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By Conor Shine (contact) 
Tuesday, April 10, 2012 | 2 a.m.
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Bargain prices and low interest rates have combined to escalate activity in the Las Vegas residential real estate market.
The number of residential properties in the valley available for resale is just over 6,000, down from a recession-era high of 22,000 properties, according to numbers from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.
Here’s a look at some properties that are or have been listed for sale under $150,000 in the Las Vegas Valley.
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List Price: $129,900
This two-story home in Anthem Highlands in Henderson offers 1,628 square feet of living space at a list price of $129,900, a steep discount from the $450,000 the property sold for in 2005.
Built in 2004, the home, at 2908 Rothesay Ave., has three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms.
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List Price: $119,900
Located in the gated Stallion Mountain community, this 1,223-square-foot, one-story Las Vegas home has two bedrooms and two baths.
A traditional sale, the home, at 3504 Osprey Ridge Court, is listed at $119,900 and is touted as having easy access to community parks, a pool and an exercise center.
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Closing Price: $149,000
This 2,200-square-foot home near Tropicana Avenue and Jones Boulevard offers four bedrooms, two and three-quarter bathrooms and a three-car garage.
The home, which was built in 1978 and recently renovated, also contains a wet bar, granite counters and vaulted ceilings. It recently sold for $149,000.
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List Price: $149,900
An 1,800-square-foot home with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, this one-story Henderson property at 227 Marks St. is listed at $149,900.
And this 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 car home is way more comfortable, noticeably quieter, naturally cleaner, supplies fresh air, and runs off the sun with utility bills hovering around $40 a month, giving you and your family the healthy environment, good vibrations, and gobs more extra discretionary money than anything on the ordinary non-solar market. It also comes with a 50 year roof, 25 year warranty on solar panels and ductless heat pumps, and indoor air quality far beyond what anything out there.
Energy-efficient mortgages are also available below market norms.
Hurry, oops too late. Better luck next time!
We entered the Real Estate market in the Vegas valley ten months ago. I'd like to assure readers that you actually cannot purchase a "short sale" house of any quality for the list price.
We made first-day-listed offers on three homes such as mentioned in the article for the exact listed price and were "out-bid" by outside investors.
We tried adding $20k to list prices of homes in the $160k asking price range and were still out-bid. Finally, we got lucky and are currently in escrow for a home listed for $159k that we offered $189.5k to gain acceptance.
If you're looking for junk, there's plenty out there, but move-in-ready homes aren't selling at the listed prices.
The banks will jerk you around to no end on short sale homes. JCrumpley is right, your chances of buying a short sale near list price is virtually nil. Number one consideration above money and condition of home...make sure it's in a good neighborhood. Location, location, location. Everything else is way behind that, especially in Las Vegas. Avoid NLV like the plague.
Considering how our AG is actively prosecuting at least one party "responsible for the filing of tens of thousands of fraudulent documents with the Clark County Recorder's Office between 2005 and 2008," the titles to many foreclosed homes are still up in the air. That's @ http://www.vegasinc.com/news/2011/dec/05...
With MERS 1) being on half or more of those foreclosed deeds of trust, and 2) a federal court in Oregon has recently voided a deed of trust because MERS was on it, with their AG taking the same point to the Ninth Circuit, many buyers face the real possibility the wrongfully foreclosed homeowners will be knocking on their doors wanting their homes back.
At least our AG is trying to do the right thing. Too bad she's only going after Bank of America, LPS and a few notaries. This fraud is so massive with so many players it may take decades to sort out. Thank Big Finance and lax federal regulators for that.
"If you're going to take my house away from me, you better own the note." -- Joe Lents (who hasn't made a payment on his $1.5 million mortgage since 2002) in Bloomberg's 2/22/08 "Banks Lose to Deadbeat Homeowners as Loans Sold in Bonds Vanish"
Many current and future homeowners realize that parts of the real estate market are snapping back. Perhaps not all the way back but that too could be called a good thing. Many buyers want good design--good floor plans and energy efficiency like insulation, upgraded windows, roof overhangs, locations for lifestyle. Unless you can do the repairs, remodeling, cost calculations most prefer to let the owners / banks fix it up, get it up to code. Let the Flippers work with the distressed properties.
And then again, long-term renters get zero return on their investment so breaking even on a home sale is a good thing. Making $50-200K a better thing but you have to be in the home for years. That's a good thing too. Fewer speculators and buyers buying for function and lower living costs.
