What's Good for our Community College is Good for All of Us (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / September 25, 2011 / Richard Bolen) This is all good news for South Lake Tahoe home buyers. Home prices have not been this affordable in a decade, and mortgage interest rates have never been this low. In addition to these very real home buyer advantages, there are a host of additional South Lake Tahoe positives that make our community even more attractive, and our housing climate even better.  These positives include improvements in our infrastructure and private investments in local businesses. All together, what this means is a tremendous amount of very smart money is being put into South Lake Tahoe right now. This is a the last in a 9-part series to help South Lake Tahoe home buyers better unde... 09/28/2011

More Retail Developments at the Y Intersection? (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / September 24, 2011 / Richard Bolen) This is all good news for South Lake Tahoe home buyers. Home prices have not been this affordable in a decade, and mortgage interest rates have never been this low. In addition to these very real home buyer advantages, there are a host of additional South Lake Tahoe positives that make our community even more attractive, and our housing climate even better.  These positives include improvements in our infrastructure and private investments in local businesses. All together, what this means is a tremendous amount of very smart money is being put into South Lake Tahoe right now. This is a part-eight in a 9-part series to help South Lake Tahoe home buyers better understand the... 09/27/2011

Brand New Home for Sale in South Lake Tahoe This brand new construction home is one of the lowest priced new construction homes for sale in South Lake Tahoe.  It's located in a highly desirable area of Highland Woods that's centrally located in town.  View Larger Map This gorgeous home has full exterior cedar wrap siding which is the quintessential characteristic of a Tahoe home.  You'll love the bright and airy feel of the upstairs greatroom with high vaulted ceilings.  The large family area downstairs will provide ample space for your whole family.  It's great when you're entertaining to have that extra large family area. 916 Sagewood Amenities: 2,300 square feet 4 bedrooms 2.5 bathrooms 2 car garage upstairs greatroom with vaulted ceilings downstairs family area exterior with full ce... 09/24/2011

New Developments at The Y (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / September 21, 2011 / Richard Bolen) This is all good news for South Lake Tahoe home buyers. Home prices have not been this affordable in a decade, and mortgage interest rates have never been this low. In addition to these very real home buyer advantages, there are a host of additional South Lake Tahoe positives that make our community even more attractive, and our housing climate even better.  These positives include improvements in our infrastructure and private investments in local businesses. All together, what this means is a tremendous amount of very smart money is being put into South Lake Tahoe right now. This is a part-seven in a 9-part series to help South Lake Tahoe home buyers better understand the ongoing investment in... 09/23/2011

A Visit to Lake Tahoe, California I just returned from a several day visit to Lake Tahoe, California (well, Nevada, too), my first. It was pretty impressive. Lake Tahoe is the second deepest lake in North America, and the water is supposedly very pure, although environmentalists are finding that is changing rapidly. The Lake also never freezes, which is pretty impressive given how cold it gets there in the winter and with the amount of snow.   The views of the mountains, pine trees and of course the lake are incredible, and best enjoyed by a drive around the lake which takes you into Nevada and the casino area (about 72 miles, and 4+ hours depending on the number of stops for photos). Lake Tahoe is a big tourist area, year-round, and you find the typical tourist attractions, in addition... 09/23/2011

Lowest Price Brand New Construction Home for Sale in South Lake Tahoe This is a super buy on this brand new construction home located in Bijou 1 area of South Lake Tahoe.  Bijou 1 is centrally located in town and it's only about 1.5 mile from Lake Tahoe, Heavenly Ski Resort and the Casino area.  You can't beat the location nor the price! You'll love the upstairs living area with high vaulted ceiling that leads you to a large deck.  The kitchen is spacious with sleek stainless steel appliances.  The kitchen island has a gas cook top and an eating bar that's great for entertaining.   The large master suite offers lots of natural sunlight with large windows.  The vaulted ceiling adds a feeling of spaciousness.  Enjoy staying in by the cozy warm fireplace from the master suite and by the je... 09/21/2011

Nevada retail improvements make for more and better community services. (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / September 20, 2011 / Richard Bolen) This is all good news for South Lake Tahoe home buyers. Home prices have not been this affordable in a decade, and mortgage interest rates have never been this low. In addition to these very real home buyer advantages, there are a host of additional South Lake Tahoe positives that make our community even more attractive, and our housing climate even better.  These positives include improvements in our infrastructure and private investments in local businesses. All together, what this means is a tremendous amount of very smart money is being put into South Lake Tahoe right now. This is a part-six in a 9-part series to help South Lake Tahoe home buyers... 09/20/2011

