It was last September when we first had the idea that producing a seminar might be another opportunity to be helpful to our South Lake Tahoe real estate market. We were crunching numbers and what triggered the idea was a rather astounding increase in the number of expired listings in the first eight months of 2006 as compared to any year prior. It was about a 485% increase from 2005 to 2006 at that time. The year ended with an even larger increase in expireds than that: a whopping 622 in 2006 compared to 73 in 2005. Another way of looking at this was about 150% more people did not sell their house in 2006 than those who did.<!-- technorati tags start -->
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What occurred to us when we first looked at this emerging trend back in September was there very much seemed to be a disconnect in the South Lake Tahoe real estate market between what Sellers wanted and what Buyers were willing to give. When such a disconnect occurs, information is always the solution that bridges the gap. With such a significant discrepancy between sales success and failure, we surmised that one of two things had to exist: either people weren’t getting enough of the right information, or people were getting a lot of incomplete information about what is, or what is not going on in our real estate market.
For some five years we had been sending our annual Real Estate Market Update Newsletter to almost all South Lake Tahoe, CA and Stateline, NV homeowners. These newsletters are always full of complete market facts, with charts, graphs, trends and insights on the entire market, and details of each area neighborhood. The initial response to our first Real Estate Market Update Newsletter was encouraging, and a lot of people have called us to express their appreciation over the last few years.
Our goal has always to provide the most complete, best information possible. In fact, those that appreciate the work required and the detail involved are pretty much the people we like to attract, almost all of whom have subsequently become friends. With that as a background, we thought it might be appreciated if we took the concept of newsletter content and put it into seminar form. We thought it might be a more resonant format and that the public might appreciate immediate, fact based information that is a total realistic picture of the South Lake Tahoe real estate market.
We thought we would see if our assumptions might find an audience. We set a date and worked for two months to create our first real estate seminar. As the information and format began to take shape, some people thought we should charge admission for it. We thought not. This is your information about your market and you should get it freely, without condition. We put a few ads in the Tahoe Daily Tribune; they gave us a nice article which we really appreciated, but the truth is we had no idea if anybody would show up. It took almost a week between our first ad and the first call.
We had that Seminar on November 1, 2006. And almost 50 people showed up. We already knew about 10 of the attendees. The rest were people we had never met before, about a third of which are now new friends. What we learned is there is a real appetite for real information. It’s appreciated, which is of course gratifying for us, but far more important to us than that is it appears the information is helpful. That is our only goal.
We learned from the first one, set a date for a second seminar, and started refining what we learned into an even further in-depth look at market conditions. That took two months too. Our second seminar was two days ago, on Monday March 5. This time 34 people showed up, which we thought was terrific because it was originally scheduled a week earlier and got cancelled that morning by our last snow storm.
Like our first seminar, the attendees very much seemed to appreciate the information. One of the tag lines we use is we are providing “Fact Based Information.” It is without agenda, hearsay or wishful thinking. What you get in our seminar is all of the real estate information there is... and it is Rumor Free.
Usually the Seminar lasts for 2 and a half hours. If given on a weeknight, that includes a dinner break where we save the attendees all the pizza they can eat and a healthy, Italian salad. In addition to us, there may be additional presenters who will cover relevant topics such as the current mortgage loan climate, retirement financial planning or both.
Our next Seminar is scheduled for April 21, 2007 from 9:30 am to noon or shortly thereafter. This is on a Saturday morning and will be held in the main room at the South Lake Tahoe Senior Center at 3050 Lake Tahoe Blvd. (across street from The Tahoe Daily Tribune). Refreshments will be included, but not a full meal. RSVP at 800-923-9022.
With far more information to pass along, our presentation takes about half of the allotted time. We give you your market information in an animated PowerPoint presentation, featuring most all of the statistical information on graphical charts. I lead and narrate each slide. There is no sales pitch whatsoever. The information is in four sections: (1) Overall South Lake Tahoe Market Conditions (both sides of the state line) - about 45 slides; (2) Agency - about 15 slides; (3) About Buyers - about 15 slides, and (4) a thorough examination of value determination and price strategy - about 25 slides.
Here’s a bullet point preview of what we just covered in our seminar two days ago. It is of the Market Conditions Section only. All other sections are as complete and informative.
