Grand Lake: Current Updates!

Current Real Estate Market in Grand Lake

The number of homes and land for sale, which had already been at an all time low, is even lower now. This has been an incredible year for sales and for property values. During March and April, so many people learned that they could work successfully from their homes. Why not work from their vacation homes? Or even better, why not live in Paradise all year round? Existing homes continue to be in high demand. Builders and other contractors are moving into our area. The local builders on our Mini Yellow Pages (see link farther below) can still accommodate new customers in 2021; please have your plans ready when you contact them. If you would be interested, we can email a selection of links for kit homes and homes built off site, to speed up the construction process.

Many who lost homes in the fire of October 21st are choosing to buy again rather than to re-build. If you plan to sell in the next year or so, offering your home for sale will truly benefit the many who are actively looking. We hope to offer a good selection of existing homes for purchase in the new year. 

Property owners who have lost homes who choose not to re-build should be able to keep their insurance proceeds and we will sell what remains in "as is" condition. For many, what is left is rubble with hundreds of nails and screws and unrecognizable metal. The sites they selected (some as long as 30-50 years ago) were choice locations back then and will be again.

The Highway 34 corridor looks like what you remember, except for missing Highland Marina's store and homes to the west of it. Thanks to our amazing firefighters and the enormous support staff, our Town was saved. The retail shops and restaurants are all intact and the beach is lovely. Fresh snow covers the mountains. Tourism will be great again in 2021.   
 

Every Person in the Grand Lake area has a story to tell.

Weeks after The Fire, we in Grand Lake are still hearing more stories. The Fire has touched every single one of us deeply.   

Grand Lake's world changed after dark on Wednesday, October 21st. Most of us had been at our computers, watching the 5:30 pm daily update about the fires to the west of us and it all still sounded so far away. We stepped outside and were fascinated to see apocalyptic clouds churning in the reddening sky. Feeling the winds whipping like crazy and later hearing the roar of the fire even before we could see it was Extreme. The Fire spread at record-setting speed! Within the next couple of hours, officials came knocking on doors saying "Get Out Now!". Almost everyone evacuated - most of us thankfully with our pets - from the National Park all the way to the south end of Lake Granby. It was eerie seeing not a soul on the roads, no lights on... feeling as if you were the only people left on earth, and then making it to Highway 34, into the steady stream of refugees heading for Granby, Winter Park, Denver... The sky was red along the west, all the way to Granby. The firefighters and all responders were magnificent. Many of them knew the owners of the homes they were battling to save, and those whose homes were lost.

That Sunday, over a foot of snow brought the spread of The Fire to an end. After three to five days of actually not knowing whether our homes and neighborhoods survived, we were permitted to return, based on location with the areas most heavily affected being last. The Red Cross was set up at SilverCreek (across from City Market) to help with pet and people food, clothing and other necessities. From the beginning, we have been overwhelmed with telephone calls, texts and emails. It was sweet to hear how many of the past property owners have reached out with concern about the status of homes they sold years ago; Grand Lake has touched so many lives and holds treasured memories which cannot be taken from us.