Archives for February 2012

Winter Hits Tahoe

Blackwood Canyon Eagle Rock Pier Tahoe

Blackwood Canyon, Eagle Rock Public Pier on the West Shore

After long last, Tahoe is finally getting a taste of winter. We received about 8″ yesterday and few more overnight. It feels like the first Winter Wonderland Day of the year even though there have been a couple others. It’s nice to see a blanket of snow on the piers and in the trees. The birds are always a little louder on these mornings so it was nice to hear their banter with a fresh cup of coffee this morning. There’s some more coming tomorrow, in fact we have a Winter Storm Warning starting just after midnight tonight. Squaw is a locals’ festival this morning and we’ll see how things shape up after more snow – my call is that Thursday will be the day…

Tahoe City CA cross country skiing

Happy Little Boy, Tahoe City CA cross country skiing

Lake Tahoe Weather Forecast winter storm

Lake Tahoe Weather Forecast: Winter Storm Warning

 

A Few Troubled Lake Tahoe Lakefronts

The first time there was a lakefront foreclosure / REO it was drastically underpriced and ended up receiveing 22 offers. The list price was $2.2m and it ended up selling in a few days for $1m over asking. That was back in 2009. Since then, we’ve seen some lakefront distress but not too much. Here is a link to some of the lakefronts which are either in a short sale position, REO or court approval is needed for the sale:

Click Here to View Troubled Lakefront Listings

 

 

Tahoe Luxury Property Sells in 10 Days for 92% of Asking Price

This great West Shore property went into escrow in under two weeks and sold for a healthy 92% of asking. In this market most homes that get an offer sell for at least 90% of asking price. After that, the fangs come out and buyers write for 80% in many cases. Of course, the Murphy’s Law of timing is in full effect where a property could be on the market for a year and if there happen to be two offers at the same time, then anything goes.

Anyway, this property is in Pineland right up from Sunnyside and it was roughly 3100′ with high-end finishes and appliances.

Click Here to View Listing

Click here to see all the West Shore listings

Pond Hockey Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe Pond Hockey: Homewood CA, Quail Lake

Lake Tahoe Pond Hockey: Homewood CA, Quail Lake

Here’s the Tahoe pond hockey article I wrote for The Weekly Magazine this month – it’s one of the regional freebies here on the North Shore and Truckee.

“Many folks don’t realize it but Tahoe has a Two Act Winter. The Second is the reason most of us moved out here – Pacific Maritime dumps and the deepest, most ridiculous powder days imaginable. But the First Act is what’s such a surprise: the ever-changing, and never-consistent, Tahoe pond skating season. I’m always caught off guard, and hugely pleased, when I get that first text from the guy who organizes daily skates in his neighborhood. Like presents under a tree, the skating season here surprises and excites me every year. It starts discretely in the higher elevations and then slowly moves down to lake level. By the time you see people on the roadside pond in Tahoe Vista there’s already been a month of hockey under the belts of numerous players around town. But the beauty of a frozen pond is that anyone can enjoy it on their own terms and without any gear whatsoever. The other day there were kids and dogs spilling out of sleds on a local pond – not one had skates on.

 

In autumn when most of us have barely started scouring the woods for deadfall to burn, the friend mentioned above has his entire house in order and is out flooding, scraping and re-freezing the little pond across the street. He uses wide, heavy steel blades with rebar handles to Zamboni (scrape and resurface) the ice as he manicures it in the early season – of course he custom-forged them for this sole purpose. The one time I tried to emulate Tim, I grabbed a six-pack, a borrowed 5-gallon bucket and a sledgehammer. Then I gathered a couple mutant friends to slam a hole and splash water all over a rinky dink pond. This was our attempt to create a smooth surface and it ended up looking like a hydro-tie-dye. If we were all squirrels, Tim would have acorn appetizers, experimental hazelnut entrees and selections of candied, freeze-dried, and smoked walnuts in climate-controlled storage – the rest of us would be slopping from a cold barrel of foul-smelling pinenut paste with our fingers…or claws.

