MGM CityCenter Views from Panorama Tower 2 condos

City Center -Aria Casino pool view from Panorama Tower 2

Vdara Condo Hotel, Aria Casino, Cosmopolitan and Bellagio from Panorama condos

Related web-site links: Buy Las Vegas high rise condos for sale

Different high rise condo towers have different procedures that have to be followed in order for a Realtor to show a listing there. Panorama Towers does not allow lock boxes on the property nor do they have a service at the property so Realtors can pick up the key.

 If done properly; the listing Realtor has to meet the buyer’s agent and the buyer at Panorama Towers and show the condominium and one did just that, his name is David Grant of Realty Executives of Las Vegas.  That left seven condos.

 Properly has nothing to do with how Las Vegas foreclosure deals are conducted; the other seven Realtors won’t show their listings and required us to pick up the keys at their offices. Given that this is not the first time that we have shown condos at Panorama Towers, Karen started making appointments to pick up the keys from the listing agent’s offices on Thursday morning two days in advance to make sure we would have access to the units.

The rest of this post is written by Karen and she is NOT happy.

 I was told when to pick up the keys on Saturday morning for 7 listings by the listing agents.  The other listing agent had checked out a key to another Realtor (prior to our call Thursday morning) that would not have the key back until Monday! Just think how many showings you would have if you met the agents and showed the unit versus giving one agent the key for over 4 days!  Or did you ever think to make more than 1 key? So we thought we had the battle won by Thursday afternoon. We had successfully found 8 listings to show our client.

But nothing is easy in real estate and this was no exception. Saturday morning we left home at 10:15 to pick up the keys per instructions from the listing agents.

 First stop: The agent had not left the key. When the receptionist called the agent she told me he would be in the office in 30 minutes and would call me then.  No phone call every came!

Second stop: The key that had been checked out previously by another Realtor had not been turned back in yet. Again, wouldn’t a second key be practical?

Third stop: Both their keys (at least they had 2) had been checked out prior to my phone call on Thursday and had never been returned. Shame on the Realtors that can’t return the keys in a timely manner so other agents can show the property. Are you hoping to get your offer accepted before it can be shown again or just “too busy” to return the key in a timely manner.

Fourth stop: Yeah, they had the key ready. However, when we tried to use it we found that there was something wrong with the lock and after 5 minutes of trying to open the door, gave up. When I returned the key, later that same afternoon that I had checked it out, I told the receptionist that the key didn’t work and she asked if I’d like her to tell someone about it. Well yes, I told her, so that the next agent doesn’t have the same problem. DUH!

Fifth stop: Great, got 1 key to fit both listings and it worked.

The day was successful and our client likes one of the units and we’re working up comps and information for him. He might have liked your units too had he been able to see them by Panorama listing agents. So even after putting 120 miles on our car running to get keys to go to one address it could result in a happy client.

We did all we could possibly do and failed in 6 out of 8 attempts to show condos at Panorama Towers. If I was the customer, I would say these are the crappiest Realtors on earth, they couldn’t show me 3 condos. Well, we aren’t but these Panorama foreclosure listing agents are and it looks like our customer knows we did our very best.

MGM Grand has depreciated the value of CityCenter or City Center Las Vegas further to 2.69 Billion dollars. The last time MGM Grand depreciated the value of City Center was in October-2009 and the value was $4.88 Billion; the original price was $8.5 Billion. Darn thing is going down like a rock.

A valid question is this: MGM Grand announced 30% across the board price cuts in October and devalued the property, some of these price cuts were reversed in November, what is up now?

City Center is owned by two entities, MGM Grand and Dubai Government (Dubai Prince) and both are broke. When the Dubai Prince was visiting Las Vegas he was headline news here and I was sure MGM was going to show him a good time and at a huge cost. The Las Vegas trip cost the prince 2.7 billion dollars in MGM stocks at $88 per share that has lost more than 87% of its value ($11) now, and $2.7 for half MGM City Center that is worth $1.3 Billion. Our Dubai Prince is only out $3.5 Billion. Chump change? No the guy is hurting, his own high rise condos in Dubai are sitting empty too.

CityCenter Earned 56 million dollars from forfeited deposits from remorseful buyers who fled the coop, and another$401 million reported net revenues in the second quarter, which included $218 million related to sales of condominium units at Vdara, Residence at Mandarin Oriental condos and Veer Towers luxury condos.

Aria Casino the centerpiece for City Center has 90% plus occupancy.

The 25,000-35,000 unsold foreclosure or Bank Owned homes in Las Vegas that banks are holding back from the Las Vegas real estate market for fear of price reductions, have been the talk of town until I CRUSHED it through 4 blog posts.

