Martin Dragnev was recognized by Real Trends in 2023 as one of America's Best REALTORS, raking in the top 1.5% of more than 1.6 million licensed Realtors nationwide based on 2022 sales. He ranked #42 for Sides and #126 for Volume, for individual agents. Martin was born and raised in Bulgaria (Eastern Europe) in a family with very scarce resources. Upon completion of the course material at the University of Economics, Varna where Martin studied marketing, he seized the extraordinary opportunity life had offered him and moved to the United States. In 2000, Martin arrived in New York City filled with enthusiasm, enchanted by the large skyscrapers, and carrying a $100 bill in his pocket. However, he had brought with him everything that he needed…his past had taught him diligence in his work; his present had offered him the opportunity to follow his dreams.
A year later, in May 2001, Martin moved to Steamboat Springs and immediately fell in love with the friendly community and the magical beauty of the Yampa Valley. The famous Yampa Valley curse: ”once a person visits the valley, he or she will forever be enchanted and compelled to return” got him also, but for Martin it wasn’t a curse, but rather an amazing place to call home.
Martin's whole life was working in the customer service and sales industries using his marketing background and building upon it from his everyday experiences. He has learned how to identify people’s needs, and how to offer them the best of every situation. His life has taught him not to stray from work, but rather to grasp every opportunity. Martin's biggest satisfaction is helping his clients accomplish their goals and dreams.
In 2009, Martin was selected as a member of Leadership Steamboat, a year-long educational program that fosters young professionals who become experts in Steamboat's local Economy and Business. He specializes in Residential & Resort Real Estate as well as helping young families through the process of getting happily involved with their first home. In 2010, Martin obtained the Short Sales and Foreclosure Resource (SFR) Designation from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), giving him the experience to professionally navigate this challenging process for his clients. In 2011, Martin was awarded the Colorado Group Realty’s “Rising Star” Award and shortly after he became one of the principal partners at Colorado Group Realty. In 2014, Martin earned the Graduate REALTOR Institute (GRI) designation from NAR attending a specific, intensive series of over 100 hours of classroom instruction, covering a variety of subjects including contract law, professional standards, sales and marketing, finance, water issues and water rights, working with buyers and sellers, valuation, and risk reduction and subsequently added the Resort and Second Home Property Specialist (RSPS) designation also from NAR in 2018. Colorado Group Realty “Most Transactions” award was presented to Martin in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. He was also the winner of the “Top Producer Individual” award in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 which has been the pinnacle of his career. In 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, Martin was voted “Best of the Boat” Realtor by the Steamboat Community and out of town clients. In 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022 Martin made the Real Trends magazine “Top 100 agents in Colorado” list based on number of sales.
In Martin's free time, he enjoys soccer, tennis, hiking, mountain biking, fishing, golfing (trying) and snowboarding. Working and playing in beautiful Steamboat Springs with his wife Kremena and his beautiful twin daughters (Gabby & Izzy) has been a privilege of his!
He looks forward to speaking with you soon!
Martin is very professional at his job. Good at communicating and answering any questions. Helped us with the process from beginning to end with the selling of our home. Would highly recommend him.
Really good to work with Martin
Martin and the group where awesome to work with every thing was taken care of.
Always a great experience working with Martin!
Rachel Elston was fantastic to work with. She was diligent and patient answering all our questions, working with a tough seller, and always willing to go above and beyond. I cannot recommend Rachel enough. Thanks to her we were able to secure our dream home and are so excited to start this next chapter.
Martin did a great job in handling the purchase of our home, I would recommend him highly. He was responsive, knew the market and provided helpful advice on local help (i.e snow removal).
I’d highly recommend Martin and will for sure hope to work with Martin in the future for our next house buying and selling endeavor.
Martin did an excellent job with a challenging selling process. He made every effort to do his best. Thanks Matin!
Martin and team did a great job at facilitating this transaction. Thanks
We found that working with Martin Dragnev was very easy, as he was good at advising what we needed to do and what to expect. Since we dealt with Martin on number of properties, all our transactions were carried out easily and most satisfactory. Martin was even helpful in referring us to another Colorado Group Realty agent in another part of Colorado regarding a property there. Thank you Martin, your skills and advice were appreciated. George and Luanne Sager
Martin was very creative in marketing our ranch property. I would recommend him to anyone again
Martin is a great professional, every transaction we have done with him has been easy and smooth. He is very dedicated and makes us feel like we are in the best hands, which is crucial for us with transactions of this magnitude. We also have recommended him to multiple friends and everyone has been extremely pleased with his work. Thanks Martin and Colorado Group Realty, our only choice when conducting real estate transactions.
Martin is attentive ,diligent and thorough and has complete knowledge of the Steamboat residential Market. Very professional!
Martin and his team were great to work with. Martin was very proactive and responsive during our home search. We appreciated that he was very familiar with the area and he really helped us better define what we were looking for in our ideal property. Once we found the home, Martin and his team were very helpful during the closing process. Everything was very organized and communication was excellent. This was especially helpful for us since we were out of town during the process. Martin has continued to be helpful as a resource as we make plan for renovating the home. A big thanks to Martin and his team for all their help!
Having worked with Martin in the past he has always been a pleasant presence when dealing with real estate. Hard working, concerned with the client's wishes and communicates well to get to the end result. Motivated - thank you for all your help with this sale.
