Las Vegas Real Estate Blog

Glossary of Terms

Spacious - average
Charming - small
Comfortable - very small
Cozy - very, very small
Low maintenance - no lawn
Walk to stores - nowhere to park your car
Prestgious - expensive
Bright and sunny - venetian blinds not included
Townhouse - former tenement
Modern - 30 to 40 years old
Contemporary - at least 15 years old
Sprawling ranch - inefficient floor plan
Natural setting - forget about planting, the deer will eat everything
Secluded setting - far away
Executive neighborhood - high taxes
Near houses of worship - fanatical denomination next door
Park-like setting - a tree on the block
Unaffected charm - needs painting
Starter home - run down
Hurry! Won't last - about to collapse
And much, much more - nothing else comes to mind

This is a very good question that many of my clients keep asking me. As I found this material very useful for all potential buyers, I like to share-it with you. 

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By June Fletcher ***staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal

Question: Is now a good time to buy a home, or should I wait for prices to fall further?

Everybody: With the housing market on life support, just about everyone I talk to these days is asking some version of this question. So rather than answering for one person in a specific market, I'll tackle the issue generically.

Nineteen months past its peak, residential real estate continues to weaken, with prices and sales down and inventories rising across the U.S. For sellers, this is ghastly news, of course, but buyers have mixed feelings. On the one hand, after years of bidding wars, instant offers without home inspections and even penning poems to convince sellers to hand over the keys, it's delightful to finally have choices and negotiating room. On the other hand, it's a bit frightening to make a commitment now, when there's a chance that prices could drop even lower.

Caught between opportunity and risk, what's a buyer to do? Here are some ideas to keep in mind in our current "buyer's market":

Buyers, not sellers, set prices. This may seem counterintuitive, but all a seller can do is suggest an asking price. The real price is whatever a buyer pays for it.

In 2004 and 2005, home prices rose because buyers flooded the market --  now prices are falling because buyers are sitting on the sidelines. Meanwhile, the number of homes being built hasn't changed drastically; rather, supply is growing because existing-home sellers can't figure out what buyers are now willing to pay, so their homes are sitting on the market.

Comps may not matter now. When markets are in upheaval, either up or down, recent sales of comparable houses are of less value than they are in more stable times. So take a look at public records, which are now often listed on Web sites, as well as Internet tools like Zillow and Trulia. But take them all with a grain of salt. They may be guiding sellers as they set their asking prices, but they don't necessarily indicate what a seller will accept, since the market is in flux.

Agents are talking. When times are good, listing agents typically reveal little about their sellers' motivations or pricing strategies ... which is as it should be. Listing agents have a duty to get the best possible deal for the seller.

But agents don't get paid unless deals are made, and many are hurting now. So many have looser lips than usual -- something that sellers should keep in mind when they tell their agents about why they're moving and what price they'd ultimately expect. Buyers, however, aren't breaking any rules by asking, and the information they receive could help them decide what and when to bid.

For instance, I recently visited two open houses in Naples, Fla. -- a place with extremely high levels of unsold inventory -- where the respective agents both told me their sellers planned to drop prices drastically the following week. That's not what agents are "supposed" to do, but it's happening, especially in the softest markets.

Timing the market isn't possible. Although many economists predict that nationally, housing still has a way to go to reach bottom, you don't have to wait for that to happen to get a good deal. In fact, it's better to buy when housing is trending down than when it reaches the floor, since at that exact moment, the balance of power begins to shift toward the seller again. So if you see a house you like and can afford, make a bid now. And don't worry about insulting sellers with a "lowball" offer. They may be desperate to move because of a new job, marriage, divorce, overstretched bank account or other motive. Yours may be the only bid they've received in months and they may be very glad to have it.

-- June Fletcher is a staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal and the author of "House Poor" (Harper Collins, 2005). Her "House Talk" column appears most Mondays on RealEstateJournal.com. Email your questions about the residential real-estate market. Please include your name, city and state.

(WebWire) 3/2/2007 3:43:39 PM
 
LARKSPUR, Calif.-- Venture Corporation, one of the nation's largest builders of small, privately owned business properties, has purchased the real estate assets of Huffman Builders West in Las Vegas for a total of $50,450,000 in equity and debt assumption. Venture Corporation, a 30-year-old Marin County, California-based commercial real estate development company, closed on the acquisition in January.

