Archive | Truckee
With a new decade just begun, it’s interesting to look back at where we’ve been these past 10 years. In 2002, there were 1023 single family homes sold in the Truckee/Lake Tahoe area, with a median price of $397,500. By 2006, we reached the peak of market value, at a median price of $680,000. Now, at the end of 2009, we’re down to a median price of $512,000, a total decrease of 25% in median value from the high in 2006, yet a 29% increase since 2002. However, this year has also seen an increase in number of homes sold (787), up 20% from the low in 2008 of 655.
In looking at the Tahoe Donner subdivision in Truckee, which comprises the largest percentage of the sales in the overall area, the statistics are similar. In 2002, there were 302 single family homes sold, with a median price of $495,000. The highest median market value was reached in 2005, at $765,000. At the end of 2009, the median price is at $568,500, again, a 25% drop since the high in 2005, yet still a 29% increase from where we were in 2002. And similar to the picture for the entire area, the number of homes sold in 2009 in Tahoe Donner (225) was up 16.5% from 2008.
During the past year, we’ve seen our share of distressed properties come on the market, although not near as many as many areas of our state and country. Of the 787 single family homes that sold in 2009, 127 (16%) were foreclosures and 85 (11%) were “short sales”. We currently have only 23 foreclosure properties active on the market (3% of the total inventory available), and 102 “short sales”, comprising 14%.
As we look towards this new decade, we’re excited about the opportunities in our industry that will hopefully allow many more buyers to realize their dreams of home ownership, be it here in our mountain paradise, or wherever their dreams may take them.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Kane Schaller, broker and co-owner of Dickson Realty Truckee, was named the 2009 Realtor of the Year by the Tahoe Sierra Board of Realtors. The selection is based on Schaller’s outstanding business achievements, his ability to provide trusted leadership by promoting professionalism and ethics and his local involvement designed to ensure a vibrant community.
“Receiving this award is truly an honor and having my mother, who was the 2008 Realtor of the Year recipient, present this recognition makes it even more special,” Schaller said. “This award also reflects on the entire Dickson Realty Truckee office and what we’ve accomplished this year in working with our clients and providing a competitive edge for buyers and sellers allowing all of us to excel in today’s market economy.”
Schaller is a graduate of University of California, Los Angeles where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics. Returning to his hometown of Truckee, Calif., after graduating, he joined Schaller Family Real Estate after obtaining his agents license in 2001. Schaller received his broker’s license in 2004. As an active community member, Schaller serves as the community service chair for Truckee Noon Rotary, the program chair and president-elect for the Lake Tahoe Music Festival and is involved with the Tahoe Forest Hospital Leadership Council and Truckee Unified School District Advisory Council.
For more information on Dickson Realty Truckee, visit online or call 530-587-7444.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Spend an afternoon in Truckee exploring eight remarkable one-of-a-kind custom homes in Northstar and help raise money to benefit local schools during the first Excellence in Education Luxury Home Tour taking place Saturday, September 19, 2009 from 10am to 4pm.
Excellence in Education has partnered with the Tahoe Sierra Board of Realtors for this unique event that showcases a group of distinct homes. Discover many of the latest trends and creative ideas in luxury home building as envisioned by several of the region’s premiere architects, builders, designers and landscapers.
“Our goal is to invite participants to enter a world brimming with inspirational architecture, lavish interior design and creative landscaping,” explained Lil Schaller, Excellence in Education Board Member and Home Tour Chair. “We are looking forward to this new fundraising event and hope to make it a popular annual tradition.”
Proceeds from the Home Tour will benefit quality public education within the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District. Money raised will go directly into the school district via the Excellence in Education Foundation’s grant and teacher training programs.
Tickets for the tour are $30 per person in advance, $35 at the door and group discounts are available. Tickets may be purchased at Dickson Realty, Sheridan Northstar Real Estate, Tahoe Mountain Resorts Real Estate in the Village at Northstar, in person, from any Excellence in Education Board Member and online at www.ExinEd.org.
