Breckenridge Colorado is one of the most popular destination ski resorts in the world attracting over 1.5 million skier visits per year. And with a wide variety of film, music, theatre, and arts and crafts related events as well as all of the outdoor activities that the Rocky Mountains have to offer besides skiing, Breckenridge is a true four seasons destination resort. As a resort market, many considering the purchase of Breckenridge real estate do so with potential rental income as their primary criterion while shopping for property.

Individuals considering the purchase of a Breckenridge single family home as a rental investment property should determine if they prefer to rent the home to visiting tourists for short stays or to rent the home on an annual or seasonal lease basis. Potential Breckenridge house buyers should also consider whether they would like to use the services of a rental management company or to rent the home directly themselves. This is because Breckenridge homes which may not be of interest to local rental management companies for the purposes of short term tourist bookings may still have fairly good rental potential on a longer term lease basis or as a Breckenridge \”by owner\” vacation rental property.

Sleeping capacity is one of the main criteria that rental management companies will look at when considering a single family home in the Breckenridge Colorado area for short term rental purposes. All else being equal, larger homes with greater sleeping capacity are typically more appealing to Breckenridge rental management companies than smaller homes. Other criteria to be considered include proximity to the Breckenridge Ski Resort and the town of Breckenridge and whether or not the property is on one of the free public shuttle routes. Age and overall quality of an individual home and its amenities such as hot tubs, home entertainment centers, pool tables, etc. also attract the attention of rental management companies and help generate repeat visits by guests regardless of whether or not the property is being managed by a local booking company or being rented on a \”by owner\” vacation rental basis.

All of these same criteria apply when rental management companies consider a multi-family residence (i.e. condo, town house, triplex, etc.) except for sleeping capacity. In fact, studio condos are one of the most popular lodging options for Breckenridge rental management companies, visiting guests, and therefore Breckenridge investment property buyers alike.

Most rental management companies in Breckenridge Colorado focus on short term tourist rentals and will not accept into their rental management inventories most single family homes in Breckenridge that would sell for less than $600K. This is because such homes are typically smaller and older than the average Breckenridge home and are not located within walking distance of the Breckenridge Ski Resort chair-lifts or town of Breckenridge downtown area. Even Breckenridge homes on one of the the free public shuttle routes within this price range are few and far between.

But, there could be exceptions to this $600K rule, especially when it comes to homes located north of Breckenridge, between Breckenridge and Frisco. If a home with a value of less than $600K in this area has great mountain views, a private hot tub, easy winter access, and is of good overall quality, it could be of interest to Breckenridge rental management companies for the purposes of short term rentals (i.e. tourist bookings). One would have inquire with the property management companies in Breckenridge to see which might be interested in taking such a home into their inventory and what they would estimate its rental potential to be.

Also, many Breckenridge homes that are not of interest to local rental management companies can still generate rental income on \”by owner\” vacation rental web sites and/or they can be rented on a longer term annual or seasonal lease basis.

With all of this said, if rental income is the primary criterion for someone considering the purchase of Breckenridge real estate for less than $600K, a condo or townhome is at the very least worth considering as the revenue generated from such a property will often be greater than that of a comparably priced single family home.

As a general statement, sale prices of Breckenridge homes and condos have been effected by the market downturn of recent years in a similar manner.