Venture bought 520,000 square feet of commercial real estate developments in the acquisition, and its value, when all the construction is complete, is estimated at $187,000,000. With this acquisition, Las Vegas becomes the largest single market for Venture, and the company is already beginning to look for more opportunities to grow its development portfolio in Las Vegas. Venture marked its entry into the state of Nevada in June, 2006 with Venture Commerce Center - Las Vegas. The four commercial buildings, located on Eastern Avenue in the Parkview Center Business Park, have 38 privately owned business properties ranging in size from 1,313 to 3,600 square feet.

In addition to Las Vegas, Venture currently has 39 commercial condominium developments in various stages of construction throughout California, Las Vegas, Reno, Washington, Oregon and New Mexico. Most of its developments are called Venture Commerce Centers and offer smaller companies, normally with fewer than 20 employees, an opportunity to own their own business properties. This affords them all the advantages of real estate ownership, including equity building and tax benefits that are usually available only to landlords.

Venture also builds medical/dental condominium projects in various other locations, and the company believes that the acquisition of the Huffman projects in Las Vegas is a perfect fit.

"We are delighted to be part of the extraordinary growth of Las Vegas," said Robert Eves, Venture's President. "The Huffman developments fit our core business model now underway throughout the western United States. We bought these developments mid-way through the process, and have marshaled the forces needed to get them built and absorbed."

The company's medical condominium developments are called Venture Professional Centers and have been very successful. The four developments that Venture purchased in Las Vegas will be built and marketed under the Venture Professional Center name.

Eves added, "Doctors and dentists especially appreciate the opportunity to control their own destinies, receive the tax advantages of owning their real estate and finally say ‘farewell' to their landlords. At the end of the day, when they are looking to sell for practice, building ownership gives them something more tangible to sell then just a Rolodex."

Michael Young, formerly Huffman Builders West's president, joined Venture Corporation as its Nevada region CEO soon after the purchase. "Affiliating with a company of the caliber of Venture Corporation gives me the opportunity to grow, learn and expand our operations throughout Las Vegas and beyond," reported Young. "What a great experience this has been!"

The Huffman projects are located across Southern Nevada. On the southwest side is a 120,000 square foot medical professional condominium development located at the intersection of South Fort Apache Road and West Russell Road. This project is being constructed in 15 separate buildings on 10 acres and is nearly sold out to medical and dental professionals.

Hualapai Pavilion Common is another medical professional condominium development. Located in the Summerlin area, the 5.7-acre project consists of 62,000 square feet in six separate buildings ranging in size from 5,000 to 15,000 square feet. Construction is moving quickly and the development is entirely sold out.

The third project being built by Venture is in the booming Town Center area of Centennial Hills in the northwest and consists of 160,000 square feet of medical office condominiums, an 87,000 square foot Class-A office building and a 42,000 square foot retail center. The 24-acre development has been approved by the City of Las Vegas, and Venture plans to start construction as soon as the building permits are issued.

The last property acquired by Venture is a 4.3-acre site on Horizon Ridge Parkway and Carmichael Way in Henderson. The City of Henderson has approved a two-story Class-A commercial office building for the site, and Venture Corporation has already commenced its outreach for suitable tenants. Construction is set to begin after lease negotiations have been finalized.

Complete information about Venture's commercial condominium projects is available on the company's impressive websites at www.VentureProfessionalCenter.com and www.VentureCommerceCenter.com

This article was written by Don Foster Scoggins of http://www.appraisersoflasvegas.com/

If you've heard anything about Zillow and its so-called house price "Zestimates" in the past month, you're likely to answer this question in the negative. Zillow is a online calculator created to offer the homebuyer and seller quick access to home values across the country. It was was supposed to revolutionize the real estate industry.

As of now, this has yet to occur. The brainchild of Rich Barton - the former CEO of Expedia who transformed the travel industry by making it easier for people to purchase plane tickets and travel packages online- Zillow was hyped up as the next big thing and intensely marketed in the media. But in the end, the excitement petered out once people had a chance to try it out. At its best, Zillow misses the dollar value of a house by 5% - 7%. At its worst, property is undervalued by much more.

For instance, according to AppraisersofLasVegas.com, the first test of Zillow showed that 60% of the results were over 5% off. The second test revealed that a whopping 100% of the results were off over 5%.

For the first test, Zillow valued the homes 6.2%, 2.8%, 14.0%, 1.5% and 8.0% below recent appraisals.

In the second test, Zillow failed to find three of the properties and undervalued the rest by 19.5%, 27.0%, 11.3%, 8.0%, 10.7% and 11.9%. It's interesting that Zillow undervalued six out of six homes.

