Brent and Jill Johnson have just listed a very cozy chalet style house for sale on the South Lake Tahoe mls located at 680 Seneca Drive.
Come and see this warm and cozy Tahoe chalet with Forest Service lots both in front and behind. Located on a large 11,000 square foot fenced lot, this home would make a wonderful vacation getaway or a primary residence. Some of this special homes features include two fireplaces, formal dining room, laundry room, and a library/ study. The walk through room to the Master could be used as a third bedroom.
Click Here for the Virtual Tour!
- 3 Bedrooms, 2 Baths, and a 1 Car Garage
- 1766 Square Foot Lot
- Quiet County Neighborhood Just Minutes From Town
- National Forest Service Lots in Front and Behind
- 10,646 Square Foot Lot
- Much More!
For more information regarding Brent and Jills new listing at 680 Seneca, please call us at (530) 416-2625. If you have any questions regarding any listings on the South Lake Tahoe mls contact us today!
Not much has been happening with lots in South Lake Tahoe this year. In march there was only one lot that sold and only one lot that went into escrow. The lot that sold was 764 Elk Point which was a vacant lot with an allocation in the Angora Fire area that sold for $100,000. The lot that went into escrow was 1069 San Diego, which was a vacant county lot listed for $69,000.
Condo activity in March was similar to lots with only one sale and two pendings reported on the South Lake Tahoe MLS. The condo that sold was in the Tahoe Keys at 405 Ala Wai which was a 3 bedroom, 2 bath unit that sold for $485,000. Both of the pending condos are short sales in the Sandy Way complex.
My next South Lake Tahoe Real Estate blog post will be about the first quarter statistics for 2009. For more information regarding South Lake Tahoe Real Estate, foreclosures in South lake Tahoe, or South Lake Tahoe mls listings, please contact Brent and Jill Johnson today!
With 16 single family houses listed under $200,000, the South Lake Tahoe Real estate market now has a home for just about any home buyer. In previous years it was almost unheard of to find a house in South Lake Tahoe that was for sale under $200,000. If you were able to find one, it was most likely a small one 
bedroom cabin. There are now listings on the South Lake Tahoe mls that are 2 and 3 bedroom homes being offered for under $200,000!
Out of the 16 houses for sale under $200,000, 7 are currently in escrow, 6 are bank owned foreclosures, and 4 are short sales.
- For the 7 houses in escrow under $200,000, the average list price per square foot is $197
- The median square footage is 799
- The median list price is $182,400
- The median days on the market is 79
- 44% of the listings under $200,000 are currently in escrow
Almost half of the houses priced under $200,000 are currently in escrow! As you increase the price range, the ratio of pending listings to active listings goes way down.
There is also a great selection of houses priced from $201,000 to $300,000. There are currently 64 houses listed for sale on the South Lake Tahoe mls. Out of the 64 single family listings, 17 are currently in escrow, 15 are bank owned foreclosures, and 8 are short sales.
- For the 17 houses in escrow priced between $201,000 and $300,000, the average price per square foot is $223
- The median square footage is 1288
- The median list price is $275,000
- The median days on the market is 68
- 27% of the houses priced from $201,000 to $300,000 are currently in escrow
For the buyers looking at homes in the $301,000 to $400,000 price range, there are currently 83 houses listed. Out of the 83 houses for sale, 11 are in escrow, 5 are bank owned foreclosures, and 7 are short sales.
- For the 11 houses in escrow priced between $301,000 and $400,000, the average price per square foot is $220
- The median square footage is 1,716
- The median list price is $399,000
- The median days on the market is 147
- 13% of the houses priced from $301,000 to $400,000 are in escrow
As you start to look at the higher priced real estate in South Lake Tahoe, the amount of foreclosure listings and number of escrows goes down. Out of the 59 listings on the South Lake Tahoe mls priced from $401,000 to $500,000, 8 are in escrow, 6 are short sales, and only 2 are foreclosures.
- For the 8 houses in escrow between $401,000 and $500,000, the average list price per square foot is $224
- The median square footage is 1865
- The median list price is $426,500
- The median days on the market is 331
- 13.5% of the houses priced between $401,000 and $500,000 are currently in escrow
Once you look at the houses priced over $500,000, the buyer activity slows way down, so I placed all of the listings over $500,000 into one category. Out of the 228 listings available over $500,000, only 11 are in escrow. Four of the houses that are in escrow are in the Tahoe Keys area. There are only 3 foreclosures and 9 short sales listed over $500,000.
- For the 11 houses in escrow that are over $500,000 the average price per square foot is $298
- The median square footage is 2283
- The median list price is $649,000
- The median days on the market is 167
- Less than 5% of the houses listed over $500,000 are currently in escrow
Not only are there now a lot more lower priced single family listings on the South Lake Tahoe mls, it is the houses under $200,000 and $300,000 that are selling! It is not only the South Lake Tahoe real estate market that is seeing a lot of houses and buyer activity in the lower price ranges. In California, the median price of sold homes in February was $247,590, down 40.8% from February 2008, which was $418,260. With the lower prices, the number of sold homes this February in California was 620,410, which is up 83% from February 2008!
