Talk about progress! Since my last visit at the Lennar Community “Aventine” in Seven Hills, they’ve framed a number of homes! The neighborhood is really coming along! They’ve graded the land, built walls, added landscaping, installed the entrance gate and prepped the land for the community park! There’s been a lot of interest in these homes so don’t hesitate. Contact me today to get locked in on one of the few lots that are being released!
Take a look at the most recent video shot there a few days ago and enjoy the video at the end where I drove through the community so you have a better sense of the homes and views! www.youtube.com/watch?v=mESCU6wteU0
Typically amazing Seven Hills views of the Vegas Strip, as seen from an Aventine new home construction lot!
Update (6/2015): Check out this new video we just posted showing some of the pre-construction Aventine homes and their amazing views!
While there’s not a lot of vacant land available in Seven Hills to build new construction, Blue Heron has been successful with the sales of their Million Dollar Plus “Marquis” Community. Now Lennar has expanded their efforts with their new AVENTINE Community at a more affordable pricing.
They’ve just broken ground on the development and are selling pre-construction homes for their first phase. Judging by the Floor Plans (homes have square footage between 2,645 and 4,230), Pricing (starting at just $569,990), Views (Rio Secco Golf Course and the Las Vegas Strip) these will sell out extremely fast!
Since it’s in our neighborhood, Kandis and I have made it a primary focus for Buyers of ours looking for that great Seven Hills location but wanting the amenities of a brand new home… this could be why we have already sold two of the first five pre-construction homes available!
Contact us today to get more information on this exciting new community by Lennar. We’ll also be updating the pictures of the ongoing construction every couple of weeks so be sure to check back often!
– Mike Rebarchick
Like amazing views of Seven Hills? Then you’ll love Aventine!
What do we know about Buying and Selling in the Henderson community of Seven Hills? How about EVERYTHING! After all, we’re Top Producing Realtors who happen to live right here in the community!
Our kids go to the (great) schools, you’ll see us taking family walks with our dog on the beautiful trails, enjoying the many amazing parks, or even shopping at the local Smiths and Vons markets. We’re long-time residents which gives us a great appreciation for the neighborhood and a unique perspective when helping neighbors buy or sell real estate here.
Just this past week our local expertise for this market helped us list THREE homes for sale. Since so many people want to live here, 2 of the new listings went into contract (at top dollar) within just a couple of days! Fortunately one is still available for purchase by a lucky home owner.
In the video below we show you some of the highlights of this beautiful home for sale. Please take a moment to watch it. And remember: if you’re looking to buy or sell a home in Seven Hills, contact your neighbors Mike & Kandis Rebarchick to help!
There are many great places to live in the Vegas Valley but Seven Hills is definitely one of the best. In fact, we like it so much we decided to move here in 2008… and we’ve never regretted the decision!
From world-class golf to award-winning parks to its friendly “small town” feel (despite being minutes from the Las Vegas Strip!) it’s easy to see why so many people want to live in this beautiful Henderson community.
Recently we put together a short video highlighting some of the best things about living in Seven Hills. Please take a few moments to watch it and let us know what you think in the comments area! 🙂
There’s 3.5%, 5%, 10%, 20%… are these your possible winning percentages at a casino here in Vegas? Nope… they’re the possible down payment options for your new home, depending on the loan program.
You’ve saved and saved, stopped eating out, and put in overtime at work just so you can save up even more. You’ve talked to a Lender and have been pre-approved for a home loan.
You know you’re buying power. Your bank account is padded and you’re ready to house hunt… but what’s this “closing cost” thing?
Just because you have your down payment and you’ll be borrowing the difference for that new home, there are still fees to be paid at your closing. Closing Costs are a combination of your Mortgage Company’s Fees (they vary between Lenders), Prepaid County Taxes, Prepaid Annual Home Insurance, Home Warranty, Title Company Fees, etc.
Add them all up and these fees typically range between 2%-3% of your purchase price. Suddenly you’re no longer saving just for that down payment amount — you have other significant costs too!
Now that you know what closing costs are, let me tell you about several options on how to deal with them…
With my Buyers, I attempt to have the Seller contribute a sum towards the closing costs when we’re negotiating the deal. Remember that Sellers are looking for a “net number” when selling their home. The combination of a reasonable and strong purchase offer while asking for that closing cost contribution can absolutely get a deal done — and often does.
Another option would be to take advantage of the numerous down payment assistant programs currently available here in Nevada. One that I’m well versed on (and have several YouTube videos about) is the “Home is Possible” grant program.
