Mortgage Corner: Beat the Lifts With the Tree Line Loan Team

"Is it too late to be in a place before ski season?" Almost always, no, if you start now.

Work backward from opening day

A-Basin and Keystone spin up in October, Breckenridge and Copper in November. Figure about 30 days from accepted offer to keys:

• Want keys for opening weekend? Be under contract by mid-October.
• Want keys by Thanksgiving? Be under contract by late October.
• Want to be in before the holidays? You've got until roughly mid-November.

If you're looking at a condo, build in a little extra time for HOA document review. Once you're under contract, we request the HOA questionnaire and budget right away so we can tell you quickly whether the building will finance cleanly.

Fall favors buyers

Inventory's been sitting for a while, and sellers who've watched their place sit since spring are looking at another winter of carrying costs. That tends to make them more willing to negotiate, including on rate. It's worth asking about a seller paid rate buydown; many sellers would rather buy down your rate than cut the price again.

On rates: the 30-year fixed sat at 6.65% in late August, with forecasts near 6.8% into 2027. Nobody's expecting relief this fall, so the smart move is structuring your purchase around today's rate rather than waiting on it to drop.

Planning to rent it out? Timing is money

Christmas, New Year's, and Presidents Day carry the highest nightly rates of the year here, and those weeks book up months in advance. Close in October and you capture the whole winter season. Close in January and you miss the best revenue weeks on the calendar, then wait a full year for another shot. If a rental plan is part of your thinking, confirm short term rental licensing rules for the specific town first, since they vary between Breckenridge, Frisco, Silverthorne, Dillon, and unincorporated Summit County.

Good news if you're eyeing a condo as an investment

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac just dropped a rule that used to block financing on buildings with a lot of renters. Previously, if more than half the units in a building were non-owner occupied, conventional investment property loans could get denied outright. That cap is gone now, which opens up buildings here that lean heavily toward short term rentals and second homes. If you looked at a condo before and were told it wouldn't qualify because of the rental mix, it may be worth a second look. Reach out with the building details and we'll check it for you.

Know your loan limit

Summit County is a high-cost area, so our 2026 conforming loan limit is $1,092,500, well above the $832,750 that applies in most of the country. That's based on your loan amount, not the purchase price, so it goes further than you'd think. Put 25% down on a $1.45M place in Frisco, for example, and you're still financing conforming at $1,087,500, which typically means better pricing than jumbo.

We also offer jumbo, second home loans with as little as 10% down, DSCR loans that qualify off rental income instead of tax returns, and bank statement options if you're self-employed.

Reach out anytime. We're here to help you figure out what's possible before the lifts start turning.