Jun 11
10
Welcome to BridgetMagnus.com
This isn’t like any of those cookie-cutter Realtor websites you’ve seen. Scroll down for the latest information on Vegas real estate, links to Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network, and insights on what’s happening now — updated every week. If you need my help immediately, just call 702-727-7842 now!
We’re still making some improvements to this site to serve you better! In the meantime: click here to email me (buyers and sellers both welcome!); here’s information on short sales and foreclosures; you can search for a home here; or just scroll down for the latest Friday Figures and other informative articles. Thanks for stopping by!
Jan 12
27
Friday Figures for 1/27/2012
Welcome to Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. It’s what you and your REALTOR need before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend. Watch me talk about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network live today and every Friday at 2:00 PM! Today we’ll talk about making your home feel bigger, an unusual farm, and rentals.
Summary: We have 10715 available properties, yet another drop. We haven’t seen this low a number of available units since June of 2010 and the end of the Home Buyers Tax Credit. The number of bank owned properties is abnormally low as lenders try to figure out how to comply with relatively new state laws and rulings by state judges. Expect more foreclosures by summer. More short sale and traditional sellers should start to appear with the flowers of Spring. While the number of available units is down, properties under contract are up — a healthy sign by most measures. We have a major tick up in both the number of leases waiting to be signed and the new leases signed. Rentals continue to move fast in this town, so don’t delay if you need to lease!
The News: The Feds are still trying to push through a big foreclosure fraud settlement that involves forgetting about investigating — let along prosecuting — the illegal actions of banks. However, they are bending under pressure from the public and at least two state Attorneys General to at least attempt to look into the matter. It turns out that “let the guys who wrecked the economy off the hook” is a bad strategy in an election year. In local foreclosure fraud news, yet another Nevada court has ruled that lenders must actually prove they have the right to foreclose before doing so.
December saw a drop in the number of homes under contract to be purchased nationwide. But don’t panic! That’s down from a 19 month high! Available inventory is down nationwide, too. It seems logical that if there are fewer homes available, fewer purchase contracts will result.
Two interesting problems to look out for. First, some economists think that all-cash real estate purchases are driving down home prices. Since roughly a third of our deals in Vegas are cash, this should be alarming. However, we have a large inventory of homes that are effectively un-mortgageable — those under $50,000 and those in very poor repair — so I do think this theory is overstated at least on the local level. It would be easy to say “See?? Look at all these homes selling for less than $50,000!” without pointing out that almost nobody locally will write a mortgage for that little. The other interesting thing is a study on what would happen if the minimum down payment on a mortgage went up sharply. It turns out that a minimum of as little as 10% would be a problem for as much as 40% of homebuyers. More alarming is that even more minority homebuyers would theoretically be out of luck. This study, of course, assumes that just because somebody made a lower down payment, the borrower couldn’t afford a bigger one. I find this assumption unrealistic.
Posted in Las Vegas Real Estate by .
Jan 12
23
House-Hunting Checklist
Way back in episode one of Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas, I gave REAL Advice about what to take with you when looking at homes. I’d like to update that list a little bit.
Edit your list: Before you get going, be very critical of the list of homes you want to see. Sure, some very rare house-hunters may be able to tackle a dozen homes a day and remember things about them. Most people are overwhelmed by the time they get to the 6th property. Save yourself time and effort by eliminating “maybes” before you start.
Straight Up Or Down Vote: In most cases, you know whether or not a property is a keeper within minutes. Don’t waste your valuable time on a house that won’t fit your needs! If that means you arrive and immediately decide to drive away, so be it. After you’ve seen two properties, always compare the one you’re in to the one you liked best. This way, you’ll never really be considering more than two homes at once: a favorite and a runner-up.
Pen: I always give clients copies of the listings we see (and a folder to keep them in!). Write notes when you look. Your notes will remind you what you liked, hated, or some unusual feature. Scribbling something as simple as “green carpet” will jog your memory about other things.
Flashlight: You never know what dark corner you might want to look at. And these days, many vacant properties don’t have electricity turned on, so you’ll need that flashlight to see into bathrooms, garages, under sink areas, and closets.
Tape Measure: “Honey, will our sofa fit on this wall?” “Bridget, how big is this room?” “How big a TV can go there?” All questions a tape measure will answer.
Comfortable Shoes: You will be walking around a bunch of properties, probably a bunch of back yards. This is not the time for your cute stiletto heels. Since many households are “shoes off please”, slip-ons are best.
Sunscreen: This is Las Vegas. Don’t go anywhere without sunscreen, even in winter.
Don’t lose your marbles: I have a new tool in my arsenal. It’s not practical to carry a level with me, but with a simple marble or ball, I can get a general idea how flat the floors are. You might also consider a bit of string with something tied on the end to see if walls are plumb when you are looking at older properties, or homes in earthquake prone areas.
I hope this helps you in your search. If you are searching in Las Vegas, be sure to give me a call!
Posted in General Real Estate by .
Jan 12
20
Friday Figures for 1/20/2012
It’s time for Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. This is real data you and your REALTOR need before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend. Normally you can watch me talk about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network live every Friday at 2:00 PM, but today we are off. See you next week!
Summary: We have 10897 available properties, compared to 16231 a year ago. For those of you playing at home, that means one of my 2012 real estate predictions is very probably busted. Don’t let anybody tell you this is a buyers market! One truly bright spot is that year over year, median price on available single family homes is ever so slightly UP! That’s right, I said UP year over year. There has also been a remarkable year over year decline in the number of available condos priced under $100,000. While the number of available properties is down, the number under contract is up; this is good because it means that we aren’t having a lot of expiring listings. We had a jump in the number of short sales under contract both from last week and year over year, supporting my prediction that it’s the Year of the Short Sale.
The News: NPR had an interesting item on property taxes this week, and why they aren’t necessarily going down. You might also enjoy this CNN item on unusual homes for sale. One interesting local item is on dropping prices for high-rise condos.
Home sales were up in December. That’s 3 months in a row, and an 11 month high! That also brings us down to a 6.2 month supply.
The latest version of the foreclosure fraud settlement would include writing down the mortgage balances of one million homeowners by roughly $20,000 (which won’t change anything in Las Vegas). However, there is some concern that banks will not actually lose this money, but pass the loss on to the investors who bought mortgage backed securities. The problem with this is that many of those securities are held by pension funds. Meanwhile, MERS is trying to settle a lawsuit rather than be dragged into a class action suit.
Posted in Las Vegas Real Estate by .
While USA Today says things are “upbeat” for housing, we have more than our share of reasons to be optimistic in Vegas: the 4th largest number of closes, new construction bouncing back, and prices that at least are no longer plummeting even though they are at a 23 year low.
Oh, and it looks like one of my predictions is in the works: about a dozen state Attorneys General are talking about mortgage/foreclosure fraud investigations outside the foreclosure fraud settlement talks.
But you’re here for the video:
Posted in General Real Estate by .
Jan 12
13
Friday Figures for 1/13/2012
Thanks for stopping by to read Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Here’s what you and your REALTOR need before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend. Watch me talk about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network live today and every Friday at 2:00 PM. Today I’ll tell you why this is “the Year of the Short Sale”!
Summary: The number of available properties is down just a little to 11048. Apparently non-institutional sellers are waiting until spring to list — a questionable tactic in today’s market. Interestingly enough, the number of properties listed for more than $700,000 seems to be trending up. The number of properties under contract is up slightly, a good sign for future closings. Expect light closings next week, as title companies and government offices will be closed Monday.
The News: We have what might be good news on the foreclosure front: fewer of them! In fact, foreclosures are down to 2007 levels. But is this a sign of things to come, or just a glitch caused by stronger state laws, more scrutiny, and not wanting to admit that banks are losing money on non-performing mortgages? If so, we can expect foreclosures to pick up again very soon now. Meanwhile, the Obama Administration still wants to ram through a foreclosure fraud settlement that would slap banks on the wrist and prevent investigation and punishment for crimes committed by the banks.
Mortgage rates are down again this week, to a new record of 3.89%. I am deadly serious when I say I don’t expect rates to be this low a year from now; if you are on the fence, get thee to a mortgage officer.
While the CoreLogic House Price Index suggests that prices were down in November, rents are being pushed up nationally by high demand.
Posted in Las Vegas Real Estate by .
Jan 12
10
Crystal Ball Spectacular
Here’s my real estate predictions for 2012. Be sure to re-watch this one in December just to see how I did!
By the way, it appears that Occupy Our Homes has arrived in Vegas.
Jan 12
6
Friday Figures for 1/6/2012
It’s the first Friday Figures of 2012! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Here’s the no-spin data you and your REALTOR need before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend. Watch me talk about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network live today and every Friday at 2:00 PM. Today we talk about new FHA limits and my 2012 Las Vegas real estate predictions!
Summary: Surprisingly we had another drop in the number of available units to 11124, compared to 12120 last month. The reduced inventory has pushed the price of both bank owned and traditional sales up. The median price of foreclosed homes is up 9% from the bottom we put in last summer! Properties under contract are also declining as properties close. The price of properties closing is stable, but I expect it to edge up a percentage or two over the coming 90 days as available properties go through the pipeline.
The News: The Feds are floating another proposal to start renting out some of the foreclosed homes owned by agencies of the government. This is partly to keep rents up nationally, and avoid having to rejigger how inflation is measured. Ironically, this may drive the price of foreclosures down, because the “nicest” ones are more likely to be rented out than the gutted disasters at the bottom of the price range (can we hope for a bulldozer?).
