The South Tahoe Realty Blog

There’s been lots and lots of activity in the foreclosure market over the last two weeks! Three homes from the last list went into escrow. There are 7 additions to the list so that we now have 22 foreclosures.

Probably the most interesting of these additions is 1731 Chippewa St. It is surrounded by vacant lots – some unbuildable, the rest likely to remain vacant. The home itself is huge and has a good floorplan. At $144 per square foot, it’s a great buy.

There were 6 price reductions amongst foreclosures in the last two weeks. 602 Wintoon Dr. is priced incredibly after a $20,000 price drop. It won’t be on the next foreclosure list. The homes on Janet, San Francisco, and Colusa are getting there too. I love the home at 967 Colusa. It’s a 2003 construction with a pave-stone driveway. Knotty-pine trim is used throughout. The entire upstairs ceiling is knotty-pine. It has work to do but could once again be an amazing home.

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.

* The listing agent chose not to publish his or her listing to internet MLS searches.

* The listing agent chose not to publish his or her listing to internet MLS searches. Contact me by e-mail (drew@southtahoehouses.com) or phone (530-545-1831) for more details.

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.

As predicted, the median sale price for single-family residences in South Lake Tahoe dropped dramatically in June, down to $365,000. The market is certainly suffering. However, I’m becoming skeptical of the statistical barometers we continue to rely upon. Perhaps the steep decline in median sale price doesn’t quite reflect what’s happened to home values here in South Lake Tahoe. Perhaps the decline in median sale price is due in large part to increased activity in the lower price bands. Given how tight the lending market has been with jumbo loans, this is a valid hypothesis. I’ll dig through some data in the next few days to see if I can find numbers to support.

The foreclosure market was active in June with 6 foreclosure escrows of the 37 homes that went into escrow for the month. There were also 3 short sale properties that went into escrow. As of today, there are 9 foreclosure single-family residences on the market.

Lot sales and condo sales were few and far between in June. Five condos sold and 4 went into escrow. Six lots sold and 5 went into escrow in June.

Activity has increased in the 1 to 2 million dollar price band. This price band has averaged 1.75 sales per month over the last year. However, 4 sold in June, and right now there are 5 homes in escrow that were listed between 1 and 2 million dollars.