EveryHomeOnTheMarket.com

When a buyer walks into a new home track the first thing that happens is you are greeted by a floor person. They will show you the floor plans, building sites and the models. When you make your decision of what model you would like, you will sit down talk with the floor person and talk about what upgrades you would like to have. Such as tile floors, upgraded carpet, appliances, blinds,fireplace, cabinets, ect.. The upgrades could come up to exceed 10’s of thousand dollars. Far as your closing cost they can be as high as 3%. On a $300,000 home that is $9,000.00. You now have made all of your choices and getting ready to sign your contracts. STOP! Ask yourself who is writing the floor person check each week? Who’s best interest is the floor person looking out for ? Yours or his employer? If that floor person gives you a great deal will they have a job next week? If you are being represented by a licensed Real Estate agent they will be looking out for your best interest only! They will find out the incentives the builder is offering. With the abundance of new home here in Las Vegas and builders wanting to move product we are getting a big portion our buyers upgrades paid for by the developer and their closing cost. We have seen as much as $100,000 in incentives. With using a licensed Real Estate agent they can do all the foot work for you. No driving for hours trying to find out your in the wrong subdivision. We have a computer system we use. We load in how many bedrooms you need, how much square feet, what size of lot, what price range your looking for. The system will show us everything in the valley that is available. We will have the floor plan and picture available for you. As our customer this service is FREE to you.You pay us nothing!!

Economists over at UNLV, estimate that 50,000 jobs were created
in Las Vegas last year. And more jobs are on the way as the LV Strip’s latest building boom begins to bear fruit starting this December with the opening of LV Sands’ $1.8 billion, 3,025-room Palazzo. By 2012, 45,000 more hotel rooms will be constructed on the Strip. With the demographic winds at their backs, casino operators aren’t worried about filling the rooms with tourists, but finding employees will be a challenge. According to a report authored by Deutsche Bank Securities,the casino industry will need 113,500 more workers to fill the spots created by the new resorts that are now under construction. Unless the city’s population growth begins to accelerate, 25,000 of these jobs will go unfilled according to the investment bank report. By the time MGM Grand’s massive $7.4 billion CityCenter project comes on line in late 2009, competition for employees could be keen, and the gaming giant will have 12,000 spots to fill at the multi-use project. A year later,
Boyd Gaming’s Echelon Place will come on line and they will be looking for over 10,000 workers. Despite a red-hot economy and prospects for more of the same, to read the financial press and listen to Wall Street pundits the Las Vegas housing market couldn’t be colder. But is it? In many ways the Las Vegas housing market is just simply returning to normal after the irrational exuberance of
2005 when just short of 39,000 new homes and condos were sold and 58,522 resale homes changed hands.

Back not so long ago in 2000, with the Venetian not a year old and Steve Wynn buying the Desert Inn property with only an idea in his head, new home sales in Las Vegas were 20,520 and resales totaled 29,515. Through June of this year, 10,395 new homes and 14,556 resale homes have been sold. If this pace continues, just short of 50,000 homes will change hands in 2007, an almost identical amount of sales to the number in year 2000, a year that was considered at the time a strong housing year.

