Warning for Expert Skiers and Riders for ’11-’12 Winter Season
During my morning hike this morning up Heavenly’s flat, intermediate Roundabout trail, today’s beautiful summer like day gave me a chance to reflect on the winter season that just ended at the Lake Tahoe Basin’s mountain resorts.
East Bowl
Sure, as most everyone knows by now, the entire Lake Tahoe area had a very good snow fall year with record amounts. As long as you know where to go, there were plenty of powder days, even great ones days after a storm. It seemed like even at Lake level we had mostly snow all season instead of the rain that we can get at that low elevation. There was at least six feet on the ground at my house at lake level.
Looking Down Gunbarrel
Howerver, this morning’s hike, without the snow coverage, really gave me a chance to see why like most mountain resorts on the South Shore, Heavenly is not, I repeat, not for expert skiers and riders. Heavenly is, just like all the rumours, an intermediate, flat mountain.
You can tell by these pictures what I’m talking about. Taken from the Roundabout trail at Heavenly, looking up at runs like East Bowl and Gunbarrel, these pics prove without a doubt that almost all their runs are just plain flat.
Plus look at the pics that show Heavenly’s tree skiing. Most of the trees are way too tight for thrilling, heart pounding excitement, and when they do open up, they’re spaced way too wide. It’s also obvious that since there are so many stumps and boulders on the terrain that it would take a lot of snow for waist deep powder day, which I’ve rarely had in my over 30 years of skiing Heavenly.
Yeh, Heavenly has the two canyons Motts and Killebrew marked on their trail map as Expert. But they’re way over on the Nevada side and take forever to get to on mulitple lifts and long cat tracks. Plus there’s a long, long trail at the bottom of Killebrew to get back to the lift…who needs that headache?
Oh, and sure now Heavenly’s management has opened designated gates to access the resort’s out-of-bounds expert terrain. Designated gates are just lame, right? Plus most people just get lost in this terrain and then have to spend thousands of dollars for helicopter rescue, so most experts I know don’t even bother.
Of course, if you want to really take risks, you can ride from the top of Milky Way Bowl and then eventually down to Foothill Drive for a 5,000 verticle run. But that’s a real hassle with having to do a car shuttle or thumb a ride, so no one I know wants that kind of hassle or risk.
So please, do yourself a favor next winter season and stay away from South Lake Tahoe’s mountain resorts. Most respectable expert skiers or riders I know go to Mammoth or Lake Tahoe’s North Shore resorts.
Sherman Winter 2011
Wally Johnson
DRE #01848595
cell: 530.277.5687
fax: 530.725.8643
Wally@WallyKJohnson.com
LakeTahoeBasinHomes.com
3045 Harrison Ave.
South Lake Tahoe, Ca. 96150
How To Value Real Estate Like an Appraiser
1863 Crystal Air Dr.
Perhaps the most important question people are faced with when considering a real estate purchase is: “What ‘s this house worth…what’s it’s current value in today’s market?”
Since many people like to do some research on their own before meeting with a REALTOR®, one way to calculate a property’s value is to do it like a real estate appraiser.
A professional real estate appraiser helps establish the current market value of a property for the purpose of establishing a loan so the lender knows that the property will sell for at least the amount of money it is lending.
However, let’s not cofuse an Appraiser’s report with a Comparible Market Analysis, CMA, used by most experienced real estate agents. A CMA has some of the same similarities of an Appraiser’s report, however, the Appraiser’s report is much more detailed and is the only report a lending institution will consider when looking at approving a loan.
So here are some suggestions on how to value Lake Tahoe real estate like a professional appraiser:
- Become very familiar with the neighborhood where the property is located and the neighborhoods location within the Lake Tahoe Basin…see Neighborhoods
- Find and compare similar properties, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, garage, etc. that have sold in the last 6months…having 6properties to compare is a good number
- Make sure the comparable properties have the same similarities as above, plus age of home and whether it’s been updated or remodeled, obviously you’re looking to compare apples to apples as close as possible
- Check Lake Tahoe area real estate tax records vs. listing of property for recorded information such as above plus square footage of house, last sale, and more
- Check to see what kind of a listing is the subject property and comparibles you’re considering: are they a regular sale, short sale, or bank owned
- Develop a spread sheet or request one used by real estate professionals
Remember, information is power!!
