Tracy's Blog

Credit Check your Landlord!

Tracy Saunders (Distinctive Homes Sotheby's International Realty) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:00:52 -0500

I read with sadness this morning an article on CNN.com that talked about a tenant who got evicted during a foreclosure process even though she had paid her landlord the rent on time. I felt horrible for this mother who not only was responsible but who lost her deposit and her dream.

Then I got angry ... why did the rental company she used not do a credit check on the owner of the home?

I have put together a few tips for prospective renters.

If you are renting through a rental company (they are getting paid a commission) make sure you demand that they check the credit of the landlord. There may be a small charge for this - but this sad story shows that it's worth it.

Next, see if you can pay directly to the mortgage company - at least you will know the some of the mortgage is being paid.

Get a notarized letter from the owner of the home authorizing you to have contact with the Mortgage holder to make sure payments are being made.

Always pay with a check never cash! A check is trackable and will provide you with a history of positive payment.

Do a google alerton the address of the property you are renting. You will find pre-foreclosure notices usually published will come up.

Unfortunately there is no fool proof way to insure that your landlord pays their mortgage but you can be proactive and try to lessen the risk.

Hope this helps and Happy Renting!

Lake Tahoe Kids Kamp for Spring Break...Preschool Age

Tracy Saunders (Distinctive Homes Sotheby's International Realty) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 22:35:35 -0500

Looking for some fun events for your preschool age kids to do in Lake Tahoe over spring break than check out Kids Kamp...

April 13^th 14^th and 16^th

Registration Monday April 6^th

775.832.6802

Fun adventure in a safe educational environment for pre-school children!

Kids' Kamp is offered by Tahoe Timber's Preschool for children in early childhood programs in order to promote and support healthy and safe educational alternatives in our community. Kid's' Kamp directly impacts families in North Tahoe communities by

broadening choices for children's activities and learning experiences throughout the year.

Created and developed by Sabrina Albrecht, a certified teacher with 15 years experience, Kids' Kamp acts as enrichment programs for children. Camp programs utilize outdoor adventures and the practice of yoga to create salient learning experiences. Children will be excited to explore various content areas during each session and nurture friendships with children and adults in a playful environment.

The opportunity to offer healthy activities to children in the North Lake Tahoe community is Tahoe Timber's Preschool....Kids' Kamp! "Our 2009 year is proving to be beneficial and fun for children and a huge success in our community," Albrecht states.

Weekly Update for Incline Village 1/31/09-2/6/09

Tracy Saunders (Distinctive Homes Sotheby's International Realty) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 18:12:49 -0600

Only only closing this week to report here in Incline Village and that was in the Single Family marekt. 1005 Apollo Way originally listed at $2,499,000 closed for $1,900,000. This is a 5 bedroom/4 bath/2 car garage beautiful Lakeview Home. I am sure the new buyers will enjoy thier bargin.

I have seen a pickup in number of showings and have been extremely busy myself showing propery - working 10-12 hour days and loving every minute of it.

Check back next Friday for my weekly Incline Update.

I'm Packing It In!

Tracy Saunders (Distinctive Homes Sotheby's International Realty) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 16:18:45 -0600

Winter weather has arrived her in Lake Tahoe and as the post office says..."neither rain, nor snow or sleet or Hail shall keep us from our appointed rounds" Those us in the Real Estate industry that means preparing for showings where the driveway is not plowed, the roads may be closed and your clients are dressed in street shoes. So as I have said...I am packing it up! I am preparing my Winter Showing Kit that will sit in the trunk of my car all winter. Here is my Packing List...

