All across the country, including right here in our Reno community, we are seeing more and more Millennials entering the home buying market.  Rents are beginning to creep up.  When you couple that with 30 year FRM rates hovering just below 4%, it makes sense to look at purchasing property rather than renting.  Buying a Reno home can feel overwhelming, especially when you have never done it before.  Here is what a first time Reno home buyer needs to know. Downpayments - The bigger your downpayment, the lower your monthly mortgage payment will be.  That is because you won't have to borrow as much to purchase your Reno home.  If you have 20% or more of the purchase price to put down on your home, you will avoid having to pay PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance).  This is a mandatory fee that l... 02/16/2015

By now, you have probably heard about the huge Tesla gigafactory that is currently under construction.  This five million square foot factory is expected to bring thousands of jobs to the Reno community.  Tesla is always on the lookout for talented individuals in the mechanical engineering, chemical engineering and computer science fields.  To help find the people they need, Tesla is looking for interns in Reno. What: Tesla Summer Job & Internship ExpoWhere: UNR's Davidson Math & Science CenterWhen: General Info Session on Feb 17th 6pm to 8pm, Expo on Feb 18th 11am to 2pmContact: Email nvcareerstudio@unr.edu Are you a student at UNR in one of the fields listed above?  Do you know of anyone who is?  Let them know that Tesla is looking for interns in Reno.  As an intern, you will gain val... 02/09/2015

We've been talking an awful lot lately about how busy the Reno business environment is lately.  Construction on the Tesla Gigafactory is underway.  Several other new high tech companies have either committed to coming to our Reno community or are already doing business here.  With new businesses comes the need for homes for workers.  That is why we are seeing the demand for Reno housing on the rise. Just last summer, the City approved plans for 1,000 new homes to be constructed within in the next 18 months.  The increase in construction is not just concentrated in one location either.  Damonte Ranch, South Meadows and Bella Vista Ranch are scrambling to meet demand in Southern Reno.  South Meadows seems to be proving the biggest draw for Reno Buyers.  New housing developments are poppin... 02/02/2015

EDAWN, the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, was able to assist in the expansion or addition of 34 companies into our state last year.  They brought almost 4200 new jobs into the area with them.  This helped reduce our unemployment rate from 14% back in 2010 to 6.9% at the end of 2014.  Technical workers are needed for Reno jobs that are projected in the near future. Tired of the hustle and bustle that living in a big Northern California city brings you?  Having trouble finding an affordable way of life in the Silicon Valley?  Want the beauty of all four seasons in a home of your own?  The Reno community offers you all this and more! Reno is set to become the next Silicon Valley.  Tesla was just one of the 34 companies that decided to call the Reno-Sparks area home.  Gho... 01/26/2015

Our Reno community has seen a lot of positive changes in the last few months.  The momentum that ended the year has continued on through into 2015.  Reno is on the move! First, low taxes and incentives brought big name companies like Apple, Amazon and Zulily to our Reno community.  Then, giant electric car manufacturer Tesla broke ground on their massive Gigafactory.  There is a request before the Planning Commission to allow UNR to expand their campus into the downtown Reno area.  High tech cyber security company Ghost Systems plans on investing $200 million into the Reno area for data centers and offices.  And, just last week, Governor Sandoval announced a new high tech company coming to our area: Switch.  Based in Las Vegas, Switch started out as a government contractor back in 2000.... 01/26/2015

A few months ago, we spoke about how Reno is set to become the next Silicon Valley.  Big name companies like Apple, Amazon and Zulily have already set up shop in our little Reno community.  Construction on the huge Tesla Gigafactory is already underway.  Just last month, Ghost Systems, a brand new high tech security company, calls Reno home as well. Ghost Systems may not have quite the cache or name recognition that Tesla has, but it earns its living in one of the most sought-after arenas in modern times...cyber-security.  Most of today's security systems are using designs based on the ways hackers bore their way into online data from decades ago.  Ghost Systems has created a system that basically turns your information invisible to hackers.  It is like you were never there.  You, in es... 01/12/2015

Real Estate Referral Network: All Star Agent Network is proud to present Guy Johnson of Reno, Nevada as their All Star Agent of the Day!  ABOUT THE ALL STAR AGENT NETWORK     Join Now!   Welcome to the All Star Agent Network, a public and Google Fed real estate referral network. All Star Agent Network is a National directory of real estate agents. Lori Ballen, a known Internet marketer is behind this system and is on a personal mission to lead generate for the world of real estate agents. Lori has decided to take The All Star Agent Network and make it her personal, primary marketing responsibility (along with her army of internet marketers) and she is known to dominate Google for niches and Hyperlocal communities generating hundreds to thousands of real estate client referral leads a mo... 01/07/2015