Section One: Market Conditions
1. Introduction.
2. A real estate problem for attendees to solve.
3. Our Purpose.
4. Where to get all National Real Estate Statistics.
5. Our real estate blog is an information resource.
6. Market Reality.
7. Two Forces that Characterize a Real Estate Market.
8. Every Real Estate Market is Cyclical.
9. The Lake Tahoe Real Estate Cycle since 1970.
10. Sources CA & NV Real Estate Market Statistics.
11. South Lake Tahoe, CA Total Number Single Family Home Sales by Year.
12. Stateline, NV Total Number Single Family Home Sales by Year.
13. South Lake Tahoe, CA Median Sold Prices by Year.
14. South Lake Tahoe, CA Percent Median Sold Price Increases by Year.
15. Stateline, NV Median Sold Prices by Year.
16. Stateline, NV Median Sold Prices by Year - excluding Lake Fronts and Glenbrook.
17. Stateline, NV Percent Median Sold Price Increases by Year.
18. South Lake Tahoe, CA Median Sold Prices - Last 375, 180, 90 and 30 Days.
19. Same (excluding The Tahoe Keys).
20. South Lake Tahoe, Ca Reduction difference in dollars between Avg. List and Median Sold Price - Last 365, 180, 90 and 30 Days.
21. South Lake Tahoe, Ca Reduction difference by percent between Avg. List and Median Sold Price - Last 365, 180, 90 and 30 Days.
22. Stateline, NV Median Sold Prices - Last 365, 180, 90 and 30 Days.
23. Stateline, NV Median Sold Prices Excluding Lake Fronts and Glenbrook - Last 365, 180, 90 and 30 days.
24. Stateline, NV Percent Difference Average List vs. Median Sold Price - Excluding Lake Fronts and Glenbrook - Last 365, 180, 90 and 30 Days.
25. The Percent Reduction from List Price to Sold Price in South Lake Tahoe, CA and Stateline, NV.
26. South Lake Tahoe,CA Difference List Price of what has Sold and what has Not - Last 365, 180, 90 and 30 days - in Dollar amounts and percentages.
27. South Lake Tahoe,CA Difference in Time on Market of what has Sold and what has Not - Last 365, 180, 90 and 30 days - in Dollar amounts and percentages.
28. South Lake Tahoe,CA Difference in Median Sold and Current Price of what has Sold and what has Not - Last 365, 180, 90 and 30 days - in Dollar amounts and percentages.
29. Stateline, NV Difference between Average List Price and Sold Price of what has Sold and what has Not - Last 365, 180, 90 and 30 days - in Dollar amounts and percentages.
30. Stateline, NV Difference in Time on Market of what has Sold and what has Not - Last 365, 180, 90 and 30 days - in Dollar amounts and percentages.
31. Stateline, NV Difference between Median Sold and Current Price of what has Sold and what has Not - Last 365, 180, 90 and 30 days - in Dollar amounts and percentages.
32. A recent Sales Success Story (taken from market at random).
33. Stateline, NV Luxury Market comparison 2005 vs. 2006.
34. South Lake Tahoe, CA and Stateline, NV Current Inventory compared to Number Sales - Last 365 Days - with total numbers and percentages.
35. South Lake Tahoe, CA and Stateline, NV Difference Current Inventory vs. Current Escrow - Last 365 Days - with total numbers and percentages.
36. Discussion Escrow Failure.
37. South Lake Tahoe, CA and Stateline, NV Difference Expired Listings - Last 365 Days compared to 2005 - with total numbers and percentages.
38. South Lake Tahoe, CA Single Family Home Sales Overall Market Performance - Last 365, 180, 90 and 30 Days - with Total Homes on Market, Total Homes Sold, Monthly Absorption Rate, Current Inventory, Time to deplete Inventory in Months and Percent Odds of a Home Selling.
39. Stateline, NV Single Family Home Sales Overall Market Performance - Last 365, 180, 90 and 30 Days - with Total Homes on Market, Total Homes Sold, Monthly Absorption Rate, Current Inventory, Time to deplete Inventory in Months and Percent Odds of a Home Selling.
40. Carson City, NV Single Family Home Sales Overall Market Performance - Last 365, 180, 90 and 30 Days - with Total Homes on Market, Total Homes Sold, Monthly Absorption Rate, Current Inventory, Time to deplete Inventory in Months and Percent Odds of a Home Selling.
41. Minden, Gardnerville, Lake Topaz, NV Single Family Home Sales Overall Market Performance - Last 365, 180, 90 and 30 Days - with Total Homes on Market, Total Homes Sold, Monthly Absorption Rate, Current Inventory, Time to deplete Inventory in Months and Percent Odds of a Home Selling.
42. Summary Review.
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