Improvements to South Lake Tahoe High School helps primary home buyers. (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / September 17, 2011 / Richard Bolen) This is all good news for South Lake Tahoe home buyers. Home prices have not been this affordable in a decade, and mortgage interest rates have never been this low. In addition to these very real home buyer advantages, there are a host of additional South Lake Tahoe positives that make our community even more attractive, and our housing climate even better.  These positives include improvements in our infrastructure and private investments in local businesses. All together, what this means is a tremendous amount of very smart money is being put into South Lake Tahoe right now. This is a part-five in a 9-part series to help South Lake Tahoe home buyer... 09/19/2011

South Lake Tahoe Real Estate Market Statistics for August 2011 For those of you who know me, you know I can totally geek out with statistics and charts, so bear with me.  How I see it is, you can never have too much information.  Information is what helps us to make the right decision.  In this case, is it a good time to buy real estate in South Lake Tahoe?  Take a look and you decide. August 2011 Single Family Home Sold Statistics: I've also included sold statistics for July and June for comparison.  As you can see our numbers picked up for August compared to July.  I have a feeling September numbers will look good as well (see below to my South Lake Tahoe Real Estate Forecast chart).   Aug-11 Jul-11 Jun-11 Units Sold 41 42 49 Total Dollar Value Sold $14,085,880 $12,673,200 $19,345,649... 09/19/2011

 New Residential Development increases buyer choices, and puts new construction on market. (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / September 16, 2011 / Richard Bolen) This is all good news for South Lake Tahoe home buyers. Home prices have not been this affordable in a decade, and mortgage interest rates have never been this low. In addition to these very real home buyer advantages, there are a host of additional South Lake Tahoe positives that make our community even more attractive, and our housing climate even better.  These positives include improvements in our infrastructure and private investments in local businesses. All together, what this means is a tremendous amount of very smart money is being put into South Lake Tahoe right now. This is a part-four in a 9-part series to help South La... 09/18/2011

The following are bank-owned properties in South Lake Tahoe, California, and nearby areas. Property details and pictures can be accessed by clicking on property addresses. If you’re interested in receiving Tahoe bank-owned property lists by e-mail, please let me know at drew@southtahoehouses.com. If you are interested in property on this list or any property in Lake Tahoe, e-mail me or call me at (530) 545-1831. Property Address - Price - Beds/Baths/Garage Spaces 1963 Piute St. - $39,000 - vacant land 631 Nahane Dr. - $44,900 - vacant land 1928 Haidas Cir. - $62,000 - vacant land 1852 Haidas Cir. - $70,400 - vacant land 2359 Incline Rd. - $79,900 - 2/1/0 3675 Tamarack Ave. - $103,900 - 2/1/0 3768 Larch Ave. - $107,500 - 2/1/0 2572 Armstrong Ave. - $109,900 - 2/1/0 3795 Paradise Ave. - $... 09/17/2011

 Infrastructure improvements increase the quality of our desirable South Lake Tahoe lifestyle. (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / September 15, 2011 / Richard Bolen) This is all good news for South Lake Tahoe home buyers. Home prices have not been this affordable in a decade, and mortgage interest rates have never been this low. In addition to these very real home buyer advantages, there are a host of additional South Lake Tahoe positives that make our community even more attractive, and our housing climate even better.  These positives include improvements in our infrastructure and private investments in local businesses. All together, what this means is a tremendous amount of very smart money is being put into South Lake Tahoe right now. This is a part-three in a 9-part series to help Sou... 09/17/2011

Infrastructure improvements increase the quality of our desirable South Lake Tahoe lifestyle. (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / September 14, 2011 / Richard Bolen) This is all good news for South Lake Tahoe home buyers. Home prices have not been this affordable in a decade, and mortgage interest rates have never been this low. In addition to these very real home buyer advantages, there are a host of additional South Lake Tahoe positives that make our community even more attractive, and our housing climate even better.  These positives include improvements in our infrastructure and private investments in local businesses. All together, what this means is a tremendous amount of very smart money is being put into South Lake Tahoe right now. This is a part-two in a 9-part series to help South ... 09/16/2011

