Condo purchase in Mammoth Lakes, CA

[Vesna Marcina]

Hi everyone:

I visited Mammoth Lakes last week and viewed a couple of condos. The realtor I worked with, though, is not particularly communicative, and I think I will have to tell her that I am going to find another realtor, who is willing to provide some commentary and opinion in response to my questions. In any case, that is why I am here. I am wondering what you all think about purchasing a condo in Mammoth at this point in time, given the low supply and increase in prices. FTR, I would have purchased a couple of years ago, but it took me a while to get my husband on board. 

At the top of my list is a Westin unit whose price is $530K. It's been on the market a while now, and my sense is the owner is unwilling to budge on price. I think he/she is a trapped buyer from 2007 at the top of the market and trying to minimize capital losses. The price is a stretch for us financially. I asked for the rental history, but did not receive it. I was hoping to get a sense of how much of a stretch, if at all. Any condo-tel owners out there?

Next is a unit at the Summit. It's a small one-bedroom that needs work. My husband and I have remodeled a couple of homes, so we could easily do most of the work ourselves. Financially, it falls well within our budget. We could cover the costs while we rehab it.

We would use the condo occasionally--maybe twice a month during the winter--otherwise we plan to rent it out with a property management service. 

If you could share your perspective based on your experiences in the area or based on your experience in other resort towns, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks.

[Justin Phillips]

That's a beautiful area, I love it up there.  
While I'm not an expert on Condo-Tel STRs, I am a finance/economics nerd. If that Westin is a stretch financially, I wouldn't recommend pulling the trigger unless it's a true "can't miss" deal. With us being at a high in both the housing market and STR demand, I wouldn't recommend stretching now.
A value add sounds like a much safer proposition given this market we're in. Nothing like early equity!