I had talked with Martin in 2021 about selling, but then felt the timing wasn’t right. He kept in touch without pressuring us to sell. When we decided to sell this year we invited Martin and he brought Rachel with him. They both are so easy to work with, and made the process easy for us. Their tips about how to prepare, what was most critical on our list of repairs, and how to stage the home, were invaluable. And all throughout our offer contract consideration, Martin took the time to offer his experience and expertise so we could make the best decisions. We highly recommend signing with them at Colorado Group Realty. Everyone on the Group’s team was courteous and helpful. Our sale went very smoothly, and we couldn’t be more pleased.
Martin and Rachel were quick to respond and handled the sale of my property professionally. No hard sale or pressure, just realistic common sense salesmanship.
He Pleasant to work with real knowledgeable
Martin and his team were extremely “on it” and handled every step of the process like true professionals. Martin was always thinking two or three steps ahead and was prepared at every turn. I couldn’t be more pleased with how things went and with the service of Martin and team.
He’s always there to answer questions, show a property or, if you’re not in town he will go and take video of the unit and perhaps even the outside area to help you make the right decision. He holds his thoughts close to his chest so that you are the one making the decision, but when his opinion is needed he will willingly express it and it is important that you hear it. He knows the area well and has much information to share. You’re lucky if he is your agent.
Martin and his team worked diligently and honestly on our behalf on the purchase of our new home. Would absolutely recommend!!
Martin and his team are professional and knowledgeable. They know how to get things done!
Easy and straight forward interactions.
Great broker; very knowledgeable about the Steamboat Springs market and very accessible. It was a pleasure working with Martin.
The experience was fluid, responsive and professional. When I had questions they were answered. Thank you
MARTIN is a very personable real estate agent. However there are several times that we wanted to get a hold of him that we could not. However we got we wanted and we moving forward
Martin and team helped us to get through the closing process and made sure we did not miss important due dates.
Martin and his team worked very hard on our behalf to get this deal completed, even though it was a relatively small transaction. We’ll certainly get in touch with any future real estate needs.
Response while we were out of town, excellent.
Martin was great at showing me homes in my budget and then once we put in an offer, he was great at negotiating with the seller after inspections were done. Great experience!
Martin is very professional and yet warm and friendly. He listened to all my concerns and found the answers/solutions in a timely manner. Martin is extremely knowledgeable concerning the Steamboat market. I greatly appreciate all the work he accomplished.
Best real estate agent in the Boat! ..If you are looking to purchase a home in Steamboat Springs, make sure to reach out to the great team of Martin Dragnev and Rachel Elston! Me and my fiance recently purchased our first home in Steamboat Springs and we had the pleasure to work with Martin Dragnev and his assistant Rachel. Both Martin and Rachel were great to work with, Extremely professional, knowledgeable and super responsive. Martin gave us some great advices and helped us with the whole process of buying our first home in Steamboat. We are extremely grateful to both of them! Thank you, Viktorija & Ivan
He did a good thorough job throughout the whole process
Thank you all, especially Martin Dragnev and Rachel Elston. My experience could not have been better. The professional way they handled my sale was excellent. I will certainly tell all my friends about them and the way I was treated. I will look to them for all, My future needs in real estate even if just for advise. Thanks again Wayne
Martin Dragnev did amazing job.
Martin and Rachel went above an beyond for this listing. They were both extremely organized and professional. Thank you for your hard work and extra time, I really appreciated it.
Martin was very thorough and had a lot of attention to detail. I really appreciated him staying in touch with me and constant follow up! I would definitely use him again.
Very attentive service and great marketing. Martin Dragnev is so calm which helped us when we weren't!
Martin was a huge help to us as we worked our way through the quiet title process on the lot we purchased at Stagecoach. Not an easy transactions for sure, and we appreciate all Martin did for us getting to closing.
Martin does very well with people I might offend, and vice versa. I think we have made a very nice functional friendly combination of Broker-Seller letting the "telling" do the selling.
Great Service - professional and knowledgeable.
Martin Dragnev is absolutely amazing. Brilliant service and always on hand to provide advice and support. We can’t speak highly enough of him and the team. 100% recommend to all our friends.
Martin was very responsive and patient with us. He worked with us over the span of a couple of years to help market our unique property. I cannot say enough good things about him and Rachel. They are top notch communicators and honestly put our needs and desires first and foremost while proactively assisting us market our house. Thanks!!
Martin gets the job done! He’s not one to sugar coat anything.
Got NATURAL talent, so rare in Real Estate these days.
Martin was a great realtor to work with ,and would highly recommend to my friends
Martin and his team did a great job assisting us with the purchase of our condo in Steamboat. He is very responsive and he always gives balanced advice. He has been a local for a long time so knows everybody in Steamboat, it seems. He actively pursues opportunities that have not hit the market yet. He made videos of properties or showed properties through Facetime. And most importantly, he is continuously engaging all parties, whether it is the seller's agent, banks or title company, to close the deal and anticipate potential problems. I expect him to be my guy in Steamboat for years to come. I highly recommend him.
Martin was kind and patient as we navigated our first "second home" purchase. We began the process ignorant of the Steamboat market, and many of the nuances of owning and short-term renting of a mountain get-a-way. Martin did a great job of advising us, and helping us understand these nuances. Despite a few entertaining curveballs and changes of direction from us, Martin was always patient and tried to understand where we were thinking, and to redirect his own efforts to find us the perfect home. Doing all this while fully remote (we live in Denver), and through a pandemic is a real testament to him, and his teams' skill and dedication.
Martin and his team are awesome to work with. He helped us find a home, and 4 years later, helped us sell as well..
Rating reflects continued award-winning service & devotion to our work, in spite of my somewhat occasional anal attitudes.