Real Estate

Susette Kelo, the woman at the center of the national battle over property rights, sent cards to the people involved in using eminent domain to take her house to make way for private development.

The cards feature a picture of her pink house and a message that reads, in part: “Your houses, your homes, your family, your friends. May they live in misery that never ends. I curse you all. May you rot in hell. To each of you I send this spell.”

The U.S. Supreme Court, in Kelo v. City of New London, ruled in June 2005 that New London, CT had the right to take homes in her neighborhood to make way for a riverfront project that will include condominiums, a hotel, and office space.

Kelo did accept a $442,155 settlement, more than $300,000 above the 2000 appraised value of her house and her little pink house will be moved elsewhere in the city.

As Clark County attempts to pave the Las Vegas/Henderson valley from mountainside to mountainside, I can see thousands of “well-wishers” sending “holiday greetings” to politicians and developers, whose mission statement seems to be “Let’s rape the limited resources today and be merry for the fallout will be someone else’s problem tomorrow.” I am also thinking we might as well scrap the U.S. Constitution since it only means as much–and apparently less– as five or more fools on the Supreme Court Bench say it does.

For more go to “Plaintiff in groundbreaking eminent domain case sends angry holiday message”

Posted by Zounds Off at 7:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

‘The Mid-West is not immune to market volatility’ according to Forbes which is predicting a further slowing in new home development and a flat 2007 for home sales. Coupled with the recent report from Newsweek that puts Las Vegas at the top of the list of cities with an excess of condo and homes on the market so the next few months will offer rare oppertunities to buyers looking for a great deal in the next. [Forbes | Newsweek]

[See also: Businessweek | MSN]

Posted by pokerprof at 4:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A topic that recently caught my eye was the fast growing foreclosure rate. Foreclosure is considered a lagging indicator of trends in the real-estate market simply because it takes months for a foreclosure proceeding to complete. The rise in foreclosures is a tell-tale sign that the market has long since cooled off. Now, the late adopters who sought to reap the quick profits aren’t finding buyers in time for their properties and this is good news for buyers over the next couple of years.

A sharp rise in foreclosures. Based on the current trends in the Vegas housing markets I believe it’s safe to say unsold property in the area should be held until the market rebounds, and it will. Las Vegas is insulated from almost all national trends, and while they do impact our markets the effect is less in force and shorter in time then similarly situated markets, for the simple reason that “It’s Vegas, Baby!”.

For the buyer, the Vegas market is seeing a rare sagging and deals will continue to improve. This might be one of the last slumps before growth limitations, primarily water distribution curtail new and planned hosing projects.

As I noted in an earlier article, the high-end markets are completely unaffected by any of this and it’s business as usual for the big ticket properties.

Bottom Line:
Sellers with properties under $1 million should HOLD.
Buyers look for properties under $1 million should WAIT, next year is projected to be an even softer market.

For more on Nevada Foreclosure Law see: www.foreclosurelaw.org

For more on Why we don’t have a Right of Redemption for the Owner see:
The Nevada State Senate

Posted by pokerprof at 2:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the America West Eagle Glen Incentive Properties

I’ve been working on an overview of the Las Vegas housing market; and while the extreme high-end (5 million plus) is still going strong the sales in other areas is falling off.

From one real-estate agents site:

The total number of sold homes in Las Vegas real estate for October was 1,689, down nearly 3 percent from September and down 34.4 percent from one year ago.The median home sales price for Las Vegas town homes and condos for sale prices remained at an even $200,000. This price is up 2.6 percent from the same time last year.

Las Vegas condos and Las Vegas town homes a total of 357 units were sold, down 18.5 percent from the previous month and down 45.2 percent from the previous year.

[source]

In addition this I’ve recently been made aware of the America’s West Glen Eagles $15,000 and alot of other incentives to realtors and buyers.

What does this mean? Pay attention, ask questions and above all make sure the home is the one you want, not the one the realtor wants.

The Vegas housing boom is over despite the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors 3Q report where they predict things are looking up when the numbers are down.

Posted by pokerprof at 9:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nevada recorded 1,919 foreclosures in September, according to the latest available statistics from RealtyTrac.com, a real estate research firm.

