Host, Christine Karpinski:  Today's guest is Deb Howard. She owns a real estate brokerage on the border between Lake Tahoe, California and Lake Tahoe, Nevada, but she is physically on the California side. She sells real estate in obviously both states.

She has a real estate brokerage firm. It';s called "Deb Howard and Company". We're going to talk to her today about buying property in Lake Tahoe. Deb, thank you so much for joining us.

Guest, Deb Howard:  It is absolutely my pleasure. I have to tell you it is snowing here!

Christine:  Oh my goodness.

Deb:  We have been just so excited about the upcoming ski and snowboard season because that is what our tourism economy and our vacation rentals are all based on.

Christine:  You know it';s funny because I remember a couple years ago that Lake Tahoe didn't get very much snow at all and everybody was kind of complaining going "There's no snow". But it seems like this year there is snow everywhere early. My son and husband are actually going out skiing tomorrow morning.

Deb:  Fantastic. Now, where do they ski?

Christine:  Well, they are actually up in New York right now.

Deb:  Very nice, very nice. Well, I will tell you that one of the things we have been able to do because our winter season is so dependent on Mother Nature and snow, that many of our ski resorts like Heavenly, Vail, here at the South shore, have invested a lot of time and energy and money into man‑made snow. And so they started blowing snow when it gets cold so we'll be ready for the upcoming ski season.

Christine:  That's exciting.

Deb:  We're very excited.

Christine:  And that's wonderful for everyone...

Deb:  Yes, I'd love to talk to you about the Tahoe market.

Christine:  Well, let's get right into it. How is the Tahoe vacation home buying market right now?

Deb:  I'd like to tell people the real estate market is unbelievable. It depends on which side of the equation you are on. If you are a property owner currently and you've owned your property for three years or longer, you're sitting with a great deal of equity that you have enjoyed as this wonderful real estate market went up, up, up, up, up. In 2005, we found that we had really reached a threshold of affordability.

Christine:  Right.

Deb:  The vote decided, "Hey, let's sit back and watch this marketplace and keep an eye on it. So that's been the sluggish market that we've been in. I'll be able to give you some statistics that you can analyze yourself. We really think two years of a sluggish downturn in the market place in terms of units sold...But really, about (and I say only) about ten percent down in price. If you bought last year and you lost ten percent, that's very painful.

Christine:  Right.

Deb:  But if you bought five years ago and your prices have more than doubled: Ten percent, well, you know, you can live with that. So, again, when you ask "how's the housing market", it just depends on where you are in that equation. But buyers are starting to get back into the market; they are feeling a little bit more confident. "Yeah, maybe its time to get back in. " So we're starting to see that side of the market pick up.

Christine:  I can certainly see that. It seems to be similar all over the country. We do podcasts with real estate agents and brokers all over and they seem to be saying the same thing: It's a good time to buy.

Deb:  Excellent, yes. Not only are the buyers feeling "I'm kind of smart because I waited and now I can buy. There's more on the tray on the market. I can buy. I can negotiate-- finally." It was very frustrating for buyers that were buying at the peak of the market because it was a seller's market. It';s squarely a buyer's market in many markets and as I go around the nation and look and see what other resort brokers talk about their marketplace, it seems to be pretty much the same.

Great opportunities for buyers coupled with the low interest rates that we're still enjoying. It seems to be that it';s signaling to a lot of buyers that maybe you'll want to start looking again. Maybe you'll want to pull the trigger. But most important is, what does that consumer, that buyer really want and need in their phase of purchasing?

Christine:  Right. Now if I were looking to buy in the Tahoe area, what would it cost me? What's the low end of the market; maybe the mid‑range and the high‑end? By low end, I don't mean come in and just buy a shack that';s inhabitable. What's a reasonable low‑end property that somebody who's thinking about buying can step into the market and have to pay?

Deb:  OK, Fair question. On the California side of the South shore: South Lake Tahoe (and then Stateline Nevada is the Stateline that we straddle between California and Nevada). On the California side where we have a little bit more inventory than the Nevada side, you can find an entry level home or cabin that a second home buyer or vacation buyer would be interested in on the low end‑you can get in as low as $250,000.