 

There are different types of crews that discover frozen ponds and have mini-mock seasons on the ice. They’ll usually be at a spot where passersby get clued in to the scene, some new guys or gals will join in, they get an informal list going and get together a couple more times. After playing, they hope for wind each night because that Mother Nature’s Zamboni. The reason I like playing with Tim’s crew is because he eschews the regular hockey league scene yet I’ve never seen a more organized, militaristic approach to pond hockey. You get the text or call a day before the skate and you must respond quickly to be counted. If there’s an uneven number of guys Tim finds another – likely someone who was born with blades on his feet. The time is always the same: 8am and “don’t be late.” In addition to all this, I’ve never worn so much gear on a pond. The only difference between this and league games are hip pads and a team jersey. The goals we use are the typical 2×4 arch, laid on the ice, short side down. Skate saves are the order of the day because to score the puck can’t be more than an inch off the ice. This is another reason I love playing with Tim’s crew.

 

You see, in California a lot of people learn to play hockey on pavement. There’s something fundamentally different in learning this way versus putting in time on a weather-laden, possibly dangerous, surface where all the guys played competitively in high school and a few laced ’em up in college. Hockey has an inherent pecking order much like a pride of lions feeding on a carcass. The tough, old guys get the most respect then it moves on down the line until you get to the new kid – he’s the son of one of the regulars and has been watching from the sidelines for a few years. In most cases his inclusion isn’t a function of skill. Usually when one of these kids enters the adult game, his speed, fitness and hand skills (plus his general youth!) are enough to school most of the folks out there. The bigger factor is the slippery slope of Respect. If the kid has none he’ll shoot too much, lift the puck off the ice too much, and showboat too much. He and, by association, his dad risk being banished from the pride. That’s how it is at Tim’s Pond and it adds a dimension to the sessions that is hard to find west of the Mississippi.

 

The best place to skate in this area is the Boca Reservoir. It’s the largest sheet of ice. It freezes relatively early because of Truckee’s colder temperatures. It’s easily accessible. On a given Sunday in a snowless December, you’ll probably find three rinks of folks playing puck. There will be dozens of people free skating toward the far shores. Someone spins donuts on a four-wheeler. Smoke from grills on the ice start smelling delicious around 11 and dogs clumsily visit every pod of folks – and bbq’s. Every now and then you’ll hear the wimpy whine of a single-prop as a local pilot lands somewhere on the huge sheet. It’s a classic California winter scene.

 

Other places people frequent on blades are Prossor Reservoir, the ponds in Coldstream Canyon, and because of its roadside visibility, the small pond in Tahoe Vista. Less popular spots are Tamarack Pond on top of Mt. Rose and Quail Lake up at Homewood. The most interesting ones are Cascade Lake south of Emerald Bay and Lake Tahoe itself. The irony of writing a skating story on Tahoe is that technically, it doesn’t freeze. Some manmade alterations to the shoreline occasionally allow for some pirouettes or a game of puck to break out. One of these is near the entrance to Blackwood Canyon, though it hasn’t happened in the last 15 years or so. Another one is the Tahoe Vista boat ramp. Given my penchant for belated winter preparations, I discovered this spot while bringing my Hobie Cat off the beach in November and having to break 3 inches of ice to get in the harbor.

 

Tahoe generates incredible memories from the First Act of Winter. The lakes can freeze so perfectly that we have to spraypaint pucks in order to see them. When Cascade went, you could see boulders 70 feet below. One guy’s brother flew out from Massachusetts to skate that year – they made commemorative hats. My first, “proudest” dad moment was feeding our newborn a bottle while wearing all my gear between scrimmages on a frozen pond. Boca got ugly one season and illustrated plate tectonics which created a 3-foot high fissure for hundred of yards – dogs swam in the weird puddle under the crown of it. My final memory from last season, though, was Tim taunting my team about the concluding goal. There was big snow coming in so we all knew it was the closing skate of the season. “You’re gonna remember this comeback ‘til next year, Al!” He was right. They scored.”

pond hockey skating lake tahoe quail lake homewood ca wipeout

Lake Tahoe pond hockey: Homewood CA, Quail Lake wipeout

Lake Tahoe Lakefront Update

Here’s the latest raw Tahoe MLS data with all listings on the lakefront from Rubicon through Tahoe City CA and all the way to Brockway Shores. You’ll note that there is one over $10m listing in escrow and one for $6.5m just went into escrow the other day. Note that one sale with a list price of $3.5 and its adjacent lot listed at $2.2m recently sold but they were taken off the MLS for political reasons. If you’re not a data person, feel free to call Alex for a less numerical feel of the market. On that note: we should have a Hurricane Bay lakefront coming to market sometime soon. Also, there is another property in Hurricane Bay which is not on MLS but for sale at $6.5m.

