Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
The entryway courtyard of a home for sale at Red Rock Country Club in Summerlin for $600,000 seen Friday, November 18, 2011.
By J. Patrick Coolican (contact) 
Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011 | 2 a.m.
J. Patrick Coolican
Sun archives
What if I told you I could offer you a two-bedroom, two-bath condo in Summerlin — well, basically Summerlin — for the price of an Acura MDX: Is that something that would interest you?
It’s the opportunity of a lifetime. We’ve heard this before from the real estate pitchmen. In 2006, you couldn’t lose because prices would never go down. In 2007, you were lucky to be getting in during this pause in appreciation. In 2008 and 2009 and 2010, you got a steal compared with 2006!
But now, with real estate prices less than half of what they were at the peak, there might be something to it.
I say that not as investment advice — God forbid you take investment advice from me — but because when you take a tour of properties around the valley, you get an intuitive sense that prices are downright rational.
Given the pain and anxiety endured by our neighbors, it’s not easy to say, but it’s true: The real estate collapse hasn’t been bad for everyone. For many, it has made ownership affordable. In that light, I decided to take a tour of the craziest deals. I call it real estate porn.
Our guide is Joe DiRaffaele of Coldwell Banker, and he’s one of the best in the business. He sold 176 homes in 2010 and was recognized by The Wall Street Journal last year for being one of the top sellers in the country.
We begin in the northwest at the end of a cul-de-sac, 3123 Surf Spray Street, at a house of nearly 2,700 square feet, with a three-car garage, three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It sold in March 2006 for $509,000. Now it’s bank owned and goes for $254,900. It’s airy and boasts a big kitchen with skylights and a center island. The windows of the master bedroom offer a nice view of the obligatory giant wall that surrounds the property. Yeah, I said it was a good deal, not my dream home.
DiRaffaele isn’t a pollyanna — on our way to the next spot, he says he hated watching developers cram cheap houses onto tiny plots during the bubble. Nothing can be done about it now, except to sell the stuff at half price.
Next, that condo I mentioned earlier, the Residence at Canyon Gate, selling for $39,900. The previous owners trashed the two-bedroom, two-bathroom place, so it will need some work. DiRaffaele, who spends a lot of time working with contractors now on behalf of banks, says for $12,000 he could have the place shining. A dollar goes far with desperate contractors these days, he says. Walk-in closets and a sunken Jacuzzi-style tub make this ideal for young buyers.
At Red Rock Country Club, a palatial house at 11310 Winter Cottage Place that once went for $1.2 million is selling for $599,900. It has a Mediterranean-style courtyard entrance with “Romeo and Juliet” balconies, four bedrooms and five bathrooms. Inside, there’s a curving staircase with a birdcage railing. Of course, it offers great views of the golf course. The Sopranos could live here, and maybe a version of them did.
We slide down the socio-economic ladder at 8261 Abercrombe Way, just around the corner from Tivoli Square, where a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house goes for $79,900 and would make a great first home for a young family. Even with no money down, the mortgage payment would be less than $400 per month, the taxes just $1,000 per year.
Finally, we’re downtown at what was once the Streamline Tower and is now the Ogden, a high rise just a block from the old City Hall, which will soon be home to Zappos. It’s a one bedroom with a walk-in closet on the 18th floor, with views of the Sheep Range. Below are two vacant lots. Hopefully, the coming of Zappos will change that. You can walk to all the cool bars and restaurants downtown, including a much-talked-about Thai place. Standing on the roof deck where the pool is, you can look south right down Las Vegas Boulevard at the glittery dreams of the Strip.
Yours for $109,900.
yet house prices will DROP AT LEAST another 30% before we bottom out, the world economy is following the same pattern as the great depression, Europe is collapsing, the banks have had downgrades which will increase their borrowing costs they will pass this on to buyers.
Austerity measures have still to be resolved in US and the cutbacks will be severe
unemployment is still too high
investors are losing interest in assets as they realize there are more price corrections ahead
do not buy houses it is too risky
a swing and a miss by mr coolican...
in fact patrick...
it's articles like this that get people hurt...
that's why i hate them...
bottom line...
this market will not bottom until all the foreclosures stop...
period...
end of story...
and guess what...
that ain't even close to being over...
we are at best...
at best...
half way thru this mess...
half...
at best...
moreover...
factor in that we are more likely than not going to have a double dip recession next year...
the gridlock in washington almost guarantees it...
besides...
that's what our republican friends want anyway...
so...
my point is this...
take these hype nonsense articles with a grain of salt...
a big fat grain of salt...
much much more pain ahead!!!
