Everyone has an idea of what a home should be worth – the bank, the buyer, the seller, the agent, the appraiser, and now Zillow.  Zillow creates what is known as a “zestimate”.  Other websites have created automated valuation tools as well.  They are marketed with other catchy names and the general concept is the same.

Spokespersons for Zillow.com explain that a zestimate is an automated valuation of your home, primarily derived from public records, local listings and sales information.  Zillow.com stresses that the zestimate is a starting point when doing research – not a final appraisal.

There are zestimates for 88 million homes on Zillow.com, and new data is being added to the real estate Web site all the time.  But when you go online and look up your home’s worth, is the zestimate reliable?  Is this a figure you can trust?

If you are looking at a home in the suburbs where an entire tract has the same floor plan, the answer is probably yes.  But if you are considering a home in Incline Village or Crystal Bay, it is probably not accurate.

Zillow.com says it has a 10 percent margin of error in its zestimates in Washoe County, and that’s not even considering the impact of Tahoe Basin regulations, the lake views, Incline Village amenities and the various neighborhoods of Incline Village and Crystal Bay.

Look up a home on Zillow.com and you can tell if the zestimate is close to accurate or not.  Check on the value range – the wider the range the less confident Zillow is about its zestimate.  Look at the value over time chart and compare a zestimate with the actual price of the last sale.  If it doesn’t match, the trend is less reliable.

Finally, Zillow can’t put a value on the view (such as a view of Lake Tahoe), the value of recent improvements, the condition of a home, or that all important factor – location, location, location.

Zillow.com also has a short online video that discusses zestimates, how they are created, and how much weight you should give them when pricing your home or future purchase.

So start at Zillow.com, but don’t end there.  Come by Lakeshore Realty and speak with a professional.  Our brokers (who know Incline and Crystal Bay inside out) will fill in the missing pieces that a web site just can’t zestimate.

Worried about the slow pace to stem a flood of foreclosures, President Obama has called the nation’s mortgage industry on the carpet.

President Obama summoned mortgage executives to Washington in late July to answer for the sluggish pace of the government’s $75 billion program to prevent foreclosures.  In the three weeks since, the administration has been pressuring the nation’s mortgage servicers to speed up implementation of the Making Home Affordable loan modification program.  The program, begun in March, has only helped 235,250 out of four million struggling borrowers.

Forcing the issue, the Obama administration set a goal for the mortgage servicers to qualify at least 500,000 homeowners for 90-day trial modifications by Nov. 1.  Servicers already have 200,000 borrowers in trials to see if they can make three monthly payments on time, which is required before finalizing a modified loan under the administration’s program.  If the mortgage industry can accomplish Obama’s deadline, that would double in three months the number of trial modifications started in the first five months of the program.

The U.S. Treasury Department also began publicizing the performances of the nation’s mortgage servicers.  In its first report on Aug. 4, Bank of America had only begun loan modifications for 4 percent of its eligible loans, while Wells Fargo & Co. had only started on 9 percent of its loans! Perhaps the Washington threat of being publicly embarrassed each month could put a fire under the mortgage servicers’ feet.

“Today’s report from the U.S. Treasury further demonstrates that most mortgage loan servicers are not doing enough to live up to their commitments to help keep people in their homes.  What is it going to take to get these companies to change their behavior and take responsibility?” queried Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, who is suing one mortgage servicer on behalf of the citizens of Ohio.

Why is it taking so long to implement the Making Home Affordable Program?  Some say it is a complex program that is requiring mortgage servicers to implement system changes and hire and train new employees.  Now that it has begun, the pace should quicken.

“Despite negative press, most servicers are doing a good job of ramping up to handle the flow of modifications,” according to Terry Couto, a servicing consultant and founder of Newbold Advisors, Clearwater, Fla.

But a New York Times report on July 30 said that many mortgage companies are reluctant to give strapped homeowners a break because the companies collect lucrative fees on delinquent loans.

Quoted in the article: “The rules by which servicers are reimbursed for expenses may provide a perverse incentive to foreclose rather than modify,” concluded a recent paper published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

According to a report on Mortgage Servicing News, lawmakers are outraged and are looking at other options, including allowing judges to modify mortgages on principal residences.

Joint Economic Committee chairman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., said servicers need to speed up the pace of modifications.

“Servicers may be swamped, but families are literally drowning,” Rep. Maloney said at a committee hearing.

Are you the type that likes to get as much information as possible regarding the Incline Village real estate market?  Our charts are regularly updated and have information on Residential properties, Condominiums, PUD (Planned Unit Development), and Lots & Land. The charts will give you information on which properties are for sale, how many are in escrow, and year-to-date sales information.  You can also find information on 2008 market information as well.  The charts are quite informative and if you would like information tailored to your particular search needs, please contact us and we will get that information out to you.

To see all of the sales charts, please follow this link http://inclinebrokers.com/market_trends.php.

Below is two pages from the August 13, 2009 Single Family Residence charts.

With the Ritz-Carlton Highlands already taking online reservations for arrivals beginning Dec. 9, anticipation is building for the new five-star hotel under construction midway up the mountain at Northstar-at-Tahoe.  Their are many ownership opportunities and if desired, we have California licensed agents that can get information for you.

Recently, San Francisco celebrity chef Traci des Jardins made an announcement during the Food & Wine Magazine Classic in Aspen about the Ritz-Carlton Highlands’ new restaurant. The joint creation between Ritz-Carlton Highlands and chef and partner Traci des Jardins will be named Manzanita. She noted that Manzanita seemed a fitting name for a Sierra Nevada restaurant and she plans to create a menu that will be a combination of her signature French-inspired California cuisine, with a regional mountain resort influence.