Killer's point is worth noting. By allowing perjured documents to be recorded, we have clouded the titles to pretty much every property that has gone through foreclosure. Without real backup, the Trustee's Deed is "wild" -- and subject to being defeated in litigation. "Caveat Emptor."
6,000 available houses left in the entire valley, I might have been born at night, but it was not LAST NIGHT. I perform due diligence assessments for residential/commercial property transactions here in the valley, and have for the last 12 years. The Realty Assoc. wants to generate a little price increase it appears by claiming that inventories are dropping as houses get scooped up. IF that were the case and there were only 6,000 houses left available in inventory on the market you can rest assured that Pulte, KB, Lennar (etal) would be building right now, but as we know......that IS NOT THE CASE. How about we print stories that are factual instead of these little snippets based on spurious numbers that really do not reflect the actual market conditions.
xtlman -
What rock have you been sleeping under? Association of Realtors don't set prices, buyers and sellers do. Builders are building. It does take them a little bit of time to ramp up their operation. DR Horton is building, building, building.
"By allowing perjured documents to be recorded, we have clouded the titles to pretty much every property that has gone through foreclosure."
lericgoodman -- our Supreme Court confirmed this in 2008's Torrealba v. Kesmetis: "an improperly notarized instrument is void." A thorough examination of the chain of title and iron-clad title insurance are needed by every prospective buyer. And trust no one!
"Why don't the banks want us to see the paperwork on all these mortgages? Because the documents represent a death sentence for them..... in America, it's far more shameful to owe money than it is to steal it." -- an article from the November 25, 2010 issue of Rolling Stone by Matt Taibbi "Courts Helping Banks Screw Over Homeowners"
I put Las Vegas, Nevada into realtor.com and these are the results:
15,279 nearby properties found
Try it yourself.
Its primarily investors buying. The average guy with 700 fico and a modest down payment can't get a bank to lend the money.
Ultimately, it's the first mortgagor who decides the sales price of a short sale. We have three bids on our short sale and it isn't even listed yet! Location, upgrades, and well maintained home like ours is hard to find. Who wants a filthy, trashed house with dead landscaping?
We paid our bills diligently and didn't overspend. While others got 110% LTV loans, we put 25% down and worked hard to upgrade our house. We hate to leave, but medical issues have forced the issue.
It was my dream to move to Las Vegas last year, but seeing the way things are now, Im going to stay put. Great prices but I dont know. LOL
All of these houses are very nice, but the ones I see listed for those prices are usually so close to their neighbor it's disgusting. I feel so sorry for Vegas when I see row houses instead of real neighborhoods.
FWIW:
The Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 is set to expire at the end of this year (2012) -- under the Act, mortgage debt forgiven by lending institutions is NOT required to be claimed as taxable income by forgiven homeowners as typically required by the IRS -- however, once the Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 expires, homeowners which have their mortgage debt forgiven by their lenders under short-sale proceedings will be required (by the IRS) to claim and amount forgiven as income and pay the applicable tax upon the forgiven amount, which can amount to hundreds of thousands (the average debt amount forgiven ~$200,000.00).
Homeowners failing to have their debt forgiven through the short-sale process and subsequently fall into foreclose proceedings may be required to pay the full amount of their debt back to their lenders.
Ref:
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0...
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Once you cull out all the properties selling for cash only to foreign buyers or commercial companies, those that need lots of work (dollars), those that don't fit your needs and those that aren't in your desired location (location, location), it is slim pickins.
Unless you're a cash buyer, most folks are well served by getting pre-approved (not pre-qualified, big difference) by their lender of choice, preparing a list of priorities and locations for them and their realtor and pursuing properties that are ready to move in both from the condition/amenities needed standpoint but also restricting your offers to sellers ready to do business along the lines of your requirements.
Be careful when buying short sales and even bidding. There are still scams out there. One being that you give a higher bid. Someone else gives a lower bid. The bank is told the lower is the only one so the bank agrees. That person buys it and sells it to you almost immediately for your bid. Flipping is still alive.
Dunton, if you are in the industry as you claim, then I almost feel embarrassed for your ridiculous remarks. Last time I checked, buyers and sellers determine the sales price...please explain how GLVAR or NRED has anything to do with pricing? Further, the new home builders are starting to increase prices as resale inventories are way down and cash buyers are blowing everyone out of the water. Those buyers filter into new homes, go ahead and call a new home builder and ask them how sales have been the past 4-6 weeks. I showed an REO property in Henderson last week that had 38 offers in less than 10 days.
