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How many offers does it take to get to the center of a foreclosure?

October 21st, 2009

The Las Vegas Real Estate Market has seen a jump in the amount of buyer’s actively looking to purchase!!!  Great news…..or is it?????  The public seems to be under the impression that Las Vegas is still a buyer’s market; well people, I’m here to tell you don’t believe everything you hear!!  There are alot of people who want to come in, find a property and then put in a “low-ball” offer, and I can understand wanting to pay as little as possible for a home, but this will not work in Las Vegas anymore!!!  The listing agents for the banks foreclosed homes have found out that if they price the property really low, they get multiple offers!  Their next move is to issue a multiple offer addendum and tell everyone to bring their “highest and best” offer, which brings out the beast in almost every buyer!!!  The agent finds the best price with the fastest close and the bank accepts that offer, which is usually quite a bit higher than the listed price.   All those other buyer’s have to move on to the next “great deal”, usually to find themselves in the same situation.

I have made offers for clients where there have been 30 (yes, THIRTY) other offers!!!  This is becoming normal…something is very wrong with that!   I’ve had to start educating my buyer’s on the market situation, most of them don’t believe me until after a few offers have been made.  Once they “get it”, we start looking in a price range alot lower than what they want to spend so we can out-bid other buyers, start looking at the benefits of purchasing a short sale, or go directly to the new home models where we find better footing and some really interesting deals! 

So if you are looking to purchase property in Las Vegas, don’t think that you can just come in with any price and grab up a foreclosed home for almost nothing!  Seller’s, even if they are suits at the bank are still in charge and the “Buyer’s Market” has left the building!!

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Posted in Blog, Short sales for buyers

The “I HAVE CASH” offer…..

October 20th, 2009

Seems like every buyer in Las Vegas today has CASH!!  As a Realtor who specalizies in listing short sales here in Las Vegas, I can’t believe the amount of people who are buying properties with CASH!!  I could sell 50k condo’s all day long!!  Where are these people getting all this money????  I have no idea, and don’t really care….just happy for this new trend!!  If you are out there, making cash offers on properties, don’t be surprised if the Realtor doesn’t act overly happy and excited when you say “I HAVE CASH!” because right now, SO DOES EVERYONE ELSE!!!

Of course, as with all good things, there is a down side….all those other people who need to get a property financed!  What about all those hard working, blue collar, regular Joes, who want to LIVE in a house???  They are having a tough time getting a property, usually due to a cash offer!!  For them, foreclosures have just become a complete waste of time…causing them nothing but stress and heartache!  Doing an FHA or VA loan?  Even harder…..usually takes longer to close and includes alot more  red tape!!!  If you are trying to purchase your American Dream, take some time to learn the market….what kind of offers are being considered?  Is the listing price realistic for the market, or are they pricing below market to entice a bidding war?  Listen to your Real Estate Professional!!!  They are trying to educate you to make your Dream come true!

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Posted in Blog, Short sales for buyers

Short Sales – Worth their “Wait” in gold!

October 19th, 2009

The Las Vegas housing market has seen a lot of short sales lately!  Why would a buyer think a short sale is worth waiting for months on end for the seller’s lender to approve the deal?  Well, several reasons…..at least in Las Vegas!!  With inventory down on foreclosures, the competition to get these homes has become overwhelming for some buyers!  After writing 10 or so offers on different foreclosed properties, only to be “beat out” by one of 20 or so other offers, buyer’s finally turn to short sales in a funny kind of desperation!!  The most appealing part of a short sale?  The property has usually been taken care of….seller’s may still live there…and they love that house!!  They aren’t going to rip out the kitchen or steal all the appliances because they are mad at the bank!  They are trying to do the “right thing”…work it out with the bank…let someone who can afford the home buy it!  This gives them the opportunity to get out of a home that is causing them stress, and to move on into a future that includes being able to rebuild credit and a few years down the road, purchase another home that they CAN afford!  Other great benefits include, competitive prices, less competition with other buyer’s and an extensive inventory to choose from!!

Short sales can take a long time to get approved, it’s true, but they are proving to be worth their wait in gold to many Las Vegas buyer’s!

