Click here to view the CNBC segment

The show featured an interview with new Tahoe-area property owners, David and Kate Kaufmann, who were quoted on the show as saying “Let’s take our money out and invest in something else that we can actually use and enjoy…and not just look at on a monthly statement.  And it’s been great.”…“Every time we come up here, we look at each other and we say we’re so happy we bought this place, we’re so happy we’re here.”

As CNBC host Jane Wells notes, “Real estate here is making a comeback thanks to the tech boom.”

Downtown Reno

The Lake Tahoe/Truckee area is experiencing one of its driest seasons this 2011/2012! What is there to do in the area while we are anxiously awaiting the snow? Here’s one option.

When there is no snow in Tahoe for skiing…you can head to Reno! I actually rode my mountain bike on trails to Stampede Reservoir in Truckee on Jan 1!! Crazy and unheard of but super beautiful and fun!

Check out this video entitled “Why I Love Reno.” The video interviews Reno locals and highlights many of the attractions that Reno has to offer including museums and the arts, college football, river rafting, baseball, and many more.

Hope this provides some ideas for things to do this season!

Why I Love Reno Video

If you are interested in real estate in Reno contact me so I can put you in touch with the best Reno realtor!

GUARANTEED TO GET YOU 
I N  T H E  H O L I D A Y  S P I R I T

Winterfest at Schaffer’s Mill

There’s nothing like surrounding yourself with the sights and sounds of winter to truly get into the holiday spirit.  Gliding down an old-fashioned sledding hill, enjoying warm, festive holiday drinks with friends or cruising the slopes of Northstar….all these activities are part of the Schaffer’s Mill “Winterfest” and are guaranteed to kick off your holiday season in style.

So come and join us, December 9th-11th and take advantage of not only the early winter snowfall, but our special Discovery Visit pricing.  For just $399, our Winterfest Weekend includes:

A Friday cocktail reception at the Martis Peak Mountain Lodge

• Featuring Holiday beverages, Napa Valley wines and heavy hors d’oeuvres
• Kids of all ages can design homemade ornaments and holiday cookies

Saturday In the Snow

• A morning tour of the furnished, model Mountain Lodges at Schaffer’s Mill
• Family sledding on the new Schaffer’s Mill Sled Hill
• Hot beverages and warming huts for adults and children to enjoy
• Afternoon skiing and evening ice skating at NorthStar also available*

Sunday Brunch

• Brunch at Moody’s Bistro in downtown Truckee

All this, including two nights accommodations, for only $399 per couple.

Space is limited, so please call now to book your Schaffer’s Mill Winterfest Discovery Visit.  And don’t forget to ask about our special incentives and leaseback options, ending on December 31st, on our model Mountain Lodges.  This is a $70,000-$100,000 savings and only three remain!

RSVP:  530.582.9026

info@schaffersmill.com

 *Discounted Ski passes and ice skate rental are available for an extra charge

Pete Carey from the San Jose Mercury News recently wrote an article entitled Tech-rich Vacation Home Buyers Head to Tahoe. Carey says that because of the booming tech industry in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley, vacation home buyers are expected to purchase real estate in Lake Tahoe. See entire article below…

Tech Rich Vacation Home Buyers Head to Tahoe

Market Rebounds as buyers from Bay Area move in

By Pete Carey
San Jose Mercury News

Lake Tahoe area real estate agents, hungry for sales in the aftermath of the housing bubble, are counting on the Bay Area’s booming tech industry to help generate the next crop of million-dollar vacation home buyers.

The market for vacation homes costing more than $1 million, though down over the year, turned in a strong third-quarter performance, according to Coldwell Banker. That was partly due to buyers from Silicon Valley, vacation home developers and real estate agents said.

“People are starting to feel a little bit better about things. Silicon Valley is kind of spearheading that revival. We’re seeing those folks make their way into the Tahoe market,” said Jim Telling of East-West Partners, the developer of Home Run at Northstar.

Some buyers from the tech industry have snapped up vacation homes recently that run from $1 million to $4 million or more.

For example, more than 20 parcels at Martis Camp — a 2,100-acre custom lot development between Truckee and Northstar — have been scooped up by employees of tech companies such as Google (GOOG), Facebook, VMware and Apple (AAPL), according to the development’s spokesman.