•· Shovel

•· Gloves

•· Snow Shoes

•· Emergency Kit with Flares

•· Flashlight (year-round)

•· Tape Measure (year-round)

•· Hand Warmers

•· Snacks

•· Water

•· Extra Windshield Fluid

•· Blanket or Sleeping Bag

•· Umbrella (Keeps the Snow off your clients)

This week I had to show clients around with two feet of snow on the ground and more still falling we were walking through knee deep snow as the agent neglected to tell me that they had not plowed the driveway in weeks and I just whipped out my snowshoes and plodded up the driveway like a pro - my clients were so impressed. Of course your car should be in top condition with Snow Tires and a full tank of gas - did you know a gallon of gas weighs around 8 pounds !

What's in your winter kit?

I found the Silver Lining!

Tracy Saunders (Distinctive Homes Sotheby's International Realty) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:45:28 -0600

People keep asking me how I am doing so well in this crappy market...I tell them I found the Silver Lining! In every crisis there is opportunity, in this my case it is the ability to get teachers out of the rental market and into home ownership.

Incline Village is known for high property values - even in this declining market Incline has been a bright spot. It is a wonderful community with two private beaches, boat launch, great parks, a recreation center and tennis complex with an indoor pool, two golf courses - one a championship course with fantastic Lake Views and challenging terrain and a wonderful ski resort called Diamond Peak. Due to the high cost of housing many of our teachers have had to rent, live with roommates or commute up from Reno a 45 minute drive up a Mountain Pass - not fun in a snowstorm or when the price of gas is $4.00 or more.

We have had a few Foreclosures here in Incline in recent months - and although I feel for the folks who have lost their home I also feel great pride in getting these teachers into a place of their own - that will grow in equity, as they are buying at incredibly discounted prices. I do an extensive counseling session with all of my first time homebuyers, we discuss finance, rent versus own (I do, after this session , guide some of my future clients to rent as with their financial situation owning would not be their best option).

I discuss the dangers of home equity loans - I want them to be prepared when their home does increase in value - and the advantages of home equity loans. We discuss where money should be spent on renovations and where they should not spend and why. I show them websites to go to get educated on the buying process. I give great service, both before and after the sale - hey these folks will be teaching my kids.

When I hand those keys over to a teacher my heart swells with Joy for dreams can come true and I know when they live in the community where they work they are more committed to our students and their future. This same opportunity goes for Police, Fire and Public Servants in all sectors of the market. Where is your Silver Lining?

The Secret...Beach!

Tracy Saunders (Distinctive Homes Sotheby's International Realty) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 01:48:25 -0600

Ingenuity is what happens when you combine kids, imagination and nature. In this computer driven world it is nice to take time out with the family and enjoy the simple things. This Thanksgiving I took time out from selling the amazing place I live - Lake Tahoe - to enjoy why I love living here, the outdoor adventures that can be found any time of the year. We gathered up a few friends and their families and hiked through the forest down to Secret Beach on the shores of Lake Tahoe. It is a pristine place with lots of boulders to climb, rocks to skip and beach to stroll.

It's a place that brings out the kid in all of us. Imagine taking a plank of driftwood, a rock, and a sandy beach what would you have? At Secret Beach you would have a seesaw the old fashioned kind, or perhaps a great plank for taking your family photo (that is if you have a friend with a camera). Fido is more than welcome - just remember to clean up behind both the dog and the kids. We brought a picnic; a football and a little bubbly to celebrate the unseasonably warm weather, and to give thanks that we get to live in this incredible place called Tahoe.

Want to try Secret Beach ... From Incline Village head out towards Spooner summit on Hwy 28. Go past Sand Harbor and past the Thunderbird Lodge about a mile. You will see a trailhead parking area on your right (it is closed with a gate for the season we parked along the road. Head down through the gate to your left if you are facing the water. You will see trail signs; we cut down at the second trail sign to the beach. The hike down should take about 20 minutes.

I am now an Official Active Rain Secret Agent

Tracy Saunders (Distinctive Homes Sotheby's International Realty) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:49:23 -0600

I am now an Active Rain "Secret Agent"

No, I am not here to spy on others - we have plenty of plagiarism patrols on duty it seems these days in the Rain...No I am not here to block spammer in the Rain...they seem to do a pretty good job of that without me.

