A Call To Action From Mary Kennedy to Realtors with Over Priced Listings on The Market.

I just read another article about how half of the 30,000 homes that are on the market in Las Vegas are vacant. We are never sure of the exact number from day to day, but I'm sure it's high because of all of the real estate investors that are trying to unload properties because they held on to them too long.

So here is what I'm thinking and please tell me if I'm wrong.

1. With the tightening of the sub-prime mortgage market, there are a whole lot of people out there that can't qualify for a mortgage and they are going to have to rent until the mortgage rules change for them.

2. With 5,000 to 7000 people moving to Las Vegas each month, if some of the vacant homes were taken off the market and put up for rent, the response should be positive.

A recent experience I had proved it! I had a home listed for 90 days for $899,000. Before I had the listing it was listed with another Realtor for 6 months. The house was priced about $150,000 higher then it should have been according to the comps in the neighborhood. It was brand new, never been lived in and there was no mortgage. The client owned it outright and lived close by. The renewal date was coming up and I made a decision that

1. I was not going to renew it unless we were able to price aggressively to sell or

2. I could encourage them to take it off the market for a year and we would work with one of my contacts to rent it out for that period. Then, 8 to 10 months down the road, we would see where the market was at and consider relisting the property if the market was right.

My client appreciated the fact that I put those choices out there and within 10 days we had the property rented for $2500.00 a month on a 12 month lease. So now rather then the house starting it's 10 month on the market with no money coming in, there will be someone living in it and the property will generate $30,000 in revenue over the next year. The renter is self employed with good references, but stated income.

This may sound easier said then done. The stars really aligned themselves due to the circumstances of my buyer and the person who ended up renting and I was able to build credibility with my client based on the choice that we made working out.

So, after all that, here is my call to action:

All of us,(Realtors)no matter what state we sell in should pull the comps for our selling clients and either make sure they lower their price to match the comps or present the rental option if the rent they can generate will help them cash flow the property. Or, another choice may be to just take it off the market for a period of time and continue to live there.

The end all is, if at all possible, to get the overpriced homes off the market and get them rented to sub-prime buyers that have to rent for awhile. Then, when we start cycling up, we have helped to develop the new reality.

I would really be interested in getting some feedback on this posting. I'm in my 4th year, trying to adjust to the changes in the market and I'm interested in new ideas for getting through this tough cycle.

Have a good week,

Mary Kennedy, RE/MAX Central, Las Vegas NV.