Members of the military are usually on very fixed incomes and working with a tight budget.  When they are in need of medical services but come from out of the area, where do they stay?  Where do their families...their support system...stay?  The Reno Veterans Guest House, that's where! The Reno Veterans Guest House is operated by a Nevada non-profit.  This organization began in 1992 when some veterans spied a woman coming out of her vehicle one morning in the parking lot of the Veterans Administration Medical Center (VAMC).  Her husband was being treated inside, she had no family nearby and there was no money to rent a room at a local motel.  She did the only thing she could: she spent the night in her car.  And she was not the only one.  The veterans decided then and there that this co... 01/05/2015

The weatherman is warning us of freezing temperatures in our Reno community over the next few nights.  Snow is expected tonight and into tomorrow.  But even after that, overnight temperatures will be below freezing.  This can wreak havoc with your plumbing system.  How do you avoid frozen pipes in your Reno home? Exterior pipes get hit the hardest during winter storms.  You can hire a professional service to wrap them for you.  As you can imagine, though, they are pretty busy right now.  You can also take matters into your own hands.  Avoid frozen pipes in your Reno home by visiting a home improvement store (such as Lowes or Home Depot) and pick up some insulation wrap or sleeve and heat tape to do the job yourself.  They can even advise you on how to do this properly.  Interior plumbin... 12/29/2014

Thanks to the Reno/Sparks Association of Realtors for the updated stats. You can view the whole report here. Below is an overview of the main points with commentary. The median sales price held at $260,000. Still up 15.6% from November 2013. Hopefully, this is a sign that the market is straightening out. Number of units sold dropped to 464 from 489 in October. Typical of this time of year. Average days on market for sold properties was 97. Short sales took an average of 286 days while regular sales took 83 days. It seems short sales are getting longer and regular sales are still a little overpriced as they're taking 50 or so days to get an accepted offer. There were 378 new listings which is a major drop from the 483 in November of 2013. Much of this can be attributed to sellers worried... 12/19/2014

We may be at the end of the year but that does not mean we are at the end of our rope in the Reno real estate market.  Traditionally, this is the slow time of the year for real estate transactions in the Reno community.  This does not mean that Buyers or Sellers should be sitting on their hands if they really need to enter the market now.  At least, that is what the December 2014 Reno Market Update tells us. Our commercial partners are telling us that there are three developers in the Reno area that are looking for large parcels of land to build anywhere from 200 to 1200 homes.  This could be due to the Reno Airport going International over the next year.  Or, it could be a result of Reno Giving It the Old College Try by expanding UNR's campus into the downtown area.  Better yet, this c... 12/15/2014

Late last week, the House of Representatives approved an extension for the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act.  This was just one part of the tax extension package approved by the House.  It will now go before the Senate and then the White House for final approval.  This begs the questions, how will the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act affect Reno home owners? Let's say you are upside down on your Reno home but desperately need to sell it.  You cannot wait for your appraisal value to rise.  Maybe you lost your job.  Perhaps your spouse has passed away suddenly and you can no longer afford to live in your current residence.  Instead of walking away from your financial obligation, you decided to do the responsible thing and sell it via a short sale.  You have spoken with your mortga... 12/08/2014

It is no secret that the construction industry in the Reno community has been hit hard.  That is all about to change.  Tesla brings construction back to Reno thanks to its gigafactory build going on in the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center. At its peak in 2008, there were as many as 24,000 construction jobs in the Reno area.  Currently, there are approximately half that many in the workforce.  The Tesla build is expected to employ as many as one-quarter of the total Reno construction workforce (3000 people).  It is expected that the Tesla factory could take two to three years to complete.  But that will not be the end of construction in the area.  That is because there are around 1000 additional acres of land that are under contract or in escrow that are also going to need to be built up ove... 11/24/2014

