What is the Real Estate Market Doing?

Ever wonder what the real estate market is doing in your neighborhood? The link I have pasted below and will place on the side of this blog shows trends in prices, crime and even local school testing stats sorted by zip code.  http://www.lvhomesbymike.com/mimarket/zip/89123/

Home Buyers Take Notice

Are your looking to purchase a home and have been fighting to get your offer accepted, there may be good news.  The number of homes on the market has increased by 600 over the past week.  Working as a buyers agent over this past weekend, I discovered there are not quite as many offers being placed on homes.  If you are looking in the price range of under $160,000 it is still fierce but appears to me moderating even in this range where a couple weeks ago you would be fighting with 20+ other offers on one home.  For a higher price range of $200,000 + it appears multiple offers are not even normal at this point which is fantastic news for buyers. 

Condo Vs. Townhouse

VS.

I have had several clients recently have questions regarding the differences between a condo and a townhouse.  There are a few main differences and sometimes it is hard to tell the differences apart.  I recently sold a brand new townhouse and I will call it that because it seems to have more townhouse qualities than condo but the builder actually refers to them as condos.

The main differences are the number of adjoining walls with another home.  Typically a townhouse will only have an adjoining wall with one or two other units versus a condo will usually share walls with 3 or more units. It is not uncommon for townhouses to only share one adjoining wall on the garage only.

A second difference is a yard.  Condos typically do not have front or back yards at all and require little if any exterior care by the owner.  A townhouse usually will have a small front or rear yard if not both. 

Lastly, condos usually do not have attached garages and townhouses do. 

A lot of newer townhouses have separate adjoining walls so they are essentially built like a single family home but simply have walls that touch each other.  Roof and exterior walls are blended to look like one building.

Avoid Foreclosure

The media the past couple days has been blasting about the foreclosure rate here in Nevada being the second highest only to Florida.  While this may be the case, it is due to the law makers in Carson City delaying foreclosures last year.  Unfortunately for people that have not been paying their mortgage payments the past year of so, your time may be up.

Banks have now, once again, begun processing foreclosures.  If you are afraid of this happening to you, short selling your home may be a viable option.  If your mortgage is backed by Fannie Mae and you qualify to complete a short sale, you can receive $3,000.00 for relocation.  A short sale on your credit is only a scratch compared to foreclosure.  Additionally, if you have a second mortgage or any other liens, you can be cleared of those debts too. 

My experience and expertise in selling real estate is an asset to you.  If you want to find out if Fannie Mae backs your mortgage, simply email me at mike@lvhomesbymike.com.

7/1 ARM's Coming Due!

Did you get an adjustable rate mortgage in 2006 or 2007?  This was a very popular mortgage during the housing boom because it made homes "affordable", and I use that term loosely.  What the 7/1 ARM meant was your purchased a home and the rate did not increase for 7 years.  Is your alarm going off yet? If not it will be soon because these mortgages are about to reset.

 If you are under water on your home you may be in trouble.  If you are not under water on the value of your home, I strongly suggest refinancing as soon as possible and taking advantage of the low rates. 

For those of you under water, which here in the Las Vegas area, it is a lot of us.  Now may be the time to consider a short sale.  The reason I say now is because the mortgage relief act has been extended through the end of this year only.  It takes time to do a short sale and if you close after December 31, 2013 you will have tax implications if you sell your home and have a deficiency.

Prices are up so banks are more willing to do short sales for a variety of reasons. Please contact me for a personal consultation if you are on the fence about selling your home.

Las Vegas Real Estate Market Haywire!

The housing market in Las Vegas can be described as one way... Ridiculous.  Depending on if you are a buyer or sell that ridiculous can be good or bad.  The inventory as of this morning is 3,490 single family homes plus about 1,000 condos or townhouses.  The problem lies that there are bout 4,200 homes purchases and closed every month in Las Vegas.  So bottom line is there are simply not enough homes to go around. 

Who is buying these homes?  There are two main groups purchasing, first are the investors, trying to grab everything they can before prices go too high.  The second group are first time home buyers that simply want to purchase a home.  The second group are the one getting effected the most because the investors come in, pay cash and get their offer accepted.  The first time home buyer is typically relying on a low down payment and financing the bulk of the purchase and needs to rely on the home appraising for the purchase price in order to get the mortgage.  If you are looking to purchase right now, the best thing to do when writing an offer is as follows:

1)Do not make a low ball offer on a property you really like.
2)Make the offer clean - meaning don't ask for too much if anything.
3)Find out from your real estate agent what the seller is asking for from the buyer.
4)Don't get excited.  It may take making multiple offers before you finally get one accepted. 

I was speaking with a co-worker that had a listing for a single family home and she received 110 offers within 3 days.  No doubt it is a battle out there right now if you are trying to buy a home. 

Don't give up, if you are in need of a good Realtor that will be persistent and work for you, contact me at 702.286.3434 or email me at lvhomesbymike@gmail.com

Is My Home Still Underwater?

Here in the Las Vegas real estate market homes underwater have become the norm since 2008.  Underwater, meaning that the mortgage on the home is more than the value of the home.  The market has shifted once again, thankfully, placing many home owners back in positive equity.  If you plan on living in your home and are able to make your payments, then it really doesn't matter if you are underwater or not.  Although it certainly doesn't feel good that you are paying on a home that is not worth what you owe.  If you are in a position that you need to sell your home is where if you are underwater or not is crucial.  Basically, if you need to sell and you do owe more than your home is worth is where you need to consider doing a short sale.  Short sale is when your mortgage holder, typically a bank, agrees to let you sell your home for less than is owed.  When this happens, the goal for the homeowner is to forgive the remaining balance on the home after it is sold.  Therefore releasing the former owner of any liability for the mortgage deficiency. 

Depending when and how much you paid for your home and any down payment will determine if you are underwater still.  Home prices have gone up about 25% over the past 6 months and continue to rise in recent weeks. So many people that have been underwater no longer are. 

The best way to find out where you stand is to have a Comparative Market Analysis done on your home to determine the value.  I offer this analysis free with no strings attached simply by emailing me at lvhomesbymike@gmail.com