5 Cool Cities Across America Where You Can Buy a Ski Home for $300,000 or Less

 

5 Cool Cities Across America Where You Can Buy a Ski Home for $300,000 or Less

Thinking of buying a ski home, either for a vacation home or to live in  While real estate prices have inflated in some popular areas, you can still find ski homes for $300,000 or less in some cities — even as mortgage rates remain near historic lows (15-year rates are close to 2%, about 30 of rates near 3%, as you can see here). There are five cities where you can buy a home near the slopes for about $300,000 or less.

Tannersville, New York

On its main street flanked by restaurants and shopping, this quaint mountain town, known as the "snowmaking capital of the world," boasts 67 trails 3,200 feet in elevation and a ski and snowboard school. It is nationally recognized. You can enjoy the slopes in winter, waterfalls, the countless lakes in the city.

Median home price: $289,000

Boone, Iowa

Boone is a great place to relax with your kids to ski and hang out even when there's no snow on the ground kayaking, snow tubing, and paintball, Boone, just four miles from Ledges State Park, is a popular picnic and camping spot with a large sandstone gorge. The mountain itself is small—it's only 975 feet high—but the resort's ski patrol won the 2020 National Ski Patrol's Outstanding Small Alpine Ski Patrol. Once a mining town, Bonn also has a racetrack and several breweries and receives an average of 33 inches of snow each year.

Median home price: $122,000

Wilmington, Vermont

Wilmington offers easy access to the slopes and a relaxed and comfortable feel in a charming small town. The area receives, on average, 156 inches of snow each year. The mountain is also home to Mount Snow Academy, a high-end school of alpine, freestyle skiing, and snowboarding owned by Vail Resorts, one of the world's leading mountain resort companies. 

Median home price: $299,400

Leadville, Colorado

It has some of the most exclusive and expensive ski towns in the country, including Vail, Aspen, and Telluride. However, there are still towns where deals are being struck, including Leadville, which was once the epicenter of the Colorado gold rush. Today, the city is adjacent to Ski Cooper, a publicly owned, not-for-profit resort built in 1942 to train soldiers for the 10th Mountain Division. It recently opened a $1.8 million expansion of its terrain. The mountain encompasses 480 acres and 39 trails and is located 10 miles north of Leadville. Expect an average of 260 inches of fresh snow annually and plenty of things to do, including shopping, biking, and going to the theater during the melt months. Leadville is at least a two-hour drive from Denver, which means it will be hard to get into your house on the weekend unless you live in Colorado.

Median home price: $290,800

Anaconda-Deer Lodge, Montana

Admittedly, this route is a bit of a drive to Ski Mountain (it can take 45 minutes to get there), but the Discovery Ski Area is something worth seeing: it offers 67 ski runs, an elevation of 8,158 feet, and a world-class ski school that trains athletes. Young. Originally a mining site, Anaconda is now a charming little town nestled in a valley surrounded by 15 different mountain lakes that offer ample opportunities for snowshoeing, snowboarding, hiking, and fishing - when you're not in the mountains, with their top-notch snow, of course. When you're not outside, enjoy a beer at the Smelter City Brewing Club or an exhibition at the Copper Village Museum & Art Center. The town is located a little over 100 miles from Missoula, an international airport. 

Median home price: $137,500