just when you thought you had it figured out

 I thought we had found an ok rental.  Yea it overlooked the highway.  Yea there was highway noise.  Yea it was on a septic system and propane for most everything although it was only 1/4 mile away from a traffic light onto highway 82 and across the street from a gas station.  All of that for the bargain basement price of $14k a month (oh yea did I mention that it isn't in the Aspen school district but the school agreed to let the kids continue at Aspen high school.)

And then just prior to signing a lease which required me to write a $50k check 4 months prior to move in date, I talked with a local Xfinity guy about ditching the satellite the new rental had and getting Xfinity.

No Xfinity.  No ATT.  No century link.  No direct TV internet.  The only provider is ViaSat and their top speed for that location is..................12Megs.  Yes if everything works right 12 Megs.  The Xfinity local said the real speed for that location is 6 Megs.   How slow is 6 Megs?  Faster than dial up but not much.  4kHD.  Not a chance.  Full HD---maybe on one device but pray that no one else decides to check their email.  

Can you rent or even sell a home where the average internet speed is going to be 6 Megs.  I don't think so, maybe that is why the home is 'cheap' if you can consider $14k a month to be in Snowmass (not Snowmass Village) cheap.  Or maybe no one asked the question before.  But seriously any house that you can't get at least 50 Megs should come with a warning label and under 25 should come with a special warning like cancel your Netflix account, your Spotify account, your Peloton bike and any cloud back up plan you have.

So bottom line---well I got no clue again where I am living (but I am sure those boarding schools have 1gig speeds) and when the Dems talk about internet as infrastructure they are not wrong.

Housing problem solved (well only kinda)

 When we moved here 5 years ago I pitched Aspen as a low cost alternative to Chicago.  People said, "what the heck", but I figured my $7.5k a month in rent ($90k annual) vs $45k in property tax in Chicago plus $70k in private school costs (total for my two kids) put me $25k ahead.

Now I am looking at $26.5k per month in rent for a similar type home (and let me be clear this is not a fab in aspen home this is a nice 25 year old home in horse ranch in snowmass).  For those of you not so math inclined that is a 28.7% annual increase each year for 5 years in a row.  

what $318k in rent gets you in snowmass

Yes that horse ranch house is 25% bigger but the price tag is 350% higher than my rent 5 years ago.  As someone who has been in the rental market for the last 5 years and knows it well these type homes have been renting for 10-15k a month for the past 5 years (even last year).  

So rather than paying $318 k per year in rent maybe I just do the following

sailing son at St. Georges (good prep school top sailing program)        $65k

Daughter dyslexic Forman (great boarding school for dyslexic kids plus hockey)        $84k

Me and wife Harvard MBA (including room and board)                                        $195k

Total                $344k

Now I know you are thinking well $318k is less than $344k and of course you are right.  I know this even without my MBA--however that $318 doesn't include utilities and the $5k charge we get hit with ever year for what is just wear and tear but owners won't tolerate wear and tear on their homes for $318 per year.  Add in utilities and standard damage charge you are at $344.6k per year.  But wait there is more---St. Georges and Forman costs include food--so I figure rather than paying 26.5k per month in rent me and the Mrs can get Harvard MBAs the kids get an improved education (sorry Aspen High) and my pocket book comes out $25k or so richer.

One sign the housing market has jumped the shark is when sending your kids to high end new england boarding schools and sending yourself and spouse to Harvard Biz school is a low cost alternative to rent.