MLS Information Feb. 19 – Feb. 28

New Listings

• Single Family Homes
• Condos
• PUDs – no new listings

Price Changes

• Single Family Homes
• Condos
• PUDs – no price changes

Under Contract

The following status’ apply for listings “Under Contract” :

P = Pending Bank Approval (REO, Short Sale, Foreclosure)

C = Contingent

U = Under Contract – Contingencies Released

S = Sold

• Single Family Homes
• Condos
• PUDs

• Single Family Homes
  • Short Sales
• Condos
• PUDs

Snap shot of current market- Incline Village & Crystal Bay, Nevada, Lake Tahoe

Current Residential Listings:

Low - 803 Geraldine, $399,000

Median – 687 Cristina, $1,580,000

High – 593 Lakeshore, $34,000,000

MLS Information Feb. 13th- Feb. 21st

As 2010 moves on, real estate business is steadily increasing. See the links below for MLS information on the Incline Village and Crystal Bay, NV area in the past week.  There are a significant number of new listings and some price reductions worth noting.

New Listings

• Single Family Homes

• Condos
• PUDs – No new listings

Price Changes

• Single Family Homes

1069 Mill Creek was reduced to $699,000, a great value for this property!

• Condos
• PUDs – No price changes

Under Contract

• Single Family Homes
• Condos
• PUDs

Sold in 2010

• Single Family Homes
• Condos
• PUDs

Snap shot of current market- Incline Village & Crystal Bay, Nevada, Lake Tahoe

• New Listings
  • Single Family Homes
  • Condos
  • PUDs
• Price Changes
  • Single Family Homes
  • Condos
  • PUDs – no price changes
• Under Contract
  • Single Family Homes
    • Under Contract total single family homes is 18, the popular price range for home sales in 2010 falls below $1,000,000
      • 12 units under $1,000,000
      • 3 units $1,000,000-$2,000,000
      • 2 units $2,000,000- $3,000,00
      • 1 unit   $4,000,000-$5,000,000
  • Condos
    • There are 11 units of the 15 under contract priced below $300,000.
  • PUDs

• Sold in 2010
  • Single Family Homes
    • A shout out goes to one of our agents- Nevada Methard  who closed 936 Lakeshore Blvd this week at $2,750,000 representing both buyer and seller.

• Condos
  • Out of the 9 sales 7 closed under $400,000.
• PUDs

Facts and Figures for Listings Under Contract or Sold Thus Far in 2010

Snap shot of current market- Incline Village & Crystal Bay, Nevada, Lake Tahoe

Residential Sales

Active Single Family Residential Listings:

Price breakdown:

$300-$600,000= 14 $1,800,000-2,000,000=9

$600,000-$800,000=13 $2,000,000-$2,500,000=11

$800,000-$1,000,000=20 $2,500,000-$3,000,000=13

$1,000,000-1,400,000=27 $3,000,000-$5,000,000= 20

$1,400,000-1,800,000=13 $5,000,000-34,000,000=16

Condominium Sales

Active Listings:

The largest number of listings (53) are priced below $400,000, followed by second largest group of 30 units priced between $400,000 to $600,000.

The complex with the largest number of listings is McCloud with 16 units ranging in price from $375,000 (Low) to $520,000(Median).  Bitterbrush follows McCloud with 10 units listed priced -$369,000 (Low) $475,000 (Median).

The lowest priced unit, listed for $169,950, is at Toepa. A median list of $449,000 is found at Fairway Pines while the highest price unit at $2,100,000 is located at Stillwater Cove.

MLS Update February 2010

New Listings

• Single Family Homes- Out of the four new listings three were previously on the market and  back on with much needed price reductions. The First time new listing is  555 Knotty Pine  and worth a look. As spring approaches we will see an increase in inventory and more price reductions on the homes still on the market who will need to stay competitive with the new inventory.