This allows up to 4% of the purchase price to be used as part of your down payment and/or closing costs. As a grant it doesn’t have to be paid back — it’s basically “free money!” Find out if your Lender participates in the program and if not, I know several who do.
In a recent deal we were able to combine the Home is Possible money along with a Seller’s closing cost contribution to allow our Buyer to come to the closing table with barely anything out-of-pocket. It was practically 0% down for their new home!
The key is to have the best Vegas REALTOR represent you throughout the home buying process. If you or someone you know could use our expertise to be successful with a house purchase, contact me today!
– Mike Rebarchick
Update: Here’s a funny but helpful video we just posted on YouTube. It explains closing costs and provides some tips on how to save money when buying a home:
p.s. The link below also discusses the confusion about closing costs that many future homeowners were unaware of:
I had a few minutes this past week to catch up on some recorded TV shows. Within minutes, I witnessed a bit of product placement in one show. Normally I wouldn’t mind… we’ve all seen the occasional Pizza Hut Box, Pepsi Product, Coors Light Bottle in the background of a TV show, etc. But this was for Zillow! To make it worse, they even included dialogue for Zillow in the scene!!
Immediately my focus shifted from enjoying the show to thinking about how incredibly inaccurate much of Zillow’s data is.
I’m a REALTOR® and some might think Zillow makes my job easier… but it actually makes it harder. Understand that their property “Zestimate” is just an estimate created by a computer algorithm… an estimate that they themselves have stated can be off by approximately 9%… not Locally, but Nationally!
Actual studies have been done on this margin of error and they’ve found that Zillow’s prices can be off by as much 42% in some local areas:
That’s nearly half a home’s value or double a home’s value depending on which side of the transaction you’re on!!!
We know that their system is designed to simply compile and analyze “sold home” data in a certain area over an extended period of time in order to come up with their estimates. But it’s not taking into consideration other very important points that a REALTOR would. Buyers are often given bad Zestimates and end up thinking they can get a terrific home at an unrealistic price way below the current neighborhood median. Sellers are given an amount that far exceeds the recently sold comparable properties.
Simply put, Zillow’s info is a mess.
Zillow doesn’t factor in an individual home’s features that can make it more desirable to a Buyer. While not every upgrade or remodel can add value, many can make the home more attractive, which means that it becomes more “sellable”.
There’s a reason why certified home appraisers can’t just look at a property’s Zestimate on Zillow, give it a stamp of approval, and send it to a Lender to be used for a home loan. The Zestimate is not Gospel, yet much of the public incorrectly treats it as such.
Please don’t get me wrong, I’m all for ease/convenience. Nothing is easier than going on your computer or phone and ordering that Pizza Hut Pizza and Pepsi from an app. But I just don’t think incorrect real estate information is very valuable…. certainly not when researching buying or selling a Las Vegas or Henderson, NV home.
Forwarding our clocks an hour, trees and plants blooming, the weather warming up… one of the best times of the year. It’s also a time when families start to think about a move in time for the next school year!
You can call it the “Spring Shuffle”…
“Which schools is this house zoned for?” is a constant question we get asked when helping our clients find a new home. For families with children this is a BIGGIE. As parents ourselves we shared that same concern when we house shopped, so we focused on buying in a specific area.
When it’s time to sell, having a home located in a desirable school zone can help make your listing stand out… in fact it often outshines a home’s features!
Thanks to the Clark County School District’s website (www.ccsd.net) you can lookup the school that a specific property is zoned for — from elementary all the way through to high school. Another fantastic website is www.greatschools.org where you’ll be able to see a particular school’s rating.
Of course having a local REALTOR® who is knowledgeable about the many areas of Southern Nevada helps too!
Having a REALTOR who is up-to-date with the market makes all the difference. Whether it’s to get the best deal when purchasing a home or to get top dollar when selling it! Kandis and I pride ourselves on our obsession to keep current with the trends to give our clients a valuable advantage.
With the 2014 year-end data in, we wanted to touch on a few topics of conversation to help inform everyone on the latest in the Southern Nevada Real Estate market.
1) Market Prices – The Median Price of a Single Family Home for 2014 ended at approximately $199,900. That’s an increase of nearly 11% in just one year! With many investors leaving the market because of the increases (cashing out), traditional Buyers are back in the mix. While the prices have somewhat stabilized we should see a much more “normal” pricing increase of 1%-3% in 2015 as inventory remains low.
2) Housing Inventory – As noted above, the housing inventory is still incredibly low. In a healthy housing market we should have somewhere around a six-month supply of homes. Currently we’re less than a three-month supply of inventory. With an average of 2,500 single family residences exchanging hands each month there are only 6,758 currently for sale in the Las Vegas Valley. So, in effect, there’s really not enough supply to keep up with the demand!
