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Incline Village Real Estate Blog Daily Updates For the Incline Village MLS

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Daily Blog Update - December 31, 2008
While most of the world was taking the day off and making preparations for New Year's Eve, this Incline Village real estate agent was busy showing property with two different buyers, working on another listing agreement and getting an accepted offer for one of my buyers. 

Now that the negotiations have been concluded, I can reveal that I had three buyers for the house at 580 Sugarpine who all wrote offers at the same time.  I wrote an offer for one buyer and handed the other 2 buyers off to other agents in my office to write their offers.  (I think it's a conflict of interest for an agent to write offers for 2 or more buyers on the same property at the same time).  It's going to be interesting working on this transaction since it is a bank owned property and they have thrown several pages of conditions at the deal.

The Incline Village real estate market brings us one new listing (the Super Deal Alert at the top of this page), three price changes and one property going into escrow on the last day of 2008.  Congratulations to my compatriot in the real estate business, KJ, who is the listing agent for the stunning Lakeview home at 600 Tyner Way.  This gorgeous piece of new construction finally got an accepted offer after a few massive price reductions and a significant amount of time on the market.  Priced at just under $4 million, this five-bedroom, 6.5 bath, 6118 ft.² showplace features high end everything along with smart home technology.

Checking out the price reductions on the Incline Village MLS, we've got a $300,000 hatchet being taken to the asking price for the beautifully remodeled home at 748 Lakeshore.  With four bedrooms, 4.5 baths and over 4000 ft.² which to roam this property has been given a major facelift from top to bottom.  Low elevation shoppers seeking room to park a boat or recreational vehicle will love this property and its proximity to everything in Incline.  The asking price is now $3,699,000, making it one of the better values within walking distance of the beach.

Daily Blog Update - December 30, 2008
With only one day left in 2008, the Incline Village real estate market still has a smattering of activity for your viewing pleasure.  The MLS brings us two new listings, two price alterations, one property going into escrow and one property closing escrow on this beautiful winter day at Lake Tahoe.  I'm not exactly anticipating a stampede over the two new listings, so let's scoot along and take a look at the other activity on today's menu.

Getting an accepted offer today is the stunning piece of new construction at 460 Tuscarora in Crystal Bay.  This panoramic Lakeview home features five bedrooms, 5.5 baths, over 6000 ft.² of living space and a generous use of stone and timbers that provide a true mountain feel.  The asking price of $2,950,000 works out to less than $500 per square foot which is pretty darn reasonable for a high end, panoramic Lakeview home in our market.

The nicely remodeled chalet at 1354 Zürich, which was touted as a good value here several weeks ago, closed escrow at $378,000.  This darling two bedroom, two bath, free standing condo is just under 1400 ft.² and affords nice mountain views along with a tastefully landscaped front yard.  I know the listing agent worked very hard to market this property and I would like to offer my congratulations for her efforts.

The beautifully remodeled home at 561 McDonald got a nice big price reduction today and is now much more palatable at the new asking price of $1,799,000.  This property boasts five bedrooms, four full baths, over 4300 ft.² in which to roam and a nearly level lot of just under one half acre in the Woods subdivision.  I nearly keeled over when this property first came on the market due to the original asking price of just under $2.4 million.  Now, it's very close to the target price that I originally thought it would sell for and I think it will draw some interest with the latest price reduction which was nearly $100,000.

My week as an Incline Village real estate agent continues to be extraordinarily busy.  I was out with two different buyers today and I will be out showing property again on Wednesday with two more clients.  It looks like I will be putting in some fairly long days until the next big snowstorm gives me a chance to catch a break and shred some powder at Mt. Rose.

I would like to wish everyone a very happy and healthy New Year.  Enjoy the festivities on Wednesday evening wherever you may be!

Daily Blog Update - December 29, 2008
With the recent snowstorms helping to fill the ski resorts around Lake Tahoe to capacity, this Incline Village real estate agent has been working more like its midsummer than midwinter.  Just today I showed property to two different buyers, got a new listing agreement signed, wrote a proposal for another listing agreement and lined up appointments for my buyers on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

I don't normally ski during the busy holiday weeks, so I guess it's just as well that I have plenty of real estate activity to keep me happily occupied.  I don't have anything scheduled for this weekend yet, so if you'd like to look at some properties in Incline Village or Crystal Bay, just give me a call at 775-831-7000 or send me an e-mail.

Before we get into analyzing today's latest activity I have to tell you about the telephone conversation I had with Drew Myers of Zillow.com.  I wrote to the chief executives of Zillow.com a few days ago and explained to them that it's not possible for their computer algorithm to realistically calculate the values of properties in Incline Village and Crystal Bay.  So, they handed my e-mail off to Drew and we had a very pleasant conversation discussing the pros and cons of computerized home valuations.

I politely explained to him that every home in Incline Village is a custom home and while you might be able to develop an algorithm that works in cookie-cutter neighborhoods, it's not going to work accurately in Incline Village.  After a relatively lengthy conversation he said to me, and I quote, "custom homes are something you can't put an algorithm to." 