In addition, the site lacks information for many areas across the country and often experiences moments of inconsistency when requesting house prices. You may be able to search for a house at one moment and the next moment, the property is nowhere to be found.

To assess a home, Zillow takes into consideration historical property values, square footage, number of bedrooms and neighboring homes to calculate a house price. The numbers that seem to come out of the system, as a result, are extremely inaccurate. Exept the fact that Zillow uses old data, its methodology is similar in many ways to valuation approaches utilized by Realtors7 who arrive at a number by comparing features, such as number of bedrooms and square footage, with similar homes that sold in the neighborhood. Valuing a home by "comps" usually means the agent estimates a house value by calculating the price per square foot. Essentially, they divide the sale price by the living area and average the results. Of course, this method is lacking, in that it consistently undervalues an above-average home and overvalues a below-average home.

There is more to valuing a house than looking at the size, neighborhood and number of bedrooms. A qualified and licensed or certified appraiser, for example, takes much more into consideration when conducting an analysis of a person's home. Homes with a pool, view, large lot size and other upgrades or unique attributes typically sell for significantly more than comparable homes in the same neighborhood. Zillow and Realtors7 who have not physically visited homes in a given area are not equipped with the right knowledge to make a proper valuation when all aspects of a home's value are factored into the calculation.

In the end, only a professional and licensed or certified appraiser has the requisite tools, education, and skills to conduct a full sales comparison analysis and appraisal. Appraisers examine a home and its features on a line-by-line basis to arrive at an appraisal that is accurate, complete and trustworthy. Can a computer program achieve the same results? Not by a long shot.

Written By: Shannon Hubbard
 Realtor®-Investor
 Great American Realty, Inc.

 I spend a great deal of time reading through MLS listings, which may seem boring, but some of the listings are actually very entertaining!  As a Realtor®, you learn to read between the lines as you read real estate advertisements.  For example, if the ad says the home has 'great potential', that usually means it could be a great house, but it's not at the moment.  'Priced below comps' usually really means overpriced - please don't check the comps.  I've even seen MLS listings that require 'cash only' deals - that tells me no bank would be dumb enough to lend money on the property.  I could go on all day, as I said, reading through MLS can provide hours of entertainment!  But here's one of the funniest home listings I've come across in a long time:

• "Fully wired for wireless alarm services"

...hmmmmm, think about that for a minute.  I think most houses have that feature, don't they?!  This listing also offered some interesting financing options:

• "Seller will carry for 2-3 years. No credit check, no qualify. Memorandum of Contract of Sale will be recorded thru title. $30K down for the contract of sale. If your an agent, & want to buy, waive your commission, and down payment will be $15,000.00"

 By the way, this Nevada home was listed for $785,000.  Now $785,000 - $30,000 downpayment = $755,000...financed for 2-3 years.  For 3 years, even at 6% interest that would be about a $23,000/month payment (not including Insurance and Taxes).  Oh wait...maybe they meant seller would carry for 2-3 years and then the buyer could refinance.  I wonder if someone who's enticed by a 'no credit check, no qualify' offer will really be able to qualify for a $755,000 mortgage in 2-3 years?  Sounds to me like this seller wants somebody to move in and make payments for 2-3 years before they kick them out and take the house back.

By the way, I'm not a lawyer and I haven't seen the 'Memorandom of Contract of Sale' referenced in this listing, but I believe it means title would never transfer to the buyer until the loan was paid off...unlike a normal sale where you get title at closing subject to a deed of trust (loan).  The major difference is the house never really belongs to you, so when you don't make payments, you are evicted like a tenant rather than going through a foreclosure or trustee sale.  Or when your 2-3 year 'seller carried' loan is due and you can't get it refinanced, you don't own the house so you are just kicked out.  The sellers keep the house along with your downpayment and every penny you paid them over the 2-3 years.  This type of transaction is common in land purchase deals, but beware of someone who wants to sell you an owner occupied home this way.

Another thing, why would an agent waive their $23,550 commission in order to get $15,000 off the downpayment?

As I said, I could sit around and pick apart house flyers and advertisements all day.  But that's not my intention.  My point is, don't believe everything you read on a 'for sale flyer' and do your research, even if the seller or seller's agent seem to have all the answers for you.  Trust but verify!

Written By: Shannon Hubbard Realtor®-Investor Great American Realty, Inc. Cell: (480) 695-6672 Email me