Joe Laliberte - Las Vegas & Summerlin Real Estate

Best Las Vegas & Summerlin Real Estate Deals

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 11:59:46 -0500

Joe's Top 3 Best Real Estate Deals in Las Vegas

Week of July 7, 2008

This week I have chosen 3 of the Best Valued Summerlin Real Estate Homes I can find. Two of the best valued homes I have found on the market this week are in the Vistas and one is located in the Paseo's both are in the Master Planned Community of Summerlin, which is on the west side of Las Vegas in zip code 89138 . These are some fantastic buys for first time home buyers, move up homeowners and investors alike. With FHA increasing their loan limits to $400,000 and the availability of their Nehemiah Loan program a first time home buyer can buy any of these homes with zero down and minimal closing costs upon qualifying. Call me if you have any questions or would like to discuss this in greater detail.

This past week while showing clients some of the new home deals I found two subdivisions that the builder has actually raised the price of the homes. It looks to me like the Las Vegas and Summerlin real estate markets are continuing to change for the positive.

Best Las Vegas Real Estate Deal #1

: 601 Wandering Violet

601 Wandering Violet Way Las Vegas, Nevada 89138 MLS #840536

3 Bedrooms plus a Loft, 2- Full & 1-1/2 Bathrooms, 2 Car Garage, 2480 Square Feet and built in 2004. Asking price is $279,900 or $113 per Square Foot. It is located in the Mariposa Subdivision in the Paseo's Community of Summerlin.

This is a bank owned property. It has been listed and available since July 1, 2008.

Best Las Vegas Real Estate Deal #2

: 752 La Tosca St.

752 La Tosca St. Las Vegas, Nevada 89138 MLS #795993

3 Bedrooms, 2.5 Bathrooms, 2 Car Garage, 2314 Square Feet and built in 2003. Asking Price is $249,900 or $108 per Square Foot. It is located in the Capri Subdivision in the Vista's Community in Summerlin.

This is a bank owned property. The bank purchased the property for $358,199 on January 1, 2008. The previous owners purchased the home in July 1 of 2005 for $455,000.

Best Las Vegas Real Estate Deal #3

: 606 Doletto St.

616 Doleto St. Las Vegas Nevada 89134 MLS #840967

3 Bedrooms, 2.5 Bathrooms, 2 Car Garage, 2053 Square Feet, Built in 2003. The asking price is $234,900 or $114 per Square Foot.

This is a bank owned property. The bank has had the property listed for sale since July 2, 2008.

If you would like additional information about any of these properties, or others available that I have seen, just call or e-mail me. Again, for the most up to date Top Three Real Estate Values in Las Vegas go to www.SummerlinRealEstate.Wordpress.com .

Joe Laliberte Broker/Salesperson

Prudential Americana Group, Realtors

702-499-1747

Joe@JoeLaliberte.com

Las Vegas Real Estate Information www.JoeLaliberte.com

Summerlin Real Estate Information www.OurLasVegasRealEstateAgent.com

The Vistas of Summerlin Real Estate Information www.TheVistasHomes.com

Home Buyers Scouting Report - Do your own searching for the best real estate deals in Summerlin or all of Las Vegas.

Market Snapshot Report - Keep track of your homes value and the market activity in your area with this monthly report specific to your home.

Las Vegas & Summerlin Best Real Estate Deals

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:28:14 -0500

Best Real Estate Deals in Summerlin and Las Vegas

Week of June 19, 2008

The three the best valued homes I have found on the market this week are in the Master Planned Community of Summerlin,located on the west side of Las Vegas in zip codes 89138, 89134. These are some fantastic buys for first time home buyers, move up homeowners and investors alike. With FHA increasing their loan limits to $400,000 and the availability of their Nehemiah Loan program a first time home buyer can buy any of these homes with zero down and minimal closing costs upon qualifying. Call me if you have any questions or would like to discuss this in greater detail.

To sign up for the most advanced home search system to find the best available homes yourself just click here for a demo.

Do you know your homes value? Click here to receive a FREE Fully, interactive report on your homes value in minutes. It's free with no obligations. Try it.

