Reno Home Blog

Calabria Homes By KB HOME: For Reno Home Buyers

Calabria Homes At Damonte Ranch

 

"It is my understanding that there is no standing inventory.  I know they had a very busy weekend, selling nine (I believe) with additional incentives."

I Talked to Rita from KB home Damonte Ranch (located in south Reno) this morning and asked her to send me a list of their standing inventory.  Standing inventories are a great way to negotiate when getting into a new home.  Builders are usually more flexible with them simply because the home is already 'standing' up and vacant.

She replied:   
    " It is my understanding that there is no standing inventory.  I know they had a very busy weekend, selling nine (I believe) with additional incentives."

Whew, nine homes sold in a weekend?  that's pretty good!  Buyers, it might be good time to buy now esp. in developments like Calabria by Monte Serno where  you are near everything but not too near- the location is very desirable.

The reason I say this (buying now) is demand is already picking up since Jan 21 2008, And if this continues home prices will eventually catch up and bottom.  If you wait too long the builder's incentives might not be there anymore.

If you are thinking of buying and does not have a specific area in mind (yet), Calabria at Damonte Ranch is a great place to start looking for your dream home.  And Joe (775-338-7653) will be more than happy to show you around =) [we've had two clients get their dream home at Calabria]

Here are the latest prices:

                         Calabria at Monte Sereno by KB HOME

 

• Plan 1:  from $251,900

    1840 sq ft    single story      2 car garage
     3 or 4 bedrooms 2 baths
     Bedroom 4 option, living and dining

• Plan 3:  from $261,900

    1958 sq ft  2 story - 2 car garage
     3 or 4 bedrooms 2.5 baths
     Loft or Bedroom 4 option, living,dining & family room

• Plan 4:  from $281,900

     2452 sq. ft.    2 story    2 car garage
    3 or 4 bedrooms 2.5 baths
    Loft or Bedroom 4 option, living,dining & family room

       

• Plan 5:  from $301,900

    2566 Sq. Ft.    2 story    2 car garage
    3 or 4 bedrooms 2.5 to 3 baths
    Den or Bedroom 4 option, living,dining & family room

• Plan 7:  from $293,900

     2446 Sq. Ft.    Single story   enlarged garage
     4 or 5 Bedrooms,  2.5 baths 
     enlarged garage or bedroom 5 option

• Plan 8:  from $321,900

      2786 square feet   2 story   3 car garage
      4 to 5 bedrooms,      2.5 to 4 baths
      Bedroom 5, loft, Bonus rm, Junior master, studio options

• Plan 9:  from $361,900

       3102 square feet   2 story    3 car garage
       4 to 5 bedrooms,    2.5 to 3 baths
       Den, Bedroom options, Living, Dining, & Family room

• Plan 14:  from $237,900

       1667 sq ft     single story    2 car garage
        3 bedroom, 2 baths, great room

• Plan 15:  from $241,900

        1776 sq ft     single story     2 car garage
         3 or 4 bedrooms. 2 baths,
        Great room, Den, 4'th bedroom options

                                     Ravenna at Monte Serno by KB Home

• Plan 1:  from $265,900

          2046 sq. ft.     Single Story     2 car garage
          3 or 4 bedrooms,     2 baths
          Den option,Living,Dining, & Family Rooms

• Plan 2:  from $271,900

          2290 sq. ft.   2 story   2 car garage
          3 to 5 bedrooms    2.5 to 3 baths
          Den or loft option, Living, Dining & Family Rooms

• Plan 3: from $276,900

          2305 sq. ft.  Single Story   2 car garage
          3 or 4 bedrooms     2 baths
          Den option, Living, Dining, & family rooms

• Plan 4: from $286,900

         2464 sq. ft.    2 story, 3 car garage
         4 or 5 Bedrooms  2.5 baths
         Living, Dining,, & Family Rooms
         Super Family Room, Den options

• Plan 5: from $331,900

         2958 sq. ft.   2 story   3 car garage
         3 to 6 Bedrooms   2.5 to 4 baths
         Living,Family and Dining Rooms
         Den, Retreat, Bonus Room, Junior Master Options

• Plan 6: from $256,900

         1840 Sq. Ft.  Single Story  2 car garage
         3 or 4 bedrooms   2 baths

• Plan 7: from $240,900

          1667 sq. ft.  Single Story  2 car garage
           3 bedrooms    2 baths   Great room

• Plan 8: from $244,900

          1776 square feet  Single Story   2 car garage
          3 bedrooms   2 Baths   Great Room     Den

For more information call Joe: 775-338-7653

Links For the Week

photo by: .krish.Tipirneni.