I put forth the mathematical formula for calculating the number of shadow inventory homes in Las Vegas and explained how it should be calculated. I can because I have aced many PHD level mathematics courses while in Graduate School.

In the concluding blog post in the series I stated that this number has to be less than 10,000 and the only reason that I don’t have an exact number is that I don’t pretend to be a Las Vegas real estate analyst and don’t tabulate for example, the number of homes sold in real estate auctions or in bulk sales of land to the Las Vegas new homes builders which I have explained in posts, but true real estate analysts should.

 When Las Vegas real estate analyst Dennis Smith kept repeating there are 25,000-35,000 shadow inventory homes in Las Vegas, I did a blog post titled

Real estate analyst Mr. Smith GUESSES the wrong number of Las Vegas unsold foreclosed homes

In this blog I wrote “The best analyst is Larry Murphy, the real estate analyst that I pay no attention to is Dennis Smith and unfortunately others do”. And the reason is that I know for a fact that Larry Murphy tabulates sales transactions in Las Vegas by type and would have access to all of the data that is necessary to calculate the number of shadow home inventory in Vegas.  BEHOLD – The conformation for my assertions came from Larry Murphy.

This is from The Las Vegas Review Journal article today.

“Murphy estimated a “shadow inventory” of 6,500 homes owned by the bank that have yet to be released on the market, plus 18,500 pre-foreclosure filings that may or may not go to foreclosure.”

He also said “Even a shadow inventory of 25,000 homes is not that many, he said. Las Vegas had 24,067 foreclosures in 2008 and 20,426 in 2009”.

See my blog post about the effect of foreclosures on Las Vegas real estate market.

Las Vegas real estate, the effect of foreclosures (bank owned homes) on the Las Vegas homes market

I also used Mr. Dennis Smith’s name in the blog title, I have never used a name in a negative blog, because I have power and have to use it judicially. My blog post will show up in the Goggle first page when searching for the name of the person that I wrote about and if it is negative, it will negatively affect that person’s life and he would have no recourse. Google, (Dennis Smith Las Vegas) and you will understand, and keep in mind that he is very popular. The reason is that all he had to do is to Google (shadow inventory homes in Las Vegas) and would have found my blog posts that disprove the numbers that he kept using after I published my series of blog posts. I am not here to hurt anyone, but his bull that is published by broke newspapers which need sensational stories to sell papers is seriously effecting the lives of my fellow Realtors and real estate agents by falsely scaring away home and condo buyers in Las Vegas, I know more than a few starving Realtors.

In case you think that I am over reacting, see national so called “real estate analysts” predicting 20% drop in Las Vegas residential real estate prices in the coming year that can be easily explained if we have 35,000 shadow inventory homes in Las Vegas and impossible to prove if unsold bank owned homes inventory is 6,500. I will explain this in the next blog post.

The majority of Las Vegas high rise condominium buyers who want to buy a new luxury condo, go straight to the builder’s sales staff and try to buy the condo themselves. It is not the job of the builder’s sales staff to advise the buyer that they can make a lower offer on their desired condo. Thus, either the buyer will pass on the new condominium or pay full asking price.

City Center or CityCenter has listed three luxury condos at Mandarin Oriental in Las Vegas MLS

Let us take a look at the three high rise luxury condos at the Residence at Mandarin Oriental that are currently listed in the Las Vegas MLS. All three are one bedroom, two bath condos and the square footage is 1062sf and 1097sf. The condos that are listed in the MLS are located on the 34^th floor and asking price is $1062/SF, 26^th floor, asking price is $974/SF and the last condo is on the 25^th floor and priced at $902/SF.

Even though the cheapest price per square foot for Mandarin Oriental that is listed in Salestraq, which is the Las Vegas new home and condominiums MLS, is $924 per square foot, the least expensive asking price for these three condominiums that are listed in the MLS is $902 and a good Las Vegas Realtor would not make a full price offer on an MLS listing for a high rise condo since Las Vegas high rise condo market is a buyer’s market.

Allure and Panorama tower three have listed their new condos on the MLS also.

Now, how many of City Center or other Las Vegas high rise condo buyers are aware of the fact that it is possible to make lower offers on the new high rise condos in Las Vegas? Not many.