Best Las Vegas Real Estate Deal #1

721 La Tosca St. Las Vegas, Nevada 89138 MLS #834004

4 Bedrooms, 2- Full & 1-1/2 Bathrooms, 2 Car Garage, 2532 Square Feet and built in 2004. Asking price is $299,900 or $118 per Square Foot. It is located in the Capri Subdivision in the Vista's Community of Summerlin.

This is a bank owned property. It has been listed and available since June 10, 2008 with no price changes.

Best Las Vegas Real Estate Deal #2

617 Apricot Rose Place. Las Vegas, Nevada 89138 MLS #835799

3 Bedrooms, 1 loft, 2.5 Bathrooms, 2 Car Garage, 2440 Square Feet and built in 2006. Asking Price is $279,900 or $113 per Square Foot. It is located in the Mariposa Subdivision in the Paseos Community in Summerlin.

This is a bank owned property. The bank purchased the property back on January 25, 2008. The previous owners purchased the home in September of 2006 for $472,442. The owner was asking $365,000 on January 15, 2008.

Best Las Vegas Real Estate Deal #3

2412 Twin Flower Cr. Las Vegas Nevada 89134 MLS #798301

3 Bedrooms, 2.5 Bathrooms, 2 Car Garage, 1881 Square Feet, Built in 1991. The asking price is $218,400 or $116 per Square Foot.

This is a bank owned property. The bank has had the property listed for sale since February 7, 2008. The original asking price was $284,050. On April 4 they dropped the price by $27,700; on May 21 they dropped the price by $26,450 and on June 9 they dropped the price by $11,500.

Joe Laliberte

Broker/Salesperson

Prudential Americana Group, Realtors

702-499-1747

Joe@JoeLaliberte.com

Las Vegas Real Estate Information

www.JoeLaliberte.com

Summerlin Real Estate Information

www.OurLasVegasRealEstateAgent.com

The Vistas of Summerlin Real Estate Information

www.TheVistasHomes.com

Home Buyers Scouting Report- Do your own searching for the best real estate deals in Summerlin or all of Las Vegas.

Market Snapshot Report - Keep track of your homes value and the market activity in your area with this monthly report specific to your home.

Las Vegas & Summerlin Property Values

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:40:01 -0500

Do you know YOUR HOMES VALUE?

What about the value of YOUR INVESTMENT PROPERTIES?

Find out within minutes with this automated software.

Why spend the time calling someone everytime you want to know the value of your home or investment property. Get the information yourself when ever you would like to know.

This is an extremely advanced residential real estate valuation software that provides you with an automated valuation of your home or investment property (located in Las Vegas) within minutes, using actual listings of available and sold homes as shown through the Greater Las Vegas Multiple Listing Service. After inputting the address of your home or investment property, within minutes you will find a current Market Evaluation in real time that is fully interactive. In addition you can have this report updated and sent to you weekly, biweekly or monthly, which ever you prefer.

CLICK HERE to keep up with the Real Estate Market Trends of Your Home or Your Investment Properties.

If you have any questions or would like additional information just call or email me.

Joe Laliberte

702-499-1747

Joe@JoeLaliberte.com

Las Vegas Real Estate Information and Values

Summerlin Information and Values

Bank Owned and Foreclosed Properties

Best Las Vegas & Summerlin Real Estate Deals Search System

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:09:53 -0500

I want to provide you with a great new free tool ( Home Buyers Scouting Report ) for identifying what neighborhood best suits you and your family and provides you with all the best available homes in that neighborhood at the best available prices. Yes, this system includes all the homes that are available to Las Vegas Realtors including bank owned foreclosures. It is the most dynamic, user friendly home search site that I have found and once again it is free. Use this site to set your home search criteria, view the schools with information about them, view the shopping, hospitals, restaurants and their proximaty to the available homes. Get update emails when the price of a home you have saved in your notebook changes price or sales. Get the directions to go see any of the homes or see a map view of its location.

View the system, try it out, experiment with it and become an expert on the Las Vegas and/or Summerlin Real Estate Markets. I know you will love this system.

Call me if you have any questions or need any additional information.

