The Scoop – Page 5 – (702) 501-8726

September 20, 2014

A Shift Change: The New Las Vegas Buyer’s Market

There are numerous types of shifts… work schedule shifts, gear shifts, gravitational shifts… but within Las Vegas Valley real estate I’ve noticed a different type of shift recently….the shift to a Buyer’s Market!

Not only am I seeing this within my day-to-day transactions, but I’m also a “Data Guy” — I watch the statistics and look at the current numbers every day. I educate myself with the current trends in real estate which in turn means that my clients have an instant edge when I represent them. A majority of this information is easily ignored by other local realtors… which is fine by me!

While there’s still a relatively low housing inventory in Southern Nevada, it’s more than double the inventory from less than a year ago. For the moment this has helped prices stabilize, after a tremendous spike in home values over the past couple of years. Homes are staying on the market a bit longer…which makes sellers nervous. Their patience is being tested while they wait for the “perfect” offer to come in.

When I’m writing up offers for my buyers I’m always “swinging for the fences” and trying to get the best deal possible, within reason. We’ll ask for closing costs contributions from the seller, a home warranty, repair allowance, and other perks to sweeten the deal for my client. These requested items were unheard of just a few months ago when multiple offers were being received on any given property.

My buyers are in control! They’re taking advantage of these (still) historically low interest rates, favorable loan programs with loosened lending rules, and patience. Buyers have the upper hand in the current market… so if you’re interested in buying Las Vegas or Henderson real estate now is the time.

Contact me today to find out how to take advantage of the new Las Vegas buyer’s market!

– Mike

Vegas Strip photo by anieto2k

September 16, 2014

NHSSN: Helping First Time Home Buyers in the Vegas Valley!

Are you interested in owning your first Las Vegas Valley home? Not sure how to get started, or even if you can afford the down payment? Well you’ll probably be happy to know there’s an entire organization to help people like you…

This past week I had the privilege of being asked to teach a class at the offices of the NHSSN (Neighborhood Housing Services of Southern Nevada) and I of course jumped on the opportunity!

The class was all about the role of a REALTOR® during the home-buying process, and it was followed by a great question and answer session with the attendees. The energy and excitement from these future homeowners made the nearly 2 hour class go by extremely quickly!

For those unfamiliar with the organization:

NHSSN helps provide down payment assistance to first-time home buyers throughout Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City, and the rest of Southern Nevada. The assistance can range from a minimum of $6000 all the way up to $14,999. In most cases this is more than enough for your required loan down payment and your closing costs!

Taking advantage of this great assistance program is fairly easy. It involves meeting with an NHSSN representative to qualify and it entails an 8-hour course covering the home buying and home owning process. The goal is to make buyers feel confident and comfortable with purchasing and owning their first home (the first “big” investment most Americans make).

The organization works hand-in-hand with your mortgage company and loan officer to make the purchase as easy as possible, with the right REALTOR steering the ship. We’ll soon be posting a detailed guide and video regarding the NHSSN regulations, processes, and paperwork, so be on the lookout for that.

If you’re interested in learning more, or even in getting started leveraging the power of this great program immediately, please call, text, or email me so I can help you!

UPDATE: Here’s a quick video I put together explaining the role of a good REALTOR in the NHSSN down payment assistance program process:

More info here:

LVRJ Article

NHSSN: Homeownership Programs & Services

Las Vegas NeighborhoodLIFT: Frequently Asked Questions

NeighborWorks America

Beautiful Vegas Valley home photo by JillWillRun

August 9, 2014

Jumping Off the 2nd Floor Deck for a Seven Hills Real Estate Client

When it comes to satisfying my Las Vegas valley real estate clients, I’ll do pretty much whatever it takes. I’ll go above and beyond to leave a smile on every client’s face.

Want me to find you a palatial Spanish eclectic dream home in Henderson? I’ll do it.

Need me to get you the best possible deal on a family home with a big back yard, within a mile of a dog park, in Summerlin? No problem.

Want to sell your home fast, for top dollar… and then watch me launch myself off of the 2nd-story deck into the pool? Consider it done!

Recently I had a listing on European Drive, a great street in Seven Hills, Henderson, NV. It was a beautiful remodeled house that I knew could fetch a fantastic price. In fact, I believed it so strongly that I made a guarantee to the Owner:

I would sell it quickly and for the maximum possible price… and then I would jump into the home’s pool from the top deck.

As you can see from the photo above, I’m a man of my word!

