Continuous foreclosures may keep Realtors ' shelves stocked with houses in Las Vegas, but there are bidding wars on some homes and condos with foreign investors emerging victorious.
When the dollar is weak in world market and homes in the U.S. are plentiful, it's not surprising that property in the United States is a hot commodity among foreigners. Las Vegas and many other cities are seeing an influx of buyers from Canada, the UK, Spain, the Middle East, and the Far East. The buyers often come with cash (a good thing since they might have trouble being financed by many U.S. lenders) and a shopping list of properties.
According to David Michonski, former CEO of Coldwell Bankers International Realty, foreigners looking for a single family houses as personal homes or investment property are flocking here. "America is on sale!"and value-minded foreigner come here for cheap housing, not politically unstable third world countries.
This is particularly true in Las Vegas, where the median housing price is currently about $145,000. Many of these homes previously sold for $350,000-400,000. New homes are running $219,000.
Las Vegas is particularly attractive to Canadians. Canadians view U.S. property as affordable, though they have traditionally preferred Phoenix over Las Vegas due to cheaper housing prices and better weather. What tips the scales of many buyers toward Vegas for many Canadians who seek second homes is the casinos.
The fire sale prices on some homes and condos encourage mass buying for investment. These investors believe the Las Vegas housing market has bottomed out and expect the housing market to rebound in five to ten years. At a time when savings accounts are paying 3 or 4 percent in Canada, investors can yield 8-18% by renting out their bargain homes until it time to sell them.
This competition is taking some affordable housing out of the hands of Las Vegas homeowners who seek affordable housing. Given the scope of the housing problem in Las Vegas, it's hard to complain,
Looking to buy or sell your home? Call us!
N & Y Team
Nebi Adhanom Direct: (702) 277-9922
Yonas Woldu Direct: (702) 236-8997
Fax: 702-898-9738
Click here to get a market snapshot of your home value!
P.S. We value and appreciate your referrals. As always, we promise to deliver such outstanding service that your family and friends will thank YOU for referring them to us. Give us a call if you know someone who needs a dedicated real estate consultant for life!
Las Vegas may have its problems with its high foreclosure rates, falling house prices, and lots of unsold homes, but when people think Vegas, they think good times and optimism. The city has a vibrant economy that continues to pull in new residents who want to settle here. Tourism may be off a bit with the current economic slump, but the attractions are compelling, the scenery is beautiful, and recreational opportunities plentiful.
Since this is such a desirable area, Las Vegas is great place to buy a foreclosure or bank-owned home whether you want a home for yourself or for an investment. The city has always drawn investors; at the moment, the large number of vacant and soon-to-be vacant homes offer unusual values to people who are here at the right time with money in hand.
What should you keep in mind when you are trying to find the right investment home?
Find a neighborhood where there's a demand for rentals or later resale. Even if the neighborhood or the house itself isn't what you'd pick for yourself, the location might be a great if you're planning on renting it or reselling it. Beware if there are too many foreclosures in the neighborhood, as eventually you might be competing for tenants. Make sure you know the neighborhood so you have an idea of the types of problems you might confront as a landlord.
Evaluate the total cost, including the needed repairs. If you find a place that's a real disaster, ask yourself if the cost of the rehabbed home will be in line with neighborhood market values. If not, keep looking.
Check out any liens on the property and any back taxes. You want to make sure you are buying the first mortgage, not a second or line of credit. You want to make sure you own the home and then will have to clear up the back taxes.
In parts of Las Vegas, there's a bidding war going on so don't overpay. Again, you don't want to end up with a property that's overpriced for market. If you are fighting for a house you want for yourself, you might bend this rule a bit and pay a little more, but if you are buying investment property, there are probably other places that would serve your purposes.
See what flies in terms of rental prices. The ideal is to rent the property for 1% of the purchase price, a 12% return, to allow for future repairs. Many areas do not support this type of rent.
