BUYER'S GUIDE
The ultimate guide to buying property in Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Jackson Hole Overview
In a recent survey of Americans’ well-being, conducted by Gallup, Wyoming scored third in a poll that rated variables such as mental, physical and economic health. Utah took first place and the islands of Hawaii took second. Combined with a low state unemployment rate, Wyoming is one of few states in the nation that can boast of such health and happiness.
Jackson is one of the most scenic areas in the United States offering limitless opportunities to explore or to just sit back and enjoy the views. With Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks at its doorstep, 97% of the lands in and around Jackson Hole are permanently protected as conservation easements or as National Forest and BLM lands. It is comforting to know that today’s scenery will be preserved for future generations to come.
Nestled in the center of the valley, the Town of Jackson keeps the Old-West alive with its wooden sidewalks, historic Town Square and buildings.
Jackson welcomes newcomers as well – like the Center for the Arts and an array of new cosmopolitan restaurants and galleries. The arts scene continues to thrive, with gallery shows, movies, lm festivals, live music and comedy, theater performances, and a steady stream of special exhibits at the National Museum of Wildlife Art.
Jackson Hole is also one of few communities that can still be considered safe and friendly. With a low crime rate and a hospitable attitude, residents are community and civic- minded. A modern hospital, an airport with daily jet service to major airline hubs, a wide array of stores, wine shops and restaurants all offer the big-city comforts anyone could want, but without big-city attitude.
To top off the benefits of Jackson and Wyoming - there is no state income tax.
Teton County Statistics
Wyoming Taxes
There are numerous reasons why those who live in Jackson Hole have chosen to have their primary residences here. Some of those reasons are emotional, such as the sheer beauty of the natural surroundings and the overall quality of life. Other reasons are more practical in scope and include Wyoming’s overall tax-climate bene ts, when compared to all other states.
For years, Bloomberg has rated Wyoming as the most tax- friendly state in the United States. Here are the 10 top tax bene ts offered by Brian Jones, a senior vice president at Bank of Jackson Hole.
1. No state income tax: With no state tax on personal or corporate income, “you have more disposable income,” Jones says.
2. Dynasty trusts: In Wyoming, you can shield your real estate from federal estate taxes for up to 1,000 years through a dynasty trust. “You can establish a trust in Wyoming for the bene t of your family or other bene ciaries,” Jones says. “ You can transfer your real estate into a limited liability company or family partnership and then put that into the “dynasty trust”. As a result, multiple generations can make use of and enjoy the property, without having to pay estate taxes or worse, having to sell the property in order to pay the taxes. A key point to remember: The trust must be administered in Wyoming.
3. No inheritance tax or estate tax: “Wyoming repealed its estate tax as of January 1, 2005,” Jones says.
4. No state gift tax: “Somebody who owns property in Wyoming can ‘gift’ that real estate to their heirs without having to worry about paying a state gift tax,” Jones says.
5. No tax on out-of-state retirement income: “A lot of people in Jackson Hole use Wyoming as a second home,” Jones says. “They have retirement income that comes from other states where they may be a resident. Wyoming doesn’t tax that retirement income that’s earned outside of Wyoming, which is certainly beneficial.”
6. Low property taxes: “Wyoming has very low property taxes compared to other states,” Jones says. “The taxes that you do pay here are based on the assessed value of the property.”
7. No excise taxes: When you ll up your car or buy groceries in Wyoming, you won’t pay any state tax on either.
8. No tax on mineral ownership; “A lot of states charge owners a tax on their mineral ownership, but Wyoming does not,” Jones says. “If you own minerals, you won’t pay a tax on it like you would your home”.
9. No intangible taxes: Wyoming doesn’t make you pay a tax on financial assets like stocks and bonds.
10. No tax on the sale of real estate.
Jackson Hole's Cultural Scene
CENTER FOR THE ARTS
A 41,000 sq. ft. Arts & Education Pavilion, a 500-seat theatre, Music Center, and theater rehearsal space. The Pavilion offers space for 20 nonpro t organizations creating an atmosphere of collaboration and inspiration.