Christine:  Oh wow, that's a great deal. That's a single cabin or condo as well?

Deb:  That would probably be an entry‑level condo, as well. You're probably going to get a little bit more for your money in the condo. You're going to have your maintenance taken care of in your homeowner's dues, which is going to take care of the paint and the exterior maintenance, and the snow removal, and landscaping, and pool maintenance and that sort of thing, which really appeals to a lot of people.

Christine:  Especially if you are living from afar. I know a lot of people want to have condos because it is that much easier. However, for those who are looking for a single family cabin to purchase, that's a pretty reasonable price. How about the mid‑range?

Deb:  The mid‑range is pretty well defined. I just ran some numbers so that we could talk about the medium home size. Currently the average of our active listings is $569,000.

Christine:  So $569,000. That's pretty reasonable as well. If I were looking at those properties, would those be lakefront, or would they be ski‑in, ski‑out?

Deb:  Sure. What you are going to find on the active listings, and right now we have about 400 active listings in medium home prices, say $569,000. 1850 square feet is the average size. It is probably going to have about three bedrooms, two baths, and a two car garage.

You're going to be walking distance to the lake; or walking distance to the slopes; or not necessarily ski‑in, ski‑out but very close (one of the trolleys or transportation systems we have here will get you right up the mountain); you would be an easy drive to our state line gaming and shopping and dining attractions.

Christine:  Oh, that's right I forgot that Tahoe, because it';s also on the Nevada side, there's probably casinos there, too.

Deb:  Absolutely. There's an awful lot going on here, including our new Marriott and Heavenly Village that has really changed the landscape so that we have these wonderful new attractions right at Stateline, really meeting the needs of our consumers that are looking for that new quality of life seamless experience.

Christine:  Now, how about if I were looking into the high end properties, I imagine Tahoe's got those properties that are $25 million, but let's talk like that median high range.

Deb:  Sure, in the high range, I would say you can get wonderful, wonderful newer quality custom homes in the million range; they're something around 2,500 sq. ft. That would be something you could find in our Mountain View areas. As you get closer to the lake and start getting on the Lake Front or Lake View or in the Tahoe Keys area, which is a waterfront property development, you're going to move in to the two million, three million, probably up to about five million.

Christine:  So if I wanted to buy directly on the lake, I'm looking at 2‑5 million. Is that correct?

Deb:  I would say to buy on the lake itself, you're probably going to start at three million. I have the least expensive lake front property on the market for just over three million. If you get into waterfront but not lakefront, you can get in the waterfront at a million and then on.

Christine:  This is absolutely amazing to think that it's so much different in price to buy directly on the water as opposed to off the water. However, if you're thinking about renting that home, you have to realize that there are only so many people who could afford to rent that directly on the water property versus a few blocks off, maybe within walking distance or short drive to the lake.

Now, who mainly are the buyers who come to the Tahoe market? I would imagine, you probably see a fair amount of people from Sacramento and from San Francisco and maybe other parts of California. But are there other areas that you're seeing buyers from?

Deb:  Well, yes. With the proliferation of the Internet, we have really seen the exposure of this wonderful resort market start to blossom. Also, with the aging population and the huge demographic of baby boomers entering into that quality of life purchase cycle in their life; they can afford it and want it and feel that that is a good investment tool for them and that is that they're purchasing an investment property. We're really seeing people from almost all global backgrounds coming in to our marketplace.

Christine:  So really you're getting people from all over the place, huh?

Deb:  Well, and remember, too, that the exchange rate right now is really in the international favor.

Christine:  In international buyers, are you seeing mainly Europeans or are you seeing them from, say Asia?

Deb:  Well, we're seeing a lot of the Pacific Rim and the Asian market have been taking a great deal of interest in California, of course, and then moving in to our resort market ‑‑ but we're also seeing the South Americas in that marketplace. But really it has an interest for so many people and I really give a lot of credit to the fact that we can introduce our properties on the Internet and have that global exposure.

