Freddie Mac to auction REO homes in Vegas in late April - Be there

Mortgage money remains affordable, prices are way low in Southern Nevada - with subdivisions like Rhodes Ranch, Southern Highlands, Silverstone Ranch, Charleston Heights, Silverado Ranch and Mountains Edge - and Washington is sweetening the pot with an up to $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit. What more can a rookie home buyer expect? Well, there is more. Now Freddie Mac brings its multi-car auction train to Las Vegas with a passion.

Freddie Mac has a HomeSteps unit that markets and sells its REOs, or real estate owned, across the country. In this exhausting housing downturn it has been increasingly busy, for obvious reasons. To speed up the process it has teamed up with New Vista asset manager to auction off foreclosure property to really thin out its bloated REO spreadsheet.

The auction is limited to first-time owner-occupant buyers, leaving investors this time looking from outside in. But otherwise it's open to the public. Bidders need to have a pre-approval letter from a qualified mortgage lender to participate. Several buyer benefits should make the event exciting and worthwhile. Freddie Mac offers up to 3.5% in closing cost help and provides a 2-year limited home warranty to go with it. Besides, the auction is timed to fall comfortably before the end of the April deadline for the first-time home buyer tax credit that can go up to $8,000. When all these goodies are stacked together, the financial incentives are considerable.

Real estate to be auctioned is available for previewing during open houses that can be scheduled at www.auction.com or prospects can set up private showings with listing agents. Should a successful buyer be working with a real estate agent, a 3% commission will be paid to the agent. Not bad. This auction takes place on Saturday, April 24, 2010, at Cashman Field. More information is available at www.newvistareo.com.

At last count 82 homes were on the auction block, with starting bids going for under $100,000 across the board. Many of the properties probably end up selling quite a bit higher than that, but even then there should be some good buys to be had. According to Freddie Mac these homes were taken off the market, inspected, fixed up and now go for sale in "as is" condition. Previewing before bidding, nevertheless, is highly recommended.