Lack of inventory is absolutely affecting the market. It is a total feeding frenzy right now. You simply have no idea what you are talking about.
@JahReb...So if the seller is the BANK and you put in an offer only to be told there are multiple offers (above asking) Who makes out in the end? The bank and the realtor! Not the buyer. So it's completely understandable where people are coming from when they are blaming the banks and the realtors. I've been trying to buy the last 6 months or more and it's a NIGHTMARE...everything we were outbid for still sits vacant with a for sale sign in front of it six months later. Just strange. Maybe I'm just fed up and don't understand the process. These were REO's that we were outbid on, not short sales.
First, the home listed for $129,900 @ 2908 Rothesay Ave IS NOT LISTED FOR SALE. Google the address.
That home is currently leased, and last sold in 2007 for $299,900. Before that it sold in 2004 for $399,990. Nothing about $450k in 05 like it says here. This is all public records and can be found with a few searches. So might want to check that.
Next, the article doesn't explain that the '6000 available homes' are 6,000 that aren't already under contract. They are either just waiting to close, or waiting for a reply from a bank on a short sale offer. So yes, there are only 6000 to chose from in the market.
For Pricing on short sales, Lowjiber has nailed it. Anyone who is looking to buy or working in the industry should know that 'listed price' can be misleading with short sales. They often get listed at below market prices to attract someone making an offer. The bank doesn't agree to a listing price, they ONLY respond to an offer price. If the home is listed below market, you can guarantee the bank will counter higher. Any good buyer's agent can give you comparable pricing so you can have an idea of what to expect.
There are bidding wars under $200k. Cash buyers can beat those getting financed because homes are often getting conservative appraisals. Why take an offer that won't get funded, they'll take the cash on the table if that offer is in the ball park, even if a little lower than the financed offers.
Of those 6000 homes that you can put in an offer, some will be in poor condition. My own agent just posted on her blog that about 40% of those are on homes listed above $200k, and that I can believe. There is minimal available inventory. Of course some of those short sales will fall out of escrow, but that has been happening since this mess began, and more are going through.
For the builders, they have been ramping up. Look at all the builders' ads coming out in the paper in the last couple weeks, even some Lux homes above $400k. The only reason they aren't busier is everyone is still chasing the low ball homes that are getting harder to find or when they do they're a disaster. As soon as these folks find out the long wait for a short sale response only came back with a higher counter or they get tired of the bidding wars, you'll see more permits pulled.
One more time, If you actually looking in the market you know what it's really like. These people that post that there are all kind of homes out there don't have a clue. The post claiming 15,000 homes on realtor.com? THAT IS ALL HOMES LISTED, not available, the rest are under contract. All this messed up info floating around, short sale sales prices that aren't selling prices, homes said to be available that aren't, that's what has home buyers chasing their tails. Shop for a GOOD agent that can get you the facts and KNOWS what is going on, not just sideliners who aren't in the game.
I use to think KillerB was whacky when all along he was right.
DesertDweller: First, the home is not leased, currently vacant, I am not sure what site you are on? 2. Unless the Clark County Tax records are wrong, the first sale was at $450k. (It has sold twice since then FOR A TOTAL OF THREE, tax records only give the name of the last two previous owners). The 6000 comes directly from GLAVR as of 4/10/2012. Today, currently 5053 "resales" listed in the MLS. 4. I commend your comment "Shop for an agent that knows the facts, and the market"! I bet you are buying right now!
Sorry vegasrealtor01, I used public recorder records that show it was foreclosed in 06 for $300k+ instead of 04. Another site has it listed as a rental with leased status.
The strange thing is that when you first run the address @ realtor.com and several other listing sites they all have it as 'not for sale'. Just did a general price search on GLVAR's page and 14 homes come up in 89044, only 1 with that size BR bath and it's on NIDDRIE AV for $145k. So where did the $129K price come from? Something is wrong.
So Desert Dweller and vegasrealtor01 which one is it? You two have been going back and forth and on the last post Dweller decides that the advice he gave had something wrong with it. What this tells me , and should tell everyone is that the information that is available out there is very misleading to say the least. I'll still go with well over 6000 resales available.
Before you go posting saying there are way more than 6,000 homes you should know what you are talking about. Builders are starting to build because of the shortage of resale homes. Maybe you people don't get out much?