Also, if you look at the chart provided by Zillow.com you'll see that the median error for the estimated sale price of any given property in Washoe County is 12.3%.  Since the median price of a home in Incline Village in 2008 is approximately $1,135,000, that means on average they are off by $139,605.  Here's a link to the Zillow chart

I think this finally puts to rest any debate over the accuracy of computer-generated home valuations for Incline Village and Crystal Bay.  Now if I could just get the buyers and sellers of the world to understand this, instead of them trying to use these computer-generated valuations as a basis for writing offers or pricing properties, it would sure make things easier.

The Incline Village MLS brings us two price reductions, two properties going into escrow and one new listing (which is a repeat), on this sunny Monday.  Since neither of the price reductions does anything to quicken my pulse, let's take a look at the two properties closing escrow for some clues as to where our market is going.

The spacious 3300 plus square foot home with a partially updated interior at 600 Village Blvd. closed escrow at $760,000 today.  If the MLS history is correct, then this property was on the market for approximately 545 days and it started out with an asking price of around $1.2 million.  Not quite in the genre of "price 'em right and sell 'em fast, but the buyer sure got a lot of bang for their buck with this one.

The beautiful Tudor style home at 121 Rubicon Peak which was touted on this website as being a fabulous value sold at $1.4 million.  This could go down as the best deal in the Lakeview subdivision in 2008.  Featuring six bedrooms, 4.5 baths, 4,779 ft.² of living space on a .45 acre lot, I think the buyer will get many years of happiness at this superb location just a short walk from Lakeshore Drive.  This is a perfect example of being patient and then acting decisively, if you want to be able to acquire the best values in the Incline Village real estate market.

Daily Blog Update - December 28, 2008
Just 1 new listing as we round out the week and it's a doozy, or so I thought.  The listing agent messed up and entered 2BRs in the MLS, but the condo at 254 Ski Way Ridge is really a 1BR plus sleeping alcove, like the normal floor plan.   

So, it's still a good value, but not the amazing deal it appeared to be when I first wrote Sunday's commentary. At 299K it's the lowest priced condo in the complex.

Daily Blog Update - December 23 - 27, 2008
Not a lot of activity to report on the Incline Village MLS for the past few days as most people were either digging out from the latest snow storms, struggling to drive over the mountain passes or just plain enjoying some time off for the Christmas holiday.

We've got 3 price changes in the past few days and one is a mammoth 700K reduction for the stunning home at 620 Martis Peak.  This is now a short sale at the new price of $3,795,000.  Anyone shopping for a low elevation, lake view home will want to visit this property to revel in the high end finishes, great architecture and nice views.   It fell out of escrow just a couple of days after getting an accepted offer, so now the seller is likely super motivated.

Along with the price adjustments we had 1 property close escrow in the past few days.   The 3BR, 2.5 BA, 1887 sq. ft. free standing condo at 824 Northwood sold for $675K.   Congrats to the listing agent who handled both sides of the deal.  

Daily Blog Update - December 22, 2008
The snow continues to pile up at the ski resorts, and also on the secondary roads around Lake Tahoe.  But, if you live in Incline Village and work in real estate, having four-wheel-drive and the experience of growing up in New England helps out tremendously when you are showing property, like I did first thing this morning.  Then it was up to Mt. Rose for a handful of runs on the ski slopes for the first time this season.  I was actually pleasantly surprised at the quality of the snow and the amount of cover on the runs that I skied, although I did have to dodge a few rocks on a couple of the steeper pitches.

So, I have to apologize for the delay in getting Monday's Incline Village real estate update posted on the website.  We have 1 rather unexciting new listing, one property going into escrow and two properties closing escrow for your viewing enjoyment as we approach the Christmas holiday.

Getting an accepted offer today is the gorgeous piece of new construction that I have been featuring on this site as a Best Buy.  620 Martis Peak (on the corner of Lakeshore Drive), was being offered at $4,495,000 and this six bedroom, 6.5 bath, over 7000 ft.² home is well worth every penny of the asking price.  This means that both of the properties I have featured on my website for the past couple of months as best buys are now in escrow.  You might wonder how multimillion dollar properties can be considered a Best Buy.  But in the Incline Village real estate market it's not the general price range, rather the asking price of the individual property that matters.  

521 Sugarpine is one of the two properties that closed escrow today and the $530,000 sale price is eminently fair for this three bedroom, three bath, 1880 ft.² home built originally in 1969.  The property had some remodeling done, but I still consider it to be in the fixer upper/tear down category with the latter being more apropos in light of the gigantic lot that approaches three quarters of an acre.  The street supports homes up to $3 million and the neighborhood has homes going up to $6 million, so there is very good upside potential for this property over the long-term.  If it had a panoramic Lakeview you could've probably added another $500,000 or more to the final sale price.

The other property closing escrow today is #88 McCloud.  The final sale price of $530,000 is a nice reward for the patient buyer who shopped around and negotiated a good deal.  This property had been on the market for quite some time, but with all the competition in McCloud in 2008, most sellers have had to wait around a bit longer than in years past.

