Las Vegas Homes, Condos, Land and Commercial Real Estate Blog

Las Vegas real estate blog, including homes, condominiums, high-rise condos, land and commercial real estate, plus Las Vegas real estate news, investment properties and more

Las Vegas Homes, Condos, Land and Commercial Real Estate Blog header image 1

Modifications to HAFA and its effect on Las Vegas foreclosures

January 19th, 2011 · Las Vegas condos, Las Vegas homes, Las Vegas Real Estate

Changes made to HAFA should drastically cut the number of Las Vegas foreclosures as these changes have made short selling Las Vegas distressed properties far easier now.

HAFA (Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives) short sale program became effective on April, 2010, and ends at the end of 2012. While HAFA was created to streamline the short sale process by setting clear timelines, documentation requirements and procedures to make short sales easie, HAFA has been a total failure since a recent report from the Congressional Oversight Panel that oversees TARP states that the Treasury has spent just $4.3 million on HAFA for 661 short sales.  How much money did TARP have, 700 Billion and they spent 4.3 million, wow!

Clearly further modifications are needed and it came at the start of 2011. You can find the changes below

  • HAFA no longer requires that servicers verify the borrower’s finances. This means that sellers would probably not be required to fill out an inch or so of financial documents.
  • HAFA no longer requires servicers to determine if the borrower’s monthly payment is higher than a 31 percent debt-to-income ratio. No change here as the vast majority already qualify.
  • HAFA no longer requires second-lien holders to agree to accept 6 percent of the unpaid principal balance owed them, up to $6,000. Servicers now decide who gets paid how much, with a cap still at $6000. So a second lien holder that is owed $30,000 or $50,000 can get the full $6,000. This is a good thing, since some of these second mortgage holders can actually make more money by settling for $6,000 rather than selling the loan to a collection agency, excellent for the poor borrower/seller.
  • HAFA now requires borrowers seeking a short sale get an answer/agreement within 30 days.

There were three road blocks to doing short sale deals in Las Vegas:

1: The seller had to prove hard ship (gone)

2: Specific Performance which means that the lender can go after the borrower for the difference between the selling price and loan amount. Now the banks are willing to forgo this but Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac don’t. Naughty Feds ;-)

3: Second mortgages: The banks sell these to collection agencies as of right now after foreclosure

The bottom line is that foreclosing on a home or condo in Las Vegas costs banks 10% more than short selling it. Any vandalism, which many Las Vegas foreclosures have been  subject to, severely adds to this cost. Banks have learned by now that letting borrowers who are in default live in their home longer than 4 months will result in a happier situation and saves money when they foreclose and it is far more politically palatable than foreclosing as soon as 4 months is over. Now if the same borrowers can short sale their home without proving financial hardship, the banks will save money and that is the reason that new rules should help to drastically cut the number of Las Vegas foreclosures in a few month.

I hope what I wrote above made sense but don’t blame me if things don’t work out that way since making sense ain’t got nothing to do with how banks do things.

→ No CommentsTags:

Las Vegas real estate market 2011

January 10th, 2011 · Invest in Las Vegas real estate, Las Vegas condos, Las Vegas homes, Las Vegas Real Estate

Hello and belated Happy New Year. For Las Vegas real estate market the perfect storm is over and land mass in sight, congratulations to those who have survived it and condolences to those who sank.

Silly real estate pundits have been writing about how bad Las Vegas real estate market is in the first few months of last year. Well a whopping 41,915 single family Las Vegas homes, condos and townhomes have been sold in Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson through the Las Vegas MLS and another 5,945 properties were sold to a third party in the Las Vegas Trustee Sale Auction with additional properties which have been sold through various bank owned auctions which should put the total number close to 50,000. The supply of distressed properties in Las Vegas area is not endless and we have easily burned though the majority of these.

The total number for foreclosed properties in Las Vegas was 23,920 and 19,180 of these have sold through the Las Vegas MLS in 2010. Some of the rest have sold in bank owned auctions and some are not ready to sell yet. I have shown that home prices have been going up and down in a narrow range (10%) for the type of transaction; see Las Vegas homes market for foreclosures, short sales, auction homes. Condo prices in lower price ranges are up about 10%-15% in many cases.

