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This Months Articles: 96 Third Creek - Great location on the gated side of the complex. End unit, 3BR, 3BA, 1,787 sq. ft., 1 car attached garage. Private setting buffered by trees, fence and open space. $679,000 Season of Change for Incline Agents During the past three years we have seen some of the Incline Village real estate offices move to new locations in an effort to seek either more prominent commercial space or to reduce costs. Recently, Intero relocated from their office at 570 Lakeshore Blvd. to cozier quarters at 937 Tahoe Blvd. With so much business being conducted on the Internet and agents able to work efficiently from a home office it's no longer necessary for a successful real estate company to maintain a large brick and mortar presence. As the year comes to an end agents and brokers will begin planning for 2012. The new year also brings the largest quarterly statement from our real estate board which includes charges for local, state and national association dues. This is the time when many agents contemplate whether to renew their membership, consider a change of brokers or possibly seek alternative sources of income. It is much easier for an agent in our market to switch brokerage firms between November and April than during the busy summer season. Due to the slower pace of activity, you can change brokers and rebrand yourself during the off-season with fewer disruptions to the flow of business. Whether changing firms is beneficial depends on a number of factors and the goals of each agent. But every year several agents will change offices or in some cases even get a broker's license and open their own office in the hopes of achieving better performance. The property management and vacation rental firms in town have generally remained fairly stable in the past few years. While market share ebbs and flows, no new major players have entered the game and all of the longtime firms are still standing. This industry has undergone a revolution during the past decade with the advent of online booking and the proliferation of websites such as VRBO.com. Both vacation renters and long term tenants have more choices than ever before and the rental agencies have ratcheted up their service several notches to meet customer demand. Employee turnover is the bane of every rental agency. Having an intimate knowledge of the property inventory and our local amenities is important to being successful in the rental business, especially in a mountain resort community. While there is always some turnover from time to time at the staff level, the ownership and management of the half dozen or so major rental firms has remained fairly constant. 916 Harold Drive - #48 Cedar Crest - Beautifully remodeled 3BR, 2BA cabin with 2 car garage. 1,536 sq. ft.. - $429,000 - Reduced $30,000 Refinance Now While Interest Rates Are Low The recent volatility in the stock market has led to a decline in the interest rate on the 10 year U.S. Treasury note as investors move money from equities into various types of highly liquid accounts. A staple of these highly liquid accounts (whether they are money market funds or some other instrument makes little difference) happens to be U.S. Treasury securities. Even with the downgrade of our federal government’s debt earlier this year, investors worldwide still consider U.S. Treasury securities to be extremely liquid, safe and therefore a great place to preserve capital. But with the United States government continuing to borrow one out of every three dollars that it spends each year, it is only a matter of time before lenders will become unwilling to accept the risk of U.S. Treasury securities at such low interest rates. The Federal Reserve can artificially keep the discount rate low, but only banks can go to the Fed window and borrow money directly, businesses and consumers cannot. Unless we get our national debt under control and the federal government moving in the direction of a balanced budget, the Chinese and others loaning our government money are going to start demanding higher interest rates. So what does all of this have to do with refinancing your house or condo in Incline Village and Crystal Bay? Since investors can now move vast sums of money around the globe with a few clicks of a mouse it is only natural that global macroeconomic factors will ultimately impact mortgage interest rates in America. As interest rates for U.S. Treasury securities start to climb sometime in the future it will have an impact driving up interest rates for all types of domestic loans. We have already seen a dramatic increase in the interest rates for bonds in Greece and Italy and just last week bond rates in Germany started to tick up. Mortgage rates have been kept artificially low during the past few years while the Federal Reserve has tried to prevent economic collapse on the domestic front. This has hurt anyone with certificates of deposits or other fixed income securities because they have seen a precipitous decline in their passive income stream. So, while homeowners and buyers have benefited from the artificially depressed interest rate levels, anyone depending on certificates of deposits or other types of fixed income instruments has taken a tremendous hit on their ability to spend and consume. As of the last week of November, interest rates at the major banks for a 30 year fixed-rate conforming loan are around 4.25% and interest rates for a 15 year fixed-rate conforming loan have been hovering in the range of 3.25%. The interest rate for any particular property and the costs associated with refinancing will depend on your credit rating and other factors that the lender deems will have an effect on your ability to repay. It's a number crunching exercise to determine whether or not refinancing will have a positive economic benefit for your personal situation. If you are planning on staying in your property five years or longer, you'll normally benefit from refinancing if the interest rate you get is at least one half percentage point lower than