South Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog

Tax Credits Are Set to Expire!

The First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit is set to expire soon. Home buyers must have to sign a purchase agreement by April 30 and close by June 30 to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit.

The income limit for claiming the full tax credit for single tax payers is $125,00 and $225,000 for married tax payers filing a joint return.

Homes purchased for up to $800,000 are eligible for the credit. A first-time buyer is defined as a buyer who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase. The tax credit does not require repayment if you live in this residence for three or more years.

The Existing Homeowner Tax Credit is also set to expire. If you already own a home, but you want to move up, you may qualify for the $6,500 tax credit. To be eligible for this credit, you must have lived in your current home for five consecutive years out of the last eight and must purchase a new or existing home by April 30 and close escrow by July 1. You do not need to sell your current home to qualify for this credit.

To claim the tax credit use the IRS Form 5405. You will also need to supply the IRS with a copy of your HUD-1 settlement statement to verify your purchase.

If you are interested in purchasing a home in South Lake Tahoe and taking advantage of the tax credits, give South Lake Tahoe real estate agent Brent Johnson a call before it is too late!

Recent Client Testimonial

I recently had the pleasure of working with Bob and Kathy to help them sell their lot in South Lake Tahoe. Lot sales have been tough lately in Tahoe and prices have taken a big hit. We knew going into this process that we needed to price the lot attractively to stand out from other lots on the market.

It took 3 offers from different buyers, but we were finaly able to find a buyer willing to make a reasonable offer. The lot has closed escrow and this is what Bob and Kathy had to say about my service:

“Brent: Great job getting this accomplished: on budget, under schedule, with minimum of hassle. We will certainly recommend you to anyone we know who is looking for something in your area. All the best, Bob”

Thanks for the kind words Bob and Kathy!

Tahoe Keys Real Estate

Tahoe Keys real estate is the South Shores premier area for buyers looking for waterfront property. The Tahoe Keys is a 740 acre private marina community located on 11 miles of inland waterways that lead to the emerald waters of Lake Tahoe. There are about 1250 homes and 350 condominiums located within the Tahoe Keys area. Most of the properties in the Tahoe Keys are waterfront properties that have private boat docks and easy access to boating on Lake Tahoe.

The Tahoe Keys offers some of the best mountain, meadow, and water views in Lake Tahoe. The utilities are underground and there is a building height code that keeps the views breathtaking and unobstructed.

Homeowners in the Tahoe Keys have access to private amenities including tennis courts, an indoor and outdoor pool, spa, park, private beach, marina, and launch ramp The Tahoe Keys HOA also provides security, waterway maintenance, and has its own water company. The Tahoe Keys Property Owners Association is the Tahoe Keys HOA. HOA fees are $1919 annually for houses and from $1000 to $1400quarterly for condos depending on their location with-in the Tahoe Keys.

Single family home property values generally range from the $500,000′s to $3,ooo,ooo, but there have been a few foreclosures in the Tahoe Keys that have sold for under $400,000, and some luxury lakefront homes that have sold well over that range. Tahoe Keys condos range from $250,000 for a one bedroom, to over $1,000,000+ for a lakefront.

February Real Estate In South Lake Tahoe Review

The inventory of active single family homes for sale in South Lake Tahoe remained relatively low in February. There are now 401 houses listed on the South Lake Tahoe MLS, 298 of the homes are active and 103 of the homes are in escrow. Distress sales are still the most active part of the real estate market in South Lake Tahoe. Out of the 103 houses in escrow, 51 are short sales and 22 are bank owned foreclosures.

There were 23 single family homes that closed escrow in February, down from 29 in February 2009, and also down from 32 in January. The difficulty with getting short sales closed is one of the reasons that the number of houses sold was down in February. There are currently 51 short sales that are in escrow, and only 4 short sales closed escrow last month! Each monthmore short sales go into escrow, and only a few end up closing. In January there were 40 short sales in escrow, and in December 2009 there were 38. With 51 short sales tied up in escrow, the number of closings is going to be negatively affected. As soon as some of the short sales that are in escrow start closing, the number of sold houses should get back on track.

February Statistics for the South Lake Tahoe Real Estate Market

There were 23 single family homes in South Lake Tahoe that sold in February, down from 32 in January, and down from 29 in February 2009.
The average sales price of the homes sold was $405,461, up from $348,328 in January, and down from $411,156 in February 2009.
The Median sales price of the homes sold was $312,500, down from $317,250 in January, and down from $319,000 in February 2009.
The average price per square foot was $213, up from $209 in January, and down from $231 in February 2009.
The average days on the market was 176, up from 162 in January, and up from 167 in February 2009.
The median days on the market was 119, up from 127 in January, and down from 125 in February 2009.
There were 11 bank owned foreclosures in South Lake Tahoe that sold, there were also 11 foreclosures sold in January, and there were 12 foreclosures that sold in February 2009.
There were 4 short sales that closed escrow in February, down from 8 sold short sales in January, and up from 1 sold in February 2009.

The percentage of distress sale closings has also continued to increase. In February 65% of the houses sold in South Lake Tahoe were either foreclosures or short sales. This percentage is up from 59% in January.