We are witnessing a serious attempt by the banks to raise prices in all types of residential real estate and all price ranges!!! Time after time we see Las Vegas bank owned listings have been withdrawn from the market and re-listed at 5%-10% higher. We used to have a real estate tradition in Las Vegas pre-2008 and it was; if the property didn’t sell within three months, raise the price by 10%!!! I don’t think bank attempts can succeed in the current market but banks are playing hard ball now.

We have had a couple of complaining e-mails from the listing agents along with rejection letters for offers on $400,000-$500,000 Las Vegas bank owned luxury homes because our offers were 10% below the lowest COMPS. These listing agents were attempting to teach me how to calculate the correct COMPS!!!! Unless these complaint letters are really snobby, I don’t answer them. But while I do not have any problems about paying COMP prices for $150,000 single family homes offers should be made with future direction of the market which is totally different for single family homes that are priced in $150,000 range rather than homes that are priced in $500,000 price range.

As for Las Vegas real estate market for 2011

If things go the same way they have been, we will start a slow recovery in prices which will go on for a year or two, I have explained in Las Vegas economy and its effect on Las Vegas real estate that four levels of trickle downs have to happen and we have started seeing the second level which is a double digit increase in casino and convention business. Now our casinos have to feel good enough to give their workers more hours (I am not talking about new hiring) and employees have to feel good enough and pay down some debt before they start spending money.

I will write about why I expect Las Vegas foreclosures to down drastically in the future.

We are a couple of years away from sharp recovery in Las Vegas real estate and when it arrives it will not be linear. Masoud

→ No CommentsTags:

Las Vegas short sale offer withdrawn because of listing agent

December 9th, 2010 · Las Vegas Real Estate

When a buyer makes an offer on a Las Vegas short sale home or condo, he/she bets on the listing agent’s ability to conclude short sale negotiations successfully, even though this is not the only consideration. The listing agent should be a grinder and be accessible to conclude a short sale deal as it is paper intensive and many calls and e-mails are a fact of life.

When a short sale offer is accepted by the seller, earnest money deposit is required to show the bank that the buyer is serious about the deal. However, the listing agent should be smart enough to make the EMD amount reasonable. EMD is held in the escrow company for a period of time in order to get a bank approval from the bank.

We made an offer on a Las Vegas multifamily building on Friday morning.  The buyer had some questions about some expenses that were not customary so I left the listing agent a message on Friday morning to call me to answer the questions. We also e-mailed him to call us at the same time in order to have a record. I called and left a message late Friday afternoon for the listing agent to call me again.

I did not receive a response on Friday, on Monday I e-mailed the listing agent again to call me. I did not hear from the listing agent, however he e-mailed us a ridiculous counter offer that required the buyer to put up more than $7,500 Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) in the escrow which the seller could cash out immediately and hold for a duration of six months, and the buyer could get his EMD back only if the listing agent failed to get the short sale process through.

I called the buyer Late Monday afternoon, after the listing agent ignored two phone calls and e-mails and asked the buyer what does he think the chances of a listing agent who is severely communicationally challenged to get a short sale deal through, his answer was ZERO.

We informed the listing agent that we were going to withdraw the offer due to the listing agent’s failure to answer the buyer’s question and wished him luck in explaining this to the seller. However, I bet anything that the poor seller will never know why he lost a viable cash buyer for his short sale listing.

A listing agent’s number one job is to be accessible and to answer questions about his/her listing and Las Vegas Realtors or real estate agents who think they are doing a buyer a favor by answering their phone calls only betrays their sellers.

→ No CommentsTags:

Capping collection fees for Vegas foreclosed homes HOA fees

December 6th, 2010 · Las Vegas condos, Las Vegas homes

George Burns, Nevada Financial Institutions Commissioner just made a great ruling that would cap HOA collection fees for foreclosed Las Vegas homes and condos and remove the collection fees from the super priority lien status it enjoyed until now.  Good for George, if you run for something you’ve got my vote.