I am a true Secret Agent. My job is to disseminate those tiny tidbits of information that only "locals" seem to know about. You know that killer ski run or incredible restaurant, the amazing hike that is hard to find or the best place to get free Wi-Fi hookups. This Secret Agent is on the job 24/7 making sure "my people" are in the know!

Want to be one of "my people" just subscribe to my blog, follow me on twitter or Facebook. Have a great secret you don't mind sharing with everyone? Let me know and you can be a Agent in training! This week's Secret Agent Scoop...Secret Beach (no really that is the name of this sweet spot). Check out the blog!

BOO HOOO0000 I need some Candy!

Tracy Saunders (Distinctive Homes Sotheby's International Realty) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:18:56 -0500

When you are 8 years you are the "coolest" kid based on how much candy you rake in on Halloween night! I am going to let you in on a little Incline Village Secret...Shhhh...don't tell anyone....MILLCREEK. What's that mean? Millcreek is a neighborhood here in Incline Village long known as the best area for families - and families mean lots of kids - and lots of kids means lots of candy! If you want to be the coolest kid and rake in the most candy - then Millcreek is the place for you. Parental note:...what makes Millcreek so great for trick or treating is that it is mostly flat and it is easy to track back to the car if so needed.

How to get there...To get to Millcreek drop down onto Lakeshore Blvd. If you are coming from the West go past the Hyatt make a left on Selby. Park the car and start your trick or treat experience at the corner of Selby and Tiller.

Watch out for ghosts and goblins, haunted houses and of couse great candy. Walk down Tiller Drive stopping of course at all the houses...then take a left turn on Pine Cone Road head up Pine Cone and make a left on Millcreek. If you are tired at the end of Millcreek take a left back on to Selby and head back to the car...if your pillowcase is not full with candy than continue on at the end of Millcreek and make a right on Oxen. Head down oxen and it will loop up to Flume. Take a left on Flume and continue to the corner take a right on Pelton and that will turn into Sawmill Road. Click on this link to see the map.

Taxing Treasure Hunt...

Tracy Saunders (Distinctive Homes Sotheby's International Realty) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:12:47 -0500

I had a client ask me today what the tax rate was for Washoe County Nevada - specifically Incline Village. When folks ask simple questions I like to be able to give simple answers - as figuring out our property tax rate here in Incline Village is a two step process I told them I would send them an email with that information (this is my way of saying ...I need to go back to the office and hunt down this formula and then send it to you).

The Treasure Hunt Begins...I went back to my office and typed in on google Washoe County Property Tax Formula...up came the Washoe County Assessors Site. Unfortunately as you can see from the link it was a "fluffy" description not a formula.

NEXT...I called two of my more experienced real estate friends who work for two different companies - hey I figure they must have this figure at the tip of thier fingers - they both said "it is a complicated formula I have it written down somewhere".

The Treasure Hunt Continues...I search some more - find a few blog posts that have nothing to do with the Washoe County Property Tax rate calculations but are more of a rant about the unfairness of the way the amount is calculated HEY THERE ...why don't you put that formula in your rant for those of us who can't find it where it should be on the Assessors website...

JACKPOT! ...I finally found this intelligent, simple article on NV Energy's website (please link to the article as it has so much information).

Here it is...

Property Tax Rate

In Washoe County, the 2007-08 average county wide tax rate is 3.5607.

Calculating Real Property Taxes

The formula for calculating real property tax is as follows:

Taxable Value x .35 = Assessed Value
Assessed Value x Tax Rate = Total Real Property Tax

Please click on the NV Energy website for a more detailed description but Voila! I have found the answer...I know the next question is going to be "What is Taxable Value?".

Thank you to the client who asked the question...it is always enjoyable to research questions my clients pose. Usually the answer is at my fingertips but when it is not A Hunting I Will Go!