Joe Laliberte

702-499-1747

Joe@JoeLaliberte.com

Best Las Vegas Real Estate Deals

Best Summerlin Real Estate Deals

Best Priced Las Vegas & Summerlin Homes including Bank Owned Foreclosures

Las Vegas Reports Most Single Family Home Closings Since October 2007

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:34:31 -0500

I felt the information contained in this blog was so important and positive that I wanted to get it out right away. This morning Forrest Barbee , the Broker of Prudential Americana Group, Realtors, sent an email and posted on his blog, a report (that he generates) based upon the information sent out from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, that shows May 2008 being the first month since August of 2006 that the Las Vegas Real Estate Market has seen over 2000 single family home closings in one month. He shows that the number of available homes has come down every month since September of 2007 and the percentage of homes sold has nearly tripled since September of 2007.

He goes on to state in his blog, "You just have to be motivated by this month's resale closing stats for the Greater Las Vegas real estate market! There are several excellent signs this month that the sluggish Las Vegas market is poised for a nice rebound. The number of available listings is down while the closings are very nicely up and the inventory is taking less time to sell. You've got to love that!

To read his full report on the May 2008 Las Vegas Real Estate Market numbers go to Forrest Barbees Blog.

If you would like to see for your self what is currently avaialble and search for the best available real estate deals in Las Vegas and Summerlin just click on the link below to get started.

Call or email me if you would like additional information about the best available real estate deals in Las Vegas and in Summerlin.

Joe Laliberte

702-499-1747

Joe@JoeLaliberte.com

Best Las Vegas Real Estate Deals

Best Summerlin Real Estate Deals

Best Las Vegas & Summerlin Real Estate Deals

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:25:20 -0500

This weeks best real estate deals were found in zip codes 89138,89144 and 89134 which are on the west side of Las Vegas in an area called Summerlin. Included in this blog is a brief description of the property. If you would like more detailed information about any of these or other great real estate deals in Summerlin or Las Vegas, just call (702-499-1747) or email me (Joe@JoeLaliberte.com) and I will provide it to you. You can also search for great deals like these on your own by going to a great property search system called Home Buyers Scouting Report.

For the past several weeks the banks have been taking a more aggressive approach to listing and selling the properties they have in their inventory. The most common approach for them at this time is to list the property at an extremely good value (in Summerlin that would be less than $130 per square foot), generate a lot of traffic through the property and solicit as many offers as possible within the first week or two that it is on the market.

In these cases the buyer of the property will be competing with several other offers and can expect to pay over the asking price to purchase the property. Most buyers are having difficulty understanding that they are going to have to pay over the asking price and if/when they close on the property they are still getting a great deal. In some cases my clients have had the appraisal come in at significantly higher ($25,000 or more)than the negotiated sale price. For an appraiser to commit to an appraisal over the negotiated price in this market is highly unusual.

My suggestion, before you make an offer, is to know the area you are you are looking in. Know the inventory and the market activity. Know what the properties that have most recently closed sold for. Know what the asking price of the properties that are in escrow. Know the asking price of the available homes of the same type and neighborhood. Know how much the bank paid for the property and when. Know the price history of the property. Have a pre-approval letter ready to submit with your offer and expect to get pre-appoved with a representative from the bank that owns the property. Make a clean offer that is a fast close and not asking for anything unusual. In most cases the banks will not pay for certain items. Know what those items are and don't even ask them to pay for those. Work with an agent who knows the process and can provide you with all of this information and more. Do not hesitate to offer significantly over the asking price if you have done your homework. You will still be getting a great deal.

Best Las Vegas & Summerlin Real Estate Deals #1

10708 Sprucedale Ave. Las Vegas, Nevada 89144 MLS #819931

5 Bedrooms, 2- Full & 2-3/4 Bathrooms, 3 Car Garage, 3754 Square Feet

Built in 1999.

Asking price is $441,355 or $118 per Square Foot.

This is a bank owned property. The bank bought the property on April 1, 2008 for $405,000. The bank put the home on the market at this price on April 23, 2008. The previous owner paid $630,000 for it in July of 2006.

Best Las Vegas & Summerlin Real Estate Deals #2

1029 Bonitos Suenos St. Las Vegas, Nevada 89138 MLS #829388

3 Bedrooms, 2.5 Bathrooms, 2 Car Garage, 2440 Square Feet. Built in 2006. Asking Price is $289,900 or $119 per Square Foot.

