Lead poisoning is serious stuff, particularly for children under the age of 6. And sadly, children this age are more likely to come in contact with dust contaminated by lead simply by doing the things little kids do. HUD recommends a pretty rigorous cleaning regimen for older homes to minimize the risks of lead poisoning.

Lead abatement — the process of getting rid of the lead altogether and properly disposing of it — is an expensive proposition. However, yesterday HUD announced that they will award $13,000,000 in grants for 25 local projects including lead abatement, research, public education, and related activities.

Lead paint has not been put in American homes since 1978, but there are still a lot of homes that have lead paint contamination. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) estimates that number at roughly 24,000,000 homes. Under federal law, the buyer of any home built before 1978 has to be warned of the possibility of lead contamination, if the seller knows about lead based pain he must disclose it (even institutional sellers like banks must sign this disclosure), and all buyers must receive this pamphlet on the dangers of lead based paint (PDF).

This morning, the Las Vegas Review Journal was kind enough to point out that prices of sold homes in every Vegas area Zip code declined in 2009. Some areas only declined 10-11%, while others saw drops of 57-60%. On average, prices dropped 23%. Be sure to click on the map insert for a detailed view of every Zip code. One thing worth noting is that “ZIP code 89146, south of Charleston Boulevard between Rainbow and Decatur boulevards, was the only area with positive appreciation (3 percent) in 2008. The median price dropped 57 percent last year to $110,000.”

However, Larry Murphy, President of the company that provided the data, sees some signs for optimism. First, there are positive technical indicators if you were to put prices on a chart. Second, new homes simply can’t be built for what existing homes sell for in Vegas right now — if your  home burned to the ground, you would be better off financially buying a new place and bulldozing the old place than trying to rebuild!  And finally, there is tremendous opportunity for investors to purchase property and having positive “cash flow” — bringing in more money in rent than the property costs to maintain. While Mr. Murphy does think prices will stay near current levels for the rest of the year, he sees our market as “undervalued.”

President Obama is scheduled to arrive in Vegas tomorrow night. It is unclear whether he plans to meet with local officials, or apologize for his most recent round of Vegas-bashing. It’s probably a good bet he’ll say what a swell guy Senator Reid is. I wonder if anyone is taking odds on that.

Since the President is showing up in the foreclosure capital of America, I would like to hear what he’s got to really say about the fact that mortgage delinquencies are at an all time high. With Nevada’s unemployment rate higher than the national average, what would he like to say about job creation? Because let’s face it, there is no permanent solution to the mortgage and housing problem until people have reliable jobs.

Update: Mr. Goodman has indicated that he will accept an apology from Mr. Obama, as long as it includes buying him a martini. Mr. President, Mr. Mayor takes Bombay Sapphire.

Happy Lincoln’s Birthday and welcome to Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Here’s what you and your Realtor need to know before touring, making an offer, or listing a home in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend.

Summary: Available units dropped ever so slightly to 10927. Prices of available units are in a tight range not really reflected by the week-to-week change. I am concerned by the jump in available condos under $50,000, but many of these are just price drops from the $50,000-$100,000 range, and the median price is only down by $100. Pending and contingent sales rose over 14,000 again; it seems likely that this number will remain in a tight range just like the number of available units. It is worth noticing that over 9500 of those units are short sales and many are at risk of foreclosing before closing! More short sales are closing as a percentage of total closings, but it will still take well over a year to clear out the current contingent short sales alone, let alone any currently available short sales. Thanks to a surge in signed leases, the number of available rentals has dropped below 5000.

Other Information: The Review-Journal points out that January sales were up 17% year over year, and that 21% of existing homes sold were short sales. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make a dent in available short sales. Zillow does think we are putting in a bottom for prices this year after a further “correction,” but I think that’s only with the cooperation of the banks and the appraisers! After all, even though foreclosures were down in January month over month, they were still up year over year and a “surge” is expected. Average monthly apartment rent has declined to $766 due to a higher vacancy rate, but rental houses are still moving fast at a median rent of $1095. Those of you who are new to the area should be aware that we are in the process of rolling out Real ID compliant drivers licenses; this article tells you what you need to know and what you need to bring with you to the DMV. I wonder how many women will have a hard time producing a marriage certificate.

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Today we have more information on the bridge being built parallel to the Hoover Dam. It’s a 1900 foot span, 900 ft above the river. Although you’ll be able to see the bridge from the Dam, only pedestrians will be able to see the Dam from the bridge. Also, traffic patterns to will be different once the bridge opens, so be alert to changes if you’ve traveled this way before.

If you are excited to read that headline, you aren’t going to like what follows.

For the rest of you, let me back up and briefly explain what “hard money” is all about. In short, hard money is a loan it would be “hard” to get anyplace else. According to eHow, “A hard money lender is a person or institution that offers loans, usually for real estate, with low credit restrictions but high rates and fees. Hard money lenders are often considered borrowers of last resort for those who are facing foreclosures or needing loans under abnormal conditions. Due to the high prices associated with hard money lenders, they are generally not a borrower’s first choice.” Wikipedia has much more on the topic.

The Las Vegas Review Journal reports that hard money lenders are in trouble here in Nevada. They’ve been stung so hard by foreclosures that they in essence want ways around state law and state regulations. Specifically, they want the right to manage real estate without either a real estate license and the additional real estate management permit required by law (NRS 118A), and they want to over-ride a privacy law prohibiting investors from having the contact information of other investors in a given project.

While I think it is probably a good idea for investors in one project to be able to communicate with one another, I think it would be a bad idea to let these investors (particularly out-of-state investors) manage property without a license. A good property manager not only knows the law and collects the rent, she or her staff is available to handle emergencies (NRS 118A.260), her actions prevent damage or degradation of the property, and in many cases she can even add value to a property through practices that maintain a high occupancy rate. This is good both for tenants and the investors. It’s even good for the neighbors.

Sure, it will cost some money to do the job right and follow the laws that were enacted to protect all Nevadans. That’s the cost of doing business.