August 2008:

Summer has been here for a little while now since the smoke blew out in late July. The Lake and the Truckee River have both been very busy with boaters, floaters and generally happy people and dogs!

Real estate has picked up markedly since Spring. At Tahoe Real Estate Group the phones and office-floor have both been very busy thank to a simple yet extremely effective market strategy we started employing last summer. We now have momentum and it is paying off for our sellers.

Specifics on the market: Nice cabins in the $400-$500k's still go quickly - we put one in escrow in 3 days over 4th of July. The low end is suffering a bit as foreclosures apply downward pressure to houses in the $400- $500k's. The least expensive house in the Tahoe Basin on the market at the beginning of this month was $199k on Fir in Tahoma but good luck living there - it's 240 square feet! The least-priced livable home is in Kings Beach at $219,000.

The middle of the market is busy now. Houses up to $1.5m are getting good showings and we have been seeing some serious action. The very high end is healthy albeit relatively slow. A big-acreage teardown on the West Shore is set to close in a couple weeks - list price $22 million. Our listing for $18 million on Two Ring Road has had eight showings in 3 weeks and 20 responses from a targeted mailer.

The lowdown: Buyers are enjoying a large inventory and competitive pricing. For sellers, we can get the job done - we DO have a market. The property needs to show well and be priced absolutely correctly to keep the Days on Market down.

Homeowners, if you'd like to see how your property fares in our market, please fill out the online 'What's My Home Worth?' form - you can get there from the buttons on the left of this page. You can also call directly (530.214.6100) or send an email to me at alex@thebigbluelake.com. I will be happy to give you a free Property Value report to give you an idea of where you stand and what can be done to increase value.

Best,

Alex