This is a bank owned property. The previous owners purchased the home in August of 2006 for $523,990.

Best Las Vegas & Summerlin Real Estate Deals #3

10342 Catclaw Ct. Las Vegas Nevada 89135 MLS #825187

4 Bedrooms, 3 Bathrooms, Loft, 2 Car Garage, 2113 Square Feet,

Built in 1999.

Asking price is $244,900 or $116 per Square Foot.

This is a bank owned property. The owners paid $232,500 for the property in May of 2008.

If you would like additional information about any of these properties, or others available that I have seen, just call or e-mail me.

Do you know YOUR HOMES VALUE?

CLICK HERE to keep up with the Real Estate Market Trends of Your Home or Your Investment Properties.

Joe Laliberte

Broker/Salesperson

Prudential Americana Group, Realtors

702-499-1747

Joe@JoeLaliberte.com

Las Vegas Real Estate Information

www.JoeLaliberte.com

Summerlin Real Estate Information

www.OurLasVegasRealEstateAgent.com

The Vistas of Summerlin Real Estate Information

www.TheVistasHomes.com

Home Buyers Scouting Report- Do your own searching for the best real estate deals in Summerlin or all of Las Vegas.

Market Snapshot Report - Keep track of your homes value and the market activity in your area with this monthly report specific to your home.

Top Three Real Estate Deals of the Week

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 16:17:29 -0500

Joe's Top 3 Best Real Estate Deals in Las Vegas

Week of March 14, 2008

These homes are updated weekly at http://www.summerlinrealestate.wordpress.com/ . If you would like to see the previous best valued homes or if you don't want to wait for the monthly email, just visit the site.

The three the best valued homes I have found on the market this week are in Summerlin, in zip codes 89138 and 89135. Two of the properties are new never lived in homes that are being sold by the builder. These are some fantastic buys for first time home buyers, move up homeowners and investors alike. With FHA increasing their loan limits to $400,000 and the availability of their Nehemiah Loan program a first time home buyer can buy any of these homes with zero down and minimal closing costs upon qualifying.

For investors, I can provide you with a 5 page detailed description of the rate of return and expenses associated with any property over any period of time you require.

Call me if you have any questions or would like to discuss this in greater detail.

Best Las Vegas Real Estate Deal #1

5459 Pinecroft Drive Las Vegas, Nevada 89135 MLS #783589

3 Bedrooms, 1 Den, 1 Loft, 2.5 Bathrooms, 2 Car Garage, 2883 Square Feet

Built in 2007.

Asking price is $302,990 or $105 per Square Foot.

This is a new home and never lived in being sold by KB Homes. The original asking price by the builder was $339,990. The most recent price reduction was $27,000 made on March 7, 2008.

Best Las Vegas Real Estate Deal #2

10409 Winter Grass Dr. Las Vegas, Nevada 89135 MLS #779909

3 Bedrooms, 1 Den, 1 Loft, 3 Bathrooms, 2 Car Garage, 2835 Square Feet

Built in 2007

Asking Price is $349,990 or $115 per Square Foot.

This is a new home and never lived in being sold by KB Homes. The original asking price by the builder was $339,990. The most recent price reduction was $10,000 made on March 7, 2008.

Best Las Vegas Real Estate Deal #3

11064 Whooping Crane Lane Las Vegas Nevada 89138 MLS #771959

3 Bedrooms, 2.5 Bathrooms, 2 Car Garage, 2016 Square Feet,

Built in 2000.

Asking price is $240,000 or $116 per Square Foot.

This is a bank owned property. The previous owners paid $350,000 for the property on December 1, 2004. The bank bought the property back on October 1, 2007 for $304,637. The original asking price by the bank was $329,000. The most recent price reduction was $25,000 made on March 4, 2008.

Joe Laliberte

Broker/Salesperson

Prudential Americana Group, Realtors

702-499-1747

Joe@JoeLaliberte.com

Las Vegas Real Estate Information

JoeLaliberte.com/

Summerlin Real Estate Information

OurLasVegasRealEstateAgent.com/

The Vistas of Summerlin Real Estate Information

TheVistasHomes.com/

Home Buyers Scouting Report- Do your own searching for the best real estate deals in Summerlin or all of Las Vegas.

