Incline Village Real Estate Blog

Visit this website for featured events, weather, ski conditions, videos, and deals for the North Lake Tahoe area.

www.gotahoenorth.com 

With the season’s first big snowstorm, several resorts have opened their slopes to boarding and skiing – just in time for Thanksgiving holidays. Snowpack is ranging from 10 to 24 inches and you better believe the resorts are also making snow.

On Saturday, Nov. 21, Squaw Valley, Kirkwood and Northstar opened for the 09-10 season. Heavenly opened the day before.

Of course, early birds Boreal, Mt. Rose and Mammoth were already open.

Upcoming opening days are Nov. 25 for Sugar Bowl, Dec. 5 for Alpine Meadows, Dec. 10 for Diamond Peak and Dec. 12 for Homewood.

It looks like the next chance of snow will be Friday after Thanksgiving.

Have fun!

There’s a lot more to Thanksgiving at Tahoe than just eating turkey.

With the fresh snowfall, there will be skiing and snow sports, but there’s also a host of events happening around the area. Check out some of these:

·         Holiday Jazz Festival at the Hyatt Lake Tahoe. Two Nights of Music – The Holiday Jazz Fest kicks off at the Hyatt on Friday evening, November 27th, with the musical stylings of Chris Botti. Saturday evening, November 28th, features Boney James. Saxophonist, producer and songwriter. Doors open each evening at 7:00 p.m. and live entertainment begins at 8:00 p.m. For tickets, visit http://www.omegaevents.com/jazzathyatt/ or call the Hyatt at 775 832 1234.

·         Warren Miller’s “Dynasty” Lake Tahoe premier, 6:30 and 9:15 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 27 and 28, at the Crystal Bay Club. For tickets, www.crystalbaycasino.com.

·         Tahoe Player’s present a performance of Disney’s “101 Dalmations” at 2 p.m. Sunday and Monday, Nov. 29 and 30, at the Cal-Neva Resort. Email for more info, tahoeplayerstix@gmail.com

·         Brickeltown Christmas. Spend your Friday afternoons enjoying holiday music, carolers and other events in downtown Trucke..

Then, if you just love Christmas trees and that magical moment when they are lit and all aglow, here’s a list of community Christmas tree lighting celebrations.

Nov. 25 – 5:30 p.m. at the Cal-Neva Resort, Crystal Bay.

Nov. 27 – 5-8 p.m. Resort at Squaw Creek, Olympic Valley.  Olympian Peggy Fleming will be on hand for this one that also unveils the Resort’s famous Gingerbread Village.

Nov. 28 – 5 to 8 p.m. Tahoe Donner.

Dec. 2 – 7 p.m.  Incline Village Community Tree Lighting at the Chateau.

Dec. 3 – 4 p.m. at Patterson Hall at Sierra Nevada College, Incline Village.

Dec. 5 – Tahoe City tree lighting at Heritage Plaza, downtown.

After seeing all these trees decorated, perhaps it’s time to put your Christmas tree at home.

Ritz Carlton on track to open in December 2009 at North Star

The following photo’s show the incredible progress underway to complete the new Ritz Carlton Resort Hotel/Time share/Condominium’s and Spa.

 The  December opening is long awaited by North Star residents and supporters of the North Star Ski Resort which offers year round activities.

The photo’s feature the exterior covered with the first snow of the season.
As opening get’s closer we’ll keep you updated.

For more information clike here http://www.ritzcarltonclub.com/ritz-carlton-luxury-resorts/lake-tahoe-luxury-resort.html

Lakeshore Realty takes full advantage of Mobil Media to help buyers and sellers.

A sign on a property is considered a small but effective step to advertise a property, brochures which give details, the most critical, price helps buyers determine if they want to see the property.

What’s the next step? Having this property and all others in the neighborhood available to buyers through their phones.   Adding a simple application such as Zillow, Trulia and Smarter Agent to name a few, buyers can pull up other listings in the neighborhood and get all the data they need to make the decision to call for more information and a showing  or gathering more information about the area. 

Statistics:

•        The number of consumers using mobile technology is growing daily: 276.5 call phone subscribers   in the United States (80%) of the population.

•        20% of households do not have landlines phone

•        20% growth is predicted for mobile broadband predicted from 2008 by 2010

•        24/7 information available to consumers

•        Tracking leads and capturing inquiries is easy for consumers and for agents to react immediately

•        Consumers prefer mobile contact- texting is very popular and many clients utilize this media to communicate followed up by the Internet.

 The first time tax credit($8,000-deducted from their income taxes-even if the buyer  pays  less than $8,000 in income tax gets the full tax credit back ) has brought 400,000 first time home buyers  into the market place who wouldn’t have purchased before, according to the NAR’s report released last Friday.

Home sales will increase by 15 percent according to the NAR’s (National Association of Realtor’s) Chief economist Lawrence Yun at the 2009 NAR conference.  47 percent of Americans who bought did not own a home in the previous 3 years according to the report. This increase is 47 percent above sales in 2008.

The home buyer credit is credited for the sale increases in lower end housing market this year.

NAR forecasts existing home sales will exceed the 5 million mark set in 2009, a 2 percent increase compared to 2008.  The hope is the inventory of homes will go down and help home prices.  The NAR did caution, “Risks, such as unemployment, remain.”

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions on the changes to the Homebuyer Tax Credit

Retrieved from: National Association of REALTORS® Government Affairs Division

500 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington DC, 20001

     Question: Existing homeowner credit: Must the new house cost more than the old house?

