“From the Desert to the Mountains to the Sea and all the Pristine Rivers, Lakes and Islands in Between.”
Find more meaning and happiness in your life. Try before you buy.
The great thing about living where others spend their vacation is the year round quality-of-life. What’s on your Bucket List? Try these …
Lakes and Mountains. No, it wasn’t an April Fools joke by some family member. Unless you count everyone’s mother, Mother Nature. It’s Spring.But don’t try to cheer up all those folks delayed at Lake Tahoe by an avalanche for most of the day on Highway 50.
Deserts and Flowers. Maybe those families and locals and tourists stuck in Heavenly traffic should have headed to the desert instead. Wait, flowers in the desert? Yup, this years’ super bloom.
Secluded Islands. No not Oahu, Maui, Kauai or the Big Island (well those are fine too), but the quiet, friendly island of Molokai.The one that gets no respect – or tourist attention. The one that gives you room to roam. Or consider visiting Beguia, the tiny Grenadine Island, off the beaten path.
Seas and Whales. It’s that time of year again when the humpback whales command everyone’s attention off the coast of Maui.Except for that boat that struck a whale calf near the southern tip of the Island. By everyone it’s nearly 450 volunteers who help track and record 219 humpback whales one last time in 2019.
Islands and Cultures. Timing is everything. Once a year you have a chance to experience authentic Hawaii culture on Maui.
Seas and Currents. At the top of the world scientists calculate a better forecast of when ice will no longer cover all of the Arctic region. While at the same time temperature readings reveal 2018 established ocean heat set a record.
Steps:
21) Spend the time to find the best place to live and invest. It will be worth your while. The great thing about living where others spend their vacation is the year round quality-of-life.
24) Determine which maker or breaker community issues you will find across all resort communities vs. those unique only to the quality-of-life towns at the top of your best places list.
32) Plan extended seasonal vacations during summer and winter months. Group destination locations together in regional trips to explore what several bucket list towns have to offer in the general vicinity – with only a week or two vacation time to spend, we recommend organizing your itinerary by travel regions.
33) When you move, will your established neighbors share your same values? Does your new home have potential over the long term to develop into a high appreciation real estate investment while being affordable for mid-life or empty nesters? Do the weather patterns in winter or summer make you want to live there year round, or only on a seasonal basis. Doesyour new community offer a variety of outdoor recreational opportunities?
34) On your visits look for any newer developments that may trigger changes in neighborhood patterns. New construction in or around the neighborhood? Major regional economic adjustments? Transition from households with children to ones that are empty nests? Rezoning, and dramatically rising/falling land values?
Luke Curran compared the cost of living in Lake Tahoe to other real estate markets.
Google Maps
“As it lay there with the shadows of the mountains brilliantly photographed upon its still surface I thought it must surely be the fairest picture the whole earth affords.” – Mark Twain
An excerpt from Book Five in “The Knowledge Path Series” dedicated to helping you find the place of your dreams in the Sierra Mountain resorts.
In the summer of 2015 an article quoted Chase International’s take on home prices.
Lake Tahoe home prices continue to rise 14 percent to $525,000. Overall sales around the lake dipped slightly from this time last year, with Incline Village seeing decreases across the board and Tahoe City seeing healthy improvements.
Courtesy VanceFox.com
Sotheby’s International Realty Sierra compared 2015 Incline Village/Crystal Bay Real Estate Market
Non-Lakefront Properties improved since our first post recession, come-backyear in 2013.
A relatively strong supply of inventory exists in our Incline Village and Crystal Bay
Lakefront condo sales dropped from 14 in 2013, to 13 in 2014, down to just 7 in 2015.
In the winter of 2016 Deb Howard & Co of South Tahoe Real Estate described the South Shore Lake Tahoe market as experiencing
… slow but steady growth, both in sales and pricing projected at 5%
Courtesy of Tahoe Luxury Properties
Tahoe-Truckee real estate market for luxury home sales decline at end of 2015
Luxury home sales in North Lake Tahoe and the Truckee area down 39 percent from the 82 high-end sales during the fourth quarter of 2014 20 percent decline
But, overall 2015 was a good year for the housing market in general in this region.
“Inventory levels are starting out 2016 traditionally low.”