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Posted in Blog, Short sales for buyers

Buyers are having guilt picking up foreclosed homes

September 24th, 2009

Overcoming economic survivor guilt

A year after the meltdowns of the banking and housing industries, an unseen by-product of the financial crisis has crept into the American society: the economic survivor guilt, the news organization USA Today reported.  

Simply put, the economic survivor guilt is the uneasy feeling of “capitalizing off of somebody else’s misfortune.”

This economic survivor guilt is specifically widespread in Las Vegas and surrounding Clark County.

Data aggregator RealtyTrac reported that in July, one in 13 homes in Las Vegas and surrounding Clark County was owned by banks. For the month of August, RealtyTrac reported that Nevada tops the U.S. foreclosure rate list, with one in every 62 housing units in Nevada receiving a foreclosure filing.

The prevalence of foreclosed homes resulted to the ample supply of houses for sale at bargain prices.
 
While a great number rejoice at the bargain home prices, there are those who carry the guilt burden for the persons who lost their homes.

A realtor told the news organization that whenever clients would express guilt feelings over the bargain prices of homes, he would remind his clients that it is not their fault and that they need to grab this opportunity for the welfare of their families. 

Psychologist Sylvia Lafair told the news organization that buying bargain-priced homes is like buying a stock. Guilt is often not attached when buying a stock as one does not meet or come in close contact in whatever form with the person who sells the bargain-priced stock. 

To overcome this economic survivor guilt, Lafair said, bargain-priced home buyers can balance this guilt with good deeds. When moving in to the newly bought home, for example, she said, the old things that are not anymore useful can be donated to the shelter of Salvation Army.

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Posted in Blog, Las Vegas General

Short sales help reduce foreclosures

September 24th, 2009

Foreclosures could be lessened by short sales

One way to reduce the number of foreclosures is by increasing the short sales, this according to the president of HBN Interactive Duane LeGate.

In Las Vegas where foreclosure is at its height, increase in short sales could lead to fewer foreclosures.

A short sale is a transaction whereby a lender permits a borrower to sell his home for less the amount that the borrower owes.

LeGate reported that many lender banks are putting off the foreclosure process when an acceptable short sale is in sight.
    
About 10 percent of the property transactions in Las Vegas are short sales, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported. There are currently close to 4,800 properties in Greater Las Vegas that are listed as short sales.

FOX5 News reported that lender banks see short sale as an alternative to foreclosure. The news organization said that for every foreclosure, a lender bank spends about $50,000 in legal fees and maintenance alone.

The news organization added that although a short sale affects the credit status of the seller, it wouldn’t be as severe as a foreclosure.

In its latest report, data aggregator RealtyTrac reported that Nevada continuous to top the U.S. foreclosure rate list, with one in every 62 housing units in Nevada in August receiving a foreclosure filing–defined as default notice, scheduled auction and bank repossession.

The data aggregator added that a total of 17,902 properties in Nevada received foreclosure filings during the month of August, a rise by 53 percent from August of the previous year.

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July sales mostly bank owned

September 23rd, 2009

July home sales mostly foreclosure resales

About 70 percent of the homes resold in Las Vegas area for the month of July were homes that had been foreclosed in the last 12 months, this according to  
DataQuick.

DataQuick also reported that for the month of June, close to 70 percent of the homes resold in Las Vegas were also foreclosure resales.

DataQuick is a San Diego-based firm which tracks U.S. real estate trends  through public property records.

Compared to foreclosure resales of July last year, foreclosure resales in July  this year rise by 62.5 percent, DataQuick added.

The firm said the foreclosure resales reached its peak in April of this year, with 73.7 percent of  foreclosure resales in Las Vegas.

The real estate information service reported that Las Vegas home sales rose for 11 successive months as first-time buyers and investors, including those making “cash” deals, strategically sought out lower-cost, post-foreclosure properties. 

The firm added that the median sale price in July dipped by 4 percent from June.

DataQuick’s report on Las Vegas July home sales also include the following key findings:

For the month of July, a total of  5,311 homes were sold in Las Vegas-Paradise metro area (Clark County). This is the highest sales for any July since July of 2006 when home sales reached 6,530. 