you are currently paying. If you plan to move within the next 2 to 5 years, refinancing may or may not have positive cash flow benefits depending on your current interest rate, monthly payment and any costs associated with the new loan. These costs could include appraisal, document fees, origination fee, points and other expenses charged by the lending institution. It is critical that all of these fees be calculated as part of your cash flow expenditures over the next 2 to 5 years when determining whether or not refinancing makes sense for you. Click Here to See All of My Listings and Virtual Tours Click Here to See the Lastest Incline Village Real Estate Weekly Sales Statistics INCLINE VILLAGE REAL ESTATE YEAR TO DATE SALES Houses Condos Free Standing Condos Total 2011 Sales 92 100 22 214 2010 Median Price 775,000 332,500 695,000 2011 Median Price 775,000 347,000 645,000 818 Jennifer St. - Lakeview home with 3BR, 2BA, 2 Car Attached Garage, 1,424 sq. ft. $649,000 460 Teresa - Lovely lakeview home in Crystal Bay. 4BR, 2.5 BA, 1,992 sq. ft., level entry to kitchen, living, dining, master suite, powder room and 2 decks. All 3 guest bedrooms downstairs for maximum privacy. $499,000 - Reduced 100K - Motivated Seller!! Real estate licensing standards need to be raised While there are many reasons for the collapse of the real estate market in Las Vegas, Reno and other parts of Nevada being far worse than the rest of the country, the extreme ease with which one can become a licensed real estate agent in Nevada is also part of the problem. Setting a low bar for entry into a business where people are spending large sums of money and the earning potential is huge can serve as an enticement for unqualified people to try and make a quick buck in real estate sales The educational requirements and level of knowledge needed to earn a real estate license and to renew that license in Nevada fall far short of the requirements for a cosmetology license. Now I know that having someone who knows what they are doing when they take care of your hair and nails is important. But shouldn't the person handling what is the first or second most expensive investment you'll ever make also have a high level of education in their field? The sad reality is that anyone with a junior high school reading level willing to spend about two weeks studying for the Nevada real estate licensing exam can easily pass the test. Continuing education requirements are minimal as evidenced by the requirements set forth by the Nevada Real Estate Division. A new licensee only needs to take 30 hours of continuing education classes during the first two years after earning their license. For subsequent renewals with the recent change in licensing renewal periods to four years, the continuing education requirement will increase to 48 hours. The unknown is whether agents will be required to take 24 hours in the first two years and 24 in the second or not. That’s just 1 hour a month. According to the rules set forth by the Nevada Real Estate Division, “Original Real estate licenses are valid for two years ending the last day of the month during which you obtained your license. Each renewal thereafter is for a 4-year period.” Since the cost to renew your license is only $360, such a low fee is hardly a barrier to anyone wishing to engage in real estate sales in the state of Nevada. The standards for obtaining a real estate license should be made uniform nationwide in an effort to protect buyers and sellers and to ensure a higher level of performance within the industry. The requirements to obtain a license to sell real estate should be at least as rigorous as the ones to practice in the securities business. And continuing education requirements should be stiffened dramatically to ensure that practitioners remain up-to-date with the latest information and competent in their ability to write contracts and complete transactions from start to finish. With approximately 80% of the real estate agents in our local market consummating between zero and two transactions per year, continuing education is essential to keeping on top of all of the changes with the contracts and disclosure forms. It's remarkable how often I see agents using documents that are many years out of date and unaware that the form they just gave to me was replaced several years ago. A good start would be to require that all new agents entering the business perform a one-year apprenticeship under the supervision of a broker or agent with more than 10 years experience. This would help to provide much more hands-on training and a higher level of education before a real estate agent goes out on their own. Every agent working in the real estate business should be a highly trained professional, especially since buyers and sellers are depending on our expertise as part of their decision-making process. Imagine having 50 different sets of rules and regulations for stockbrokers and you can see why real estate licensing needs to undergo a substantial change. The general public will be much better served when licensing requirements and continuing education standards are raised dramatically and made uniform nationwide. Click Here to See All of My Listings and Virtual Tours 2011 Newsletters January February April May June July August September 2010 Newsletters April June September October November 2009 Newsletters February April May July October December 2008 Newsletters May June July August September October December Copyright 2008 - 2011 - Don Kanare - All rights reserved. Inside Incline is entirely written and published each month by Don Kanare of RE/MAX Premier Properties for property owners and others who have an interest in Incline Village and Crystal Bay. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at 775-828-3380 or send an e-mail to: Don@InsideIncline.com |
| For Incline Village Real Estate Information or a Free Comparative Market Analysis of Your Property Contact Don Kanare Your Incline Village Real Estate Agent RE/MAX Premier Properties - 5250 Neil Road, Suite 100 - Reno, NV 89502 - (775) 828-3380 |