Christy Morrison - Truckee Tahoe Realtor

Don’t Miss the Fall Market—5 Reasons to List Your Home Now

There are many great Truckee area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (530) 582-6900 for a FREE home buying consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Today we’re counting down the top five reasons why fall is a good time to list and sell your home.

5. It’s absolutely beautiful right now. Your landscaping looks great. Flowers are still in bloom and the yard is green. The house looks great and your curb appeal couldn’t be better.

4. It’s the perfect time to trade up to a larger home. If you’ve been waiting for the market to turn, stop waiting. Interest rates are still really low. Homes priced under $600,000 are still selling in about two to three weeks. Homes in the higher end of the market take longer to sell, so there is more for you to choose from. The cost for your loan will be really low right now, so make sure you take advantage of the market and move up to a larger home.

3. Buyers have been waiting for new homes to come on the market. A lot of homes that were on the market have sold. The ones that are leftover have been on the market for a long time, and buyers don’t want them. They are waiting for great homes to come on the market. These homes should be in a great location, in great condition, and competitively priced.

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Fall buyers are ready to make offers right now.

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2. Buyers are highly motivated right now. These buyers want to buy homes. They are not coming up to Tahoe for vacation like they do in the summer; they specifically want to buy a home for the winter. Instead of getting 10 or 15 showings like you do in the summer, in the fall you’ll get two to four showings. Those buyers are ready to write offers.

1. Inventory is shrinking right now. This is the best reason to sell your home in the fall. There is a smaller number of homes available than the number of sales. For example, in August of 2017, we sold 223 houses. In September of 2016, only 206 homes sold. So, inventory is shrinking but sales stay up.

Don’t wait for next spring. List your home this fall and enjoy a successful home sale.

If you have any other questions about selling this fall or you would like to know more about preparing your home for the market, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

Is It Time for You to Buy or Sell in Our Tahoe-Truckee Market?

Are we in a buyer’s or seller’s market? The answer depends on your location, but it’s arguably a good time to both buy and sell.

A lot of my clients often ask, “Are we currently in a buyer’s or a seller’s market?”

Right now in the Tahoe-Truckee area, the answer depends on which neighborhood you’re looking in. For example, in Lahong, there are more than 22 great homes for sale, and about two to four are selling every month. The same is true for some of the high-end homes in Tahoe-Donner and around the lake.

If you’re looking for a high-end property, it’s definitely a buyer’s market. If you’re a first-time homebuyer looking in the $400,000 to $500,000 range, you’ll face a lot of competition, so that price point is definitely a seller’s market.

Our current inventory is about 12% less compared to where it was at this time last year. Supply is down, but there is still quite a good selection of homes on the market. Inventory isn’t quite low enough to cause prices to spike—they rose 5% from January to March, but they’ve since stabilized and are now what’s keeping our market level. Interest rates are still very low as well, especially on jumbo properties, and some of our clients are still getting rates between 4% and 4.25%.

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Supply is down, but there is still quite a good selection of homes on the market.

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To summarize, it’s not only a great time to buy, but it’s also a great time to sell because you’re selling in a market where buyers can get incredible rates on their loans. We’re still about 10% below our peak pricing, so buyers should be aware that we still have quite a ways to go in terms of appreciation.

As a seller, you need to pay attention to what other homes are selling for and make sure yours stands out in terms of its condition. As always, listen to your Realtor and stage your home as best you can to attract the best buyer possible.

If you have any other questions about our Tahoe-Truckee market or are thinking of buying or selling a home, don’t hesitate to get in contact with me. I’d love to help you!

Programs for First-Time Homebuyers

If you’re looking to purchase a home for the first time, it can seem like a daunting task to undertake. Thankfully, there are several options out there that can help.

Today I’m joined by a special guest, Suzi Cooper of RPM Mortgage, who is here to explain first-time homebuyer programs as well as how to purchase property in today’s market.

As you likely already know, our area is currently in somewhat of a housing crisis. But if you’ve been forced to move from place to place while renting under various, unreliable landlords, don’t give up. There are strategies you can implement to purchase your own home.

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There are strategies you can implement to purchase your own home.

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A program called the Home Ready Mortgage, for example, is one Suzi was excited to share with us. With this program, buyers need as little as 3% down and the income requirements are very flexible. As long as you can prove it, you can have income coming from roommates, family members, or elsewhere.

Actually, I’ve got a listing I think could be perfect. It’s a 3-bedroom, 1-bath, with a two-car garage and a view of Donner Lake. This house also has a studio right above it. Right now, it’s priced at $425,000.

At this price, you would need to pay 15% down—which in this case would be $63,750 with monthly payments of $2,314. The rent for the studio is currently $1,200. So, if you were to rent it out, you could take it out of your monthly payments and be left with less than half of what you were paying previously.

This is an opportunity that doesn’t come around often. In fact, you have several options you could implement here. If you would prefer, you could live in the studio and rent out the house, instead.

We also have a few single-family homes in this price range, as well. When it comes to these kinds of properties, you can put as little as 3% down with the Home Ready Mortgage.

To utilize this program you’ll need about a credit score of 660 to 680, and for the FHA you need a score of about 580. There’s really a lot of flexibility.

The first step is to speak to a local expert, like Suzi, who can look at your income, assets, and finances and help you determine what path to take moving forward.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.