The Las Vegas Strip it’s as hot as the weather. The New Frontier closed its doors forever at midnight on July 15th. El Ad Properties paid Phil Ruffin $33 million per acre or a total of $1.2 billion for the aging property he bought in 1998 for $167 million. The Israeli company intends to spend $5 billion constructing a replica of New York’s famed Plaza Hotel on the property. Condo sales are so brisk at MGM Grand’s CityCenter the company has assembled
78 acres on the north Strip to do another massive mixed-use project. “Just two years ago we would never have conceived of buying more land on the Strip,” company CFO and president Jim Murren told the Las Vegas Sun. But after selling more than a billion dollars worth of condos at CityCenter in just a few months, Murren says, “We can do this all over again.” The Nevada gaming market is rocking, setting a record in May by winning $1.14 billion from gamblers. The majority of that win came from the Las Vegas Strip that has consolidated even more than the homebuilding market.
MGM Grand and Harrah’s together control three quarters of the hotel rooms on the Strip, and MGM holds an incredible 865 acres on the Strip, with 250 of the acres being undeveloped. But unlike the large homebuilders that wish they had a few less acres, Mr. Murren says, “Anyone who has ever sold land (on the Strip) has lived to regret it.” Strip land “goes up slowly or rapidly, but it doesn’t ever go down.” According to Bottfeld, “what happens on the Strip gets mirrored in the housing market.” He predicts the Las Vegas housing slump that began in April of last year will begin to recover when the Palazzo opens later this year and will be fully healed by August of next year. And to the naysayers on Wall Street and beyond, who say the Las Vegas housing market slump will persist indefinitely, Bottfeld contends another Las Vegas boom is right around the corner in 2009. The old saw repeated often by Las Vegas old timers is that if there are high-rise cranes on the Strip, it’s a good time to buy real estate. Dozens of them continue to dot the skyline. Number crunchers stress that each new hotel room creates 2.5 jobs, and that each new hotel/casino job creates another 1.5 jobs off the Strip. The people who will ultimately fill those
jobs don’t live in Las Vegas yet. When they pull into town in their rental trucks they will need places to live.

We received a call on how a sales person’s buyer’s deposit gets returned from the buyer’s landlord. Deposits can be confusing.
When a Rental is Sold and the Tenant Remains.
If the sale is of a property that is leased, the landlord (seller) must either return the deposit to the current tenant or inform the tenant that the new landlord (buyer of investment property) is now in possession of the deposit. The tenant must be informed of the name, address and telephone number of the new owner.
When Your Buyer is Requesting Deposit from Their Landlord.
If your client is a tenant that just vacated and is asking you how she can get her deposit back, the rules are as follows. The landlord must provide an itemized 30 day statement to the tenant within 30 days after the end of a tenancy. This must be received by the tenant not later than 30 days after the tenant has surrendered the keys/terminated the tenancy. Within this form the landlord can deduct those reasonable costs of damages affecting the rental property that are beyond normal wear. That is a phrase that is easier said than done.
As 1964, Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once said, ‘I know it when I see it…’ Mere scuffs and the need to paint to help a place look brighter is not beyond normal wear, and not the tenant’s cost, but holes and stains and broken items typically are deducted as would any outstanding charges for rent. Once the landlord serves the itemized statement, “by handing it to him personally at the place where the rent is paid, or by mailing it to him at his present address; or if that address is unknown, at the tenant’s last known address,” which can mean the very rental location. The only recourse for the tenant is a legal claim. If the deposit is less than $5,000 the jurisdiction is within the small claims system. Depending where the property is located Henderson, Las Vegas, or North Las Vegas, the tenant can file a small claims action to address any alleged improper holding of deposits.
Recently a question came up where a buyer terminated their lease early so that they could purchase their own home. This is not however a valid reason to breach a lease. Nor is the selling of a property a valid reason to terminate a lease if you are the owner of a rental property. Leases, “run with the land.” which means that subsequent owners are restricted by the contract. If the Seller or Tenant would like to end the lease early they should contact the other party and attempt to work out a lease termination or modification.

What is a short sale?

            A short sale is when the net proceeds from the sale of a home are not enough to cover the Seller’s mortgage obligations and closing costs, such as property taxes, transfer taxes, and the real estate agents commission. And the Seller is unwilling or unable to cover the difference. The seller may also be in default on their mortgage loan(s) and be headed for foreclosure.

Buying a Home in Short Sale Status

            A buyer, who needs to be in a home in a very short period of time, should not be looking at homes for sale in short sale status, as this can take from 2 weeks to 120 days to receive approval of a short sale from the lender.  If the buyer does not have that time frame or the patience to wait it out – move on.

            However if the potential buyer does not have a specific timeframe, you need to make sure your Real Estate agent is familiar with Short Sales and can place the correct writing into the contract.

            The buyer must be pre-approved from a mortgage company, and should accompany the offer. Sometimes, if the buyer is putting a substantial amount of money down, the offer can make the deal more attractive to the bank versus a buyer who needs higher financing.

            The buyer should avoid unnecessary costs by waiting until the bank has accepted the short sale offer, and such information should be written into the offer, as well as when escrow should be opened.