1.   I never was passionate about the whole issue of Trulia, Red Fin and those companies 'stealing' our business.  I always believed that these companies were inevitable creations by the Internet age we live in and ultimately it was up to us agents how we will innovate and thrive on the new trends.  But Ryan Ward of  Atlanta Real Estate blog made some good points against it:

See: Atlanta Real Estate

    2.   This will be the most Top 5's I will ever see in my life.

           See: Newsome.org

    3.   What would you do if you got a vicious attack on your computer by a trojan virus that              left you feeling like a deer-staring-at-headlights? (It has happened to me three         
            times)

           Well, according to Diego Orjuela you can call his tech company and be helped for $0.99/minute  and if they can't solve it-it's free! Phil Gerbyshak share his interview with Diego.

See: MinuteFix interview

    4.  Stephen J. Dubner of freakonomics has an interesting link about some people against some practices of NAR(National Association of Realtors).  Ouch, I'm a member of course but maybe we can learn something from this article.

          See: Freakonomics

 

How I Accidentally Found The Reno Real Estate's Market Bottom: I need your help...

'A beautiful accident'  Photo by: Marta P.

I was doing my usual Reno market updates when I accidentally found something what appears to be the best evidence that will prove that the reno real estate market bottom is not far from from us.

Every month I make an update on what the Reno real estate is doing.  I usually choose the two-year option. Meaning,  all the statistics in our market in the past two years will be presented to me.  But this time I accidentally chose the six-month option rather than the two-years. 

What happened was I saw in detail what was happening in the Reno real estate market for the past six months rather than two years.  I got the surprise of the year when I saw what this presented to me.  I saw clearly how the demand of homes in Reno was going up since Jan 21,2008.

(notations added)
 Click Here For Full Page View

                                       ------------------------------------------

"I understand the possible howls in the air: ' O come on, Realtors, of course, you would always see the bright side'."

                                       ------------------------------------------

Before seeing this, I thought that the increase in demand in our market for the past few months was only because we were approaching summer.   'And  this is nothing new', I though to myself.

But notice what the graph clearly shows us:  Even before summer hit, demand was already picking up!
 

This I failed to see on the two-year graph:

 Click Here For Full Page View

I understand the possible howls in the air: ' O come on, Realtors, of course, you would always see the bright side'.

And with all the respect for Lawrence Yun, I can't blame the people for doubting the statements issued from our industry. Most of us have been incorrectly 'predicting' the market.

But Know that Ian and I wrestled with this data for two weeks. And we're still not content with what we think this might be. That's why I made this blog post.

Help me. What's your interpretation? Let's wrestle with the data. And maybe just maybe we can all get something from this and pass this much needed information to our clients especially buyers.

Reno Real Estate: Supply (Updated May 7,2008)

                                         _______________________

    "..And to have the best chance of selling a home, sellers should think of putting their homes in the market as early as April-May and price it aggressively. " 
                              ________________________

About:  We will be looking at the  number of homes for sale in Reno,NV starting from November of 2005- April of 2008.

WIIFM(what's in it for me?): By following the number of homes for sale in the Reno Real Estate market we will understand the overall supply in the Reno market.  Here you will be able to compare exactly how the inventory of homes have been going up or down(broken down per month for the past twenty-nine months).

Highlights: 

(April 2008) As predicted Reno real estate's supply of homes have been going up.  There are 191 more homes in the market compared to last month.  Sellers are beginning to catch on to the increase in buyer's activity.

Observation/comments: 

I talked to my client yesterday and I was sharing to him why it's vital to put his home in the market before the summer officially starts and to price his home aggressively.  'This is what I would do If I was in your position', I told him. 

I was basing my advice from this graph. Plain and simple, people like buying homes in Reno (in significant numbers) when it is warm outside.  And to have the best chance of selling a home, sellers should think of putting their homes in the market as early as April-May and price it aggressively. 

