Six Questions for:

Bob Hamrick, CEO of Coldwell Banker Premier Realty, CityCenter broker

Bob Hamrick, who has spent his entire career in real estate, says he doesn’t expect home prices to increase until the employment picture significantly improves.

By Buck Wargo

Monday, Sept. 14, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Not many people find their career path in high school and jump right into it. Bob Hamrick did. As a 17-year-old senior, he began preparing for a real estate career. He got his license as soon as he turned 18.

Hamrick, 47, is CEO of Coldwell Banker Premier Realty and senior vice president and broker of CityCenter.

Why were you interested in real estate?

Real estate to me is something everyone needs and everyone aspires to own. I believed it offered long-term opportunity — that people were always going to be interested in real estate.

How did your career progress?

I worked for a gentleman who owned the Las Vegas Coldwell Banker franchise as well as Salt Lake City and Denver. Three years into working for him, he chose to divest himself of the Las Vegas market. My wife Molly and I chose to acquire it. I went from running one office on the sales side to overseeing an entire organization.

How has your company dealt with the boom and bust?

It has been a great challenge. The rebound came as a result of something needing to happen: prices declining. There was a period before that where everything stopped and that, for us, was in 2007. Fortunately, the opportunity we had with CityCenter was just kicking in at that time.

Why do you say prices needed to decline?

My overall belief is that when the cost of real estate exceeds the average income so much, there is a disconnect, and that disconnect was becoming more and more clear in Las Vegas. Either income was going to have to grow, which was not likely, or prices were going to have to come down, and that’s what happened.

Where do you see the market heading in the next year or two?

I would love to say that we are going to see a significant amount of appreciation, but I don’t see the logic behind that statement. I believe we will continue to have good sales volume, yet there is not a whole lot showing us that we will see significant appreciation. I don’t see how we can quickly offset the amount of unemployment. Until that happens and until the foreclosure market starts drying up, I don’t see how prices can increase.

How did you get involved in CityCenter?

I recall reading the newspaper when the announcement came out. Mr. Jim Murren, MGM Mirage CEO, was featured in the article describing what CityCenter was going to be. I recall where I was, in my Green Valley office, getting ready to start a sales meeting, when I saw the magnitude of the project and new ideas that were going to be implemented and the architecture. It made me to want to participate and be involved.

A version of this story appears in In Business Las Vegas, a sister publication of the Sun.

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By anthemccresident

Sept. 14, 2009

7:30 a.m.

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Another puff piece by the Sun. Where are the questions regarding the Time article regarding one his realtors and the controversy surrounding City Center?
By realtybites

Sept. 14, 2009

8:31 a.m.

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The only option that would make sense for Vdara at CityCenter is if its contract holders are given the option to transfer their deposits to purchase in Veer or Mandarin Oriental or otherwise refund their deposits in full. The reality is that it is nearly impossible to obtain financing on a condo-hotel unit. Those that end up closing will be very few. Price adjustments will spiral downward in an attempt to close more sales penalizing those that honor their contracts and further weakening property values of other units at City Center and other strip properties.

And from MGM Mirage's perspective, running a condo-hotel will prove to be a loss in the long run and is not a viable option for a successfully operating luxury hotel.

The condo-hotel concept was brought to Las Vegas by short term thinking on the behalf of the developer and will end up being a long term liability and ultimately a huge detriment to MGM Mirage.

Those executives that don't see this as the right thing to do, don't fully understand the condo-hotel concept and it's affect on cash flow and operations, as well as the long term negative consequence to CityCenter property values.
By artswanson (Art Swanson)

Sept. 14, 2009

9:21 a.m.

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A one word response to this hypsters comments: "DELUSIONAL"! City Center will be the greatest boondoggle this Town ever saw! We are at least a decade away from a housing recovery in the Valley and may even see another major dip down in prices if another 9/11 or other finanical crisis hits!
By DTJ

Sept. 15, 2009

12:19 a.m.

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Actually, for Valley real estate agents, this guy is pretty straight-forward about how property values won't be going up anytime soon, and how high unemployment is going to last for some time.

He also looks a lot like Kevin Spacey, who managed the real estate office in the film version of Glengarry Glen Ross.