In summary:

• Don’t need a quick close
• Be fully loan approved
• Have patience
• Work with a Real Estate professional who knows how to write and execute an offer in your behalf, avoiding unnecessary costs
• Don’t offer too low of a price.
• Don’t ask for it all. Compromise on costs.
• Be prepared for a rejection from the bank.
• You can really get a great deal if you have time and patience!

  Almost everyday, someone asks me “Dave, what is happening in the market?”  Usually I tell them if I had a crystal ball I would have made millions on the strip.  There are, however, some facts about the market that you should know: 

#1   Las Vegas is running out of dirt!! It is said that within the next 6-10 years there will not be any more vacant land. For that reason, builders have started projects in Coyote Springs, White Hills, AZ and Mesquite.  All of these projects are within 45 minutes to a little more than one hour from Las Vegas and they are building between 2,500 to 10,000 homes over the next few years. 

#2   Las Vegas has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. 

#3  We still have 3,000 to 6,000 people coming into Las Vegas every month. 

#4  Look around the valley sky line and you see the new state bird the construction crane.  Everything from high rise condos to mid rise condos to new casinos. Developers are investing Billions and Billions in our local Economy. It is said that they ran out of cranes in the U.S.A. and we had to import them from China . 

#5 The Wynn Hotel is adding 3,000 new rooms, the city center project will add more than 5,000 new rooms and each additional hotel room creates between one to four additional employees needed.  The job market will continue to grow and expand.  

#6 We currently have a large inventory of homes.  However, over the last couple of months the market condition report (MCR) has shown a reversal in the number of new listings versus sales.  This means that there have been more sales over the last couple of months than new homes being listed.  

 #7 Interest rates continue to be at the lowest levels in many years.    

 To sum it up they are not making more dirt. We have more Job’s than people. Our state bird “ The Crane ”  is all over our skyline creating more jobs and investing billions into our local economy . We have more people moving into Las Vegas a month than some towns have people.  Success in this market, as with any market, is determined by price. The fact remains when you can see construction cranes in the skyline it is time to buy Real Estate. You can still buy and sell and find great deals, you just need the right person assisting you through the potential pitfalls. 

Time and time again I find myself explaining to potential homebuyers why they should get a home inspection. Many homebuyers are already right at the edge financially when it comes to buying a home and most see a home inspection as a cost they think they might want to avoid. I see a home inspection as a sort of insurance policy, protecting homebuyers from potentially enormous repair costs. Costs that almost always exceed the investment made in the home inspection.

A home inspection gives the buyer and impartial, physical evaluation of the overall condition of the home and items that need to be repaired or replaced. In a home inspection, a qualified inspector takes an in depth, unbiased look at your potential new home. The inspection gives a detailed report on the condition of the structural components, exterior, roofing, plumbing, electrical, heating, insulation and ventilation, air conditioning, and interiors.

Be an informed buyer
It is your responsibility to be uninformed buyer. Be sure that what you buy is satisfactory in every respect. You have the right to carefully examine your potential new home with a qualified home inspector. A home inspection gives the buyer more detailed information than an appraisal, information you need to make a wise decision.

I personally and professionally recommend that every homebuyer of resale real estate get a professional home inspection from a qualified home inspector. If you have questions about home inspectors here in the Las Vegas area the fine folks at WIN Home Inspection have always been very helpful and informative when we have had questions.

Home inspection for the home buyer can make your dream home a worry-free reality.

Finding a new home can be exhilarating, but nothing’s worse than buying your dream house, moving in, and finding out that there are serious issues. So make sure your experience is a positive one, all the way through, with home buyer inspection services from WIN. You’ll know the condition of your prospective new home and will be able to make an informed decision, offer the right price, know what to expect once you move in and what to plan for in the years to come.

With a WIN home inspection, you’ll receive a detailed, comprehensive report that explains the condition (both positive and negative) of the home’s structural elements, major systems and components. Our friendly, knowledgeable and experienced home inspectors will answer any questions you may have about your home, during the inspection process or anytime afterwards, so you can make your purchasing decision with confidence.

When making an offer on these properties, ASK FOR EVERYTHING UP FRONT,don’t leave anything out. Remember these could take up to 3-6 weeks for the bank to respond.