Resales of 3,925 single-family homes were the highest for any July since July 2005 when 4,555 single-family homes were sold. 

For 13 successive months,  resale of condos have increased with sales in July being the highest since 2005.

DataQuick reported, “Sales of newly built homes remain extremely slow, largely because home builders can’t compete with discounted foreclosure resales.”

For the month of July, 430  new homes were sold, a decrease by 9.5 percent from June and a dip by 44.7 percent for the same period last year.

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Posted in Blog, Las Vegas General

Buyers are turning to new homes as foreclosure market gets competitive

September 23rd, 2009

Buyers turn to new homes

Even as foreclosure sales persist to pull down the median home price in Las Vegas, there are progress signs that buyers are opting for new homes, this according to Home Builders Research.

The research group reported that the median resale price in August was $122,000, a decrease by 39 percent from the previous year. In August as well, sales of existing homes was only 3,833 compared to 4,371 in July.

Home Builders Research reported that while many buyers are still interested in foreclosed homes, others are interested in new homes. The reasons for this new interest in new homes, the research group said, is that good existing homes are hard to find and many of these good existing homes have already multiple offers. The other reason cited is that buyers find buying new homes less stressful compared to buying foreclosed homes.

The research group added that buyers are particularly interested in new homes that have $100-square foot floor plans.

The research group said that for the month of August in Las Vegas, 426 new homes were sold. In the previous month, 407 new homes were reported sold in Las Vegas.

A recent survey conducted by John Burns Real Estate Consulting showed that in California, the housing market is stabilizing. There were 269 home building executives who participated in the John Burns Real Estate Consulting survey. This California survey is quite important as California market mirrors that of the Nevada market.

Jody Kahn, vice president of Irvine, California-based John Burns Real Estate Consulting reported, “For the first time since we began our home builder executive survey 15 months ago, more California builders reported raising prices than those who reported prices were flat or down.”

According to Las Vegas-based SalesTraq, there is a continuous supply of home repos on the market. With this, SalesTraq added that home median price could hit $100,000.

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Posted in Blog, Short sales for buyers

Home values fell nationally over 15%

August 21st, 2009

Home prices in the US fell by 15.6%

 Las Vegas homes have reached a new median price not seen in many years. The median price of a Las Vegas home is hovering around the 140,000 mark. The real estate market in Las Vegas has been hard hit with foreclosures and short sales. A short sale is a pre foreclosure sale. The seller markets the property at current market value with an agent. The agent then negotitiates with the lenders to accept less than what is owed on the home. This enables homeowners to avoid foreclosure.

The Chicago-based realtors group National Association of Realtors reported that home prices fell by 15.6 percent from the previous year in the US. 

The realtors group reported that the biggest home price decline was in Cape Coral-Fort Myers metropolitan region where median home price dropped by 53 percent to $84,000 from the previous year.

 The second biggest home price decline, the National Association of Realtors said, was in Las Vegas where home prices dropped by 39.7 percent. One in every 85 households in Las Vegas received a foreclosure filing in July, this according to data aggregator RealtyTrac. Out of 230 metro areas tracked in July, the data aggregator said Las Vegas ranked No.5 in the metro foreclosure rate rankings.

 National Association of Realtors reported that the median price of existing single-family home in the US fell by $174,100–the most in record since 1979.

 The realtors group said home prices dropped in 129 out of the 155 metropolitan areas in the US from the previous year.

 Bloomberg reported that home prices are dropping even as economists forecast that the US is  recovering from the worst economic crisis since the 1930s.  

 According to the median of 53 forecasts in the monthly Bloomberg News survey, the US economy will improve by 2 percent or more in the next four straight quarters until June–the first to happen in more than four years. 

The National Association of Realtors reported that median price of existing home dropped by 9.7 percent in the northeast from the same period in the previous year to $246,000. Home prices dropped by 8.6 percent to a median of $146,800 from the previous year in the midwest. Home prices sank 10.3 percent to $158,600 in the south. In the west, home prices dropped by 26.6 percent to $212,600. 

Meanwhile, the biggest increase in home prices was in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island area of Illinois and Iowa, where prices soared by 30.6 percent to $113,200 from the previous year. 