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WILDLIFE ART
The museum is unique among American art museums, distinguished by its mission and location. With collections of nearly 4,000 works of art, the museum strives to enrich and inspire public appreciation of ne art and humanity’s relationship with nature. Situated just outside the town of Jackson, the museum overlooks the Elk Refuge and is en route to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.
JACKSON HOLE ART GALLERIES
There are about 30 to 40 galleries in Jackson featuring the best of Western art and more recently, newer galleries with a broader focus. The defnition of art in the town and the surrounding valley of Jackson Hole has expanded with a popular international lm festival, dedicated state-of-the art studios, and organizations such as the Art Association.
JACKSON HOLE ART ASSOCIATION
The Art Association offers painting, photography, mixed media and ceramic classes and workshops. Members have access to a state of the art darkroom, computers for digital photography, kilns and throwing wheels, and an endless supply of creativity.
JACKSON HOLE ART AUCTION
An auction of past and present masterworks of the American West, this auction is de ned by a high standard of works, and is the signature event of the Fall Arts Festival.
GRAND MUSIC FESTIVAL
Celebrating their 50th year, Grand Teton Music Festival has inspired countless audiences with world-class concerts by the nation’s nest orchestra players. Led by music director, Donald Runnicles, the summer line up includes a stunning festival orchestra each weekend as well as sought after visiting musicians from around the globe and delightful chamber music.
Jackson Hole Airport
The ease of ight travel in and out of Jackson Hole is another reason this Rocky Mountain destination makes perfect sense for the purchase of Jackson Hole real estate, with non-stop ights from 12 major cities.
The airline experience for visiting skiers or those who live in Jackson Hole to reach favorite destinations will be dramatically enhanced. The ight times will be shorter and more ights will be available. The local Jackson Hole airport makes arrival and departure experiences fast as well. With Jackson Hole Mountain Resort just a 30 minute drive from the terminal, getting on the slopes is easy and relaxing with no traffic to fight.
“The increase in service is a testament to the history, demand and faith our business community established with the airlines, beginning with our first Minimum Revenue Guarantee agreement in 1986, resulting in American Airlines non-stop service from Chicago”, stated Mike Gierau, Chair JH AIR. “Our business community, with the support from the State of Wyoming, has been exemplary in their leadership of contracting and managing air service.
In addition, and critical to the contracting of service is the investment in our destination experience by the major resorts such as Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. And nally, the commitment by our community, our resorts and hoteliers, and of course the Wyoming Of ce of Tourism to promote air service, ensures Jackson Hole, WY continues to be recognized as a world class destination resort on a year round basis.”
Gierau continued, “Our approach has been to identify the most active hubs to serve both domestic and international clients, and scheduling ights with our airline partners to ensure smooth, same day connections from North and South America, UK, Europe, Asia, and the South Paci c. The added bene t is extraordinary sustainable air service for a community of 20,000 people.
We look forward to welcoming visitors from all over the world to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a world-class resort destination, gateway to the Nation’s first National Park (Yellowstone), and the splendor of Grand Teton National Park” concluded Gierau.
National Parks & Forest Lands
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
Established in 1872, Yellowstone National Park is America’s rst national park. Located ninety miles north of Jackson, it is home to a large variety of wildlife including grizzly bears, wolves, bison, and elk. Preserved within Yellowstone National Park are Old Faithful and a collection of the world’s most extraordinary geysers and hot springs, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK
On the north end of Jackson Hole, Grand Teton National Park preserves a spectacular landscape rich with majestic mountains, pristine lakes and extraordinary wildlife. In the winter, the park’s main roadway is plowed and open for winter travel from the town of Jackson to Flagg Ranch near Yellowstone National Park’s south boundary. The Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center in Moose is open year-round, except for December 25th.
BRIDGER-TETON NATIONAL PARK
Easily accessed by Jackson Hole, Bridger-Teton offers more than 3.4 million acres of public land for outdoor recreation enjoyment. With its pristine watersheds, abundant wildlife and immense wildlands, these forest lands comprise a large part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem – the largest intact ecosystem in the lower 48 States. Offering nearly 1.2 million acres of designated Wilderness, over 30,000 miles of road and trails and thousands of miles of unspoiled rivers and streams, the Bridger- Teton offers something for everyone.
