Searching for homes for sale in Lake Tahoe has become so easy, it is almost overwhelming. Just type in “Homes for sale in Lake Tahoe” in Google’s search bar and you get pages of pages of search engines like Realtor.com and Zillow, as well as countless Lake Tahoe real estate agent’s websites. Sometimes it is hard to know where to start! Crazily enough, there was a time before the internet when properties for sale were listed in a book and updated only every few months. This meant you had two options on how to search for homes for sale in Lake Tahoe: either rely on your real estate agent to comb that book and send over the information and hope it is current or drive up and down streets looking for For Sale signs.
Thankfully, technology has made searching for homes for sale in Lake Tahoe so much easier. The website that every agent inputs their listings into is called the Multiple Listing Service, otherwise known as the MLS. No matter where an agent is located, they have a local MLS they must not only input their listings into, but update accordingly as listing information changes. The MLS is also the source of information that feeds to websites such as as Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia and more.
While the previously mentioned Real Estate search engine sites are great resources for the beginning stages, you want to make sure you go straight to the source when you become serious about looking at homes for sale in Lake Tahoe: The Local MLS and a Local Realtor®. These two combined can give you the most up to date information on the Lake Tahoe Real Estate market. Now that you know the best source for up to date listing information, here are a couple tips to keep in mind when setting up your search parameters. First establish what you are searching for. That seems pretty obvious, we know. However, knowing ahead of time of your absolute “Must Have” features and “Deal Breakers” will save you so much time. If you are new to this and not sure what these could be, here are some things to keep in mind.
Home Size: Square footage and amount of beds and baths are typically the main priorities. You want everyone to have their own space.
Location: What neighborhoods are you interested in? Do you want to be close to work? Are there certain Lake Tahoe amenities you want to be close to, such as trails, grocery stores, the hospital or ski resorts?
Features: Location and home size are incredibly important, but there may be extras that you want at your property to be. Is a gourmet kitchen a must have? Do you need a rec room or a fenced backyard? Does the home need to have a garage? Are Lake Tahoe views a must have or just an added perk?
Price: After you get pre-approved, you will know the price points that you can search within. When setting up your search parameters, don’t put the max price at the loan amount. For example, if your home loan is $300,000, set up the search max price as $320,000. You don’t want to rule out a dream home that is only $5,000 over. Furthermore, you could make an offer that is less and it gets accepted. Give yourself a little wiggle room.
In order to make searching easy for our clients, we have a spot on our website that is easily accessible from the home page. Simple click the Search Properties tab as shown in the photo and select the area of Lake Tahoe real estate you would like to search. From there you will be prompted to put in your search criteria. Simply press submit and you will be given a list of all the active listings within your search parameters.
Furthermore, we have also made it simple to receive information on brand new listings straight to your inbox. Simply click New Listing Notification and create a new user as shown below. The best part is you can save a portfolio of all your properties all in one spot.
While you can still be proactive and drive around looking for signs advertising a home for sale in addition to searching the most popular real estate search engine websites, the best way to search for homes for sale in Lake Tahoe is through the MLS and a qualified Realtor®. These two combined will bring you the most up to date information on the market. If you have any questions regarding buying or selling in Lake Tahoe, contact us and we would be glad to walk you through the process.
My husband and I are searching for homes for sale where we can start building our own family. Aside from location and home size, we also want to check if the property we’re looking at has some features that we want such as a backyard. Thanks for this article!