Rising Interest rates and mixed messages

Anybody in the process of buying a home or in the real estate business knows that interest rates just jumped quite significantly. There are some mixed messages on why this took place. Some people who have not been right about too much in the past several years think it’s the beginning of signs of recovery.

Fiscal Responsibility is a Concern After All

Investors in the bond markets, where the Treasury Department goes to raise money to keep the government running, are getting skeptical about the scale of Washington’s spending. The yields on Treasury notes have risen to their highest points in five months as investors who once thronged to the safety of government debt begin to invest elsewhere.

“These increases appear to reflect concerns about large federal deficits but also other causes, including greater optimism about the economic outlook, a reversal of flight-to-quality flows and technical factors related to the hedging of mortgage holdings,” Mr. Bernanke said.

This is an interesting situation taking place and Mr. Bernanke thinks it’s because of greater economic optimism. Unfortunately, it could be a sign that foreign investors are not too keen about the Federal Reserve printing up money to buy this same debt… which the only rational reason why this would take place is if the demand was not there to begin with.

China Warns U.S. About Printing Money 05/24/09

Unless you’ve been completely ignoring who has been the big buyer of all of the U.S. Treasury Bonds for the past year to pay for all of the money being shelled out to bail everybody out… it’s been the Chinese. Uncle Charlie has been pretty generous in the rates for all of that excess money they have. Until now..

(I hope you seriously did not think that the U.S. really had all of that money sitting around.)

With an attempt to keep mortgage rates low, $8,000 first time home buyer tax credits and foreclosure moratoriums for an attempt to help the housing market, the Federal Reserve has actually been printing up money to buy U.S. Treasury Bonds to keep interest rates low. This strategy can only last for so long… When you print money and increase the supply of the currency, it obviously devalues the actual value of that currency. Countries such as Zimbabwe have tried this exact same strategy which eventually made their currency worthless.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation_in_Zimbabwe

These increases appear to reflect concerns about large federal deficits, Mr. Bernanke said.

Much better… and much more honest. (Oh… don’t forget to throw in that we’ve been printing up money to buy our own debt.)

Where We Are in the Economic Cycle

It’s important to understand what happened in the first place under the Bush Administration which eventually led us to the bottom of the Austrian Business Cycle:

The theory views business cycles (which they also call credit cycles) as the inevitable consequence of inherently damaging and ineffective central bank policies, which cause interest rates to remain too low for too long, resulting in excessive credit creation, speculative economic bubbles and lowered savings.[2]

Combine that with lax lending standards and double the speculative economic bubble that burst… big time.

You get out of it by sacrificing… saving money and getting out of debt.

When I was in college… I think I had every credit card in existence. They just kept sending me those applications and even though I put on there I was a full time college student.. they just kept saying OK and sending me a shiny new plastic card… and then they would raise the credit limits just for making one payment on time.

I had a beautiful girlfriend that loved Las Vegas for all it was worth. Eventually the credit ran out and the girlfriend moved on… I spent the next 4 years just working, not spending anything on non-necessities and paying all of that debt off. It was not that much fun… but eventually ended up being very rewarding.

Today’s Economic Policy under Obama

The attempt to get out of the Austrian Business Cycle bottom is the Keynesian Economic Theory:

Keynes argued that the solution to depression was to stimulate the economy (”inducement to invest”) through some combination of two approaches: a reduction in interest rates and government investment in infrastructure. Investment by government injects income, which results in more spending in the general economy, which in turn stimulates more production and investment involving still more income and spending and so forth. The initial stimulation starts a cascade of events, whose total increase in economic activity is a multiple of the original investment.[2]

The key word here is “investment” which by my definition is a return on your money. All of the massive spending programs in place, stimulus bills, bailouts, etc… require a return on the money invested to work. This is where foreign investors such as China are looking at where their money is going towards such as GM bailouts, Performing Arts Centers and bailing out bloated governments such as California. The deficit has gotten so large that foreign investors are starting to look elsewhere.

Would you Lend Money on these Programs if you had better Alternatives?

This is Want I want to Drive

This is Want I want to Drive

I certainly would not. I see zero chance of any of these bailouts ever even returning my money… much less returning my money with any decent return. Should I lend $50 Billion to GM or $50 Billion to American Made Teslamotors? My money would be on Tesla Motors. Should I lend $50 Billion to bail out California? NO WAY… Not when California is one of the greatest states in the United States and their State Government has run it into the ground. It’s absolutely amazing that was once the 8th largest economy in the world is on the verge of BK.

You can have a great product.. but if you have piss poor management… it’s not going to matter.

Would you rather purchase Gold/Silver or Oil?

Wondering why Gas Prices have been shooting up lately? If you are following Oil, Gold and Silver… you’ve noticed prices have shot up significantly since February. Now you know where the money is going…

Interest rates have gone up because the money is going somewhere else and U.S. Treasury Bonds are not that attractive to purchase and the Federal Reserve has been printing money to make up for all of the money that needs to be raised to pay for everything including low interest rates for housing.

Interest rates have to rise to attract investment money… the problem is that what is guaranteeing the debt is in a major deficit and there are serious questions as to whether it can even be paid back. Think about where the Federal Governement has been spending that borrowed money and seriously question if it will get paid back without printing more money. Once again… would you put $50 Billion into GM or $50 Billion into little known Tesla Motors?

The Effect on Real Estate Values

Las Vegas real estate values were decimated before all of the Government programs. By the time anybody in Washington D.C. thought there was a problem or cared because it was starting to effect them… values had already gone down over 40% in Las Vegas. This was part of the natural effect of the Austrian Business Cycle when home values had skyrocketed due to cheap credit and lax lending standards. Obviously… market surges in home values such as Las Vegas, Arizona, Florida and Southern California were blamed on “speculators” and not the crappy cheap loan programs that were global. When Government money got poured into the market to lower interest rates, loan modification bailouts, etc… values in Las Vegas had already gone down too much to save the market. In actuality, the “bubble markets” were allowed to naturally correct in price from the artificial highs of cheap credit and lax lending standards.

Programs such as the $8,000 tax credit and the low interest rates due to the Federal reserve buying U.S. treasury bonds has created a buying frenzy for real estate in Las Vegas that is so cheap. Other real estate markets in the U.S. continue to decline… even with all of these programs in place.

Look for Interest Rates to Continue to Rise

This is my opinion from tracking other things going on. I predict interest rates will continue to rise due to the need for the U.S. Government needing even more money to pay for all of the “stimulus” programs in place. Look for commodity prices to continue to rise as cash rich countries such as China move their money to investing in necessities such as Grain and Oil which will mean higher prices for you.

