According to the National Association of Realtors, over 80% of home buyers begin their search on the Internet before they contact a real estate agent.  If home buyers are using the Internet to search for homes, isn’t it important that your Las Vegas Real Estate Agent have an Internet presence?  Why is it important that the agent selling your Las Vegas home have an Internet presence?  Your agents job is to sell your home and the more potential buyers that contact him through the Internet, the higher the probability that he/she can find a buyer for your home.

Majority of homes sold in Las Vegas are not sold by the agent that lists the property, but by an agent that found the buyer.  But that doesn’t mean the listing agent cannot find a buyer for the listing.  It takes the proper marketing to get the home sold.  Not every Las Vegas Real Estate Agent has the knowledge, experience or no how to properly market a home.  Most agents think that placing the Las Vegas Home for Sale in the MLS (multiple listing service) is all they need to do to market the home.  This is far from the truth.  A home needs to be not only marketed to other Las Vegas Real Estate Agents, but on the Internet as well.  The more potential buyers that find the listing, the greater chance there is the home will sell.

When looking for the right Las Vegas Real Estate Agent to sell your home, make sure their marketing plan includes heavy exposure on the Internet.

After many months or maybe years, you have finally decided to buy your own home. You have pinched every penny to save up a sizeable down payment. You have made open houses a weekend ritual but still can’t seem to make the leap into purchasing a home. Why not??

Maybe you’re comfortable in your current space. You have accepted the shortcomings of where you live whether it is loud neighbors or no parking readily available. Not many surprises since you have been there so long.

First time home buyers tend to freeze up when it comes time to actually picking a house. Will they be happy there? Will they like their neighbors? Will they be tied down because they are now house rich and cash poor? What happens if their financial situation changes for the worse? Basically, the fear of the unknown becomes a constant nagging in their ear and prevents them from moving on towards purchasing their dream home.

Here are some steps to try and then maybe you can take the leap to homeownership:

• Get comfortable with your finances: Make sure you sit down and go over all of your current finances and the new ones that will occur with home ownership. Things like property taxes, home owners insurance, commuting to work and cost of utilities should be factored into your monthly expenses to make sure you are buying within your limit.
• Partner with a Realtor: You need to pair up with a knowledgeable realtor. Even though the internet will allow you to do lots of research on your own, you can’t get the low down on a property without help from a realtor. They will be able to answer questions you will have and give you the inside scoop on the property. They will also help you write an offer and make sure you get a good deal.
• Accept some risk: There is uncertainty in everything about life, you just need to deal with it. Learn from people you know that have purchased a home. Find out their mistakes and what to look for. Make sure you don’t drain your bank account with purchasing the home, keep a safety net in case of emergency.
• Fine tune your “must-haves”: Make your list of “must haves” in your new home. A garage, the neighborhood, size and layout of the home, and anything else you feel is important and that you can’t live without. You may find that you are willing to sacrifice one feature, if the rest is fabulous. If you are not crazy about the house, don’t bid. It is important you love the home you are bidding on, after all you will be living there for some time.
• Be ready to bid: Great homes and prices don’t stay around for long. If you love the home, have your realtor help you make an appropriate bid. If you are wavering, ask yourself, “How will I feel if I don’t get this house?” You might just get it, and if not, at least you’ll you know you tried.
• Find an experienced Mortgage Professional: Sit down with an experienced mortgage professional and have them help you analyze your options for financing your new home. Finding the right mortgage can be as important as finding the right home. Make sure you clearly understand what type of mortgage you are getting. Ask as many questions as you need too until you are absolutely clear on the type of financing you are applying for. Remember, you are the one paying back the mortgage.

I hope this pushes all of you “on the fence” home buyers “off the fence” and into the home of your dreams. Happy House Hunting!!!!

By Shelli Crysler

With so many Las Vegas Homes for Sale it’s becoming more difficult to find buyers.  Homes begin to sit on the market for days, weeks and months with no offers.  Many times, homeowners become frustrated and blame their real estate agent for not doing their job to sell their home.  Is it really the fault of their real estate agent that their home is not selling?  It depends.  If their real estate agent is actively marketing their home instead of just waiting for another agent to bring a buyer, than I would say no it’s not their fault.

So what happens when a home does not sell?  Eventually it expires with their real estate agent, unless they extend the contract with the agent.  Once it expires, the homeowner can expect to be bombarded with phone calls and mail from other Las Vegas Real Estate Agents stating they can do a much better job and sell their home.

My advice to Las Vegas Homeowners woud be to interview several Las Vegas Real Estate Agents and ask lots of questions.  Here are a few important questions you need to ask:

1. Are you a full or part time real estate agent?
2. How long have you been involved in selling real estate?
3. How many homes have you sold in the last 90 days?  In the last year?
4. What type of marketing will you be doing to sell my home?
5. What makes you different from other real estate agents I have interviewed?
6. If I am not satisfied with your performance, can I fire you and hire another real estate agent?

