gary bolen: On Target with South Lake Tahoe, CA real estate trends: Where We Are Now - 05/15/11 11:42 AM

On target with South Lake Tahoe, CA 2011 home sales to date. (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / May 13, 2011 / Richard Bolen)
Here is the latest on South Lake Tahoe, CA real estate trends and conditions as of right now.
In summary, there were 3 more homes sold last year as of May 13 than this year.
There is a slight increase in the incidence of distressed properties sold of a little less than 3%.
There is a decline i in the 2011 median sold price compared to 2010, which is really great news for home buyers, of … (0 comments)

gary bolen: A Good Jobs Report: Good for South Lake Tahoe and all housing markets - 05/11/11 08:08 AM

With Jobs picking up steam, the South Lake Tahoe real estate market, and home values, will eventually follow. (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / May 8, 2011 / Richard Bolen)
We thought this news significant enough to let it get past its news cycle… and then review it again. The jobs report that came out last Friday was a good one, rather unexpected, and it's a continuum of reports like this that will eventually signify the return of home value growth, not only in South Lake Tahoe, but in all housing markets.
There were lots of different reports throughout the … (0 comments)

gary bolen: Interesting Interest Rates… Good for South Lake Tahoe Home Buyers - 05/10/11 04:49 PM

South Lake Tahoe has exceptionally affordable resort homes right now! (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / May 5, 2011 / Richard Bolen)
Yup, interest rates are now at their lowest level of the year, and this is again incredibly good news for South Lake Tahoe home buyers.
On a fixed 30-yr mortgage loan, today's interest rate is 4.71%.
The lowest it has been was near the first of November last year… when it was 4.15%… for a few hours! Since then, and this is what interest rates always do, the rate has varied.
Throughout the year, the monthly average mortgage … (1 comments)

gary bolen: Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog: Seminar Pt 1, Expired Listings- a Positive Surprise. - 05/04/11 07:42 AM
More Home Sales in South Lake Tahoe than Those that Don't. (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / May 2, 2011 / Richard Bolen)
For the first time in five years, there are more successful home sales in South Lake Tahoe than there are expired listings.
An expired listing is one that does not sell during it's listing term, and we've been tracking that data since 2006. It was the extraordinary incidence back then when the number of expired listings jumped over the number of sales by some 600% that was the actual catalyst for doing our first real estate seminar, back … (0 comments)

gary bolen: Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog: Our New Television Commercial - 05/03/11 07:40 AM
More than 115,000 folks have come to us for South Lake Tahoe real estate information. (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / April 30, 2011 / Richard Bolen)
Featuring the South Lake Tahoe home buyer, this is our new television commercial that will start running on our cable system this Tuesday. It will run for a month on key cable news and sports channels, among others.
We hope you enjoy.
Some of our other television commercials and videos:
FEb 11, 2011: Our Real Estate Seminar Television Commercial Dec 11, 2010: The Lake Tahoe Weather Dec 9, 2010: How to find and use … (1 comments)

gary bolen: Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog: Seminar Pt 1, The Odds of Selling A South Lake Tahoe House - 04/29/11 05:39 PM
The Good News is you can, but a South Lake Tahoe House must be priced right to sell. (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / April 27, 2011 / Richard Bolen)
yes, there are odds to consider when selling a South Lake Tahoe house. IWe're certainly not suggesting that selling a house is a game of chance, however, it is something over which every home seller does have complete control.
Every home seller faces a difficult decision, and we would too if we were selling our homes now; the key consideration is, of course, to get as much as possible. If we … (0 comments)

gary bolen: South Lake Tahoe, CA Real Estate Update by Neighborhood - 04/28/11 10:27 AM