Related blog posts about Residence at Mandarin Oriental CityCenter:

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Residence condos for sale at Las Vegas City Center, Las Vegas

Residence at Mandarin Oriental Hotel condominiums for sale at Las Vegas City Center

History of price cuts at Residences at Mandarin Oriental, City Center Las Vegas

City Center or CityCenter, Mandarin Oriental condos price cuts

 Now you see why I call these prices bewildering and while news organizations report 30% price cuts across the board at City Center or CityCenter Las Vegas, price cuts are not uniform at all. The other point is why a 1529 square foot luxury condominium should be priced the same as a 1105 square foot condo in the same building, unless Salestraq which is the new homes and condos MLS in Las Vegas  has the wrong original price.

I will discuss Residence at Mandarin Oriental at City Center luxury condos for sale that are listed in Las Vegas MLS by the builder next

Deutsche Bank announced that Cosmopolitan Luxury Condos will open and take reservation for its Dec. 15 opening, however about a third of the condominiums will not be ready until the summer of 2011. The Cosmopolitan was purchased by the Deutsche Bank for one billion dollars in a foreclosure auction and the current estimates for the final cost are $3.9 billion. Cosmopolitan has 2,995 rooms, a 150,000 square feet shopping center and a spa and nightclub.

I did a blog post about what happens to Las Vegas high rise condo buyers when they are not represented by a Realtor? Buyer’s remorse at Cosmopolitan Las Vegas. These buyers had to put up 20% down payments on their expensive condominiums in 2005.

 The following is from a Las Vegas RJ article:

 ”Many of the 220 unit purchasers of the condominiums claim to have been held hostage for five years while hundreds of thousands of dollars in deposits have been held by Deutsche Bank,” said their attorney. He also said “plaintiffs have received letters from Deutsche bank demanding that they commit to close escrow on their units in an attempt to bully plaintiffs into accepting partial refunds of their deposits, even though Deutsche Bank has failed to disclose even the most basic information about the nature of its condominium program.”

Check this out, these 220 buyers didn’t even know “the most basic information about the nature of its condominium program” and they signed the purchase contract that spells out all obligations by the builder. The purchase contract for Cosmopolitan has been done by teams of real estate attorneys to protect the builder’s interest.  I would wager anything that none of these 220 buyers read the contract before they signed it.  A competent Las Vegas Realtor would have advised them about the pitfalls on the contract. Better Realtors, like me, would have advised against buying at Cosmopolitan until the percentage of sold inventory and recorded prices for condos that have closed escrow would become available, just as I have repeatedly written about in our Las Vegas high rise condo pages and other blog posts.

 “Cosmopolitan spokeswoman Amy Rossetti said in a statement that the resort believes the lawsuit to be without merit.” I wonder if prices at Cosmopolitan had appreciated by 20% would these buyers have filed a lawsuit. They speculated without reading the purchase agreement and lost.

On my visit to Veer Towers, I was accompanied by three buyers who were going to buy using the Veer Towers agent who works for the builder, MGM Grand, and without a Las Vegas Realtor accompanying them.  I didn’t say a word either. If one thinks that he is smart enough and has all the relevant info to go straight to the projects sales staff, then all they have to blame is themselves.

Social networking: Las Vegas homes, condos and commercial real estate page on Facebook, Web-Site: Las Vegas homes, condominiums, land and commercial real estate for sale.

 Don’t tell me that there are enough wealthy people who can easily buy these condominiums and pay the HOA fees and taxes without feeling a pinch, there are only 670 luxury condos and CityCenter has sold about 100. Residential condominiums at CityCenter are a good way to obtain residency in Nevada which can be used for tax breaks. Buyers are weary of further price cuts, however I think that the lower priced condominiums at Veer to be the least likely candidates for further price cuts, but that is an educated guess. If I help a buyer at CityCenter I would ask for price guarantees or walk.

If you got the money and have been educated on City Center by me and can afford condominiums at Veer, it is not a bad buy and this comes from sincerely yours who has been advising against buying at CityCenter until now.

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Related blog posts: CityCenter, Las Vegas -Veer luxury condos for sale at City Center Part-one

History of price cuts at Veer luxury condos at CityCenter, Las Vegas

The following floor models are available at Veer luxury condo towers at City Center; I have also included the price history for these condominiums. One of my predictions for 2009 was price cuts for all City Center condominiums long before they announced it. As you can see price cuts are not uniform and the highest price cut is for the 3 bedroom Penthouse condominiums at 51%-53% and lowest for the 2 bedroom luxury condos.

Price history for Veer luxury high rise condominiums (lofts) At CityCenter, Las Vegas

Inevitable price cuts were the reason that I had recommended against buying City Center luxury condos, however now we see how much Veer Condos have sold for keeping in mind that the data for Penthouse condos at Veer will not be available until City Center finishes the interior of the 27-37 story condominiums and obtains certificate of occupancy.

