Thursday, June 28, 2007

Urban Lofts Moving forward with Fremont Lofts

The fact that developers are building lofts in Las Vegas is great for locals who want a very untraditional home to live in. Pink Stucco houses with a 2 car garage and postage stamp of a backyard are a dime a dozen but a true loft with soaring ceilings and wide open spaces allows of True Living Space, IMHO.

The guys over at Urban Lofts are starting phase two of 11th Street Lofts a hybrid project - part loft, part townhouse but definitely hip and trendy. The only downside the project is being built east of Fremont street experience. The downtown revitalization is in progress but we won't see it spreading east for a while.

Urban Lofts 2nd project Fremont Street lofts is set to break ground shortly in the same area.

If you want an affordable, very hip loft/townhouse we would be glad to tour you on this property and other loft properties in Vegas. For more info go to
www.nvlofts.com and find out why Olivia is your loft specialist in Las Vegas.

Thanks

Jason

Monday, June 11, 2007

Standhi - Are you ready for high rise loft living?

Standhi will be the tallest building in downtown Las Vegas hosting over 425 luxury condominums adding to the selection of new downtown projects.

This is the lastest offering from Sam Cherry Development one of the top developers in Las Vegas. He has built Soho Lofts and is currenting finishing Newport Lofts. Standhi marks his 3rd offering in Las Vegas since the boom. Other developers are still working on the 1st completion.

To find out more information about this project please call me.

Thanks

Olivia

Friday, June 8, 2007

What is going on with Las Vegas Real Estate?

What is the state of the housing market in Las Vegas?

Buyers are having great time bargain hunting and finding deals on new homes. Resale’s - hit and miss based on sellers willingness to negotiate their price, many of whom are reluctant to lower prices because they are under water. Some because they refinanced and pulled cash out and with the slow down they have lost value and now owe more than the home is worth. Others of course went the route of negative amortization loans thinking they could flip or refi at a lower rate when the time came only to find, the time came and the rates went up and values down.

Many sellers are frozen and unwilling to listen to market data or their REALTORS®. The bottom line is if a seller NEEDS to sell - they may need to make concessions to sell the property. This is what developers are doing by offering huge buyer incentives like closing costs, upgrades, and back yard landscaping. Developers are also offering large realtor co-ops so re sale homes are competing against this factor as well.

Many sellers are testing the market and are not serious about selling unless it is at asking price AND on their terms even when the recent sales indicate a buyer could buy twice the home for half the cost elsewhere.


There is a collision either way with Buyers writing offers 20% or 30% under the asking price and Sellers listing their property over market comparisons adding in 2004 unrealized appreciation.

All of this contributed to an almost all time record of resale’s on the market in May, with over 23,000 homes listed for sale and a 2.8% decrease in the median home price from a year ago down to $301,352. And with only 1568 recorded sales in the month of May, sales are down 38.7%.

It's not pretty, Nevada leads the nation in foreclosures and nearly half the resales on the market are sitting vacant. I see out of state investors unwilling or unable to pay a property manager and unable to handle renting or maintenance and turnover long distance, so the property remains unrented and vacant. In the long run, this vacancy costs more, but many investors jumped into the hot real estate market with little to no experience and high hopes of making big bucks. Many did so without the assistance of a professional realtor and the foreclosures and short sales we are seeing is a result of that.

On the up side, in a buyers market like we have today, there are some great opportunities for an investor to buy low. Sitting down with a realtor to be educated about the market and discuss your long term investment goals can make all the difference in the right purchase. There hasn't been a better time to buy in the past 30 years, and despite the foreclosure rate there are still 100% loan programs and even some down payment assistance programs for owner occupied homes.


Call me today to get info on breaking deals.

Olivia McClellan, ABR, GRI, RRG
Liberty Realty
702-372-2671