Thanks to the Reno/Sparks Association of Realtors for the updated market statistics. You can view the whole report here.... October 2014 Stats Below is the summary of the main points and a video going into more detail. The median sales price jumped to $260,000 after falling to $239,000 in September. Much of this can be attributed to buyers aggressively trying to close before the holidays. The sold price per square foot hit $145. It's been a steady climb since late 2011. Units sold were down to 477. The lack of listings is still effecting our sold numbers. Days on market for regular sales was 83, REOs (bank owned) were 101 days, and short sales staying true to form with 278 days. Subtract about 30-40 days of closing from these numbers and get the real marketing time. October brought 517 ... 11/19/2014

Kind of old news now as many of my clients are using it but I thought I'd blog about a new form of down payment assistance for Reno home buyers. Prior to this new program the only real down payment assistance was from Nevada Rural and only worked outside of highly populated areas like Reno and Vegas. In order to help those within the highly populated areas the Nevada Housing Division has created the "Home Is Possible" program. Here's how it works: The program will give the buyer up to 4% of the loan's value for down payment or closing cost assistance. The keywords here are "loan's value". If you're buying a $200,000 house with an FHA loan you would need to put down 3.5%. The 3.5% is equal to $7,000 so your loan amount is $193,000 (leaving out upfront MI). The 4% would then be calculated... 11/11/2014

It looks like Tesla is not the only lithium ion battery manufacturer to call Reno home.  Reno's Dragonfly Energy hits the big time with their Western Regionals win at the Cleantech Open.  The next hurdle will be the October 15th semifinals.  After that, it is on to the finals and a chance to win money for their company, possible investors and mentorships from all over the world. The Cleantech Open divides the United States up into eight different categories: Pacific Northwest, Western, Rocky Mountain, Midwest North, Midwest Central, South Central, Southeast and Northeast.  Local startups in each region compete against each other to then advance on to a national competition.  The goal of the Cleantech Open is to identify small companies with big ideas about how to tackle our biggest cha... 11/03/2014

Thanks to Erin Schiller and Ticor Title for the updated foreclosure statistics. You can view the whole report through this link, September Foreclosure Stats, or by clicking on the picture. Below are the main points... Notice of Default (start of foreclosure) rose by 11 to 132. Nothing major. Notice of Sale (telling the owner it's about to be foreclosed on) dropped by 19 to 79. Nothing major. Trustees deed (it was foreclosed on) went up by 7 to 48. Nothing major. New REO properties went up by 1 to 27. We haven't topped 50 new REO properties in a month since October 2012. For reference, there were 181 in September of 2011. Overall, the distressed market won't be coming back in the near future. Especially, since banks don't like foreclosing during the holidays. Something about not wanting ... 10/30/2014

You have probably heard the phrase "think global, shop local" at some time over the past few years.  That means that we need to start purchasing goods and services from local vendors and farmers in our very own Reno community instead of the big box stores.  This both helps our local Reno economy and lowers our carbon footprint.  During Reno Bites Restaurant Week 2014, you can actually taste the goodness that patronizing local businesses provides. What: Reno Bites Restaurant Week 2014Where: Participating Reno restaurantsWhen: October 13-19, 2014Contact: (775) 772-8447 or Reno Bites Week email Reno Bites Restaurant Week 2014 starts today and continues on through until Sunday, October 19th.  Several local Reno restaurants will be participating by offering: a new Signature dish or discount... 10/13/2014

Reno has seen some big changes lately.  Tech giant Apple set up a data center here.  Amazon and Zulily call Reno home for their operations.  Currently, Tesla is gearing up to build their Gigafacility just outside the city limits.  Now, we find Reno giving it the old college try by expanding the University's campus into the downtown area. On Thursday, October 9th, the city plans on presenting its recommendations for the University of Nevada, Reno's expansion to the Planning Commission.  If the commission approves, the expansion proposal will then be presented to the City Council just a couple of weeks later (October 27th).  The City wants to change its image from a dingy old gambling center to a more upscale, tech-friendly city.  They believe that if they bring the UNR campus into the d... 10/06/2014

Buying a Reno Home with a Well - Top 3 Things to Consider The Reno area has many rural properties which may have a private well. Like any other home feature, there are pros and cons to having your own private well instead of being reliant on a city or municipal water source. I have created a list (below) to help you gain some key knowledge and insight as to whether you may want to buy a Reno home with a well. Top 3 Considerations Cost - One key benefit of a private well is you do not have a 'city' water bill to pay each month. If you are on a meter and use a lot of water, this may be a key consideration. Your only direct cost for consuming water from a private well is the cost of electricity to run the pump. Keep in mind, however, that there are costs associated with a well such as wate... 10/02/2014