3) Interest Rates– Record low interest rates are still happening — but for how long?! Banks have loosened up on their underwriting guidelines and are lending money once again. As of today a 30-year Conventional Loan offers an interest rate as low as 4.15% and an FHA Loan at 3.35% for 30 years too…. with as little as 3.5% down! We don’t know how long these ultra-low rates will be around so now’s the time to take advantage.
4) New Home Construction – New home construction has slowed down dramatically as the housing inventory for the resale market increased in 2014. The other factor is that Builders are asking for more per square foot on their base models than the price of most resale homes. They’ve adjusted their prices slightly, but to counter that they’ve withdrawn a majority of Buyer incentives such as free appliance upgrades or closing cost help.
5)Short Sales and Bank Owned – Is there a bigger misconception in our market than these two types of sales? Probably not! Short Sales make up less than 15% of the homes currently available and, with banks offering loan modifications or other government assisted foreclosure alternatives, short sales are less and less common these days.
Bank Owned properties make up less than 5% of our market and their prices are typically higher than the average resale comparable homes sold. Why is that? How can that be? Well, there are government programs (Homesteps and Homepath) that have looser lending rules, and which allow Buyers to work around appraisal contingencies. This essentially allows them to borrow more money than these homes are worth, so the banks increase the prices to compensate for the programs.
End-of-the-year typically means that folks review their expenses for the past twelve months, and many try to come up with a strategy to save money in the upcoming year. It makes for one of the more popular New Year’s Resolutions!
In 2015 there’s even more reason to try to save. The cost-of-living is increasing everywhere (some places more than others). I won’t get into the politics of things but, with one of the biggest budget-busters being the rising cost of health insurance (rates are tripling for many people!) effective 1/1/2015, many are left trying to come up with a strategy to afford and maintain their lifestyle.
I know planning a move around the corner, across town, and especially to a new state sounds worse than a trip to the dentist, but consider the incredible savings of moving to Southern Nevada…
For this exercise I’m going to use the example of moving to Nevada from California. Full disclosure: we loved living in the Los Angeles area from 2005-2007 but it was extremely expensive, which led us to relocate back to the Las Vegas valley — specifically the Henderson area. Having this unique perspective and ability to compare living in the two states helps to make my point even stronger.
Never mind that Nevada’s property tax and sales tax are less than California’s, but remember that we don’t have a STATE INCOME TAX! That’s not a typo… and it’s just one reason why CA residents are flocking to Nevada!
While Californians are “enjoying” paying 6% – 12.3% of their income to the State of California (2% if living in poverty and up to 13.3% for the ultra wealthy), our state income tax is $0/zip/nada/none/the big goose egg… you get the idea.
With our median house price still low (currently at just $199,000) imagine how far your extra money could be stretched. You’ll get a newer home, in a newer neighborhood, that offers newer schools and newer (often much nicer) amenities. The cost of living is already less… now factor in the savings on eliminating that nasty CA state income tax.
You’ll get to save and reinvest your hard-earned money into your own home, retirement, stocks, bonds, investments, etc. If you’re retired, or planning to retire soon, the benefits of coming to NV are especially strong. It’s truly an amazing opportunity!
If you’ve had enough of that type of overly-expensive lifestyle, I encourage you to research moving to Southern Nevada and especially the Henderson/Las Vegas areas. You’ll have many of the benefits of living in California — including beautiful parks, great hiking trails, world-class golf options, year-round warm weather, among others — but most importantly you’ll save a lot of money!
We are really excited about Nevada’s newHome is Possible grant program. If you’re interested in getting “free money” to help you buy a home in Las Vegas or Henderson, you owe it to yourself to learn about this incredible new home buyers assistance program!
Here are the 10 most important things to know…
1. Home is Possible grants provide up to four percent of a home loan’s value to be used for down payment and closing costs assistance.
2. These grants never need to be repaid!
3. There is not first-time home buyer requirement to qualify for this program.
4. There are no asset limits for buyers.
5. Fixed interest rate 30-year loans qualify. (Don’t forgot about those still-low mortgage rates!)
6. The grant money can only be used on a primary residence purchase.
7. You must have a minimum credit score of 640 for government insured loans, 660 for manufactured homes, or 680 for conventional loans
8. Your qualifying income on your mortgage app must be below $95,500
9. Home purchases of $400,000 and below qualify for the program.
10. You must take a short and simply “homebuyer education” course to be eligible.
That’s it! There’s a very good chance you qualify for the Home is Possible Nevada grant program. Just contact us today to learn more!
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