Market Snapshot Report - Keep track of your homes value and the market activity in your area with this monthly report specific to your home.

Foreclosure Alternatives and Resources

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 18:00:55 -0600

I am compiling information in this blog in an effort to help people facing the possibility of foreclosure on their home. Many people do not know or understand what their options are when it comes to the possibility of loosing their home. I hope to help anyone who would like to learn more about how to stop their home from going into foreclosure and the options they may have to avoid it. This is not written to be a complete and comprehensive document on the subject only a starting point and guide to head in the right direction. I hope you find it helpful.

These are the basic options available with a brief description:

A. Do Nothing- Let the mortgage rate adjust and the payment increase. Read your note (the lenders documentation you signed when you purchased the home) to find out what the rate will adjust to, when it will adjust and how it will affect your payment. If you cannot afford to make the monthly payments the home will ultimately be lost to at foreclosure auction. Future creditors will ask if you have ever been foreclosed on. Credit reports will disclose this information.

B. Payoff/Refinance- Obtain a new loan or refinance the property. Identify if the current loan has a prepayment penalty for paying off the loan within the current time frame or within the time frame since the loan was first originated.

C. Reinstatement- Paying off all the amounts owed to the lender to make the loan current. This may include not only back payments but also interest, late fees, taxes, attorney's fees and possibly more.

D. Loan Modification-Renegotiate your loan before or after the rate adjusts with the current lender. Negotiate the interest rate down from where it is or where it is going. Negotiate a fixed rate loan and or the term of the loan over a longer period like 35 or 40 years vs. 30 year. Call your mortgage company and ask for the note modification or home retention department and will most likely work with you. It is possible they will put you in a new mortgage with no fees. If you would like we can help you with this process or there is contact information below, just call.

E. Forbearance- The lender may consider allowing a temporary payment reduction.

F. Partial Claim - Lender may loan borrower a second loan on the property for the amount that settles the back payments, costs and fees associated with the borrower being behind in the loan payments.

G. Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure - This option gives the property back to the lender instead of forcing the lender to foreclose on the property. The lender may require that the home be in good condition and current on mortgage payments and taxes. Most new loan applications will inquire if this has ever happened to the borrower.

H. Sell the property for maximum value. Have the property in the best possible condition and price it to sell. Pay off the debt and retain any equity derived from the sale.

I. Sell the property Short (better than foreclosure or bankruptcy). This occurs when the property value is less than the amount owed on the property when combining the first mortgage, second and potentially the third mortgage on the property. A good real estate agent who knows how to handle short sales will help his client through the process by helping with the following for his clients.

1. Guide the homeowner through compiling all the related documents needed. Identify exact loan balances, delinquent mortgage payments, Home Owner Association payments, possible judgments and/or liens and prepayment penalties.

2. Coordinate a written authorization for the Realtor and title company to speak to the lender(s) on their behalf.

3. Contact the title company to request copies of liens/judgments, Deeds of Trust and Notices of Default if applicable against the property. Carefully read the documents identifying the type of loan and any possible additional charges connected to the loan.

4. Contact the lenders (first, second and third mortgage holders if applicable) loss mitigation or short sale department. Ask them for approval to sell the property as a short sale. Identify what documents they will require to review the loan for a short sale. Identify what their turn around time is and request those documents be faxed as soon as possible. Identify the maximum amount of closing costs that the lender can be charged. Take extremely good notes.

5. Compile and forward the documentation that is required by the lender(s) to the lender(s).

6. Compile the documents for the title company.

7. Negotiate with the buyers and the lender(s).

8. Continuous and constant contact and communication with all the parties involved in the transaction. Terms of the sale can be changed by the lender(s) during the escrow period.

J. Foreclosure - Notice of default filed. Because this is a matter of public record people will be calling, letters will be received and people will be knocking on the door to discuss the sale of the property. The lender will get more insistent about receiving payment on the outstanding loans. The process will take 3-4 months before the homeowner is evicted from the property. The homeowner will loose the house.

H. Bankruptcy - This option can liquidate debt and/or allow more time.

1. Chapter 7 - Completely liquidates and settles personal debt.

2. Chapter 13 - Coordinates a plan for payments to be made toward paying off debts within a specific period of time (generally 3-5 years).

