The Real Haunted Houses of Las Vegas

Jacqulyn Richey (Check me out!)
Categories: Featured Real Estate Articles
Tags: , , ,

Las Vegas Haunted Homes

Happy Halloween! The Las Vegas market is recovering from housing bubble. Investors and regular home buyers are snapping up property all over the city. Things are far from perfect, unless of course you are a home buyer. The market has experienced a ‘perfect storm’, driving down prices while raising home inventory. The result are some of the lowest home prices in the several years in the Las Vegas valley with a huge selection of homes and condos for sale.

With so many homes for sale on the market, its hard as a home seller to stand out from the crowd. The latest marketing trend is property auctions. The results have been mixed. The last major auction at the Las Vegas Country Club for some 80 Monterey condos was fairly successful, but there are still leftover condos for sale. Some companies have taken the idea further by having a strictly online auction, cashing in on the bargain atmosphere that auctions generate.

But property auctions aren’t always the great bargains they are portrayed as. There are additional fees that tacked on to bid price that most first time auction goers were not aware of. These buyer’s premiums can range from one to several percent of the winning bid price and can quickly wipe out any savings you might have incurred, especially on higher end properties. Properties will also have minimum bids in place that must be met or the property will not be sold.

Quite often these properties are bank owned as well, which means a longer closing time than a regular home sale. If time is of the essence in closing escrow, then you should avoid bank owned properties entirely.

There are plenty of great deals still out there. The number of Las Vegas homes for sale has been declining and the number of homes sold has surpassed last year’s numbers. If you are thinking about buying a home or condo in the Las Vegas valley, feel free to contact me at 702-49… or by email at info @lvrealty.net.

2 Comments
Nov
11

Las Vegas Demand Strengthens!

Grant House (Check me out!)
Categories: Las Vegas Real Estate News
Tags: ,

Demand:

September Single Family Sales ended up at 2783 units. So, the closing numbers tend to keep filtering in after I take my initial count. September had the highest total of the year so far.

Pending Single Family Homes stand at 5952. That is 140 units below the 15th of last month, but still very strong especially in light of closed single family sales at mid-month … 982 units – a new high. The number for Sep 15 was only 866 – and that was the previous high.

Conclusion: We could see very strong closing numbers for October and the first half of November.

Affordability:

Single family listings in our affordable search area reached 15,027. This is the first time we have been above 15,000 this year. Homes in these ML areas listed at or below $150/sq ft were 6133. This is the first time that number has been above 6000. So we have more houses listed and more priced right.

How many of these are Bank Owned? 4362 of these listings are bank owned – about 29%.
And, 4158 of these are at or below $150/sq ft – about 68%.

Conclusion: Numbers of Affordable Homes are UP. And, no wonder the REO’s make up the bulk of homes sold. They comprise 2/3 of our affordable single family properties.

I recall something about “pricing your house to sell” as being a good idea. Let’s add “when you can,” in case you bought when most of us did. With demand strong in Las Vegas in the worst of times, price should go back up when times improve.

VIP NOTE: Price per sq ft falls only so far.
And what is the Las Vegas market doing? Same old same old. If it is priced right, the house will be the subject of a nasty bidding war that pushes the price well above list. We recently made a cash offer $21,000 above list price on one REO only to be beaten out by one or more of the other 15 competing offers. So, list price was $103/sq ft. We offered $110/sq ft in cash and did not win acceptance. Who knew?

And, being an REO, it takes a couple weeks to find out if you got the deal, so patience is still a virtue in Sin City.

2 Comments
Oct
10

Transaction Map, Market Share, & Giving Back

Grant House (Check me out!)
Categories: Las Vegas Real Estate News
Tags: , , ,

This is a word from our sponsor … Us!

It has been a rough year for many real estate franchises in Las Vegas. My previous affiliation was with C21 Aadvantage Gold which, while I was there, was the top selling C21 franchise in the world for three years in a row. Now, like Merril Lynch, it is gone.