Christine:  Absolutely.

Deb:  I think what has been very compelling for people is that we can have four seasons.

Christine:  Right. There are four seasons that everybody loves to go there.

Deb:  Exactly, right.

Christine:  If you're in the desert, you want to go to Tahoe during the summer to sort of cool off. If you're in any other part of California, they don't have much skiing there, so it's probably the closest ski resort to most Californians.

Deb:  That's right. And you asked, "Where are the buyers coming from?" Beyond this really global interest, you come in nationally, you'll find the Floridians are here, as you mentioned the Arizonan coming in, a lot of folks from the Midwest, to escape the heat in the summer and the bitter cold in the winter, and some of the folks from the Pacific Northwest like to come this direction, too.

Christine:  Right.

Deb:  Then our state, California, of course, Bay Area, as you mentioned Sacramento, Southern California; it really has an appeal to a very wide range, I'm glad to say.

Christine:  That's great!

Deb:  You bet.

Christine:  Now, when you purchase vacation homes in the Tahoe area, do most people purchase with the idea of ‑‑ in your experience, of course, I know you can't answer for everybody ‑‑ but in you're experience through your brokerage firm, do you find that a lot of people do purchase with the idea of renting their vacation home?

Deb:  Quite a few have, and that is a very wide appeal because there are a lot of tax benefits to having an investment income property. So you can use the property, the IRS has a very distinct set of rules that they will ask you to recognize...

Christine:  Right. Typically, you can use it yourself 14 days or less if you're claiming it on your taxes as an investment. However, when a lot of people get into it, you say, "Gosh, I really don't have much more than two weeks vacation that I can take." Or, if you're using it on the weekend, say if you live in Sacramento or San Francisco and you're using it yourself on the weekends, that's seven weekends or maybe even 14 weekends if you're just staying one night.

So that's really a fair amount of time, more time than a lot of people can actually get away from their families and their jobs and all their other obligations that they've got going on.

Deb:  In our busy, busy life, that's exactly right. I'll tell you that a large percentage of our buyers do come in saying, "Hey, what can I see, what can I realize with a vacation rental versus a second home?" I think you make a very good point because many of our second home or third home resort property buyers find that they aren't able to use it nearly as much as they thought, but they still want to keep it for their family and have their precious vacations together here.

They ultimately will end up putting it on a rental program or going with VRBO, and that has been very interesting to see that transition of people change their lifestyles, and they're not able to use those second homes as much.

Christine:  OK, well, now if someone were listening to this podcast and they're going, "Hmm, Tahoe, I've always wanted to buy there, been watching that market for a little while, watched it through the 2004‑2005 boom. Gosh, it made me nervous to purchase, but I'm ready to buy now." If they wanted to contact you, how would they contact you?

Deb:  Well, we have a few ways. We're finding a lot of people are going right on the Internet and making connections with us there and our website is RealtorDeb.com.

Christine:  OK, so again, it's RealtorDeb.com.

Deb:  Correct, and you'll go right on. It's very easy to use or user friendly; you'll be able to search all of the properties around the entire lake, California and Nevada side, not just south shore but north shore as well, and find out really what's going on with the trends in the marketplace. We have quite a few virtual tours, so you can enjoy really walking through a house without having to fly here or drive here. Also, you can email me directly, Deb@RealtorDeb.com.

Christine:  OK, it's Deb@RealtorDeb.com.

Deb:  Correct!

Christine:  And, Deb, you also have an 800 number; that 800 number is 866‑542‑2912. Again, it's Deb Howard; if you're looking to buy in the Tahoe area, I recommend you give her a call. She's very knowledgeable about the market, has been doing this for a long time, has a great staff of people who can assist you with purchasing a home in Lake Tahoe.

Deb, thanks so much.

Deb:  Absolutely, it's been my pleasure and I'll look forward to doing this again.

Christine:  Thank you.

Deb:  You bet.