As soon as we had confirmation that the sale had gone through, I ran up to the 2nd floor deck, climbed over the railing, and jumped off.

Maybe not the smartest or safest thing for a Vegas real estate agent to be doing. But, to be honest, I didn’t need that much convincing. Yes, I was happy to have delivered for my client… but it was also over 100 degrees that day so the water felt GREAT!

😀

Here are a couple of “after shots”…

Want to see which crazy thing I’ll do next? Then follow the Rebarteam on Facebook and watch this blog!!

– Mike

July 30, 2014

Summer Break is Almost Over!

At this point during the summertime, our kids (like most) are counting down the days left before having to go back to school.

Parents on the other hand realize that there are only so many days left to get their children into that new school zone and they’re making that last push to find the right new Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, or Henderson home.

With a majority of homes closing escrow with an average period of 30 days there’s still time to make it happen! In fact most schools will allow registering for the rezoning while you’re in the purchase contract period to avoid your child from having to switch schools so early in the school year.

The first step in the relocation process is to work with REALTORS® that give you the best possible chance to find that perfect home and get the best possible deal while taking your timeline into consideration. That’s where Kandis and I are able to help!

We have a proven system in place that will ensure that your new home won’t be missed while making the change of environment as easy as possible for your family!

To help with the timeline we surround ourselves with a team of professionals that share our same work ethic and dedication for your success. These include loan officers, escrow officers, and home inspectors that will assist with the short timeframe.

Contact “The Rebar Team” today to get started… Summer is almost over!

4th of July in Las Vegas photo by James Marvin Phelps

June 9, 2014

Report: Buying a Home Beats Renting in Las Vegas

A new report from Zillow confirms what most local real estate experts already know: buying a Las Vegas home becomes significantly cheaper than renting in a relatively short amount of time. In fact, the metro area’s “break-even horizon” — the time it takes for home ownership to become less expensive than renting — currently stands at around just 18 months on average.

That’s much faster than many other large cities. Our neighbor to the south, Phoenix, has a break-even time of nearly 40 months. In San Diego, you’ll have to wait well over 4 years before owning becomes cheaper than renting a home. And in several other popular cities across the country it still makes more sense to rent than to buy.

Zillow factors in all of the major costs associated with buying and renting to come up with their data. Upfront payments, closing costs, mortgage payments, insurance costs, taxes, utilities, normal maintenance, and monthly rent are all used in their calculations.

In Las Vegas, Henderson, and most of the rest of Southern Nevada rental rates are steadily increasing. At the same time, interest rates are still at historically low levels, keeping borrowing costs very low.

The bottom line: it makes a lot of financial sense to buy a house in the Las Vegas area right now. There are still great deals to be had and buying the right home can easily be one of the best investments you’ll ever make. But who knows how much longer interest rates will remain so low…

Contact us to begin the search for your Las Vegas or Henderson dream home today!

You can learn more about the Zillow findings here… Buy or Rent: Insight for the Undecided

Photo credit: wildlasvegas

May 9, 2014

Las Vegas Real Estate Update for May 2014

Hi! We just posted a brand new Las Vegas real estate expert “question and answer” video on YouTube.

Watch it below to learn about home value trends in the Vegas valley, the possibility of “market bubble” problems, and a few useful tips for buying the perfect property…

What do you think? Let us know in the comments area below!

Also, if you have a question about Las Vegas real estate please contact us today. Thanks! 🙂

– The Rebarteam

March 2, 2014

New Video Testimonial: Seven Hills Home Sold in 32 Hours… and For a Great Price!

Everyone knows that Henderson, NV real estate is hot right now… but sometimes even we are surprised at what can be accomplished with the right strategy, all-out effort, and a good client/REALTOR® combo!

Case in point: last month we were able to help one of our clients sell his Seven Hills home in less than 2 days, and for the top price any house in his neighborhood had sold for in the past year. We were able to pull this off by sticking to the same proven “game plan” we use with nearly every new project:

Intense Research + Clear Communication + Efficient, All-Out Effort = Fast Results!

As you’ll see in the testimonial video below, we walked our client through all the necessary steps in the sales process and then made the sale happen in a matter of hours. Buying or selling a Las Vegas valley home can be a complicated, complex process… but we always do out best to minimize stress and maximize results!

“I was over-impressed…”

As you can see, we go out of our way to explain every detail, including properly filling out all required paperwork, researching and showing recent comparables (comps) to establish an accurate appraisal, and marketing the home in the most effective ways possible.

