There’s no getting around this one: today’s US jobs report is a good one, and better employment news is a step in the right direction for the country, and our little South Lake Tahoe real estate market too.
Today’s report still leaves us with a national unemployment rate of 8.9%, so lets not dust off the marching band, but this is a full point lower than it was, which is a fact none of us fondly remembers. We still have a testy road to travel, and potholes to traverse until our economy and housing industry gets back up to speed once more.
One thing that’s perhaps even more encouraging that is in today’s report is the number of private sector jobs added. While the government actually shed jobs, it was private rector hiring that led the charge. Small business hiring is the key to full employment recovery.
Though you might be interested in seeing what we’re doing on Facebook today. The following is going out to select Facebook friends who have an interest in South Lake Tahoe.
(We’ve been working on it… when awake since Jan. 29th, and it’s in the final tweak stages, Multi-media and fun all the way it is.)
South Lake Tahoe multi media “good stuff to know” show
The idea is how to find a way to make real estate information fun and interesting. And we have done that.
If you know of anyone you know who might be interested, if you would let them know about our Feb. 26 seminar about south lake tahoe real estate, we would be most grateful.
It’s got a bit of theater, good laughs, a free continental breakfast, and lots of information about South Lake Tahoe, all in a captivating animated multi media show.
Our television commercial about it is attached. And it bespeaks the fun, whimsy and cool stuff we’re adding to the mix.
If you can come, please let us know: 800-923-9022 or email richard@thelistingcompany.com.
We’re also attaching a link to our television commercial about it.
Other Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog posts you may enjoy:
This will become the prototype for more television spots on a host of different things yet to come, and this one came with a bit of a learning curve. That’s the case for most things technical these days. WATCH THE VIDEO.
With the market doing a little better, and South Lake Tahoe, CA housing demand up by 16+% over the last year, we think its a good time to start doing our real estate seminars again. We did six of these starting in November of 2006, which ran into the first quarter of 2008.
The focus of this first new seminar, Feb. 26, 2011 from 9am to noon in the Board Rm at Lake Tahoe Community College, is on helping buyers buy and sellers sell. The headlines are, “have you ever wondered about the two greatest fears facing South Lake Tahoe home buyers today?”, and “How to Cope, find Fun, and Sell with Success in today’s real estate climate.”
The seminar, and yes a continental breakfast is served, is in three sections, each helpful to both buyers and sellers, and all driven by animated power point slides… that past attendees have found both information packed and fun. Like our commercial here, our goal is to make things entertaining, accessible and information rich.
It takes a bit more than a month to write and animate the information for a seminar. The most attendees that have come to one of these was a little less than 70 people. There is limited seating in the Board Room at the College, so we ask you to reserve a seat right away (800-923-9022 or email).
Adding to the fun of this upcoming event, we are doing a 4-6 camera video shoot with pro audio, so that we have not only a record of this seminar, but it also allows us to provide segments to the public after the fact, and use the video information in future blog posts and on YouTube.
We are constantly doing all we can to provide you with the best, most complete and accurate information possible about the South Lake Tahoe real estate market. Making it easier for you to buy or sell is central to that goal, and for that to happen Information is King.
Some Facts about this Blog:
At present we are averaging about 175 page loads, and 103 unique visitors a day.
We are also averaging 84 first time visitors a day.
Since we started this blog, in Q1 2007, there has been 161,263 page loads,
There has been 108,842 unique visitors…
… 86,481 first-time visitors,
… and 22,361 returning visitors who came back to the blog within an hour or less of their initial visit.
Three recent articles say our economy continues to improve slightly, and that’s good for South Lake Tahoe. We think it still wise to temper anything suggesting good news, but what is apparent for sure is we’re not seeing worse news. All of us have had plenty enough of that.
The news here has much to do about jobs, and inflation, or the lack of it, and as we’ve been writing about for the last few years, we’re not going to see real growth in the housing industry until we see a growth in jobs.
Amid these better news times, we might add, the South Lake Tahoe median sold price continues to decline slightly: it’s $282,05 00 now (not including Tahoe Keys). It was $285,000 a couple of weeks ago, and it was $299,000 for all of 2010. We don’t know how else to take this in: this is even better news for South Lake Tahoe home buyers, especially since mortgage interest rates remain near historic lows. (median sold prices here)
Here’s a review of the incidence of South Lake Tahoe, CA distressed property sales, plus an update on the effect of foreclosures and short sales on home values in the last 180 days.
Distressed property sales became a factor on the market in 2008. Of the 354 South Lake Tahoe, CA homes sold that year, 20% were distressed, either a bank owned or a short sale.
