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.

New listings are coming on slowly this spring. Today the Broker Open House Tour had 7 properties, light compared to previous years. Current home inventory consists of 224 homes, 157 condo’s, 60 Planned unit developments.

Traditionally as the snow melts the inventory of homes increases especially for higher elevation properties.  This year we have had spring snow storms and the inventory is holding steady.  Of course it is difficult to compare this year to any previous years. The inventory is already high with 224 homes for sale and only 20 closed sales year to date…yes I wrote 20 closings.  Sounds like a survivors series doesn’t it?

The second home market has taken a harder hit than most metropolitan areas. But, with that said, the population of potential second home buyers is increasing. An estimated  41.7 million people between the ages of 40-50 will be entering the highest population of potential buyers. Buyers are definitely touring your house, perhaps not in person but they are looking on-line through virtual tours and utilizing sites such as Google Earth to check out the neighborhoods! We track internet activity and views are increasing.

Second quarter sales have lead the way in closed sales over the last 3 years and there is good reason to believe it will continue. Residential year to date closed sales =  20 home ( Jan.-March = 15 ) (April 1-28=4 closed and 10 under contract).  Out of 20 closed sales 3 were bank owned or short sales. The current homes under contract =10  of which 7 are short sales or bank owned. The largest bank owned sale just closed on the Championship Golf Course -listed at $4.9 million closed at $4.5 million.

Market overview this link takes you to a break out of residential information, active, under contract and sold properties.  A recap indicates the Eastern Slope having the most homes for sale at 26. If you are looking for the price range with the highest number of listings to review consider $3 million+ you will find 53 homes priced between $3 million to $39 Million.

The second price range with the highest inventory is between $1.4 million to $1.8 Million with 26 homes.

If these prices are little rich there are 36 homes to review between $399,000-$800,000.  Last year there were only 22.

If your range is closer to $800,000-$1,200,000 there are 43 homes and 58 homes listed between $1,200,000 to $2,000,000.

Spring is finally here, at , least for this week and the weather is perfect at 70 degrees, compared to my daughter calling me from Arizona at 105.

Buyers are starting to take action and the office is humming again!

Our selection of property is fabulous and competition will increase as more properties enter the market place and shake up the over priced listings with a healthy dose of competition.

An example of two well priced lake view homes, 970 Mica Court , a beautiful Newly constructed home was  reduced today and I really don’t think this will last long at $1,620,000 price.

Another Lake view listing at 1011 Apollo Way was featured on the Brokers Open House Tour today- Priced at $1,295,000 this property is another excellent value.  Especially when you look at the previous list price of $1,895,000.

Another surprise on tour was 701 Mays Blvd.  $2,545,688 remodeled home which fronts Lakeshore Blvd, has nice lake views and just a block from Burnt Cedar Beach.

I sold a lake view condo this weekend at Burgundy Hill, it is always rewarding to find the perfect fit for a client especially after a year of looking and waiting.

April activity:

Home sales! On average you can expect 10% from the list price based on the latest sales. With 4 closed sales the differential between list price to selling price varied from a low of 76% and a high of 90%. With a list price over 2 million this is a nice price reduction$!

Planned unit developments- freestanding units- 2 sales in April priced in the low $300,000

Condominiums – 7 units under contract ranging from $225,000 to $599,000 and one closed sale at $298,000.

The condominium buyers are made up of two groups , entry level first time buyers and investors. Both  taking advantage of the inventory selection in the lower price ranges. Over the past three years we really had a small inventory in the $250-$300,000.

Spring has arrived , well almost, give it a little more time before you start changing out the closet.  We have had our share of teaser days, you know what I mean …One day the beach parking lot is full and the volleyball courts are in full swing, barbecue is in the air and summer feels oh so close. Only to awake the next day to snow covered lawns and we all reluctantly pull on long pants, covering up our tan lines and donning  heavy jackets.

You know its spring when - bags of pine needles fill the street for pick up- Bears are making appearances throughout town- the birds are building nests- kids go to school with sun burns- people are wearing bright colors -  lawns are visible and the trees have buds- die hard skiers are on crutches or wearing slings.

I showed property in the Upper Tyner subdivision  at an elevation of 6800 ft , the snow is still 5 feet deep. This is one reason sellers  wait to put their homes on in May when most of the snow is melted.

I recently purchased a video camera to capture and share special hiking trails and document local insider information.

Real Estate Update:

Inventory for Incline Village and Crystal Bay

Condo  Homes  Town homes

Active                   150        224        60

Under Contract       4          7            3

Of the 7 homes under contract 4 are priced over $2 Million, 3 are newer construction with square footage well over the 5000sq. ft. mark.

Our office is seeing more activity and buyers making appointments to visit and ready to buy!

Best buys can be found in all price ranges- Example  home under $600,000 is 203 Nadine listed at $560,000.

I will be off looking at colleges with my daughter next week, Colorado and Arizona (I’m voting for the warm state my other daughter is going to ASU) but we’ll see.

Happy Easter!

Recently foreclosed properties have come on the market and the inquiries are high for one property in particular listed for $355,000 , built in 2006- 2566 sq ft. sounds to good to be true??? The house is a log cabin built by a contractor who did not understand how important it is to allow wood to acclimate before assembling the house or it will and it did shrink. The outside looks good but the inside tells a very different story.

Every wall has settling cracks, the floor is slanted and the staircase is dangerous. There are braces on every major beam. It is a real tragedy to see and difficult to explain to a buyer. The house basically has to be torn apart, all sheet rock removed to get access to the beams to determine what has to be done structurally to stabilize the structure.

Building in the Tahoe Basin is not for the faint of heart and to rebuild can be even more expensive. The ideal buyer for this property is a contractor or someone who understands the expenses involved and time it will take. The house is not in livable condition right now.

We reached the end of the first quarter and a quick overview indicates our market is picking up.

It is very interesting to note the number of high end properties which sold this year.

Residential Sales captured the first quarter with 15 closed sales. Residential Under Contract, 4 properties are under contract  we’ll have a ways to go to catch up with last years second quarter sales at 33, but anything is possible.

The latest a lakefront property closed this week , located at 865 Lakeshore Blvd, a .74 acre parcel with List price $8,695,000 sold price $7,350,000  Days on the Market 772  Price per square footage = $942.67

Information on sales and buyers for 1st quarter residential sales:

8 = Loans, 1 = 1031 exchange, 6= Cash

Out of the 15 sales 9 were over 4000 sq ft.

First quarter sales  2009 = 15  (median=$1,900,000)

2008 = 12  (median=$1,115,360)

2007 = 32 (median=$1,187,500)

Highest price=$7,350,000- Median=1,900,000 Average= $2,126,196  Low=$470,000

Planned unit developments have taken a back seat to home sales. With only two sales and two under contract.

Condominiums- trailing home sales with 6 sales and 3 under contract.