Heather Peck Las Vegas Nevada Real Estate

A typical sunset from my deck! Believe it or not, that's the Las Vegas Strip out there. Wow!

Three years ago, when high rise condos were the cat's pajamas, I jumped on the bandwagon. These unique settings allow a resident to have access to amenities that are atypical of living in a traditional condo setting.

Of course there is a sparkling pool and spa, professionally equipped fitness center, and community room. Combine that with guard gated security, valet service, a concierge to help you plan your activities, and sweeping views of Las Vegas depending on which way your unit and or balcony allows.

There is a new opportunity to jump on this bandwagon. Newport Lofts is auctioning off 20 units at discounts up to 64% off. Studios to penthouses are going to be sold at amazing prices. And the best part, is they even have financing, something that has all but disappeared from the high rise condo market.

Can you imagine purchasing a 3,000 square foot penthouse for only $450,000? Well that's the reserve set for this outrageous contemporary high rise located just a couple of block from Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas and just over one mile to the fabulous Las Vegas Strip.

Can’t you just see yourself sunning on the deck next to the roof top pool? Snuggling underneath the stars with a view of the Strip from the hot tub? Enjoying a drink with friends on your private balcony with Las Vegas beckoning below?

The auction will be held on Saturday, August 29th at 3:00pm. If you've been dying to own a high rise condo, this is your chance to own a piece of the tallest high rise in downtown Las Vegas. Call me today for more details.

Heather Peck
Rosen & Company West
702-595-7380
LasVegasExpert@yahoo.com
www.HeatherSellsVegas.com

One of the most common questions I get from buyer’s is “Are We There Yet?” "When do you think the Las Vegas real estate market will hit bottom?” Well, I can tell you that people much smarter than me think we got there.

The banks are no longer dumping bank-owned properties on the market, whether by design or not. Many agents I speak with think the banks are now leaking out inventory instead of flooding the stressed market because they recognize that scarcity drives desire. And its working. This current strategy is driving multiple offers on the houses that are available, and sometimes causing prices to go up even in our distressed market. Here is the latest article in our local paper the Las Vegas Review Journal.

The standard conversation these days regarding any property you’re buyer is interested in goes like this with your buyer and the listing agent or someone on the listing agent’s team. “OK, let me check on the status. Hello, how many offers on this property? Only 20, OK thank you.” That is, if you can get them on the phone. Many REO or Bank Owned Property Listing Teams don’t take phone calls but specify they will only respond to emails or text messages. Of course, your buyer can’t believe that’s how it works but unfortunately its true.

So now, if you’ve been waiting to get a great deal, the time to buy is now. Yes, of course we want you to buy now, but this time we really do. Condos that sold for $800,000 3 years ago can be purchased for $150,000 or less. Homes are being sold are prices that are 1/3 of what they cost to build 3 years ago. The government is willing to give you $8,000 as a tax credit that doesn’t have to be paid back but you must buy before December 1st. So huge discounts combined with tax credits, sounds like a buyer’s dream.

So, when I get a call from a buyer who's trying to decide if its time to buy, I tell them "Absolutely! What are you waiting for?"

Las Vegas has gone from 0 to 60 on the home sales speedometer in 3 seconds over the last 4 months. I mostly act as a buyer's agent and can tell you I have a lot of frustrated buyers because the properties they like all have multiple offers on them within 1-2 days of being listed.

Just on a hunch, I ran some numbers on our local MLS this morning. 54% of the single family homes listed are under contract, and I'll bet that over 50% of the remaining properties have multiple offers on them.

In running this by my broker and my business partner, we believe that the banks are holding back inventory. We were told in a town hall type meeting a little over a week ago that there are at least 18,000 bank owned properties to be released in the Las Vegas market, yet out of the 6,000 bank owned properties available in our market, which is 1/3 of all properties listed, less than 2,000 are still showing available. If there are another 18,000 bank owned properties to be listed, where are they?

Las Vegas has become such a hot market that many properites are getting multiple offers, and I mean multiple. Recently, one property has 80 offers on it. I'm sure that was not the only one. Of course, this is now driving prices up. For us, its almost like 2004 but without the huge price spikes.

So the banks have figured out that if they release properties a little at a time, they hope to keep up the demand and increase the prices. Will it work? Who knows, but for now, its still making us write lots and lots of offers.

For the last year, everyone has continued to expound on Las Vegas, how bad the market is, everyone is moving out, all the foreclosures, blah, blah, blah. Why is it that everyone would rather focus on the negative then on what's really happening?

Over the last 3 months, our market has gone from ugh to WOW! Everyday I explain to buyers that our market is hot, but they would rather believe what they read on the news. I tell them that not only is over half our market under contract and every well-priced property is juggling multiple offers (and I mean 10, 20, 40, even 80 offers) and so they better make their offer their best one because they are not going to get a counter or an opportunity to make their offer better. In fact, yesterday our local paper posted an article on the fact that we closed more deals last month than we did in June 2004, which was the height of our bubble just before it started to deflate. (Just click on the photo to read the article.)

But of course, they just read in their paper or saw on their local news channel how bad the market was in Las Vegas so they want to low ball and if the bank really wants to sell it, they'll counter. And so they wait, and wait, and then hear from me their offer wasn't chosen and they have the nerve to be surprised.

Hopefully, the buyers you work with chose you because they trust your judgment and advice. Hopefully, they will believe you when you advise them on how to write their offer so it has the best chance of being accepted. Hopefully, they will at least feel that if they didn't get the house, they made the best offer they could live with. Hopefully, they won't get discouraged when they lose 2, 3, 4 or more bids because they continued to try and lowball the offer.

I have discovered that most buyers in my market have to lose 2 or 3 bids to realize I'm not just trying to up my commission. I want them to be successful and get the house they really want. So I will continue to explain what's going on here, advise them on making their best offer and hopefully they will take my advice. In the meantime, I will continue to work with them and assist them the best way I know how.