Here is the deal; when a Greater Las Vegas home is going to be foreclosed on or with some homes that are sold through a short sale process, the owner stops paying taxes and HOA fees for their residence. However late HOA fees, back taxes and service liens, such as sewer, enjoy the status of super priority liens since these are the first to be collected upon the sale of the home and ahead of other liens.

Nevada (Home Owner Associations) HOA’s can only collect up to nine months of late monthly fees, however there is no limit on the amount of collections fees that collection agencies can charge. A real estate attorney stated that he has seen a $5500 collection fee for $100 in late HOA fees.

The arbitrary collection fees can run in $4,000-$6,000 range and the only way to contest this fee is by filing a law suit so this led to deals being cancelled in the last minute. The collection agencies obviously didn’t like this and are contesting Mr. Burns ruling in Nevada courts, I am rooting for Commissioner Burns.

If Commissioner Burns ruling stands it could bring down closing costs for a $100,000 foreclosed home in Las Vegas by 2% or more and that is good thing.

→ 1 CommentTags:

Las Vegas homes market for foreclosures, short sales, auction homes

November 28th, 2010 · Invest in Las Vegas real estate, Las Vegas homes

I received an interesting e-mail from Mr. Larry Murphy of Salestraq.com who provides my web-site’s Las Vegas new homes and condos MLS. He is the foremost Las Vegas real estate analyst (I am pretty good too), since he keeps track of Las Vegas real estate sales by category (Las Vegas homes, condos, land and commercial real estate and by transaction type, such as Las Vegas homes that are purchased through real estate auctions and foreclosures short sales and classic non-distressed sales that are sold through the Las Vegas MLS. I am reproducing most of what he has in his e-mail. I have already called Larry and obtained his permission. Additionally he, the gentleman that he is, e-mailed me the charts to use in this blog.

Have you ever wondered why you see so many different figures quoted in the media regarding home prices in Las Vegas?

Some quote “Average Price” and some quote “Median Price”, and some don’t say!

There is no ONE price for EVERYTHING! Las Vegas homes prices are the function of:

1. Transaction Type: Auction, REO, Short Sale, Normal Non-Distressed Sale or New Homes

2. Time Frame Measured: For the Month? For the Quarter? For the Year? Last Year or This?

3. Type of Structure: Single Family Detached or Traditional Condo/TH or High Rise Condo?

4. Area Measured: Clark County? Las Vegas-Paradise MSA? Henderson? North Las Vegas?

5. Data Source: MLS? DataQuick? Case-Shiller? County Assessor? US Census Data?

Below you can find the median home prices in Las Vegas by transaction type.

Las Vegas home market by type, foreclosures, short sales, auction homes

Las Vegas home market by transaction type, foreclosure homes, short sale homes, auction homes and classic sales

As you can see this graph shows a stable market, jumping UP and DOWN in a narrow range (about 10%).

The other graph shows market shares by transaction type. Although foreclosures make up only 20% of total residential listings, still more than one third of homes sold are foreclosures.

Las Vegas homes sold market share transaction type

Las Vegas homes sold market share transaction type, foreclosure homes, short sale homes, auction homes and classic sales

 The other point is that competition for homes that are priced less than the median number for each transaction type is still fierce and we are yet to get an acceptance without multiple offers;, however we win our fair share of deals even after multiple counter offers because we have become experts in writing foreclosure offers.

Lastly, I have told a couple of perspective buyers to GO FISH rather than looking to buy homes here. These buyers want to get an additional 40% discount from current prices for Las Vegas homes while there is absolutely no reason for any seller to even consider their ridiculous offers when they are getting multiple offers for their homes that are near or higher than comparables. When knowledgeable buyers talk about 40 cents on the dollar, they are talking about prices in 2004-2007 and not now.

→ 1 CommentTags:

Las Vegas economy and its effect on Las Vegas real estate

November 22nd, 2010 · Las Vegas Real Estate

Las Vegas real estate prices will appreciate significantly after a lot of trickle down happenings

Before I discuss Las Vegas economy and its effect on Las Vegas real estate pricing I want to discuss a couple of points.

1: I am NOT an economist.