If I was a seller in this market, I would set the price for my home where I would be number one in the neighborhood.  The number one mistake sellers make (in the current state of our market) is they try to 'test' the market; for example, when they see that the comparables for their home is $330k they will still try to sell it for $350k and test it out for two months.  What happens is because the market is going down, after two months the nearest comparable is no longer $330k but $315k they have just lost $15,000 assuming that the home will sell for $315,000.

What I would do if I was in the seller's position is I would immediately price my home at or even a few thousand lower than my lowest priced competitor.  My whole strategy in doing this is I want to cut my losses short.  'knowing when to fear and when to hope can make all the difference in the world'. 

The market never fails to give us clues on where it is going.  Knowing what the market is doing will give us the much-needed confidence in making gutsy calls like cutting our losses short. 

                                        --------------------------------

"If you have a more specific question about the Reno or Sparks real estate market, call Joe (775-338-7653) or Ian (775-338-7649) for a no hassle-no pressure phone meeting."

                                       ---------------------------------

Graph:

Click Here For Full Page View 

Reno number of homes for sale:

• Apr '08:  2,749

• Mar '08: 2,558

• Feb '08:  2,476

• Jan '08:  2,544

• Dec '07:  2,581

• Nov '07:  2,784

• Oct '07:   3,024

• Sep '07:  3,064

• Aug '07:  3,307

• Jul '07:    3,251

• Jun '07:   3,208

• May '07:  3,065

• Apr '07:   2,913

• Mar '07:  2,691

• Feb '07:  2,531

• Jan '07:  2,711

• Dec '06:  2,664

• Nov '06:  3,056

• Oct '06:   3,350

• Sep '06:  3,528

• Aug '06:  3,688

• Jul '06:   3,549

• Jun '06:  3,415

• May '06:  3,121

• Apr '06:   2,658

• Mar '06:   2,533

• Feb '06:   2,259

• Jan '06:  2,480

• Dec '05:  2,444

• Nov '05:  2,700

P.S- If you have something to add about what's happening in your neighborhood or you disagree with me on something or just want to rant about the market, your most welcome to add to the conversation by leaving a comment .  Thanks!

*  Reno Residential homes site/stick built

Updated: May 7,2008
Source: Multiple listing Service
Next Release Time:  June 7,2008  (Every 7'th of the month)

Arrow Creek Real Estate: An Adulterated Report

Arrow Creek Country Club

                                 ----------------------------------------
"It's just matter of time until the home prices in Arrow Creek finds a bottom if the demand continues to go up."
                                 ----------------------------------------

About:

I created this report for the inquisitive buyer in the Arrow Creek area who is discontent with the general statement, 'It's a great/bad time to buy in Arrow Creek!'.  I believe completely that it's the market's opinion that matters most when buying a house.  And that's what I want to show to you here.

This report is also for the seller who wants to better understand the current state of their neighborhood in order to make a better selling decision. 

Hope it helps.

In this report you will learn the ff:

• Median price of homes sold in Arrow Creek in the last two years.

• Number of homes for sale in the last two years.

• Number of homes SOLD in the last two years.

Observations:

• Demand,basing it from the number of homes SOLD, seems to have reached a bottom (see: second graph).

• Even though the demand has caught up median home prices are still in a downward trend.  This is not new.  Historically,demand will always be first to go up before prices.  It is just matter of time until the home prices in Arrow Creek finds a bottom if the demand continues to go up. (This is really fascinating for me, I did not expect this to happen this early)

• Inventory of homes is in a downward trend.  But  I expect it to go up this coming summer months (it's already up in April).

Graph(s):

Number of Homes For Sale
Click Here For Full Page View

Number of homes SOLD
Click Here For Full Page View

Median Price (SOLD)
Click Here For Full Page View

Note:  Based on past reader's experience, you would have additional questions and concerns or would want to clarify something about the Arrow Creek real estate market. 

Don't hesitate to call me, this is my full-time job and  I would love to be of service in any way. 

Call Joe: 775-338-7653

Community Links:

• Arrow Creek Country Club

• Arrow Creek Homeowners Association

* Residential homes site/stick built

Updated: May 7,2008
Source: Multiple listing Service
Next Release Time:  TBA