Las Vegas Real Estate Blog

Condo ownership is increasing in popularity across the U.S.  However, when purchasing a condo, you need to keep an eye out for potential problems that could cost you down the road.

For example, many condos have underground storage tanks that could start leaking. If they did, the condo owner may be specially assessed to deal with any needed repair.  This can cost upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars and may result in substantial special assessments.

Other things to look for when purchasing a condo include: lead paint,  leaking furnace oil tanks, polluted wells, asbestos removal, and sick building syndrome claims.

To avoid potential expenses associated with these issues, review the association minutes to see if any of these issues have been raised in the past.  Also, ask questions of the  management company and current condo owner.  If possible, have the condo owner write a statement that they are unaware of  claims that may affect the association.  A little research can go along way in saving you countless headaches and expenses.

For more information, contact MillionSaverHomes.com a local Las Vegas real estate broker at 702.212.3513.

Popularity: 12%

Real estate research website, Zillow.com is set to introduce a new feature designed to offer a bird’s eye, low-altitude photographs of residential neighborhoods.  The new views can be found on home searches in cities such as San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, Boston and Las Vegas.  Additional cities will be added later this year.

Zillow will now be the first real estate site to give consumers an immersive, 45-degree-angle view of residential neighborhoods down to specific homes, allowing them to zoom in from four directions.

For more information, contact MillionSaverHomes.com a local Las Vegas real estate broker at 702.212.3513.

Popularity: 11%

Mortgage rates rose for the second consecutive week, to the highest level in more than two and a-half years. According to Freddie Mac, the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 6.43 percent for the week ending April 6, up from the prior week’s 6.35 percent. The 30-year has not been this high since Sept. 5, 2003, when it was 6.44 percent.

Freddie Mac is estimating economic growth of 3.8 percent in 2006, up from the 3.2 percent in 2005. In turn, this may warrant more Fed rate hikes than previously expected. If that occurs, mortgage rates may continue their gradual upward trend.

For more information, contact MillionSaverHomes.com a local Las Vegas real estate broker at 702.212.3513.

Popularity: 13%

An article in the Las Vegas Sun raises an interesting question.  With all the building of new luxury properties in LV over the next few years, is middle-America being priced out of  Las Vegas?  Will LV turn into another desert version of Southern California and Miami Beach resort towns where only the wealthy can afford to live and play?  To read more, click here.

Or For more information, contact MillionSaverHomes.com a local Las Vegas real estate broker at 702.212.3513.

Popularity: 10%

Home Builders Research is reporting that the number of resale homes sold in the Las Vegas Valley continues to decline, while the price for resale homes sits around $280,000. Resale transactions for February show a year-to-year decline of almost 11%.

However, all is not negative. The report also indicates that new houses continued to show modest gains over the previous year. For February, there was a 21% year-to-year increase in new house sales.

For more information, contact MillionSaverHomes.com a local Las Vegas real estate broker at 702.212.3513.

Popularity: 16%

There’s a new twist surfacing in the real estate industry.  Broker rebates.  Brokers are giving most of their commissions to buyers.

This approach appears to be gaining momentum in some of the more pricier real estate markets across the country.   For example, Seattle-based Redfin launched a service that offers to rebate two-thirds of the commission it receives for representing a home buyer. Chicago-based, BuySide Realty Inc. offers home buyers rebates of 75% of the commissions it earns as a limited-service broker.

Some sizable firms  such as ZipRealty Inc. and LendingTree, already promote rebates and advertise them heavily. But the idea of receiving a rebate on a home remains relatively unknown throughout the rest of the country. Additionally, fifteen states, including Missouri, New York and Oregon, ban or heavily restrict rebates on real-estate commissions.

It will remain to be seen if the practice will catch on here in Las Vegas.

For more information, contact MillionSaverHomes.com a local Las Vegas real estate broker at 702.212.3513.

Popularity: 13%

The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reports sales and prices are up in southern  Nevada. Overall, single family homes increased 1.9% while Condos and townhomes jumped 4.4%. Additionally, there were 41% more buyers last month.  Real estate agents say the change in seasons tends to jump started the market.

For more information, contact MillionSaverHomes.com a local Las Vegas real estate broker at 702.212.3513.

Popularity: 13%

Research indicates that single women are twice as likely as single men to buy a home. This small fact has many builders taking notice. They have begun to actively court female buyers with additional amenities such as security systems, built-in vacuums, skylights, and gourmet kitchens.

According to the National Association of Realtors, single women are purchasing homes in record numbers due to relatively low interest rates, increased salaries, good credit earlier in life and later marriages. In 2005, women represented 21% of all home buyers, second only to married couples, who still control a larger percentage of the market.

Women’s Mortgage Industry Network finds that women collectively earn more than $1 trillion annually and influence $2.4 trillion of the $3 trillion in annual consumer sales. A rather strong incentive for many builders to figure out what women want in a new house.

For more information, contact MillionSaverHomes.com a local Las Vegas real estate broker at 702.212.3513.

Popularity: 12%

The old adage that there are only two things in life that are guaranteed — taxes and death — is made even truer by the startling revelation that Clark County residential property taxes have increased by an estimated 35% this year.

Last year, the state legislature capped property tax increases for homeowners at 3%, allowing homeowners’ tax bills to increase by a smaller proportion while average assessed values rose more rapidly.

However, the noted down side is that this effort to cap real estate taxes has created an imbalance between revenues collected and the need for expenditures to cover the cost of education, infrastructure and basic services.

For more information, contact MillionSaverHomes.com a local Las Vegas real estate broker at 702.212.3513.

Popularity: 11%

Business Las Vegas is reporting that Las Vegas Valley land prices have begun to return to normal…well normal by Las Vegas standards.

In 2005, Applied Analysis found that the average price per acre was $479,200. This was a 38% increase over the previous year. Fourth quarter 2005 found the average price per acre at $367,200. This was a 47% decline quarter over quarter and a 28% decline from the year-ago quarter.

For more information, contact MillionSaverHomes.com a local Las Vegas real estate broker at 702.212.3513.

Popularity: 14%