The Top Five Home Selling South Lake Tahoe Neighborhoods (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / April 23, 2011 / Richard Bolen)
Here's 2011 South Lake Tahoe, CA housing demand by neighborhood.
All major South Lake Tahoe, CA neighborhoods are here; there are only a few sales not included. These are in a few areas and subdivisions with rare sales, of which there were only 9 sales in all four of them last year.
The charts below are the source of this information:
The five neighborhoods with the most number of houses are: (and these numbers are approximate)
1. Bijou 1 … (0 comments)

gary bolen: Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog: Seminar Pt 1, Is the Foreclosure Deluge Coming to South Lake Tahoe - 04/26/11 10:55 AM
It might, but there's no evidence of a foreclosure deluge in South Lake Tahoe… yet! (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / April 22, 2011 / Richard Bolen)
well, it's the truth, we're not seeing evidence of a meaningful increase in the number of bank owned homes and short sales to hit the South Lake Tahoe real estate market. We're not saying it won't happen, of course, but we've all been hearing about a deluge of foreclosures to hit the market… well, since 2009.
We're certainly not being cavalier; nearly one of every two South Lake Tahoe home buyers is buying a … (0 comments)

gary bolen: South Lake Tahoe Real Estate Listings Update: Round Hill, NV - 04/24/11 09:32 AM
Homes for Sale Activity: Round Hill, Stateline, NV area of South Lake Tahoe. (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / April 21, 2011 / Richard Bolen)
We’ve just updated all  Round Hill  (NV) neighborhood real estate homes for sale activity in the Stateline, NV area of South Lake Tahoe, including all 2010 sales, current escrow and all active listings. Please note “Round Hill  (NV)” found in our left sidebar.
Round Hill is another one of South Lake Tahoe's most charming neighborhoods, this one on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe.
Here, we're close to shopping, all South Lake Tahoe nighlife, entertainment and … (0 comments)

gary bolen: South Lake Tahoe Real Estate Listings Update: Skyland, NV - 04/24/11 09:31 AM

Homes for Sale Activity: Skyland neighborhood, Stateline, NV area of South Lake Tahoe. (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / April 20, 2011 / Richard Bolen)
We’ve just updated all  Skyland  (NV) neighborhood real estate homes for sale activity in the Stateline, NV area of South Lake Tahoe, including all 2010 sales, current escrow and all active listings. Please note “Skyland  (NV)” found in our left sidebar.
From the sky high into Skyland, you gotta love it. Here's one of our most desirable Nevada neighborhoods. Affordable homes to stately lake front estates, and it's all good. A private beach, hiking trails, … (0 comments)

gary bolen: South Lake Tahoe Business Spotlight: Doc’s Handyman Tahoe - 04/24/11 09:30 AM

Time for Some Spring Repairs at Lake Tahoe (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / April 21, 2011 / Richard Bolen)
It's that time again……….winter is beginning its long good-bye, and Lake Tahoe locals are looking at their houses………and saying hmmmmm……something needs to be done. We're here to tell you that Doc's Contractor + Handyman is on the job!
Maybe the house needs a new coat of paint on the exterior surfaces; maybe some concrete work needs repair; maybe the deck could use some refurbishing (staining or painting or some re-fitting); maybe the fence could use some help after being buried … (0 comments)

gary bolen: South Lake Tahoe Real Estate Listings Update: Summit / Tahoe Village, NV - 04/23/11 05:22 AM
Current Real Estate Activity: Summit / Tahoe Village Condominiums, Stateline, NV area of South Lake Tahoe. (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / April 20, 2011 / Richard Bolen)
We have just updated all  Summit / Tahoe Village  (NV) townhomes and condominium real estate activity in the Stateline, NV area of South Lake Tahoe, including all 2011 sales, current escrow and all active listings. Please note “Summit / Tahoe Village  (NV)” found in our left sidebar.
Perched at the top of the Nevada side of Heavenly Mountain. Summit and Tahoe Village are our two most desirable townhome condominium ski- communities. Both Stagecoach … (0 comments)

gary bolen: Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog: Seminar Pt 1, A Short Sale Primer - 04/21/11 07:46 AM
The South Lake Tahoe Short Sale, much better than it use to be! (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / April 20, 2011 / Richard Bolen)
we use to not do short sales, but now we do. 'There are two key reasons why, the first being that some time around the turn of 2009 into 2010 banks finally became aware that they make more money selling short than they do foreclosing. Honestly, we don't know what took them so long, but this change in attitude caused the short-sale process to generally improve somewhat throughout all of 2010.
The other reason why we … (0 comments)

