Protecting your Colorado real estate investment

So you finally purchased a house in the Colorado Rockies.  The house is a few minutes drive to the Telluride Ski Resort and life seems to be just as perfect as it can get.  A year goes by and your brand new roof just leaked.  What do you do?  How could you have prevented this from happening?  In this guide, I will try to outline a few steps you can take to protect your second home or your Telluride real estate investment property in the snow-driven Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

Even a new roof can leak.  This can happen from the large accumulation of snow on roof lines.  It is common to see snow three to four to five feet high on a roof of a home located in the high country of the Colorado mountains.  To prevent ice dams and thus leaks from snow and ice buildup, I recommend the installation of heat tape along all roof lines, especially on the northern and western sides of the house.  Heat tape does exactly what its name indicates and heat the roof line via electricity such that the snow melts along the roof's edge and does not dam up with ice.

Decks are popular for outdoor living during the numerous beautiful sunny days Colorado has to offer.  However, just as roofs accumulate large amounts of snow so do these decks.  Shoveling the snow from these decks is imperative as large amounts of snow are heavy and can often exceed the recommended load of the decks along with wearing away over time the wood from which they are constructed.  Trex decking is also a good long term investment for upkeep on and safety in snow and ice areas.

Pipes can and will freeze in your high country home if the heating system breaks down.  Heating systems should always be maintained in your Colorado Rocky Mountain home.  Besides summer testing, you should install an alarm system which alerts you via a home monitoring system or phone call when the interior home temperature drops below an unsafe level, usually 50 degrees Fahrenheit.  This should  ensuring that the pipes will not freeze and cause extensive and expensive damage to your home.  When pipes freeze water leaks out and can do serious damage to wood, drywall and electrical infrastructure.  Repair to such items is timely and costly and is easily avoidable. 

Maintain all cemented paths and driveways.  Snow and ice can wreak havoc on cement and seriously degrade the life of the cemented area.  Always make sure to remove any ice patches as these can cause serious injury to people walking on them, by slipping and falling.   Remove any hanging icicles around your home.  Especially in high traffic areas, such as door ways, walking paths, gathering areas and parking.  Ice is deadly when falling from above. 

For most buyers who live outside of the area the majority of the year, it is recommend that you hire a maintenance company which will check regularly on your home.  They should take action on any of these issues when noticed and should also continuously work at keeping your home in good condition.  Even if your home is rented through a local lodging company it is ultimately your responsibility to ensure the well-being of your home.  Don't rely on your rental management company to do as good of a job as those companies dedicated to regularly inspecting and maintaining your property.