Many homeowners who purchased their Las Vegas Home between 2004 and 2007 are most likely upside down, unless they put a substantial amount down of at least 40%.  With home values dropping from a high of $315K in June 2006 to today’s average price of $140K can make selling your home very difficult and most likely will require you to sell it as a short sale.  Unfortunately, just because you want to sell your home does not mean the Bank/Lender is going to agree to take a loss without some type of hardship such as job relocation, job loss, divorce or death.  So depending on your financial situation, renting your home for the next 3-5 years could be an option to selling.

Giving the state of the economy, the Las Vegas Rental Market is doing well.  Many former homeowners are now becoming renters as they have lossed their home to foreclosure or sold it as a short sale.  For those that lost their home due to foreclosure will be unable to purchase a home for 5 years, making them an ideal long term renter.  Knowing that there is still a market for rentals, the next step is determining what your home could rent for based on what other homes have rented for in the area.  The rental price could be the determining factor on whether you can afford to rent your home out or if the negative cash flow is going to force you to sell your home.  The last thing you want to do is rent your home out knowing full well you are going to let it go in foreclosure as this is very unethical and could cause a hardship for the tenants when they are forced to vacate the property.

If you are in a position that is forcing you to sell or rent your Las Vegas Home, it is important to contact the right real estate agent.  Chances are, if you are going to sell your home, you will need a real estate agent that specializes in short sales and remember there could be legal and tax implications.  If you are going to rent your home, I would recommend having a Las Vegas Property Management Company handle the management of your property.

If you have any questions about the short sale process, feel free to contact Paul Rowe at 702.376.0088.  If you are thinking about renting your Las Vegas Home and are in need of Property Management Services, feel free to contact Tony Sena at 702.376.7379.

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.