2: The Southern Nevada Index of Leading Indicators is done by UNLV. The following is from their web-site.

The Southern Nevada Index of Leading Indicators is composed of 10 economic series, based on criteria used to build the National Index of Leading Indicators. The series and their respective weights are as follows:

  • Residential building units permitted 0.7
  • Residential building valuation 0.9
  • Commercial building permits 1.0
  • Commercial building valuation 1.4
  • Taxable sales 1.0
  • Air passengers enplaned and deplaned 1.0
  • Sales of gasoline (gallons) 1.2
  • Gross gaming revenues 1.4
  • Visitor volume 1.1
  • Conventions held attendance 0.5

Now, keep in mind that Clark County, Nevada, and more specifically Las Vegas has been basically a two industry town (gambling and construction). In 2003-2007 Las Vegas was severely overbuilt for our current economic conditions so residential building units permitted and commercial building permits are NOT going to recover for a number of years. Residential building valuation and Commercial building valuation are down and will not recover until sometime after the other indexes recover.

The Nevada and Las Vegas economy is a function of US economy with a lag time. First, visitors have to feel good about their own financial situation and that requires a lag time of 6 months to a year from the stock market recovery to come here and spend (lose) their money. Then casinos have to feel good about their situation (NOT the Jersey Shores guy) for a while to start giving more hours to the employees who are under employed (I am not talking about new hires) until their employees feel good about their financials so they start spending money here, so it can trickle down to other businesses here. Las Vegas real estate prices will start appreciating significantly only after, a lot of trickling downs.

But now we are starting to see signs of recovery. Excluding residential and commercial real estate, other indicators are rising and if things don’t get worse we should be at the beginning stages of recovery.

Again the following is from CBER:

“The economic picture for Clark County is improving a little bit more than for the state as a whole. September gaming revenue was up 1.5 percent from a year ago—down 2.5 percent from a very robust August. Had August not seen such a dramatic increase in baccarat, however, the September gaming numbers would show an increase. September visitor volume and taxable sales were also up over a year earlier. The Las Vegas unemployment rate rose from 14.7 percent to 15.0 percent in September, and residential construction permits fell sharply.”

I will discuss the Las Vegas home market in my next blog post.

As for me: it is good to blog again and the reason for not blogging in more than a month is that we got slammed after I revamped Las Vegas homes, condos, land and commercial real estate and taking care of our clients is time consuming. The other reason is that I haven’t been well.  I’d like to thank all who prayed for my recovery which is slowly starting too.

→ 2 CommentsTags:

Many Las Vegas MLS listings show incorrect property tax

October 22nd, 2010 · Invest in Las Vegas real estate, Las Vegas condos, Las Vegas homes

I have been doing investment analysis for W. Las Vegas condos and homes in S.W. Las Vegas to confirm which properties offer the best return on investment. What jumps out is that many homes and condo listings in the Las Vegas MLS do not reflect new property tax rates that went into effect in July-2010.

Property taxes for many Las Vegas homes and condos have been cut by 15%-25% or more, however many listings show 2009-2010 taxes instead of the new rate. Thus property taxes have to be verified when showing or making offers on homes or condos since a $500 per year reduction in taxes for a $125,000 home can significantly affect the loan amount for buyers who want to finance their home and can equally affect cash flow for Las Vegas real estate investors.

→ No CommentsTags:

Texas, Don’t Mess With US Marine Corp and Black Sheep’s Prayer

October 21st, 2010 · My Business and Personal Blog

Time to get away from dry Las Vegas real estate blogs and have a little laugh:

1: One of the best prayers by a black sheep

O’ Lord I failed to be guided to the straight and righteous path, please BEND it toward me.

2: Answer for a complaint by Texas Highway Patrol to US Marine Corp

Two Texas Highway Patrol Officers were conducting speeding enforcement on Hwy 77, just south of Kingsville, Texas. 

Texas cop conducting a spped trap, see 141 miles per hour

Texas cop conducting a spped trap, see 141 miles per hour

 
 One of the officers was using a hand held radar device to check speeding vehicles approaching the town of Kingsville.  The officers were suddenly surprised when the radar gun began reading 300 miles per hour and climbing.