Real estate markets struggling and showing signs of decline will continue to decline. Throw in the States that are raising their taxes to meet their deficits and expect prices to fall even more as people that can afford to move.. move to states with no state income tax and cheap real estate such as Nevada and Florida.

By far… my savviest clients with money are from Hawaii and California as they bail out and the money they save in taxes easily pays for their mortgage in Las Vegas. Las Vegas real estate values will remain stable… they will not go up in price in the near future due to the huge amount of foreclosures in the pipeline because of the foreclosure moratorium that was put in place this past winter.  However… I don’t think they will fall much farther even with the higher interest rates. I’m suggesting to my clients not to get carried away or emotionally trapped in the bidding wars going on for some select bank owned properties because they would be foolish bidding them up above market value due to the amount of bank owned homes on the way.

Be selective and be patient.

One of my Hawaiian clients just saved over $80,000 waiting from August of 2008 to May of 2009 to buy a comparable property. Certainly worth the patience for a strategy I have in place. I did just advise another client to back off of a home that had over 20 offers on it within days with many of the offers above Market value (in my opinion) so hopefully that works out as well. (Actually.. I know it will because I have a very good sense of the quality of advice the other buyers are getting.)

Yep… just cost me over $10,000 in commissions because the buyer could have payed cash for far higher but I would rather end up with a loyal long time client since I know there are several more on the way.

The Big Left Punch

This is my opinion but I predict some certain markets that have just started showing signs of correcting are about to get hit with a big left blinding punch. The $8,000 first time home buyers tax credit is expiring on 12/01/2009 and interest rates will continue to go up. Real Estate is local but lending was global…. markets that should have sunk in value after 09/11/2001 but were artificially kept up in value will eventually sink.

In my opinion… Las Vegas real estate values will remain stable since the vast majority of buyers I entertain have cash or are very financially solid.

That’s just my opinion

But…. what do I know? I just advised my clients to get out of the Las Vegas Real Estate market in 2005 and just got lucky I suppose….

Paul Francis, CRS
Prudential Americana Group – Realtors®
Las Vegas Real Estate

702.592.3058

Chances are You know Somebody

in Las Vegas facing Foreclosure

I was in a Las Vegas community showing homes that I specialize in and happened to be driving by a friends home when I saw the signs posted on the garage and the front door. I knew what they were right away… eviction signs posted by the bank that the home had been foreclosed on. This happened this past Wednesday and quite honestly… it’s pretty depressing.

Not Reaching out to a Friend in Foreclosure is also Sad

Foreclosure is never happy for anybody involved. With the amount of Las Vegas homes in foreclosure, chances are you know somebody facing the same thing.

I had sensed that my friend was going through some hard times but I never addressed it with her. She is highly educated with a Bachelors degree from an Ivy league school so I sort of automatically assumed that if she needed help, she would have told me. But… like so many Las Vegas Homeowners that don’t want to admit they need help and let the depression take over, she never contacted me.

I think the biggest travesty currently taking place is that Las Vegas Homeowners are scared to reach out due to the stigma involved. Personally, I certainly understand her situation with the slowdown in the economy and what this has done for the business she is in. She paid over $550,000 for the home that is currently only worth $230,00 in today’s market values for her Las Vegas Home. She bought it brand new straight from the Las Vegas New Home builder with no real real estate representation like many other homeowners in Las Vegas that are finding themselves in a bad situation with payments for her Las Vegas Home that she could no longer keep up with. It probably even hurts more since she put so much money down on the property that is all now gone.

I knew business for her could not be too good in the current economic conditions and in the end, she just came to the decision to let it go. She tried doing a loan modification but in the end, the lender only offered to just extend out the mortgage by another 10 years and payments were still too much for a home that had lost half of it’s value.

I know her street very well since so many homeowners have also let their homes go to foreclosure and I’ve shown a lot of them once they’ve become bank owned and put back up for sale. She held out for far longer then many of her neighbors.

If I would have been paying attention to the signs… I would have looked up the property on my foreclosure reports and reached out to her for help in doing a Las Vegas short sale.

Unfortunately, it’s too late for her. Her credit is now shot and she will not be able to buy another home for at least five years instead of two years if she would have done a short sale. I’m pretty sure she would have easily qualified for a short sale since she did have a pretty significant loss in income. In other words, there is no way she would have qualified for a $400,000+ mortgage today.

I’m kicking myself.

I should have been paying attention and reached out to one of my friends. I don’t like to be nosy and research my friends but I certainly sensed that she was not her normal happy self for the past several months.

Personally… I find myself siding with Las Vegas homeowners who were taking advantage of. THERE is NOTHING wrong with doing a short sale to get out of an overpriced Mortgage considering the circumstances that took place. NOTHING. Lenders are guilty of rubber stamping loan applications for anybody which resulted in prices for Las Vegas Homes going up in price far above what homes were really worth.

I personally contacted her lender and their agent and negotiated some extra time for her and cash. If she would have contacted me and allowed me to attempt a short sale for her… I could have given her much more time and a better chance of rebounding much sooner then her having a foreclosure on her credit report. Which helps everybody in the long run.

Perhaps you or somebody you know is in the same predicament… It’s not a great feeling to find out afterwards that there is a better way to get out of foreclosure and rebounding faster.

Please contact me with the information below.

Paul Francis, CRS
Prudential Americana Group – Realtors®
Las Vegas Real Estate
702.592.3058

Going Through Foreclosure is Never Fun

Homes Killing PeopleHowever… understanding the foreclosure process will certainly help out in getting rid of the fear/stigma associated with a foreclosure. Homeowners often seem to be under the impression that the big bad lender is going to send people over to kick down the door and throw you and all of your belongings out on the street. They get a notice and they think they have to move out right away.

Not true… I suggest you read over my Las Vegas Foreclosure Process page for an understanding if you, a friend, a family member or your landlord are in the foreclosure process and what can be done. Once you understand the process… foreclosure is actually very tolerable with the right planning considering the circumstances. You are stuck with a home worth far less then the mortgage, your income has gone down, the mortgage payment is far higher then renting the same type of property.. face it.. you need to change some things to get back on track with life.

We can help you do that.

Sharing Real Life Examples of Real People handling Foreclosure

I’m not going to specifically give names or the properties we’ve helped people with but I will go over their story (with their permission) and what we did to help.

Today… we have a fairly successful small business owner who owns a store that primarily sells home furnishings. As we all know, the slowdown of the free money flow from using Homes as ATM machines has pretty much ended which has caused a significant decrease in income for many business owners.

I was first contacted by this person from a referral of a commercial real estate agent that we successfully sold their Las Vegas Home as a short sale. They were thrilled and pretty much could not believe how well everything went… so like many of our clients, they referred us to somebody else in a rather bad situation.

This referral was a particular person that owns several homes and even land in Las Vegas. The general myth you might see out there on the unregulated internet is that anybody who owns more then one home can not do a short sale. NOT TRUE. Anybody who tells you this is a real estate agent not to use since they really do not know what they are doing or even have an understanding of the true requirements to qualify for a short sale.

I first met this person at their beautiful Las Vegas home that they had purchased for over a Million dollars during the peak of the Las Vegas real estate boom. They had been trying for months to do a loan modification with their lenders and the best their lenders would give them is around $50,000 off of the principal and 1% off of their interest rate which really did not help them out too much considering the value of the Luxury Home had dropped over $400,000 in value. The worst part was it had taken over four months for their lenders to give them those terms. They had stopped making their mortgage payments and the foreclosure process had already started with a notice of a trustee sale on the near horizon. We obviously did not have much time to get everything going, market the home and find a buyer before their lender became the proud new owner.

To make things even a little more difficult, they had two loans on the property from two seperate lenders.

The stress this particular seller was going through was obviously evident and I sensed they really did not trust just anybody which is fine. They did tell me that their commercial real estate agent had spoken very highly of us and that’s really the only reason they were even going to attempt to do a short sale on this particular home in the first place. Otherwise… they were just going to let it go through foreclosure and give it back to the bank. I did explain what a short sale would do to their credit vs. a foreclosure on their credit report and that certainly motivated them to really want to do a short sale.

I went through the listing paperwork needed including evaluating their financials to make sure they had gathered everything that I needed to submit to their lenders.  A trustee sale was already scheduled by their lenders and they made the decision to move out of this particular home to their previous home that had a far lower mortgage balance but had still gone down in value when they had purchased it. However, the mortgage on that property is a payment that they can currently manage with their current income.

Marketing the Las Vegas Home for Sale

Once I was done… My magic starts in marketing the home and finding a highly qualified buyer at the best price possible to greatly improve the chances of the lender approving the short sale. This includes extensive internet marketing and the services backed by a company such as Prudential that markets everywhere.

Why would lenders even consider approving a Short Sale?

Las Vegas short sales have been classified as a waste of time by those not in the know or uneducated in the process. It’s been shown several times that Short Sales for the most part get more money for the lenders then an actual foreclosure when it’s all said and done. The lag time (time value of money) and process of a foreclosure is generally more expensive to a lender then just approving the short sale and allowing a happy homeowner get out leaving the home in one piece. (It’s not too often you come across a short sale that is completely trashed.) So I’ve personally always harped that helping homeowners from going to foreclosure that can’t do a loan modification or are relocating is in the best interest of the lenders and home values in general.

They obviously want the most money possible…. They also want to work with their clients in helping them out in these hard economic times so that somewhere down the road when the economy impoves… their clients are not going to hesitate to use them for any future loans. Certainly a VERY smart business practice. (If your lender helps you out… who wil you use for your next loan?)

I’ve come across the tactic of listing Las Vegas homes far below market value just to get a buyer in and I find this practice somewhat a waste of time for everybody involved in the current Las Vegas real estate market with sales taking place all over.

Some Las Vegas short sale services have little marketing skills or systems in place… which means they are going to get a lower price for your home to submit to the lender which decreases your chances of the lender approving the sale. Make sure you take a look at the numbers of Las Vegas short sales actually closing escrow on my last post.

Short Sale Offer Two Weeks after it was Listed for Sale

Two weeks after we listed this Las Vegas short sale for sale, we got a great offer in from another Las Vegas Realtor® that was actually from the past Las Vegas real estate company we used to be with. He knew we know what we are doing with short sales and was comfortable in working with us to buy this great Las Vegas Home. Once the property actually closes escrow, I will sincerely thank him for having the patience during the process.

Presenting the Offer

Here is the whole point of this story that I’m sharing. Two weeks after putting the property up for sale, I went to the homeowner to have the purchase agreement signed. They had already moved to their new home which was actually the home they owned and lived in before they had purchased their dream home. The sense of relief that I experienced vs. the first time I met them at their old home was as evident as night and day from our first encounter. It was sort of late in the evening and the sellers were still unpacking but they took the time to invite me for some pizza as we sat around their table for signing.

This is when the Seller Really Opened up to me and what a Great Story of Moving On in Life

Foreclosure is never a great experience. But how somebody handles it tells me of what type of person you are and how they are able to adapt to the changes of the U.S. economy and moving forward in life.

The story is quite moving….

This particular seller moved to the United States when they were 24 years old and worked extremely hard. They bought their first Las Vegas Homes in the 1990’s, raised a beautiful family and bought more homes along with opening their very own furniture store. Business was good… they worked long hours to chase the American Dream and to give their children everything they thought they needed.

They worked over 12 hours a day running their own business just to pay their bills which gave them less time with their family. The seller is currently 40 years old and has taken very little time to enjoy life since moving to the United States when they were 24. No movies, no restaurants and pretty much no life. Their children are now in their teens.

The Short Sale Sellers are Now enjoying Life

Their stress levels have gone down significantly and it’s MORE THEN obvious in their personalities. They have moved to another home that they can afford and actually enjoy all of the fantastic things that Las Vegas has to offer. Basically… they are no longer married to a mortgage they can’t afford with the current economic conditions. They could have just closed up shop but they are true fighters and have made changes to their business which also includes buying nothing on credit. These are the people that make a community a real community.

They don’t want a government bailout… they don’t want free money. They just want a chance to move forward in life and get back on their feet. They honestly admit they made a mistake but they are not blaming anybody. I personally think they are more American then many Americans who have lived here their whole lives.

We had Two Weeks to get the Short Sale Approved

An impossible task but we did get the trustee sale extended from the lenders. This one was obviously much more difficult then the typical short sale but the great news is that after several extensions and some incredibly hard work, the Short Sale Just Got Approved.

Close of Escrow is Scheduled in June

It took tons of hard work and patience but probably the most difficult short sale possible has been approved. It certainly breaks the rules of the rules you might see on the internet and this is a great time to remind you that when it comes to rules for Las Vegas Short Sales…

It Depends on the Seller’s current Financial Situation

While not everybody can qualify for a short sale, there are a lot of myths and misconceptions out there on what automatically qualifies or does not qualify somebody to do a short sale. I have yet to come across any two home sellers that have the exact same financial situation, the exact same jobs, the exact same homes or the exact same expenses. The statistical probability of ever coming across this is probably astronomical.