Lake Tahoe Lakefront Comparative Market Analysis, 2/23/12

 

RESIDENTIAL Summary Statistics
High Low Average Median
LP: $19,950,000 $1,000,000 $4,533,960 $3,670,000
SP: $3,150,000 $1,000,000 $1,876,750 $1,678,500

 

RESIDENTIAL – Active
 ADDRESS  Price  Close Date  #Beds  Garage  Sq Feet  DOM  LP  $/Sq Feet  SP  $/Sq Feet
 4930 North Lake Boulevard  $1,000,000  4  2  2419  246  $1,000,000  $413.39
 9200 Brockway Springs Road  $1,399,000  4  0  2196  120  $1,399,000  $637.07
 8335 Meeks Bay Avenue  $1,600,000  4  0  1800  202  $1,600,000  $888.89
 3225 & 3205 West Lake Boulevard  $1,975,000  3  0  1342  619  $1,975,000  $1,471.68
 8020 North Lake Boulevard  $2,200,000  3  0  1109  122  $2,200,000  $1,983.77
 8650 Brockway Vista Avenue  $2,300,000  5  2  2999  630  $2,300,000  $766.92
 8353 Meeks Bay Avenue  $2,499,000  4  2  2500  237  $2,499,000  $999.60
 247 Drum Road  $2,595,000  1  0  0  262  $2,595,000
 8770 Brockway Vista Avenue  $2,700,000  3  2  2648  281  $2,700,000  $1,019.64
 130 Macinaw Road  $2,750,000  3  3  3675  993  $2,750,000  $748.30
 8321 Meeks Bay Avenue  $2,800,000  4  4+  3000  961  $2,800,000  $933.33
 5140 West Lake Boulevard  $2,900,000  3  Carpt  2486  262  $2,900,000  $1,166.53
 2860 Lake Terrace Avenue  $2,949,500  4  2  2620  23  $2,949,500  $1,125.76
 3328 Edgewater Drive  $2,950,000  5  2  3892  360  $2,950,000  $757.97
 3852 North Lake Boulevard  $2,995,000  3  2  2740  628  $2,995,000  $1,093.07
 5240 North Lake Boulevard  $3,200,000  4  0  0  512  $3,200,000
 8315 Meeks Bay Avenue  $3,350,000  4  0  1248  304  $3,350,000  $2,684.29
 9770 Brockway Springs Road  $3,399,000  5  2  5900  182  $3,399,000  $576.10
 4000 West Lake Boulevard  $3,400,000  4  2  4239  328  $3,400,000  $802.08
 8775 Rubicon Drive  $3,600,000  5  Carpt  2020  215  $3,600,000  $1,782.18
 100 Sierra Terrace  $3,650,000  3  2  2421  306  $3,650,000  $1,507.64
 4480 North Lake Boulevard  $3,690,000  4  0  3341  31  $3,690,000  $1,104.46
 8747 Rubicon Drive  $3,750,000  4  2  4490  36  $3,750,000  $835.19
 6650 North Lake Boulevard  $3,900,000  4  0  0  206  $3,900,000
 8815 Rubicon Drive  $3,975,000  5  1  0  132  $3,975,000
 7097 West Lake Boulevard  $3,995,000  3  0  2003  14  $3,995,000  $1,994.51
 5568 North Lake Boulevard  $3,995,000  7+  4+  5492  1191  $3,995,000  $727.42
 8669 Beach Lane  $4,200,000  4  2  2695  103  $4,200,000  $1,558.44
 6460 North Lake Boulevard  $4,200,000  4  2  3697  290  $4,200,000  $1,136.06
 5090 West Lake Boulevard  $4,250,000  4  2  3528  214  $4,250,000  $1,204.65
 8797 Rubicon Drive  $4,250,000  5  0  1960  1017  $4,250,000  $2,168.37
 4762 North Lake Boulevard  $4,395,000  5  2  4042  93  $4,395,000  $1,087.33
 5230 North Lake Boulevard  $4,700,000  6  3  4076  220  $4,700,000  $1,153.09
 9420 Brockway Springs Road  $4,800,000  4  2  4100  240  $4,800,000  $1,170.73
 1380 West Lake Boulevard  $5,750,000  7+  2  5600  440  $5,750,000  $1,026.79
CMA Summary Report