Courtesy of Tahoe Luxury Properties
In terms of luxury sales, Truckee communities boasted the most with 24, followed by North Lake Tahoe, West Tahoe Olympic Valley and then Alpine Meadows.
Realtors looked favorably towards 2016.
Why?
South Tahoe Real Estate explained it this way.
With the inventory available coupled with homes still priced at 5-6 year lows and very favorable interest rates, the conditions are attractive for savvy real estate investors who want to get into the Tahoe-Truckee market
When things start to normalize again both the buyer and seller have peace of mind.
The good news –at the macro level:
US underlying economic fundamentals are forecast to be stable
GDP at 3%,
unemployment decreasing to 5% and
interest rates hovering at historic lows of 4-5%
all of which contribute to consumer confidence uptick!
The good news – at the overall Lake Tahoe Real Estate Market level:
Lake Tahoe emerges again as a revitalized resort community with four season to enjoy quality-of-life and lifestyle desires.
The beauty of the area draws investors and second-home owners heavily from the San Francisco Bay Area where record amounts of wealth have been created over the last few years.
And that translates into demand for Lake Tahoe real estate and drives growth at a rapid rate.
Luke Curran compared the cost of living in Lake Tahoe to other real estate markets.
www.SeniorLiving.Org
When you add up the major expenses – housing costs, groceries, utilities and transportation –because of the area’s small population, the cost of living is lower here than in most cities.
In fact he says …
The cost of living is 15% higher in San Francisco than it is in the Lake Tahoe area.
The beauty of the area and the drive to live here.
Photo credit: Selbe. on Best Running / CC BY-NC-ND
Mark Twain agreed when he wrote in “Roughing It” in 1880.
“As it lay there with the shadows of the mountains brilliantly photographed upon its still surface I thought it must surely be the fairest picture the whole earth affords.”
Approaching Lake Tahoe today, there’s no denying the unique rural atmosphere with small lakeside towns.
Whether you travel to the North Shore via I-80 or to the South Shore via US 50.
Steps:
22) Selectively evaluate the best quality-of-life communities to live in and weigh the tradeoffs of risk and rewards for accruing real estate appreciation along a progression of rural and small towns that meet what your pocket books can afford.
30) Review headlines and relevant news as far back as you can find online to surface each community’s unique pulse and identify information necessary to make your decision. Is there a “ticking time bomb” issue you may uncover that eliminates the resort from your bucket list? Search on Topix.com.
34) On your visits look for any newer developments that may trigger changes in neighborhood patterns. New construction in or around the neighborhood? Major regional economic adjustments? Transition from households with children to ones that are empty nests? Rezoning, and dramatically rising/falling land values?
Looking back in hindsight the realtor consensus pegged 2012 as the bottom of the market.
Sierra Sotheby’s International Realty Listings
Depressed home pricing motivated buyers due to historically low-interest rates which averaged 3.657% for 30 year fully amortized conforming loans.
An excerpt from Book Five in “The Knowledge Path Series” dedicated to helping you find the place of your dreams in the Sierra Mountain resorts.
And now back to your regularly scheduled program, Lake Tahoe …
The 2015 – 2016 season may turn out to be the perfect winter.
Everyone relishes the thriving economic conditions after suffering through a series of abnormally dry winters.
Most realtors in the Lake Tahoe region point to a home and second home market that has been on an upswing for several years.
In fact, Tahoe Mountain Realty said …
“Sales in the Lake Tahoe region surpassed $1 billion for the third consecutive year.”
Tahoe Mountain Realty Property Alert
The absorption rate — the supply of how many homes are for sale compared to the supply of properties that were in demand and could be sold at the current sales pace —revealed a more balanced market.
Tahoe Mountain Reality wrote that
“the region is now balanced with a 6-months supply available.”
In the luxury real estate market Lake Tahoe experienced the most significant surge in new home construction in over a decade especially in
Martis Camp,
Gray’s Crossing,
Lahontan,
Schaffer’s Mill
and Old Greenwood.
5-Year Time Frames from 2009 — 2014
Not that long ago, during the winter of 2011 – 2012, the absorption rate for South Lake Tahoe was driven by the trend of short and bank-owned (REO) sales.
That market was out of balance which realtors say is roughly 2 to 4-months supply of inventory.
You’re in a “buyers market” if it takes longer than a 4 months absorption rate.
Buyers simply have a greater selection of properties to choose from.
