Las Vegas Real Estate

[Alan Mendelson]

Our member "Vegas_Lover" in another thread mentioned that he is interested in buying a second home in Vegas and the timing is right for him. He is a European and would benefit from the weak dollar, along with the dramatic drop in home prices and interest rates that we had here in the United States. Well, Americans who want to buy a home-- a first home, or a second home, or a retirement home in Vegas-- would also benefit from the current conditions.

So the following is my original response to "Vegas_Lover" from the other thread. I thought it would be best to start a new thread since it is a totally different topic:

********************

Vegas_Lover: Prices are great for anyone who has the money to buy AND can get financing. A big problem now in the United States is that while interest rates are at historically low levels, banks are very tight with their money and lending is at a standstill. Banks also are afraid to sell the thousands of foreclosed homes they have now because of litigation and charges that they abused the system. Unless you are a "cash buyer" and do not need any kind of loan, it could take you months for approval. Trying to be a foreclosed home is literally a roll of the dice and real estate agents are suggesting that if you want a foreclosed home or bank owned property (REO for "real estate owned" by a bank) that you should make offers on several properties simultaneously.

By the way, I've invited several Realtors in the Vegas area to use this Forum and my website to give their "intelligence" and information about the market and market conditions -- and not one has taken me up on the offer. This is the first time in more than 40 years of being in the media that I've found Realtors refusing free publicity. And I think the reason is that they just can't make the deals "happen" even though there are plenty of homes for sale.

[Vegas_lover]

Alan,

I'm in the lucky position of not needing any financing. We're looking for a nice home somewhere in the $100.000-$150.000 region and there's plenty of those for sale in Vegas. A large number of them isn't even foreclosed. A couple of years ago these houses would sell for about 220.000 to 350.000 so it's a good investment. For European standards, they're big houses as well being over 2000 sft and the lot being somewhere between 4500 to 8000 sft. Most European houses have just one bathroom and most don't have a pool in the backyard. Buying a house like that i my country would cost me around $600.000. A nice additional bonus is that home owners taxes in Nevade are very low compared to other states. So, great investment climate if you ask me.

[Alan Mendelson]

As you explain it, you are absolutely correct. And you should also look at Miami, Florida for similar bargains. I don't know how Vegas is viewed in your country for an "American home" but the trendy South Beach sections of Miami were developed by European investors as well as South American investors in the mid 1980s.

I covered an auction of a dilapidated mid rise building on South Beach just before I left Miami in late 1987. The apartment building (I think it had perhaps 10 stories) was being converted to condos. You could pick up a two bedroom unit then for only.... get this.... THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS. I vividly recall that the "fully furnished model" sold for $18,000 at the auction. While I haven't been back there I am sure those condos today are worth several hundred thousand dollars each.

I always regretted not taking out a credit card and buying one on the spot.

[Vegas_lover]

How tempting Maimi might be investment wise, I don't really care for it. Europe has some great beaches (Spain and Greece) and you simply can't beat the Egyptian beaches at the Red Sea. It's known throughout the world as being the best diving hotspot. The hurricanes that hit the Miami area don't sound to tempting to me either. The way I look at this, Las Vegas gives me the best investment opportunity. It's the entertainment capital of the world with around 37 million visitors a year. Las Vegas will continue to have casinos, great shows, great dining options, great night clubs, RR-Canyon, Valley of Fire, Lake Mead, Grand Canyon, Mount Charlston, etc. So to us, Vegas has a lot more to offer than Miami. I would have to consider Miami for the beaches mainly and there's better places I can go for that... If i want to go to the Egyption beaches I will pay around $3500 for our family of four to stay two weeks in a 4 or 5 star all-inclusive resort. I would pay the same amount on airfair only to get to Miami

[Hushy]

Hi I'm just wondering what could be the difference between Las Vegas Real State and los angeles ca realtors? If you have any idea just share me your thoughts and don't hesitate to do it.

[Alan Mendelson]

This morning the realtors group in Las Vegas reported their numbers for April, and it is encouraging that the market is finally turning up. See http://alanbestbuys.com/id205.html which is our news page for Nevada real estate.

[Rob.Singer]

I just read that vegaslover believes he could get an 8000 sq ft home for $350,000, I guess in LV. I'd like to know where that place is.

When the housing crisis started and foreclosures were climbing in LV, I was contacted by a LV realtor friend who was receiving my e-newsletter at the time. I ended up buying a foreclosed property just to sell ,up in Aliante for around $200k cash, and he turned it around for me in less than a month (after I put about $20k worth of repairs due to owner damage into it). I made $40k, but it was an all-around headache even though I had a go-getter doing the work for me in LV. If you're gonna live in it then it's probably a different story with a different motivation level.

[Alan Mendelson]

I think the reference to 8000 sq feet referred to the lot size and not the house size. That would be 100 feet by 80 feet.

[Rob.Singer]

I think the reference to 8000 sq feet referred to the lot size and not the house size. That would be 100 feet by 80 feet.

I see that's right--thanks. Then those prices seen high to me especially now. That house I bought was brand new to the people who bought it 8 months earlier and never made a payment. It was a 3000 sq ft home.

[redietz]

Just a weird side note: I have a friend who won a house in the Palace Station football contest 20 years ago -- valued then at $120,000. Well that house eventually was valued at $350,000. This year -- guess what? Back to original value. Wow -- a 20 year pendulum.

[Rob.Singer]

And that's the problem with the superficial, so-called "recovery" going on in LV right now. Obama has been making all kinds of appearances and promises to the folks in LV recently, saying they can either "refinance" or have the principal on their homes recalculated--and thus repriced for lower monthly payments--while little to nothing gets done. And it all has to do with massive real estate value dives, which of course, he's powerless to do anything about because it's always up to the investors--who for some reason would rather take a huge loss on a foreclosure than do whatever they can to help the home owners stay in their homes.

[Alan Mendelson]

I think the real "telling" fact about Las Vegas real estate comes in this new report from Applied Analysis, the research firm in Vegas:

"The office market vacancy rate remained at 25.2 percent during the fourth quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012."

Whille many people think of Vegas as a "gaming city," it has and needs other industries to maintain itself. And a large vacancy rate shows it has problems.

[Rob.Singer]

That's right Alan. When a city employs the majority of its workforce in the service industry, we've seen that even the slightest downturn causes a large scale disruption in the economy there. Most of these people live on the edge because they make small wages for the most part to begin with, then they gamble some of it away when they really shouldn't't be playing in casinos. We stayed at the Rio this week because that's where the San Gennaro Feast was held. The festival was packed with thousands of visitors, yet it seemed strange that the casino was virtually empty at all hours.