One Apple employee bought at Home Run, a small mountainside ski-in, ski-out village of townhomes, where luxury real estate sells for $1.75 million to $2.2 million.

Another Apple employee sold some stock and purchased a place at Incline Village recently, reportedly for $3 million.

And a small Scotts Valley company, VirnetX, is moving to Tahoe after its CEO bought a $6 million house on the Nevada side.

Last, but not least, Oracle (ORCL) CEO Larry Ellison is putting the finishing touches on a lakefront compound at Incline Village. Ellison reportedly spent $58 million to assemble an 8-acre spread. The site has several buildings, a pond, a waterfall, tennis courts and a sandy beach with two piers.

“I think the world’s starting to right itself again,” Telling said. His development’s first eight homes are under construction on the mountain near the 170-room Ritz-Carlton Hotel, which opened in 2009.

The Bay Area has always supplied a big portion of Tahoe vacation home buyers.

“It’s good for a long weekend,” said Andy Bechtolsheim, who is one of Ellison’s neighbors at Incline Village. Bechtolsheim, an angel investor and co-founder and chairman of Arista Networks, said he’s been going to Tahoe for 20 years.

“It’s good for kids. It’s not as upscale as Aspen, but I would say it hasn’t lost its traditional charm. It’s gotten a little bit more crowded during the busy season, but I love the offseason there. I was there a few weeks ago in October. There was nobody there. The leaves were changing. It felt like fall going into winter.”

But until recently, the economic downturn had discouraged many buyers, while falling prices kept many sellers off the market.

Now, according to Ernst & Young, 25 Bay Area tech companies are preparing initial public offerings, providing new hope to local real estate agents.

“Silicon Valley IPOs = Cash for Tahoe Home Buyers” was the headline on an October blog post by Lexi Cerretti of Intero Real Estate Services at Incline Village.

“With social gaming leader Zynga and social giant Facebook likely to go public in 2012,” she wrote in her blog, “we will see a new breed of millionaires emerging in the Bay Area home buying market. … An influx of cash into the hands of new buyers could give sellers the opportunity they’ve been waiting for this winter into 2012.”

Cerretti said she’s visited Intero’s Silicon Valley offices in anticipation of a future Tahoe boomlet. “Many of the showings on my high-end properties are buyers who have come up from the Bay Area, specifically from Silicon Valley. I have had two great buyer referrals in the past week from our Intero office in Los Altos,” she said in an email.

Adele Lucas of Chase International said she closed a deal last week for just over $3 million. “Right now, I am extremely busy with lakefront sales,” she said. “We’re seeing those affluent buyers coming into the high-end market because they recognize these prices are artificially low and are going to be pumping up in the next few years as the market and economy strengthen.”

Craig Zager with Coldwell Banker Select on the Nevada side of Tahoe said he has had several lakefront sales this year to Bay Area residents, including the CEO of VirnetX, the 12-person Scotts Valley firm. VirnetX has sued Microsoft and others for infringement of patents it acquired from SAIC, a major defense contractor. Microsoft settled for $200 million last year.

“Most of the communities around the bay have not seen distressed markets like the rest of the state or country,” Zager said. Buyers “come in with a different attitude, just looking for the right property, and they write a check.”

An article was published on November 28, 2011 by Andrew S. Ross of the SFGate entitled New Squaw Valley owners plan $50 million upgrades. Click on the link to view entire article.

New Squaw Valley owners plan $50 million upgrades

November 24, 2010|Andrew S. Ross

A Squaw Valley ski resort highlight: the 1960 Winter Olympics. Credit: Associated Press 1960

If you’re planning Thanksgiving holiday at Squaw Valley, you’ll be able to celebrate its 71st anniversary, and say hello to its new owners.

KSL Capital Partners, a private-equity firm in Denver has taken over the 4,000-acre resort founded by Alexander Cushing in 1949. It had stayed in the Cushing family ever since.

Terms of the acquisition, to be completed by the end of the year, were not disclosed. But in a letter to Squaw Valley regulars, Squaw Valley USA‘s current CEO, Andrew Wirth, said KSL, “with a respectful eye for the past,” is committing more than $50 million in capital improvements over the next three to five years. The acquisition is “part of a new era in Squaw Valley’s incredible history,” he said.