RESIDENTIAL – Active
 ADDRESS  Price  Close Date  #Beds  Garage  Sq Feet  DOM  LP  $/Sq Feet  SP  $/Sq Feet
 9898 Lake Street  $6,250,000  7+  1  5388  363  $6,250,000  $1,159.99
 3915 Belleview Avenue  $6,495,000  4  3  0  137  $6,495,000
 5240 North Lake Boulevard  $6,950,000  7+  0  0  49  $6,950,000
 4812-26 North Lake Boulevard  $6,985,000  6  2  4000  236  $6,985,000  $1,746.25
 5100 West Lake Boulevard  $6,995,000  5  2  5200  637  $6,995,000  $1,345.19
 5344 North Lake Boulevard  $10,487,500  6  3  7844  339  $10,487,500  $1,337.01
 1970 West Lake Boulevard  $17,900,000  7+  4+  13200  290  $17,900,000  $1,356.06
 2500 West Lake Boulevard  $19,950,000  5  4+  12255  487  $19,950,000  $1,627.91
 1620 North Lake Boulevard  $2,900,000  6  2  5500  432  $2,900,000  $527.27
  Total Listings   Avg    Avg    Avg    Avg    Avg 
 44  340  $4,567,590  $1,200.66
RESIDENTIAL – Sold
 ADDRESS  Price  Close Date  #Beds  Garage  Sq Feet  DOM  LP  $/Sq Feet  SP  $/Sq Feet
 6103 North Lake Boulevard  $1,000,000  1/4/2012  4  1  3044  775  $1,399,000  $459.59  $1,000,000  $328.52
 4990 North Lake Boulevard  $1,077,000  12/9/2011  4  2  0  249  $1,050,000  $1,077,000
 3920 North Lake Boulevard  $2,280,000  12/16/2011  4  2  2356  176  $2,585,000  $1,097.20  $2,280,000  $967.74
 5850 North Lake Boulevard  $3,150,000  12/23/2011  4  2  0  382  $3,700,000  $3,150,000
  Total Listings   Avg    Avg    Avg    Avg    Avg 
 4  395  $2,183,500  $778.40  $1,876,750  $648.13
RESIDENTIAL – Pending
 ADDRESS  Price  Close Date  #Beds  Garage  Sq Feet  DOM  LP  $/Sq Feet  SP  $/Sq Feet
 4850 North Lake Boulevard  $6,490,000  3/19/2012  4  3  5279  1069  $6,490,000  $1,229.40
 5526 North Lake Boulevard  $10,500,000  2/21/2012  6  2  5105  167  $10,500,000  $2,056.81
  Total Listings   Avg    Avg    Avg    Avg    Avg 
 2  618  $8,495,000  $1,643.11

Tahoe Luxury Property Update

Below I have assembled data on Tahoe listings which are all in the Basin, over $850k and none are lakefronts – the charts shows all Active, Pending and Sold luxury properties that have sold in the last three months. Next update will include lakefronts. For detailed info or questions on any of these listings, feel free to contact Alex.

 

Tahoe Luxury Property Comparative Market Analysis

 

RESIDENTIAL Summary Statistics
High Low Average Median
LP: $3,500,000 $850,000 $1,433,344 $1,250,000
SP: $1,250,000 $850,000 $1,012,333 $1,000,000

 

