dhughes' Blog: Reno Real Estate

8147 Sierra Ridge - This has to be the best buy in Somersett located on Somersett's signature hole 14 on the private Tom Kite designed golf course.  It is a great value at $399,000 with 2094 sq. ft.  -  3 bedrooms  -  2.5 bathrooms  -  2 car garage and a private lot with beautiful landscaping.  Some of the upgrades include slab granite in the kitchen, a beautiful gas log fireplace in the family room and a large loft area.  Where else in Reno can you live on the golf course for under $400,000 - not to mention in one of the most desirable areas with its own Town Center filled with a workout facility, tennis courts, pool area with a slide, a par 3 golf course for its residents and so many community events to fill your social calendar.  Click here for a…

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On Friday June 27 there will be a sealed bid auction for six upscale custom homes that were built on speculation by Sage Crest and Knotty Bear builders. The current prices for the homes range from about $1,350,000 to over 2 million dollars and square footages range from 4000 to over 6200. They do have some of the most spectacular views of any homes in Somersett and the quality of construction is as good as any in Washoe County. With that being said, it begs the question, "What were these builders thinking", building 6 million dollar and up homes on speculation in this current market? That takes some serious you know whats.

However, their loss will be a buyers gain. If you are looking in the upper Reno Real Estate market and looking for a good deal you…

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 I have just listed a beautiful Toll Brothers home on one level overlooking holes 4 and 7 on the Championship Somersett Golf Course.  There is 2975 sq. ft.  -  4 bedrooms  -  3 full bathrooms  -  2 car garage and the sales price includes a full equity golf membership to the Somersett Country Club.  The kitchen features slab granite, GE Monogram appliances, Maple cabinets with a warm stain and glass insets.  There are Plantations shutters, surround sound and so much more. 

This is a great opportunity for a buyer to take advantage of.  For more information and a virtual tour of this home click here. 

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The Global Insight National City house value report for the first quarter of this year says that the $251,500 median home price in Reno is 0.2 below what they consider absolute fair market value. Back in 2004 was the last time that home prices in Reno were considered to be at fair market value. In the spring of 2006 we were at the peak at 40% overvalued, and 2007 about 25% overvalued.

Bank owned properties are currently making up about 40% of the listings on the market in the Reno area and 66% of the homes going into escrow. Because of the number of short sales and foreclosures on the market I am seeing the median price continuing to go down for the next couple of months. Reno and Las Vegas were on this list in the bottom 50 of areas with the steepest…

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A national survey that measures the involvement of students in advanced placement courses ranked 11 Washoe county high schools in the top 5 percent. What this means is the students here in the Reno Sparks area are better prepared for College. There are currently 27,000 high schools nation wide, Newsweek takes the top 1358 schools and ranks them by the number of advanced placement courses and international baccalaureate programs that are being taken by our students. Here are our schools and how they rank in the top 5% nationwide in advanced placement classes and testing:

• Wooster at 371
• McQueen at 639
• Galena at 722
• Sparks at 725
• Reno at 781
• Incline Village at 856
• North Valleys at 936
• Hug at 949
• Damonte Ranch at…

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My phone is ringing and my email is sounding off! It’s a wonderful thing. The buyers in the Reno and Sparks area are starting to come out of Real Estate hibernation mode and are ready to buy. They are getting some great deals as the market has adjusted back to affordability.

Homes sales in the Reno area grew to 300 in April. That number does not include sales in the Pleasant Valley, Lemmon Valley and Stead areas. That’s a better number than we have seen in the last couple years.

 Fannie Mae is giving us a helping hand by dropping its policy of a higher down payment and not labeling Reno as a  “declining market”.   This allows buyers to put down 3% instead of the 5% they were requiring them to do. This should make it easier for buyers to purchase homes in… Read Full Post

West Street Market is set to open for business this October. Tenants include an italian restaurant, wine bar, grocery store and a bakery. It will occupy 8500 square feet on West Street between First and Second street and beginning in July there will be 50 outdoor vendors selling their goods 3 days a week. Ralph Merenda went to Italy to attend cooking school and will be cooking in the Green Room Bar as well as Nikos Theologitis who will feature home style Greek food. The concept behind the market is to feature local products (up to 150 miles away) including produce that will change with the season and be picked that morning and sold that day in a farmers market style setting. There will be lots of California fruits and vegetables from the Sierra… Read Full Post

Galena 3 will be dedicated next Monday, it is the newest geothermal plant at the Steamboat complex on the Mt. Rose highway. This is one of Ormat Technologies 7 geothermal plants that could power the needs of all of Reno's residential needs. Nevada has a vast amount of geothermal fields and the hot springs at Steamboat was tapped decades ago by competing interest but has been acquired in the last 5 years by Ormat technologies, a publicly traded independent power producer.

Galena 3 can produce 100 megawatts of power with one megawatt being able to supply 800 homes. The steam is sitting 1000 to 2000 ft. below the surface with the water currently at 300 degrees. Right now there is a good balance of using the water and returning it to the steam fields at 200…

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