  The officer attempted to reset the radar gun, but it would not reset and then it suddenly turned off. 

 Just then a deafening roar over the Mesquite treetops on Hwy 77 revealed that the radar had in fact locked on to a USMC F/A-18 Hornet which was engaged in a low flying exercise near this, it’s Naval Air home base location in Kingsville TX.

US Marin Corp F 18 Hornet

US Marin Corp F 18 Hornet

 Back at the Texas Highway Patrol Headquarters in Corpus Christi the Patrol Captain fired off a complaint to the US Naval Base Commander in Kingsville for shutting down his equipment.

 The reply came back in true USMC style:

 ’Thank you for your letter….  

 You may be interested to know that the tactical computer in the Hornet had detected the presence of, and subsequently locked on to, your HOSTILE radar equipment and automatically sent a jamming signal back to it, which is why it shut down.

 Furthermore, an Air-to-Ground missile aboard the fully armed aircraft had also automatically locked on to your equipment’s location.  

   Fortunately, the Marine Pilot flying the Hornet recognized the situation for what it was, quickly responded to the missile system alert status and was able to override the automated defense system before the missile was launched to destroy the HOSTILE radar position on the side of Hwy 77 South of Kingsville.

 The pilot suggests you cover your mouths when cussing at them, since the video systems on these jets are very high tech. 

 Sergeant Johnson, the officer holding the radar gun, should get his dentist to check his left rear molar. It appears the filling is loose. Also, the snap is broken on his holster. 

  Semper Fi  (always Faithful)

I hope you got a good laugh out of this, if you did SHARE IT (Just Do It) Capiche!!

Lastly, we don’t even answer our home phone anymore due to hate filled robo calls by a few politicians who have sold their soul for power (if they had one to begin with) and lie, accuse and spread hate.

My question is this:

 What outcome do you expect from electing a liar who spreads hatred?

Please vote, this is your only chance to have some input about your government. Thousands of freedom fighters been and are being imprisoned, tortured and killed to earn this right for you and others. If you don’t vote you are sheep (baa, baa), but when you do, vote AGAINST hate and lies. Masoud

→ No CommentsTags:

Bank of America resumes foreclosures in 23 states but not Nevada

October 18th, 2010 · Las Vegas Real Estate

Bank Of America has resumed foreclosures in 23 states that require a judges signature to foreclose on properties, however Nevada is not one of the states and foreclosures freeze remains for now

→ No CommentsTags: ·

Residences at Mandarin Oriental Hotel has sold 25% of condos

October 18th, 2010 · City Center Las Vegas, Las Vegas high-rise condos

 Residence at Mandarin Oriental Hotel at MGM CityCenter Las Vegas have sold 60 out of 227 luxury condos, August 2010

MGM CityCenter Mandarin Oriental Hotel condos sales have not sold as quickly as City Center condo sales at Residences at Veer Towers  because Mandarin condos are far more expensive than Residences at Veer Towers and as I have written before that Mandarin Oriental has been built for buyers for whom price is not a concern.

Below is the number of sales by month and average sale prices at CityCenter Mandarin Oriental Hotel ultra luxury condos

Month 2010 January February March April May June July August
Number of high rise condos sold at Mandarin Oriental Hotel, City Center 2 8 15 7 6 5 12 5
Average Sale price in Million Dollars for Mandarin Oriental Hotel Condos ,City Center 2.477 1.475 1.978 3.093 3.30 2.504 2.171 2.837

 I have blogged about the history of price cuts at Mandarin Oriental condos at CityCenter, Las Vegas and at least at this time there is no sign of any further price cuts, however nothing keeps a buyer from making a lower offer than list price on these condos. What is the worst thing that can happen? CityCenter will decline the offer!  

Additionally, Casinos on the Strip are doing well as their winnings last month was up by 21% compared to the same month last year, so MGM is making money and can hold on. I have not written about Vdara which is a luxury high rise condo hotel because I don’t think that Vdara condos offer a decent deal to investors and if any price cuts do come, it should be Vdara which is a condo hotel for sale at CityCenter Las Vegas.

