Greetings Fellow Life Travelers:

Spring is just around the corner!  Glorious weather for Tahoe now, with temps predicted this coming week in the 50s.  We are good with our watershed, so I think most of us are happy with temperate weather now.  Nights are still cold – 25 degrees on Saturday – so that helps keep the snowpack.

Big changes coming in the residential real estate business. You may have read that NAR (National Association of Realtors) settled lawsuit claims with pending impact (subject to court approval) on the way we do business.  If all goes as envisioned now, there will no longer be compensation offered to the Selling Broker in a transaction in the MLS (Multiple Listing Service).  This means that buyers will need to either represent themselves or have an agreement with their broker to pay them for representation.  If the truth be known, buyers have been paying for the commissions as it’s the purchase money that funds the transaction.  However, the NAR/MLS contracts provide for the Seller’s Broker to offer the Buyer’s Broker a portion of the commission.  So, the Seller has a contract with its Broker to provide that compensation out of the proceeds of the transaction – money coming from the Buyer.   Confused?  Don’t blame you.  

Some in the business have used a Buyer’s Broker Agreement for years – some states even require it.  However, it hasn’t been the ‘norm’ for most of us at Tahoe.  So, now we are learning the steps involved in educating our buyers so they understand what services we provide for them, protecting their interests with appropriate paperwork, disclosures, etc.  This doesn’t mean that the buyer may not ask the seller to provide the Buyer side compensation.  Lenders must get involved now as, typically, the commissions for both Buy and Sell side are included in the purchase and covered in the overall transaction for which the loan is being made.  If the Buy-side commission is being handled separately, paperwork needs be created to include it in the transaction.  Getting in the weeds here a bit, but you get the gist – things are changing and none of us has all the answers yet.  I’ve already started the class on utilizing the Brokers Buyer Agreement.  Never nothing to learn in this biz!   So now, let’s see who did what this week in real estate.

Residential Real Estate – week 3/9 to 3/15 

• Tahoe Sierra MLS – North/West Shores & Truckee.  New Listings – 16; Escrows – 19; Solds- 14
• Incline Village/Crystal Bay MLS.  New Listings – 7; Escrows – 4; Solds – 4
• East Shore, NV MLS. New Listings – 4; Escrows – 7; Solds – 2
• Reno/Sparks MLS.  New Listings – 105; Escrows – 151; Solds – 78

Beach Club at Stateline, NV (East Shore MLS) continues to sell steadily.  Seems that there has been at least one escrow and/or sale for the last several weeks.  New construction resonates with many, and when it includes a myriad of services, it’s a winner! 

Local/Real Estate/Luxe

• New Spring Poke/Sushi restaurant – Deerfield Center, (Save Mart) Truckee.  Just opened on Thursday.  Looks like casual offering, so far, no detail other than next to Blue Zone Sports.  
• Wanna see the weirdest-looking house (interior) on the market in Reno – or maybe anyplace?  Click Here to View Listings
• Safe Rooms and Bunkers:  Interest in these has risen substantially in recent times.  Not only for the idea of nuclear war, but for climate disasters, theft, safe gun storage.  Believe they are more prevalent on larger parcels, but safe rooms certainly can be constructed within a dwelling, depending on size, etc.  (Me: Not on my radar.  Dancer and I will prevail or go off into the sunset together.)
• India market:  Over $4 billion has been invested annually in the last 5 years in India real estate as it is one of the fastest-growing economies globally.
• Blue Zone communities.  So far, there is only one in the U.S. – Loma Linda, CA.  Focused on the concept of living to 100 (based on communities in Okinawa Sardinia, Nicoya ad Ikaria), interest is rising in the U.S. to create more.  One under proposal is in New York’s Hudson Valley – Pawling, NY. (Me: I’ll stay right here in Truckee, be mindful of how I treat myself (including that Martini), and live as long as the Universe wants me on this planet.)
• New car wash for Truckee!  Town Council approved for a new one at Gray’s Crossing Village.  Since I live on the east side of Truckee, this is a lovely benefit – just like the RALEY’s O.N.E. that opened a few years ago. 
• Jackie & Shadow:  You may have heard that their eggs did not produce.  Different thoughts on why not, one being temps got too cold.  They are such troupers – last year was fallow too. Beautiful love story, for sure! 
• Truckee Tavern & Grill – now serving lunch Thursday through Sunday. 

Entertainment

• Liberace – early days:  Boogie-woogie  https://tinyurl.com/mt642b6  (I saw Liberace when he played in the Indian Room at Cal Neva.  Simple with a candelabra on the piano.)

TidBits

• A bird is safe in its nest — but that is not what its wings are made for. Amit Ray
• If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine, it’s lethal.  Paulo Coelho.
• My doctor told me that jogging could add years to my life. I think he was right. I feel 10 years older already.  Milton Berle.
• Why do dogs always race to the door when the doorbell rings? It’s almost never for them.  Norm MacDonald.
• If I had a bookstore, I would make all the mystery novels hard to find.  Demetri Martin.
• It’s funny — England doesn’t have a kidney bank, but has a Liverpool.
• Becoming a vegetarian is a huge missed steak.
• When angry, count four; when very angry, swear.  Mark Twain.
• I was in a taxi today and the driver said, “I love my job.  I’m my own boss. Nobody tells me what to do.”  Then I said, “Turn left here.”
• The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.  Henry van Dyke. (Sounds like now.)
• If God had wanted us to bend over, he would have put diamonds on the floor.  Joan Rivers.
• Brevity is the soul of lingerie.  Dorothy Parker
• The question isn’t ‘who’d going to let me’, it’s ‘who’s going to stop me’.  Ayn Rand 
• First you forget names, then you forget faces, then you forget to pull your zipper up; then, you forget to pull your zipper down.  Rob Reiner
• If you can remember the ’60s, you weren’t there.  Robin Williams
• Have you ever noticed when you’re driving that anyone who’s driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone driving faster than you is a maniac?  George Carlin
• When your children are teenagers, it’s important to have a dog so that someone in the house is happy to see you.  Nora Ephron.

Hope you’ve had a lovely St. Patrick’s Day, wearing and celebrating the green!  Makes me think of the Buena Vista…haven’t had an Irish Coffee in eons!  As always, thanks for being such loyal readers…warms my heart!  Dancer and I are now off to show property in Incline Village (she stays in the car).  Market’s picking up!  Have a good week and see you next time! 

Best wishes, 

Trinkie