Dana Anderson Whittaker

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING REO CLOSINGS IN LAS VEGAS, NV

My title representative, Valerie Grijalva, from First American Title Insurance Company, gave us this information at our real estate sales meeting yesterday in Las Vegas regarding Real Estate Owned (REO) properties. I'm sure that if First American is experiencing this issue, the other companies are too. As an agent, I recommend using this knowledge to prepare your buyer clients and to help control their expectations. This information is very relevant and helpful for what is going on in our industry right now:

We are experiencing increasing delays in obtaining HOA lien demands from almost all the trustee companies servicing liens for the homeowner associations here in Las Vegas. The average waiting time to obtain an HOA demand from the date of the original faxed and/or emailed request is 10 to 20 days.

This can cause delays to closing and may negatively impact the buyer in the transaction. Some buyers have lost their loan lock and have had to pay an extension fee or at least lost their interest rate all together and had to lock in at a higher rate.

The sellers on Bank Owned files are often unable to close/record and "hold funds" in escrow for the delinquent HOA. It is extremely difficult to estimate an appropriate hold amount due to the extra fees that are added in these payoffs such as interest, late fees, attorney fees, etc.

First American is taking proactive steps to avoid closing delays. Feel free to ask your escrow officer about the status of HOA lien demands, prior to scheduling closings.

Can you believe February is over already?

Things have really been moving along this month in Las Vegas and Henderson for Real Estate. We're noticing the inventory that's been overwhelming for over a year is finally starting to diminish. In fact just in the past week there were 1% fewer homes on the market than usual. This is primarily due to the bank owned properties coming onto the market at really low prices and quickly responding to offers so they go under contract much faster than in the past few months. Even though there will be a steady stream of new foreclosures coming on the market all this year, the pace of sales is definitely picking up. In fact, my prediction for us returning to a "normal" market is July 9, 2008. What I mean by normal market is approximately 18,000 listings. The general rule of thumb for normal real estate activity is one percent of the city's population. That puts us around 18,000-19,000 homes on the market. The only difference between us and some markets like Houston, TX is that we have a larger than average number of speculators and vacant properties, so 18,000 might need to be more like 14,000 (because there are about 4,000 vacant homes on the market).

Things are getting better in Las Vegas, Nevada and in Henderson. We're still not out of the woods by any means, but most of the homes I'm writing offers on have 3-5 offers on them. The price of a single family home in Summerlin with 1700 sq.ft is now under $275,000. Can you believe that? We're seeing prices coming down to what they were in mid-2003. Remember, Las Vegas is a city unlike any other (except maybe Dubai). We have lots of job creation, major construction spending, no state income tax, and a climate that attracts lots of retirees. This won't change and will continue attracting people like it always has. If you have any questions about this market or real estate in general that's what I'm here for. If you're in a tough place financially and want to bounce some ideas off of me, feel free.

Tough markets create stressful situations at home and at work. We can get through this together.

Dana and Chris Whittaker
(702)285-1363

Last week, I heard one of my top agents call to tell his well-qualified, first time home buyer that another offer was accepted on the home he wanted. This is the second time he's had to make that call. They are looking for a newer 3 bedroom home with a 2 car garage in Summerlin. They had offered more money than the asking price.

I am hearing of this happening more and more. Many homes in Las Vegas that sellers could no longer make full payments on, or that couldn't be sold in a Short Sale, have been foreclosed on and are now being sold as REO homes, or Real Estate Owned-owned by a bank. The banks are very smart. In some cases they are pricing homes well below market value to generate a lot of interest. It's getting to be like a feeding frenzy in some areas of the valley like Summerlin, Green Valley, and Southern Highlands. Yesterday, an agent called me to ask what to do if the property her clients wanted to write an offer on was priced incorrectly on the Multiple Listing Service. Should she write the offer, or call the agent to verify the price? I told her to check the tax records, and sure enough, the home was owned by a bank. I told her to expect to see 20 other buyers looking at the same house when she took her clients there, on its second day on the market. The banks are doing what savvy agents recommend to their sellers: price the property well below market value to create an auction style environment. A seller could generate a ton of interest and is more likely to get potential buyers into a bidding war and drive the price up. I am hearing over and over that the homes my agents are writing offers on are up against at least 7 other offers. This tells me that in some cases, the banks are helping us to find the bottom of market value in some neighborhoods.

I don't think that this is over, however. We still have many mortgages adjusting on the horizon and sellers not generating the income they thought they would at this time to cover their new payment amounts. Many people in our community are being forced into foreclosure and bankruptcy. It's a double edged sword: bad for those that bought between 2004 and 2006, and good for the current investors and buyers with strong FICO scores and some money to put down. Buyers right now are getting rock-bottom pricing and great rates-which will not last forever.

Many experts are predicting another housing boom in Las Vegas in late 2009 to 2010. I keep seeing article after article that Las Vegas is the place to buy right now, due to major Strip projects opening in the next few years creating many employment opportunities. We still have a wonderful tax shelter; pay no state tax, and we have a mild climate that residents love, with every kind of entertainment one could imagine.

A lot of our friends thought we were crazy to do what we're doing, but it is exactly because of what is going on that I co-founded a new residential Real Estate brokerage with owners Billy O'Keefe and Rich Casto last year. Rich, a national Real Estate trainer, predicted this market three years ago and leveraged his knowledge in opening a company here in Las Vegas. With so many other Real Estate companies down-sizing or declaring bankruptcy, agents are flocking to us, a leadership team with a solid business model that truly puts our clients--buyers and sellers--first. We are the only company in town to offer a money back guarantee. There are many reasons that real estate agents are one of the least respected professions and we are committed to changing that. We are coaching and training many local real estate agents, for free, no matter who they work for. We are working to create a win-win for agents and their customers.

If you are a seller or buyer with questions, or an agent looking for something different, contact Dana Whittaker, Manager, at O'KeefeCasto Residential Brokerage, at (702)804-7703.