Summer is offically here and it is a beautiful time to visit Lake Tahoe.

Here is a link to many activities going on over the July 4th celebrations and throughout the summer months.

Sign up now for the I Can Run/Walk over July 4th and stake out your spot at Ski Beach which will be open to the public for fireworks. We traditionally go over early in the morning and layout blankets and chairs for the evening firework spectacular! They place a barge on the lake in front of the Hyatt and set off a fabulous display around 9:00 PM. Not to be missed!

Shakespeare at Sand Harbor- another annual event with Lake Tahoe as the backdrop for shakespeare performances and additional entertainment throughout August!

Hiking, biking, sailing, golfing it is all waiting for you right here at Lake Tahoe. The local golf course has special offers to take advantage of so check out the link.
It is nice to see the village filled with activity bringing in our summer season- they Hyatt hotel is 90% filled which is always a positive indicator.

The Lake is calm and the sky is crystal blue so book your trip to escape to paradise at Lake Tahoe!

Looking for the right buy at Lake Tahoe? This is the time to buy! Don’t limit yourself to short sales or foreclosures, there are plenty of motivated seller’s and you won’t have to wait 4 months to close the deal.

After reviewing residential sales, year to date and found the highest number of sales fall between $500-$750,000 with 7 closings. This is followed with 5 closings under the $500,000 price range.

Here is a breakdown of listings and solds year to date:

Active     Solds                       Price ranges

5            5                               0-$500,000

30          7                               $500,001-$750,000

35          3                              $750,001-$1million

26         3                                $1 Million-1.2 million

23         1                                $1.2M-$1.5Million

38         3                                $1.5 Million-$2 million

18          3                               $2 million-$2.5 million

16          2                                $2,5 million-$3million

12          1                                $ 3 million-$3.5 million

16          3                                $3.5 million-$4 million

8            1                                $4 million-$5 million

8            0                                $5 million-$6 million

17          1                                $ 6 million+

Bank owned or short sales totaled 13 of the 33 sales.

What number are cash buyers versus buyer’s securing financing- 17 out of 33 sales involved loans.

Cash buyers make up about 60% of buyer’s especially over the $1 million price.

There are 11 residents under contract of sale with 6 under $750,000 the highest under contract is listed at $1,650,000.

This has been an unusual June with overcast sky’s every day. The good news is the pine pollen which usually leaves a yellow cloud of dust everywhere for 2 weeks has been washed away by afternoon showers. It is great weather for hiking! It has put a damper on boating with the threat of afternoon thunder showers.

The real estate market is starting to see an upswing in activity. Our office had 15 showings scheduled for today and we will be closing on 347 Burgundy Hill,  tomorrow a beautiful lake view condominium on one level.

A snap shot of the market:

 Property           Active        High                Median            Low             Under contract     sales

Residential       238           $39 Million       $1,595,900     $408,000         10                      31

PUD’s                62            $2,450,000      $ 998,500        $299,000         7                         6

Condo’s            177           $3,850,000      $495,000         $174,500        10                       18

Our pricing has finally hit the affordable level for buyers at all price points.

How are 385 agents surviving in this market- carefully! Very carefully! Lakeshore Realty is holding its own right now and we have an optomistic outlook as activity increases.

Thunderstorms are covering the lake today and the smell of fresh rain is surrounding the village. Great to have a spring shower as pollen season approaches.

I have a senior in high school who is graduating in June so we have a big case of “senioritis” running through our household. The local high school is very small with only 400 kids- truly a small town atmosphere. The graduating class is only 80 kids and many have grown up together since kinder-garden. This week is the senior prom so watch out for limos cruising through town on Friday. The big dance will be at the Chateau (our local clubhouse) located on the Championship golf course. This years theme is Alice in wonderland, the junior class is responsible for decorating for the senior prom. I will post a few pictures with the kids all dressed up for the big night out.

Now onto real estate this week- price reductions are occuring every day and our office activity has picked up! Our walk-in traffice of interested buyer’s has been fantastic and all our agents are feeling the shift. 

Chris and I sold our lake front condo located at Crystal shores East this week. It is listed at $1,650,000. We had two offers in two day’s and another on it’s way. The buyer’s live in Sweden and have been looking for the right lake front for 3 years. Thank you to Val Flynn who brought the buyers. They had actually reserved the unit for 2 weeks in July at $7,000 but now they can own it and put that money towards the purchase. It was a beautiful unit right on the lake with a boat slip directly in front of the unit. We owned it for 8 years and used the property as a rental and enjoyed having a boat and using the boat slip. The beauty of jumping on your boat when the weather is perfect and the lake is glass is simply wonderful. We bought this unit in 2000 and put our plan into action-remodel- rent the unit to short term and enjoy having a place on the lake while the kid were little. We  always told the girls the condo was their college fund- they finally understand what we meant now that they are both off to college next year.  The condo gave us memories for a lifetime and we are blessed our plans worked out.

