[vegaslocal55]

My problem: My lease is up Dec. 1 & I had hoped to buy a place in a certain condo complex by then. Last week I had an offer accepted from a flipper, then an hour later a bidding war started between 2 new buyers & I lost it. I had already offered an above market price & didn't want to pay $120K for a place that should have been $100K. Now there's NOTHING available at an average price, just a few shorts. Will it be awhile before foreclosures start hitting the market again? Will prices be higher for awhile now, & then what? Lower than ever in January? Spring? An educated guess by some of you could be very helpful to me.
(And BTW, I hadn't waited until this close to my move date to find something. I had an offer on a short that was approved by the lender after 90 days but in the end the seller wouldn't sign the paperwork.)
Thanks for any advice you can give me. It's hard to sign a lease when I'm hoping to be somewhere else soon.

[007 license to sell]

Originally Posted by vegaslocal55

My problem: My lease is up Dec. 1 & I had hoped to buy a place in a certain condo complex by then. Last week I had an offer accepted from a flipper, then an hour later a bidding war started between 2 new buyers & I lost it. I had already offered an above market price & didn't want to pay $120K for a place that should have been $100K. Now there's NOTHING available at an average price, just a few shorts. Will it be awhile before foreclosures start hitting the market again? Will prices be higher for awhile now, & then what? Lower than ever in January? Spring? An educated guess by some of you could be very helpful to me.
(And BTW, I hadn't waited until this close to my move date to find something. I had an offer on a short that was approved by the lender after 90 days but in the end the seller wouldn't sign the paperwork.)
Thanks for any advice you can give me. It's hard to sign a lease when I'm hoping to be somewhere else soon.

If you want to get into something soon then buying a distressed property may not be the way to go. The lower priced properties are still getting multiple bids and if it means paying more than the value it's best to stay away.

As far as prices, analysts predict that prices could move up for a while due to inventory could get low, it's the law of supply and demand . If that is the case then when the inventory comes back on the market it could move prices down again hurting the value of any property purchased at the higer rate.

If you purchase a property now days you purchase it to stay in it and don't worry about appreciation for years to come. It's hard to tell what is going to happen in Vegas since we are a non-judiciary state when it comes to foreclosures.

Keep and eye out for a good deal and act asap or rent for a while until it looks like the banks will get this foreclosure mess fixed which could be months or who knows at this point. This market is not for the faint of heart right now whether your a buyer or a seller. Good luck

[vegaslocal55]

Thanks 007. This will be a long-time home for me, but I'd hate to pay $115K for something now when it'll be back to last month's prices ($100K) in a few months. Any other realtor's have views on this?

[sdreloc]

I was thinking the same thing. During the inventory shortage of homes while the foreclosures and maybe some of the short sales are off the market or delayed, prices of whats left on the market may climb. However, eventually everything will be sorted out and all those hidden homes and more will hit the market causing a a sudden flood of inventory.
I'm thinking of listing my home for sale (which is not a short sale) at an attractive price after the holidays and hope for a fast sale at list or better. Then I will rent and wait for the foreclosure mess to be over and the REOs to be back on the market again before looking for anything new to purchase.

[WestieJeff]

I'd agree with 007 that if you're in a position where you have to move then you probably can't buy a distressed property.

It seems like there is two sets of prices going on, distressed and non-distressed. If you can buy an REO (or short, in my searches shorts seem cheaper than REOs) then you're going to pay less than a conventional sale property.

Unless someone has a crystal ball, I don't think you'll get a straight answer to your question. Now is not the time to buy if you're worried about prices moving up or down 10%. Buy something you can afford, get an amazingly low interest rate, and be prepared for prices to move around a bit. It'd be easy for me to say that prices have nowhere but down to go once interest rates start rising, which they eventually will have to do.

If I was in your shoes I'd probably try to get a 6 month lease or month to month rental and keep trying the REOs or shorts unless for some reason that is prohibitive for you.

Originally Posted by vegaslocal55

My problem: My lease is up Dec. 1 & I had hoped to buy a place in a certain condo complex by then. Last week I had an offer accepted from a flipper, then an hour later a bidding war started between 2 new buyers & I lost it. I had already offered an above market price & didn't want to pay $120K for a place that should have been $100K. Now there's NOTHING available at an average price, just a few shorts. Will it be awhile before foreclosures start hitting the market again? Will prices be higher for awhile now, & then what? Lower than ever in January? Spring? An educated guess by some of you could be very helpful to me.
(And BTW, I hadn't waited until this close to my move date to find something. I had an offer on a short that was approved by the lender after 90 days but in the end the seller wouldn't sign the paperwork.)
Thanks for any advice you can give me. It's hard to sign a lease when I'm hoping to be somewhere else soon.

[eventusstultorummagister]

Don't be a sucker. Wait until next year. The market is being manipulated. Interest rates aren't going anywhere. Again, don't be a sucker.

My 2 centavos.

[nfapps]

my .02 would be if you have the funds and like the property buy it. Don't over extend yourself it you can't afford the 115k, but why play this type of game when no one really knows what the price will be in January?

Don't fall into the trap of thinking the property 'should be' 100k if it sold for 120k. You may have offered above list price, but remember that market value is dictated by what a buyer is willing to pay, and if a buyer is willing to pay 120, then so be it.

The main point I see a lot here is confusing listing price with the market value and actual selling prices. Don't be fooled by the low listing prices, have your realtor comp the area for several recent sales and then you'll have a real idea of market value & $/sf for your area. You may be surprised by the results.

If you're planning on staying in the property for at least a few years, who knows maybe the price will drop a bit, but will then go up. If you can afford it, go for it.

[vegaslocal55]

Thanks for the encouragement everyone. To clarify: I'm very informed of the average price per unit in this complex so I know the $120K was well above comps. The last 4 units of this same plan sold for between $100k & $115k. So I believe that the unit I lost to a $120k bid was overpriced. It had been on the market at $119k for 6 months! It sure seems like there'll be nothing added for awhile, so I guess I'll be waiting a few months. I'll let you know when I get my place, & I'll be checking to see if any of you have any other info about this topic.

[eventusstultorummagister]

Originally Posted by nfapps

remember that market value is dictated by what a buyer is willing to pay

Gotta disagree. That theory is only true when demand outpaces supply, then the price is whatever the market will bear. That's not the case here.
If a house is listed for 120K and it is surrounded by homes that are sitting empty (which was the case for a house I looked at this week) where do you think prices are headed? The bankers are slow playing the squares.

People think it's unimaginable for prices to fall further. B of A has now publicly stated that they have the right to disregard the law, what effect do you think that will have on severely underwater homeowners? Should they uphold their "moral obligation" to a bank that has proven to be void of principles.

[mjsinhsv]

I would hold off and wait for the market to bottom out before I bought anything in vegas. I''ve been following the foreclosure mess for some time. 2010 has already set a record for the number of foreclosures. Housing prices in vegas are projected to fall another %3 next year....could be more depending on the number of people of who decide to walk away from their mortgages. I read somewhere that %70 of the people in vegas are upside down in the mortgage. There was a news article in the sun a couple of days ago that pretty much said it may take decades for the housing market in vegas to reach their previous market values. Any real estate agent in vegas will tell you that now is the best time in history to buy a house....and I bet they have just the perfect house for you...if you move on it today. Read the other threads and google the news for real estate in vegas. Now is the best time in history...to rent.