Prudential Americana, however, keeps rolling along, with a modern concept destined to revolutionize the real estate brokerage business, building its market share despite some rough real estate waters, as shown by the graph above.
Over the years, the House Team has also weathered the ups and downs of Las Vegas, as our current transaction map shows. We have brokered successful transactions all over the valley, … and when have you ever seen another Realtor even have a transaction map?
When you need to buy or sell, please call or email. If you want information on the Las Vegas Market, just check in here. If you are a Realtor looking for a new team, call for 702-285-4226 to arrange a confidential interview.
School has started. Your child’s school activities are raising money for band trips, French club trips, new uniforms, etc. Or maybe you want to increase support for Cancer Research or Hurricane Victims. Call us and ask about the House Team 10% Charity Pledge Program on new referrals. I will email you the details. Now that’s what we call giving back!

2 Comments
Oct
10

A Glass Half Full Looks Like This

Grant House (Check me out!)
Categories: Featured Real Estate Articles
Tags: , , ,
Here is the updated July 1 to July 31 2008 Single Family Closings graph including all the late postings by the procrastinators according to GLVAR data today. My magic number is 2516.
GLVAR could have a slightly different number when the official number is announced.
.
So much for wondering when we would hit 2500.
.
Maybe it’s because Las Vegas now has over two million people. Maybe it’s because nobody is buying new construction and instead a lot of those buyers think the resale/REO/short sale market looks like a better deal.
.
This is the first July in five years, and that includes the “Boom”, when sales went UP over the June numbers. Closing numbers have now gone from historic lows to being better than all but the historic highs in just four months. 2500 closings is about as good as things got in 2006 and is a total eclipse of 2007. The single family closing numbers have increased for seven consecutive months. They may have NEVER done that and pending closings are steady, so August, when closings traditionally rise, looks solid.
.
The House Team still has buyers fighting to win a house in the multi-offer mania of the REO world. We have buyers waiting to close their short sale contracts. Most REALTORS(r) I talk with say the same thing. The frustration they feel is now the norm for the REO/short sale market. It represents an opportunity for the private owners who need an offer.
.
What does the future hold? I feel everything I said in the previous post I feel still applies, there are sure a lot of buyers coming from somewhere, and it isn’t too hard to believe the glass is at least half full.
Las Vegas Home Sales July 2008

Las Vegas Home Sales July 2008

0 Comments
Aug
8

Pending Sales Remain Strong in Las Vegas

Grant House (Check me out!)
Categories: Las Vegas Real Estate News
Tags: , , ,

Pending Sales:

Here we are at the half way point in July, and pending sales are right where they were last month. June 15 2008 saw single family pendings at 2602 units; July 15 shows 2605 pending units. Also noteworthy, single family contingent sales – those in contract but still subject to inspections or financing, were at 3646 on June 30 and they stand at 3723 today.

(Photo: City Center, by Barbara House)
.
June produced 2226 closed single family transactions. The number in the books so far in July is only 792, but don’t forget the three day 4th of July weekend in there and that sometimes the Procrastinators Club causes closings get squeezed into the end of the month.
.
If we more than 2000 single family transactions in July 2008, we will surpass not only July 2007 (only 1318 closed) but also July 2006 (1996 closed). That would also be better than January 2005, the worst month of the “best” years.
.
For me, the next psychological number is 2500 single family closings in a month. When we clear that hurdle, we are doing better than all but the best months during the boom.
.
Affordable Housing Increasing:

It is a funny market. We have multiple offers on almost all properties with the lowest price per square foot, roughly under $100/sqft. My unofficial affordability index, single family homes under $150/sq ft has increased slightly to 4950 listings – an increase of 135 affordable homes over last month. Remember these are NON-shortsales in all but 3 ML areas where most of the cheap homes are located (ie, where under $150/ft is not a great deal.) There is a total of 14720 listings including short sales in the same ML areas – a decrease of 55 listings from last month.
.
In short, the percentage of homes priced “in the market” has increased slightly since June, and with pending and contingents strong, closed transactions look good for July. And maybe August.
Again, the further below $150/sq ft, the more likely a house is to sell. In this price range, there are plenty of buyers – especially under $120/sq ft. Above $150/sq ft and the house is probably priced out of the market, and it is less likely to sell.
.
That is my educated guess. Time will tell.