The foreclosures in South Lake Tahoe that sold in February had a very low average price per square foot of $171. The average sales price for the 11 foreclosures sold was $334,100 and the median sales price was $258,000. The foreclosures had an average days on the market of 79 including the escrow period.

When looking to purchase a foreclosure in South Lake Tahoe, the best advise that I have for home buyers is to act quickly. Most of the foreclosures go into escrow very quickly and have multiple offers in on them. There are many investors and home buyers that are currently in the market looking for deals. There are also many buyers looking to take advantage of the home buyer tax credit that expires on April 30th. If you see a foreclosure on the South Lake Tahoe MLS that you are interested in, make sure to call me before it is too late!

South Lake Tahoe Foreclosure News

Foreclosures in South Lake Tahoe still seem to be the target for investors, speculators, and home buyers looking for good deals. There are currently 49 foreclosures listed on the South Lake Tahoe MLS and 26 of them are currently in escrow. Out of the 56 homes sold so far this year on the South Lake Tahoe MLS, 22 were bank owned foreclosures. With the recent steady incoming inventory of foreclosures, buyers have been ignoring most of the non-distress sale listings.

DIstress sales (foreclosures and short sales) currently account for 74 of the 104 single family homes that are currently in escrow. There may be some relief in sight for the non-distress sellers. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association the end of the foreclosure crisis may be near.

“The continued and sizable drop in the 30-day delinquency rate is a concrete sign that the end may be in sight,” says Jay Brinkmann, MBA’s chief economist, in a published statement.

Brinkmann said that normally there is a large spike in short-term mortgage delinquencies at the end of the year because of high heating bills and holiday expenditures. This year, there was not only no spike, but the 30-day delinquency rate actually fell from 3.79 percent to 3.63 percent.

Thirty-day delinquencies have historically been a leading indicator of serious delinquencies and foreclosures, Brinkmann said.

“[This] gives us growing confidence that the size of the problem now is about as bad as it will get,” he said.

The decrease in the delinquency rate is not the only sign that the foreclosure crises in ending. According to an article in The Wall Street Journal by James R. Hagerty (02/23/2010), home buyers that are looking for a steal on a foreclosure is not as easy as it used to be.

“Home buyers hoping to snag a really good deal on a foreclosed home are finding it increasingly difficult because supply is shrinking.

The number of foreclosures that are available for sale nationwide fell to 617,000 in December, down from 845,000 in November 2008, reports Barclays Capital.

Not only have attractive homes in popular neighborhoods already been snapped up, but also government help for distressed buyers is delaying more foreclosures.

Demand is driving up prices. Investors say typical prices have climbed from 75 percent of appraised value to 85 percent or higher when there are bidding wars.”

Home buyers in South Lake Tahoe are also finding that it is more difficult to find a bargon on an under priced foreclosure. In most cases, the foreclosures that have been listed on the South Lake Tahoe MLS are attracting multiple offers. Many buyers are getting beaten out of deals 3 or more times before they are able to purchase a foreclosure. If the inventory of foreclosure listings follows the decrease in delinquencies, it will only get tougher to find a steal on a foreclosure.

South Lake Tahoe Vacation Rental Tax Deductions

Many home buyers in South Lake Tahoe are thinking of renting out their home as a vacation rental in order to offset the cost of ownership. This is a great way for buyers to afford a bigger or more expensive property that may have been out of reach with out any rental income. Although the vacation rental activity is down along with housing prices, there is still potential to attract renters during our peak winter and summer seasons, especialy holidays.

If you do rent out your home in South Lake Tahoe, there are some great tax deductions that you do not want to miss. It is important to ask your CPA about the allowed deductions, but here are deductions that owners of rental properties can take as listed on IRS.gov.

Mortgage interest
Property Taxes
Operating expenses
Depreciation
Repairs

You can deduct the ordinary and necessary expenses for managing, conserving, and maintaining your rental property. Ordinary expenses are those that are common and generally accepted in the business. Necessary expenses are those that are deemed appropriate, such as interest, taxes, advertising, maintenance, utilities, snow removal, and insurance.

You can deduct the cost of repairs that you make to your rental property. A repair keeps your property in good operating condition and does not materially add value to the property. Examples are painting, fixing leaks, replacing broken doors and other parts of the rental property.

You may not deduct the cost of improvements. An improvement adds to the value of the property, prolongs its useful life, or adapts it to new uses. The cost of improvements is recovered through depreciation. Examples are adding a deck, a new fence, or a roof. Your CPA will be able to calculate the depreciation of the improvements so that the cost of the improvement will be deducted over time.

In my mind, the best deduction for a vacation rental property in South Lake Tahoe is travel expense! Many real estate investors acquire real estate in the places they like to visit. Each time they travel to the property, the travel costs are a deductible expense. That means that if you purchase a rental property in South Lake Tahoe, your next visit to your home will be tax deductible!

This blog post was just a highlight of the available tax deductions for rental properties. I am a real estate agent in South Lake Tahoe, not a tax expert, so make sure to check with your CPA for allowable tax deductions and recent tax changes! For more information regarding properties for sale in South Lake Tahoe, contact Brent Johnson today!