Answer: No. Thus, for example, individuals who move from a high cost area to a lower cost area who

meet all eligibility requirements will qualify for the $6500 credit.

     Question: I am an existing homeowner. On October 25, 2009, I signed a contract to purchase a

new home. I have lived in my current home for more than 5 consecutive years and

am within the new income limits. I will go to settlement on November 20. If

President Obama has signed the bill by the time I go to settlement, will I qualify for

the new $6500 tax credit?

Answer: Yes. The existing homeowner credit goes into effect for purchases after the date of enactment

(when the bill is signed). There is no reference to the date of contract for the new credit. The

provision looks solely to the date of purchase, which is generally the date of settlement.

     Question: I am a firsttime

homebuyer but was not within the prior income limits at the time I

entered into my contract to purchase on October 30, 2009. I will be covered,

however, by the new income limits. If the new rules have been signed into law by the

time I go to settlement, will I be eligible for a credit?

Answer: Yes. The new income limitations go into effect as soon as the President has signed the bill.

The income limit and other eligibility rules will look to your status as of the date of purchase,

which is the settlement date. So if the new rules have been signed when you go to settlement,

you should be eligible for the credit (or a portion of the credit if you're within the phaseout

range).

     Question: I am an eligible existing homeowner. I have a fair amount of equity in my home. I

have found a home with a nonnegotiable

price of $825,000. Will I be able to use any

of the $6500 tax credit?

Answer: No. The $800,000 cap on the cost of the purchased home is firm at $800,000. Any amount

above $800,000 makes the home ineligible for any portion of the credit. The $800,000 is an

absolute ceiling.

     Question: I owned my home for 10 years, but sold it two years ago year and have been renting

since. If I purchase a home, will I be eligible for the $6500 tax credit if I meet all the

other eligibility tests?

Answer: Yes. Because you lived in the home for more than 5 consecutive years of the previous 8, you

will qualify for the $6500 credit. For example, Say John and his wife bought a home in 2000

and lived there until 2008 when he got a divorce. Whether John has been renting or bought in

the interim, he WOULD INDEED be eligible for the credit because he owned a home and

occupied it as his principal residence for 5 consecutive years out of the last 8 years. The

keyword here is "consecutive." As long as he lived in that house for 5 years straight what he

did since 3 years doesn't impact eligibility.

     Question: I am an eligible firsttime

homebuyer. I entered into a contract to purchase on

November 1, 2009. Do I have to go to closing before December 1? How does the

extension date affect me?

Answer: You do not have to close before December 1. Once the legislation has been signed, it will be as

if the Nov 30 date had never existed. Therefore, so long as the contract settles before April 30

(or July 1, worst case), the purchaser will be eligible for the credit.

Every time even a chance of snow flurries is predicted, our thoughts turn toward winter.

There’s a slight chance of flurries for this weekend, but looking long-term, the National Weather Climate Prediction Center calls for above normal precipitation for California and the Tahoe area this winter. It’s an El Niño year, and nobody really knows what that will ultimately mean for Lake Tahoe snowfall. There have been huge storms during an El Niño, and there have been very average winters. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric  Administration (NOAA) is predicting wetter-than-average conditions.

“We expect El Niño to strengthen and persist through the winter months, providing clues as to what the weather will be like during the period,” says Mike Halpert, deputy director of the Climate Prediction Center – a division of the National Weather Service.

More precipitation would be welcome, as Lake Tahoe’s elevation level is sitting firmly today below its natural rim at 6,222.94 feet. The natural rim is 6,223 feet, and during wet years, the lake can rise as much as six feet to it maximum level of 6228.1 feet. There’s always the bright side, however, beaches are currently big and wide!

And, hopefully, those beaches will soon be covered by snow. Squaw Valley USA is announcing on its web site that it hopes to open Nov. 21, before Thanksgiving. Our local ski resort, Diamond Peak, is looking at a Dec. 10 opening. Diamond Peak began snowmaking this week, you can check it out on youtube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3RWins9u-Q

So, as usual this time of year, those who love Tahoe in the winter are in waiting mode. As Alpine Meadows Ski Resort says on its web site: Stay posted. It is an El Niño season, and anything can happen.

Most Americans believe that home ownership makes dollars and “sense.”

In a new survey by Bankrate.com, 92 percent of Americans surveyed believe that purchasing a home is a good investment for the future. Bankrate, Inc. is one of the Web's leading aggregator of financial rate information, attracting 7 million unique visitors to its site monthly. For this survey, Bankrate commissioned Princeton Survey Research Associates International to ask Americans about finances and family life.

While 9 out of 10 respondents believe a home is a good investment, only 4 of 10 believe that the stock market is a good long-term investment. Home ownership won out, in spite the fact that the stock market has a higher rate of annual return. As measured by Standard & Poor’s 500, the average annual return on residential real estate over the last three decades was 5.92 percent versus 12.33 percent for the stock market, according to the Journal of Portfolio Management.

But a 6 percent annual appreciation for the home your family lives in definitely beats throwing away your money by renting. Then, when it comes time to sale, as long as you have lived in your home for two years, you can deduct up to $250,000 (married, filing jointly) from your federal income tax of any capital gain from the sale of your principal residence. Additionally, there is the financial plus of being able to deduct mortgage expense and property taxes from your income tax.

Owning a home definitely makes dollars and “cents.”