View from an interior Luxury condo at Veer Towers at City Center, Interior condominiums are located between the two towers however the view is not bad as you can see

I got to see two bedroom, one bedroom and studios. Given that Veer Tower’s condos are residential condominiums, there is ample closet storage and the units are bright and have full length windows. Even the interior condominiums that are between the two towers get a lot of sun light and the views are not bad. CityCenter has furniture packages for these condominiums for about $17,500 that can be purchased with the condo; however they are throwing in the furniture for the interior condominiums.

Ultra Luxury at Veer Penthouse Living Room

HOA (Condo) Fees and taxes for Veer luxury high rise condos at CityCenter, Las Vegas

Veer condominiums are highly upgraded and slanted toward oriental taste. HOA fees arebit expensive for residential Las Vegas high rise condos and are about one dollar per square foot and yearly taxes run about 1% of the purchase price. Several condominiums at Veer are currently listed in the Las Vegas MLS. The reason that builders do this is to give a prospective buyer the opportunity to make a lower offer on these condominiums. If the offer is accepted then the CityCenter or Veer condominiums sales contract will substitute the original offer, just like foreclosure sales in Las Vegas.  It is not clear to me if further price cuts will come or not, but if it comes Veer is the least likely candidate, Vdara is more likely.

Today I got a chance to attend an open house for Realtors at Veer High Rise Condominium Towers in CityCenter, Las Vegas. Veer Towers are the twin high rise leaning towers, each has 325 luxury condominiums and it is all residential, no condo hotels here. Veer towers have 37 floors each and the top 10 floors are under construction for the interior improvements, no Penthouse units can be visited at the moment.

 City Center paid out 12 million dollars to Las Vegas Realtors in commissions, nothing for me. Because I advised Las Vegas luxury condominium for sale buyers who called me about the CityCenter Condos that it is not smart to buy condos at CityCenter until we see how many condominiums have been sold and for how much, this information can be found at the Clark County Recorder site.  We have an idea about pricing and unsold inventory at City Center now and that is essential data to make an educated offer on its properties.

What minimalist design gets you, the lobby at Veer luxury condos at City Center, Las Vegas. Nothing minimalist inside of these luxury condos condominiums

CityCenter has many problems such as lacking an iconic attraction like the Fountains at Bellagio and the signage is pathetic, however they are working on the signage.  The other deal is the minimalist look that CityCenter has strived to achieve and I believe it to be a fundamental mistake, if tourists were attracted to the minimalist look, they would flock to one of Las Vegas many industrial parks and not the magnificent attractions like the Mirage Volcano. CityCenter has also spent serious money on one of the worst web-site I have seen. All flash and not much content and hard to navigate.  This not a Realtor’s opinion, I am knowledgeable in the field.

Arriving at Veer Towers at Las Vegas CityCenter

Veer Towers have their own private entrance and parking is done by Valet only. This is cool, since it gives the residents the option of parking more than a couple of cars which would be the number of cars you could park if it were assigned. No wait, since Valet guys are lightning fast as well as nice, tip them well. Upon entering the lobby  you see a couple of tall, UUUUUGLY unpainted cement columns, but the rest is not bad, as you can see, I don’t like minimalist looks, but some may. 

Awesome views at entrance to Veer Towers at City Center; Veer Towers are connected to Crystal Luxury Shops and within walking distance of Aria Casino, Cosmopolitan, Bellagio and Cesar’s palace

Upon arriving at Veer Towers as well as other CityCenter properties, you are going to be greeted warmly by the staff who go out of their way to make you feel like a VIP.  Excellent service doesn’t show in prices and comparables.

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More about residential Veer, Las Vegas High rise condos for sale at City Center later.

Las Vegas CityCenter is an 8.5 billion-dollar urban metropolis consisting of  residential luxury condominium towers and condo hotel  high rise towers that has been built on 67 acres on the world famous Las Vegas Strip (Las Vegas Boulevard). City Center is located between the Cosmopolitan High Rise Condo Project and the Monte Carlo Casino. 

One must remember that CityCenter was conceived during the great real estate boom in Las Vegas and when the economy crashed the MGM was too involved to pull out. City Center is owned by Dubai Port World and MGM and both are highly leveraged and heavily in debt.  MGM was close to declaring bankruptcy at one point during the construction of CityCenter. 

MGM City Center, Las Vegas

City Center has failed to sell a significant percentage of its luxury condominiums due to the bad economy and mistakes made in building the CityCenter. One issue is bad signage which makes navigating through City Center difficult; the other is the heavy use of the minimalist concept throughout CityCenter which makes it cold and without personality. People don’t come to Las Vegas to look at bare walls or unpainted cement columns.