Tough to come across any set rules when you consider these factors..

Paul Francis, CRS
Prudential Americana Group
Las Vegas Short Sales
702.592.3058

Las Vegas Short Sales Getting

Approved (and Closing!)

Increasing

May has been a very busy month and A VERY NICE side effect has been the number of our Las Vegas Short Sales getting approved by the lenders. Currently, I have five Las Vegas Short Sale transactions that I have an interest in get approved and we are in escrow with actual scheduled closings after months of much appreciated patience by everybody involved. And, we closed one Las Vegas short sale earlier this month which only took 93 days from the date it was listed to close of escrow.

The majority of lenders for the most part appear to be ramping up efforts (More GOOD News for Las Vegas short Sellers) to really help out and keep Las Vegas Homes from becoming bank owned homes in the first place.

Saving Las Vegas Homes

Saving Las Vegas Homes

It certainly makes sense for them to do this in the first place since they will probably net even less money on their bottom line when they allow the Las Vegas home go through the foreclosure process and end up selling it as a Las Vegas Bank owned home. I’ve been harping that Banks need to do a better job in keeping Las Vegas Homes from ending up as Bank Owned Homes for some truly needed help in helping keep Las Vegas Real Estate values in a free fall.

Las Vegas Short Sales

Report for May 2008

First, Let’s take a look at my Las Vegas Short Sales Report from a year ago and pull some historical numbers by viewing the following —> Las Vegas Short Sales Report May 2008

  • There were 5,294 Las Vegas Homes classified as Short Sales (25% of the total inventory) available for sale.
  • 1,738 Las Vegas Homes classified as Short sales that were Pending/Contingent
  • For April of 2008, 145 Las Vegas Homes classified as Short Sales closed escrow (actually sold) in April.

*Las Vegas Homes = Single Family Homes, Condominiums and Townhomes for areas 101 through 606 on the Las Vegas MLS which includes the areas of Henderson and North Las Vegas.

Las Vegas Short Sales Numbers for the Year

Here are the amount of Las Vegas Homes classified as short sales that have closed escrow

  • January = 221
  • February = 210
  • March = 234
  • April = 317
  • May 1st through May 18th = 145

Compare these to the numbers from May of 2008 and you should have a pretty good idea that the actual success numbers are pretty weak in comparison to the availability of the number of Las Vegas short sales available for sale or the ones that were actually under contract.

Las Vegas Short Sales

Numbers for Today

Currently, there are 6,130 Las Vegas Homes classified as a short sale in the Las Vegas MLS. Out of these, 563 are reported as in some stage of the foreclosure process. That’s actually a pretty good ratio considering the number of Las Vegas Homes currently in foreclosure… but then again… it’s somewhat of a sad indication of how many Las Vegas homeowners are simply doing nothing. According to a blog post on Consumer Reports, there were 14,073 foreclosure filings on Las Vegas homes for April alone. 

Las Vegas Home Debt got you a little down?

Las Vegas Home Debt got you a little down?

Only 563 of the 6,130 Las Vegas Short Sales currently available for sale are being reported as in being in some stage of the foreclosure process.

So it appears we have several Las Vegas Homeowners that may be doing nothing. This is very easy to understand with the amount of bad information out there such as trying to do a short sale is a waste of time, etc.. etc.. You can’t do one if (put excuse in here), It’s just as bad as a foreclosure (not true).

Remember.. Every seller has a unique financial situation and what might apply to your neighbor or friend, may not apply to you.

Call me directly at 702.592.3058 for an absolutely free no obligation, completely confidential consultation. I don’t get paid unless the short sale is successful and closes escrow so I’m not going to waste your time and give you false expectations as some services that charge up front fees.

Las Vegas Short Sales Currently

Contingent or Pending

There are currently 4,419 Las Vegas Short Sales classified as Contingent or Pending on the Las Vegas MLS. Out of these 4,419, only 448 of them have been classified as being in some stage of the foreclosure process.

So… we still have a lot of work to do but there are some signs that the work is going to pay off and a recent announcement by the Obama Administration is going to bring some MUCH needed help when it comes banks working with Las Vegas homeowners in helping them with a Short Sale…

To Be Announced in my next Post as I Sort through it… From what I see so far, it really helps Las Vegas Homeowners that cannot qualify for a loan modification… which helps Las Vegas Home values by letting professionals sell real Las Vegas homes not owned by a bank located somewhere on the east coast.

Las Vegas Short Sales are Changing… don’t stereotype them and use an experienced Las Vegas Real Estate agent with actual experience in Short Sales.

Paul Francis, CRS
Las Vegas Short Sales
702.592.3058

Sign up for The Newest Bank

Owned Homes available for Sale

Before They Become Available

for Sale on the Las Vegas MLS!

Contact me to get access to my Las Vegas Bank Owned Listings before they become available for sale on the MLS.

I first heard this commercial on a mainstream radio station in Las Vegas by a Las Vegas real estate broker and it really made me wonder. There has been some mention of this practice going on where some agents representing banks in listing their properties for sale are holding out and trying to get both sides of the deal.

While there has long been some speculation that this has been happening… it’s the first time that I actually came across it openly advertised and it really makes you wonder if the Bank being represented is really getting the most value possible for it’s investors.

 

The Highest Price Possible in The Shortest Amount of Time

Bear Markets using the Horse to get Ahead

Riding The Horse for All the Bucks

Anybody in real estate that understands the system will tell you that the NUMBER one way to get the MOST Money for your home in the SHORTEST amount of time is the Multiple Listing Service aka MLS.

So… how can this practice of advertising for buyers by giving them first access to Las Vegas Bank Owned Homes be in the best interest of the client they are representing?

IT’S NOT.

Great for Marketing for a double commission but it certainly is not in the best interest of the seller.

I don’t know… maybe it’s just me but if I was an Asset Manager for this particular Bank I certainly would not be too happy.

Paul Francis
Las Vegas Bank Owned Homes for Sale
702.592.3058

It’s been a Crazy Month for

Las Vegas Real Estate

Thinking is Everything - Rules are Nothing

Thinking is Everything

As you may have noticed, I really have not had the time to do any posting on any of my blogs. April started getting really busy for Las Vegas real estate and May is even busier. Certain Las Vegas neighborhoods I track for my clients are getting offers on the newest listings that come up for sale almost immediately. You have to act really fast and be on top of what is going on in the neighborhood.

