Negotiating Real Estate in the Las Vegas / Clark County Housing Market

Whether you like him or don't like him, he is very successful. When I last saw him on television, Donald Trump, said that now "is an excellent time to buy real estate." From my experience here in the Las Vegas area and based on what I have seen in home pricing, that is very true. I am seeing many home prices going back to 2004 levels. But for clarification, let me distinguish between investing in Real Estate and speculating in Real Estate.

Making a Real Estate investment in a home for yourself and/or your family that you will use and enjoy over a period of time is a great investment. History has shown that Real Estate over a period of time will appreciate. That gives you a two-fold benefit of the enjoyment of your own home and having an asset that appreciates in value.

While it can be done, speculating in this Real Estate market is not for the weak at heart. You will be competing with professionals who are experts at assessing the potential of properties, seizing them quickly, have their own capital and all of their restoration remedies in place. This is the ideal scenario for a speculator and this is what the small time speculator can expect to be competing with.

Back to Donald Trump. What many people hear him say is "negotiate." I get calls from many people who before they have ever seen the property or done any research want to know if they can negotiate the price lower regardless of what the price is. What they didn't hear Donald say is "Do your homework." That's what he does and that's why he is successful.

In order to negotiate, you want all the leverage you can get. What is the condition and history of the property? How long has it been on the market? What did recent comparables sell for? How fast did they sell? What are the current asking prices of comparables? What is the sellers motivation? What is your motivation as a buyer? Just throwing out lowball offers without doing the homework is most often just a waste of time.

Sometimes the best negotiation is to pay full price! As an example, you have 2 very comparable properties. One property is priced below comps at $250k. The other is priced at 280k but is discounted 20k. Believe it or not, many people will buy the home with the 20k discount. They did not do their homework. They are happy though because they got a discount.

Will home prices continue to go down? Great question. Recently, a colleague of mine found a property that had come back on the market at a greatly reduced price. Exactly what the buyer was looking for. A day later he got a call from that buyer saying that he has decided not to buy because he heard that next year home prices were going to fall another 10%.

I get this picture in my mind that someone is going to call all the sellers and tell them it's time to drop their prices another 10%. And they will all say "OK." Some things to keep in mind. Each market is unique. The homes that are currently on the market that are overpriced by sellers (many sellers price their homes based on what they need to net rather than follow the market) will probably fall at least 10% or withdraw. The homes that are currently priced correctly will probably not fall at all. These homes are selling quickly. It's near impossible to time the market and no one has a crystal ball. By the time people hear from their neighbors and the media that the market has bottomed out, it will have already significantly turned.

So negotiating is not just asking for a discount. It's doing your homework and making a case so as not to leave any money on the table. While there can be luck and uncertainty that come into play, any negotiator will tell you that doing your homework will be your strongest card. To help with your homework, find a REALTOR® that you feel comfortable with to get the information that you need to make the best deal possible.