RESIDENTIAL – Active
 ADDRESS  Price  Close Date  #Beds  Garage  Sq Feet  DOM  LP  $/Sq Feet  SP  $/Sq Feet
 3600 North Lake Boulevard  $850,000  4  0  1874  62  $850,000  $453.58
 1877 North Lake Boulevard  $869,000  3  0  2150  744  $869,000  $404.19
 1877 North Lake Boulevard  $880,000  3  0  2150  188  $880,000  $409.30
 2560 Lake Forest Road  $885,000  4  0  2141  340  $885,000  $413.36
 8897 Glen Drive  $895,000  4  2  2944  289  $895,000  $304.01
 74 Tahoma Avenue  $945,000  6  2  3037  56  $945,000  $311.16
 555 Trout Street  $945,000  4  0  4200  572  $945,000  $225.00
 335 Lake Street  $949,000  3  1  1816  13  $949,000  $522.58
 1320 Commonwealth Drive  $949,000  4  3  2898  188  $949,000  $327.47
 345 Ellis Road  $950,000  3  1  1358  17  $950,000  $699.56
 9200 Brockway Springs Road  $995,000  3  0  1596  58  $995,000  $623.43
 65 Lassen Drive  $995,000  4  2  2109  299  $995,000  $471.79
 4455 Huckleberry Drive  $999,000  5  2  3564  6  $999,000  $280.30
 3555 West Lake Boulevard  $1,025,000  4  0  1876  131  $1,025,000  $546.38
 300 West Lake Boulevard  $1,075,000  3  0  1408  200  $1,075,000  $763.49
 1551 Pine Avenue  $1,095,000  3  2  2251  282  $1,095,000  $486.45
 202 Edgewood Drive  $1,150,000  4  0  1686  169  $1,150,000  $682.09
 970 The Drive  $1,150,000  4  2  0  242  $1,150,000
 1877 North Lake Boulevard  $1,150,000  3  0  1753  294  $1,150,000  $656.02
 370 Lake Lake Avenue  $1,225,000  5  3  2800  42  $1,225,000  $437.50
 3600 North Lake Boulevard  $1,250,000  3  0  1750  233  $1,250,000  $714.29
 4411 Huckleberry Drive  $1,275,000  4  2  2387  692  $1,275,000  $534.14
 805 Sierra Vista Avenue  $1,295,000  3  2  3700  6  $1,295,000  $350.00
 300 West Lake Boulevard  $1,295,000  4  0  1716  50  $1,295,000  $754.66
 4370 Old Mountain Road  $1,300,000  3  1  2099  45  $1,300,000  $619.34
 6205 Chamberland Drive  $1,300,000  5  2  3000  408  $1,300,000  $433.33
 601 Brassie Avenue  $1,400,000  4  2  2670  220  $1,400,000  $524.34
 3600 North Lake Boulevard  $1,400,000  3  0  0  226  $1,400,000
 19 Lassen Drive  $1,650,000  5  0  3900  312  $1,650,000  $423.08
 6400 West Lake Boulevard  $1,895,000  3  Carpt  2262  271  $1,895,000  $837.75
 3225 & 3205 West Lake Boulevard  $1,975,000  3  0  1342  619  $1,975,000  $1,471.68
 470 Nightingale Road  $1,995,000  4  2  3295  294  $1,995,000  $605.46
 3149 West Lake Boulevard  $2,150,000  4  4+  3064  42  $2,150,000  $701.70
 6400 West Lake Boulevard  $2,195,000  4  Carpt  2823  285  $2,195,000  $777.54
 2309 North Lake Boulevard  $2,200,000  5  0  2881  148  $2,200,000  $763.62
CMA Summary Report

RESIDENTIAL – Active
 ADDRESS  Price  Close Date  #Beds  Garage  Sq Feet  DOM  LP  $/Sq Feet  SP  $/Sq Feet
 6400 West Lake Boulevard  $2,245,000  4  Carpt  2610  306  $2,245,000  $860.15
 306 Edgecliff Way  $2,300,000  6  1  3600  153  $2,300,000  $638.89
 35 Edgecliff Court  $2,995,000  4  2  4234  328  $2,995,000  $707.37
 9 Tahoma Way  $3,500,000  7+  2  5817  195  $3,500,000  $601.68
 2350 North Lake Boulevard  $1,195,000  3  0  1600  241  $1,195,000  $746.88
  Total Listings   Avg    Avg    Avg    Avg    Avg 
 40  231  $1,419,650  $581.15
RESIDENTIAL – Sold
 ADDRESS  Price  Close Date  #Beds  Garage  Sq Feet  DOM  LP  $/Sq Feet  SP  $/Sq Feet
 6145 McKinney Drive  $850,000  12/20/2011  3  2  2066  2  $899,000  $435.14  $850,000  $411.42
 211 Shore View Drive  $900,000  12/7/2011  4  2  3050  67  $995,000  $326.23  $900,000  $295.08
 3885 West Lake Boulevard  $1,000,000  11/28/2011  4  1  2370  245  $1,395,000  $588.61  $1,000,000  $421.94
 6103 North Lake Boulevard  $1,000,000  1/4/2012  4  1  3044  775  $1,399,000  $459.59  $1,000,000  $328.52
 5595 McKinney Drive  $1,074,000  11/30/2011  5  2  3731  95  $1,159,900  $310.88  $1,074,000  $287.86
 720 Ward Creek Blvd  $1,250,000  2/22/2012  4  2  3107  10  $1,350,000  $434.50  $1,250,000  $402.32
  Total Listings   Avg    Avg    Avg    Avg    Avg 
 6  199  $1,199,650  $425.83  $1,012,333  $357.86
RESIDENTIAL – Pending
 ADDRESS  Price  Close Date  #Beds  Garage  Sq Feet  DOM  LP  $/Sq Feet  SP  $/Sq Feet
 555 Pioneer Way  $1,500,000  2/1/2013  5  2  3494  202  $1,500,000  $429.31
 3600 West Lake West Lake Boulevard  $1,600,000  3/14/2012  3  4+  0  153  $1,600,000
 1733 Tahoe Park Heights Drive  $3,150,000  3/16/2012  6  2  5300  602  $3,150,000  $594.34
  Total Listings   Avg    Avg    Avg    Avg    Avg 
 3  319  $2,083,333  $511.83

 

 

 

 

Tahoe Trout Season is On

Lake Tahoe Trout Rainbow

Lake Tahoe Rainbow caught February 2012

Some friends who’ve found a little time between remodel work have been hitting the lake and with great results.