The number of visitors to Vegas is back to its pre-recession levels, despite the fact that convention business is still down. Visitors returning should remember that the Hilton is no longer a Hilton.
And the foreclosure fraud trial of a Florida lawyer suggests that the shadow inventory problem may be much, much bigger than anybody thinks. But then again, the man is on trial for lying.
Posted in Las Vegas Real Estate by .
Alright, I gave a lot of practical reasons it wouldn’t work. Now we have one more: the Feds.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency has already filed a lawsuit to stop a similar ordinance in Chicago, and they are poised to do the same here in Vegas. Maybe our City Council should have waited to see how judges rule on that case before passing our own regulation. One interesting paragraph echoes one of my many concerns, emphasis added:
Namely, the opponents in Las Vegas say banks don’t truly own the properties until the foreclosure process is complete, meaning that in the months between a borrower leaving and the legal takeover by the lender, the bank doesn’t have the right to order work on the property.
Or, to put it simply, it requires bank representatives to trespass and break one law to follow another.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t like the fact that the Feds are effectively preventing local governments from making banks shoulder their responsibilities for maintaining properties they own. It’s part of a trend of shielding big national banks from following state and local laws in general! However, this ill-considered ordinance will not solve our problems.
Posted in The Law by .
Dec 11
30
Friday Figures for 12/30/2011
It’s the last Friday Figures of 2011! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. This is what you and your REALTOR need to know before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend. Normally I would talk about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network live every Friday at 2:00 PM, but the show is taking a break for the holidays. We will be back on the air Friday, January 6, 2012 with my personal real estate predictions for 2012!
Summary: We’re down to 11486 available properties ahead of year-end. Hopefully, next week will be the big week for new listings that I’ve been looking for. The number of foreclosed homes on the market is continuing to slide (and probably will until banks figure out how best to tackle new laws in Nevada), but the good news is that the median price on those properties is up 8% from the bottom we had earlier this year. Predictably, the number of units under contract is down: banks and other institutions wanted both foreclosures and short sales off the books before the end of the year. The number of sales closed this week is remarkable when you consider that the County Recorder’s Office was closed Monday to observe Christmas.
The News: There’s still one more day of recorded documents to go through, but it looks like 38% of residential real estate purchases in 2011 were made with cash. Cash has been king here in our local market for some time, and will continue as long as we have un-mortgageable property for sale.
The Case-Shiller numbers came out this week, and generally speaking they weren’t good news. Housing prices were down in October. Keep in mind, it’s the end of December.
The foreclosure fraud settlement hasn’t materialized yet, and I am hopeful that there will be criminal investigations and prison sentences before any settlement can be made. In the meantime, Karl Denniger has some ideas about what the law should be (and frankly I’m shocked that this isn’t already law). Right now in Nevada, there is a case before our state Supreme Court asking just how much documentation must exist to bring a foreclosure: is some computer record from another state good enough? Speaking of foreclosure, here’s an interesting item on how long it sometimes takes to foreclose!
Posted in Las Vegas Real Estate by .
Dec 11
23
Friday Figures for 12/23/2011
‘Twas the day before Christmas Eve, and Bridget Magnus was busy doing the Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. It’s what you and your REALTOR really should know before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend. Normally I would talk about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network live every Friday at 2:00 PM, but the show is taking a break for the holidays. We will be back on the air Friday, January 6, 2012. Happy Holidays, no matter which ones you celebrate!
Summary: Our count of available units continues to slide, now at 11659! Remember, I’m expecting a mini-surge about a week and a half from now, beginning January 3. Why the third? Because many broker’s offices will be closed the second, and a listing agreement requires the broker’s signature. The supply of foreclosed properties is still going to be limited until banks figure out how they want to deal with some of Nevada’s new laws. The end result may be more short sales. But one more spot of good cheer, median price on foreclosed homes is up 7% from the lows we hit over the summer! The number of properties under contract dropped just below 13,000 again, but I am not worried. The mad dash to close before the end of the year has begun. The number of short sales closing remains strong — a good sign for the future. As usual for this time of year, the short work weeks mean title/escrow offices are beyond busy; cut them some slack if you need to talk to them.
The News: The Ghost of Real Estate Future suggests it’s that time of year that people start to get out the “crystal ball” and talk about what’s going to happen in the year ahead. It could give you a headache to try and follow it all. Meanwhile, the Ghost of Real Estate Past tells us that things were 14.3% worse than we thought in the last few years. The Ghost of Real Estate Present says sales are up 10% from last year and mortgage rates are at yet another all time low. Meeerrrryyyy Christmas!!
In foreclosure fraud news, Nevada has filed suit against Lender Processing Services (LPS). What do you call putting someone in prison for 600 counts of mortgage fraud? In this case, a good start. Meanwhile the SEC has brought charges against some executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Posted in Las Vegas Real Estate by .