Investing can be lucrative, but you'll need a good Realtor® to show you the best properties and help you through the process. We can help. For the best in Las Vegas housing and the news on short sale and bank owned home opportunities, contact:
N & Y Team
Nebi Adhanom Direct: (702) 277-9922
Yonas Woldu Direct: (702) 236-8997
Fax: 702-898-9738
Click here to get a market snapshot of your home value!
P.S. We value and appreciate your referrals. As always, we promise to deliver such outstanding service that your family and friends will thank YOU for referring them to us. Give us a call if you know someone who needs a dedicated real estate consultant for life!
If your home is underwater or otherwise in distress, your first impulse might be to swim to shore and walk
away. You mail your keys to the bank and your problems are all over, right?
Unfortunately, "jungle mail" is not an acceptable way to end a contract in the eyes of your lender. The bank will seize the home and formally foreclose on it, which will have a long term impact on your credit. This is not the same thing as a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, where the bank agrees to take the home back - a process that is less costly for the banks as they can bypass foreclosure proceedings and that may less stressful for homeowners, thought their credit takes as big a hit.
Walking away is tempting for many homeowners who see no end in sight for payments on homes that have lost value. Perhaps they put little or nothing down on the homes back in the days when mortgages were offered with few requirements that they have any financial stake in the home. Other homeowners might feel they were deceptively locked into loans they could not afford on homes 10 times their annual salaries.
The process is made easily these days by companies such as You Walk Away, which will guide people through the walk away process for $995. The company does not promise anyone that they will save their home, but offers them a game plan for abandoning the home. They first offer a "protection kit." They counsel the homeowner to see if there are other options. They will contact the lender to request that they stop harassing the homeowner. They put clients in touch with a lawyer and an accountant to make them aware of their options. They tell people how long they will be able to stay in their homes rent free before the lender evicts them.
You Walk Away started in California, where it has sold its services to over 1,000 people. Now, the company also operates in high foreclosure states Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, New York,, Michigan, Oregon, and Washington.
The company claims it is not encouraging irresponsible behavior or portraying walking away as an ideal solution. The owners offer a service to fix a problem that is already there. Ironically, the services offered might actually often peace of mind and a sense of closure to troubled homeowners who seek an end to their nightmare.
Walking away is a drastic step that will affect credit scores - and the ability to get new credit at reasonable rates for years to come. There is a whole range of options available to people in trouble if you act early enough. Before you give up and allow your home to fall in to foreclosure or determine that jingle mail is the way out of your dilemma, seek help from a reputable housing counselor and become familiar with all your options. The State of Nevada foreclosure website offers a game plan at no charge.
At Prudential Americana, the N & Y team is ready to help you as well. Need a frank discussion about your options if you are in trouble? Be assured that we will do our best to help you avoid foreclosure. For the best in Las Vegas housing and the news on short sale and bank owned home opportunities, contact:
N & Y Team
Nebi Adhanom Direct: (702) 277-9922
Yonas Woldu Direct: (702) 236-8997
Fax: 702-898-9738
Click here to get a market snapshot of your home value!
P.S. We value and appreciate your referrals. As always, we promise to deliver such outstanding service that your family and friends will thank YOU for referring them to us. Give us a call if you know someone who needs a dedicated real estate consultant for life!
In the boom days of Las Vegas housing, a mere three to five years ago, speculators bought a lot of property and pushed housing prices off the charts. Along with homeowners, many speculators who did not "flip and run" were caught up in the mortgage mess based on subprime lending, liar loans, and creative financing.
Since then, housing prices have fallen at least 40% and the market is flooded with foreclosed and bank owned homes. Sales are heating up, as buyers are taking advantage of the good deals. Once again, major consumers of the bargain homes are investors, often from out of state and often from foreign countries. Most come with cash and are ready to buy multiple properties.
Between May, 2007 - May, 2008, foreign nationals bought up 150,000 - 190,000 homes in Las Vegas. Mexicans and Canadians are the largest group represented, but some buyers came from as far away as Britain, China, and the Philippines. Foreign interest depends on the strength of the dollar; at the moment, the dollar is strengthening against the Canadian dollar, so Canadian sales are falling off. British sales are increasing given the strength of the pound vs. the U.S. Dollar. According to Justin Figgins of Rightmore Overseas, UK buyers do 190,000 Internet searches per month for U.S. property.