Manzanita’s 94-seat restaurant and 71-seat bar and lounge will be located within the Ritz Carlton Highlands, scheduled to open this fall before ski season arrives. The $300 million project, situated mid-mountain in the Northstar-at-Tahoe ski area, will feature ski-in, ski-out access with mountain valet services, a 17,000-square-foot spa and fitness center and preferred access to the Old Greenwood and Coyote Moon golf courses.  An inter-mountain gondola will connect guests between the nearby Village at Northstar and the Ritz-Carlton Highlands, Lake Tahoe resort. The year-round destination includes 170 guest rooms, 23 private Ritz-Carlton residences and 25 Ritz-Carlton Club fractional ownership units.

All this luxury will be just 15 minutes away from Incline Village…

You wouldn’t just open the Yellow Pages to pick out a spouse, or Google “potential wives in your community” to choose a mate.

Entering into a contract with a real estate agent is like starting a marriage, where respect and trust are crucial. So, don’t just draw a name out of the proverbial hat; find a Realtor who will represent your best interests with integrity and compassion.

There are some qualities that great real estate agents share, and which you should consider when selecting someone to help you with one of the largest financial transactions you’ll ever make.

Here are key qualities you want in a great real estate agent:

• · Someone who hears what you have to say and, even more, is able to discern what type of home you would want by listening to your needs, wants, desires, values and dreams.
• · Who will go the extra mile to make the experience less stressful.
• · Who has an extensive knowledge of the community or neighborhood you are considering, and is willing to tell the truth about the pros and cons of a home.
• · Someone with great resources behind him or her, such as Lakeshore Realty’s membership in the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® network.
• · A Realtor who stays in touch, by whatever way you desire, be it letter, phone, e-mail, or blog.

And, when the purchase is complete, you’ll know you have a great real estate agent when the relationship becomes a life-long friendship.

Summer is here and all the high elevation homes with green lawns and steep driveways show beautifully. What you need to know is what is will this house look like when winter hits?

I always enlighten and educate buyer’s on what to expect when the white stuff (snow) returns.

An up slope or steep down slope driveway will require snow removal services, how the roof sheds snow may impact your walkways, how do you maintain the landscaping over autumn and winter ?

These are examples of concerns buyer’s need to be made aware of when looking in the summer months. It is hard to imagine 6 feet of snow cover streets in upper elevations on warm summer days but it will happen and buyer’s need to know what to expect and how to deal with it.

Trying to sell a home? Put this on your “Don’t Do” list: Do not choose a listing agent just because he or she gives you the highest list price.

This is one of the worst mistakes a seller can make because ultimately, it is not the Realtor who will determine how much a home will sell for; it is the market place that establishes the value.

If your home could sell for whatever you wish, real estate agents would place a lot of multi-billion dollar homes on the market. But that is a fantasy. No, you want to choose a listing agent who will help you determine a realistic viewpoint of your home’s selling price. These are the agents who will work hard to sell your home using unique marketing plans and superior negotiation skills.

Pricing a home is part art and part science, and no two appraisals are exactly the same. It involves comparing similar properties, making adjustments for the differences among them, tracking market movements and taking stock of present inventory. But it’s only an educated guess and the market will ultimately dictate the price.

If you price a home too low, the seller should receive multiple offers which will drive the price up to market value. So there is little danger in pricing a home too low.

However, if you price a home too high, it could backfire on you. According to “About.com Home buying / Selling,” studies show that interest in a home typically wanes after a few weeks, and when the price is reduced, buyers might believe something was wrong with the home to make the price drop. If the home sits on the market too long, it becomes a stale, dated, market-worn home that was overpriced for too long.

Don’t make that mistake. Choose a Realtor for his or her experience, integrity and marketing expertise. The agent who shouts the highest price isn’t necessarily the one who will be able to make the sale.

While kids are playing on the beach this summer with nary a thought of school, there are others laying a foundation for Incline Village’s educational future.

Teachers are being trained, money is being raised and the groundwork is being laid for an International Baccalaureate program for kindergarten through 12^th grade students in Incline Village.

The International Baccalaureate Program is an internationally recognized curriculum that offers 11th and 12th grade students an opportunity to earn the highly-acclaimed IB diploma. To earn the IB diploma, students complete and test in six IB subjects; write an extended essay of independent research guided by a faculty mentor, complete 150 hours of creative, action, and service activities; and participate in a critical thinking course called Theory of Knowledge.

The IB diploma is the crowning goal of the program, but when IB is implemented at all grade levels, the IB program creates a relevant, engaging, challenging and significant educational framework for all children.

Why is Incline Village working toward an IB program? This past spring, a group of community members met frequently to assess education in our community. While it was agreed that Incline is offering a high quality education (Incline High School has been one of Newsweek Magazine’s Top High Schools for the past five years), there has been a decline in enrollment as families move out of the area due to the increased cost of resort living.

Having an IB program in place, especially one that goes from kindergarten on up, will attract families with highly-motivated students to move to our community, adding another feather to Incline’s cap. In Nevada, there are only three high schools, two middle schools and one elementary school with IB programs. In California, those numbers are 84, 22 and 13 respectively. An IB program will set Incline Village education apart.

Organizers of the IB program hope to initiate the Diploma Programme, which is an Advanced Placement-like system for grades 11-12 by the 2011-12 school year, with full implementation for all grades by the 2012-13 school year.

There’s something for parents to think about when watching their children at the beach.