Real Estate Information

This is an absolutely gorgeous Serene Lakes home, which I can't beleive hasn't sold yet.  The asking price was just reduced by $50k to $799,900, which definitely makes it a great deal.  It's not a foreclosure, but it's a better deal than most foreclosures in this area.  It is truly a custom home which has been immaculately maintained and has 5 bedrooms.  It also has a large, unfinished room behind the garage, which could easily be turned into a family room, theater room, or could be the perfect ski tuning room.  Check out the pictures and details.

Check out this foreclosure home in Tahoe Donner.  It was built in 2007 and sold for over $900k, and is now available for just $589,900.  The home is in great condition as the bank replaced carpet and appliances and cleaned everything else up after foreclosure.  It has 4 bedrooms (including 2 master suites), beautiful wood floors in the great room, and has great access to the Tahoe Donner trail system and National Forest Land.  For pictures and details of this great opportunity to take advantage of a foreclosure, click here.

A fantastic house just hit the market today, in Tahoe Donner, at a very attractive price.  It is a must see for anyone looking to purchase a home in the $400k range.  The home is beautifully maintained (and updated) and has a great mountain feel with wood walls and a lot of windows for sunshine.  The property also has lovely, relatively low maintenance, landscaping.  Click here for details of this great home in Tahoe Donner.

Update 9/10/10:  This home went into escrow less than 24 hours after going into the MLS.  It closed in 2 1/2 weeks for $1,000 over asking price ($428,900). 

If you like music and you love the Lake Tahoe and Truckee area, you don't want to miss the Lake Tahoe Summer Music Festival.  This annual festival brings well known artists to some of our most beautiful venues.  The festival started out last night with "America - 40th Anniversary Tour" and continues over the next couple weeks with artists sucha s Wynona, Natalie Cole, and Michael McDonald playing at venues such as West End Beach at Donner Lake, Tahoe Donner Golf Course, Old Greenwood Golf Course, Northstar, and Martis Camp.  For full details and tickets check out their website  tahoemusic.org.

It's obvious that the real estate market and economy of Truckee and Tahoe is dramatically impacted by the ski industry.  That's why it's such great news that the local ski areas reported the 2009-2010 ski season to have had the second highest number of skier visits ever.  Ski Lake Tahoe, a conglomerate of Squaw Valley, Northstar, Alpine Meadows, Kirkwood, Heavenly, Mt. Rose, and Sierra at Tahoe, announced this news last Friday.  According to the local paper, the Sierra Sun, it was actually the best year ever for Northstar which was up 16% over their previous best year (2004-5).  To read the full article, follow this link:  Lake Tahoe Ski Resorts Report Second Busiest Season in History.

Really this is a great statement for Truckee and Tahoe in 2 ways.  First, it shows that the economy is recovering.  Second, it shows that people realize this is a first class skiing destination.  Both of these things are great signs for our real estate market!

If you really want to see the true beauty of the Truckee area and the Sierra Nevadas, the best way to do it is on foot.  Some of the most beautiful areas of the Lake Tahoe and Truckee region aren't easy to get to.  A great example is the North Fork of the American River in the "Royal Gorge".  One of my close friends, Shawn Bratcher, and I have made a couple of overnight backpacking trips to this area.

We access the area using the Palisades Creek Trail which starts at the trail head between Cascade Lakes and Long Lake.  It is a 7 mile hike from the trail head to the North Fork of the American River with 2200 feet of elevation change.  The first couple of miles the terrain is very rocky with limited vegetation.  There are gorgeous views of the surronding peaks, particularly Devil's Peak, Castle Peak, and Tinker's Knob.  The middle section of the trail takes you threw fairly thick vegetation.  Most of it is pine trees and various shrubs with a mixture of redwood trees here and there.  The bottom third of the trail is where you approach Palisades Creek and, ultimately, the North Fork of the American River.  This section is quite a bit steeper and the vegetation remains pretty thick.  You'll start to see a lot more tall grasses and oak trees, and you have to be cautious of rattle snakes and poison oak.

