There is a new kind of housing market war going on in Las Vegas.  There are buyers that are qualified and ready to buy but they can’t.  Seems that it does not matter that the buyers are making good offers, the houses are going for less than the what they are offering.  Why?  

     There are several houses on the market right now, but potential buyers are finding out getting into one of these homes isn't as easy as seems. Even though foreclosed homes are getting multiple offers, hopeful buyers are learning that cash will usually win.

     According to a story I read in the Las Vegas Review Journal this last week end, buyers are putting in offers many times over only to find out a cash offer from an investor has been accepted.  One buyer had this to say,  “finding the perfect home for her growing family isn't a problem. She has tons of foreclosed homes to choose from in Las Vegas, but getting the banks to accept her offer is a different story. "I'm a teacher. My husband works for Metro and we cannot get into a house," she said.  In the last three months, she has put nine different offers on houses, offering to pay thousands of dollars more than the listing price only to be rejected. What's worse, the homes are selling for less than what she offered. "We offered $175,000 and we looked on Zillow and a couple of weeks before we got our rejection letter we saw that it sold for $164,000 "

    In this bloggers opinion investors and new home builders were part of the problem to begin with.  They helped cause perceived scarcity, new home builders were raising prices every few weeks $2,000-$5,000 at a time, then only releasing a few home lots at a time, holding lotteries, and investors were coming in buying them up.  After the homes were built a few months down the road the investors would put the homes on the market  and making thousands of dollars.  This of course then spilled over into the resale market.  As a buyers agent a lot of my clients were just plain priced out of the market.  Then came the creative loans.

    This of course was not the only reason for the bubble bursting, but it help move it along. So if you are a buyer and wonder why you can not get an accepted contract this could be the reason why.

    Just like with Short Sales in this real estate climate that has recently become an epidemic you will have to have a lot of patience and put in a lot of offers.  My most recent Market Update shocked even me when I saw the number of homes that are in Contingent and Pending status. 

 It is a buyers market in Las Vegas

Gone are the days of 2004/2005, the days of multiple offers and properties that were sold almost before they had been on the market a half a day.  Agents putting will accept offers until Wed. noon and after PM that day you will either have a counter offer or a rejection.  I once called on a house to see if it was still available and was told yes.  Not a half hour later I was on the road to pick up my clients.  My cell phone rings and I was told they had accepted an offer.  To get my clients in a house during this time, I searched at night and found a home I knew they would love.  I called the seller and made arraignments for my clients to see the house at AM and we wrote the offer at AM.  Lucky for me it was accepted.  It was a crazy time and I for one am glad it is over.  Prices were driven up so far that it had almost cut out the middle income people and of course lower income stood not a chance.  I really hate that as I think everyone should be able to have the American Dream if that is what they desire.

So those days are gone for right now and it is a buyers market.  We have a record number of homes on the market both new and resale.  Builders are offering unheard of incentives for buyers and agents a like. Some sellers are lowering their prices as much as 50K and offering bonuses to agents.  Unheard of for a long while.

As a buyer you need to plan your move, find an agent you feel comfortable with and research markets together.  Have your agent do a market analysis on areas you are interested in so that when the time comes you have a good feel on what to offer. You will want to know what the turn over rate is in the area and if it is a good resale area.

At the time of multiple offers buyers were waiving inspections to gain favor with the sellers.    There  are plenty of horror stories out there now because of that.  Make sure you do all your inspections.

Be in your comfort zone, get pre-qualified with thoughts to the future.  Mortgage rates are not as good as they were and they don't look like they are coming back down anytime soon.  So know in advance what you you are comfortable spending on payments, including taxes etc.

When you find that home you want, be patient.  If your first offer is countered, don't get discouraged.  Some sellers have not mentally adjusted to the new market of 2006.  If you really want the house counter back, even if it is the same amount you offered before.  This will let the seller know that it is your bottom line.  If he is serious about selling he may reevaluate his position.  Negotiating is a good thing in this market.

HAPPY HOUSE HUNTING!!!!