Penny Andrews

It's been an amazing 15 months in Boulder City. Demand is up! It's been up so far, that our inventory is down. Usually we have 140 houses for sale...now we're barely over 100.

If you're a buyer looking for a house in Boulder City, don't be surprised if there's only one that will work for you. And it's liable to need work. "Boulder is older" is what I've been saying ever since I got my real estate license. You can still find shag carpet and green laminate! Let us not forget harvest gold tiles around the shower; or even pink and turquoise if you're really lucky!

Vintage housing is available, but so is newer construction with 9' ceilings, no popcorn, tile roofs, RV parking. You can get lake views, golf views, and now you can start looking to avoid bridge traffic.

What's that? Bridge traffic? Yes, the new bridge over the Colorado River will soon be complete. Traffic will be diverted above Hoover Dam. You won't need to take the winding road on top of the Dam, waiting for umpteen tourists to saunter in front of you. You'll be able to breeze up the hill, looking down on the lake, and get to Boulder City quickly.

However, there is one caveat. The trucks will be joining you. Trucks, motorhomes, RVs, etc, have been forced to go through Laughlin ever since the terrorist attack of Sept 11. That has been great for traffic through Boulder! No more trucks, noisy, smoggy, and slow! Well, friends, the party is over. The trucks will be back.

Those poor souls living on the lake side will once again have to deal with trucks going up & down the long grade, for lo and behold, the bridge does nothing to bypass Boulder City! All the bridge traffic will merge onto the existing roadway and come right through Nevada Way, as it has for decades. Of course, Nevada Department of Transportation has planned ahead somewhat. They have installed curbing for the turn lanes, so now if you're trying to turn off the highway into the residential area (or vice versa) you have to be sure to get between the curbs. It is not fun! It is especially difficult at night because the lighting looks like something from the dark side of the moon. Maybe we should get some fog lamps for our cars?

Keep this bridge situation in mind when you're looking to buy or sell in Boulder City. Give me a call or email if you need more info!

Recently I looked at the list of Notice of Default and Pre-Foreclosure homes in Boulder City. Shocking! Our conservative town has over 100 notices filed. Watch for falling prices! Sellers, beware, better jump into the market immediately before your equity vanishes down the drain. Buyers, there is precious little inventory now. We are way under our normal of 120-140 homes, so you'd better start looking quickly. The 100 default homes may come up on the market, but it's going to take months. Statistical analysis isn't hard for me, given my background in accounting and my perpetual love of data and trends. Someone once accused me of being a 'detail-oriented realtor', as if that was a bad thing. I think it's a good quality in a real estate agent. The more we know about our details and data, the better we can counsel our clients and customers.

We know that all real estate is local. Analysis is valid only for a specific market. Global statements do not apply.

Something strange is happening. Our issues are springing up around the world. And the discussion is going much differently.

Currently I am in England. Reading the papers makes me realize that real estate difficulties will be slamming the UK just as they have the US. Yet the attitudes here are different, as is the discussion. Mostly I find that the Britons have even less of an understanding of real estate, mortgages, interest rates, and ramifications than the Americans do.

This is alarming. Yet perhaps this upheaval will result in more education for the citizen. How can it be that we all need some place to live, and some way to pay for our residences, yet we have almost no understanding of how the process works? There has been some serious deficiency in the educational system, either through public education or through the process that a buyer or seller goes through in a real estate transaction.

The public has been clamoring for information, and we have been providing it via the internet. What the public should be demanding is education. Until more people understand basic finance and economics, we are going to have severe problems in functioning as a world economy.

Face it, the world has shrunk, and we are all in the same boat. We need to get serious about examining our world, our finances, our governments, our assumptions and our thought processes. It's time to grow up, and that requires education. Information isn't enough; we need understanding and wisdom, which are acquired through education.

The challenge world-wide to the real estate professional is to examine his ability and desire to educate. If you do not want to participate, get ready to be brushed aside. The demand for understanding, wisdom, and the ability to explain is coming quickly.

Green Valley Ranch is one of the finest master-planned communities in the Greater Las Vegas area. Because it was well established before the "boom" period, it hasn't had the level of foreclosures. The property values are holding up well. Buyers who are looking for a one-story home are going to be surprised that the market value is around $123 a foot. The rest of Henderson is around $90 a foot. The discrepancy reflects the lack of foreclosures, as well as the general beauty, ambiance and convenience of Green Valley Ranch.

If you're looking to buy a home in Green Valley Ranch, be prepared to pay list price. If there are multiple offers (which there usually are), be prepared to go above list price. Keep a close eye on what has closed and what the sale prices were. Sellers are looking at the statistics and they know what their homes are worth. Other buyers are studying the sales and they know what they have to bid to get a house.

Don't believe the media if it says this is a buyer's market. As always, it is a balanced market. Supply and demand determine sale price. If a buyer thinks he's the only one out there looking and he's going to get a steal of a deal, he is mistaken. The sales statistics show the clear picture, so study the statistics.

Rumor has it that Bank of America is going to be releasing 500 homes a month in the Vegas market. So what? We've been selling more than that each and every month for years. In a city of almost two million, 500 is a drop in the bucket. Don't let the media frighten you, and don't let them force you into buying or not buying. Do your research. Let your realtor do the research and explain it to you. Then you can make an informed decision, not a wishful-thinking or rush-ful thinking decision.

Tonight my dear friend Bea Goodwin, of Source Las Vegas, gave us a glimpse of self-directed IRAs and 401ks. It's a way to control your retirement investments yourself. The plan is to sign up with Bea, take some money out of the IRA, and put it into real estate investment property.

Since real estate prices are down, it seems like a great time to follow up with Bea and do this. Rents are still high relative to purchase price, so there's an opportunity to get a good return on investment without worrying about taxes.

Some investors are paying cash with after-tax dollars. How about paying cash for your properties with BEFORE tax dollars? No need to pay for expensive loans; just "borrow" the money from yourself!

Anyone wanting more info can contact me, or can check out Bea's website, which is sourcelv.com. She is a lovely lady and one of the most professional, ethical, honest people that I know. She has other products which are quite interesting, and will be the subject of a future blog once I get more info.