Las Vegas, Nevada
All about Nevada, Traveling in Nevada, The Real Estate Market in Nevada both for buyers and sellers, A few traveling tips. A little bit of everything. Enjoy!!!!!
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Jul. 26, 2008
Categorized in: Foreclosure
The Darker Side of Foreclosure I just read a story at Fox News.com about a women that sent a fax to the lender on the day of her house being auctioned. She said in the fax that it did not matter she would be dead before it happened.
When buyers came to preview the house before the auction her body was found in the house. This 53 year old wife and mother had shot herself. Her husband stated he had no idea they were in financial trouble. What? How could he not? This happened in Massachusetts but it could happen anywhere.
Our homes tend to define who we are. How well we are doing in life. Where our children have grown up and we have kept up with the Jones. Dr. Ablow who contributes to Fox News.com is quoted as saying,“People’s homes are tremendously important to them emotionally,” “It’s an American and human fact that we project our self image through the houses that we buy and redesign and where our children grow up and to some measure it is our face to the community and to ourselves.” “There can be feelings of desperation, hopelessness and shame,” Ablow told FOX News.com. “Financial chaos in ones life brings up very deep questions related to much earlier life stresses and experiences. For example, financial turmoil in your family of origin or questions about whether you measured up personally or economically.”
If you are in a position where you could lose your home, seek help just as soon as possible. If you ignore it things can only get worse. Take control of your future before it takes control of you.
If you know someone who is in financial distress there are warning signs to watch out for. - When someone seems to be drawing a line in the sand psychologically and saying that they cannot envision the future
- Signs consistent of major depression including:
- Episodes of tearfulness— Low self-esteem,
- Inability to concentrate
- Lack of appetite
- Inability to sleep or sleeping too much and any expression of suicidal thinking
Jul. 5, 2008
There has been a lot of debate on home staging. Is it worth it to a homeowner to pay a professional stagger to come in and make a home show ready? Or can a homeowner just clear all their clutter and remove personal items to make a home in ready condition for buyers to come and look?
What about vacant homes? With so many homeowners going into financial distress and either losing their home to foreclosure or just walking away. What about the homeowner that just plain has to move, and with the market as it is can not sell their home fast enough? So the home becomes vacant and vacant homes are largely unappealing. Most buyers would rather see some furniture and a clean home for visualization purposes, than an empty somewhat dirty home. Vacant homes are being broken into and vandalized.
There was a crew of guys going around Las Vegas subdivisions with a van. The van looked very much like a service vehicle, so the neighbors did not think too much about it. Well they were stealing air conditioners units and breaking in and taking all the appliances. Other homes are just getting broken into by homeless people and a lot of damage is being done to the interior of the homes.
Well I have run across a company that may just have the solution for people that have to move and leave their home vacant while it is trying to be sold. The company is called Property Solutions of Las Vegas, LLC. ( they have branches in a lot of area's of the U.S. not just Las Vegas)
I was very excited when I ran across this company because it is at NO COST to the homeowner or the Realtor® that is marketing the property.
Property Solutions of Las Vegas,LLC has teamed up with CareTakers of America who has been in business since 1985. They have people who live in the home with their furniture and keep the home in show ready condition. The homeowner still makes their mortgage payments but there is no cost to have this service provided. Think of the peace of mind the homeowner who needs to leave the area will have knowing their home is being taken care of. The caretaker even pays the utilities.
Read for yourself all the materials provided on both websites and let me know what you think. As far as I can tell it is a win/win situation for all concerned.
Jul. 2, 2008
Categorized in: Las Vegas Market
Today's Challenges Impact All of Us
The market today certainly is a challenge to everyone, Realtors®, real estate agents, buyers and sellers. loan officers, appraisers, even home inspectors. Short sales talk have become a dinner topic along with foreclosures, and bank owned properties. For sale signs litter the landscape of our neighborhoods. Is it just me or does the main stream media just delight in putting out every bit of negativity they can find?
One of the things that is having an incredible impact on everyone is GAS PRICES. They are impacting every aspect of peoples lives and I discover something new that is being impacted daily.
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As a Realtor® I need to look at working smarter. When working with new buyers I need to really ask questions to get their desires down. All their wants and do not wants. Use email to send properties and ask for feed back. Make sure that they have visited a lender of their choice and have be pre qualified so we know exactly what price range we are looking in. Listing agents this is notice to you put as many quality pictures in the MLS that you can. When I have my buyers in the office and we are picking out what we are going to look at there had better be pictures. Even better a wonderful video or an excellent REAL ESTATE SHOW© If we can't see pictures well, let's just say your chances of getting your property shown goes way down.
When I take a listing you can bet I will point that out to the home owner, today more than ever pictures are worth a thousand words and more showings. It will also behove me to make sure my presentation is such that the seller understands what a good price right up front is most important. I have to make them understand what kind of competition is out there and why it is different than any other market in recent history.
I am a Survivor and I will survive this market. Daily I am trying to think of ways I can work smarter and not give less service. What can you do to make sure you survive too?
Mar. 31, 2008
Categorized in: Las Vegas Market
 
All the negative news is creating a crisis of confidence experts say:
This is a story from the Gwinnett Herald by reporter Brian Patton
Rajeev Dhawan an expert heard a lot on MSNBC, CNN, CNBC, NBC, CBS and the Bloomfield report speaking at a conference over the weekend has been quoted as saying "he sees the current economic problems as a Crisis of Confidence by the American Public." He feels a lot of this is brought on by the focus on BAD NEWS.
The second speaker was Stephen Phyrr, senior managing director of Kennedy Wilson and Executive Director of The American Real Estate Society of Austin, Texas. Phyrr has spent much of his career studying the effects of the cyclical economy on the real estate market.
To quote Mr Phyrr:
" he sees a positive overall forecast for the economy and real estate in general. His conclusions are summed up in six points:
1. Overall, the positives outweigh the negatives going forward. The lack of confidence of the American public reflects the media's emphasis on the "bad news" and creates a biased picture of the real estate environment.
2. The financial markets have overreacted to the real credit crunch of 2007, making financing difficult for investors throughout 2008.
3. Real estate will fare relatively well over the next three to five years compared to other asset classes.
4. Investors will go back to the fundamentals of improving property values by improving property management, and not by using financing as a vehicle to make sense of an investment.
5. There will be plenty of financing for real estate, and lenders will look for diversified types of real estate to finance.
6. Multi-family property investments will be a beneficiary of the housing finance and home building crisis of 2007.
Additionally, Phyrr discussed the importance of understanding real estate cycles. Real estate undergoes up and down cycles. Boom cycles have averaged 10 to 11 years and bust cycles have averaged five to six years over the past 30 years. Our last real estate boom topped out in 2001 and real estate values have been on a decline since then. So, based on the cycle timing and some other positive attributes, we are near or at the bottom of the down cycle and look forward to an upward trend in real estate values."
All in all now is a great time to buy in Las Vegas, prices will not continue in the downward spiral they have been in. California, Nevada, Arizona, and Florida have felt these effects early and will be the first to recover.
So if you are thinking of moving use the tips above and don't wait too long.
Feb. 8, 2008
Categorized in: House Prices
Medium Price of a New Home Drops
Now is the time to buy in Las Vegas. The prices are dropping. Along with short sales and foreclosures builders are wheeling and dealing also. The Median Home Prices in the Las Vegas Valley have dropped below $250K.
If you are thinking at all about buying a home here in Las Vegas, NOW is the time.
Jun. 16, 2006
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!!!!
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