On the other hand CityCenter has put a heavy emphasis on unparalleled service and its condominiums are hands down the most luxurious condominiums on the Las Vegas Strip. Those who own a residential high rise condo at City Center or those who visit it get to live like a king.

Ultra expensive Crystal Shops at CityCenter, Las Vegas

CityCenter luxury high rise condo towers

The HARMON is not yet open and has struggled with a construction defect that resulted in cutting 20 stories which were designated as residential luxury condominiums. The Harmon will bean exclusive non-gaming boutique hotel when finished. 

The 5-star Residence at MANDARIN ORIENTAL at CityCenter luxury hotel/residence is split between hotel condos and residences. The 277 residential condos are located from the 23^rd floor up and are priced from $1000 per square foot. 

The VDARA high-rise condo-hotel is located west of CityCenter. This tower is curved and features 57 stories and 1543 units. Sales at Vdara have been slow and only 120 condo hotels have been sold so far. Condominiums measure from 500 to 1750 square feet. Condo-hotels can be enrolled in the MGM rental pool and would be rented on behalf of the owners by MGM for a percentage of the revenues. 

The VEER towers consist of two towers of 335 residential luxury high rise condos. These 37 story towers are built at a 5 degree incline and seem like they are dancing with each other. Condos measure from 500 to 1800 square feet and are priced at about $600 per square foot. The top ten floors at Veer Towers are not finished yet. 

Las Vegas view from City Center Manderin Oriental Hotel

I have discouraged Las Vegas high rise condo for sale buyers from buying at CityCenter until we find out how many luxury condominiums have sold at City Center and for how much. I also predicted the 30% price cut at CityCenter long before they implemented it. I am not sure about Vdara, however Veer residential condos seem to be a good buy if you have your eyes wide open.

Financing is the major obstacle for real estate investors who want to invest in Las Vegas real estate and can’t pay in cash.  Depending on the type of real estate, down payments of 20%-50% are required and interest rates are higher for buying investment properties.

Fannie Mae Guidelines to buy foreclosed (REO) homes and condos and high rise condominiums:

• Minimum 3.5% down for primary residence.
• 10% down payment investment property which is good for Las Vegas single family homes or duplexes, 25% on triplexes and fourplexes.
• Borrower can finance up to ten properties, but the down payment is 25% for properties 5-10.
• Mortgage insurance and appraisal are waived.  This is the reason the Fannie Mae buyers can finance condominiums and luxury high rise condos for sale in Las Vegas.
• For owner occupied Las Vegas homes and condos, HomePath Loan by Fannie Mae is more expensive than counter parts like FHA loans. Buying discount points is an option to lower the interest rate and monthly mortgage payments. Discount points and upfront loan origination costs can run 1%-4.85%. Buying discount points is an option to lower the interest rate and monthly mortgage payments and upfront loan origination costs can run 1%-4.85%. Buyers can ask for closing cost contribution from Fannie Mae to cover these costs. This is due to the lower costs to the borrowers since Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is waived. The seller can contribute up to 6% for closing costs.  One can just opt for the higher rate in lieu of the discount points.
• For the investors, the interest rate adjustment for the property being used as an investment property is 2.5 points vs. normal 3 points. However, if the investor puts down less than 20% down payment and doesn’t want to pay for PMI there is an additional 1.75 points for a total of 4.25 points.
• Same basic underwriting requirements of a conforming loan, but without the property issues (appliances missing – no problem).

This program is very effective for seasoned investors as well as first time investors. I discussed in detail how an owner occupied condominium buyer can have his/her renters pay for his mortgage and make double digit cash on cash profit in Generating cash flow from owner occupied Las Vegas condos or homes.

 Las Vegas real estate investors are well aware of severely tightened guidelines for financing investment properties. Now, investors have the opportunity to buy very reasonably priced Las Vegas homes condominium or high rise condos with as little as 10% down with fantastic interest rates and NO PMI. I repeat, Fannie Mae doesn’t allow investors to bid on their home or condo for the first 30 days.

1: The reason that luxury high rise condominiums are not selling well is the cash flow generated by these residential or condo hotels.  HOA fess for $1.30/ square foot at Mandarin Oriental, about $1/SF in Veer Towers at City Center and Signature at MGM Grand. When you add HOA fees to annual taxes and other fees, it can run from hundreds to thousands of dollars per month and income gained from renting a residential condo or condo hotel may not generate cash flows that some investors are looking for. Unfortunately, this issue has overshadowed the value gained from buying a high rise condominium in Las Vegas as you are buying luxury condos that cannot be built at the selling prices and I don’t see any high rise condo being built in Las Vegas for at least a decade.

