PARK COUNTY, Colorado — If you ask Park County Sheriff Tom McGraw about the housing crisis in his jurisdiction, he’ll describe a picture of extremes.
It’s a place where he’ll say it’s nearly impossible to purchase an existing home for under $500,000. It’s one of the costliest regions in the state to build a new one.
Those high building costs mean it doesn’t benefit developers to build affordable rental properties. And second-home owners can make a lot more money on short-term rental sites like Airbnb and VRBO.
McGraw will tell you that attractive prospect has led those with limited means from around the U.S. to buy these lots sight-unseen and move to the region with visions of homesteading their own small piece of the American West.
It’s often less than a year before their land is abandoned again.
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