Franchises have come in and swallowed whole both large and small companies and yes, they have tried to take a bite out of our business too… This is not the first time a franchise has approached us with a buy out offer.  I can think of at least 4 franchises who came in with great expectations of taking over our market place only to close down and leave town in 6 months.  Opening your doors and hanging a national franchise sign does not guarantee a success… especially at Incline village. 

Lakeshore Realty is a small boutique real estate company who’s focus is customer service, problem solving and staying on top of real estate trends effecting our clients. Owning Lakeshore Realty has given us the freedom to make decisions at a local level. We are not distracted by what the entire national franchise needs.

To often the personal touch it takes to be successful is lost in a large franchise where the bottom line is numbers and not people. 

We don’t pay out large fees to a franchise and we don’t have 80 agents to manage. As a buyer you want to know your agent is experienced in the LOCAL real estate market and can educate you on the In’s and outs of local regulations, policies, taxes etc. a new agent can’t deliver this kind of information or service. 

 At Lakeshore Realty you will only find seasoned professionals who have on average over 15 years of experience in our market place.

Our new affiliation with “Leading Real Estate Companies of the World” brings together an allegiance of companies like ours.  All 700 companies are expertise in their own market place which is why this network has the highest referrals out performing any franchise. 

Our customer service is based on a hands on approach with an emphasis on being proactive  to problem solving.

Give us a call today, you won’t be disappointed! 775-831-7000

Is holding an  “Open House” just a waste of time?

The odds are 250 to 1 someone attending an open house will buy your home.

Today buyers are more likely to look at a property via a virtual tour posted on the internet before they walk into an open house. Before you consider an open house first clean up and clean out  the house, make necessary repairs and have the  house staged . Insist on quality photo’s and a virtual tour. 

Marketing to a vast audience will draw the right buyer’s versus” looky loos”. Ask your agent for a list of the web sites your property will be posted on to assure you are getting maximum exposure.  Placing the listing on our local  Multiple listing service (MLS) utilizing the maximum  number of photo’s will introduce your property information to the  largest real estate website in the United States, Realtor.com.

The bottom line, Open houses have always been better for agents than sellers. Prospective home buyers usually walk through a Open House and ask  the agent “ what other listings are on the market”? Because we reside in a resort area and buyers tend to visit on the weekends, Open Houses tend to have a larger draw of  curious people on their way the beach,  especially if located on a main street. 

Different Open Houses

Brokers open house tour- this is a must! After your property is listed for sale, the listing agent has the opportunity to introduce it to the local community of real estate agents. The idea is to make a great first impression so agents will remember the house. We usually serve brunch and have a drawing for dinner or bottle of special wine. Agents appreciate good food and a chance to recharge while they are out all morning reviewing 20 homes.

Weekend Open Houses- The plus of holding an open house is the chance to listen and gather feedback on the property, including likes/dislikes, condition, suggestions, and pricing. It is really more an opportunity for agents to meet potential clients and not necessarily find a buyer for your home. 

It is a fact that TRPA is stepping up its BMP enforcement efforts and Incline Village is rated a “Priority 1 Watershed” area. What that means for us is that letters will be showing up in the mail and if nothing is done on your property, fines will follow. You can read the enforcement letter here.

What is the current status of BMPs on Lake Tahoe? Currently, there are roughly 34,000 parcels on Lake Tahoe that are not compliant with a mere 11,000 that are. TRPA is focusing its efforts on Priority 1 watersheds, and specifically on the parcels that have the highest impact. Most of Incline Village is designated Priority1 watershed, so expect a letter sooner than later.

What can you do? If you have your compliance certificate, consider that money in the bank, you are done. If you are not compliant, your property will need an evaluation first. Then the work must be completed according to your plan. Once all work is complete, you will arrange for a final inspection. If all work is up to par, you will receive a certificate of completion.

What if you get a compliance letter in the mail? Take it seriously. This is one of TRPA’s major projects and Incline Village is #1 on their list. By the book, you have 60 days to get your property in compliance after receiving a letter. After 60 days, TRPA can begin enforcement proceedings (i.e. fines). However, TRPA is sending letters to get BMPs completed, not to collect fines. If you get your evaluation scheduled, begin work on your BMPs, and stay on your time line, TRPA will most probably not hassle you.

