In an uncertain real-estate market, try before you buy

Not too long after Tom Porth sold his business this year, he went to Colorado for a ski vacation. He had worked in different capacities for the Village Inn restaurant chain for four decades, ultimately owning nine restaurants, and he was eager for retirement. After a trip to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Porth returned to his home in Waterloo, Iowa, intent on buying a mountainside condominium. So he did what anyone would do: He found a real estate agent in Steamboat who arranged for him to rent a condo in the place he thought he’d like. “The price was more than what my Iowa blood was used to seeing, but it seemed to be what you’d pay for something of that caliber,” said Porth, 62. But on that visit, his agent suggested a newer, amenity-filled development up the hill — One Steamboat Place. It offered select people the opportunity to stay in a condo before buying it. Those condos cost even more, so he picked the least expensive unit. Still, it was double what the other one cost. In a real estate market that has been strong, fueled by stock market gains and low interest rates, such programs would seem unnecessary…. Read full this story

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