For additional information about bankruptcy I suggest going to the blog of Darren Welsh or General Council at Prudential Americana Group, Realtors at http://ameglegal.wordpress.com/ . He offers more a more detailed explanation and resources.

We want to help anyone who is in this situation that needs help and advice. This is a difficult process to go through and we want to help make it as smooth as possible for those who need and/or want it.

These additional resources were referred to me by Aaron Gordon (who also has a great blog):

Homeownership Preservation Foundation hot-line at 888-995-HOPE .

Home Retention Departments by Lender

Web site designed to help people stay in their homes by Moe Bedard Loansafe

These are local contacts that are very knowledgable about foreclosures and can be of help.

Anita Krikes

First Horizon Home Loans

Akrikes@firsthorizon.com

702-795-0774 .

Jennifer Skewes

Equity Title Company

JSkewes@EquityNv.com

702-932-9670

Joe Laliberte

Prudential Americana Group, Realtors

Joe@JoeLaliberte.com

702-499-1747

Joe Laliberte

Our Las Vegas Real Estate Agent

The Vistas Homes

I am continuing to research this topic and will continue to update this posting as I get additional information.

Strenthening of Las Vegas Real Estate Lending Practices

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 11:29:18 -0600

Two weeks ago , January 8 to be exact, Brent Jones of Brent Jones Services Inc. a leading Las Vegas appraisal service, informed us of a new lending issue for buyers and real estate agents to be aware of when a client is closing on a home loan. Since the Las Vegas real estate market has softened resulting from continued increase in residential home listings and a continued decrease in home prices, appraisers were identifying some areas of the Las Vegas valley as areas of declining value and oversupply. One check mark in this box on the appraisal can and has caused the buyer of that particular home to be required by the lender to increase the amount of their down payment by 5%. If the buyer does not have the additional 5% to put down on the purchase of the home the lender will not approve the loan.

You can read more about the details here Maximum Financing in Declining Markets .

Last Friday Countrywide Home Loans distributed this information to their offices officially making the entire Las Vegas Valley a soft market, "Government Sponsored Entities have recently released soft market policies to protect themselves from high loan to value lending in areas that have declining values and/or have values projected to decline. Countrywide's previous policy has been to reduce max financing by 5% ONLY if the appraiser notes the property is in a declining market. This policy is being enhanced to proactively identify soft markets and reduce max financing accordingly". The result is that people purchasing a home in Las Vegas at this time will need to put 5% more down on the same house to get qualified for the same loan program.

On the surface this may appear as another nail in the real estate market coffin but in reality it is a protective position being taken on the part of lending institutions. This position is being taken in an effort to not only protect the lending institutions but also the buying public and should further reduce the risk of foreclosures and short sales in the market. In my opinion this is a move that will eventually strenthen the market overall. There are also several changes that are likely to happen that should offset any reduced purchases due to this policy.

First this policy does not effect FHA and VA loans. Second the President has a bill ready to be signed that will increase the FHA loan limits from $304,000 to $417,000 while at the same time reducing the required downpayment from 3% to 1.5% on FHA loans. Third, the Federal Open Market Committee today lowered its target for the federal funds rate 75 basis points to 3.5 percent - the steepest cut since 1984. Fourth, analysts expect the Fed to cut the federal funds rate again at its regularly scheduled meeting Jan. 29-30 by another 50 basis points, to 3 percent. Obviously the rate cuts are certainly good news for people who have mortages, or are shopping for mortages but also for those people with adjustable rate mortgages or home equity lines of credit that are indexed to the prime rate. Those people should see an adjustment in their interest rate on those loans right away (depending on the loan program). For those borrowers who are expecting to see interest rate resets on their current loans, those interest rate resets could be less than expected.

It is my opinion that the changes being made, although painful now, will help strengthen the overall real estate market in the long term. For more information specifically about the Las Vegas and Summerlin Real Estate Markets go to these sites.

