Las Vegas Nevada & Henderson NV Real Estate

The 10 Biggest Mistakes Made by Home Buyers

2007-08-05T00:50:06Z

A few weeks ago I was on the local FOX5 morning news talking about a couple of the Biggest Mistakes Buyers make when they purchase. This was the impetus for me to expand the list into Ten Different Mistakes, as I see it, and I have posted them at my http://www.lasblogvegas.com/ page. I think they cover some of the basics but if you dig into them you will find there is a bit more thought provoking ideas. Enjoy!

Property vs. Community Management

2007-07-14T15:25:57Z

I know in our Las Vegas market there seems to be a lot of confusion between the two types of management. Here is a link to information about an upcoming CE class in the Vegas area in the next couple of weeks. If you are in any type of property management, I think you should check it out! You even get breakfast, what a deal!

New Blog

2007-07-07T18:07:00Z

As you can see I have not been very active on "Active Rain" in the past few months. The main reason for this is that I have been working on my own blog site. It is LASblogVEGAS.com, I have been posting everything at this site. Please take a look and let me know what you think.

Cold Weather in Vegas Creates Problems!

2007-01-21T16:05:26Z

The past couple of weeks have been strange weather conditions for lots of people and for some it has cost them millions! Here in Vegas we've seen several days of freezing temperatures here at my house in Seven Hills I recorded a low of 18 degrees last week. It's not going to cost us millions but there is going to be lots of repair work for thousands of home owners here in Southern Nevada. The photo is one of my pressure relief valves that filled with so much ice it exploded the top into pieces. I know there will be lots of maintenance for almost every home in town between the broken water lines and the dead plants. Good News if you are a landscape contractor!

Inspirada in Henderson, NV opens for Sales!

2007-01-21T15:23:15Z

Yesterday was the day we've all been waiting for! Toll Brothers opened their sales office at Inspirada yesterday and started taking reservations even without having prices! This was the first day of sales for over 11,000 new homes, WOW! The Toll Brothers Models are under construction with all of the different floor-plans in the framing stage. This is a very different concept for us here in the Las Vegas area and the floor-plans are going to be very interesting when they open. KB Homes will be opening for sale in their models in the coming weeks there is also an information center that will be opening in a few weeks. It looks to me like all are operating on generators at this point! I have all of the floor plans in my office and will be putting them on my web site very soon! Please contact me if you are interested! This is a photo of the Toll Brothers Sales Office.

HELOC as a bank account!?!?

2006-12-08T22:55:21Z

Just this past week my broker, Mark Stark, proposed a very good idea to all of us at Prudential Americana Group. Here is the concept in a nut shell, use your HELCO as your bank account. Here is the idea, every month there will be a minimum payment on your HELOC but if you start to deposit your paychecks and daily cash into this account it will act as the payment, so you say "Big Deal"! We'll it's all about cash flow, let's say that you use your HELOC to pay off your car payment which will result in a minimum monthly payment of several hundred dollars, when you deposit your paycheck (hopefully several thousand) it will act as the payment an in effect reduce your monthly cash flow! This is a great concept and I found myself doing it without even know what a great concept it could be. This is a tool that we can all help our clients, family and freinds understand to reduce monthly cash flow and ultimately reduce our over all debt. I've even heard from a lender that there is a program out there that is very similar to a HELOC as a bank account but it is a first mortgage, this way as your cash is sitting in your account for a couple of weeks waiting to pay the mortgage it is being used to reduced your daily interest accrual. Good luck and start saving some money!

Las Vegas NV, MLS Stats as of 12-8-06

2006-12-08T22:33:46Z

SECOND WEEK DOES A TREND MAKE? Well this week we see another large drop in our inventory here in Las Vegas. We are down 426 active listings to 20,524! WOW! Quite the change we are seeing in the past few weeks. Again it is the month of December and it is rumored that Realtors take the month off?!?! December is unique in that Realtors are as busy as they want to be. On the other hand sellers are ofter waiting for the beginning of the year and sometimes there are taxes to consider. Everything I've been reading and all of the people I talk to think that we are seeing the turn in our market. If you think I'm wrong just count the cranes on the strip! If you are a buyer you'd better get out there and go shopping, we currently have a couple of great foreclosure deals! Here is the best place to start your search for a new home.

Christmas has come early at my house!