• Condos- One new listing at 1000 Lakeshore, larger floorplan priced under $700,000.  Looking for a short sale  this 2 bed 2 bath at 836 Southwood is a value at $238,000.
• Lots and Land
• PUD’s- no changes

Price Changes

• Single Family Home Price Reductions
• Condo Price Reductions

Under Contract (Escrow)

• Residential Listings Currently Under Contract
• Condo Listings Currenly Under Contract
• Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) Currently Under Contract

Lakeshore Realty PUD Under Contract

300 Glen Way – “The Reserve”

Sold

• Single Family Homes Sold in 2010
• Condos Sold in 2010
• Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) Sold in 2010

Snap Shot of Current Market Listings – Incline Village & Crystal Bay, NV

Incline Village & Crystal Bay, Nevada, Lake Tahoe

Real Estate Market Activity for January 29^th, 2010

New listings links:      Single Family Homes — Condos

Under Contract (Escrow) links: Residential Listings Under Contract — Condos Under Contract — PUDs Under Contract

Sold Links: Listings Sold in January 2010

Price Changes in the past week : Residential Price Changes —-  Condo Price Changes

Snap shot of current market- Incline Village & Crystal Bay, Nevada, Lake Tahoe

Incline Village  has a low inventory but… what is available offers impressive investment opportunities for buyers. Incline Village is one resort village which has the staying power with a life style and amenities no other lake front community can offer.
Following is the latest statistical information on Incline Village, Nevada including active listings, properties under contract and solds for this year.
Links will take you to additional information and views of sample properties.
Please contact us, Chris and Patti Plastiras,  for any additional information or to sign up (no obligation) for updates on properties that interest you.

Incline Village, Crystal Bay

 Condominiums:

Comments: Highest number of listings ‘for sale’ are found in the McCloud Complex w/14   link to McCloud listings
 Sample of  Bitterbrush  litings 12 on market     
           ”            Mountain Shadows  8 on market
Lakefront complexes = 10 units on the market,  link  to all  lakefront listings
Sold: Crystal Baycove lakefront, Listed @t $1,998,000 Sold @ $1,850,000

Homes:

 Sold Homes Incline Village  as Jan. 18, 2010    Average days on the market  to sell = 202

                    Average List    Median List         Lowest List         Highest List

Asking       1,850,000         1,049,000             599,000        4,200,000

Sold            1,567,000        951,500                 615,000          3,750,000

Average price differential between asking and selling 79.79 %

Planned Units Developments/ Pud’s(Freestanding town homes)

Link to review the 8 pud’s under contract  for Incline Village

Link to  the one sold Pud

Planned Unit Developments are freestanding town homes with home owner associations.

Out of the 44 listings 18  have reduced their  price since listing

Links give samples of  Pud’s in various complexes:  Incline Creek Estates=5,    Tyrolian Village= 9,     Country Club Villas= 5

Link to review the 8 pud’s under contract  for Incline Village

Mobil  Media and its impact on real Estate:

Lakeshore Realty takes full advantage of  Mobil Media to help buyer’s and seller’s.

Aa sign on a property is considered a small but effective step to advertise a property, brochures which give details, the most critical, price helps buyers determine if theywant to see the property.

What’s the next step? Having this property and all other’s in the neighborhood available to buyer’s through their phones.   Adding a simple application such as Zillow, Trulia and Smarter Agent to name a few, buyer’s can pull up other listings in the neighborhood and get all the data they need to make the decision to call for more information and a showing  or gathering more information about the area.  

Statistics:

The number of consumers using mobil technology is growing daily: 276.5 call phone subscribers   in the United States (80%) of the population.

20% of households do not have landlines phones

20% growth  is predicted for  mobile broadband predicted from 2008 by 2010

24/7 information available to consumers

Tracking leads and capturing inquiries is easy for consumers and for agents to react immediately

Consumers prefer mobil contact- texting is very popular and many clients utilize this media to communicate followed up by the  Internet.

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.

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!