In 2009, the incidence of distressed property sales doubled. 39.9% of all 436 South Lake Tahoe, CA homes sold were distressed properties.
There was not as significant a jump in distressed property sales in 2010. 46.4% of all 507 South Lake Tahoe, CA 2010 home sales were distressed, an increase of 16.5% over 2009.
In the last six months, there has been a decrease in the incidence of distressed property sales of 3.2%. We are not seeing an increase in the number of distressed listings on the South Lake Tahoe market.
Much predicted foreclosure deluges, or the shadow market has not reared it’s ugly head beyond the data above, which has been rather consistent for the last two years. It may happen, but it has not happened yet.
Contribution and Conformity Principles:
A key thing to consider… when considering the effect of distressed properties on other nearby homes for sale in South Lake Tahoe, which is called the economic contribution principle, is the lack of conforming neighborhoods.
South Lake Tahoe is a real estate market consisting of some 35 different neighborhoods, and rather than approaching anything near conformity, each neighborhood is characterized by its lack of it. The lack of similarity, or the absence of social and economic homogeneity in South Lake Tahoe neighborhoods is startling.
We haven’t done one in a while, but with the market getting somewhat better we thought it would be helpful to start our South Lake Tahoe real estate seminars once again. The last one we did was in the spring of 2008.
Our new seminar will focus on two things: the two fundamental fears that all home buyers face, and must overcome, and how to cope, find fun and sell with success in the South Lake Tahoe real estate climate of today. (Information is King!)
The seminar will be held on Saturday, February 26, 2011 from 9am to noon in the Board Room at Lake Tahoe Community College. It is FREE to the public. In the past these seminars have been attended by as many as 65 people. There is room for a few more than that. We’ll serve refreshments, kinda like a continental breakfast, and it’s a good idea to reserve your seat now (call us at 800-923-9022, or email us here).
Usually these seminars consist of 3 sections, each devoted to both buyer and seller information. It’s an animated presentation, and a lot of real information rich fun.
Each presentation section consists of some 35-40 highly visual slides with narration… that makes it easy to understand easily appreciate all current South Lake Tahoe trends throughout. What’s usually even more fun is Interesting and provocative questions always arise that increases the depth of the educational experience.
Here’s information from one of the slides. It has to do with selling with success… and getting the most for a house, rather than overpricing it from the start, which always gets less. He what we mean by less is quantified.
Section 1, Slide 25: Odds of Selling in South Lake Tahoe, CA
513 homes sold in last 365 days.
218 sold within 90 days or less.
This is 42.5% of all sales.
Homes that sold within 90 days or less sold at 96% of original listing price (avg original list price was $365,996).
Of the homes that sold in 90-days or less, a little more than half were listed under $300,000.
These sold at 95.3%% of their original list price.
25.7% of the 513 South Lake Tahoe, CA home sales in the last 365 days took six months or more to sell.
These homes sold at 75.2% of original list price (avg for these was $668,375).
This makes sense because higher priced homes often take longer to sell here (but not always).
To get an apples-to-apples comparison, of the homes that took six months or more to sell, a little less than 20% of them were originally listed under $300,000.
Compared to homes that sold within 90 days or less that were listed under $300,000, and homes that took six months or more to sell that were also listed under $300,000, there is a difference of 18.2% in their sold price.
In other words, homes that were listed at $300,000 or lower that were priced properly from the get-go sold for more than a house that the market perceived to be overpriced, even though listed in the same general price range. Almost 20% more.
This is as close a comparison as we have yet seen that closely quantifies the cost of an over priced listing, at least within the price range of $300,000 or lower. We’ve always known that an overpriced listing takes longer to sell, and it gets less, but how much is rather elusive, until now.
At $300,000, 18.2% less than that is $55,200.
This is only one slide in our FREE real estate seminar. Reserve your seat today, there is a whole lot more.
Prior post about how our seminars evolved that you may enjoy:
This was our first South Lake Tahoe, CA Real Estate Update Newsletter. We published it in the spring of 2003 at the same time we produced the newsletter for the Nevada side of the market (download pdf below).
When we complete this new series of printed newsletters that eventually became the foundation of this blog, we’ll wrap it up with a discussion about what led to us to do these newsletters, which is both fun for us to recollect and bring forward.
In South Lake Tahoe, CA then the median sold prices for all 2002 sales was $263,040. It was $237,120 in 2001. (This does not include the Tahoe Keys).
And here’s our opening summary in that first CA newsletter, which covered all real estate activity from the first day to the last day of 2002.
(Remember… the following is what we wrote in the spring of 2003!)