For more information or to volunteer call 530-550-7984 or visit www.ExinEd.org.
The Tahoe Truckee Excellence in Education Foundation is a private, nonprofit organization that supports quality public education with the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District. Each year the Foundation raises money and provides grants, resources and partnerships to benefit students, teachers and educational community as a whole.
Popularity: 1% [?]
For the third consecutive month, California foreclosure sales jumped significantly as lenders come off the moratorium, according to ForeclosureRadar.com. Foreclosure sales increased by 24.7 percent following a 31.9 percent increase in May, and a 35 percent April increase. Notices of Trustee Sale dropped by an unexpected 28.7 percent, with the timing of the drop indicating that it was in response to the California Foreclosure Prevention Act.
The California Foreclosure Prevention Act adds an additional 90 days to the time before which a lender can file a Notice of Trustee Sale. This law was widely believed to have little or no impact on foreclosure filings, as it exempted the majority of large lenders that operate in the state. A number of lenders appear to have self-imposed California’s latest foreclosure moratorium on themselves, despite having received an exemption from it. Given the number of exempt lenders it was quite surprising to see Notice of Trustee Sale filings drop by nearly 50 percent the day the new law went into effect.
Popularity: 1% [?]
The California Department of Transportation (CAltrans) is alerting motorist that Interstate 80 (I-80) will be subject to nighttime closures from Tuesday, March 31 through Monday, November 30. The closures will be in effect between 7 PM and 8 AM. (10 AM on weekends) and may occur seven days a week. Closure schedules may vary throughout the construction season.
There will be two separate detours during the closures. During this construction period, closures will alternate between the east and the west bound directions:
-
Large trucks, buses and RVs will detour onto the Highway 20-49 corridor
-
Passenger vehicles will be detoured using Rollins Lake Road
Both detours will be clearly marked. This schedule is subject to change due to inclement weather.
For more information including dates and times of closures, please visit www.GetAcross80.com.
The east bound detour is scheduled to start at the Rollins Lake exit near Colfax into Highway 174 and end at approximately Secret Town where it reenters I-80. Trucks and RVs east bound will turn into Highway 49 at Auburn and then turn right into Highway 20 following it to Emigarnat gap where it will reenter I-80 at approximately Emigrant Gap.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Buyers are showing a clear enthusiasm for newly-built homes that have solar power equipment installed. Some believe this is the boost that solar power systems need to start selling in more significant quantities.
In a slower real estate market, homebuilders are especially sensitive to incentives that catch potential buyers’ interest. Buyers have been showing up at new home open houses where the homes feature solar power. Part of the response is curiosity; part of it is a growing desire to decrease energy costs in their new homes.
Retrofitting a home with solar power equipment is costly, of course, even though it holds out the eventual promise of paying for itself (often in roughly 20 years) and providing the homeowner with the pleasure of selling electricity back to the local utilities. In many cases, the cost of purchasing of solar power equipment is reduced by local, state and federal energy-saving programs.
The possibility of buying a new home that is fully equipped for solar power, though, lessens the sense that the buyer is paying a premium for the equipment. Some builders are using the equipment as much as they use incentives like free landscaping—and buyers are responding with great interest.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Real Estate activity in the Truckee area has spiked considerably since the first of the year.
Since January 1 there have been 60 new home escrows in the Truckee area with 34 of them coming in the past 14 days! 27 of those 60 have been in Tahoe Donner with 17 of them occurring in the past 2 weeks.
This is good news for our Sellers and the area real estate market in general.
While some buyers are getting out of other investments and making cash purchases, others are taking advantage of the historically low interest rates on conforming loans (under $475,000 for our area). As well, we are starting to see some banks offering competitive jumbo loans for the first time in over 6 months (some jumbo ARM’s are starting under 6%).
Whether this current pace of activity is sustainable is yet to be seen, but we are excited and wanted to share this valuable information with all of our clients.
