Boulder Real Estate News & National Statistics – May 8, 2021

Friends,

This week I’m discussing a new-ownership model for second homes called Pacaso. Also, as expected, local inventory is improving giving buyers a bit more latitude.

Since many people dream of owning a second home but either are unable to afford it or don’t want to own something that sits empty most of the time, a new concept has been created in property ownership. 

A company purchases single-family homes in vacation destinations.  They then sell 1/8 to 1/2 shares in the home.  An LLC is created for each home. Owners enjoy 100% ownership, and the company that organized the sale takes care of furnishings, repairs, utilities, and property management.

One such company is Pacaso, started by Zillow founder Spencer Rascoe and tech entrepreneur, Austin Allison.  In 5 months, they raised $90mm in funding for this idea.

Pacaso appears to take a 12% purchase fee. Presumably, the fractional portions of homes are sold at a higher price per square foot than the entire home would carry.  It will be interesting to see if or how these sales impact market pricing.

There are evidently some neighbors unhappy about single-family homes being used by many rotating families; they are exploring if they can object legally to these shared properties.

Given that we’re in a second home market, we will report back on all of this as we learn more.

This week we had a team of volunteers assist Farmer Katie in spreading compost donated by The Buckner Family Ranch in Longmont.

The ground is still very wet from our recent precipitation so most of the plants are still growing in the greenhouse. We hope to get more plants in the ground next week!

We’ll keep you updated on upcoming volunteer opportunities! In the meantime, check out all the wonderful press our Food Security Project has been receiving!

IN THE NEWS

April 29, 2021 – A Home For Change – Boulder Weekly

April 30, 2021 – Digging Beyond Traditional Corporate Social Responsibility – Morning Ag Clips

April 30, 2021 – Channel 2 Fox News – The Food Security Project is helping communities with food insecurities

 

May 4, 2021 – 303 Magazine – Boulder’s Historic McKenzie Farm Provides Land For New Food Security Project

 

Yellen says interest rates may have to rise ‘somewhat’ to keep economy from overheating

 

 

Construction Spending increased 0.2% in March