That’s a 237 percent increase over the number of foreclosures recorded in September 2005, and a rate of one new foreclosure filing for every 452 households.

The state’s foreclosure rate is the second highest in the country, ranking behind Colorado.

And it is not just in Nevada; Joel Hirschhorn reports “[u]p to 4 percent of America’s mortgaged homeowners might lose their homes to foreclosure in coming months, one of the nation’s largest lenders predicted recently, as those homeowners find themselves trapped by heavy debt and the housing slump. That’s four times worse than the historical average of 1 in 100 mortgaged homeowners who fail to keep up payments. First American Loan Performance, a mortgage-data company based in San Francisco, says overall the national foreclosure rate has climbed 27% from a year ago with an estimated $110 billion worth of homes expected to go into foreclosure. Rick Sharga, a vice-president at RealtyTrac, said recently ‘Over a trillion dollars is going to readjust in the next 15 months. We had almost 850,000 foreclosures last year and we are at 913,000 through September.’ He predicted that national foreclosures could hit 1.2 million to 1.3 million by the end of this year.”

I only hope that the ones who lose the house are the ones who thought they would make a killing in real estate. Somehow, by the time the infomercials come out, the market is already saturated with sharks on a feeding frenzy. Those still left in the water at the end do tend to bleed. However, I noticed that none of our “outstanding” candidates (standing out for their blandness and ineptness) seem to have noticed this problem–except for Brian Kroliki who calls it “Magic.”

Posted by Zounds Off at 6:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061012/NEWS/610120337/1002/NEWS”>WIRE AND STAFF REPORTS:

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada is denying a report that he collected a $1.1 million windfall on a Las Vegas land sale.
The Nevada Democrat’s deal was engineered by Jay Brown, a longtime friend and former casino lawyer whose name surfaced in a major political bribery trial this summer and in other prior organized crime investigations, according to the Associated Press. Brown has never been charged with wrongdoing except for a 1981 federal securities complaint that was settled out of court.
The deal began in 1998 when Reid bought undeveloped residential property on Las Vegas’ booming outskirts for about $400,000. Reid bought one lot outright, and a second parcel jointly with Brown. One of the sellers was a developer who was benefiting from a government land swap that Reid supported. The seller never talked to Reid.
In 2001, Reid sold the land for the same price to a limited liability corporation created by Brown. The senator didn’t disclose the sale on his annual public ethics report or tell Congress he had any stake in Brown’s company. He continued to report to Congress that he personally owned the land.
After getting local officials to rezone the property for a shopping center, Brown’s company sold the land in 2004 to other developers, and Reid took $1.1 million of the proceeds, nearly tripling the senator’s investment. Reid reported it to Congress as a personal land sale.
The complex dealings allowed Reid to transfer ownership, legal liability and some tax consequences to Brown’s company without public knowledge, but still collect a seven-figure payoff nearly three years later.
Have local officials ever met a politician, developer, or shady character for whom they wouldn’t rezone a tract of land. And all this while Harry’s son Rory claims that he alone has fought the special interest groups against uncontrolled growth in the valley.

Posted by Zounds Off at 4:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Las Vegas FSBO Channel Real Estate Website Launches Today
LAS VEGAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Just seven weeks ago FSBO Channels launched “Tampa FSBO Channel,” its first For Sale by Owner Real Estate website offering absolutely free FSBO listings to Tampa homeowners. Today, FSBO Channels has announced the launch of its sixteenth FSBO Channel, Las Vegas FSBO Channel: in the latest FBO Channel expansion.

See full text.

Posted by Zounds Off at 3:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From the Casino City Times: A subsidiary of Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. today announced it entered into a definitive agreement with a subsidiary of Boyd Gaming Corp. acquiring the Barbary Coast. Harrah’s now holds or will acquire 350 acres from the Paris south to Harrah’s and west to the Rio.

And at the same time…
Harrah’s Gets Buyout Offer
Pittsburgh Business Times – 4:52 PM EDT Monday

Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., one of three bidders for a Pittsburgh slots license, said it is reviewing a $15.1 billion takeover offer from Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group.

Posted by Zounds Off at 3:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)