The South Tahoe Realty Blog

There are 14 foreclosure properties in South Lake Tahoe today. Four homes are new since I last published it two weeks ago. I’m surprised that only two foreclosures went into escrow since the last list. In that same time frame, 32 homes & condos went into escrow. That’s a lot for South Lake Tahoe, so it’s not like buyers have slowed down at all.

A couple properties stand out on this list. 602 Wintoon Dr. was reduced $30,000 a couple days ago and is an incredible buy. 3549 Morton Dr. was listed yesterday. It’s on 3/4 of an acre and backs to the South Upper Truckee River.

As usual, I have more information on properties that will become foreclosures. However, I don’t feel at liberty to publish this information on the internet. If you are interested in those properties or the ones on this list, call me at (530) 545-1831.

Here is the latest foreclosure list for South Lake Tahoe.  There are 11 foreclosures on the market.  They are all single-family residences (no condos or multiplexes).

Since the last foreclosure list, there have been a few interesting developments in the foreclosure market.  A few properties were just listed.  The only one I’m really excited about, though, is 2604 Knox Ave.  It is located on a rare 1/4 acre lot in Sierra Tract.  I think there could be a ton of value in that purchase.  I’ll drive by it tomorrow and post a comment with my thoughts on it.

The only other foreclosure steal that is new to my list is 2508 Cold Creek Trl.  It fell out of escrow recently.  It’s located in Montgomery Estates, which is one of the most prestigious neighborhoods in town.

There were some significant price reductions on the foreclosure list.  In the last two weeks 2587 Kubel Ave. went into escrow, fell out, and then saw a 10% price reduction down to $224,900.  Wow!  3705 Montreal Rd. also experienced a huge reduction.  It went from $339,900 to $309,000.  Both these properties could be sold before my next list comes out in two weeks. (Montreal may remain because it needs a ton of work.)  1612 Choctaw was reduced $24,500 to $474,500.

I have more information on properties that will become foreclosures. However, I don’t feel at liberty to publish this information on the internet. If you are interested in those properties or the ones on this list, call me at (530) 545-1831.

These days many homeowners are defaulting on their loans and risking losing their homes. To save themselves from foreclosure, short sales have become very popular. This evening I found 38 listings in the South Lake Tahoe MLS that are possible short sales. If you are unfamiliar with short sales, here is a great article that was printed in a publication I received from the Nevada Real Estate Division.

Short Sales
By Bruce Alitt, Chief Investigator

A short sale situation occurs when the owner of a property owes more than the market value of the property and has financial hardships that require the owner’s lender or lenders to approve a sale in which the lender(s) will actually receive less than the amount that is owed.

The approval by the lender(s) is required because the loans are liens against the property that must be satisfied in order for clear title to pass from the seller to the buyer. That means that the lender(s) must accept getting less than the amount owed and agreeing that the lien(s) is satisfied and can be cleared.

Even though there must be lender approval in a short sale situation, the owner/seller still must be presented with and accept the offer. That is the critical first step in the short sale process. The owner must accept the offer contingent on approval by the lender. The contingency is critical because the owner cannot perform on the transaction without either the approval of the lender(s) or a cash out of pocket situation, which is usually not feasible. Once the owner has accepted the offer contingent on lender approval, the offer must be submitted to the lender with any other documentation required by the lender. This documentation varies from lender to lender. At this point the transaction is out of the control of the licensees and owner, who must wait on lender approval, counter offer or rejection. Due to the current number of foreclosures and short sales, this can take several months. Both the seller and buyer should be made aware, in advance, of this unknown time factor.

During this “lender approval” time period, the house should stay on the market, however licensees should be made aware of its contingent status.

The seller must be made aware that if the lender does agree to the short sale, there could be a deficiency judgment, credit consequences or the amount forgiven may be considered as income for tax purposes. Every seller should be advised to get professional advice from an attorney, certified public accountant and/or a tax consultant.

I know a lot of you searching the internet are curious about South Lake Tahoe foreclosures.  I’ve decided to make things easy for you, and I’m just going to publish a foreclosure list every couple weeks.  The latest list can be accessed at the foreclosure section of my blog.