This trail can be done as a day trip, but I highly recommend spending at least 1 night down at the river.  It is an incredibly beautiful area with waterfalls as large as 60 feet and numerous pools for swimming and relatively safe areas for cliff jumping.  There are a handful of established camp sites, but otherwise not many signs of people.  It is truly one of my favorite spots to visit.

One of the surest signs that summer has arrived in Truckee is the Summer Music Series, better known as "Music in the Park" amongst the locals.  Every Wednesday, throughout the summer, the Truckee Donner Parks and Recreation District hosts a FREE concert at the Truckee River Regional Park Ampitheatre.  These concerts have become can't miss events for locals and visitors alike. 

This is a great event for people of all ages.  Bring your dinner and beverage of choice and enjoy the grass ampitheatre, the surrounding pine and aspen trees, the music, and friends!

Last week was the first week of the series.  You can take a look at the calendar of upcoming shows by clicking here:  Truckee Music in the Park Schedule.

Some of our favorite summer events are starting to come alive.  One of our particular favorites is the "Truckee Thursdays" festival which takes place in Downtown Truckee every Thursday during the summer.  The event is all about fun and getting out in the community and has been very successful in getting both locals and tourists to come to downtown Truckee on Thursday nights.  All of the downtown merchants get involved and make it a fun evening for the whole family.  Click the following link for more details:  Truckee Thursdays

Spring may be the "off season" for visitors to the Lake Tahoe Region, but as the years go by, more and more of our favorite events seem to be lining up during spring time.  If you're itching to come up and enjoy the mountains, maybe you want to plan your trip around some of these scheduled events and spring activities?

As I mentioned in a previous post, one of the great things about living in Truckee is the variety of outdoor activities you can participate in.  During the transition months, spring and fall, it frequently feels like we live in 2 different seasons during the same week (and sometimes even the same day!).  This last week has been a classic example of this as we brought the ski season to a close, with the final weekend at Alpine Meadows, but also opened the door to the summer season with an assortment of activities. 

The highlights of a week in The Transition Season:

Snow Skiing:  I love spring skiing and conditions did not dissapoint during the last weekend at Alpine Meadows.  I was lucky enough to be able to sneak out for 2 quick sessions on saturday and sunday morning.  The sun was out, the people were out, and there was still tons of snow.  I had a big smile on my face as I ran into numerous friends and made our final turns of the season together.  It really seemed like a shame, as I left the mountain late sunday morning, that the season was coming to an end.  Can anyone tell me why we open the ski areas in November, when there's barely a patch of snow on the mountains, and close them in April and May, when the mountains are completely covered in white?!!

Wakeboarding:  One of my best friends just got his boat out of winter storage, so we just had to take it out and make sure it was running right.  We took it out on Donner Lake late sunday evening.  It was a beautiful evening, with the air temp pushing into the mid 60's, and smooth water.  The water was viciously cold (ranging between 47 and 52 degrees on the boat thermometer) but thanks to the technology of "dry" suits, we didn't have to worry about that.  We took our first pulls of the season surrounded by snow covered shores and gorgeous views of Mt. Rose and Donner Peak covered in white.

Softball:  The Truckee recreational softball season starts next week, so my team needed to get together for a couple evening practices.  It felt a little strange to put on the spikes and glove just 2 days after going skiing, but that's life in the transition season in Truckee . . . there's snow on the mountains, but the grass is nice and green in town!! 

Mountain biking:  Unlike skiing, a sport in which there is time between the start of the season and optimal conditions, mountain biking around Truckee and Lake Tahoe seems to start with optimal conditions.  Though some of the higher elevation trails are still covered in snow, conditions on many trails are perfect.  I went out for a quick ride on Emmigrant trail, just north of Truckee, after work Thursday night and found perfection.  No dust, smooth banked turns, and easy climbing conditions. 

What can I say, despite having to work 50+ hours this week, I still was able to enjoy a lot of time outside.  THAT IS WHY I LIVE IN TRUCKEE!!