The bottom has not been reached yet in this recession. The crisis in Europe will spread to the USA and it will hurt. All that we can do is ride it out. And for most of us it won't be in a Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4 Spyder. It will be a KIA or a Ford. If the price of the house is too good to be true proceed with extreme caution. Buyer beware.
You knuckle heads are missing the whole point of the article. He is not talking about the future of the housing market, he is only talking for the fact that the housing market is affordable again. He is not saying when the market will turn around, he even pointed out this fact in the article. All he is saying is that there are deals out there to be had. So slow down the lynch mob for a few minutes. Thank you.
Knuckleheads look at today's Stock market and it's up over 400 points. Apparently the FED just prints more money.Soon we will be if not already another Greece, Italy. Who is worrying about housing . That RED ROCK property will soon be worth much less.
Thanks everyone for your advice. I getting ready to buy again very soon.
It's a great time to invest, especially if one has cash. But even those without cash can take advantage of these deals if they are patient. The only challenge to prices rising sooner rather than later is that many folks are gaming the system by walking away from one home to buy twice as much house across the street for less. That process must be interrupted or speed-bumped or it will run its course for who knows how long.
["GoBruins" - don't bother addressing the untrusted posters, as their comments automatically disappear from these pages after 48 hours.]
Its true the market may be affordable again, but buying should only be considered when it doesn't involve risk or cost more than renting, few pwople can afford to risk buying a house for $100K and then afford to sell it 3-4 years later with a 3% per year decline in value , a loss of around $10K-12k if they should need to move for a job relocation or change of jobs to another city. Las Vegas is shrinking, the building boom is over and housing inventories here like everywhere else surpass the need and the demand. This translates into hard or nearly imposible to resell. Not good in a transient town. By that I mean where jobs are not generally stable i.e casino/hotel work, or anything in a suppost industry which is ..lol everything else.
The one thing about Las Vegas that I find so contrary to East Coast real estate transactions is that people don't use lawyers here. My friend tells me " that's just the way it's done"
Who protects your interests
Who makes sure their are no homeowner liens
Who makes sure the title company is reputable
With all these people buying foreclosure and short sale homes, I just can't imagine making the largest investment of your life and finding out later there's some issue that didn't come up until you owned it...and not using a lawyer for guidance. Who's supposed to help you..your real estate agent?
With people doing 2nd, 3rd mortgages, not knowing who has the title when they get foreclosed or short sale, it seems to me a good attorney with real estate experience is a must.
I am so glad the LV realtors never called me back in 2004 thru 2006. I would call on a property and never hear from them...The frenzy did not require a hollaback.
Where I am sitting, home values are up 12% Y/Y and I guess I owe Las Vegas REMAX and Coldwell a 6% commission!
"I call it real estate porn."
Coolican -- good one!
"...even those without cash can take advantage of these deals if they are patient."
James_P -- though no expert on this at all, I seriously doubt the bottom has been reached yet. So your counsel of patience is quite valid.
"It is the eternal struggle between these two principles -- right and wrong -- throughout the world ... It is the same spirit that says, 'You toil and earn the bread, and I'll eat it.'" -- Abraham Lincoln, from Reply, Seventh and Last Joint Debate with Judge Douglas, 1858
Reza
prices have a long way to drop surely you understand world economics and the fed printing money is not good - i am investing cash in the stock markets very good deals to be had and much more growth potential
japan house prices are still dropping and have been since the 80's any buyer now needs their head testing
What is the association fee @ canyon gate? How about the redrock country club?
Some of the wealthiest people in the world are making huge Las Vegas real estate bets. Ross Perot Junior bought several thousand acres north of Las Vegas. John Paulson has a huge stake in Vegas. A loss Angeles real estate group just bought several hundred units in Panorama Towers.
There have been numerous real estate corrections in the last hundred years. All have resulted in much higher prices. The homes that you could have purchased in areas like Beverly Hills, Belair, Rancho Palos Verdes and Silicon Valley for $50,000 in the 1960s are worth many millions today.
There are less than 20,000 homes available for purchase and several million people that live in Vegas. If the conditions are right this thing the turnaround very quickly. Housing prices on the East and West Coast are skyhigh. Hedge funds are purchasing all of the farmland that comes available in the Midwest because of high food prices and increased demand for food around the world. Prices per acre for farmland are seeing levels that have never been seen before.