Another Lake Tahoe Rainbow caught February 2012

Another Day, Another Nice Fish...

West Shore Real Estate Update

West Shore real estate in Tahoe has sprung to life in what is usually a pretty quiet time of year. Is it because buyers can actually (and unfortunately) see the ground because we have so little snow? Is it because current offerings are especially tasty? Or is it pent up demand?

Regardless, only 2 West Shore real estate deals have closed so far this year – and they were battling for cheapest sales in a decade (one was $99k). However there are 25 homes in escrow from Tahoe City down through Rubicon with listings prices ranging from $89,900 to $3.15 million. The average is $574k and the median is $399k. The numbers hint at at a 200 day supply of homes which isn’t too bad in this market.

Who would have thought?

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Article on Housing Bottom, Wall Street and Potential for High’s and Low’s

Interesting copy from today’s NY Times online. Great info on a possible bottoming out of the housing market and an overview of potential problems from sketchy lending practices, the negatives of helping homeowners (!), and Europe looming. This is an excerpt and the entire article can be seen here.

“..More broadly, the nascent recovery in the mortgage bond market supports a view that the housing slump may have bottomed out. Sales of existing homes are picking up. State and federal authorities have reached a $26 billion settlement with the big banks that is expected to provide some mortgage relief. And the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has been able to auction off billions of dollars of mortgage securities that it acquired as part of the financial crisis bailouts.

“There is light at the end of the tunnel,” said Kenneth J. Taubes, the head of United States investment for Pioneer Investments, a global investment manager that owns these securities. “The mortgage crisis is getting behind us, and things are getting back to some semblance of normality.”

That optimism is an about-face from 2006 and 2007, when Mr. Lippmann and others told investors that housing was a bubble ready to burst. On Wall Street, Mr. Lippmann became known as “Bubble Boy,” and one of his traders wore a joking T-shirt that read, “I Shorted Your House.”

His exploits were chronicled in Michael Lewis’s best seller “The Big Short,” which described him as somewhat brash and crass. He was known for maintaining a sushi spreadsheet, where he ranked the top Japanese restaurants in Manhattan on ambiance, quality and cost. (He still maintains the spreadsheet.)

These days, industry competitors describe Mr. Lippmann, who runs LibreMax Capital, as a more mellow presence. And he is much more positive about the market, telling investors that his fund is reducing its hedge against a potential market crash. Through a spokesman, Mr. Lippmann declined to comment.

Others in the industry are also bullish, pouring money back into mortgage securities. Trading has surged in recent weeks. Prices have risen more than 15 percent in the first two months of 2012, after dropping by as much as 40 percent last year.

“There was a lot of money waiting on the sidelines because yields were starting to look very attractive,” said Jasraj Vaidya, a strategist at Barclays Capital. “Lots of it seems to have come out now.”

Yet the tide could turn again and wipe out investors. Chief among the risks is Europe: the Continent’s banks still hold a significant amount of United States mortgage securities, and if they are forced to sell assets, it could wreak havoc on the market.

Washington is a question mark, too. If banks have to pay for loans they issued under dubious circumstances, it would be a home run for investors, who could receive full payment for a mortgage in a security they bought at a discount. But if borrowers whose houses are worth less than their mortgages are able to reduce their principals on a large scale, bond investors could suffer because the securities would be worth even less than they paid…”

Trustee Underpriced Listing: $499k

Definitely underpriced for a 2200 square foot, 4-bedroom, recently built home on the North Shore in Kingswood Estates:

Link to 1015 Windsor Drive

Here’s the write up from the Tahoe Sierra MLS:

“Wonderful home in a desirable neighborhood. Bright and sunny location. Aggressively priced for a quick sale, seller is family Trustee. Beautiful kitchen with granite counter tops. Easy, level access and only 10 minutes to Northstar – only 5 minutes to the sandy beach.”