Who can do property evaluations? You have two options here. Pay for an independent contractor that has been certified by TRPA. (They can be found here) A private contractor will be the quickest way and most contractors will waive their evaluation fees if they do the work. Your other option is using the Nevada Tahoe Conservation District. (Their site can be found here) . This will be the most economical option. The service is free so you will most probably end up on a waiting list. The nice part of working with NTCD is that they communicate directly with TRPA thus reducing the need to notify TRPA that you BMPs are in progress.

Since when has TRPA been enforcing BMP compliance? Recently. When the BMP plan went into effect years ago, TRPA created a 3-tiered system of priorities, priority 1 watershed, priority 2 watershed, and priority 3 watershed. Priority 1 is their most important tier and all BMPs were to be completed October 15, 2000. Priority 2 properties were to be completed by October 15, 2006. Priority 3 properties – October 15, 2008. Now that the compliance dates for all properties on Lake Tahoe have passed, all incomplete properties are in violation and TRPA is moving into enforcement. With only 25% of all properties complete, you can be sure that TRPA is going to begin ramping up their efforts.

The invasive zebra and quagga mussels have been found in freshwater lakes and waterways on the East Coast for some time. Last year, when zebra mussels were found in a reservoir less than 250 miles away from Lake Tahoe, TRPA took action.

In response, they have created the Tahoe Resource Conservation District. The organization is responsible for training inspectors and administering inspections. Beginning June 1, all boats entering Lake Tahoe will have mandatory inspections. The fee for the inspection will cost between $10 and $60 depending on the size of the vessel. The fees are designed to help defray the cost of the program, currently estimated at $675,000 annually. If your vessel is inspected and not removed from the boat, you do not have to have another inspection.

Keeping contaminated vessels from entering Lake Tahoe is the most potent form of prevention possible. Inspectors can be found at Ski Beach, Sand Harbor, Cave Rock, and Lake Forest ramps. To clean a contaminated vessel, high pressure water heated above 140 degrees Fahrenheit is working the best. These mussels are tough, even a concentrated solution of bleach does not kill the hardiest of the mollusks (all mussels are in the mollusk family).

You may ask yourself why these little mussels are creating such a stir. The reason is that they originate from the Black Sea and have no natural predators. Once the mussels get in a body of water they begin multiply at a rapid rate. Almost all of the large, freshwater ways and navigable lakes in the US have been contaminated by ocean going ships. Currently, there is no known way to eradicate the mussels once they take hold in an aquatic environment.

Their damage comes in two forms. The main issue is the nuisance caused by the rapid build up of the mollusks in pipes and on hard surfaces. The other problem comes from an unlikely source. The mollusks eat micro nutrients and tend to clear up the water. Having the pleasure of 75 feet of clarity here at Lake Tahoe, one might think that a clearer body of water is better. Unfortunately, when bodies of murky water (think Lake Mead) get cleaned, more light enters the water and plants and other aquatic life grow at an unbalanced level. Once this process starts, a cycle begins and can eventually destroy a water body by changing the alkalinity of the water and killing the inhabitants.

Inspections at Ski Beach are available daily from 7am until 8pm and are free of charge for residents through May 31. If you use a service to launch and or store your boat, they will most likely have someone on staff to address this issue. You can also click here for a guide on cleaning your watercraft.

So what happened to Spring?

It is still a little to chilly for shorts (55 degrees and windy) yet, everywhere I go in town I notice a sunburned person! When the weather gets warm the locals, who should know better …seem to be out soaking up the rays…unfortunately at such a high elevation of 6500 ft. above sea level, you get burned easily and quickly. So pull out the sunscreen before you hit the beaches.

Sales activity is picking up slightly as we work our way into the second half of the second quarter. Every sector of  the market (homes, condo’s and PUDs)  is focused on the lower price ranges. Condominium activity is between $200-$400K, Planned unit developments are a little higher in the $300- 500K ranges and homes are concentrated in the $800K and below. There are a few exceptions but not many.

The broker’s Open House Tour today had several interesting homes and a few..are you serious?

Lake front condominiums are especially tricky to price because the inventory is not very large and unless a seller is motivated they usually start at a premium price. These are the same units you will find on the  market after summer.

There are two complexes which offer private beach access which can be a plus but their lake views or better put peak views from the interior may be right into a neighbors exterior wall…another tough selling challenge.

The best steal so far this year was the sale at 346 Winding Way, selling at $925,000 bank foreclosure with an incredible per sq. foot price of $261. It started on the market at $1,795,000 a long way from the selling price.

Keep an eye out for our Newsletter we mailed out this week with more real estate market  information.

Lakeshore Realty is proud to announce its recent alliance with “The Leading Real Estate Companies of the World” (LRE) has a network of over 700 independently owned real estate firms who utilize a national and international referral network.