Las Vegas Real Estate Information

Summerlin Real Estate Information

Las Vegas Real Estate Market Rebound

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 16:05:28 -0600

November 7, 2007

This is my prediction of what the Las Vegas and Summerlin Real Estate markets are going to go through over the next 12 to 24 months that make this the absolute best time to buy an owner occupied residence. The real estate market will strengthen, demand will increase, inventory will be reduced and prices will rise. These changes will happen quickly and may last for only about one year before new challenges, such as rising interest rates, will impact our real estate market. This may not sound all that enlightening but allow me to explain how I see this transformation progressing, how long it will last and how we can all take advantage of the window of opportunity that will exist for only a short period of time.

Now is the best time for an owner occupied residential home buyer to purchase a home. The next two months are historically the slowest months of the year for residential real estate transactions. The inventory (or selection of available homes) is high, there is very little traffic of people viewing homes, people that do sell at this time of year are serious about selling their homes, mortgage interest rates are low and bank owned properties are selling faster.

Beyond this seasonal short term scenario we will begin to see another period of change that will last for approximately 9-18 months. The first sign of this change will come from the perception of the owner occupied buyer(s) that are looking for single family homes to live in for the next 3 years or more. They will understand that even if they purchase now and the real estate market (or value of their home) goes down, it will be a short time frame and the gain they will see over the next three years or more of owning their home will more than offset the short term slip in value. They will begin to understand that the media is grouping many types of buyers together and portraying a slightly twisted version of the state of the Las Vegas and Summerlin Real Estate markets. It is true, this is not the best time for an investor to be buying (for various reasons) but it is a good time for the owner occupied buyer(s).

There is and has been a pent up demand for owner occupied residential real estate in Las Vegas. The primarily reason is because we have a great economy so people are still moving to Las Vegas in the same great numbers but are hesitant to purchase homes because of what they hear and read so they are waiting. Once they come to their own opinion of what to believe and that it may not necessarily be in their best interest to wait or rent, that the owner occupied residential real estate market is not as negative as they have been lead to believe and they realize that the Las Vegas and Summerlin real estate markets are getting better, they will make their move to purchase a home. Once they begin to purchase homes, the number of people that will buy homes will be in much greater numbers than those buying homes in a more normalized market and the inventory will be reduced in a very dramatic fashion over a very short period of time. As the inventory of available homes is reduced then prices will begin to stabilize then rise. Once this happens all the current homeowners, who are serious about selling and have wanted to and been patiently waiting to purchase homes, will slowly come into the market over a period of time as it changes, further strengthening our residential real estate market.

Add to this that the Federal Reserve Board has recently been reducing interest rates, that indirectly affect the mortgage market, and may even continue to do so over the short term. They are concerned, in the short run, about the national real estate market as well as the mortgage and/or financial markets. It is my opinion that the Federal Reserve Board is really more concerned about inflation. The economy is heating up and as it continues to heat up there will be more pressure on them to raise interest rates to avoid inflationary fears especially nearing a presidential election. This tells me that the interest rates we have right now could be the best we are going to see for some time.
In the past Las Vegas has traditionally been less affected by the national economic environment than other states. We tend to be delayed in going into slower economic times and faster in coming out of them. Because of the growth of our economy, I see Las Vegas rebounding faster from the slow housing market than the remainder of the country, possibly as early as the beginning of 2008. As the remainder of the country rebounds near the end of 2008, the national economy will begin to heat up at approximately the same time as the presidential election. The Federal Reserve Board will do the best they can to avoid any inflationary fears. This will cause the Federal Reserve Board to look closely at raising interest rates to slow the economy just as the national real estate market is rebounding. This could result in an increase in mortgage interest rates.

With this being said, Las Vegas will have a period of about 6-9 months of good residential home buying opportunities with good mortgage interest rates before the national economy sees our same real estate turn. Las Vegas will see home inventories come down, residential home sales increase and home prices start to rise. About the same time the national real estate market is starting to recover, and the Las Vegas real estate market begins heating up mortgage interest rates could begin to rise causing challenges for owner occupied buyers.

For these reasons I see this time as the best time, within the foreseeable future, for a home owner to purchase residential real estate in Las Vegas. For an owner occupied buyer to wait to purchase a home in this type of environment, that could and likely will change very quickly, is like trying to time the bottom of the stock market. It is very difficult if not impossible to accomplish.

Let's see what happens.

For more information about the Las Vegas and Summerlin Real Estate markets go to: