Current News Letter
May 2008

Don Kanare - Realtor
Your E-Pro Incline Village Real Estate Agent
Lakeshore Realty 954 Lakeshore Blvd. Incline Village, NV 89451
775-831-7000(P) / 775-831-6777 (Fax) www.InsideIncline.com

May 2008

2008 Sales Statistics as of 05/2/08     Houses    Condos    Free Standing    Total Units Sold

                 2008                                                    23               22               10                               55

                 2007                                                    43               31               14                               88

For Daily Updates on Incline Village Real Estate visit my web site at: www.InsideIncline.com

FEATURED PROPERTY:
859 GOLFER'S PASS ROAD

3BR + Family Room, 3.5 Bath, 2,827 sq. ft., beautifully landscaped low maintenance yard, high end kitchen with slab granite and gourmet appliances, wraparound driveway, new paint Offered for $1,395,000

Buyers Need to Be Both Patient and Decisive in 2008

Anyone looking to purchase property in Incline Village during the coming year will find that two seemingly opposite traits will be their best influences. Our local market is characterized by a finite supply and a steadily increasing long-term demand. The highest quality properties with the best floor plans, in the best locations, always generate the greatest amount of interest. Usually, these properties come on the MLS at or above fair market value.

But from time to time, there are sellers with personal reasons for pricing a property significantly under fair market value. Maybe a couple is getting divorced, or there has been a death in the family or someone has owned the place for a very long time and is happy to make a good profit not a killing. Every year, buyers who are patient and monitor the market will find a handful of new listings in each price range that are superb values.

Being patient and waiting for the rare gem to come on the market is only half the battle. Equally critical, is being decisive and taking that step of writing an offer with the price and terms that you think will be accepted. In our current market, many buyers are in a state of virtual paralysis. It is the buyers who are decisive who are getting the best properties at the best prices.

Every buyer has different needs and your patience will only be rewarded if you take decisive action when the property that is right for you is listed on the MLS. Don't lose out on a great deal because you were afraid to pull the trigger and someone else aced you out. We are in what I call a "Tiger's Market". Sit back and patiently watch for your prey, then when it comes within your reach, pounce on it!

Don't lose out on a great property because you didn't make an offer when the time was right. Be Decisive!

Don's Web Site Makeover is Finally Complete

After 6 months of planning and 2 months of transitional work, my web site is fully functional in Dreamweaver. This software program has allowed me to do a lot of things that were not possible in FrontPage and to provide the content in a more organized & meaningful way.

On the home page you will find the daily Incline Village real estate update with commentary on all the new listings, price changes closed escrows and new escrows. The Weekly Update page has the most current statistics along with a summary of the latest week's activity.

The Current Listings Page has brief descriptions of all my listings along with links to the Virtual Tour for each property. You can also search the entire MLS from my web site at any time. Whenever you need information on Incline Village real estate visit: www.InsideIncline.com

What Sellers Need to Know
Before Listing Their Property in 2008

This is the time of year when many Incline Village and Crystal Bay property owners start to think about whether or not to sell their property. With summer just a couple of months away, inventory levels are already starting to rise on the Incline Village MLS.

As of late April there are 412 properties for sale on our local MLS. This is the type of inventory level we would expect to see at the peak of the summer season, not this early in the year. As more property owners list their homes and condos for sale, the inventory could rise to between 500 and 550 properties this summer.

In all of 2007 we had only 288 transactions on the Incline Village MLS for homes, condos and freestanding condos. With sales in 2008 tracking at a slower rate than last year, it is reasonable to expect that we will have somewhere between 200 and 250 sales this year. This means, that at least one half of the properties that are on the market this year will not sell in 2008.

This is not the time to be testing the waters. Unless you absolutely, positively want to sell your property in 2008 it just does not make sense to add to the existing glut of inventory. And if you do want to sell this year, the only properties that are commanding a premium are quality Lakeview homes below 7000 feet in elevation and condos located in Lakefront communities. No one is paying a premium at this point in time for properties at low elevation unless they have some very unique attributes (e.g. oversized lot, four car garage, etc.)

The single best tactic that a seller can employ in 2008 is to spend a couple of hours with your listing agent and view the properties that will be your most direct competition. By doing this before you sign a listing agreement you will have a much better idea of pricing strategy and what type of staging and sales efforts need to be done so that you can compete in our market.

Buyers are very particular at the present time and every property needs to have something that I call the
"WOW Effect" in order for it to sell. The "WOW Effect" could be a nice Lake or Mountain view, a beautifully remodeled interior or a quiet and private location just to name a few possibilities. Buyers are looking for something that feels special to them, so the owners of simple cabin style properties or the older fixer uppers will not draw as much attention as in prior years.

The Incline Village real estate market is very price sensitive and almost every buyer is looking for a "deal". The best way for sellers to generate a lot of interest in their properties is to price them close to fair market value and promote the heck out of them at the weekly MLS tour. There are a lot of buyers waiting on the sidelines and along with their agents they have absolutely no interest in looking at properties that are glaringly overpriced. If you make a good impression when your property is first seen by the local real estate agents on the MLS tour that will greatly help to increase the number of showings and improve your chances of selling in 2008.

My advice to sellers this year is that you'll need to pay extra close attention to staging your property, cleaning up the exterior and the yard, pricing it reasonably and acting quickly upon the feedback you receive after the first few showings. Unless you truly need to sell your property in 2008, I recommend that you enjoy using your place as much as possible and maybe try to generate some income from vacation rentals if you are so inclined.
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Inside Incline is entirely written and published each month by Don Kanare of Lakeshore Realty 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 775-831-7000.

Copyright 2008 Don Kanare - All rights reserved.

Inside Incline is entirely written and published each month by Don Kanare of Lakeshore Realty 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 775-831-7000 or send an e-mail to: Don@InsideIncline.com