There might not be too much action on the Incline Village real estate scene between now and Thursday night, so I'd like to wish everyone out there a Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah. Drive carefully over the holidays as it looks like a good chunk of the nation will be getting pummeled with winter storms and we will all have to be a little bit extra alert and cautious.

Daily Blog Update - December 20 - 21, 2008
Just one price change to report for Saturday's Incline Village real estate update and 1 repeat listing for Sunday.   And it's a good thing, as I was busy showing property, working on a deal in escrow and catching up on some marketing projects.  It looks like the town will fill up with vacationers now that ski season is in full swing and more snow is on the way.   Looks like I won't be swimming in the lake again anytime soon...  

Before we get into today's market info, I'd like to make a brief comment on the new Coldwell Banker ad that appeared in Friday's paper.  They are making a nice claim about having 28% market share in Incline Village and Crystal Bay.  But, when you divide the number of transaction sides by the number of agents at CB, it averages out to less than 2 transactions per agent in 2008.  (There are a few agents at CB having a good year in 2008 and if you segregate their sales, it skews the numbers even further).   

I've closed 8 transaction sides in 2008 and 20 sides total the past 2 years, that's more than 4 times the average CB agent.  Myself and 1 other agent at Lakeshore Realty are the top 2 agents in Buyer representation for 2007 & 2008 combined.   As a buyer or seller, it behooves you to work with an agent who is doing deals all the time, not once or twice a year.  My suggestion, shop 3 or 4 different agents and pick the one that you feel most comfortable with and who will do the best job assisting you with the entire sales process.

The one sliver of new info from the Incline Village MLS on this sunny Saturday is the price reduction down to $256,500 for the 3BR, 2BA condo at Southwood Pines.  This is a bank owned property that would appeal to anyone seeking 1200 sq. ft. and 3BRs for their $$ at low elevation.  Walking distance to beach, post office and Village Shopping Center.

Daily Blog Update - December 19, 2008
I had one of my busiest days of the year as an Incline Village real estate agent.   Yes, it's late December and the snow is flying, but I still had 3 buyers wanting to write offers on the same property and a new listing agreement to prepare.    

The Incline Village MLS brings us 2 price reductions as the only other action to contemplate on this blustery Friday.  Throwing a big break to the general public with an $855,000 price reduction is the lakefront home at 514 Gonowabie is now $3,995,000.

If you're looking to spend about half that much, then maybe the new asking price of $1,995,000 for the pano lake view home at 567 Eagle is more your style.  A short, level driveway brings you to this 5BR, 3.5BA, 3,406 sq. ft. home on nearly a half acre of prime east slope terrain.

Daily Blog Update - December 18, 2008
Just one price reduction to report on the Incline Village MLS today and then you can get back to whatever you were doing.  The Lake view home at 578 Valley Drive was reduced $25,000 down to $1,275,000.

The really big news is that I have a couple of buyers interested in the same property and that always poses a dilemma.   I can't write an offer at the same time for two different people on the same property, so I have to hand one of them off to another agent in my office.  This has happened to me three times in the past two years and it is never a fun situation.  But when you have such a large pool of buyer clients, it's bound to happen now and then.

Daily Blog Update - December 17, 2008
The plodding pace of winter activity on the Incline Village real estate market continues with one fairly exciting new listing and 2 price adjustments today.  I'm anticipating a lot of interest in the very nicely remodeled and well situated little house at 580 Sugarpine. This is a rare bank owned property in Incline Village and the asking price just under $440,000 is a veritable bargain considering this property sold for around $700,000 a few years ago.

This 2BR, 3BA, 1100+ sq. ft. property was remodeled about 3 to 4 years ago.  I can't show you a 2BR house anywhere near this quality and location within 200K of this price.  Best value in an REO property at low elevation in Incline and Crystal Bay.  This will not last, every small home buyer and condo shopper will be all over this one.

The gorgeous place at #50 Lakeshore Terrace, which is really two condos smashed into one giant five-bedroom property dropped over $600,000 of excess baggage and is now much more delectable at $2,999,000. You'll enjoy panoramic Lake views and amenities like a buoy and pier at this lakefront condo.

Daily Blog Update - December 16, 2008
As the latest snowstorm temporarily clears out of the area we are left with a couple of price reductions and two properties going into escrow on today's Incline Village real estate update.  Congratulations to Peg in my office at Lakeshore Realty for putting the cute house at 928 Dorcey Dr. into escrow today. The new asking price of only $595,000 made this much more attractive to prospective buyers.

The big news of the day on the price reduction front is the $475,000 downward adjustment for the new construction at 847 Freel's Peak.  Just one block from Lakeshore Drive, this gorgeous 5,300 ft.² home features five bedrooms, four full baths, one half bath and a setting next to a stream. The new asking price of $3,500,000 makes this very competitive with the other newly constructed properties in the Lakeview subdivision.

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