Selling a Lake Tahoe second home from out of town
You don't need to be in Tahoe to sell in Tahoe. I'm at the house so you don't have to be.
Selling a Lake Tahoe second home from out of town comes down to who is at the house
Most of the sellers I work with live in the San Francisco Bay Area, three or four hours from the home they're selling. They have full calendars and no local contractor they trust. What they tell me, in one form or another, is this: "I don't have time to become a project manager just to sell my house."
You don't have to become one. You don't need to be in Tahoe to sell in Tahoe. Selling from a distance works when one person is physically at the house, knows what it needs, and tells you what's happening before you have to ask. That person is me.
A second home has a wrinkle a primary home doesn't. It sits empty between visits, and things change while you're gone. A storm, a slow leak or a winter under snow can leave the house in different shape than you remember. So the first thing I do is go look.
Watch. Tap to play, it has sound.
What you do, and what I do
Out-of-town owners ask me how the work gets split more than anything else, so here it is.
What you do:
- Tell me about the house, your timeline and what you want kept.
- Read the plan I send after my walk-through, and approve it item by item.
- Choose your pricing strategy from the three I bring you.
- Sign documents. Ask your escrow officer early how signing works from where you live.
What I do:
- Walk the house, inside and out, and send you what I see. You stay home.
- Arrange a home inspection and a pest inspection before we list. I recommend both on every home, so there are no surprises and we can fix what needs fixing ahead of time. A home inspector looks at the deeper things, like the structure and the roof. I'm not qualified to judge those, and I won't guess. What I am qualified to tell you is which cosmetic fixes will pay off and which ones won't, and exactly what to do to make the home look its best. The inspections are a recommendation, not a requirement, and they're your cost.
- Find, schedule and manage every contractor, inspector and handyman, from the first inspection to the final walkthrough.
- Arrange the professional cleaning, the windows and the yard cleanup. The cleaning bill is yours. Lining it up and making sure it gets done is mine.
- Stage the home when it needs it, at no cost to you. I own the staging company.
- Have the home photographed and filmed once it's ready, not before.
- Handle the showings, and send you an update every week on showing activity, the market and the next step.
Some owners like to come up once to take personal things out of the house. If you'd rather not make the trip, tell me what you want kept and I'll plan around it.
What happens once your home is on the market
You can't greet a buyer or answer the door at a showing from four hours away, so the marketing has to do that work for you. Every listing I take gets its own paid Facebook and Instagram campaign, its own website, an email to my database the day it goes live and a mass email to every agent in the area. Through my brokerage's partnership with Leverage Global Partners, it also gets national advertising, starting with The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. I explain what runs and why in how I reach buyers who aren't searching yet.
When an offer comes in, I read the whole thing, not only the price. Financing, timeline and inspection terms matter as much as the number at the top, and I tell you plainly which offer I'd take and why. Because I learned the home's condition before we listed, I answer a buyer's inspector from facts instead of scrambling for them.
The first week a home is live gets more attention than any week after it. My plan for that week, and the weeks that follow, is in how I launch a listing.
What Tahoe buyers ask about a home that's been sitting
Buyers here ask local questions, and the questions change from one part of the lake to another.
- In the Tahoe Keys, buyers ask about the dock and whether the canal has direct lake access. The HOA is responsible for the bulkheads. If a bulkhead assessment is planned or already billed, a buyer should know about it up front.
- In wooded neighborhoods like Montgomery Estates, the questions are about the lot: driveway grade, roof age, drainage, defensible space and winter access.
- In Incline Village, buyers ask about beach eligibility and IVGID fees and rules.
- Almost everywhere, they ask about TRPA and BMP status and the permit history. Those rules are strict and they change, so I confirm the details for your parcel instead of trusting something read online.
Winter adds one more. Snow can hide a roof or a yard from an inspector, so what can be checked depends on the season. I'll tell you which season suits your home and why.
I'm licensed in California and Nevada, so it doesn't matter which side of the state line your home sits on.
Start with a walk-through you don't have to attend
If you're thinking about selling a Lake Tahoe second home from out of town, the first step is a conversation. Tell me about your home, or call or text me at 530-208-7081. I'll go to the house, look at every room and the outside, and send you what I see.
If you'd like to read more first, see how to sell your Lake Tahoe second home when you don't live there, the Lake Tahoe Seller Guide, or what selling your Lake Tahoe home with me includes.
This page describes my general process. It isn't legal, tax or lending advice. Your contract and escrow officer set the specific terms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to come to Lake Tahoe to sell my home?
No. I'm at the house for the walk-through, the contractors, the staging and the showings. Some owners come up once to collect personal things, and that's your choice. Ask your escrow officer early how signing works from where you live.
Who pays for cleaning and repairs?
You do, and you approve each item before any work starts. That covers the home inspection, the pest inspection, the cleaning and any repairs. I arrange all of it and manage the people doing the work. Staging is different. When your home needs it, it's included at no cost to you.
How will I know what's happening at the house?
You see the plan before work starts, with the reason for each item, and you hear from me as each one is finished. Once the home is listed, you get an update every week on showing activity, the market and the next step.
Can you sell my home if it's on the Nevada side?
Yes. I'm licensed in California and Nevada and I'm a member of three MLS systems, so both sides of the lake are covered.
Rooms staged by my own staging company.
Selling From Out of Town by neighborhood
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