At any rate if you want to make an offer on a Mandarin Oriental Hotel call me, I have been tracking sales at City Center as sold numbers became available in the Clark County recorders site.

 Masoud, 702-478-7800.

→ No CommentsTags:

Las Vegas City Center, Veer Towers has sold 50% of condos as of Aug-2010

October 16th, 2010 · Las Vegas Real Estate

Residence at Veer Towers, CityCenter Las Vegas has sold 165 of 325 luxury condos by August, 2010 and there is no sign of further price cuts

→ No CommentsTags: ····

Las Vegas City Center, Veer Towers has sold 50% of condos

October 16th, 2010 · City Center Las Vegas, Las Vegas high-rise condos

 Veer Towers at CityCenter Las Vegas have sold 50% of their luxury condos August 2010

City Center condo sales at Residences at Veer Towers are accelerating and about 50% of the condos at Veer Towers have been sold. The anticipated further price cuts at City Center (CityCenter) Las Vegas are not materializing as the number of condo sales in Veer Towers led all Las Vegas high rise condos.

I remember a real estate expert, who put inventory at City Center at 20 years based on sales for May, 2010. If sales continue at this pace, he would be wrong by about 18 years or more.

Below is number of sales by month and average sale prices at CityCenter Veer luxury condos

Month, 2010 May June July August
Number of high rise condos sold at Veer Towers at City Center 24 47 43 51
Average Sale Price for Veer Condos at City Center $515,000 $535,000 $576,000 $653,000

 

I have blogged about the history of price cuts at Veer luxury condos at CityCenter, Las Vegas and have previously written that Veer Towers are the least likely candidate for further price cuts and my prediction seems to be coming true. At any rate if you want to make an offer on a Veer condo call me 702-478-7800.

→ No CommentsTags:

Winning offers on Las Vegas homes, condos, high rise condos

October 15th, 2010 · Invest in Las Vegas real estate, Las Vegas condos, Las Vegas high-rise condos, Las Vegas homes

This is the fifth blog post in the Comprehensive Guide to Invest in Las Vegas real estate series by Masoud

Masoud’s Law:

A: A Las Vegas home, condo, high rise condo or commercial property seller is NOT stupid, even if it is a bank selling foreclosures.

B: Most Las Vegas real estate deals are ZERO sum deals and thus adversarial.

This is the reason that a seller would hire one or more real estate professionals to help them set a proper price for their property. Banks get at least two broker price opinions (BPO) before they list their bank owned Las Vegas home or condo. Nowadays the banks get an appraisal for short sale Las Vegas homes or condos before they OK a short sale. The buyer or his agent will not fool anyone.

Furthermore, banks have been doing foreclosure sales for a while and by now they have a pretty good idea about Las Vegas property values. However, while some banks and their agents would market the property for far less than the desired price to get bidding wars going, others will put a higher price and expect to get lower offers. Asking prices mean nothing.

70% of my time is dedicated to researching the Las Vegas real estate market. Why would I spend so much time doing research? Because an intelligent offer on  Las Vegas homes, condos or high rise condos should be made with several factors in mind.

1: COMPS or comprehensive market analysis of the property. We look at the prices that similar homes or condos in the immediate area have sold for in the last 1-6 months. By similar, I mean the same floor plan and square footage and the 1-6 month period depends on how dynamic the market is; if there are enough sales we try to keep in the last 90 days.

2: Las Vegas real estate market trends: If the market is going down quickly, we need to protect the buyer, thus the upper limit on the offer would be COMPS minus 10% or more for the offer. A couple of years ago we helped a disabled veteran buy a home for 28% below COMPS. His deal still stands as a great deal today. However, instead of paying rent he has been paying his mortgage for a couple of years now and has paid far less than he would have paid to rent the same home. Instead of paying a land lord by now he should have a bit of equity in his home. If the market is appreciating then COMPS become the lower limit for the offer.

3: Price range and type of the property: Many buyers ignore this important factor. Las Vegas foreclosure homes for sale get offers that are very close to asking price in all price ranges, however competition for homes priced under $100,000 is fierce. Buyers who think that they can lowball a bank property significantly will not succeed. Conversely many non-distressed Las Vegas luxury homes that are priced higher than $500,000 are priced unreasonably too high, we would lowball the heck out of these.

