You are already settled into the perfect primary home. Your family vacations in Truckee and Lake Tahoe at least three times a year and you are tired of leasing or staying at hotels. You have been ‘watching' the local market...Whatever the reason, you want to buy that second home and obtain the family lifestyle you so desire.

Similarly as to when you bought your primary home it is time evaluate your situation and run the calculations to see if it's the right time and place for you to purchase. Merely ‘wanting' a second home in Truckee or Lake Tahoe doesn't mean it makes sense for you to buy now.

Decide What Your Goals Are

If you're considering a second home, you must have disposable income. Do you really want to invest your extra money in real estate? Take a good hard look at your life and goals and decide if buying a vacation home or investment property will best achieve them.

What do you want and need in a second home? A place where you can retire? Write down everything and create a wish list for your second home. Use this as a framework for what houses to look at.

Ask yourself these questions:

How long will it take you get to your second home here in Truckee or Lake Tahoe? Will the location suit your family's future lifestyle?

How often will you go?

How will you get financing?

Will you need rental income to offset the monthly mortgage payment?

Can you afford the maintenance and insurance?

How will it affect your taxes?

How is the property appreciation rate in your desired location?

Choose a location that meets the criteria on your wish list, or you may decide to hold off on buying. For instance, if you want a vacation getaway but don't expect to use it for more than a week each year, it doesn't make financial sense to buy. Consider fractional ownership or a timeshare.

Consider sharing ownership of a second home. Consider researching co-ownership options, such as a joint tenancy or tenants in common as an ownership position. If you don't feel comfortable dealing with strangers, perhaps consider buying with family or friends.

Let me help you with the answers to many of these questions! As a local for many, many years and a full time professional Realtor, I know the market, understand the areas and I am here to assist you from point A to settling into that perfect second home your family deserves.

One of our fellow RAINERS gave this tip on how to imbed google maps into our website or blogs or emails so I thought I'd give it a try.  Went to Google Maps, found the link and will experiment now... 

Testing 1,2 testing!

Until November 1^st, golf memberships are being offered at $60,000 and social memberships at $30,000. November 1^st on, golf memberships will be offered at $75,000 and social memberships at $37,500. The annual dues will be collected January 1^st, 2010 and the amounts have not changed ($13,400 for golf and $6,700 for social). Currently, invitational memberships are available wherein the member does not have to own property. This will not be indefinite and is at the Golf Club's Board of Directors' discretion. There is no current prediction as to when invitational memberships will no longer be available.

The way it used to be: Meet a new buyer client and when I asked them what they wanted in a home, they would say something like, "3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a 2 car garage". Things have assuredly changed. Most times these days my homebuyers say something like, "I want to buy a foreclosure." These comments mean I need go the extra mile to determine the reasoning - and help them thru the process with as little aggravation as possible.

The New Client ~ when a new client recently insisted that he absolutely only wanted to see bank-owned homes because he didn't want to pay what the current market was demanding in ‘standard sales' I was anxious to expand his sphere of properties by dealing directly into this issue. While discussing the desire to buy a foreclosure or bank owned property, it was readily determined my buyer wanted the best bang for this money.

We should all note that primarily there is nothing intrinsic about a foreclosure that means that it's a great deal or otherwise more desirable than a standard sale. Banks are just as likely to price their properties unrealistically as individual sellers, and individuals can be easier to negotiate with. Some of the homes on the market in his price range are bank-owned homes, so we do need to be prepared for what those transactions will look like and for you to be well qualified and ‘show' well to a bank-seller.

The Getting Started Phase ~ I started briefing my client on what to expect if he went the foreclosure route, which about 50 percent of my current clients do, looking for that great deal. I informed him not be outraged if he encountered multiple offers, long delays in responses from the bank, and a somewhat sketchy escrow due to the fact the bank insisted on using their own escrow company, rather than one as a local I am familiar with. His thoughts are that the banks can't wait to unload these ‘toxic assets'.

Next Step ~ A most important aspect of buying a home from the bank is to immediately understand that this is not a logical individual you are dealing with. This is an institution and each decision runs through an inefficient administration and involves people whose motivations are not as logical or obvious as with an individual seller.

So consider that there are five houses for sale in one neighborhood - three are bank owned and two are private sellers. Due to the fact the bank owned homes are in the same area and for sale, the private sellers are going to price their properties accordingly. When the time comes for potential repairs to be done and requests the repairs, do you really expect the bank to do as much as the private seller?

And in order to keep things clear, out in the open, we again discussed the potential to purchase a bank owned or a private sale property. After my coaching and his new understanding, the market became much more attractive to my buyers as he now would consider ALL homes for sale ~ not just foreclosures/bank owned properties.

The Market Monitor

August 3, 2009

Re: Truckee Area Real Estate Market

Dear Client;

Market Overview

We are in the midst of the summer selling season and July was off from the big numbers in June but in line or ahead of the same selling period the last 4 years. The number of sales is still significantly ahead of last year and numerous subdivisions are seeing lots of activity.

The market segment that is getting the most attention is the lower end, under $500,000. It was not very long ago that this market segment did not even exist. First time homebuyers are able to get into the market with lower prices, tax incentives and favorable loan rates.

The upper end especially over $1 million is very challenged. The sales numbers are down dramatically and inventory is up. There have been 50 sales over $1 million this year versus 98 last year. The reduction has been fueled by Tahoe Donner where there are 35 less sales over $1 million this year. The overall inventory has not grown significantly this year and is still below normal levels.

The land market continues to be anemic and prices are down 50% to 75%.

Tahoe Donner®

There were 20 home sales with the highest being $859,000. The over $1 million market is way off from last year. There have been 6 sales this year versus 41 last year to this date. From this time forward until the end of 2008 only 2 more homes over $1 million sold. So in other words there were 41 sales the first 7 months of 2008 and there have been 8 in the last year. Currently there are 35 for sale indicating a 4 year supply at this sales level.

The short sale category, those homes that have a higher mortgage than the home value are now growing exponentially. Over 50% of the sales are now short sales.

Inventory levels for the total housing market are below last year.

There were 2 lot sales, one being a multi family lot.

Lahontan/Martis Camp/Timilick

There was 1 home sale in Lahontan and 1 townhome in Timilick. There have been 7 sales so far this year which is right on the historical pace.

There were 2 lot sales in Martis Camp.

Old Greenwood/Grays Crossing

There were 2 home sales in Old Greenwood. There have been 11 home sales in Old Greenwood this year which is right off the charts for sales numbers. There have been 2 home sales in Grays.

There were 2 lot sales in Old Greenwood and 1 in Grays Crossing.

Northstar

There were 3 home sales, 2 village condo sales and 1 townhome. There have been 11 home sales this year which is right on historical pace.

Glenshire/Sierra Meadows/Prosser/Donner Lake

There were 42 home sales which is a very big month. The median price is $394,000 so it is the entry level of the market. Of these sales about 50% were short sales.

Squaw Valley / Alpine Meadows

There were 8 sales in Squaw and 3 in Alpine Meadows. Prices especially in Squaw have eroded to a level that buyer interest is being generated. There have only been 10 closed sales in Squaw up to this date, so 8 sales in one month is a big jump.

If you would like more detailed information or specific information related to your property, please do not hesitate to call.

If you know anyone that we can assist to become an owner in our beautiful area and be one of your neighbors, please let us know. If there is anything we can do to help you with your business, we would like to know.

Thank you for your support and referrals.

Sincerely,

Bob and Nancy

The Davis ♦ Yoder Realty Group

Keller Williams Boice Realty

www.truckeeinfo.com

ryoder@truckeeinfo.com

530-550-5175