The second biggest increase in home prices was in the Cumberland metro area of Maryland and West Virginia where home prices increased 21.7 percent. The Elmira area in New York had the third biggest jump where prices increased by 11.3 percent.

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Posted in Blog, Short Sale Blog

City Center project goes green

August 21st, 2009

$8.5 billion Las Vegas complex to showcase earth-friendly features

Developers of the CityCenter complex have pledged that the $8.5 billion, 18-million-square-foot complex will be the most earth-friendly thing to happen on the Strip, Reuters reported.

With this huge investment, this project has been closely watched, Reuters said. Amidst this huge investment, Las Vegas ranked No.5 in the US metro foreclosure rate rankings.

Las Vegas has been buffered from the lingering recession with income from convention travel, gaming and tourism, Reuters said.

A representative for the project told Reuters that sustainability has been the focus of the project from the beginning.

Las Vegas CityCenter aims to include 61-story, 4,004-room gaming resort; two non-gaming luxury hotels: the Vdara and the Mandarin Oriental; the Veer Towers residential building and a 500,000-square-foot retail and entertainment area. All these are expected to open late this year. Scheduled to open late next year is the 400-room luxury boutique hotel called Harmon.

Reuters reported that the project, which extends from Monte Carlo to the Bellagio properties, features the following earth-friendly features:
Specially designed water fixtures that cut as much as 39 percent of water used indoors and 60 percent used in landscaping, this in contrast to the water consumption at a conventionally built project of comparable size.

Energy savings is expected to be equivalent to the amount needed to power 7,700 homes. The exterior of the buildings include air-brows, reflective rooftops, specially coated windows and high-performance glass.

It features an 8.5 megawatt natural gas cogeneration plant that is expected to supply 10 percent of the heat requirement for the project.

The CityCenter project is a joint venture between the Infinity World Development Corp. and MGM Mirage. The Infinity World Development Corp. is a subsidiary of Dubai World, the corporation that manages the international investments of the emirate.

Reuters reported that financial disputes resulted to a lawsuit between Infinity World Development Corp. and MGM Mirage in the early part of this year. The lawsuit was however settled in spring with the joint venture partners agreeing to a new agreement and committing to the completion of the project to its target date.

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Posted in Blog, Las Vegas General

Won’t you tell me…..Where have all the millionaires gone?

August 19th, 2009

The downturn of the real property market in Las Vegas has taken its toll on the local millionaires.

According to Capgemini, a consulting firm that publishes U.S. Metro Wealth Index, the percentage of Las Vegas millionaires decreased by 38 percent in 2008, second only to Orlando’s 42 percent. Phoenix was listed third, losing 34 percent of its millionaires.

In the national level, the number of US millionaires decreased by 18.5 percent in 2008, Capgemini added.

Millionaires are defined by Capgemini as those with $1 million or more in investable assets, excluding primary residences.

In the report of Capgemini, those millionaires who invested heavily in Las Vegas real estate have been badly affected. This, as housing prices decrease by more than 50 percent since the peak in 2006 and commercial property and land values have dropped as well.

Applied Analysis reported that home inventory in Las Vegas or the number of homes on the Multiple Listing Service has fallen during the fourth week of July to 12,939 or 89-unit decrease from the previous week.

The firm said home inventory decreased by 9,400 units or 42 percent in the previous year. Home inventory has not been this down since 2005, the firm added.

Applied Analysis reported that the units listed are less than number of pending sales. The Multiple Listing Service has 6,405 units listed as short sales and 13,650 units listed as contingent or pending.

In Las Vegas, medical offices performed best compared to the rest of the commercial market during the second quarter, this according to CB Richard Ellis.

The average vacancy rate of medical offices was down from 16.5 percent at the end of the first quarter to 16.1 percent at the end of the second quarter, CB Richard Ellis reported.

According to Bruce Follmer, medical office expert at CB Richard Ellis, landlords of medical offices offered increased tenant improvement allowances and free space to attract tenants.

Follmer added that medical office buildings fared best as the medical profession is very stable. He said office buildings near hospitals are preferred.

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Posted in Blog, Short Sale Blog