2006-12-01T19:52:24Z

This is a bit off topic but I wanted to share the first photo of our new kittens. Christy & I got both of them this week. They look bigger in the photo but they are still quite small, both of them are Bengals. We named them Leo & Chloe! They've only been at our house for a couple of days but we are already hooked as they are so much fun! It's been some time since we have had a pet in the house....Any words of wisdom would be great!

Seven Hills Hampton Inn

2006-12-01T19:42:48Z

This photo was taken on December 1, 2006 of the new Hampton Inn in Seven Hills, Henderson, NV. It looks like it is getting very close to being complete but I don't think it will be in time for all of the extra family visitors this December. For everyone in the Seven Hills area they are just going to have to send the extra Holiday guests to the Strip, maybe next year they can stay just down the hill. There are also several spaces still for lease in the same parking lot, if you are looking to start a new business here in Southern Nevada!

Inspirada in Henderson NV, Moves Closer to Opening!

2006-12-01T19:23:59Z

Inspirada in Henderson NV nears a grand opening! Both of these photos were taken on 12-1-06, if you go to this link you will see some of the photos over the past months, the progress is quite amazing! The models by KB are going to be unique for Las Vegas as the garage access will be in the back of the house via an alley access. The photo below is the new visitors center and as of today they were looking close to having it finished! I've been told we will see a grand opening later this month. Every time I drive out for a visit the road has been moved and it snakes in-between mountains of building materials and if you drive a bit too slow your bound to be overtaken by some HUGE earth moving vehicle!! Unlike a few weeks ago the streets are in and I even saw the fist street light being installed this morning! This is just such an exciting world to be in when you can watch a city come out of the ground! I'll keep you posted as the models start to open!

Las Vegas Marathon

2006-11-30T20:15:27Z

The New Las Vegas Marathon will be held on December 10, 2006! I'm happy to announce that I'm a proud sponsor of the event this year. To show my support I'm offering a $1000.00 rebate on the next real estate transaction with The Merrell Team for anyone who picks up one of the Marathon Event Guides. Congratulations and good luck to all of the participants!

Las Vegas NV, MLS Stats as of 11-30-06

2006-11-30T20:00:48Z

More than just the weather is changing here in the Las Vegas Valley! As the temperatures drop to the freezing point in the early morning hours inventory has dropped below 21,000! We are seeing a definite turn in available homes for sale. I missed posting last week due to Thanksgiving but in the past 2 weeks the inventory has dropped by a total of 417 homes to a total of 20,950. If you are search for homes in any part of Southern Nevada, you can find them at this link, Las Vegas Home Search. This is the first time it has been below the 21,000 level for months. I'm sure the Holidays are driving the numbers down and we should see a jump come January, but I think we just might be seeing the turn in the market! Here is to a great 2007 to all in the Southern Nevada Real Estate Market!

If you build it they will come!

2006-11-16T21:17:42Z

MGM Marage's Project CityCenter is coming out of the ground like you can't believe! It has been just a few short months and already it is starting to take shape! It is amazing what money can do! With expected costs of $7Billion (Bellagio only cost a billion), it is one of the major projects in the Las Vegas Valley that is creating jobs, and in true Vegas style they are working 24 hours a day. When the project is complete it will even employ more people than it takes to construct, only in Vegas baby! What does all of this mean for the housing market? Well my prediction is that just like in the past these large projects put a huge pressure on the housing demand in the entire Valley! As construction moves forward they will need more and more workers and then we will see operations come in and start to work on staffing well before anything is set to open. When this happens we start to see new transplants form every Indian Casino in cold weather poking around looking for new homes and jobs. The future looks very bright for Las Vegas from my vantage point!

Las Vegas NV, MLS Stats as of 11-16-06

2006-11-16T20:54:02Z

I think we might be seeing the start of a new trend! This week we are down 94 net listings for a grand total of 21,367! This is a decrease of about 300 listings over the last month or so. As we get into December I expect the listings to continue to decrease but come the first part of the year I know we will see the sellers popping up again! Like I've said so many times now is the time to buy and this is the best time of the year! The last thing someone wants at their Holiday party is an unplanned Realtor with clients in tow! Las Vegas is still booming, there are more jobs than ever before with BILLIONS being spent on new development! The biggest mistake you can make in real estate purchase in this town right now would be to WAIT! Get out there and go shopping! This link is a great place to start!

Ready for a Laugh? You've got to see this!

