Mitch Argon

The Reno Gazette Journal featured the Reno foreclosure market on the front page this morning. I thought they did a nice job with information for people who are heading to foreclosure as well as potential Reno foreclosure home buyers.

I am seeing about 10 new Reno/Sparks foreclosure home listings a day (including short sale listings).

Visit my site to see a snapshot of current Reno foreclosure homes, Sparks foreclosure homes, or to take advantage of the email alert service for Reno foreclosure homes that I offer to my site visitors for free.

Make the most of it!

Mitch Argon
Search all reno real estate listings here!

The latest issue of The Greater Reno-Tahoe Real Estate Report is published (February, 2008). The numbers and trends definitely will favor a patient home buyer. For home sellers and anybody who makes a living from the volume of real estate transactions (agents, brokers, title companies, lenders, inspectors, ...), the numbers are not encouraging.

Most markets in the Reno area are hitting new lows (median home price and transaction volume) and the year over year Months of Inventory is climbing in every market.

Take a look. Read the Reno Real Estate Market Summary. Be informed. Hope this helps.

Mitch Argon

Checking out the price of Reno homes recently sold?

I just posted up a list of Reno Nevada homes sold in January, 2008 on my site. The list includes a summary analysis of how much sellers are conceding on their list price. Surprising to me that the sold price remains fairly close to the list price given the strong buyer market in Reno. This is certainly NOT what home buyers expect who are not grounded with numbers like these - and this is not surprising with the media coverage we all hear.

Take a look - hope it's helpful.

Mitch

Park Cattle Company and Proposed Douglas County Master Plan Amendment

I recently attended (Wed. 1/23/08) a "public forum meeting" by Park Cattle Company, a long time ranching family in the Carson Valley and Lake Tahoe (all Douglas County, NV) with land holdings in Carson Valley alone of at least 4,500 acres. Like many of the ranches that have been passed along generations, these ranch owners (although due to its size is professionally managed) have reached a point where they want to seriously consider the best way to maximize their financial returns based on the value of the land versus the yield from cattle and alfalfa ranching. This is not a new concept (we've all seen countless examples of this done well and not so well) and it is not a bad thing (if you owned this land, you - or your heirs - would be contemplating similar strategies).

There were about 80-90 people in attendance at this meeting, which was the third in a series. When reading over these alternatives, keep in mind that the planning horizon for the Park Cattle Company plan is over 30-50 years.

From what I gathered, there are four potential paths the Park Cattle Company could follow regarding its land holdings in Carson Valley.

Path #1. Do Nothing Different.
Continue to run the cattle ranch and farming business as it has been done and evolved over the last several decades or more. This is not likely to happen, however, most of the people at the meeting (those who were offering up comments) seem to prefer this option the most.

Path #2. Sell the land off - parcel by parcel.
Most of the 4,500 acres is currently zoned R-19 (which allows one single family residence per 19 acres). This would allow Park Cattle to sell about 230-250 home sites (some of the land is also zoned as 5 acre parcels). This approach probably gives Park Cattle the most leverage to negotiate concessions to the Douglas county master plan (for what they really want to do which will yield more return on the land holdings). The citizens at the meeting are violently opposed to this as a good portion of the land is on the West side of Highway 395 and nobody wants to see the Carson Valley's most treasured open space dotted with McMansions obstructing the natural views all enjoy today. This path is also not likely to be seriously pursued but will be "on the table" as a negotiating alternative due to its unpopular public support.

Path #3. "Cluster" more homes to higher density parcels.
I am not the expert on Douglas county land planning but the "clustering" concept basically provides incentives to a land developer to allow for more home parcels in "higher density" zones in exchange for not being able to build at all on parcels that in areas of "open space", "along the Carson River", etc. Based on the clustering provisions within Douglas County, Park Cattle could develop and sell about 600 home sites on the East side of Carson Valley (near Minden Elementary School heading east along Buckeye road). While the 600 number is much higher than the 230 to 250 under path #2, it would likely be a bitter pill to swallow for Park Cattle based on the amount of land they own. To put this in perspective, Saratoga Springs in the Johnson Lane area has about 550 lots and the Chichester subdivision has about 900 single family lots. With the ability to McMansionize the Carson Valley with by pursuing path #2 as a negotiating tool, this path also is not a likely outcome.

Path #4. Preserve Open Space & Create More Parcels (than Path #3)
While not stating so directly, Park Cattle will be requesting changes to the Douglas County Master Plan that will allow them to create more than 600 home sites (the number will become public on June 1st when the plan is submitted to the County). Certainly, their land holdings are large enough to accommodate this. From what I gleaned, their approach will be to offer up land preservation and public infrastructure to the county and its citizens in exchange for the ability to develop home sites beyond their current property rights. By land preservation, they referenced the large parcels on the West side of Highway 395 up to and along the Carson River. Public infrastructure? Senior Center, completion of highway infrastructure (like Muller Lane), bike/walking trails from town to and along the Carson River, mixed use commercial/office projects - these projects and others were mentioned during the meeting as part of the public input process.

When Park Cattle Company pursues Path #4 by submitting their plan on June 1, 2008, an extended public debate will follow for months.

The ultimate deal that is reached (the proposed plans will require 3 'yes' votes from the 5 county commissioners) will indelibly change the Carson Valley for generations.

My take: While I am a real estate broker in this area, I am first a resident and would likely not have any direct or immediate benefit from any "excessive development" (I have no business relationship with Park Cattle Company and likely won't based on their long standing roots and relationships to others in the real estate business in the area). Change and growth is coming and there is no stopping it. Planning (and following plans) is clearly the first step in managing the change and growth. Due to the amount (and variety) of land Park Cattle owns and the unique contributions that could possibly be made to the community, I think the proposed plan should be carefully reviewed and studied with an open mind. I am probably as anxious as you to see what the plan includes.

Are you for - or against - consideration of a Master Plan amendment? Leave a comment.

Mitch Argon
Minden Nevada Realtor

Tracking and monitoring the foreclosure market requires quite a lot of keeping up. In the Northern Nevada region, there is a lot more foreclosure activity in the Reno and Sparks markets relative to others.

Before these Reno and Sparks homes go into foreclosure, they enter what we know as a "pre foreclosure" status. The first step is for a notice of default to be filed (see Reno Notice of Default Homes).

If the owner can not cure the default within 35 days, the lender will file a notice of sale with Washoe county. The notice of sale will basically specify a date and time for the home to be auctioned at the Washoe County courthouse. See Reno homes for bank auction and Sparks bank auction properties on my primary blog site.

This information may help you get a jump on this market segment.

Cheers - Mitch