I am going to be hurting tomorrow...want to join me!

Tracy Saunders (Distinctive Homes Sotheby's International Realty) — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 21:51:19 -0500

I am giddy with anticipation - tomorrow at 9:00am I will stride into the Incline Village Recreation Center and join my fellow community members as we punish our bodies in anticipation of the upcoming ski season. Tomorrow starts the now famous Winter Conditioning Class. I know I will wake up Tuesday morning sore..sore..sore but I also know that when opening day at Diamond Peak rolls around this old body will be ready.

If you ever saw the movie GI Jane - this class is it! 10 circuts of 2-3 minutes each - run don't walk between each circut. You will challenge your body and your brain. My brain still seems to think I can look like Demi Moore in that movie - but hey I can dream can't I? You will work on all parts of your body from balance and flexibilty to core strength and aerobic exercise. You will find you are not as winded on your first day of skiing or boarding, you will discover muscles you didn't know existed, you will wake up sore in the morning and SMILE

Some details...

Monday, Wednesday and Sundays October 13-December 17, 2009
9:00 - 10:00am
New this year children 9 and older can participate in the Sunday class but parents must fill out a waiver
Free to Incline Village Recreation Center Members
Resident $11.00/Non Resident $15.00 and Students 9-17 Sundays $4.00 per session
$150.00 Resident rate for unlimited class particiaption/non resident adult $225.00 unlimited
Senior Citizen Resident $125.00/non resident senior citizen $175.00 unlimited.

Set that Alarm Clock ...and join me tomorrow morning at the Rec Center - I'll be the one trying to hide in the back row.

aMAZEing!

Tracy Saunders (Distinctive Homes Sotheby's International Realty) — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 01:20:45 -0500

Looking to find that real down home pumpkin patch close to look no further than the Corley Ranchin Gardnerville Nevada. Start yourday in the Corn Maze- answer some basic questions about Nevada and manage to find your way back out and you are rewarded with a prize - no cheating leave the iphone at home. Being the city slicker that I was - I had to ask how they make the corn maze - I thought they grew a big field and then chopped down the corn - nope...they plan the whole thing out BEFORE they even plant the corn!

Pig racing - now I never saw that growing up in NYC - through the eyes of a 5 year old it was magical. In true Nevada tradition you can pan for gold or have the little ones burn up some energy in the bounce house. Feed the goats and animals in the petting zoo or pay a little extra and take a pony ride around the property, or a train ride.

I almost forgot...don't forget to traipse through the patch and pick out your pumpkin. A little hint - try to get a pumpkin with the stem attached...they last longer!

We spent about 4 hours at the Ranch (my kids are 5 and 7) - you can bring your own picnic lunch or buy food there. Admission is $6.00 for adults, $5.00 for kids 7-17 and $3.00 for seniors and kids 3-6. Click on the link above and get a discount coupon on the Corley Ranch home page.

Happy Halloween!

What's on your bookshelf?

Tracy Saunders (Distinctive Homes Sotheby's International Realty) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:19:52 -0500

I had an interesting experience this weekend. I was driving a same sex couple around to look at high end homes this weekend. We got to the first house and it was a possibility, we entered the bedroom where there was this beautiful built in bookshelf - so of course we wandered over and perused the shelves - filled it turned out with Ann Coulter books. Next was the photograph of George Bush shaking hands with the owner of the home thanking them for their donation. My clients laughed and we looked around the rest of the home but I could tell their mood had changed with regards to this property.

Off we went to our 4^th and last home of the day whereupon we discovered a stagers nightmare - faux painting on every surface of the home and I really mean every surface (that is a blog for another time). We headed over to the faux painted wet bar in the living room and there it was...the book on creationism.

My clients actually called me over to look at it and when we left the home and were back in the car we had a good laugh over the house and discussed why people who are trying to sell a home would not neutralize their photographs and bookshelves (and for that matter why their Realtor had not had a discussion on the whole faux painting thing).