One of the factors driving the massive increase in home sales in the lower price ranges is distress sales. The decline in value for the lower price ranges has been greater due to the volume of foreclosure, short sales, and distressed homeowners. According to the California Association of Realtors, homes under $500,000 have experienced larger price declines due to distress sales.
If you look at the overall South Lake Tahoe Real estate market, there are currently a total of 450 single family listings on the mls. Out of the 450 listings, 54 are currently in escrow which is 12% of the inventory. There are 33 single family foreclosure listings, and 15 of them are currently in escrow. There are 35 single family short sale listings, and 6 of the short sales are currently in escrow.
Make sure to keep up to date on the South Lake Tahoe real estate market conditions by reading my blog at www.JohnsonsTahoeRealEstate.com. For more information about the South Lake Tahoe real estate market please contact Brent and Jill Johnson today!
For those of you that have been following the South Lake Tahoe Real Estate market, you know that foreclosures have been accounting for a large percentage of our current escrows and recent sales activities. Currently 12 of the 44 single family homes in escrow are foreclosures. On the other hand, there are only 3 short sales in escrow out of the 33 short sale listings on the South Lake Tahoe mls. With the changes that are happening with lenders and short sales, the number of foreclosures may soon be decreasing, and the number of short sale listings may be on the rise.
A short sale occurs when a homeowner owes more on their property than the property is actually worth, but the bank agrees to accept less than is owed as “payment in full”, in an effort to avoid the foreclosure process. A short sale is a great option to foreclosure for a homeowner because the homeowners credit will not be damaged nearly as much. In most short sale cases, the only damage to the homeowners credit will be the delinquent mortgage payments that will eventually fade off of the credit report. It is important to make sure that the lender reports the loan as “Paid in Full.”
With the recent changes to the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt relief Act, the debt that is forgiven on the first mortgage is no longer taxable as long as the house was your primary residence. If the house is not your primary residence, the IRS considers the amount of the loan discount taxable income.
Why would a bank want short sale a property and accept less than they are owed?
- Foreclosure is expensive for the bank and averages about $14,000 to $20,000 dollars.
- Banks are required to hold 3 to 5 times the amount of any foreclosure properties held as assets in reserves. If a bank forecloses on a $500,000 house, they are required to have an additional $1,500,000 to 2,500,000 in reserves that they cannot lend out and make money on.
- With the new stimulus package, banks are now getting a bonus from the government for closed short
sale transactions.
Banks are now realizing that short sales can be a better option than foreclosure for both themselves and the homeowners, which is why we may be seeing more successful short sale closings in the future.
A bank will not just approve a short sale because the homeowner owes more that the home is worth. In order for a homeowner to qualify for a short sale they must meet certain requirements.
- In most cases the homeowner must be behind on payments (Countrywide requires that you are 90 days behind on payments).
- Homeowners must be able to prove that they have a legitimate hardship such as a loss of a job, divorce, illness, decrease in income, or increase in expenses.
- There must be little or no equity in the home.
The homeowner must provide the following documents to the listing agent, who will provide them to the lender:
- Authorization to release information
- Hardship letter
- Financial worksheet
- Listing agreement
- Two years tax returns
- Two months bank statements for all accounts
- Two pay period pay stubs
Although lenders are now realizing that short sales may be a better option than foreclosing on the property, short sales are still far from easy. Lenders are overloaded with thousands of short sale packages. It can take up to a couple of months to get a response from the lender.
It is very important that the listing agent is a short sale transaction has knowledge in short sales. Real estate agents who submit a complete short sale package are much more likely to get assigned to a loss mitigator and potentially get approved. There are also cirtian things that a real estate agent can do to help expedite the approval process, such as making sure that the loan number is on the top right and the bottom of each and every page of the short sale package. Being able to contact the loss mitigator and keeping in communication with them regarding the transaction is another difficult but important job of the listing agent. Ultimately it is the listing agent who the buyer and the seller will be relying on to facilitate the short sale transaction.
Why would a buyer want to purchase in a short sale listing?
Short sales are consistently listed at 5% less than the current market value. Going through the short sale process may take more time, but it may be worth it for the buyer.
When looking at South Lake Tahoe Real Estate, do not avoid looking at short sale listings. There may be less competition over the short sale listings than the foreclosure listings, and you may get a great deal on a house!
If you would like a list of short sale listings in South Lake Tahoe or foreclosure listings in South Lake Tahoe on the South Lake Tahoe mls E-mail Brent and Jill Johnson. If you have any questions about South Lake Tahoe real estate or about South Lake Tahoe mls listings, please contact us today!
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