gary bolen: South Lake Tahoe Real Estate Listings Update: Zephyr Heights, NV - 04/21/11 06:39 AM
Homes for Sale Activity: Zephyr Heights, Stateline, NV area of South Lake Tahoe. (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / April 19, 2011 / Richard Bolen)
We’ve just updated all  Zephyr Heights (NV) neighborhood real estate activity in the Stateline, NV area of South Lake Tahoe, including all 2011 sales, current escrow and all active listings. Please note “Zephyr Heights  (NV)” found in our left sidebar.
Located atop the mountains overlooking Lake Tahoe, Zephyr Heights is a hilltop, alpine Sierra neighgorhood featuring affordable homes up to stunning lakeview estates.
One of the streets is Inspiration Dr, and apt name for a terrific … (0 comments)

gary bolen: Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog: Seminar Pt 1, Distressed Sales Compared to Non Distressed Sales - 04/19/11 07:46 PM
Value of South Lake Tahoe Distressed Properties is different than non distressed home values. (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / April 17, 2011 / Richard Bolen)
It's like there are two different South Lake Tahoe, CA real estate markets. One inside of the other! That's not really the case, of course, but the value of distressed properties, and the characteristics of a distressed property are certainly different than those of a non distressed home.
One thing for sure with a distressed property, it's more apt to be found in the market entry segment of South Lake Tahoe homes for sale, and … (0 comments)

gary bolen: The Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog is taking a Photography Class - 04/17/11 08:00 AM
We can already take a good South Lake Tahoe picture, but now we want to know how… and why! (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / April 13, 2011 / Richard Bolen)

We shot the image at left a few days ago. It's me at the Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog workstation. It's not a good photograph for numerous reasons, and the class we're taking in digital photography at Lake Tahoe Community College will teach us all of the reasons why.
The first thing we see that's wrong ins the flash bounce back off of the window behind me. The florescent … (0 comments)

gary bolen: South Lake Tahoe Business Spotlight: Powder House - 04/15/11 07:38 AM


It's Still Ski Season In South Lake Tahoe! (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / April 12, 2011 / Richard Bolen)
Although the calendar tells us it's spring, here in South Lake Tahoe, we know that the best way to decide the season is to, well, look out the window and then step outside!  By looking at Gunbarrel (the ski run most easily spotted from many places in town),  we can see that there's still plenty of snow (and often plenty of sunshine). And when we need to get equipment for ourselves or our friends, one of the best places … (0 comments)

gary bolen: Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog: Seminar Pt 1, Effect of Distressed Properties on Home Values - 04/14/11 07:59 AM
Distressed properties pull median sold price down on both sides of our state line. (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / April 12, 2011 / Richard Bolen)
The one thing we look at most intently to track South Lake Tahoe home values is the median sold price. This is a more accurate number to follow trends and changes in value than the average sold price, which is more heavily skewed by high and low sales than the median.
We have been tracking the South Lake Tahoe median sold price in exactly the same manner since Q1 2002. Here is our first printed … (0 comments)

gary bolen: South Lake Tahoe Business Spotlight: Lake Tahoe Duck Tours - 04/13/11 06:04 AM

Duck Tours for Those of Us Without Feathers – A New Way to Sightsee On the Lake!
(Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / April 12, 2011 / Richard Bolen)
And now for something completely different………when we heard "The Ducks have landed at Lake Tahoe", we thought, well, yeah, there are ducks here. Plenty of geese, too.  Turns out, though, that we were thinking of the feathered variety, which are not the ones we'll be talking about here! 
A new and truly unique business has opened in South LakeTahoe, Tahoe Duck Tours. They offer land and lake rides,and guess what, … (0 comments)

gary bolen: Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog: Seminar Pt 1, Distressed Property Demand on Both Sides of our State Line - 04/12/11 10:47 AM
Distressed properties, a little less than half of South Lake Tahoe, CA home sales. (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / April 11, 2011 / Richard Bolen)
About one in two South Lake Tahoe, CA home sales is a distressed property, either a bank owned foreclosure (REO) or a short sale.
The incidence of South Lake Tahoe, CA distressed property sales has been rather consistent since Q1 2010. There is only a 1% difference in the volume of foreclosure and short sales from all of 2010 compared to Q1 this year.
The video sequence here is from our recent real estate seminar … (0 comments)