About Nevada County, CA

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.

The Tahoe Donner market is continuing to see a ton of activity! 5 new homes came on the market last week. There are now 137 active single family homes and 28 condos listed in Tahoe Donner. 2 homes went pending last week - 1 for $750K, and 1 for $1,050,000. 19 Tahoe Donner homes are now under contract. 5 more homes sold last week! The sold prices were: $270K, $320K, $320K, $450K, and $1,080K. The average days on market for these sold homes was just 90 days and the average original list to sales price was 91%. 1 home sold for more than its original listed price. The current absorption rate around 14% and there is about 7 months supply of inventory remaining. Click on the links for current listed Tahoe Donner Short Sales (16) and Tahoe Donner REOs (7). For more information about Tahoe Donner and Truckee real estate click here.

November----the “thankful month.” My brain is full of seasonal musings and short stories of thankfulness. I worked in the yard most of the morning----Mother Nature blesses us with a riot of color this time of year, but all of this color brings closure to another year of gardening and with it comes the annual clean up. I was already thinking about gardening plans for next year as I cut, trimmed, raked and swept away months of gardening happiness and pride.

He entered our lives (and hearts) about three weeks ago. At first he was just a quick shadow of movement in the yard and then the visits became more frequent. Naturally, he possessed that sixth sense to know he just might be welcome here after a long quest to find a home. He was dirty, rather thin and wore a few battle scars of life on the road. After many attempts to charm both of us, he won the battle. I gave in first! I marched inside on a chilly Sunday morning and filled a bowl with fresh cat chow------he is now a permanent resident of the household. His tummy is quite round, he is very clean, his battle scars are just about gone and he is one happy cat. He passed his vet exam with flying colors. He tentatively comes into the house, but he is afraid of the resident black cat. He calls the garage and the yard his new home. He sits on Richard’s lap when Richard rides his recumbent bike and follows us all over the yard like a dog. We gave him a name that celebrates his physical being and his new address----Jasper the Friendly Ghost. Did you guess he is a white cat who lives on Jasper Agate Court? I know we are all very thankful for each other.

A few weeks ago,we returned to Mendocino for a four day stay at The Little River inn. It was such a blessing to arrive and feel, once again, at home with a very good friend. We were greeted warmly by Lyn as we checked in and the aroma of dinner being prepared at the talented hands of Chef Marc Dym filled the air. Alan, the Host for the eveing, welcomed us and made us feel like we were special guests in his home. Of course, having Maria for our waitress was the icing on the cake. She always makes dinner a special occasion for us. Thank you for another memorable getaway.

Many times I have written about my place of employment and the warm and wonderful people who own Prospector’s Nursery in Nevada City. This time, I want to call attention to a fellow employee who helps make the work day so enjoyable. He, too, is “retired” like I am, but we both find “reinventing” ourselves to be quite rewarding. His sense of humor, work ethic and integrity make Terry who he is. He has a favorite saying that I like to keep in mind----”it is all good!” Thanks Terry!

Life would not be complete without wonderful friends and family who make the days worth living. I wish we could all sit around an enormous Thanksgiving table and share the bounty of the season with each other. I am thankful for your love, your friendship, your support and the very fact that you are in my life. May your blessings be many this season.

Truckee is beautiful right now and if ever you are considering a visit to the area, now is the time! The real estate market seems to be doing quite well also. Another 8 homes sold in Tahoe Donner last week! The homes ranged in price from $249K to $805K. The average days on market was 90 days and the average original list to sales price was 94%. 2 more homes went into escrow to make a total of 34 Tahoe Donner homes under contract. 5 new homes came on the market last week. There are now 141 active single family homes listed in Tahoe Donner. The current absorption rate around 24% and there is about 4 months supply of inventory remaining. Click on the links for current listed Tahoe Donner Short Sales (17) and Tahoe Donner REOs (5). For more information about Tahoe Donner and Truckee Real Estate click here.

Home with Views ~ Homes with a panoramic of the mountains and lakes always sell at a premium above similar homes without the view here in the Sierras. However, if a view is important to you buy it mostly for your own pleasure and not as an investment. You may place a considerable dollar value on the view and future buyers will also.

The Lot ~ Even though most real estate value is usually concentrated in the building, the lot is important as well. It should be as level as possible, considering the winter weather we endure. Assuming the property is in a typical neighborhood, such as Tahoe Donner the lot should be easy to access both in winter and summer.

Do not purchase an extensively landscaped property unless that is exactly what you desire. You would normally pay a premium for that maybe which you ought to be able to recover when you sell. You can always improve the landscaping during your ownership by improving the grass and adding native plants.

Home Size Matters ~ In each residential neighborhood in the Sierras, houses will vary in size and rooms, as many of the homes are custom. If resale value is an important consideration you might consider not buying the largest in the neighborhood. When determining market value, the homes nearest to yours are most important. If most of the nearby houses are smaller than your house, they can act as a pull on appreciation.

On the other hand if you buy a medium house for the area the larger homes can help push up your value. Buying what you require in a more prestigious neighborhood may provide more financial reward than getting what you desire in a less desirable neighborhood.

Bedrooms ~ Three and four bedroom houses are the most popular among homebuyers and if you can stay in that array you will have more potential buyers when it comes time to resell.

There should always be at least two bathrooms in a house, preferably at least two and a half. One bathroom with a place to wash up for day-to-day visitors, one for the master bedroom, and at least one to be shared by the other bedrooms.

Kitchen ~ Family activity centers on the kitchen so this can be the most important room of the house. Open concept living is especially important to most buyers in our area - everyone wants to be ‘together'. The dining area should be located adjacent to the kitchen.

There should be easy access to the back yard and deck areas as there will be occasions for barbecues and outdoor entertaining. Also consider that it should be a short walk between the garages to the kitchen so hauling groceries in from the car does not become a horrendous chore.

Fireplaces ~ The only room where you absolutely have to have a fireplace is the family room. A fireplace in the other rooms may be nice and you pay extra for it and this is a good investment in this area.