Las Vegas Real Estate Blog

It became a tradition for the Zappos.com Las Vegas Marathon to take place on Las Vegas. Race history was made on December 4, 2005 when the Zappos.com Las Vegas Marathon became the first race to run the world famous Las Vegas Strip and through the Fremont Street Experience.

Whether you walk it or run it, you can be part of the excitement by taking part in the Las Vegas Marathon 2007. The marathon will take place on Sunday, Dec.2 , 2007.

Distance 26.2 miles, Marathon begins at 6 a.m. All participants must pick up their timing chip, bib, T-shirt, and goodie bag at the Quality of Life Expo at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino on Friday November 30th & Saturday December 1st. The Quality of Life Expo is free.

There will also be a half-marathon for runners who don't want to do the full course. Plus lots of entertainment along the way and big money prizes for the top finishers.

Course starts and finishes at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino at the south end of the world famous Strip. The first 5.5 miles is on the Strip, then the course travels directly through the exciting Fremont Street Experience. The loop course goes through Las Vegas and Clark County. For more details, please go to www.lvmarathon.com and click on Course.

• Along the course participants will experience entertainment centers with musical groups performing. 
• There will be 24 water stations and 13 Gatorade replacement fluid stations. 
• For a course profile, please go to www.lvmarathon.com and click on Course.

Race web site address: www.lvmarathon.com

"Points" or no "Points"... That is the question! (Revised)

I decided to let go of my obsession with "how many" of the AR people read and make comments on my posts. For me that was not the "points" factor but a kind of need for validation, to the importance and originality of the subject at hand.

I finally realised that I've been sucked-in the general mentality of AR blog community and paid too much attention to popularity of the blog "among us"... Really! it is not important. What is important is to have the large number of potential clients, out there, able to find you and get informed... They should be the judges, and the important factor in building relationship. The more they come to your blog the more you build your customer-network. 

After almost 1 year on the AR Blog I've reached the 80338 Points, and learned a lot... Most importantly to stay focused and keep in mind only the "customers". To speak their language and answer their needs. They have to be informed in the today's troubled market. As for AR community professionals... they know it all! Talking to each other and exchanging impressions doesn't help your business. "Selling" and "Customer Services" network is the only important objective.

I will stay focused on that!

During the height of Las Vegas's real-estate boom two years ago, lots of investors rushed to buy homes... not unusual for some to buy up to 16 homes, hoping that skyrocketing prices would pump up their retirement nest egg.

Now, with that hefty load on their belts some are considering filing for bankruptcy protection. As the housing market slowed and they're no longer able to support mortgage payments. "You get to a point where your hands are tied". And as a result, the credit score plunge from 730 to the high 400s.

Walking away from a mortgage is almost always a bad idea. You can lose your ability to take out future loans, and you might find the lender coming after your personal assets, such as your principal residence, depending on your state's laws and the terms of your loan.

• One of the first effects of walking away from a mortgage is an assault on one's credit. The foreclosure could remain on your credit report for 7 years and will sharply reduce your credit score.
• In some cases, lenders can go after an investor's other assets to satisfy a loan if the borrower defaults. But that often depends on the loan agreement, which sets out what recourse the lender has in the case of a default.
• Investors who face foreclosure may be left with a big federal tax hit. That's because, in a recourse loan, the amount of the loan forgiven by the lender, in excess of the property's fair market value, is typically taxed as ordinary income to the taxpayer.
• The tax code does offer some relief, but only if the loan is forgiven during bankruptcy proceedings or if the borrower was insolvent immediately before the loan was discharged.
• One option to avoid, if possible: filing for bankruptcy protection. Laws passed in 2005 make it much tougher in some cases to protect certain assets, such as your primary residence, from creditors during bankruptcy

The holidays are down time in the real estate industry. The real estate market begins slow after Halloween, drops off drastically a week or two before Thanksgiving and doesn't start picking up again in late January...

With all that is going on in the Real Estate market this winter is going to be, most probably, very slow and blue. So why not to get busy instead of getting blue? Maybe this year is time to do something no one else is doing: Create a handout that offers real value to your customers would be a great idea. Takes some research and little work... but it is a time well spend, while you have extra time, is the time to do it.

1. List the community events that happen annually (you can include the holiday's events too). Call the appropriate entities and get this year's dates for each event. Write a small note about each one,(only few good words) telling visitors and new residents why they should attend them. List them according to date.
2. Note the names and addresses of recreational facilities in your community. The gym, the shooting range, the bowling alley, the movie theaters, etc. Put down everything that comes in the category of "fun". Do the same thing: write a small note on each one and make them sound attractive.
3. Get a copy of a good map of the community and start marking each of these events and facilities on the map. Seeing them all marked in will give you a sense of how to proceed. You may use graphic bullets or numbers differentiating the events from the recreational facilities. (2 different colors will make it) or if the map is not to crowded put names on the map. If you use numbers create a small legend for name,location and rest of info.
4. Be sure to put your office location on the map... perhaps with a bright red star!
5. Reserve a space for your ad, making sure that it showcases the benefit of choosing you. Concentrate in making your ad very attractive and professionally looking. Don't forget to include your picture in the ad. And of course, in large bold print, list the fact that this brochure is presented compliments of... YOU.
   
6. Since you will have to spend some money to print these brochures, it is a good idea to choose a few other business in your area who offer services and approach them about placing an ad along with yours. Since you do all the working, and holidays are around the corner, we'll be surprised how many would love to join you. Think about motels and restaurants in particular, because you'll be mailing these brochures to new customers coming in from other communities.

If you don't want to bear the cost alone, you should have no trouble getting some of these service to kick in for printing in exchange for a nice block ad on this map. They might even be willing to give you discount coupons to give as additional gifts at closing of your real estate transaction.
Once finished, you can offer copies of this handout to gas stations, motels, and restaurants as a service to their customers - so that any person who arrives in town without having chosen a Realtor will learn about you first.

I decided to let go of my obsession with "how many" of the AR people read and make comments on my posts. For me that was not the "points" factor but a kind of need for validation, to the importance and originality of the subject at hand.

I finally realised that I've been sucked-in the general mentality of AR blog community and paid too much attention to popularity of the blog "among us"... Really! it is not important. What is important is to have the large number of potential clients, out there, able to find you and get informed... They should be the judges, and the important factor in building relationship. The more they come to your blog the more you build your customer-network. 

After almost 1 year on the AR Blog I've reached the 80338 Points, and learned a lot... Most importantly to stay focused and keep in mind only the "customers". To speak their language and answer their needs. They have to be informed in the today's troubled market. As for AR community professionals... they know it all! Talking to each other and exchanging impressions doesn't help your business. "Selling" and "Customer Services" network is the only important objective.

I will stay focused on that!