2: The other reason is that potential investors in CityCenter or other high rise towers don’t want to buy when future price cuts in their desired condo tower are probable.  We have had 30% price cuts for City Center condominiums, and Trump Las Vegas condominiums on sale are selling for 60%-70% off original prices. What happens if City Center cuts prices further as they have only sold 8% of their inventory?

I am not sure what will happen with CityCenter, however if I wanted to buy a condo there, I would ask for a price guarantee. As for other high rise condo towers, good deals can be found right now, but you have to know what you are doing.

CityCenter, Las Vegas is closing deals on about 200 out of 2400 luxury residential condominiums at Residence at Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas and Veer Towers and condo hotels that are for sale in Vdara at City Center.

Here are the sales numbers at City Center Las Vegas.

Number of luxury high rise condos for sale at CityCenter Las Vegas, and Luxury condos sold so far

As you can see CityCenter has a long way to go to sell out their luxury condos.

Las Vegas luxury high rise condos for sale are purchased for several reasons:

1: Value; Brick and mortars. You get to own a luxury high rise condo in the best location in Las Vegas, in the middle of the best and most expensive shopping and dining places on earth. Our wealthy brothers and sisters don’t have to exert themselves too much to spend their money on $2000 Louis Vuitton shoes and purses.

2: Cash flow: City Center, Las Vegas condos will disappoint when coming to cash flow. The reason that Residences MGM Grand Signature condos has had such a big foreclosure problem is that buyers who paid $900 or more per square foot found out the cash flow originated by MGM Grand condos did not come close to paying the mortgage on them. Foreclosed or bank owned MGM Grand condos are selling for 25 cents on the dollar now. I believe that CityCenter condo buyers who buy for cash flow will be disappointed.

3: Gaining tax advantage by becoming a Las Vegas, Nevada resident: I am not a CPA or Tax attorney and can’t discuss tax advantages of buying a residence in Nevada, but our wealthy brothers and sisters have the potential to save more than the price of a condo and all expenses involved through savings on their taxes.

Those who want buy at CityCenter should take a look at competition like MGM Grand Signature condos and Trump Las Vegas condos  which are selling for less than ½ the price per square foot as the cheapest price per square foot of City Center condos.

About 280-290 of 1228 of luxury hotel condos at Trump international, Las Vegas have been sold so far and even though Las Vegas high rise condo for sale market has shown some sign of improvement in sales by 7 percentage points in the third quarter, Trump Hotel condo tower has had little activity last quarter.

 So far Trump Towers was competing with resale Signature at MGM Grand Residence condos and Palm Place, addition of CityCenter Hotel Condos has put additional pressure on Trump’s pricing. Las Vegas MLS pricing for resale Trump International condos were tens of thousands of dollars cheaper than the builder’s pricing and this contributed to slow sales activity.

Trump International Hotel Condo Tower is located by Fashion Show Mall on the Las Vegas Strip

Well, Trump reacted by cutting prices and doing a condo sale.

Price cuts at Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas

While original pricings belonged to a mirage economy which did not exist, current pricing and especially sales prices should help Trump Hotel in Las Vegas sell a few more condominiums.

Trump International Hotel Condo Tower Lobby in Las Vegas, Trump condos are for sale at 60%-70% off original prices

I am revamping the web-site Las Vegas homes, condos, land and commercial real estate and the blog posts which I am doing lately are designed to be incorporated in the web-site. This blog post will be included in a series of blog posts that I am going to do about Trump Tower condos for sale in Las Vegas.

By the way, in the web-site page for Las Vegas high rise condos, I have put a big “Don’t Buy” for hotel condos, NO LONGER and the reason is evident, look at the original pricing, I knew today will come and believe that these luxury hotel condos are a good buy if you know what you are doing.

The following is Case-Shiller® Housing Price Index: January 1987 to May 2009 and shows the median price for homes in Las Vegas, a ten city composite of other major cities in US, and the flat line is the median price of homes if things would have progressed normally. The composite city graph has stayed above the normal median price while Las Vegas home prices have overcorrected and is about $20,000 or about 18% undervalued.

For those who wonder what happened after April-2009 which is shown in the graph, the graph would show a near flat line with a little spike at the end as Las Vegas median prices have gone up.

Now, Las Vegas homes that are purchased correctly can return 7% plus cash on cash return on the investors money, plus future appreciation.

However, the biggest number is that;

while only 11% of Las Vegas residents could afford to buy a home at the median price in 2006, 70% of Las Vegans could afford a home at the median price now.

Las Vegas is the most affordable city in United States again and a retirement heaven since retirees who relocate here don’t have to look for a job in Las Vegas.