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort
For the last 29 years, SKI magazine has drawn upon its national & international subscribers (145,000 last year) to elect the best ski resort in a variety of categories in North America.
This unbiased group of readers has ranked Jackson Hole Mountain Resort No. 1 for the winter of 2013/2014 - an accolade that has been typically claimed by larger resorts such as Deer Valley, UT and Vail, Colorado.
With 2,500 acres of legendary inbound terrain, a 4,139 ft. vertical rise, and an average of 459 inches snowfall each winter, Jackson Hole offers a truly unique winter experience.Two distinct mountains in the heart of the Tetons – Rendezvous and Apres Vous – make up Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, home to incredible skiing for the past 40 years. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort recently invested $5+ million to make the mountain experience even better for 2013 and beyond. That’s on the heels of $31 million for the new Aerial Tram. The owners of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort have invested over $125 million over the last 12 years. That’s two times what the normal ski resort spends.
Recreational Opportunities
SKIING
SNOW KING RESORT
Blocks from Jackson Hole’s town square, Snow King Mountain rises dramatically, with stunning views of the valley and Teton Mountain Range. In 1939 this mountain opened as Jackson’s rst ski area and one of the rst in the United States.Today, Snow King welcomes hopeful Olympians as a top training camp destination.
GRAND TARGHEE SKI & SUMMER RESORT
Grand Targhee is located in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest in western Wyoming.The base is at 8,000 ft. in
the magni cent Teton Mountain Range, 42 miles west of Jackson Hole,Wyoming, and 87 miles northeast of Idaho Falls, Idaho. Grand Targhee is famous for consistently superb snow conditions with over 500 inches annually.
FLY FISHING
The Jackson Hole, Grand Teton and Yellowstone regions offer a great diversity of y shing opportunities, from inti- mate small spring-fed creeks to owing, bold rivers. Favor- ite destinations include Yellowstone Lake, the Snake River, Henry’s Fork, Teton River, the Salt River and the Green River near the Wind River Mountains.
GOLFING
TETON PINES
18-hole course designed by Arnold Palmer and Ed Seay. The course becomes a cross-country ski course in winter months.
JACKSON HOLE GOLF & TENNIS
The valley’s rst golf course, an 18-hole course, recently completed a $15 million upgrade, designed by Robert Trent Jones II.
SHOOTING STAR
Located at the base of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Shooting Star’s Tom Fazio designed 18-hole golf course a destination golf resort in the shadow of the Tetons.
HUNTSMAN SPRINGS
As the most awarded new course in the United States, Huntsman Springs was recently named #1 Golf Develop- ment of the Year by Golf Inc. Magazine. This championship course was custom designed by Golf Architect of the Year, David McLay Kidd.
3 CREEK RANCH
18-hole course designed by Rees Jones ranked in Golf Digest as one of America’s best new private golf courses. 3-Creek is located just south of the Town of Jackson.
Wildlife & Natural Beauty
CONSERVATION
Did you know that only 3% of Teton County, Wyoming, is privately owned? This leaves 97 percent of Jackson Hole’s land protected as national parks and forests, so it’s easy to assume that elk, mule deer, antelope and other key wildlife species have plenty of room to roam between their winter and summer stomping grounds.
Jackson Hole is part of a much bigger, scienti cally important region, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and the tiny 3 percent of land here that is privately owned is part of a network of critical migration corridors through the ecosystem.
The Land Trust and The Nature Conservancy are on a mission to protect enough open space for the Yellowstone region’s wildlife to get where they need to go. Through conservation easements and other land-preservation
tools, they are working acre by acre to protect important terrain ensuring our valley maintains it’s visually spectacular character and remains open for wildlife.
Jackson Hole is very nite in terms of real estate. The scarcity of remaining available land and limited land development going into the future, ensures the character and openness of our valley will always remain.
This website is not the official website of Jackson Hole Sotheby's International Realty. Jackson Hole Sotheby's International Realty does not make any representation or warranty regarding any information, including without limitation its accuracy or completeness, contained on this website. Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark licensed to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated.