While I was out buying and selling in many markets outside of Las Vegas I was sitting on the sidelines in this market because home prices were too high and just did not make good investor cash flow sense. That all began to change in the summer of 2008 as prices began falling faster that normal and the point of cash flow was once again reached. Positive cash flow is a simple equation in which the amount of money an investor can get from renting a home exceeds his/her costs of ownership. These costs of ownership would include the mortgage, taxes, insurance, repairs, and property management. With a 20% down payment positive cash flow can now be achieved in this market for the first time in several years. Las Vegas has lead the nation in foreclosures for well over a year now and the amount of foreclosures coming on the market are near triple the amount from just a year ago. Nearly 1 home in out of every 70 is in some stage of foreclosure here in the Las Vegas market. The median home price in Las Vegas has come down near $10,000 a month over the last year from a high of near $300,000 to a new median price of only $189,000.
As a full time agent and real estate investor I spend my time looking for the best deals for myself and my investors here in this market. Local newspaper articles and analysts talk about 30% declines in values. The reality is that we are seeing prices that are being discounted 50-70% off of where they were just 2 years ago. The majority of my deals over the last two months are coming in at 50% of older higher values from 2006. I just sold a one bedroom condo at $53,000 that was $148,000 two years ago. This is near 35 cents on the dollar folks. New 2 year old three bedroom homes that were as high as $300,000 just 2 years ago are now priced under $120,000.
This opens the doors for virtually anybody to step back into the Las Vegas market and begin buying once again. Because of the governments Housing Recovery Foreclosure Bill 1st time buyers have a $7500 tax credit to take advantage of; baby boomers and retirees looking to relocate to a warmer weather destination do not have to head south of the border as the Southwest has become affordable once again. The vacation capital of the world now makes sense again for second home and vacation home buyers and of course investors are delighted to be able to cash flow on their investments again. Of course all of these groups will benefit greatly as the possibility for appreciation is guaranteed over prices from 2 years ago. Let�s face it, anyone that purchased in 2006 or 2007 bought at the height of the market and have seen their equity evaporate almost overnight.
We all know that lending has tightened up over the last year. Prices on homes are nearly 1/2 of where they were also. If you have a good job and good credit it is a great time to be buying a home. Interest rates are at historic lows so I soundly suggest you put a 30 year fully amortized note in place to lock in historic low interest rates as they literally have only one place to go and that is up. Earlier this week I was chatting with one of my title company officers and she informed me that 85% of her closings are being financed thru a lender. I offered her the suggestion that she get more cash buyers as only 2 of my 11 deals in the last month have been financed and the other 9 deals or 82% of my deals have all been cash deals. The old phrase �Cash is King� is never more relevant than right now in this market. Not only am I getting more deals accepted, but I am getting them at a lower than list price amount in most cases and getting them pushed thru rapidly. My buyers are very happy because they are getting a great deal at a great low price, closing quickly, getting a great cash flow play and getting tremendous upside appreciation potential too. I just had a lender counter me over the weekend stating they will accept our lower than list price offer but they want to close in 10 days with our cash offer. Two other offers were on the table but the banks do not want to fool around with financing either. They want to take the sure sale of cash even if it is at a huge discount.
So folks if you were able to save up some money, not spend it all over the lasts couple of years during the great real estate boom or you still have a line of credit open I suggest you come on back into the Las Vegas market and start looking around for some real bargains. The banks are ready to deal and the timing to buy a great foreclosure is as good as it gets.
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Glenn Plantone is a real estate investment expert and licensed real estate agent in Las Vegas, NV.
You can learn more about real estate investing by visiting our website at http://www.worldbuilds.com .