The point of this blog is that my couple could not feel at home in that house from that moment forward. They would always be thinking about those books or photographs.

To my client's credit - they took it all in good humor and we have narrowed down the search to two homes. To avoid all the comments I know this post may generate...the photograph could have been of Bill Clinton and I could have been showing die hard Republicans around. My point is, that if you really want to sell your house in this competitive market why risk offending a potential buyer when it takes just a few minutes to cull your shelves.

Mike Mueller Made Me...write this blog!

Tracy Saunders (Distinctive Homes Sotheby's International Realty) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:03:38 -0500

Greeting s from REBarCamp 2008. I met Mike(I like to think of him as my camp counselor) today at our beginning blogging session that he moderated. Silly me I verbalized that my goal for this conference was to post at least one blog while I was here - sillier Mike said "just make sure you mention my name" - so Mike this blogs for you.

Why you say would someone with only one blog under her belt spend all that money to attend REBarcamp?...let's see... because it was FREE! Not only that but they threw in a wonderful tee shirt, an amazing lunch from Mission Bay Foods- the chicken salad with bacon was too die for!) and with 7 breakout sessions lead by the best bloggers in the Real Estate Industry I couldn't have spent that zero cents more wisely - and look I am blogging already :)

I may never get to sleep again with all of the new social networking sites that I need to visit. To name a few I have Welcome Mat, Linked In, Twitter, Active Rain (well as you are reading this on that I can cross it off the list, Face Book - do they even allow those of us over the age of 45 on and, Flicker -it's not just a photo gallery but a community of folks interested in photography- just to name a few.

I have to admit this but I had never heard of Twitter before today and now I feel as if I had better not go to sleep tonight without registering for an account! Speaking of which, I am still trying to figure out when these folks sleep...it is midnight and here I sit in my wonderful hotel The Mosser (I will YELPabout that in another post...and will write one about YELPing once I figure out what it is) and it is already an hour past my bedtime - oh no I think I may have caught some blogging bug today.

Now Tracy you say, what is the point of this blog - if there is one? The point is that I learned that there is so much information out there that could assist me in better servicing my clients - things like ZIPVOa website where realtors for free can post video tours of their properties, ReelSeekr.com an alternative to Realtor.comwhere folks who view my listings can communicate with me and I can have more control over my content. I guess if I had to say there was one point to this post it would be that you should attend REBarCamp 2009 when it rolls around - especially if you have been on active rain for a year and only have one post under your name!

You must be nuts becoming a real estate agent in this market!

Tracy Saunders (Distinctive Homes Sotheby's International Realty) — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 18:51:29 -0500

Every time I hear this comment I wonder if the person (usually a real estate agent) thought I was just stupid or thought the comment would be motivating. I have been a professional sales person for a little over 20 years now and if there is one thing I have learned it is that the ONLY way to be successful in a sales environment is to work smart, do what you say you are going to do, prepare a game plan (some call it a business plan) and stick to it.

I didn't come into this business thinking I would just print up some cards and people would come flooding to me asking me to list their homes or help them find a home. I came in because I have been investing in real estate for personal gain for years and am passionate about the real estate industry. I came into this industry because I have always been successful at sales because I do my homework, know my market and consider my clients friends - I expect even after we are done doing business our relationship will endure.

So to those of you who keep asking if I am nuts or ask "how are you doing in Real Estate?" I am doing great and I am in this business for the long haul. I have a lot to learn and hope I always will - I am also ahead of the game in so many ways and I am proud to call myself a professional real estate agent are you?

Side Note: As a new agent I have found the Active Rain community a wonderful source for advice and education. This is my first post and my first attempt at blogging. I know in my heart of hearts that blogging and technology is the key to my future and it is where I will be focusing the majority of my focus. So thank you to those who so willingly share so freely in this community. I look forward to becoming a valuable member of this community as well.