According to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, over 30% of homes for sale are Short Sales.  A successful short sale is where the Lender/Bank agrees to take less than what is owed.  The homeowner usually has to show some type of hardship in order to get approved to do a short sale.  A hardship could be the loss of a job, divorce, or job relocation.  Some Lenders/Banks won’t approve a short sale unless the homeowner is at least 1 month behind in payments.

Short Sales are definitely not “short”!  Short Sales usually take anywhere from 90 days to 180 days to get approved.  The reason why most short sales don’t close successfully is because buyers don’t have the patience to wait that long for the transaction to be approved.  There are a few things that can be done by the listing agent to help improve the chances of the short sale getting approved and in less time.

If you are interested in selling your home and you owe more than it is worth, we should talk about doing a short sale.  We can be reached at 702.376.0088 or you can complete our contact form.  Click on the link for more information on Las Vegas Short Sales.

This past weekend I spent some time with a couple that just got married and are looking to purchase their first home.  They both have really good credit, high paying jobs and can afford a size-able down payment.  They have been approved for a FHA Loan Amount not to exceed $250K.  Even though they can afford a loan balance of $250K, they prefer to stay around the $175K price range.  Very smart!

A few of the Las Vegas Homes they picked out to see were short sales and required I call to confirm with the seller to make sure we could see the property.  All together there were 5 properties that were occuppied and required I called.  So following the request of the listing agent, I called all 5 properties well in advance of the times that we wanted to view the homes.  Out of the 5 properties, all but 1 of them gave me grief about the time we wanted to view the property.  I politely said to the sellers, I have a qualified buyer that wants to view your home today at this time, if you can’t work it in your schedule, I appreciate your time but I will not have my buyer work around your schedule and come back another day that is more convenient for you!  I mean come on, do you really want to sell your home?

We ended up seeing 3 of the 5 properties that were occuppied.  The other 2 would not let us see it at the times we were in the area?  I surmised that they really didn’t want to sell their home!

A piece of advice to sellers, we are in a buyer’s market, you have to be a little flexible when it comes to selling your Las Vegas Home.  If your home is priced right, you are going to have buyers that want to see your home at different times throughout the day and if you really want to sell it, you are going to have to allow these buyers to view your home.

Home prices in Las Vegas dropped 29.5 perecent in May compared to a year ago.  This decline can be attributed to the abundant amount of foreclosures that are flooding the Las Vegas Real Estate Market.  Banks and Lenders are lowering prices to move these homes which is affecting home values all across the Las Vegas Valley.

First time home buyers, investors and those looking to buy 2nd homes are finding incredible opportunities.   A friend of mine is looking to rent a home and they forwarded me a property that was for rent and asked me to find out when it was purchased.  After doing a little research, this 3000 square foot house sold in December 2006 for $610K and just recently sold in May 2008 for $300K.  Talk about a great deal!  This one story, 3 car garage, 3000 square foot house sold for almost 50 percent less in less than 2 years. 

What this means for buyers:

1. Excellent opportunity to find an affordable home.
2. More home for their money.
3. Banks/Lenders are paying your closing costs.
4. Interest Rates are still at all time lows.

Sellers are not in a very good situation right now and should avoid selling if they can and attempt to wait until home prices in the Las Vegas Valley begin to rise.  The rental market is doing very well right now and sellers should look at renting their home as a viable option before selling.  If you cannot wait and have some type of hardship, (divorce, loss of job, pay cut, etc…) you could always look into selling your Las Vegas home as a short sale.

What this means for sellers:

1. Banks/Lenders are driving down the values in neighborhoods.
2. Probably will owe more than the home is worth.
3. Hold off on selling if you can afford to wait for home prices to rebound.

If you are looking to buy or sell in Las Vegas, don’t hesitate to contact Sena & Associates for all your Las Vegas Real Estate needs at 702.376.0088 or visit us on our website at www.SenaSellsVegas.com!