Consumers searching blogs for home buying information: this is your resource for finding your home in the Carson Valley and surrounding areas including Dayton NV, Smith Valley NV, and Carson City NV. I have added virtual tour links to all our residential listings. From here you can easily take a look at the homes we have listed right now, just click on the links to the right to look at the addresses. If the home you want is not there, try www.BillSellsRealEstate.com and search the entire MLS! Your frustrating web browsing has just ended, if homes are what you want, homes are what you get!

DOUGLAS COUNTY MARKET INFORMATION

This topic is important to you whether you are buying or selling in teh Carson Valley area. If you are buying, it is helpful to know what the average time on the market is and whether or not it is still abuyer's market, to help with your negotiation standpoint. If you are a seller, knowing about market time and average prices helps you understand what to expect out of your real estate agent now and what expectations you may have that aren't realistic. Everybody is happier when they are well informed!!

Here is some data about Douglas County in the past 60 days:

57% of Residential listings have expired, that is they were on the market for a time specified in the listing agreement with the Broker and did not sell. 35% of Residential listings have sold, this is consistent with the last market update I did. The average time on the market for those listings that sold was 151 days.

There is a total of 728 homes on the market currently in Douglas County. 186 of those came onto the market in the past 60 days. There were 65 sales in the past 60 days. If this sounds dishearteing to you as a seller, cheer up over this: MLS listings continue to sell at an average of 94% of asking price. This is excellent because even in a seller's market we see an average sale to list price ratio of the mid nineties. This tells us that Realtors are assisting sellers in pricing their appropriately and that when an offer is made, our negotiation skills are standing strong.

It is a great time to buy with so much to choose from on the market today. A great time to buy makes a great time to sell.

Are you looking for a home to buy in Carson Valley?

Want to check out some photos and prices?

Want to get other area information?

You can see ALL the homes currently on the market in the Carson Valley at www.BillSellsRealEstate.com.

Check out Gardnerville, Minden, Carson City, the whole area.

PLUS: call me to find out if your dream home is out there as a For Sale By Owner. I keep up-to-date on all the For Sale By Owners around town, so if what you need isn't in the MLS, you still have a chance at finding it when you call LISA COLELLA!!

As for Statistical reporting, some very interesting numbers:

In Douglas COunty since January there have been 1,385 properties listed for sale. 449 of those sold for a selling ratio of 32%. 26% of those listings expired. Currently there are 772 homes on the market, with an average time on the market of over 170 days.

Sounds discouraging, right? At least for local agents and sellers it might. But WAIT! the sale price to list price ratio remains strong at 96%! Last week there were 11 total residential sales and those sales included low end properties, middle end properties and one over 1 million. The average sale price in our county this year has been $391,000.

So, if you are a local agent whining and crying about "no business" and "dire times", stop it. Just get out there and work because there is business to be had, it is simply going to the agents who continue working in a slow market and work even harder than before.

Some news for consumers out there who may be interested in Douglas County:

The Slow Growth Initiative has come upon us. 371 building permits will now be issued each year in Douglas County, and no more. That does not mean you cannot buy land here and build, it means you should check into getting your building allocation permit before you agree to close escrow on a property. That way you know when you can build before you buy the property. Contact Bill Driscoll or me at RE/MAX (775) 782-8777 to prepare your offer on Vacant Land. We will show you how to make your purchase contingent upon your ability to build. You couldn't play it any safer than that. The plus side of it: Gardnerville/Minden is going to stay cute and quaint, and sufficiently populated for such a pretty little valley. Check out Nevada Appeal newspaper on the web for letters from the members of our community to the editor regarding views on this subject.

Dear Homebuyers and Sellers:

Douglas County has experienced a reduction in home sale activity over the last year like everywhere else on the map. Many sellers in the area are fustrated by legnthy times on the market and guess who they blame about that?? Buyers however, are basking in the glory of having the upper hand when it comes to negotiations realizing that they are few and far between at this time and can afford to let a home go over price as there are plenty of listings to choose from.

Some recent home sale stats in this community are following:

In the past 30 days there have been 158 new residential listings in Douglas County. 41 homes sold in that same time frame. That is 27% sold.

24% of residential listings expired from the market- that is their listing contract with their agent's ended, making the agents look like they could not do the work when in reality they did the work of baiting the hook and casting the line, but there simply were no fish to bite. The average amount of time a home spent on the market was 130 days before being sold.

The average listing price of homes in Douglas County over the past month was $548,000. Don't let that turn you first timers away, or those of you who have mouths to feed and jobs to work, because there are plenty of homes available in this county under $300,000. The average sale price in the area was $431,000.

Remember my name when you get curious about Douglas County Nevada. I can bring you the information you need if you want to relocate to Northern Nevada. I can sell homes in Douglas County (Gardnerville/Minden), or Carson City, Lake Tahoe (on the Nevada Side) and sometimes I am even willing to venture out to Lyon County (Yerrington, Smith Valley, and Dayton). I would be excited to get your call and ready to work one on one with you. Also, for another tip: call me if you are buying or selling ANYWHERE in the USA....I have a great network of qualified professionals in your area too.

I have posted a link on my blog to the Carson Valley Visitors Authority under "Carson Valley Information". Carson Valley includes both Minden, Gardnerville, and the very historical town of Genoa. Every day I am in awe at the views of the Sierras and the Valley. The mountains never look the same from one day to the next. If you ever plan to come and visit I reccomend the Springtime or the Fall because the seasons of change around here are stunning. If I didn't live here I would come for vacation.

Many of you have probably heard of the famous photographer Ansel Adams. A good portion of his photography is of the Sierra Mountain Range surrounding my area. He called the Sierra's the "Range of Light" because he found that in his photos of the geography he could see both the darkest nooks and the brightest lights in a single shot.

Good afternoon everyone. I want to help put Gardnerville Nevada on the map for real estate hotspots. I love this community! I will be addid some more helpful links to my profile to help bring everyone information about my area. Gardnerville is just 20 minutes outside of the famous Lake Tahoe area. The benefits to that are: we are close to entertainment and recreation year round- skiing in the Winter, golf and the Lake in the Summer, we have less snow in the Winter time than Tahoe, we skip the crowded streets from tourists, andwe enjoy a lush green valley to live in.

Nevada has very little taxes too, so send your buyers who are looking to retire my way. I am great at working with a fellow agent from far away on relocating. I will care for your client as you would so that you are gauranteed a happy buyer who will thank you for sending them my way, and I will see to it you get your referral fee. Gardnerville is the place to be!!!