4: Condition of the property: The more work a property needs, the lower the price since the buyer has to put in his/her time and money to fix it. Furthermore, fixer upper don’t qualify for a loan, unless it is eligible for a construction loan to fix it. Fixer uppers or Las Vegas auction homes that have to sell for cash provide for some of the best deals to found today.

5: How many offers a property has: If the property has multiple offers, forget about low balling.

6: Intangibles: No two persons have the same taste, if a buyer falls in love with a Las Vegas property and tells me “Masoud, GET it for me”, then a premium has to be paid to GET the buyer the property.

7: Tangibles: Views, Las Vegas homes or condos with Strip views command a premium as well as homes with larger lots or that have a great back yard, pool, spa, etc.

8: The seller: Is the seller willing to get into protracted negotiation? No if the seller is a bank. Yes if the seller is a private individual selling a non-distressed home or condo.

Picking the right price to make an offer is NOT done through reading newspaper articles or taking guesses. A Las Vegas real estate buyer’s perception of the market condition could be their worst enemy. Only accepted offers lead to deals, not rejected offers. So here is our policy regarding making offers on behalf of our clients.

  • We try to make the lowest possible offer that has a chance at getting the offer accepted

→ No CommentsTags:

Fannie Mae offers buyers 3.5% incentive for REO properties

October 12th, 2010 · Las Vegas condos, Las Vegas high-rise condos, Las Vegas homes

Fannie Mea offers 3.5% of purchase price of its bank owned (foreclosed) homes, condos, high rise condos to buyers

Fannie Mae is offering 3.5% of the purchase price as incentive for foreclosed (REO) properties that it sells through a special program called HomePath.  Las Vegas foreclosure home, condos and high rise condominiums buyers will get 3.5% of the purchase price to use toward closing costs, buying home warranty, appliances, repair costs, interest rate buy down, etc.

Imagine Las Vegas high rise condos and financing!!! Fannie Mea finances its foreclosures and high rise condo are not an exception due to the fact that Fannie Mae doesn’t require an appraisal for its bank owned luxury high rise condos.

This Fannie Mae HomePath incentive cover owner occupied buyers only and excludes Las Vegas real estate investors, even vacation home or second home buyers.

In order to qualify for this incentive, buyers have 60 days from the acceptance of the offer to close the deal; time frame for this incentive is from September 23rd 2010 to December 31st.

I heart Fannie Mea because what they do is really effective and their foreclosures bring the highest price for any bank owned in Las Vegas and this helps our real estate market.

→ No CommentsTags:

Las Vegas real estate market for Las Vegas homes is stable 2010

October 12th, 2010 · Invest in Las Vegas real estate, Las Vegas homes

The total number of single family homes sold in September 2010 is 2,806; difference between August homes sales is only 13 homes.

25,941 Las Vegas homes have sold so far in 2010 which is 2,114 less than 2009, this is due to the lack of foreclosure inventory through 2010. However the number of homes sold in Las Vegas in 2010 is twice the number of homes sold in 2007 (12458) and much higher than homes sold in 2008 (17525). If the market doesn’t change drastically 2010 will have the highest number of homes sold in the past six years. 

Why is Las Vegas real estate market for homes is stable?

The average price for Las Vegas homes was $169,825 for September 2010 which remains within the same narrow range that it has been at since March 2009. This represents a 60.3% drop from the record “average” high of $428,817 in June of 2007 which was followed by significant monthly price drops until March 2009. The average price for Las Vegas homes has continued to fluctuate by only a few thousand dollars representing a 2.0%- 2.5% fluctuation each month. Proof of what I have been writing about for about 15 months, except it took guts to say the Las Vegas home market is stable more than a year ago, I hope fear mongering media publish these numbers, but then again how can they sell  papers without fear mongering.

Total sales of single family homes in September stands at $476,528,134 which reflects only a slight +0.1% increase from August 2010, total volume of sales through October 2010 is $4,205,383,551.

→ No CommentsTags: