The Tahoe Treasure is a well known property at Incline Village and with a major price reduction it will not last long. This is priced below what the owner’s paid when they purchased the property in 2000 for $32,000,000. The improvements to the property including a new pier, landscaping, remodeling of the 3 properties on site and getting all the necessary work done to build on the remaining vacant parcel.
This places a per acre price at just under $3.4 million with 8.75 acres…unbelievable price!

Has David defeated Goliath?

Using a slingshot fashioned by the Village League to Save Incline Assets, loaded with the weapon of truth, local property owners this month were awarded a $13 million refund for Washoe County’s wrongful assessment of Incline Village and Crystal Bay property for the 2005-2006 tax year.

This is just one of several legal challenges the Village League has won in the courts due to illegal property assessment methods in our community; but hopefully this Oct. 6 ruling serves as the death blow to the arrogant, unyielding giant of Washoe County tax policy.

District Court Judge Brent Adams ordered Washoe County Treasurer Bill Berrum to refund 8,700 north shore property owners in support of the State Board of Equalization’s decision on July 20, 2009 to roll back 2006-07 property values for those residential parcels to 2002-03 levels.

The refunds were estimated to be approximately $13 million plus interest by Finance Director John Sherman earlier this year. Approximately $5 million would be paid from Washoe County government itself; the remainder to be paid from other entities that received property tax revenues from the Incline Village/Crystal Bay property owners, such as the school district (estimated at $4.5 million), the fire department, the state of Nevada, and IVGID.

 “In compliance with the judge’s decision, this office is immediately gearing up to begin processing the refunds,” Treasurer Bill Berrum said. “Due to the volume and the complexity, though, this task can possibly take months to complete.”

While waiting for the checks to arrive, however, the Village League is telling property owners to continue to pay their 2009-2010 property taxes under protest until those bills reflect the proper amount due, since the State Board of Equalization decision has rolled each and every residential property back to the 2002-03 level.

Washoe County could still file yet another appeal on that decision, and county spokesperson Kathy Carter said the District Attorney’s office is reviewing its options. 

The battle began in December 2002 when the Village League to Save Incline Assets was formed after angry residents started taking note of arbitrary property appraisals. The methods identified included using “tear-downs” to appraise vacant land values, a time adjustment, view adjustments made from places other than the ground, condominium land values based on single-family residential values, and arbitrary comparisons such as the number of rocks on the beach. In June 2004, the Nevada Tax Commission adopted new rules of assessment which made the above methods illegal.

“At the heart of all the legal measures that have been heard since 2002 over this issue is the fact that the courts have ruled the Washoe County Assessor did not have the authority to impose the valuation methods used during years in question as it was not expressly given by the State Tax Commission,” a county statement said.

For a complete history, click here (http://www.nevadapropertytaxrevolt.org/pages/History.html)

Trying the right the wrong has been a test in patience, expense and endurance for the Village League, as it has had to meticulously work through the county Board of Equalization, the state Board of Equalization, the Nevada Tax Commission, the District Court, and the state Supreme Court. Multiple lawsuits have been filed, of which several are still pending decisions on appeals. Court cases have been won by small groups of Incline taxpayers, and refunds have been granted to the tune of $7 million to nearly 900 residents so far, but this latest order affects all the properties in IV/CB.

Equal justice for all is the ringing claim of the Village League to Save Incline Assets and, after a seven-year legal battle the grassroots organization is claiming victory for all of Incline Village and Crystal Bay’s taxpayers.

Goliath is dead…we hope.

To receive timely email updates, thank your hard-working Village League advocates, read a complete history of Incline’s tax revolt, contribute to the legal fund, or learn how this impacts your specific property’s land taxable value for the tax years 2002-03 through 2009-10, visit the Village League’s web site, www.nevadapropertytaxrevolt.org.

A California lakefront property owner must tear down his metal fence due to it preventing people from using the public trust portion of a North Tahoe beach.

In California, the public trust is any land below the high water mark of 6228.75 feet.  The fence in question prevented people from accessing Speedboat Beach, aka Buck’s Beach, in Brockway, Calif.

The California State Lands Commission voted to tear down the fence, compensate the lakefront owners if necessary for the cost of tear down and ask the state attorney general to file a restraining order against Marc Desautels, the owner of the adjacent lakefront property. Desautels was accused during the commission’s meeting of harassing people trying to use the beach.

Lake Tahoe’s public trust in California was defined by a 1986 court case as anything between the high and low water marks.  As of Oct. 28, Lake Tahoe was sitting at 6223.01 – just at the lake’s low water mark.

