A real estate blog about the Vegas valley.

The city of Las Vegas has proposed a plan allocating $20.7 million in housing funds to help get people into an estimated 298 foreclosed properties. Granted, that is a drop in the bucket for Las Vegas which has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country.  How much will it really help? I guess that depends if you are one of the lucky few that will qualify to participate. There is a sunny side. The funding is coming from Las Vegas’ share of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program to help redevelop and repopulate foreclosed homes. Not everyone is a fan of the program.

Not only does it not go far, but it really doesn’t address the vital issue of helping people who are going into foreclosure,” said Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman.

Mayor Goodman makes a very good point. It doesn’t address those people that are facing foreclosure. Basically the plan is threefold. It will provide financial assistance to those qualifying individuals to buy a home. The plan will back a lease to own program for people that can’t get a mortgage (the homes for lease will be foreclosures, 27 homes is the current goal). And lastly, the city will buy homes in targeted nine ZIP codes where foreclosures and pre-foreclosures are the highest at a price 15 percent below the current appraised values, operating them as low-income rental housing in the city’s affordable housing pool for 15 years.

While not thrilled with the plan, Mayor Goodman isn’t looking a gift horse in the mouth. Reducing the amount of foreclosed properties and providing affordable housing can only help the market. But I can’t help but think that the money could be better spent. What are your thoughts?

{ 0 comments }

Pulte homes is having a year end sale on Easton Place real estate, located in the master planned community of Providence. Incentives include backyard landscaping, refrigerator, window treatments, a washer and driver and $12,000 to pay all closing costs for homes that are completed by the end of this year. In addition Pulte is offering $20,000 to $35,000 off of the final sales price.

All homes also come loaded with an array of Signature Standards™ such as:

• Granite counter tops

• Tile flooring in entryway, kitchen, bathrooms, and laundry room

• GE® appliances

• Front and rear covered stucco balconies (on a per plan basis)

• Covered stucco rear patios

• Courtyards

There are certain restrictions that apply. In order to qualify for the incentives, home buyers must use Pulte Mortgage, LLC and close escrow through Pulte Homes title services. Currently there are five homes available for immediate occupancy. Remember, when buying a new home you should always have your own agent. Contact me for free representation at 702-493-8033. I’ll arrange for you to tour the Easton Place homes you are interested in and can send you current floor plans by email.

{ 0 comments }

A recent article on CNN.com listed the top six cities for the best real estate bargains. The article stated some of the things I’ve been saying for the last several months on my different blogs: there are great real estate bargains to be had in the Las Vegas real estate market.

Miami Florida came in number one due to its extremely high level of inventory (about three year’s worth), a 40% price drop since last year and almost non-existant sales for homes and condos. A perfect buyer’s market to the extreme.

Las Vegas came in at the number two spot. According to the S&P/Case-Schiller home price index, home prices drop 22.8% in a year. There are also massive foreclosures as well due to heavy investing by flip-oriented investors and consumers getting adjustable rate mortgages. The article recommends Vegas for two specific markets, high rise condos and retirement. Most high rise projects were announced years ago either during or right before the real estate boom and are just being completed. Prices for most Las Vegas high rise condos are down compared to last year. The lure for retirees is the lack of state income tax, mild winter weather and wide range of entertainment options. CNN recommends buying a new home but not necessarily in one of the many Las Vegas retirement communities that have sprung up over the last several years.  Interestingly enough, they recommend outlying areas like Summerlin or the planned community of Providence.  Personally, I would add to that list based on the homes that I have just shown the communities of Anthem and Tuscany in Henderson.

Other cities to the make the list are Phoenix, San Diego, Tampa and Denver. If you are thinking about buying a home in the Las Vegas valley, feel free to contact me at 702-493-8033 or by email.

{ 1 comment }

Lennar is holding a year end inventory closeout sale on 29 different communities in the Las Vegas valley on November 8th and 9th. Prices will be reduced up to 25% on standing inventory homes. Lennar is also offering financing through UAMC with 2.99% fixed for the first year, 3.99% fixed for the second year and then 4.99% fixed (5.70% APR) for the life of the loan.

There are some restrictions (naturally) to qualify. Buyers must put down a minimum of 10% and have a credit score of 680 or higher. The offer is valid for purchase offers before November 20 for Las Vegas homes closing before November 26th. Call 702-493-8033 for details.

The sales event has been extended to November 15th and 16th on standing inventory. Contact me for details and communities.

{ 1 comment }

For those of you that have been watching the Sarasota Association of Realtors case versus Marc Rasmussen, there has been a nasty new development. After losing the case in court, the SARS still fuming about being told no, decided to try a different tact. They went to ICANN to have the domain take by force from the owner and transferred to them. Their arguement was trademark infringement, but to date, no evidence of prior trademark ownership has been produced (anyone heard of Major League Soccer (MLS)?).

Apparently, that was not an issue for ICANN who has grabbed up the url and has given it to the Sarasota Association of Realtors. Now, we have all run across sites that have REALTOR and MLS in the URL, most of which belong to non-Realtors. Yet, strangely enough these sites continue to be online with nary a word of opposition from any REALTOR association? So why was Marc singled out? Simple, Marc had spent thousands of dollars and man hours promoting his URL so that it showed up on major search engines in the top spot for certain terms like…..Sarasota MLS. Now I’m wondering who in the association there in Sarasota is going to get the leads being brought in, now that they have control of the URL?

Their arguement: consumers could be confused by Marc’s url, since it was not THE SARASOTA MLS.

I’m not sure what that says about what they think of the average Internet home searcher. Marc’s site had been up since 2003 and had a disclaimer at the bottom clearly stating that his site was not THE SARASOTA MLS and he was a REALTOR. The URL had been redirected to Marc’s new URL, ensuring that no one would be ‘confused’, but apparently that wasn’t good enough for SARs. Marc is still fighting the Sarasota Association of Realtors in court and there has been a legal defense fund set up you can donate too over at ebaspace.

{ 8 comments }

The biggest home builder of active adult communities, Del Webb, is having a huge sale event this weekend at five of their retirement communities in Las Vegas, Henderson and Mesquite. Price reductions and incentives are being offered on year end move-in ready homes. The communities include Solera at Stallion Mountain located just off of Flamingo in Las Vegas, The Villas at Solera at Anthem and Sun City Anthem in Henderson and Sun City Mesquite. Additionally, Del Webb will pay two years of HOA dues for homes that close before the end of the year.
The communities of Solera at Stallion Mountain and Sun City Mesquite will also have free food, music, healthy living cooking and fitness demonstrations. Del Webb’s “Fall Festival of Savings” starts today through Sunday.
If you are thinking about buying a home, feel free to contact me at 702-493-8033 for free representation. Remember, the agents at these communities work for the builder, not you. I can also be reached by email.

{ 0 comments }

Starting today, Pulte is having a monster sale. There are incentives of up to $25,000 on 2008 inventory Easton Place homes. The sale will is Friday, October 17th through Sunday, October 19th. Prices are starting in the $230’s for occupancy ready new homes.

This is Pulte’s final big sales event of the year. Incentives on homes include thousands in closing costs, granite countertops and G.E. stainless steel refrigerators to name a few. Home sizes range from approximately 1,700 square feet to over 2,000.

To take advantage of this sale and take a tour of the available Easton Place homes, call me at 702-493-8033 or email me.

{ 0 comments }