The world has finally caught up with Boulder City. With over 100 homes in default, there go the prices. Down, down, down. This small town with its precious lifestyle has resisted the slashing of prices, but the trend caught up with it last year, and this year looks to be brutal for sellers.
Locals are aware of the beauty of life in Boulder City and have been snatching up lower-priced properties for rentals. If there's a deal out there, a local will find it. Boulder City residents believe in Boulder City to the point that many of them own multiple properties. Time has shown that real estate value is solid in BC. Prices may go up and down, but the value is rock solid (or should I say, Boulder solid?).
Las Vegas had its flash in the pan of popularity, with resulting skyrocketing prices, and the crash and burn that followed. What goes up must come down. The reality is, local wages could not support housing prices, so the crash was inevitable. We won't even talk about the government's role in loosening regulations that allowed the stupidity of 100% financing and Stated Income loans. We'll just stick to the topic, which is supply and demand of Boulder City.
If a few folks hadn't forgotten the basic conservatism of Boulder, we wouldn't be seeing 100 homes in default. I know, those of you from large markets are laughing, thinking "100 homes! You must be joking to take that seriously!" But in a town of 14,000 people, 100 homes is a lot. The normal inventory of properties for sale, including condos and manufactured homes, is usually in the low 100s. So to have 100 in default is like having your entire market inventory watching a wave of equal size coming toward you. Duck! You're going to lose your buyer to a cheaper home if you don't drop your price!
So here's my advice to Boulder City sellers: get it listed quick; get it priced competitively; and get rid of it before it goes down next week. The successful sellers are those that study the competition and give up their personal opinion of what their unique home is worth. As we learned in the basics of real estate, each property is unique but there are millions of properties, so demand and supply will determine price.
Is it a good time to buy in Boulder City? You betcha. Even if we haven't hit bottom, we are on the downward slope, the bottom is passed very quickly and then we're on an upward slope. Buy somewhere near the bottom, either on the downward or upward slope. And remember the core values of conservatism in Boulder City, the faith that people have in the quality of life of Boulder City, and the solid community life that tends to survive no matter what. The demographics of Boulder City are another reassurance of long-lasting value for an investor. Once you live here, you understand.
As a 30-year resident of Boulder City, I understand the value of real estate in this town. If you agree and want to invest here, give me a call. I'm happy to help.
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