Although home loan rates are very attractive now, the picture could be quite different as some inflationary factors will likely come to light heading into summer. Oil prices may be on the rise as we approach the summer driving season, some of the economic stimulus might begin to take hold, corporate cost-cutting measures could start to bear fruit, and, perhaps most importantly, the Fed will no longer be a buyer of Mortgage Bonds. These are all ingredients in a recipe that could very easily result in significantly higher interest rates this summer…so if you have been thinking about acting on a home loan, do not delay.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Resting on the banks of the Truckee River, in a turn-of-the-century old red barn, lies the Truckee River Winery. The small winery, owned and operated by Russ and Joan Jones, makes some truly great wines. It’s more than just a curiosity; Russ is a serious wine maker graduating from UC Davis in enology and opening the winery in 1989. Russ’s wines are made by hand in small batches by the open fermentation method. Reds are aged in French oak barrels.
Surprisingly, Truckee is not as harsh of an area to make wines as you might imagine, since heat is only needed when temperatures reach around zero degrees. Russ is assisted by his wife, Joan, who he calls his cellar rat. (Not sure he addresses her that way in public.) Truckee River Winery makes 4 wines: Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Sauvignon Blanc and a mellow, soft Merlot.
Meeting Russ, you feel that this man loves his work. His wines are all hand made and carefully brought to maturity by his experienced hands. In this day of machines and huge fermenting tanks, it’s heart warming to experience wines made in the old, time-honored fashion. When drinking a glass of Russ’s wines, you are truly tasting the result of a man who has put his heart into his work and the flavor of his wines bare witness to this. His wines can be found on the menus of most restaurants in Truckee and Lake Tahoe as well as “Florian’s Fine Wines” in Truckee.
You are invited to learn more about these fine wines and the wine making process at Truckee River Winery.com or you may call Russ, or Joan at 530-587-4626. They’d love to hear from you.
Popularity: 3% [?]
With the current decline of home prices in the 20% to 30% range, there may be a way to have your present home value reflect the current reduction in value and to have your property reassessed at a lower rate and thus receive a commensurate property tax reduction.
In speaking with the Nevada County Assessor’s office, it seems like a fairly simple process. They tell me that they are reducing some of the property values already to reflect lowered values. The biggest reductions will occur with people who have purchased homes in the last several years.
In order to see where your property lies in this situation, you would call the Nevada County Assessor’s office at 530-265-1232. They are set up to make the process easy on the home owners. They can tell you what the current value of your home is and if you are likely to have an assessed value credit coming.
While this information is directed at Nevada County, other counties probably have a similar procedure in place.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Since the peak of the market in early 2006, single family homes in Truckee have dropped in value around 15% and prices are looking very similar to where they were in late 2004. We haven’t had the huge build-up in inventory or foreclosures which some areas of California have seen (except in vacant land). The performance of the stock market the last 2 months has noticeably increased the motivation of sellers, but has not yet seemed to have an impact on buyers. Or, maybe it’s more appropriate to say it has increased the motivation of some buyers, while decreasing the motivation of others, so the “net impact” on demand is unchanged.
There are a lot of people who call us asking about buying opportunities in foreclosures which helped us uncover some interesting facts about the Truckee market place:
There are 469 single family homes for sale in Truckee. Just 7 of those properties are bank owned foreclosures (known as REO’s). 20 of the homes for sale are “short sales” (homes where the asking price will not completely pay off the mortgage, so the seller needs to get approval from the bank in order to close the escrow). Most short sales are in default, but not all.
Now for the interesting part . . . There are 48 homes currently in escrow. Of those, 7 are REO’s and 16 are short sales awaiting bank approval (the process is extemely slow, frequently taking 90 days or more). Clearly buyers are very interested in, and pulling the trigger on, a high percentage of the foreclosure properties which are available. Many banks are pricing REO’s at or near fair market value, but those which are priced below market are being snapped up very quickly. If you want to get your foot in the door on a foreclosure, look to us to help you identify the best opportunities.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Wednesday, January 13, 2010 By: Lil Schaller
0 Comments