Nevada

In today's real estate market, with around 2 million foreclosures expected in 2009, it is not uncommon to see a foreclosure tour bus loaded up with prospective homebuyers who are all hoping to find the best deal on a bank owned home in the Las Vegas Valley. If you are interested in purchasing a foreclosure, here are a few things to keep in mind to make the best of your foreclosure tour.

• Sign up for tours run by buyers' agents, who approach the properties with the buyer's needs in mind, not the sellers'. Be sure to find an agent who is professional, knowledgeable, and honest about the homes you'll be viewing. Most of the homes you'll see are distressed properties, and you'll need an agent who is willing to talk with you about all the repairs the home will need and how much that will allow you to knock off the asking price.
• Choose a free tour that is easy to sign up for, and tours in the right area of town (if you're interested in buying in Henderson, be sure the tour shows homes in that area; otherwise it will be a waste of your time). Also, avoid tours that require a lengthy interview or application asking for your financial information, or those that don't provide drinks or snacks - you'll be on the bus for several hours.
• Don't consider purchasing any of the homes you see on the tour. You'll only be seeing a small sampling of the available homes in any given area, and in a wide price range. Use the homes you see as a guide, choosing only one or two in your price range to give you an idea of what's out there. Your agent can then show you several other properties like those you are interested in to decide which is best for you.
• Be prepared for the terrible shape many of the homes you'll see are in and consider repairs part of the deal, not a liability. Needed repairs enhances your bargaining power, and you need to be equipped to use it. Also, don't be discouraged by high asking prices. If your agent is good, he or she will tell you if the listing is overvalued, and by how much. Tap the expertise of your fellow bus riders - many of them are likely to be investors looking for a rental property. Feel free to ask their opinions and gain from the knowledge they've already acquired.
• Tap the expertise of your fellow bus riders - many of them are likely to be investors looking for a rental property. Feel free to ask their opinions and gain from the knowledge they've already acquired.Don't feel obligated to use the lender on the bus, but do ask any questions you have about the mortgage process. You'll still want to shop around to get the best rate possible.

Whether you're an investor or looking to get a great deal on a home you'll live in, I am here to help. With a background in finance and lots of experience selling bank-owned homes, I am prepared to give you the help you need in finding a foreclosed property that would be a good match for you.

Have foreclosure questions? Give me, Yonas Woldu a call - I'm your real estate expert in the Las Vegas Valley! Also visit my Vegas Real Property website and the new AskYonas website

Nevada, Are YOU on a quest to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Get Recognized?

This post is a result of two posts by my friend Richard Weisser down in Georgia. The first post was "How do you expect to get drenched in the rain if you don't even want to get your feet wet?" dated 5/21/09 in which he offers 6 suggestions to those of us here in Active Rain. In addition he also offers his personal guarantee "So, for those of you that want to succeed at blogging, I offer you this challenge. Before you throw in the towel, write at least one hundred quality posts before you make your value assessment. It takes that long to develop the correct skills and disciplines and also to create a body of content large enough to have a significant SEO impact on your business. Now that is some guarantee wouldn't you say? Richard then follows that post with another post titled "Achieving national celebrity status as a result of ActiveRain blogging becomes a reality! (of sorts)" where he talks about a recent interview with Realtor Magazine on line where he was interviewed about blogging for business. So, IMHO, Richard is not only a celeb but one that knows where of he speaks.

With the numerous posts talking to newbie's here in Active Rain on how to be a success in their blogging venture to improve their visibility to the public I am setting out on a quest. I am not going to suggest things to newbie's or those that are less active on AR; I am on a search for some of these folks for introduction to our AR family. Here is my 3 step plan:

1. Go on a state by state search and post between 5 and 7 people each Saturday
2. Then you the MEMBERSHIP will be able to see and encourage them by responding to their most recent post
3. A NEW qualification, the post must be done since January of this year.

The end result will be, hopefully, an increase in activity with more members becoming visible. Now there is a really BIG problem with this plan. I will not be able, my rule, to suggest those that have not done a post and posted their picture to their profile. You see there won't be any secret agents, lenders, stagers, inspectors, etc. shown. Sorry, if you want to be considered I need to see who you are, sorta like your picture on your business card.

Today I am looking at the state of Nevada, where Active Rain has a total of 973 AR members as of this morning. I would say that John Novak #1 and Renee Burrows #2 could have some competition coming up behind them. So, say hello to:

Jonathan Cartwright with Newberry Inspections, LLC in Reno, NV.