Now let’s go over the investors other choices.

1: Stock market. The darn thing is starting to jump up and down like a beheaded hen. If you like to gamble, stocks are for you.

2: Gold prices at record highs. Again, these act Sinusoidally and the valley is coming after the peaks.

3: CD’s at 1.5% interest doesn’t cover inflation.

Now you see why investing in Las Vegas homes and condos is a sound and low risk investment that will return far more than buying a “Safe CD”.

Case closed.

Let me know who you are by becoming my friend on my Las Vegas real estate  page on Facebook or Masoud’s MySpace page.

In order to discuss Mandarin Oriental Hotel Residence condos for sale at Las Vegas CityCenter I have to talk about Aria Casino. Karen and I visited Aria Casino, which has the same name as my sweet nephew, shortly after MGM Grand’s grand opening of City Center and I hated it. I thought it was DARK, cold and impersonal and without attractions that other MGM Grand casinos have like the Mirage Volcano or Bellagio Fountains. Aria comes in two flavors, shades of white and brown and not much of any other colors and the ceiling and the casino are lit up by spotlights. We never went back to Aria.

The deal is that MGM Grand decided to (replicate?) their high roller areas of their other casinos in the Aria casino and I believe that they have failed miserably. I have never been a high roller and don’t know what these guys want in their casino, but most of the people that I talk to don’t like or go to Aria either.

Having said all that, the rest of MGM Grand’s CityCenter non-gaming hotels are doing fine and I believe that MGM Grand has succeeded in building the other City Center hotel towers like any luxurious big city hotel and the hotel guests can register and go to their rooms without dealing with large lines and traffic in other casino hotels and have a pocket of tranquility in the middle of the best shopping and dining establishments on earth.

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Residence condos succeeded in providing rich people a quiet, luxurious and relaxing environment which is surrounded by energy and activity and that is cool, if you can pay for it.

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Residence condos entrance is in a smaller yard which is separate from other City Center areas and the residences have their own entrance and elevators that is separate from the hotel guests’ entrance.  There are a total of 42 penthouses divided among Mandarin Oriental’s top seven floors. This means that with 6 condominiums per floor and a location such as Mandarin Oriental, these condos should fetch millions.

I don’t know if MGM Grand can close escrow on the remaining condos at Mandarin Oriental, only the future will answer this. However if they don’t close on these condos and thousands of their other residential condos in other towers, something has got to give.

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Related web-site pages: Investing in Las Vegas Real Estate, Las Vegas homes, luxury condos and commercial real estate for sale, Las Vegas high rise condominiums for sale

MGM Grand Signature condos for sale in Las Vegas, MLS pricing VS foreclosure auction pricing part one

Signature at MGM Grand condos, invest in the Las Vegas high rise condominiums, part last

I have discussed MLS pricing in Las Vegas for one bedroom condos at MGM Grand, here is the blog post about studios or junior suites. MGM Grand studios sleep four people, but in one room and the kitchens are much smaller than in the one bedroom suites.

MGM Grand Signature studio condos pricing

Studio condominiums at MGM Grand have been selling through Las Vegas MLS for $130,000-$201,000. Again, higher floor units with the Las Vegas Boulevard views sell for more than lower floor condominiums. However, whoever paid $210,000 for the penthouse unit has overpaid about $30,000, the asking price for this condo was $137,000. Lower mountain view condominiums sell for $130,000-$150,000 and the Strip view condos sell for $150,000-$201,000.

Similar condos in the foreclosure auction have sold for about $20,000-$35,000 less than MLS prices. There will not be much of a saving for lower floor mountain view condos but a 32^nd floor Strip view condo has sold for $145,000 in the foreclosure auction while a 33^rd floor condo sold for $175,000 and another on the 36^th floor for $201,000.

How a Las Vegas real estate investor wants to buy a MGM Grand Residence condo depends on their preference as there are all the good things about a MLS transaction like escrow and title insurance and inspecting the property before one closes escrow, but real savings can be gained through buying these condos through Trustee sale auction (Foreclosure auction) in Las Vegas.

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Signature at MGM Grand condos, invest in the Las Vegas high rise condominiums, part last

The rush on the MGM Grand Signature condos in Las Vegas seem to have subsided and prices seem to have stabilized as prices have appreciated by 20% in the last six months.

A look at the sales report for the last 3 months shows one penthouse floor 1394 square foot 2 bedroom condo which is constructed through joining a one bedroom and a studio sold for $540,000 or $466 per square foot. This MGM grand condo was not a short sale or foreclosure and the seller lost hundreds of thousands of dollars on this deal.

