What’s the down payment on $239,500, again? Photo: Compass.com
What will $239,500 get you these days? In Vail, Colorado, apparently your own parking space. (Permanently.)
Yes, fellow real estate speculators. Right now, you can mortgage a parking space — as in a rectangle of concrete with lines painted on it — below a Vail condo complex for almost a quarter of a million dollars. That makes for some expensive powder laps in the Back Bowls.
Real estate aggregator Compass currently lists 68 East Meadow Drive, Unit 726, at the Village Inn Plaza, as a zero bed, zero bath property.
Let’s be honest; bedrooms and bathrooms are fringe amenities anyways, especially in the current housing market. And you’d better get with the program: if you want to cash in on the zero-square-foot property, act now because this kind of opportunity comes along “rarely.”
Just ask Berkshire-Hathaway agent Leigh Rychel, who’s managing the listing.
“Rarely available, this Village Inn Plaza deeded parking space in Vail Village is one of the few that is reserved,” reads the description on Rychel’s listing page. (I can only assume the HOA will place the reservation in your name as part of your purchase.)
Chalet-style villa with shared hot tub and restrooms. Photo: Compass.com
The written description leans into the number one real estate axiom. I won’t force it down your throat, but it’s the same “L” word often repeated three times in a row to describe desirable listings.
The property is “[c]onveniently located next to the east elevator to quickly access the amenities on the main level: hot tub, sauna, steam room, restrooms, shower, and fitness room,” it reads.
One recommendation: conclude hot tub sessions before the showers close. I’ve visited hot tubs in Vail — not everyone using them always makes it to the restroom.
On top of all that, you’ll only pay $201 in HOA fees each quarter to park your vehicle just “steps” from the free Town of Vail bus. With your bus fare savings practically burning a hole in your pocket, you can look forward to a “short ride” to the Riva Bahn Express chair. Or take your big windfall to Vail’s shops, restaurants, Farmer’s Market, or Gondola One, all of which lie “at your finger tips.”
You’ll also be free to use the pool and hot tubs at The Sebastian hotel, nearby.
All things considered, $899 in yearly property taxes doesn’t seem half bad for your very own fluorescent-lit, fluid-stained flat cement rectangle.
Spacious entryway, open floorplan. Photo: compass.com
I called Rychel for a few more details as the questions were many.
Is it against HOA rules to drink alcohol and/or shoot off fireworks in parking spaces? Could a new owner get involved in the HOA — especially in a decision-making capacity? What penalties will he or she face, if any, for peeing in the hot tub? Or sleeping in their rig?
I got a voicemail. Compass did list the property’s status as “pending” as of this writing. Rychel did not respond with answers to my burning questions.