In a recent real estate class I attended, a survey taken of the attendees showed that the average was four offers written up on average to get one sale. (Primarily on Las Vegas Bank Owned properties for sale that everybody has been chasing.)

Short Sale Secrets

I have so much to catch up on and share… but today I’m going to write about the newest wave taking place with Las Vegas Short Sales. The tactic of offering 30% below current market may not be in your best interest if you really want to purchase a property due to the enormous amount of increased sales activity and declining inventory.

Offering Far Below then what the current market values are for a Short Sale

It took a little while, but it finally hit the Las Vegas Real Estate Market to where it seems to have become mainstream and it goes something like this. A Las Vegas short sale listed at market value, offer 30% below to take a shot. The reasoning (and a fair one) is that the lenders would prefer to go this route then the increased fees and costs to go through the foreclosure process and sell it through an REO Agent who might will probably sell it for less. It certainly holds a lot of weight since the time /costs involved of the foreclosure process can get quite pricey.

This is a so called “Short Sales Secret” or AKA get rich in Short Sales that I know people are selling all over the internet right now and bombarding one of my junk e-mail accounts. My little secret to you is that it’s a little old right now and works better in real estate markets where sales are really tough to come by. (Maybe that’s why they are selling the tactic instead of practicing it?) If you read my last Las Vegas Real Estate report, you’ll know that sales are not very tough to come by in Las Vegas right now.

Works Fantastic in a Declining Market with a high amount of inventory.

Let’s take a look at the side of the Las Vegas Short Sale Agent and what we need to do for the sellers in order to understand the current thought process that needs to be considered.

Sellers need the best representation to get the highest price possible for their home for the best chance of an approval.

The lenders are going to do their own due diligence of what the current market value is for the home either through an appraisal or a BPO aka Brokers Price Opinion. There’s nothing like a buyer waiting around for two months for a decision just to find out the lender wants tens of thousands of dollars more for an approval then what was offered.

Regardless… six months ago when nothing was selling, it was a little easier to submit offers for 30% below the current market value then it is when there are multiple sales taking place. For the most part, there are plenty of recent sales in Las Vegas to help determine current market values and see where they are going. Inventory is also going down which takes away the tactic of showing the bank a gazillion similar homes also available for sale that buyers can buy elsewhere.

We have a Duty to Represent the Las Vegas Real Estate Short Sale Seller

A lot of time is involved in Addition to everything else that goes on by professionals for Actually Marketing the Las Vegas Home for sale. If we get an offer in 30% below the current market value, is everybody wasting their time with the current market conditions for Las Vegas Real Estate?

More then Likely

I certainly want to get my Las Vegas short sale sellers out of a bad situation so they can move on in life but I don’t want to be wasting everybody’s time in the process. Below are some things that I’m going to take in consideration before talking to the sellers.

The 30% below Market Value offer

When I represent Las Vegas Home buyers.. I certainly want them to get the best deal possible… but I also don’t want them getting false expectations of a get rich quick real estate scheme. Buyers certainly have the final say on taking a shot but I’ll advise them of the process that the lender is going to be looking at to approve the short sale in the first place. Also, I already know the tactic in use so while you might be trying to get a steal that may never happen in the first place… somebody else might swoop right in and submit a solid offer. Which brings me to…

Real Estate Agents Representing Buyers that may not understand the Short Sale Process

You might be drawn in to this “fantastic little get rich in short sales secret” of offering far below market value by an agent looking for your business… but it’s certainly nothing that I would be selling right now.

Something else that stands out to me is failure to include a simple GLVAR short sale addendum with the offer. It’s a simple two page form that just outlines the expectations the buyer should expect from attempting to buy a Las Vegas short sale. When a Las Vegas Realtor® submits this form along with their offer to me, I get a little bit of a warmer, fuzzier feeling that the buyers agent has properly advised the potential buyer of what to expect. Las Vegas short sales can certainly be a long process and we want you to be fully aware of that right up front.

  • Not Even Calling before Showing or submitting an offer to purchase. When representing buyers to purchase a Las Vegas Short Sale, there are certain questions I’ll ask the listing agent before wasting my buyers time. When I receive an offer on one of my Las Vegas short sale listings and the agent did not even bother to call me to let me know it is coming over… I wonder if they are embarrassed they are submitting the 20%+ below market value offer or if they have any idea what they are getting into. When no short sale addendum signed by the buyers is attached, it’s generally the latter.

Did Not Even Look at the Las Vegas Home:

We have these really cool little things called electronic lockboxes that tell us who accessed the property at what time.  When receiving a 30%+ below market offer and the property was never even viewed….it’s a pretty good indication of the “short sale secret” of getting rich in real estate. Yep… my little “short sale secret” is I check that report to see if they even looked at the property to begin with. I’m pretty sure that’s around a 100% match right now with the 30%+ below market offer. It could also be a pretty good indication that the buyers are not going to stick around if when the lender comes back and wants a higher price. In a slow market… fine. It starts the dialogue with the lender to see what price they will accept but when actual sales are taking place all around the neighborhood, all we are doing is bogging down loss mitigaters with more paperwork and slowing everything down.

Remember this though… a 30% below Market Value offer is different then 30% below the listing price. I see list prices all over the place. If you need that explained further… please call me. That’s why I track certain neighborhoods and know what the market value ranges are off of the top of my head.

Final Summary

My intention is to educate you with current Las Vegas real estate market conditions that I told you about over a month ago on this very same blog.  Your real estate market across the country might just be getting slow and starting the correction process, but Las Vegas has already been there and done that. You need to be prepared to ignore the drama reports from real estate journalists that live a thousand miles away that only write about what they hear from who knows where. (Or what was happening last year.) Things for the time being have certainly changed for Las Vegas Real Estate as multiple offers are coming in on homes priced at current Market value. (Different then the stories of multiple offers coming in on properties ridiculously under priced.) Yes… Nevada is right in the top 3 for homes in foreclosure, and I’m pretty sure we are right near the top for the most sales Currently taking place.

(What could be going on now is Las Vegas homeowners just giving up when knowing their home values are 40 to 50% below what they owe and just moving on.)

As a short sale Listing agent one of my main responsibilities is helping Las Vegas homeowners in true distress get out of their bad situation. We can’t be wasting their time tied up in situations with buyers that are not serious.