Single Family Homes:
Most Buyers are interested in market entry homes. Of 703 total sales, 409 were under $300,000, which was 58% of the market. 117 homes sold under $200,000, which was 16.5% of all sales. 292 Homes sold under $300,000, which was 41.5% of all sales.
The median price for all South Lake Tahoe homes increased by $27,000 last year (11%). The largest increase in median prices from 2001 to 2002 was in Highland Woods; a $138,000 rise in value (60%). Heavenly Valley had median increases of $109,000 (41%) and Tahoe Valley saw median increases of $57,000 (32%).
This was the second Lake Tahoe Real Estate Update Newsletter. We published it in the spring of 2003 (download pdf below), and this too is our second in a new series of prior information releases that became the source points, both in terms of factual reporting and public service, for what eventually became this blog.
When we complete this series, we’ll wrap it up with a discussion about what led to us to do these newsletters, which is both fun for us to recollect and bring forth.
This second newsletter is also on the Nevada side of the market only. We had our California licenses by then, and we published a separate newsletter focusing on South Lake Tahoe, CA at the same time.
Back then the median sold prices for all 2002 sales on the Nevada side of the market ended up being $496,320. It was $436,000 in 2001. (This does not include luxury lakefront properties and Glenbrook).
And here’s our opening summary in that second newsletter, which covered the Nevada side of South Lake Tahoe real estate activity from the first day to the last day of 2002.
(Remember… the following is what we wrote in the spring of 2003!)
Single Family Homes:
Buyers remain most interested in the low and mid sectors of the market. 30% of all sales have been for homes under $400,000. 49% of all Buyers purchased a home under $500,000. 17.6 % of all Buyers purchased a home above $1,000,000.
This is the first of a new series that we will do that brings to forth what we were doing before we started this blog. It all has to do with South Lake Tahoe real estate information.
When we complete this series, we’ll wrap it up with a discussion about what led to us to do these newsletters, which ultimately became the basic foundation thoughts for doing this blog.
So this was our first newsletter (download pdf below). Because we did not have our California real estate license yet, it focuses on the Nevada side of South Lake Tahoe only.
Back then the median sold prices for all 2001 and 2002 sales on the Nevada side of the market were $436,800 and $496,320 respectively. (This does not include luxury lake front property estates and Glenbrook.)
And here’s our opening summary in that first newsletter, which covered the Nevada side of South Lake Tahoe real estate activity from September 1999 to September 2002.
(Remember… the following is what we wrote in 2002!)
Single Family Homes:
The low end of the market is sizzling, while top and middle market sectors continue to be somewhat slow. One-third of all sales have been for homes under $400,000. 51% of all Buyers purchased a home under $500,000.
Since September,1999, the median price for a Lake Tahoe, Nevada home has increased by 40%.
The good news is we got fresh snow in South Lake Tahoe last night. The bad news is I’ve been prone and dumb as a rock since last Thursday, which means I have not been able to go out and enjoy the new powder.
Better news though, is having a partner, my brother and our people person extraordinaire, means we’re never down when one of us under the weather. So Gary has been showing some of our listings for the last three days… while I have been contemplating… well, fevered glop would be a start.
We’re showing our listing at 1541 Tam O Shanter today, and truth be known I don’t know why it isn’t in escrow already. It’s a great house at a great price (here).
While Gary is out showing, thoughts have wondered. Am thinking of our son at school, which is where this crud came from. Today, just right now, am pretty sure the bubonic plague got it’s start at school. And this is not to complain, but only to observe.
What is a drag about this forced respite though, is I lost 3 days of work. We’re ramping up to do one of our FREE real estate seminars again, on February 26th, and am plenty busy enough with all of the attendant things that entails.
Hopefully will be back at it full bore tomorrow. In the meantime, I’m still thinking about pedestrian surprises that come home from school.
One Week to Go for our Free Public Seminar
For South Lake Tahoe, we’d like even better news… but it’s not getting worse.
Finally, a decent study on how much it costs to over list a South Lake Tahoe house… and this is only one seminar slide!
Our Spring 2003 Focus on all 2002 real estate activity in South Lake Tahoe, CA.
A Focus on all 2002 real estate activity on the NV side of South Lake Tahoe.
A Focus on the NV side of South Lake Tahoe in the autumn of 2002.
… or the Joy of Having a South Lake Tahoe Real Estate Partner
While Gary is out showing, thoughts have wondered. Am thinking of our son at school, which is where this crud came from. Today, just right now, am pretty sure the bubonic plague got it’s start at school. And this is not to complain, but only to observe.