I received a blog called Thoughts by Frank Schulte-Ladbeck, Professional Real Estate Inspector in Houston Texas today. One of the benefits of blogging is that you learn about what others are thinking and you have a chance to react.

I won't speak for the rest of the cities across the country, but I can speak about Real Estate the Las Vegas Valley. In my latest inquiry we led the nation in foreclosures for reasons unrelated to the rest of the economy. It's easy to blame 4 States and Cities for the economic downfall of the rest of the nation, but I encourage you to pull your head out of Houston TX. for just a moment and let's try to take a look at the big picture.

60% of the Las Vegas Valley homes in foreclosure have never had a resident living in them. What caused it? Builders built multitudes of homes to sell to investors that wanted to flip them using zero or 5% down loans from mortgage companies. Investors had purchased thousands of homes and were flipping them like crazy, and then the spigot of money got turned off.

The investors continued flipping until the market just flat stopped and just walked away from the homes they couldn't sell. If half of the investor foreclosures fell off the charts, we would be right in the mix on a per capita basis with everyone else.

I have personally been very busy since around March 1, 2008. My clients have been Baby Boomers, with money that have retired or on the brink of retiring. They are paying cash or are putting 20% down with a strong credit score. I have also been working with many clients that are doctors/ nurses, people in the building trades and teachers from cities like Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago, Cleveland, and yes even New York City. What's happening in those cities?

My clients tell me that the loss of manufacturing jobs in the auto, steel and shipping industries have led to layoffs, which have caused people to move, which leads to layoffs in the types of jobs that I listed above. Not only that! What happens in those cities trickles into other service types of jobs in and outside of those cities. That affects our nation as a whole! Now for the people that rented in these cities decide to move to the Las Vegas Valley to start their new life, it's a no brainer for them, in this buyers market, to buy rather than rent if they can. Did you know that FHA and the VA have new programs with little or nothing down if you have a strong credit score?

On the other hand there are a lot of people who have already moved to Las Vegas now, to work, that own homes in the cities, mentioned above, that have to rent until their house sells. I know people who are renting here that have had homes on the market in these cities for up to a couple of years. They can't sell them because there is no sustainable growth in the economy for companies in those cities to hire people. Those markets are shrinking and so are the home prices.

So let me ask! What does Las Vegas have to do with dragging down their home values? If anything we are creating opportunity for these families to start a new life. The Las Vegas Valley leads the nation in job growth! Period! We were the last city into the sub-prime fray and appear, by last month's home sales numbers to be one of the first cities out of the sub-prime mess.

Without putting a so called positive spin on the issues, WE ARE IN A BUYERS MARKET! PERIOD! Financial institutions are going to have it rough for awhile. Heck! They weren't complaining 3 or 4 years ago when they were handing out money to people that were stating their incomes with little or nothing down for a home. As for sellers, they are just going to have to wait awhile just like buyers have to wait when prices get beyond their reach to purchase a home. But have confidence, this rough period shall pass.

My last point is this! Let's take a look at the nation as a whole for a moment. Oil and Gas prices are at an all time high. We have been involved in a war about oil for the last 6 years. (Iraq owes us-BIG TIME!) The stock market has dropped 400 points in the last 2 days (as of the time I'm writing this). Ford and General Motors stocks are trading at an all time low. The Airline Industry is in the tank. What has been the cause? I'm going to tell you now! DON'T BLAME THE LASVEGAS VALLEY. I said it before! I can only speak about the Las Vegas Valley. I wouldn't dare try to tell you what's going on in your city when I have never even been there. But I would offer this!

Whether you're a Republican, Democrat, Independent or a non participant, you better start asking the politicians in your area who they are looking out for and hold their feet to the fire for some answers. Based on what I'm seeing these past few months, I don't think it's us.

Best Regards,

Mary Kennedy
RE/MAX Central
Las Vegas, NV.

Local: 702-324-5390
Toll Free: 888-725-4487

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