1 Comments
Jul
7

Frothing Developer on Fox News

Aaron Landreth (Check me out!)
Categories: Featured Real Estate Articles
Tags: , , , , ,

If you haven’t yet been over to The Frothing Developer’s website, www.frothingdeveloper.com, then you’re missing a wonderful angle & unique viewpoint on the Las Vegas real estate market. Alex Edelstein, CEO of Gemstone Development refutes, debunks, and demystifies what the national and local press have to say about the Las Vegas real estate market. Recently, Alex was featured on Fox news speaking about the Las Vegas real estate market, how he feels about the current state of affairs, the future of Las Vegas real estate, and how it stands up to markets such as Miami and Detroit.

Gemstone Development CEO, Alex Edelstein discusses Las Vegas real estate, the Las Vegas economy, and the Frothing Developer blog, on Fox Business News, July 1, 2008.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSm978jfYGE

0 Comments
Jul
7

Positive Reporting in the Middle of the Madness

Makea Turner (Check me out!)
Categories: Las Vegas Condos
Tags: , , , ,

(Summary of the latest podcast by our resident Las Vegas High Rise Condo Specialist and Las Vegas Real Estate Agent Makea Turner.)

In this Episode:
One Las Vegas High Rise Condominium development is now issuing it’s phase 1 condo owners their occupancy certificates.

Why is Trump Getting a bad wrap in the media?

Amazing 1 bedroom 27TH floor Turnberry Towers High Rise Condo for only $485,000.

0 Comments
Jun
6

Las Vegas Home Sales Turnaround

Aaron Landreth (Check me out!)
Categories: Las Vegas Real Estate News
Tags: , , ,

Check out the information about the Las Vegas real estate market provided by SalesTraq. Existing home sales showing strong increase. New home sales still on the wane.  Read a more in depth article at the Las Vegas Review Journal.  Resales pass 2,600 units for first month since March ‘07; new-home sales stall

0 Comments
Jun
6

May 2008 Las Vegas Market Update

Linzy Turner (Check me out!)
Categories: Las Vegas Real Estate News
Tags: , , , , ,

Our good friend and Title Professional Linzy Turner with Old Republic Title Company provides the latest housing sales reports for Las Vegas single family residences, as well as Condo’s and Townhomes. There are articles throughout the “blogosphere” that have made attempts at interpreting these figures, but we will leave that interpretation up to you. However, I would like to point out that there are severe discrepancies throughout different Clark county zip codes located throughout areas of the valley. Take particular note that some areas of the valley showed an increase in value. The Clark county Single Family Residence report is available for you here as an image. 2 pdf available files for download are the sales and values reports for Condo’s and Townhomes. (Intro. by Admin.)

You may right-click on any of these items and choose “Save target as…” to download directly to your desktop or separate folder.
Clark County May 2008 Single Family Residence Sales Activity

May 2008 Condo Sales Activity.pdf

May 2008 Townhouse Sales Activity.pdf

0 Comments
Jun
6

High End Las Vegas Condo’s Hit New Heights

Makea Turner (Check me out!)
Categories: Las Vegas Condos, Las Vegas Real Estate News
Tags: , ,

For several months here in Las Vegas there has been all kinds of news and information about our local High Rise Condo & Real estate market coming from every which way at an extremely quick pace that sometimes can confuse or even misinform it’s viewers and readers. It’s no secret that the Real Estate market as a whole has taken a huge Hit. Las Vegas had lead the nation in highest foreclosure fillings for several months straight and we have had our median home price dragged through the mud. But the one thing that you didn’t hear a peep about was how successful the High End High Rise Condo sector has done. Some people may have reported on the luxury Home sector doing just fine through out all the chaos but no one but myself has actually reported until now on how much of an extremely huge increase in value the Ultra High End LV High Rise Condos received from the beginning of this year to date compared to all of last year.

Read the rest of this entry »

0 Comments
Jun
6
Older Posts