When you understand the process of what it takes to get a short sale approved, your chances of actually getting a great Las Vegas Home are greatly enhanced. It certainly beats running around putting in a bunch of machine gun offers on anything available for sale.

Paul Francis, CRS
Las Vegas Real Estate
702.592.3058

Wells Fargo Raids Bank Account

of a Homeowner in Foreclosure

wells-fargo-raids-bank-account-of-customer-in-foreclosure*Disclosure — I have never heard of this happening in Nevada so I do not know with any certainty that it could happen in Nevada.

According to a statement by Wells Fargo, Federal & State Laws allowed them to automatically drain the account of a Tempe, Arizona homeowner.

Click on the following link to view a news story of what happened to one Tempe, Arizona homeowner in foreclosure:

Wells Fargo Drains Bank Account of Financially Distressed Homeowner

Wow… No mercy and what an incredibly bad PR move. Joe the Realtor® is broke, distressed because he is losing his home and Wells Fargo snatches away the money his mom sent him for his upcoming wedding.

I wonder if Joe the Realtor® is going to be referring any clients over to Wells Fargo for a home loan anytime soon??

Las Vegas Takes Top Spot Again

From CNN Money – Las Vegas Tops Foreclosure List in latest report that you can Read Here.

The 26 cities with the highest foreclosure rate in the nation are all located in four hard-hit states, with Las Vegas topping the list, according to a report released Wednesday.

It’s really no surprise considering the foreclosure moratoriums that were put in place while new help for homeowner programs were being created and delaying the correction process in cities such as Las Vegas where many Las Vegas homeowners would not qualify for the program due to the enormous amount of equity already lost.

From the Article:

“The concentration of troubled metro areas within the hardest-hit states, candidly, was even more severe than we expected it to be,” Sharga said. “The degree to which those four states dominated the rankings surprised even us.”

What’s not being reported is the number of Las Vegas Homes currently in escrow or the big jump in sales currently taking place for Las Vegas Real Estate.

As of today… there are 10,723 properties in either a “contingent” or “pending” status on the Las Vegas MLS for areas 101 through 606 which covers Las Vegas, Henderson and Summerlin.

Only 16,902 single family residences are currently available in the same areas… some more proof of a theory from my last Las Vegas Foreclosure Report that values may be stabilizing from the free fall.

Remember… without buyers you can’t have a healthy real estate market… No matter what programs are in place.

Paul Francis, CRS
Las Vegas Foreclosure Search
702.592.3058

Las Vegas Foreclosure Report

- 04/03/2009

lasvegasrealestatehomecom_welcome-to-vegasFor areas 101 through 606 on the Las Vegas MLS which includes Henderson, Green Valley Real Estate, Summerlin Real Estate and North Las Vegas, there are currently 6,044 REO homes available for sale. This shows a continued decline in available inventory on the Las Vegas MLS from the last report that you can view on our Las Vegas Foreclosure page. (6,765 on 03/01/2009 and 7,750 on January 20th, 2009)

While the numbers have declined for the past two months, this is still quite an increase from 04/12/2008 when we tracked 3,277 foreclosures for sale on the Las Vegas MLS. (History can be found on our Las Vegas Foreclosure Report page going back to May of 2007.)

However… total listing inventory for the same areas is now 18,733 which is a decrease in total inventory available for sale in comparison to April of 2008. Current total Inventory on the Las Vegas MLS for ALL areas is currently 19,845. In comparison, according to the chart below, there were 22,942 single family residences available for sale on the Las Vegas MLS for April of 2008. (Single Family Home inventory includes condominiums, townhomes and Manufactured Homes since these are zoned “Single Family”.)

Single Family Inventory in Las Vegas

Single Family Inventory in Las Vegas

This could be a very strong indicator that Las Vegas real estate may soon be stabilizing and needs to be watched in the coming months. The big wildcard is the increase in the Number of Las Vegas Notices of Defaults filed in February which could be an indicator of more foreclosures to come if not resolved with a short sale or loan modification.

Keep reading to view the amount of foreclosures in Las Vegas currently under contract and some news that will probably be traveling around pretty fast.

Breakdown of Todays Las Vegas

Foreclosures Available

Single Family Homes – 4,620 Bank Owned Homes ranging in price from $3,950,000 for this Luxury Las Vegas foreclosure to $19,500. 

Condominiums – 952 Bank owned condominiums in Las Vegas ranging in price from $599,900 for this Turnberry Foreclosure to $19,900.

Townhomes – 456 Bank Owned Townhomes ranging in price from $520,000 for this Lake Las Vegas townhome to $19,000.

Manufactured Homes – 16 Manufactured homes ranging in price from $135,000 to $24,900.

Las Vegas Foreclosures Currently

Under Contract

There are currently 5,396 Bank Owned Homes in areas 101 through 606 currently under Contract! These are the highest numbers we’ve seen as buyers are snatching up the good deals and taking Las Vegas foreclosures off of the market.

Asking list prices ranged from $1,600,000 for an Anthem Country Club home to $18,000. For Las Vegas Condominiums, the highest asking list price currently under contract is a $560,000 High Rise Condominium in Panorama Towers.

These are very strong numbers for activity taking place and the total amount of single family properties in Las Vegas currently under contract for areas 101-606 is 9,295.

In comparison to see how significant this is, you can jump over to Ryan Ward’s Atlanta Real Estate site where he keeps track of the total amount of properties under contract and see only 6,396 with a total amount of properties available for sale at 45,871. Atlanta is a much bigger metropolitan area then Las Vegas and it’s pretty obvious to see that Las Vegas is much farther along in the correction process with the amount of activity taking place.

Las Vegas real estate buyers are taking advantage of the low prices, low interest rates and the first time homebuyers $8,000 tax credit to move inventory.

Las Vegas Foreclosure Search

 

To view foreclosures currently available for sale that are listed by cooperating Brokers on the Las Vegas MLS, you can visit our Las Vegas Foreclosure Search.

Or… search thousands of Las Vegas Homes for sale and create/save your own search and have the newest listings that meet your criteria conveniently e-mailed to you.

For personalized service and to be notified of the newest Las Vegas foreclosures that become available with your criteria, please use the contact information below.

Paul Francis, CRS
Prudential Americana Group
Las Vegas Real Estate
702.592.3058

New Rental Scammers claim to

Be the National Association

of Realtors®

Just when you think you’ve heard it all, the National Association of Realtors® has issued a new consumer warning for anybody looking to lease out a property that you can read by Clicking Here.

According to the warning…

The scam claims that on receipt of a deposit, NAR will deliver the keys to the property to the tenant. Prospective tenants are instructed to send money via Western Union to NAR’s purported agent in the United Kingdom.