One Bedroom Condominiums at MGM Grand Signature MLS pricing VS foreclosure auction pricing

Eight one bedroom condominiums have sold through Las Vegas MLS in the last 90 days and selling prices have been $180,000-$260,000. A one bedroom condominium at MGM Grand is 847 square foot and may or may not have a balcony and sleeps four.  Seven out of eight sales have been foreclosures and one short sale. Few short sales in MGM Grand close escrow due to the fact that many of the sellers can’t prove hardship which is essential to do short sales.

 Lower floor condos and those with the airport and mountain views are cheaper than the higher floor condominiums or those with the STRIP (Las Vegas Boulevard) views. While the highest price for a one bedroom condominium with mountain views was $210,000, sale prices for the higher floor Strip view high-rise condos start at $230,000. As you can see a difference of $50,000 for a one bedroom condo is not unreasonable. Those who only pay attention to asking prices and not Comps should know that two one bedroom condos with asking prices of $182,000 and $187,000 sold for $245,000 and $238,000. Again, asking prices mean nothing; it is the Comps that count.

One bedroom condos at the foreclosure auction which we call trustee sale in Nevada have been selling below the MLS prices and $20,000-$50,000 savings over the MLS prices is possible. Two condos on the 28^th and 30^th floors have sold for $200,000 and one Strip view one bedroom unit on the 27^th floor has sold for $188,000. As you can see the MLS counter parts are selling for $230,000-$260,000, while buying at the foreclosure auction saves the buyer the trouble of bidding on a MLS foreclosure or short sale. The deal of the year has been won by an investor who paid $132,000 for a one bedroom condo on the third floor, I do not expect to see this price again.

At this moment there are no foreclosed (bank owned) MGM Grand condominium listed in the Las Vegas MLS as these get intercepted at the foreclosure (trustee Sale auction).

Foreclosure or trustee auction comes with its own risks as the buyer cannot legally see inside of the property which he/she is buying as it belongs to the person who is getting foreclosed upon. The act of foreclosure takes place in the trustee sale (foreclosure auction). However this does not pose a great problem for the MGM grand condos since all the one bedroom and studio condos are the same inside except for the views. Lastly, the buyers at the Trustee sale auction are responsible for paying back taxes and HOA (condo) fees. We do the title search and lien search for back taxes ourselves and the buyer is responsible for our 5% commission. We can save a bundle for the buyer.

I will discuss junior suites in the next blog.

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While we can write an offer for a regular sale any way that we want, this doesn’t work while making an offer on an REO home or condominium in Las Vegas.

1: The home or condo that you buy as a regular sale does not have to be sold to you AS IS. Unless the buyer waives his right to the property disclosures, the buyer can and should ask for disclosures and a CLUE report  The CLUE report is like Car Fax and will show the history of any insurance claims for the home or condo.

Foreclosure sales are (as is-where is) and for good reasons, the lender who has foreclosed on a home has not lived in the property and doesn’t know the history of the property. The bank will sell the property as is but this doesn’t mean that the buyer has to buy the home or condo as is and has the right to and should inspect the property by a licensed Nevada inspector. What happens now depends on who the buyer is.

A: Owner occupied homes or homes that have to be financed. In this case the lender may fix appraisal contingent repairs. For example a home that is purchased by a buyer who is financing through a VA loan has to meet certain requirements by the lender such as having an oven, if the home doesn’t have an oven, the lender has to put one in as an appraisal contingency.

B: Cash investors: the bank will often refuse to do any repairs on the home or condo. They also will refuse to contribute anything to the closing costs.

2: Appliances or personal property: these can be sold in a regular sale through a bill of sale however the bank doesn’t do this. Any appliances that are in the home or condo at the time of the offer may or may not be there at the time of closing. There is no bill of sale; however I have not had a deal that the appliances went missing before close of escrow yet.

3: Writing the offer; we can write an offer on a regular sale any which way we want, not bank foreclosures.

Banks look at two factors when reviewing offers written for bank owned homes or condos, one is the price and the other one is the terms. Offers should be as simple as possible with the easiest possible terms. The initial offer on the bank owned home will be replaced by a bank addendum that negates the initial offer and replaces it with the bank contract and is often take it or leave it. This is the reason that banks call it an addendum and not a counter offer.

The above was so Las Vegas real estate investors would adjust their expectation when buying a Las Vegas bank owned home or condo and not to scare them. We make offers on foreclosures all the time and close the deals while protecting our clients. Foreclosure deals in Las Vegas may be a bit harder to close than regular sales, but they are often more than worth the trouble due to the big savings that they offer the investors.