There was some improvement in the average sales price, median sales price, and price per square foot of the properties in South Lake Tahoe that were sold in August. For the first time since September 2010, the median sales price actually went up. The median sales price went from $291,000 in July to $295,000 in August. This was a verymodest increase, but for the last 12 months there had been slight drops in the sales price each month. The number of properties that were sold in August went down slightly as well. There were 44 single family homes and condos that were reported as sold on the South Lake Tahoe MLS, down only 3 units from 47 in July. 41 of the sold properties were single family homes and 3 were condos. As of right now there are currently 504 single family homes listed on the M... 09/15/2011

 Much more good news for buyers than low prices and low interest rates. (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / September 13, 2011 / Richard Bolen) This is all good news for South Lake Tahoe home buyers. Home prices have not been this affordable in a decade, and mortgage interest rates have never been this low. In addition to these very real home buyer advantages, there are a host of additional South Lake Tahoe positives that make our community even more attractive, and our housing climate even better.  These positives include improvements in our infrastructure and private investments in local businesses. All together, what this means is a tremendous amount of very smart money is being put into South Lake Tahoe right now. This is a part-one in a 9-part series to help South Lake Tahoe home buyers... 09/15/2011

 Working with a South Lake Tahoe home buyer from afar. (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / September 10, 2011 / Richard Bolen) One of the things that makes what we do interesting is providing information about a South Lake Tahoe house to a client who doesn't live here. Because we are a resort attraction, this happens more than not: some 65% of our homeowners do not live here. We never recommend that a buyer buys a house unless they have seen it. It has happened before, though, but that is very rare. The challenge is to give someone afar as much information as possible before they get here to look. This missive below is one of those. We've been working with this client for some time now. They've been here twice in the last year to vacation and look. They want the Tahoe Keys, and like all of t... 09/12/2011

Housing is often different in South Lake Tahoe than in the rest of the country. (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / August 29, 2011 / Richard Bolen) All real estate is local, and what this means is real estate conditions are almost always different in one place from another. Sometimes this difference is miniscule, but often it is palpable. This is one of those. This comes via the Associated Press from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and it cites that US home sales agreements fell in July. Sales agreements are known as "escrow", and we thought we'd compare current South Lake Tahoe, CA home sales activity to today's NAR existing home sales report. The NAR has a sales agreement index, which fell in July to a reading of 89.7. A reading of 100 is considered healthy. The last time said... 08/31/2011

Listing a South Lake Tahoe house too high costs a Seller time and money. The Question is how much? (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / August 24, 2011 / Richard Bolen) we're looking at the median sold South Lake Tahoe house from the POV of a seller, that of a buyer and at the effect of listing that house at too high a price. This is the last in a 3-part series. The source chart is below, and for this particular study lets look at the effect of listing a 1,500 sq ft South Lake Tahoe house too high. What this study is designed to do is help the South Lake Tahoe home seller with the key issue of selling their house for the most, and for some sellers selling for the most and the quickest. Truth is both are pretty much the same thing as it relates to seller strategy.  As of this moment the South ... 08/29/2011

A Study of the South Lake Tahoe, CA House between $250,000 – $299,999 (the 1,500 sq ft house) (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / August 18, 2011 / Richard Bolen) This study is in three posts, and in it we're looking at the median sold South Lake Tahoe house from the POV of a seller, that of a buyer and at the effect of listing that house at too high a price. This is part 2 in this 3-part series. The source chart is below, and for this particular study from a buyer's POV, we looked at home sales between $250,000 and $299,999, which is the price range of the median sold South Lake Tahoe house. What this study is designed to do is help the South Lake Tahoe home buyer with two key issues: (1) it helps a buyer better recognize the deal they are looking for, and (2) it helps a buyer become comfor... 08/20/2011

A Study of the South Lake Tahoe, CA median sold house (1,500 sq ft). (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / August 15, 2011 / Richard Bolen) Think average, but with greater detail and certainty, that's what the median sold price is, and for this study, which will come in three posts, we're going to look at the median sold South Lake Tahoe house from the POV of a seller, that of a buyer and we'll look at the effect of listing a that house at too high a price. So this is part 1 in a 3-part series. The source chart is below, and for this particular study from a seller's POV we looked at house sizes within 15% of either side of 1,500 sq ft, which is consistent with licensed appraisal standards. In other words data herein is derived from all South Lake Tahoe, CA single family homes sold between 1,27... 08/17/2011