Rhonda McCreadie with Spacial Experssions in Las Vegas, NV.

Jennifer Stuart with Realty One Group in Las Vegas, NV.

Linda Strasberg with Custom Realty & Marketing Inc, in Green Valley, NV.

Alan Saunders with Realty Executives in Carson City, NV.

Pam Lusby with Chase International in Zephyr Cove, NV.

April Diehl with Prime Lending in Fernly, NV.

Be looking for your state coming soon to a post near you. Next I will be off to New York; if you know of someone celebrating a birthday in New York next week just email their name to me and I will acknowledge one person.

Please stop by and encourage these guys and gals and let's see if we can improve some of the participation. Thanks for stopping in.

If you are looking for a very simple way to move up in your standings for the state that you live in, here are two small suggestions:

• Make one comment on someone's blog post.....Just pick one of the Featured Posts and read it then comment on what you read and
• Complete your profile and then if you are looking for other suggestions,
• Click here and here and here for more help.

Thanks to Active Brad Andersohn and Jeremy Blanton for their contributions. BTW, don't let these guys scare you they are really docile.

Sun City Anthem is an age-restricted community of one-story homes, from 1,080 to over 4,000 square feet, built from 1999 to 2008. For more information, or to buy or sell a home in Sun City Anthem, contact John Novak at (702) 339-9700 or JohnNovak@kw.com.

Here are the details of the October, 2009 sales for homes in Sun City Anthem:

(GLVAR deems information reliable but not guaranteed. Properties listed and sold by various MLS participants. Sale Price adjusted for any seller contributions. DOM = Days on Market)

Las Vegas real estate agents and homeowners alike are celebrating the news! It looks like the first time home buyer tax credit will be extended through April 30th of 2010, and more buyers than ever before are now eligible to take advantage of the new credit guidelines. Income caps have been raised from $75,000 to $125,000 for individuals, and from $150,000 to $225,000 for couples. In addition, move up homeowners are going to get a piece of the pie as well. Any homeowner who has owned his home longer than five years can get up to a $6500 credit on the purchase of a new principal residence. (The credit is available for the purchase of principal homes costing less $800,000, and vacation homes do not qualify for the credit.)

So what does that mean for the local market? The inventory of Las Vegas homes for sale has already dwindled dramatically in the third quarter of 2009, with less than 8,500 single family homes on the market at the end of October, down from a high of over 25,000 in October of 2007. Price decreases of more than 50% in the market lured investors back into circulation during 2009, and first time homebuyers, squeezed out during the boom, took advantage of affordable pricing. Competition for Las Vegas foreclosures has been fierce, with multiple offers submitted on properties under $250,000. (One property received a record 75 offers in less than three days on the market!)

One of the most frustrating aspects of the market during the past year, for both buyers and agents, has been trying to get an offer accepted. With more than 80% of the properties for sale being either bank owned foreclosures or short sales, the process has been arduous to say the least. Many buyers on short sales have waited over 6 months waiting for bank approval only to have the short sale package denied or to find out that the bank had foreclosed on it, even though there was a valid contract in escrow. And in some cases the sellers have "disappeared" prior to closing since they are getting no money out of the sale. Most buyers have had to put in more than a dozen offers on properties before finally getting one accepted. Plus the banks are writing all the rules. Negotiators are requiring full preapprovals from Las Vegas mortgage lenders before they will even consider an offer. And buyers are taking homes in "as is, where is" condition with no repairs made and no warranties or recourse against the sellers.

With any luck the new tax credit for move up buyers will stimulate "real sellers" to put their existing homes on the market. They will be pleasantly surprised to find that they are able to command more money for their homes than the bank repos and short sales, as frustrated agents and buyers will be zeroing in quickly to claim a "normal" transaction without all the headaches and hoops of the repos and short sales. Higher sales prices for homes should stabilize the market as well, and may even lead to increases by the time spring buying season rolls around. So break out the champagne and the paint brushes!

I have been recently informed that Phase 1 can now take up to 15 days!! It has been a 10 day process.

So much for improvements and getting them closed sooner.

Phase 2 still up to 30 days.

I've noticed a lot of problems in the last 30 days at BOFA, negotiators disappearing, files being to new negotiators, negotiators not responding to emails or calls, saying short sales are open then saying oops not in the system, etc..

My recent negotiators for my Las Vegas Short Sale recent Short Sale negotiators were great at responding in a timely fashion,,,wish I could get them on all my files!