If the sales pace picks up and only takes an estimated 2 months or less to clear the inventory of homes, then you’re in a “sellers market.”
Sellers face less competition from fewer available choices for motivated buyers.
South Lake Tahoe, realtors claimed in 2012, hadn’t seen a balanced market for quite some time.
Looking back in hindsight the realtor consensus pegged 2012 as the bottom of the market.
Luke Curran wrote in 2014 how the Lake Tahoe real estate market at the end of 2006 and the beginning of 2007 was stronger than ever.
But, within a span of a year home values dropped like a stone.
To the bottom of the lake.
If you had wanted to sell, you missed your top dollar opportunity.
If you had the cash and a little foresight you could have taken advantage of the decline in prices.
Kelly Smith in the fall of 2010 speculated about Truckee homes, condos and lots sales between 2008 to 2010 picking up due to the declining values in both Truckee and Northstar.
Writing about West Lake Tahoe over the previous 3 years Kelly said the decrease in value on average amounted to a historic trend
North Lake Tahoe from Incline Stateline to Tahoe City didn’t fair any better.
David Westfall pointed to the impact of California’s long-term drought on the local ski and snowboarding resorts.
“Perhaps no other community was as impacted by successive dry winters as Northstar.”
But the timing was ripe for substantial investment in Northstar from …
Vail Resorts,
Mountainside Partners and
Kennedy-Wilson.
Luke Curran described how real estate market differs among subdivisions of the Lake Tahoe area.
For instance, condos on the west shore are pricier, while in 2014 the market for condos at Squaw and Alpine hadn’t grown as rapidly as other areas.
During the winter of 2012 -2013 in February the Yee Hedley Group compared year-end 2012 to 2011.
The Yee Hedley Group Featured Listings
They found positive signs in the MLS listing inventory. “
It was at an all time low, just like the good old days back in 2004 and 2005.
That’s not all.
They documented signs of
… dramatic improvement upon comparing overall home sale statistics from 2012 to 2011.”
David Westfall, a month earlier, in January 2013, assessed the North Lake Tahoe and Truckee markets.
He found a silver lining for single family homes.
“Depressed home pricing motivated buyers due to historically low-interest rates which averaged 3.657% for 30 year fully amortized conforming loans.”
Sotheby’s International Realty published year-end reviews of Lake Tahoe sales from 2012 to 2015.
Sierra Sotheby’s International Realty Listings
In addition to the numbers they framed the real estate market.
“It spans 72 miles of Lake Tahoe shoreline, two state lines and a handful of California and Nevada counties and four multiple listing services – North & West Shore, East Shore, Incline Village and Truckee.”
Sotheby’s agreed with Luke Curran who wrote in the spring of 2014,
“Buyers want a low price on a home and after the value of the home has gone up, and they sell it, they want a profit”.
Before you make the big financial decision to purchase or sell a home in the Truckee /Lake Tahoe you need to drill down into the micro market data.
Sotheby’s farms the
North & West Shore,
East Shore,
Incline Village,
Truckee, and
South Lake Tahoe markets.
Luke Curran broke the Lake Tahoe down into five areas he covered:
North Shore,
West Shore,
Squaw / Alpine,
Truckee and
Northstar.
David Westfall breaks Tahoe and Truckee into 10 micro market neighborhoods, 5 apiece.
22) Selectively evaluate the best quality-of-life communities to live in and weigh the tradeoffs of risk and rewards for accruing real estate appreciation along a progression of rural and small towns that meet what your pocket books can afford.
25) Compare what “life” was like in those communities before the Great Recession, how resilient each was during the economic downturn, and to what degree did each bounce back after with any “economic hangover.”
30) Review headlines and relevant news as far back as you can find online to surface each community’s unique pulse and identify information necessary to make your decision. Is there a “ticking time bomb” issue you may uncover that eliminates the resort from your bucket list? Search on Topix.com.
34) On your visits look for any newer developments that may trigger changes in neighborhood patterns. New construction in or around the neighborhood? Major regional economic adjustments? Transition from households with children to ones that are empty nests? Rezoning, and dramatically rising/falling land values?
Deserts and Flowers. Maybe those families and locals and tourists stuck in Heavenly traffic should have headed to the desert instead. Wait, flowers in the desert? Yup, this years’ super bloom.
