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Spring Cleaning Time!

Tahoe’s great spring weather is here, and the snow has finally melted in my yard. I was amazed to see how trashed it was! I spent about 20 minutes picking up dog poop and garbage that had been covered up by the winter snow storms.
Now that Chase International South Tahoe Realty has moved its office to 989 Tahoe Keys Blvd., It is close enough for me to walk to work from my house. While walking to work yesterday, I noticed that most of the houses along Tahoe Keys Blvd. still had trash scattered in there yards, and along the street. I was surprised to see how bad the neighborhood looks when you slow down and look around! I know that the snow has just recently melted, but it is time for spring cleaning…

Lets all do our part and keep beautiful Lake Tahoe blue and clean!

Do you need a permit to build a fence in Lake Tahoe?

Do you need a permit to build a fence in South Lake Tahoe?

You do not need a fence permit in the County, but you do need one in the City.

The first step is to fill out a fence application. You will need to draw a site plan, drawn to scale, which shows the existing conditions and the proposed new fence. The proposed new fence will need to have a description of the proposed fence, indicating the material specifications.

The City Building/Planning Department provides a Fence Checklist that outlines the fence height requirements, construction standards, and setback requirements.

There is one specification on the fence checklist that I feel should be upgraded. There is a maximum space of 8′ between posts for a 6′ tall fence. With the amount of snow that we receive here in Tahoe, there should be a maximum space of 6′ between fence posts.

Once you have filled out your fence application and drawn your site plan, you may bring them to the City Planning Department along with a $40 application fee.

Although you do not need a fence permit in the County, you still need to follow the County fence requirements.

I am currently working on my site plan for a fence for my backyard, and I was able to gather this information. Hopefuly this will save you some time if you are planning to build a fence in the future!

New Addition To My Family!

There is a New Addition to My Family!

It has been a while since my last blog. I have been busy hanging out with the newest addition to my family. On April 2nd, my wife Jill and I became the proud parents of our third daughter. Kayla Marie Johnson was born at Barton Memorial Hospital at 9:00 p.m.. Kayla weighed 6.2 pounds, and was 17 inches long.

I do not want to brag, but Kayla is perfect! She has been sleeping well, hardly ever cries, and has captured my heart! I am a very happy Dad!

Jill has decided to take six weeks off from the office, but she will be doing some work from home.

I am now back at work full time, and I am ready for the spring South Lake Tahoe Real Estate season!

3/16 to 3/22 Real Estate Review

The South Lake Tahoe Real Estate market experienced another solid week of buyer activity similar to the previous week. The foreclosures located at 1472 Glen Eagles and 2002 Cherokee that I predicted would sell very quickly, both had multiple offers, and are now in escrow.

There was a total of seven single family houses that went into escrow reported on the South Lake Tahoe MLS.

2002 Cherokee St. (foreclosure)

$384,900

1472 Glen Eagles (foreclosure)

$394,500

1301 Pine Valley (foreclosure)

$664,000

1139 Herbert Ave. #c (condo)

$298,500

3519 Pinecrest

$379,000

914 Lapham

$399,950

489 Tahoe Keys Blvd. (condo)

$269,000

There were eight single family homes sold last week that were reported on the South Lake Tahoe MLS.

2695 Springwood Drive

Asking Price $289,900

Sold Price $262,000

1261 E. San Bernadino St.

Asking Price $399,000

Sold Price $399,000

1024 Iron Mountain

Asking Price $1,050,000

Sold Price $937,500

2521 Osborne St.

Asking Price $259,900

Sold Price $245,000

2175 Royal St.

Asking Price $359,000

Sold Price $315,000

2293 Eloise Ave. #C

Asking Price $498,000

Sold Price $434,000

1536 Chippewa St.

Asking Price $699,000

Sold Price $639,000

3463 Beaver Brae Dr.

Asking Price $464,900

Sold Price $505,000

There were 24 price reductions with the largest reduction being 645 Zuni which is a new home reduced to $899,000 from $995,000!

New single family listings were up to 16 from 12 the previous week.

The South Lake Tahoe Real Estate market experienced another solid week of buyer activity during the first week of Spring. We will see if this activity continues through the Summer.

What’s the deal with our local agencies?

Our Local regulatory agencies need to be more knowledgeable and capable of answering questions correctly! I would like to share a recent experiance with the El Dorado County Building Department. Last week I went to the County Building department to get a price for extending a permit for a client of mine. I usually like to have my clients accompany me for things like this, but this particular client lives in New York. The lady at the front desk told me that the price would be $111. I gave my client the price, and I told him that I would cover the fee. The next day I went to renew the permit and pay the fee. There was a different lady at the counter (I do not want to mention any names) told me that the fee is really $368! Realizing that I would be the one responsible for the fee, I explained what I was told the day before by the first lady. Of course the first lady did not remember the price she told me. I decided to bite my tongue and to pay the fee. The very next day I received a phone call from the building department. They now say that yet another mistake was made, and that I owed them another $700! According to them I was charged 2002 fees, not 2008 fees. After a heated conversation they decided not to bill me for the difference.

I personaly do like all of the employees that work at the County Building department, but there needs to be a better understanding of the importance of distributing accurate information!

Opportuinties are Knocking!

Now that we all agree (or most of us) that the real estate market is cyclical, and prices will someday turn around, it is time to go bargain hunting!

South Lake Tahoe does not have the huge numbers of foreclosures and short sales that Sacramento or Stocton is having, but we are seeing our fair share.

I recently put a new 3400+ square foot home in escrow in which the banks asking price was $649,900! This home was previosly listed at $1,050,00 then reduced to $888,000, and then fell into foreclosure.

Most new construction houses in South Lake Tahoe are selling for between $280 to $300 per square foot. At $193.00 per square foot for nice new construction with radiant in floor heat and a driveway snow melt system, my buyers are extremely happy.

There is going to be some work involved with this foreclosure. The house has not been completely finished, and will cost around $30,000 to finish. This would bring the finished price per square food to just over $200 per square foot if my buyers paid full asking price ( I will let you know when it closes!).

The big question is: What do you think this property will be worth in 10 years? I would think that it will be worth a lot more than what my buyers paid for it!