Obviously there are many more questions you should ask, but these are a few of the more important questions that you need to ask.  Remember don’t panic if your Las Vegas Home expires and don’t rush into a new contract with another Las Vegas Real Estate Agent.  Do you due diligence and interview several agents until you find one that you are satisfied has the credentials, experience and marketing programs to sell your Las Vegas Home!

According to Wikipedia.com, Marketing is “Essentially, the process of creating or directing an organization to be successful in selling a product or service that people not only desire, but are willing to buy.”  It is very important to market a Las Vegas Home for Sale and not just advertise the home.  What’s the difference you ask?  Below is a good example that talks about the difference between marketing and advertising.

“The best way to distinguish between advertising and marketing is to think of marketing as a pie, inside that pie you have slices of advertising, market research, media planning, public relations, product pricing, distribution, customer support, sales strategy, and community involvement. Advertising only equals one piece of the pie in the strategy. All of these elements must not only work independently but they also must work together towards the bigger goal. Marketing is a process that takes time and can involve hours of research for a marketing plan to be effective. Think of marketing as everything that an organization does to facilitate an exchange between company and consumer. ” (Laura Lake, About.com)

It is important for a Las Vegas Real Estate Agent to formulate a marketing plan to sell your Las Vegas Home.  Advertising your home in the local multiple listing service is important but cannot be the only form of advertising that is done in order to get the maximum exposure to sell your home.  With over 21,000 homes on the market and the increase in Las Vegas Bank Owned and Short Sales, it is important to get as many potential buyers viewing your home in order to get the highest offer possible.

So if you are going to be selling your Las Vegas Home in the very near future, make sure you do your due diligence and interview several Las Vegas Real Estate Agents in order to find the right agent that has the right marketing plan for your home.

It is almost impossible not to notice Panorama Towers as you drive down Interstate 15 in Las Vegas.  Panorama Towers is located on the west side of Interstate 15 on Dean Martin Drive and Harmon, directly across from Project City Center.  The third Panorama Tower is currently under construction.

Panorama Towerscomprises of two 33-story towers with each tower containing over 300 units.  The third tower that is under construction is slated to be a 44 story tower.  The luxury units range from 700 to 4,400 square feet.  Amenities include Spa and Fitness Facilities, Valet and Concierge Services, Pool and Jacuzzis and much much more!

According to the Las Vegas Review Journal in late 2007 ”developer Satoshi Nakayama paid $10 million for a 10,500-square-foot gray-shell penthouse on the 34th floor of Panorama Towers.”  Mr. Nakayama has plans to spend an additional $5 million to build out the unit.  Guess you can say that the Las Vegas High Rise Condo Market is doing alright when you have someone paying $10 million for a unit?

If you haven’t seen one of these units, I encourage you to make an appointment and take a tour of Panorama Towers and don’t be surprised if you run into Panorama Tower residents Leonardo DiCaprio or Pamela Anderson.

Encore, part of Wynn Las Vegas is expected to open in December 2008.  The Encore Tower will add an additional 2,034 suites to the resort at an estimated cost of $2.2 Billion.  Applications will be accepted for the 5,300 positions at the hiring center starting in mid July.

How will Encore effect the local economy?  The obvious, 5,300 new jobs will have a long term effect.  The short term effect will be the tens of thousands that come to Las Vegas for the grand opening of Encore.  December is usually the slow time of year for the Hotel and Casino Industry, so the grand opening of Encore would bring in much needed revenue for the local economy.

Many of the new jobs created will be filled by employees from other hotels leaving openings at these other properties.  The increase in available jobs will cause an influx of people relocating to the Las Vegas Valley.  These new Las Vegas residents will need some type of housing whether it be an apartment, rental home or home ownership, which will be good for the local Las Vegas Housing market.

The Las Vegas Real Estate Market is currently doing better and there are many positive signs on the horizon like the opening of Encore that indicate we are on our way to a recovery.

Fuel prices skyrocketing out of control. Heaven forbid you own a diesel which is now pushing $5 per gallon. The floods in the Midwest are impacting our food supply which in turn is costing us more money. The salmonella scare of fresh tomatoes in threatening a shortage. And now the mortgage interest rates are on the climb as well, joining the long list of things that are becoming more expensive.

According to Bankrate.com which is a national survey of large lenders, the 30 year fixed rate rose 26 basis points. A basis point is 100th of 1 percentage point. One year ago the mortgage index was 6.84%, 4 weeks ago it was 6.19% and today it is 6.52%. The 15 year fixed jumped a dramatic 28 basis points to 6.12% and the 30 year jumbo rose 13 basis points to 7.6%. Even the adjustable rate mortgages have taken a hit, the 5/1adjustable rate went up 27 basis points to 6.07%. UNBELIEVABLE!!!