2006-11-09T22:43:25Z

I took this photo a couple of weeks ago in a small town in Southern Nevada called Overton. Overton is in Clark County in an area called Moapa Valley with a total population of less that 7,000. I was there checking on some land I have listed for sale. It is about 45 min. North East of Las Vegas, the best way to describe it is; "Conservative Family Values!" There is only one major market/grocery store in the area and on a Sunday afternoon this is what I found!

I think they forgot "Potato Chips"

Don't they know prostitution is illegal in Clark County?

It just made me laugh!!

Vantage Lofts, Henderson NV

2006-11-09T22:24:59Z

Tonight I attended an open house to view a sample of what is happening at one of the FIRST mid rise condos in Henderson, NV. Vantage Lofts is located at Gibson Rd. & Horizon Ridge in Henderson NV and in my opinion the best way to describe it is coooooool! I know there are lots of projects in town, mostly on the strip, where you will feel like a celeb but this is the ultimate with a Henderson address. This project is well under way with just a small percentage of it sold at this time but it will be ready for move-in in the spring of 2007! This is the perfect second home, only about 15 min. to the airport and 20 min to the Strip! This would be PERFECT if you come to Vegas a couple of times a year for those big conventions! Unlike so many of the condo projects in the area they only want a 10% deposit, I think this is a great investment opportunity for a long term hold! You're not going to make a quick buck but with prices starting in the $300,000's how can you go wrong! I have more information about Vantage Lofts on my site if you are interested!

Las Vegas NV, MLS Stats as of 11-9-06

2006-11-09T22:03:10Z

FLAAAAAAT!! That's the only way to describe the Las Vegas real estate resale inventory. For the last 60 days we have been fluctuating within the same range of active homes on the market. This week we are up a net of 18 listings to 21,461. Everyone I talk to is looking to the first quarter of next year and then they think the inventory will start to decrease. Like I keep saying if you are thinking of buying now is the time. I've just added a new Las Vegas MLS Search tool to my web site that has an interactive map to help you locate listings and it allows the user to save their own searches and have automatic emails sent to them. I think it is a great tool! As the Holidays approach there will be more and more motivated sellers, Let's go shopping!

Inspirada in Henderson NV, Update on the Status!

2006-11-08T20:27:00Z

If you have been following any of my past posts on Inspirada you will know that KB Homes was scheduled to start sales in October. Well from the looks of things I knew there was no way they were going to make it, as of yesterday I found out that they have now delayed their sales to December 26th. Ya, right like that's going to happen! I don't think any work gets completed between Christmas and New Years in Las Vegas, everyone is saving up their energy for the 31st! Anyway I've had lots of interest in this new master planned community and It is sure to be great! Can't wait to see the models! You will find more info and some recent photos at this link.

Las Vegas NV, MLS Stats as of 11-1-06

2006-11-01T18:50:23Z

November brings us........"Changes in the Air!" This week brings us one of the largest decreases in the amount of inventory I've seen for several weeks. We are down by 185 net listings in the Las Vegas MLS for a total of 21,461. I've been reading some of the different predictions for the market here in Vegas and it looks like we are just going to have to get used to a new "Norm." As our Valley continues to grow we are starting to see population of over 2 million in the area, and we still have 6000-7000 people a month moving here. We need 3-4 thousand homes a month, the new home builders are slowing production with fewer new permits, so it is just a matter of time until the inventory for resale homes slips and we will be back to the "Sellers" market. If if you are a first time home buyer, investor or thinking of making any kind of move NOW is when the best deals will be had. The end of the year is always the best time to buy as all of the motivated sellers have their homes on the market and investors and builders want to have a good 4th quarter! Let's go shopping!

Las Vegas NV, MLS Stats as of 10-25-06

2006-10-25T20:29:10Z

UNCHANGED, is the word for the week! With a net of only 4 new listings this week we are up to 21,646 active listings in the GLVAR's MLS system. We are still at all time highs! This past weekend I was in Phoenix and was told they have over 45,000 active listings and about half of them are vacant! The buyers market continues, let's hope Vegas doesn't catch up with it's neighbors to the South. The good new from my point of view is that there are still lots of people moving to Souther Nevada, lots of jobs, and our vacancy rate for rentals is down. These are all good indicators that are inventory should start to head back down to more traditional levels. Check back soon and I will have a great new way for you to search for active listings in your neighborhood!