Right now there are 8 foreclosures in South Lake Tahoe - 7 homes and one multi-plex.  There are no condos in foreclosure.

The two latest foreclosures, 873 Stanford & 1612 Choctaw, are pretty good deals.  873 Stanford is especially well priced.  For further information on these properties, call me at (530) 545-1831 or e-mail drew@southtahoehouses.com.

After some of the statistical revelation I experienced over the last week, it’s become much easier to make conclusions on this market that can be validated with empirical evidence.

The median sale price for single family residences increased 9.5%, from $379,000 in April to $415,000 in May. Unfortunately, this is not evidence of a market turnaround. Most of the buyers who acquired property in May were simply higher priced buyers. Of the homes sold so far in June, nothing has closed above $350,000.

Prices in South Lake Tahoe will continue to drop. Look to see around twenty foreclosures hit the market this summer and even more later this year. The foreclosures are being priced very low, and they continue to force sellers to lower their prices to compete. There were sixty price reductions in the MLS over the last two weeks. We’ll see hundreds more over the summer.

A piece of positive news is that buyer activity is increasing. We saw more homes go into escrow last spring than in the spring of 2007. Right now, there are sixty-four homes in escrow. We haven’t seen that many escrows at one time since October 2005! The bottom of this market may be in sight.

Tahoe Keys Waterfront Home  Sqft: 3012 Beds: 3  Baths: 2.5  Price: $1,295,000 With a boat dock that can accommodate three boats and a 6-person spa on the rooftop deck, this is a luxury deal! >Click for more info	2003 Christmas Valley Deal  Sqft: 2286  Beds: 3 Baths: 2.5 Price: $525,750 This foreclosure has seen seven price reductions in 2 1/2 months. Make an offer and see what sticks. >Click for more info
Foreclosure Steal! Sqft: 1432 Beds: 3 Baths: 2 Price: $254,900 This foreclosure in Sierra Tract has many upgrades. The bank is offering to pay 3% toward owner occupied closing costs. >Click for more info	Tahoe Keys Foreclosure  Sqft: 1712  Beds: 3 Baths: 2 Price: $399,000 A home hasn’t sold in the Keys below $400,000 since September 2003 … and that home had only 1271 square feet of living area! >Click for more info
Motivated Seller  Sqft: 2500 Beds: 4  Baths: 3  Price: $640,000 This is a very unique & exquisite home in prestigious Highland Woods. The seller is very motivated. >Click for more info	Beautiful Knotty-Pine Remodel  Sqft: 1350 Beds: 3 Baths: 1.75 Price: $338,000 This is the perfect vacation cabin or rental. The owner has forty years of woodworking experience and did the remodel himself. >Click for more info

For further information on these and other South Lake Tahoe Best Buys, call Drew Kondo at (530) 545-1831.

The latest development in the South Lake Tahoe real estate market is the slew of foreclosure properties that have recently been listed, specifically in the higher price bands. For a few months, lower-price homes have steadily made their way onto the MLS. However, higher priced homes are now being foreclosed upon as well.

These properties are being sold at incredible prices. Why? Because the banks who own these homes consider them unproductive assets. They look bad sitting on their books. Thus, the banks price them to sell quickly. A foreclosure home usually lists for 85%-95% of its market value. However, there are some exceptions. Last month, I submitted a buyer’s offer on this property at 3463 Beaver Brae Dr. I’d estimate its market value to be around $590,000. The listing agent suggested a price of $550,000 for quick sale. The bank, however, hired the services of an unseasoned appraiser from out of the area. He suggested a list price of $464,900! My buyer decided to rescind his offer and wait for something else, but someone scored an incredible deal.

Here are a couple foreclosure properties now on the market:
1301 Pine Valley Rd. (Listed at $664,000)
1210 Huph St. (Listed at $525,000 … actually a short sale)

Here are a few foreclosure properties that recently went into escrow:
2136 Shawnee St. (Listed at $1,119,000 … rumor is the bank accepted a very low-ball offer.)
3463 Beaver Brae Dr. (Listed at $464,900)
1825 Elks Club Dr. (Listed at $649,900)

For more information on foreclosure properties in South Lake Tahoe, call me at (530) 545-1831 or reply to this e-mail.