Some of the listings have been posted on Craigslist, which reportedly has had difficulty in tracing the original listings. NAR does not have an escrow service, or function as an intermediary to receive rental deposits.

Quite an interesting scam and much more clever then most of the other ones that I’ve been told about from potential tenants that I’ve worked with since they are using a recognized name.

Other Rental Scams

My last rental clients told me about their experience in attempting to secure a rental from the popular third party site, Craigslist for a property being advertised that seemed too good to be true.

Upon responding for more information, the supposed owners told them to send a money order to some foreign country and they would mail them the keys once they received it. They gave up on searching on their own and decided to call a knowledgable Las Vegas real estate agent to help them out.

Keep in mind there are a lot of vacant properties in Las Vegas and it’s not too hard to find them if you know what you are doing and where to look. When looking for a rental, be careful when searching on third party websites with little regulation on what can be posted. If you are not comfortable taking that chance, use a licensed Nevada real estate agents IDX search like what we have on our Las Vegas Real Estate Search where you can search thousands of rentals available for lease.

These are properties that come straight from the Las Vegas MLS and are listed by Las Vegas real estate agents that will actually have the keys….

Yes… we do rentals for clients and it’s a free service to you. The owners pay us to bring them qualified tenants and chances are, you’ll end up with a more professional lease then one of those downloaded from the internet leases that are shoddy to say the least.

Paul Francis, CRS
Las Vegas Real Estate
702.592.3058

Rhodes Design and

Development files for

Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

Rhodes Ranch Homes

Rhodes Ranch Homes

Rhodes Design and Development, a Las Vegas based developer that has built over 7,000 homes and designed communities such as the guard gated Rhodes Ranch community in Southwest Las Vegas and Tuscany in Henderson, has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection after missing an interest and principal payment on a key loan.

Read the Story by Clicking Here. According to Jim Rhodes,

Rhodes said the filing will have little impact on the day-to-day operations of the company, including asset management, sales and construction, customer service, vendor relations and homeowners association functions. The company said it expected to deliver all homes currently on order as well as take new orders and continue construction of new homes.

“We are hopeful that this financial reorganization will produce successful results for residents and owners of homes built by Rhodes Homes,” Rhodes said.

Rhodes Ranch Resale Homes

For homes in the Guard Gated Rhodes Ranch Community, there are currently 88 homes available for sale ranging in price from $144,000 for a single story Rhodes Ranch Home with 1,266 sq. ft. to $899,000 for this Rhodes Ranch Pool Home that features over 4,500 square feet.

Rhodes Ranch Foreclosures for Sale

 

There are currently 18 Rhodes Ranch Foreclosures for sale ranging in price from $149,900 for this Rhodes Ranch Foreclosure that is 1,715 square feet to $364,000 for this Rhodes Ranch Bank Owned Golf Course Home that is 2,891 square feet.

Rhodes Ranch Short Sales Available

 

38 Rhodes Ranch Short Sales are available for sale including a stunning former model home for Rhodes Ranch with elevated golf course views and views of fabulous Las Vegas for only $699,000. According to Clark County Tax Records, the home was purchased for $932,150 on 07/01/2004. This Rhodes Ranch home is a  Champions Collection floorplan and is located on a street of some of the most desirable lots in the entire community.

For more information on these homes or Rhodes Ranch Real estate, call 702.592.3058.

Paul Francis, CRS
Rhodes Ranch Real Estate
702.592.3058

Fueling Las Vegas

I came across this great post over at Calculated Risk that shows charts of how much money was taken out against homeowners equity when people refinanced their homes during the real estate bubble. The original blog post details how little has been taken out in the past two quarters with a reference to homes being called ATM machines and how the ATM machines have run dry. Which… has resulted in dire straights for the global economy since so many businesses and countries rely on the United States to consume, consume, consume.

The Chart below shows just how much real estate was being used as ATM machines on a quarterly basis. 

Quarterly Mortgage Equity Withdrawal in Billions

Quarterly Mortgage Equity Withdrawal in Billions

You can obviously see the steady patterns pre- 1999 of around $20 Billion a quarter that was taken out against Homeowners equity.

Refinance, take out the cash and pay the credit card bills, kids education, wedding, family vacation…whatever.

And then… it starts to double in 2001 to $40 Billion.  By the time we hit the peak of real estate values, the equity withdrawal is at or over $120 Billion in a Quarter.

Where did All of this Money Go?

New Pools, SUV’s, Exotic vacations, Imported goods, Pay off the Credit Cards, etc.. etc.. etc… It was quite a bit of money that circulated around and fueled the economy.

In past posts and my interview with a reporter from Bloomberg over a year ago,  I mentioned how the economy of the past several years was fueled by this very same effect. Home values skyrocketed due to sub-prime lending and lax lending standards, people refinanced and took that cash from the equity created and then spread the wealth throughout the economy. Starbucks, Luxury Cars, SUV’s… you name it… everything that boomed during this same time frame… including Las Vegas.

When you think about everything that was built in Las Vegas during this time frame and how well it was doing… and how poor some of these same resorts are doing today…it all certainly makes sense.

Saving money during this time frame? Forget it… The President and Congress said go out and spend it. And so we did… along with our cities, counties, states and nation. The global economy boomed along with our local economies and Las Vegas certainly was a benefactor.

So while the powers to be continue to come up with plan after plan with borrowed money and/or printing money… remember the chart and it explains what took place to begin with and what is currently taking place.

We are in a correction after several years of spending money that really was never there… it was borrowed money… nothing more and nothing less. Creating programs with borrowed and/or printing money to artificially inflate the flow of  money in the economy are only going to create problems for another day…. 

The simple chart says it all…

As always… use the information below to contact me or click on the link below for our Las Vegas real estate website for information on Las Vegas short sales, Las Vegas foreclosures for sale and our Featured Las Vegas Homes for sale.

Paul Francis, CRS
Las Vegas Real Estate
702.592.3058

Just a real quick post about some breaking news concerning mortgage rates…

Federal Reserve announces plans to purchase Long Term Bonds to help keep mortgage rates low:

Click Here to Read the Full Story

At the same time, the Fed left a key short-term bank lending rate at a record low of between zero and 0.25 percent. Economists predict the Fed will hold the rate in that zone for the rest of this year and for most — if not all — of next year.

Fed purchases should boost Treasury prices and drive down their rates. That would ripple through and lower rates on other kinds of debt. The last time the Fed set out to influence long-term interest rates was during the 1960s.