There aren't very many affordable, desirable places left to live. Las Vegas always comes out near the top of the list in terms of where people would like to live. It is now unbelievably affordable.
CWcommish: Red Rock Country Club as of 10/2011 "Association fees, at the time of this writing, are $245.00 a month with an additional $195.00 a month for sports club membership."
For CanyonGate: "Home Owners Association fees are $235 monthly."
For Red Rock Country Club, you also would be paying a Summerlin Association Fee. I believe Summerlin Association fee would be less than $50/month.
WANTED: Undeveloped 0.5 acre of elevated land residentially zoned with municipal water/sewer connections hosting an unobstructed view of valley to build an energy efficient home -- no SIDs/LIDs/Association and/or Master Plan fees.
Can anyone help?
: {
This is all BS. My street near downtown has turned into the investors division. In the past 3 years almost all of the houses have been sold to investors who do some rehab and then rent them out. Rough guess, about 70% of my street. The problem is that if you have a problem with your neighbor it's very difficult to deal with renters and the property owner if you can find them. I had gang bangers next door for about 4 months with the police there about once a week. Now I have who knows how many people living in a 3 bedroom house. They have 5 five cars which they are always parking in front of my house and a pitbull that is always getting in my backyard.
I bought a HUD house just to get out of the area but HUD made it so difficult to purchase I had to back out. HUD sucks along with all the so called programs (scams) that nevada sponsers. And the word I get from agents is that very few conventional loans go thru for one BS reason or other, and nobody really cares as long as there are outside investors with cash.
All I know is that I have recently purchased a few rental properties this year and I'm quite happy with them.
Also, my 23 year old son is buying his first house (brand new KB home) in the northwest neighborhood of Providence for about $130,000. That would have been impossible a few years ago. I have no idea how they build a new home for $130k.
jafo, I assume you live in a non-HOA area. As much as I hate HOAs, this is a problem with living in a non-HOA community. The real problem is that the city doesn't enforce it's codes. If they did, the property owner would get violation notices from the city and the problem(s) would eventually take care of themselves, just like it would in an HOA. Further, keep in mind that it behooves the investor to get a stable tenant that pays on time and keeps the property in good condition. It is very simple to locate the owner of the property...simply go to the CC assessor or CC recorder website. All your info is right there.
As for your HUD experience, this makes no sense at all. HUD is actually one of the easiest transactions to work with - minus the long escrow times for properties with an HOA. I have closed probably 10 HUD deals with zero problems, and the only issue on some of these were again, the long escrow times. The lending issue is another exaggeration - any client with a solid job history and decent FICO is going to have no problems qualifying. The only problems I have seen arise have come from the buyers themselves -- who get tired of complying with the lenders' multiple and annoying condition requests and take it personally. People need to just drop the ego and realize that if you want to buy a property, you need to jump their hoops, that simple.
richr44
IF you buy a house for 100k and stay in it for 4 years as apposed to renting an apartment for the same time period at 1,000 per month there is a good chance that the home you purchased for 100k is going to be a better deal plus you have a much better style of home life without an upstairs or downstairs neighbor whining ever time the floor squeeks!
Or you can do the math on the purchase of a 50k condo over the same time poriod!
I bought my 23 year old son a home in Providence a year ago. He loves it . They are probably neighbors.
If this was a serious real estate article then there wouldn't be a price comparison to peak market prices. Those prices were a fools market price, instead compare prices to the median income and to long term employment prospects and you realize you still have decisions to make about buying here in Las Vegas.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO PLAY THE FOOL, IT'S JUST EASIER
I agree with ATVDAD1, with Mortgage payments on 30 year fixed cheaper than rent, and that includes HOA and SID payments. and if one has 10 or 15 years to ride it out nows the time to invest in some rentals, 25% down and a good credit score is all you need to become a landlord, Then once you are a landlord there are two very impotant things that are a must. a good tenant who pays on time and a good mexican who will cheaply get it ready to rent out. and since i am mexican i can say that. also, its not theroy i have closed on 3 homes in the last 60 days
Great article. Yes the situation is truly terrible for those who bought in the '06-'09 years. They are bearing the brunt of the crash. But....if you're thinking right NOW of moving to the Vegas area, as Coolican is pointing out, huge deals abound.
I'm glad to see that there are some people that actually see the light at the end of the tunnel. All of the doom & gloomers have been jaded by the last few years. It may be difficult to do, but don't let the past affect your future! If there is an opportunity to profit from the carnage then be nimble and go for it.