The investors are taking the homes off the market - sometimes after a bidding war. Realtors report multiple offers on the same property, from rival investors and potential homeowners. Since there are over 30,000 vacant homes in Las Vegas, the inventory reduction is a good thing.
There are downsides, too. To outsiders, the Las Vegas area may look rich and glamorous, but many residents work in area casinos and other tourist attractions for modest wages supplemented by tips. With home prices down, this group has a chance to become homeowners but are losing out to well-financed foreigners. Once their bid is accepted, FHA financing makes homeownership for them feasible - but with so much competition, having an offer accepted is the trick.
Las Vegas residents who have lost their homes need affordable rentals in the area. Assuming that the new pack of investors anticipate renting the properties, will the rents be affordable? Or will many investors just want to "flip and run," driving prices up again?
Looking to buy in La Vegas? For the best in Las Vegas housing and the news on short sale and bank owned home opportunities, contact:
N & Y Team
Nebi Adhanom Direct: (702) 277-9922
Yonas Woldu Direct: (702) 236-8997
Fax: 702-898-9738
Click here to get a market snapshot of your home value!
P.S. We value and appreciate your referrals. As always, we promise to deliver such outstanding service that your family and friends will thank YOU for referring them to us. Give us a call if you know someone who needs a dedicated real estate consultant for life!
Despite good news on the Las Vegas housing front about falling sales prices and increasing sales volume, foreclosure rates are still among the highest in the nation. Since one in eight Nevada homeowners (11.75%) is currently behind on their payments, a landslide of future foreclosures is likely.
Many banks as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac suspended foreclosures while the Obama housing rescue plan was under development. The moratorium ended in March, so pre-foreclosure filings jumped to 11,593 in March from 7,635 the previous month. Many properties remained backed up in the system but will be foreclosed on soon.
Some delinquency is tied to job loss or cut backs, but much is a byproduct of many people facing the situation of owing much more than the home is worth. (Las Vegas home values have fallen 40%.) Some people have bought smaller homes while their credit was still good and let the original home go into foreclosure. This buy-and-bail technique is harder to pull off now with stricter lending requirements and has negative consequences on a person's credit report. Many others are struggling to make the payment and hoping for a creative solution that will pull them out from being underwater. In the absence of that, many homes could slide into foreclosure.
If you are a homeowner at risk of foreclosure, now is the time to act to avoid it. Even if you don't want to stay in your home, you should take steps to be in control of the future for yourself and your family. Lenders will start calling you once your payment is 30 days late, so communicate with them. They may be able to help you by modifying your loan or even suspending the payments for a time. So what are the options to avoid foreclosure?
Loan Modification: Changes the terms of your loan to extend the terms, lowers the interest rate, or in some cases, lowers the principle. The President's Making Home Affordable program (as presently set up) may help you if you are not more than 105% underwater. Banks are jumping on the bandwagon and offering this type of program too. This is a good option if you want to keep your home and you have the income to make the payments.
Repayment: Gives you the chance to make a partial payment on delinquent payments and catch up the rest in the future. This option is workable if you experience an emergency or a brief job loss, where you will be able to catch up once things have returned to normal. Lenders expect you to be on time in the future.
Forbearance: Suspends your payments due to a disaster or job loss, sometimes for up to six months. Once you start paying again, you are expected to catch up what you missed, usually within 12 -18 months.
Partial Claim: On FHA loans, HUD will advance the payments in return for a promissory note due when the house is sold or the mortgage is paid off.
Chapter 13 Bankruptcy: May reduce or eliminate some other obligations but leave your loan unchanged while permitting delinquent amounts to be repaid over time.
Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure: You give your home back to the bank.
Short Sale: Lender agrees to take less than what is owed on the home. New additions to the President's plan offer incentives to lenders who facilitate short sales and deed-in-lieu. These add-ons may help underwater homeowners.
