[Wing Feathers]

Originally Posted by Kalbo

now it certainly a great time to buy a house here in Vegas.

I disagree... because everything has 30 offers on it before you can get to it. Good luck actually getting something!!!

[BellevueWa]

I hear a lot about the multiple offers and bidding wars. I think the agents and bank are trying to play everyone. all they tell you is that there are offers, how do i know its true? they won't tell you. just keep on bidding

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by BellevueWa

I hear a lot about the multiple offers and bidding wars. I think the agents and bank are trying to play everyone. all they tell you is that there are offers, how do i know its true? they won't tell you. just keep on bidding

To what end?

The lenders have relentlessly driven pricing down for the last year to get rid of inventory quickly.

The agents make their money selling homes. Why would they discourage buyers.

Does not compute.

[Jade456]

More foreclosures are on the way. Banks WANT to get rid of their properties.

[Wing Feathers]

Originally Posted by BellevueWa

I think the agents and bank are trying to play everyone.

That is what I thought until I offered OVER asking, and still got turned down

[Daddys///M3]

Originally Posted by ocean2026

Kalbo based on what numbers do you say its a great time to buy? Based on the fact that you can type a sentence that says so? How about some intelligent reasoning - pro or con

Actually if you have steady employment and are currently renting it is a great time to buy. With prices at 1999 levels in some areas and rates still at near historic lows, the fact of the matter is that in many cases it is cheaper to buy than it is to rent a comparable home. Case in point, I have a preapproved client actively shopping right now. She is looking at homes in the $145,000 range. Her current rent is $1200 a month on a 1300 sq ft home in Henderson. The homes that she has been seeing are in the 1500+ sq ft range. Her payment with 20% down would be around $900 a month. Not taking the $8000 FTHB tax credit, interest writeoffs, or property tax writeoffs into consideration, the savings between owning and renting will equal her down payment in 8 years.

That being said, like all RE transactions one size does not fit all. There are situations where buying will simply not make sense, one of those being if your plans with regards to the property are 5 years or less. Anyone looking into this market for the short term should think very seriously about the potential downside.

Originally Posted by BellevueWa

I hear a lot about the multiple offers and bidding wars. I think the agents and bank are trying to play everyone. all they tell you is that there are offers, how do i know its true? they won't tell you. just keep on bidding

Nobody is trying to play anybody. The multiple offer situations are very real, and are happening at the low end of the market rather consistently. The client I mentioned above has made 3 seperate offers in the last month and a half. She can't even get a counter offer. I don't know what kind of proof you want, but I'm pretty sure (olecapt can probably clarify since I am no expert in RE law) that there are rules in place to protect a bidder's privacy from other bidders.

[olecapt]

Nailed a little one. Decided the only hope for an owner occupied using FHA financing was a HUD. Got one today. Went $2100 over list.

A HUD is available only to owner occupied for bids for the first ten days. Then if it does not sell it goes to anyone. After a price drop the owner occupied gets a few more days.

So for any of you looking to buy an inexpensive place to live in follow the HUD stuff closely. Mostly low end but goes up to $150K or more...


MCB

I would note that this was about the fifteenth place we bid on. The pricing is also important.

[RCCCB]

Originally Posted by BellevueWa

I hear a lot about the multiple offers and bidding wars. I think the agents and bank are trying to play everyone. all they tell you is that there are offers, how do i know its true? they won't tell you. just keep on bidding

Actually, I offered recently 35% OVER ASKING price on a home and lost the bid, so there are lots of offers and the one who bids to irrational heights seems to be the one who gets the prize.

On average, several I bid on that were lost ended up going for a good 20% over asking price, so when I lost bidding 35% over on this one home, I was surprised.

Anyway, I think the mark is something like asking +20% in some markets.

[ocean2026]

From Today's June 18 _LV Review Journal

Housing inventory increase expected - Business - ReviewJournal.com

[Daddys///M3]

Originally Posted by ocean2026

From Today's June 18 _LV Review Journal

Housing inventory increase expected - Business - ReviewJournal.com

With all due respect ocean, the article is extremely inaccurate. For one thing they show over 14,000 REO which is simply not true. If you do an MLS search and include Mesquite, Overton/Logandale, Boulder City, Jean, Primm, Mt Charleston, Indian Springs, and Blue Diamond as well as Las Vegas and Henderson, you will only come up with 2856 listed REO (not counting contingents). There are, however, 10,692 short sales out there. I would imagine that quite a few of those will end up being REO, but you can't speculate on that. As an aside

Moreover, this article is using national numbers to try and paint a local picture. I already linked to the NY Fed report on Alt-A mortgages. That report does not make the case for a big wave of foreclosures from the Alt-A market, including any and all state income or no doc loans and definitely including Option Arms.

As far as the phantom inventory, it's real easy to throw a number out there without citing a source or backing it up with stats. It makes it impossible to dispute but on that same token it makes it impossible to prove as well.

I've said many times, there are alot of buyers in the market right now and I hope that we see an increase in inventory. The more homes on the market, the more affordable they become, the more buyers get off of the fence, the more money I make.

ETA: I posted the NY Fed report in the Current Update thread. Here it is again. http://www.newyorkfed.org/regional/subprime.html