Las Vegas Real Estate Blog

No question, Nevada's golf courses are as challenging as they are spectacular. And without doubt, this is due in no small part to the state's daunting landscapes and sheer physical beauty.

Throughout the southern desert, seas of green caress the rocky terrain. Breathtaking oases, pleasantly warm in winter, and designed by the game's finest - Dye, Stamps, Palmer, Fazio, to name but a few. Within a two hour drive of Las Vegas you'll find 50 of these masterpieces. Among them, championship courses like the Tournament Players Club at Summerlin and The Canyons, home of the PGA's Las Vegas Invitational.

Farther north, in, on and around the majestic mountains and pristine lakes, you'll find another 50 courses, all as magnificent as they are challenging. Take the Montreux Golf and Country Club, for example, a private paradise and home of the Reno-Tahoe Open. Or the Edgewood Tahoe, where the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship is played. These are no ordinary courses. They are man-made works of art, painstakingly designed to complement Mother Nature's own miracles. And don't miss The Divine 9 around Carson City, each course more heavenly than the next.

Recently selected as the "Best New Course in Las Vegas" by Vegas Golfer Magazine and their readers, Aliante Golf Club has been receiving rave reviews ever since.

Aliante Golf Club

3100 West Elkhorn
North Las Vegas, Nevada 89084
Tee Time Reservations: 1.866.696.4546
Click Here for Course Rates & Information
Recently selected as the "Best New Course in Las Vegas" by Vegas Golfer Magazine and their readers, Aliante Golf Club has been receiving rave reviews ever since.This memorable 18-hole championship course was designed by Scottsdale-based Gary Panks Associates. Gary Panks has a long-standing reputation for designing golf courses that enhance the environment.

In a declining housing market, the value of a home sometimes falls below what is owed on it. When you can no longer pay the amount owed, you have several options.

• You can try to hand over your deed to your first mortgage holder. But they might not accept it, since they'd still be on the hook for legal fees, taxes as well as your second mortgage.

Or

• You may just let the house fall into foreclosure. But that should only be a last-ditch approach because it hurts your credit rating. And it may not solve your financial problems either, since you may be held liable for any difference between what you owe and what the house brings at auction.

Another alternative is a short sale -- that is, a sale in which the proceeds fall short of what you owe. It can be a win-win situation for you, the lenders and the buyer (often an investor) of your house. But since you're asking lenders to accept less money than you promised to pay them, there's no guarantee that they'll go along with such a sale.

Tips & Warnings

• Closing costs will include title and escrow fees (if the seller is responsible for any portion of them, which will depend on your county), attorney fees, a portion of unpaid property taxes, re-conveyance fees, notary fees, delivery fees, documentary fees and/or transfer fees.
• If you sell the property without the assistance of a real estate broker, you will save the amount of the commission and have more to apply toward paying off your loan.
• If you feel more secure having a real estate broker handle the transaction, consider using a discount broker to market your property. You could also try to negotiate the sales commission with your broker.
• Remember that the amount on your monthly loan statement does not include interest. Interest is accrued until the date a loan is paid off, so you may have as much as 30 days of interest on top of the balance owing, and you'll need to include this interest in the total payoff amount.
• If a property is sold under a short sale, the lender may require the buyer to make up the difference, either through a personal obligation or a collection.
• The IRS often gets involved with short sales, because they are seen as a relief of debt and may be treated as income. Check with your accountant.

• Asheville, N.C.
• Traverse City, Mich.
• Ithaca, N.Y.
• Chicago
• Cary, N.C.
• Portland, Maine
• San Francisco

The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the fourteenth-most populous in the United States. It is located on the tip of the San Francisco Peninsula and is the focal point of the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco is the second most densely populated major city in the United States.

• Stevens Point, Wis.
• O'Fallon, Mo.
• Spencer, Iowa

 WASHINGTON (MarketWatch)

It's important to think of homeownership as a long-term investment, said David Berenbaum, executive vice president with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. "People have been in an environment where they're flipping homes.

We need to look at homeownership as promoting intergenerational wealth." Berenbaum added that owners should remain calm rather than panicking and trying to sell now. Owners don't actually lose money on a home until they sell at a discount to the purchase price, he pointed out. "We will weather this storm," he said. "At some point the housing market will come around. What we don't want to see are homes that are empty, home that create a destabilizing environment."

Here is a list of the 10 metro area markets where mortgage delinquency rates have increased the most between the fourth quarter of 2005 and the first quarter of 2007, according to Equifax and Moody's Economy.com.

• Modesto, Calif. -- 3.9% rise
• Stockton, Calif. -- 3% rise
• Merced, Calif. -- 2.8%
• Port St. Lucie-Fort Pierce, Fla. -- 2.7%
• Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla. Metropolitan Division -- 2.5%
• Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. -- 2.5%
• Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif. -- 2.4%
• Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev. -- 2.3%
• Atlantic City, N.J. -- 2.2%
• Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla. -- 2.2%