“This is not only going to keep mortgage rates low for a long period of time,” said Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com. “The mere announcement may produce a honeymoon effect and bring mortgage rates down to even lower levels in the coming days.”

Through some various contacts across the country that know a little about Las Vegas Real Estate, I’ve been told that some of what they are seeing in their markets is what we saw in Las Vegas over two years ago with sales slowing down and foreclosures just starting to take place.

Many of these new Federal plans have been implemented to try to control what is taking place in markets far behind in the real estate correction process. Unlike other plans that would do little to help out Las Vegas Homeowners, the continuation of low mortgage rates should help the Las Vegas real estate market as more people realize just how low Las Vegas home values have fallen and want to take advantage of the favorable tax environment.

California Taxes, Illinois Taxes or Nevada Taxes? You decide…

With a spend happy Congress looking for ways to generate revenue and cash strapped states with big Government… I’ll take Nevada for the long term future.

Throw in the new Green Revolution for alternative energy being led by Senator Reid… and Southern Nevada could be in a very favorable position with the amount of infrastructure/money the new plans are going to require.

Nevada Developer and Solar Company strike new deal

The Silver State May Become the Solar State

Solar Thermal Power Company opens Plant in Las Vegas

The Real Future of Southern Nevada

Let’s get to reality… Keeping Mortgage Rates low is great… but to really get back to a healthy economy and out of a recession requires production. (And Production does not mean build a bunch of houses when the vacancy percentages are so high.) We got out of the Great Depression because of Manufacturing and the mid to late 1990’s were great because of the internet/tech revolution.

Oops…. Sorry.. got off track… Anyways… looks like low mortgage rates are going to continue. Take advantage of it where real estate values have already been decimated that have a potential future. Otherwise, it’s just an artificial fix…

Paul Francis, CRS
Las Vegas Real Estate
702.592.3058

55% of Nevada Homes worth Less

then their Mortgage?

A new report by First American Corelogic reports that 55% of Nevada Homes are worth less then the mortgages on them as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Number of Homes Upside Down

Number of Homes Upside Down

Percentage wise, Nevada led the nation but when it comes to the total number, California leads the way in the total amount of homes underwater followed by Florida, Texas, Michigan, Ohio, Arizona and Georgia. 

Las Vegas Real Estate Reports Record Defaults for February of 2009

In another report by the Las Vegas Sun, Las Vegas reclaimed the lead in February as the foreclosure capital for cities with a population of more then 200,000. According to the Report that you can read here, February was also a record month for the number of Nevada homes in default on their mortgage payments.

From the Article:

“The city’s foreclosure rate of one filing for every 60 households was seven times the national average.

The number of default notices filed against homeowners who are delinquent in making mortgage payments rose 32 percent in February to 8,406. That’s compared with 6,064 notices in January and 4,367 in February 2008, according to RealtyTrac, a California firm that tracks foreclosures.

That is the highest amount in Nevada since the firm started tracking foreclosures in January 2005 and another ominous sign for the Las Vegas housing market. In January, foreclosure filings fell 4 percent from December, causing some to wonder whether the foreclosure crisis was slowing.”

See January Foreclosure Numbers.

The numbers for February are quite startling and almost double from February of 2008. Keep in mind these are homes that have not actually been foreclosed on and homeowners may be working something out with their lenders.

However… if you take a look at our Las Vegas Foreclosures for Sale on the MLS page, you’ll see the increase in the number of available foreclosures for sale shortly after February of 2008.

You’ll also see the decline of Las Vegas foreclosures available for sale from January 20th to March 1st of 2009…

Paul Francis, CRS
Las Vegas Real Estate
702.592.3058

Saving Real Estate Values

Saving Las Vegas Home Values

Saving Las Vegas Home Values

A couple of more  Las Vegas Short Sales put into escrow and another one listed with another real estate agent waiting to be put into escrow. Now we get to wait for the lenders to figure out what they are doing. The lack of direction of lenders when it comes to short sales is hindering the correction process because my sellers need to sell and my Las Vegas real estate investor wants to buy…

In other words… the seller has no intention of bothering with the new Government Plan to save real estate values from correcting on their own. You probably heard about this new plan… it’s the one where they want to take taxpayers dollars to help pay other people’s mortgages, let judges have the authority to modify loans in BK proceedings, etc.. etc.. I’m not going to get into the discussion concerning this since you can make up your own mind…and it’s far too much to devote just one blog post towards. But… the plan certainly does not address helping people out who just want to move on but do not want to go through a foreclosure in the process.

I do have to question if the new policies will keep real estate prices from correcting on their own in areas of the nation that it will apply to.  As mentioned in my last post and from reading what was available about the new plan, in my opinion it would not help the majority of homeowners in Las Vegas since home values have already dropped significantly. You also need to keep in mind what created high appreciation rates to begin with that eventually got us in this mess before thinking that borrowed money is going to Truly solve anything when it comes to home values.

I’m certainly not out to discourage Las Vegas home owners from trying a loan modification… Please try since we always encourage Las Vegas home sellers to attempt a loan modification before proceeding with us on a short sale… if they indeed want to stay in the home.

You do not need to pay a loan modification company to attempt this… Some language in the Tarp bailout strongly encourages lenders to reach out and attempt to help out homeowners before foreclosing. Unless you’ve been hiding out with no TV or radio, you’ve probably heard all of the commercials from all of the new loan modification companies that charge to do something that you can easily do yourself with a simple call to your lender. In fact, I’ve come across homeowners who attempted a loan modification and were charged $3,000 just for the company to send in all of the requested documents on their behalf and achieved absolutely nothing.

The hard part is getting all of the documents together and you’ll need to do that regardless.

Every lender that I have come across has a department that specifically handles helping homeowners and will tell you exactly what to do. Some companies such as Countrywide actually give you the phone number and list of documents that you will need to start this up on their financial hardship information page.

If you don’t get the terms you need to continue ownership that works for you financial situation… then proceed with a Las Vegas short sale.

However… please keep in mind the time line of the foreclosure process in Nevada if you have stopped making payments. Unfortunately, we’ve come across cases where the request for a modification process took too long and the homeowner was eventually denied with little time left needed to proceed with a short sale without everybody pulling their hair out.

Also… keep in mind that I do not charge Las Vegas home sellers up front to proceed with a short sale. We get paid for actually achieving the results that you need done.

If you have any questions or would like more details… please use the information below to contact me.

Paul Francis, CRS
Las Vegas Real Estate
702.592.3058

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