The beach in question is just over the border of the Nevada/California state line, and the rules are completely different just a few hundred yards away in Nevada.

The Nevada Division of State Lands says that the state owns the bed of the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe up to its natural rim of 6223 foot elevation. So all the land above the natural rim is private property in Nevada.

Maybe Desautels should buy in Nevada – we can recommend a good real estate firm for him if he cares to jump to the other side of the border.

Year to date there are  72 homes which have closed  and 21 homes under contract  to close.

Based on closed sales it indicates larger homes are popular or are they just a better buy?  Here is a break out of homes sales by year and sq. ft. over 5,000

Year      over 5000 sq. f.t

2007       17

2008       4

2009     17

The breakdown of pricing and square footage based on the current inventory of homes For Sale:

Homes              Size                           $(L)                    $ (M)             $(H)

38                    1,000-2,000          $297,000      $559,000      $18,000,000

52                    2,001-3,000         $599,000        $ 1,145,000   $3,500,000

40                   3,001-4,000         $ 879,900      $1,600,000     $9,900,000

41                   4,001-5,000         $895,000       $2,200,000   $5,995,000

18                   5,001-6,000         $1,995,000   $2,995,000   $4,488,000

8                    6,001-7,000         $2,600,000  $3,895,000    $34,000,000

14                  7,001+                  $1,580,000    $6,550,000  $34,000,000

It is a process to educate buyer’s on our  building codes and regulations. Each parcel within Incline Village was assigned an individual  Parcel evaluation Score (IPES). This score was determined by the Tahoe regional Planning agency (TRPA). Each parcel prior to being built was reviewed and assigned a number which determined the size of  home which could be built.  Things taken in to consideration for scores included steepness of slopes and stream zone environments.

When Incline Village was originally developed the size of which were  predominately second homes were approximately  2,000 sq. ft.  Many of the owners were not interested in maximizing the square footage allowed. Instead  they enjoyed the open space between homes. Over the years the  formula of buying tearing down and rebuilding was magic.

Until the last few years when developers were not watching the signs of declining sales our market has a glut of overbuilt homes.

Over the last two years tear down homes were selling for $800,000- $1 million. With a lot value at these price points  this dictated a builder must build the biggest house possible to make a profit. This was all true and a winning formula until the last couple of years. The inventory has pushed down the price per sq. ft. from $600 a sq ft in 2007 to $250 – $475 today. 

Whatever size home you are looking for we’ll find the right fit at the right price!

Real estate brokers work harder today to negotiate a sale.  As contingencies are released and the closing date gets closer, the last item and one of utmost importance is the Appraisal.

Whether the buyer is paying cash or getting a loan, the appraisal we assume are  based on comparable sales data.

As broker’s we walk our clients through the maze of contingencies as each transaction unfolds ranging from pest inspections, radon, home owner association status and more.

All this work can be for not if an appraisal comes in below the  agreed to selling price.

This recently happened when an out of the area appraiser was contracted by a lender to appraise. The appraiser came in below the selling price and the sale was going sideways.

After reviewing the appraisal it was apparent the appraiser was not familiar with our resort community.

His property comparables and analysis were all inaccurate. One example of his lack of knowledge was giving a $50K  higher value to a property located in a higher less desirable location and commenting the increase was due to the access this property enjoyed to the  golf courses and private beaches. Little did the appraiser know all properties within Incline Village has access to two golf courses , two private beaches, tennis facilities and much more!

A second comparable was truley based on apples to oranges when he compared the sale of a condominium built in 1971, smaller sq footage and not garage to the appraised town home with an attached 2 car garage and built in 1995 and approximately 3 blocks from the condo referenced. 

Appraisers not familiar with an area should not be allowed to submit their opinion of value unless they have valid knowledge of the community and how property is values.

In our case a letter was submitted and the bank hired a local appraiser who arrived at the selling price.

To many sales are being squashed by this practice. It is critical for brokers to protect their clients and lenders to utilize local appraiser.

My advise, work with experienced brokers/agents who will work with you and understand what needs to happen to  close the sale….Deal or No Deal!

Sometimes a charts are better at explaining the current market situation. Below is the list of current residential homes for sale broken out by subdivisions and pricing.  Currently we are seeing lots of activity but unfortunatley in some cases it involves escrows not closing due to buyers being nervous or appraisers not qualified to being doing appraisals here. Prices are excellent and this third quarter will surpass last years numbers, a positive sign