Las Vegas NV, MLS Stats as of 10-18-06

2006-10-18T20:35:54Z

Just like the DOW, we are reaching for new highs! As of today the active listings in the GLVAR's MLS are up to an all time high of 21,642! Let's hope we reach 15,000 before the DOW does, if not I'm in the wrong business! The good news is that we are only up by 53 listings this week, which means it's still a great time to be a buyer! Maybe with the a DOW over 12,000 we will see the return on irrational exuberance and everyone will realize that now is the time to get out there and go shopping as there are deals everywhere, over 21,000 it would seem! Until next week.................

Understanding all of the alphabet soup used by Realtors

2006-10-18T20:02:10Z

What do all of those letters after a Realtors name mean? Have you ever said "They must mean something but the only letters I know are PhD." I've been thinking that for the consumers out there the professional designations we, Realtors, earn and then use after our names must just look like......;alkj;dvpoiupuoiw;qekrfm,daoiolke!! So I'm going to try to explain one of those designations, the one know as CRS. This stands for Certified Residential Specialists. Here is the logo, look for it, next time you'll know what it stands for.

The CRS designation is earned through a combination of classroom work and real world transaction experience. I had to show evidence of 50 transactions. It is one of the harder designations to earn and takes some time, usually over a year. So if you see a Realtor with this designation you will know it is not their first day on the job and they are guaranteed to have many days of extra training on all different parts of the business. For me some of the best classes I've ever taken were CRS courses. Here is a quote taken from the CRS web site.

There are over one million REALTORS® in business today. So if you want to find that one-in-a-million REALTOR®, start with the over 37,000 who hold the Certified Residential Specialist Designation. CRS is the symbol of excellence in residential real estate. Our members have proven they have the experience, training and commitment to be among the best in their profession.

As you can see this designation is the exception not the rule. My advice, no matter what market you are in, if you are a buyer, seller or investor search out and...ONLY WORK WITH A CRS DESIGNEE! You'll be glad you did!

Starbucks in Seven Hills, Henderson NV!

2006-10-14T19:18:42Z

It's the little things in life that make it all worth while! Seven Hills will soon have a NEW Starbucks with a drive through! I know I can't wait as it's on the way to my office! The area is also going to have a new Hampton Inn that looks like it will have about 175 rooms half of which should have great views of the Las Vegas Strip! A new Restaurant called Remedy's is also under construction, I'm not sure what kind of food they will be serving, sure hope it's good. There are several other open retail spaces for lease so very soon everyone in Seven Hills won't have to drive quite so far for some of the basics, like a good cup of Joe!

Changes at the Henderson Executive Airport in Henderson NV!

2006-10-13T20:45:36Z

This is a photo of the "Old" Tower at the Henderson Executive Airport. It's no longer there! Over the past couple of weeks it has been torn to the ground and they are expanding the area with new hangers. This whole airport is getting updated from new runways to a new terminal, the WORKS!

This is the NEW tower that started construction about a year ago and in the past few months there has been the transition from the old to the new! So for the longest time there have been both towers and then the other day I noticed just the one! It is amazing how we do things her in Southern Nevada, when it's old or too small TEAR IT DOWN and build it bigger and better! The next big project will be the Stardust, so you'd better make you final trip and say your good-bye's to that too!

I live in Seven Hills and from my back yard I've been watching all of the changes to the airport over the past few years. This little airport is turning out to be quite the deal! It is right next to so many of the Master Planned Communities, Seven Hills, Anthem, and Inspirada, in Henderson and that is part of the reason they've made so may changes, even realigning the runways to help keep the planes away from the residential areas.

Inspirada in Henderson NV starts more homes!

2006-10-13T20:18:37Z

This is a photo taken today of the models at Inspirada, if you look at some of the other photos I've posted on Inspirada you will see they are making lots of progress. In the past few days they have started framing about 4 more homes, I'm not sure if they are more models or if they are starting with some specs. KB was going to start sales in October, but they are not going to make it! Maybe by the first of the year! Every time I drive out to take a look the road has moved and you have to watch out for all of the heavy equipment running back and forth across the road. I actually think it will be better for the sales office if they wait until more of the major roads are complete. If you are not familiar with what is happening with Inspirada, the newest master planned community in Henderson, NV, here is a link to bring you up to speed and give you some of the details.