Need a frank discussion about your options if you are in trouble? Be assured that we will do our best to help you avoid foreclosure. For the best in Las Vegas housing and the news on short sale and bank owned home opportunities, contact:
N & Y Team
Nebi Adhanom Direct: (702) 277-9922
Yonas Woldu Direct: (702) 236-8997
Fax: 702-898-9738
Click here to get a market snapshot of your home value!
P.S. We value and appreciate your referrals. As always, we promise to deliver such outstanding service that your family and friends will thank YOU for referring them to us. Give us a call if you know someone who needs a dedicated real estate consultant for life!
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We keep your real estate purchase simple and fast! Our philosophy: Buy what you can afford now. Our goal is to serve you in Greater Las Vegas whether you seek a suburban home or downtown condo.
My name is Yonas Woldu. For the past 6 years,my colleagues and I at Prudential Americana Group, REALTORS® have served the Clark County, Nevada area - specifically, Green Valley, Henderson, and Las Vegas. Though like the rest of the country (and in particular, the State of Nevada) we have been hard hit by foreclosures and falling home values, Las Vegas and surrounding communities have vibrant economies that makes them great places to live and work. I have a passion for helping potential homeowners find a home in the area that is right for them now - at this point in their lives, for the circumstances they are in.
Though I am relatively young, I grew up in the real estate industry, often observing my mother (and current partner in the N&Y Team), Nebiat Adhanom. As a college student at the University of Nevada (UNLV), I obtained my real estate license and sold 7 homes my first year - above average for new agents. Once I realized that real estate was a career where I could use my finance background and help families, I knew I had found my niche.
Once out of college, I started in real estate in the boom times of 2004. I immediately noticed my mother was overwhelmed with sales that stalled at closing as lenders were overwhelmed as well. This caused me to assume a different role for several years - that of a lender. I wanted to make sure our clients received the best rates and the best loan product in a timely manner. While working in the loan industry, I was able to help over 200 clients over a span of 3 years.
Now serving once again as a full time realtor, my goal is to continue the growth of our real estate operation and work with as many buyers and sellers as possible and provide everyone the best service imaginable in regards to all real estate matters.
Our N&Y Team serves the Greater Las Vegas area, an area where I grew up and know well. When people think of Las Vegas, they think of only glitzy night life, but Henderson, Green Valley, and many nearby communities are great places to live and work, set in beautiful, park-like settings.
With my background in real estate and real estate lending, plus a thorough understanding of finance, I know how to prepare people to buy a home - whether it's a luxury condo near the Vegas strip or a home in Henderson, Nevada's third largest city. I feel strongly that the key to a stable economy is having a stable real estate industry; the key to a stable industry is having first time buyers or buyers with low debt and a strong employment history. As I saw first hand, permitting buyers to overextend themselves or encouraging them to agree to a loan not in their best interest will help neither them nor the local economy in the long run.
In this new world of real estate, advising sellers of the best way to position their home for a timely sale at a fair price is crucial. We work with sellers to find appropriate buyers who are preapproved and ready to buy.
As an unfortunate sign of the times, there are many properties in Clark County offered as foreclosures or short sales. Many of the available homes offer excellent values for qualified homebuyers, but often the process to obtain these properties is lengthy. I work diligently to make sure that these transactions are processed as quickly as possible so that both buyer and sellers can move on to the next stage in their lives.
"Yonas Woldu with the N & Y Team has been handling all my Real Estate and Loan needs for the past five years. I will keep using Yonas for my future needs. He provides outstanding creative loans and makes my closings quick and easy. I will continue recommending him to my friends and family."
- Edna Bartlett
"Nebi Adhanom and the N & Y Team with Prudential Americana were very productive! I had two homes listed in Southern Highlands and Nebi listed and SOLD both than a month-and-a-half! They were efficient in every step of the process and made sure the transactions went as smooth as possible. I highly recommend her and her team for anyone who is looking to buy and sell property".
- Matt Knox
SEE OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.VEGASREALPROPERTY.COM FOR MORE STRONG CLIENT RECOMMENDATIONS
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