Real Estate Information

       As a Las Vegas Native I always get asked this, and my answer is always a resounding YES! There are many reasons why Las Vegas is a great place to live. Well for starters the weather! As I sit here and write this in the middle of winter on a January morning, our high for today is expected to be sunny and 68 degrees. In fact, we average 294 days of sunshine a year. Then, there is the whole no state income tax thing, that will save you a pretty penny at the end of the year. Then I think about all the recreation the city has to offer, world class hiking, golfcourses, Lake Mead, rock climbing, mountain biking, health clubs, spas, you name it, you can do it here. Then we we have world class restaurants, celebrity chefs, and world class entertainment not far from your doorstep. Another thing I like is really no matter where you live in town, whether it is Henderson, Green valley, Summerlin, Anthem, Silverado Ranch, North Las Vegas, or Boulder City, you are not far from the airport, or the strip compared to other major cities which tend to be more spread out. Oh, I forgot, if you gamble, we got you covered for that as well! Then it brings me to my last point, housing, we are down more than 60% from our peak in 2006, and you may never see a better time to buy a home in Las Vegas with extremely low interest rates, and REO and short sale properties going for in most cases less than replacement cost, and for investment properties, it is not a matter of IF you will cash flow, but how much. So, come out to our fabulous City, and check it out for yourself, and maybe stay a while or make it YOUR home as well.

Well in our market the majority of sales are either bank owned or short sales, and people often wonder which is a better deal. Well first off we have to differentiate between the two. Bank owned or what is often called REO( Real estate owned) is a home that is taken over by the bank via foreclosure by the previous owner. A short sale is where the current owner is trying to sell the home for less than they owe, because they can no longer make payments on the house, or have some other form of financial hardship. Now that I have explained the major difference in these two, I will go into the pro's and cons of buying these types of properties. Ok, so you want to buy a REO, this is what you can expect. One the property is usually sold -as-is and the bank will not do any repairs unless it is a major safety issue, or the FHA or VA lender requires the repair be done in order to fund the loan. The price that it is offered  has been predetermined by the bank after they have done an appraisal or BPO( Broker Price Opinion) and once they list it, they will not usually accept offers less than 5% of that price within the first 30 days, after 30 days they may drop the price, or accept lower offers within reason. The good thing about REO is once the bank accepts your offer , you can usually close in 30-45 days just like a regular sale.  Since REO property is much easier to deal with than a short sale typically, the houses on the market are much more competitive, and can get mutiple offers, sometimes over list price. Now a short sale on the other hand, is a little different. When a short sale is listed the price is determined by the seller , not the bank, and since they are upside down and are not making anything, the seller can list it at any price they want, and sometimes it is priced low to attract an offer. Once the seller accepts your offer, then it goes to the bank for final approval. This can take 3 to 6 months to never. The bank will do an appraisal on the property and determine what they want and that may be different that what the seller agreed to. In some cases the bank may want a cash contribution from the seller to approve the short sale, and if the seller doesn't agree the bank may just foreclose, and your offer is cancelled. On the other hand, if a buyer is willing to stick it out and wait the short sale out, he may get a good deal, as there is not as much competition on them compared with REOS, and sometimes the bank will take 5-10% less than market to sell it short rather than losing more money if they let it go to foreclosure. A short sale is also sold as-is as the seller is not supposed to have any extra income to fix the place, or why would they be short selling in the first place. One advantage though about a short sale is you may find a house where the owner is keeping it up during the whole transaction, with pride of ownership,so you may get a property in great shape, and the seller may also provide property disclosures, whereas an REO wont provide them. Bottom line if you want a quick close with less headaches go after an REO. if you want a specific property, in better shape, and you are not in a hurry , then you may want to gamble on a short sale.

I'm often asked if this is a good time to buy a home. Some clients are concerned that home prices may fall further than they have already. They are assuming that the best course of action is to wait for the bottom in the market and then buy. The problem with this approach is that you don't know where the bottom is until you see it in the rear view mirror, meaning until you've missed it!

Home prices are one factor in determining your cost of ownership, but so are interest rates and financing availability. Even though interest rates have gone up in the last six months, they are still near historic lows. Since your monthly mortgage payment is a combination of paying down your principal and paying the interest owed, if home prices come down a little further but interest rates up, it could cost you even more to service a mortgage on an identical home!

While a home is a major investment, it is also the center of your personal life. It's important to live in a home that reflects your taste and values, yet is within your financial "comfort zone." To that end, it may be more important to lock in today's relatively low interest rates and low home prices, rather than to hope for a further break in prices in the future.

Please give me a call if I can be of any assistance in determining how much home you can afford in today's market.