This is the biggest increase for the 30 year fixed mortgage rate since Feb 20th when it rose 41 basis points. According to a weekly survey by Bankrate, the 30 year fixes has jumped up more then 25 basis points 7 times in the last 10 years with 3 of those 7 instances being in 2008. Not a good trend for ‘08.

Need some consolation right now? The rates were substantially higher a year ago. However, last years high rates were due to the hot stock market which drew investors away from bonds. This caused the bond yields to rise followed closely by the mortgages rates. This year is a whole different story. The rates are rising in response to inflation fears and concerns about credit quality.

Even though the rates are on the rise and prices are steadily going up on many consumer goods, it looks like some areas in the country have less expensive housing then others. According to the Beige Book home prices are down in New England, Florida and California. The NAR (National Association of Realtors) reported this week that its index of pending home sales were up in April. This signals a possible increase in home sales in the last half of the year. Keep your fingers crossed.

“Sharp price reductions are leading to a quicker discovery of price equilibrium points,” the Realtors’ chief economist, Lawrence Yun, says.

According to some analysts this translates into the foreclosure issue out West cutting into home prices in parts of the country.

Right before the increase in mortgage rates this week, the president of the National Association of Realtors, Richard Gaylord, said: “Overall affordability conditions are the best we’ve seen since the middle of the housing boom in 2004, but with far more choices and much less pressure than buyers experienced four years ago to make an investment in their future.”

The question is “has some of the affordability been lost now that the mortgage rates have climbed a quarter of a percentage point?” I would say yes.

By Shelli Crysler

It appears a transportation bill has just been signed for $45 million that will be used to study the idea of a high speed maglev (magnetic levitation) train travel from Disneyland to Las Vegas!  This money will go towards studying the impact on the environment and the overall cost of such a project.  If the plan goes forward, a trip to Disneyland from Las Vegas will only take 2 hours!  I know when my family loads up the car to take our traditional trip to Disneyland, it takes a little over 4 hours and that’s if we bypass the rush hour traffic in and around Anaheim, California.

With the spike in gas prices, this would be a welcoming option to driving from Southern California to Las Vegas.  This would also ease the traffic on Interstate 15 between Southern California and Las Vegas.  If this project goes forward, I believe it would increase the amount of visitors to the Las Vegas Valley which would mean more money being spent in Las Vegas which is always good for our economy!

Let’s just hope they really give this project a chance!

Not many are interested in a Las Vegas Real Estate Career with all the negative publicity that the Las Vegas Real Estate Market has been receiving lately.  I actually think that the Las Vegas Real Estate Market is poised for a rebound very soon making it an excellent time to get your real estate license!

Are you currently licensed to sell real estate but just not doing much business?  Have you had to get a part time job just to get by?  Why don’t Las Vegas Real Estate Agents who aren’t doing very well look for a new real estate company to hang their license?  I hear all the time about how business is so bad and if they just could get some leads they would be happy!  But yet, they seem afraid to take that step and find a Las Vegas Real Estate Company that can make their personal business more successful.

My question is, “What do Las Vegas Real Estate Agents look for in a real estate company when it comes to switching brokerages?”

How many Las Vegas Real Estate Agents actually know how to market a home?  Is there a science to truly marketing a Las Vegas Home?

Most Las Vegas Homeowners who are selling a home for the first time usually choose real estate agents that are referred to them from their friends thinking that all Las Vegas Real Estate Agents are the same.  The truth is, not all Las Vegas Real Estate Agents are the same.  There are many Las Vegas Real Estate Agents that are part time agents, their are some that are primarily buyer agents, and some that specialize in only listings.  So back to my original question, “is their a science to marketing a home?”  I would say yes and here is why!

With so many Las Vegas Homes on the market, some bank owned and some short sales, it is imperative to get as many potential buyers to view the home in order for it to sell.  It is difficult to compete with these bank owned homes because the banks are pricing these homes so low in order to sell them quickly.  So how do you generate potential buyers?  The first thing you need to do is obviously price the home correctly!  The second thing that needs to be done is to analyze the neighborhood and surrounding community.  For example, say the home is in the northeast part of Las Vegas.  This potential home is close to Nellis Air Force Base and might make an ideal home for military personnel transferring to Nellis due to its close proximity to the base.  So it might make sense to market the home on the base and websites that target military personnel.

What about a home near a hospital?  It would make sense to market the home to the employees of the hospital with flyers and possibly in the Hospital newsletter that gets distributed to the staff.  So the point is, it is very important to analyze the community that surrounds the home you are going to list, you never know where you are going to find the buyer for your listing.  Their is a good chance the buyer could already be working in the surrounding community!