When things come together amazing results can occur… like selling a home for max price in less than 2 days! 🙂

Contact us today to learn how we can help you get similar results

February 25, 2014

New Article: Best Reasons to Live in Seven Hills!

We live and work in the Seven Hills community of Henderson, NV… and we love it!

It’s quickly turning into one of the most popular places to live in the Las Vegas valley, mainly due to its beauty, safety, affordability, and incredible amenities. Yet, surprisingly, there’s really not much great content online focused on this unique master-planned community.

We plan to change that.

Over the next few months we’ll be rolling out a bunch of blog posts, articles, and videos related to Seven Hills and the surrounding areas (including Anthem, Green Valley, and Macdonald Ranch). The goal is to provide some fresh, useful, and interesting info for residents, visitors, and potential home buyers.

To kick things off we’ve just published a new 2100-world article entitled 7 of the Best Things About Living in Seven Hills!

Please go check it out and let us know what you think in the ‘comments’ area below the article… thanks! 🙂

February 25, 2014

Movoto’s Best Places to Live in Nevada: Vegas, Henderson & Boulder City Rank Near Top

Not long ago they ranked Nevada’s ‘safest’ cities… and somehow ended up with North Las Vegas ranked above Elko. Now real estate supersite Movoto.com is back at it again, releasing a new list of the ‘best’ cities in the Silver State on Monday.

Fortunately for us, Southern Nevada is well represented in the top 6 spots.

Movoto’s researchers looked at many different statistics to compile their list, including things like weather, air quality, amenities, cost of living, average commute times, household incomes, crime rates, taxes, unemployment rates, and a few others. In the end, Boulder City was ranked at #3, Las Vegas at #4, and Henderson wound up at #6.

North Las Vegas also squeaked into the Top 10, finishing at #9.

Not surprisingly, Lake Tahoe’s picturesque city of Incline Village was ranked at #1. And, kind of surprisingly, the tiny town of Gardnerville came in at #2. Our own Boulder City, with its low crime rate and marvelous amenities, rounded out the Top 3.

Vegas obviously has the most amenities of anywhere in the state, but its higher crime rate pushed it down the list a bit. Interestingly, because it’s an unincorporated community and technically a separate ‘city,’ the south Las Vegas neighborhood of Arden actually tied with Las Vegas for the fourth spot on the list.

Weird, I know… 🙂

In more good news for Southern Nevadans, Summerlin South managed to have the lowest overall crime rate in the entire state, according to Movoto’s statistics. Long commute times, however, relegated it to the number 16 spot on the list.

Check out all the rankings below:

List of Nevada's Best Places to Live, by Movoto.com — Source: Movoto.com

Some of those numbers look a little suspect to us (especially those ‘Quality of Life’ scores) but, overall, it’s a good effort to compile a ton of statewide data.

More here: LVRJ: Las Vegas ranked as Nevada’s No. 4 most livable city

—

What do you think about this ‘Best in NV’ list? Be sure to leave your comments below!

Beautiful photo of Henderson’s Lake Las Vegas community by Ed Schipul

February 14, 2014

Vegas Home Builders Are Building Again!

For the first time in several years, Las Vegas area home builders are constructing large numbers of new houses across the valley. That’s mainly due to higher homes prices (we saw a 23% price increase last year) and an improving local economy. It’s also due to the fact that Southern Nevada’s population is still increasing at a steady clip, and many new residents prefer new construction homes over resales.

Interestingly, the mini building spree is focused around higher-end homes priced above $200,000 — well above the valley’s current median home price of $185,000. The new homes are selling very well as people are looking to upgrade from the “starter homes” which were built in huge numbers in the early 2000’s. According to UNLV economist Stephen Brown, home builders who focus on higher-end construction projects are “not really competing against a big inventory of existing homes” because most of the current inventory consists of smaller entry-level homes.

According to the Greater Las Vegas Association, the areas with the biggest growth in buyer demand are Green Valley (Henderson) and Summerlin, on the western edge of the valley.

As long as the local recovery continues, many experts expect Vegas home builders to start and re-start even more construction projects around town. New buyers, “upgraders,” and people looking for second homes should continue to keep demand strong for newly built homes.

The good news for people wanting to buy a Las Vegas home is that they now have more options than ever!

Learn more here: Real estate rebound prompts home construction

Vegas bulldozer photo by Mel Stoutsenberger