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!

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:

By the way, it appears that Occupy Our Homes has arrived in Vegas.

Speaking of Fannie Mae, the old gal got another $7,800,000,000 from old Uncle Sam this week! Since last week’s show, there has been new data released about Fannie Mae’s foreclosures and delinquencies.

Even though prices are still down year over year, they are up for the 5th straight month in a row. Not up by a lot, but nevertheless up. In fact, prices are up in half the cities that Case-Shiller studies (of course that means down in half, too — I may be an optimist but I’m no cheerleader). If you prefer to see that in a chart form, go ahead and visit Tim Iacono.

But that isn’t the only news. The number of actual sales is up for 3 quarters in a row. There’s some interesting details in the chart too: first time buyers are almost a third of buyers; cash transactions are 30% of total; and investors are only 19% of total nationwide. Will higher sales continue? Maybe not: the number of homes under contract to be purchased dropped 4.6% in September.

Don’t forget to tune in for more news tomorrow with the Friday Figures and Getting REAL!