's just your time."

Not even a life vs death argument, but having to drive to Durango or Montrose a few times a month for medical treatments would definitely make this a consideration.

Silverton is probably a good place to rent for a year or two to see if you like it at all. Would be nice to have that option to walk away. Probably pretty cheap rents available.

[glademaster]

Or as my Dad would say, "hey drive me over to the world-class medical facility that's just down the road, please."

He's a doctor, he doesn't want to deal with that shit. Minimal intervention until it's lights out has always been his approach. The last time he had a physical was probably around when I hit puberty.

There's a bit of a fatalistic streak on that side of the family too, his parents are both in their 90's and have been joking around for about 15 years now about how they're just biding their time until they get planted in the marble orchard.

[bagtagley]

Wife’s grandpa called it circling the drain.

[BmillsSkier]

Sounds like people are dying to leave Silverton

[seano732]

Also, Silverton (and Ouray) are haunted as fuck, especially the older houses that have seen their share of sorrow. I never believed in that until I lived it in Ouray. It's no joke. You've been warned.

Wait wut? Care to expand on this?

[BmillsSkier]

Wait wut? Care to expand on this?

Up next on KUSA news, the ghosts that dominate the San Juans and how they affect your home buying process.

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