[Lost_Lady]

Hello everyone,

So, here's the scoop: I just got a job at City Center making probably around $2500 a month. At the end of December I will be enrolled in a program that will assist with a $20,000 down payment for a home, so I'm thinking of buying a home in mid 2010. By this time I will have the $20,000 down payment and probably $10,000 saved. I am currently living rent free, so I will be saving all my money towards buying a home. My questions is this will be my first-home and I am somewhat confused of the home buying process. I have done some research and found out I need to be pre-approved then start looking for a home. My concern is I want my payments to be less than $1000/month for my mortgage. My credit is 700+ with little debt. I've been talking with a realtor who has been sending me listings, but all her listings are $120,000 and up. I'm looking for a 3bed 3bath home with a "OK" size backyard, not the backywards on the new homes that you can hardly turn around in. Also I want the house to be fairly new (2003 or up). What's the median price of homes for these specifications, and are my ideas unrealistic? Should I raise my price range? Or should I not even be thinking about this right now because the market could change in 6-9months? Also, I want to stay in the SW area of Vegas. Thanks so much!

[RCCCB]

Will lending loosen up by the time you are ready to buy?

Before they were giving no-look 5.2% rate 5% down loans. (My sister's boyfriend got one)
Now loans seem closed down for the time being unless it is a home equity loan on a paid off home.

[hockeygirl4]

I am searching for a home as well, in the closing process of a town home actually, and with a $75,000 sale price, taxes around $1320/year, and HOA fees of about $83.00/month, my payments are $685.00. Find out what the taxes are, HOA fees, multiply the sales price by about 5.75% (possibly lower), and divide it out among how many years the loan is for. That should give you a general estimate of your monthly payment. You should be able to find something in the $120 - $130K range, possibly higher for that price.

[mdmagana]

As a very loose rule of thumb, by time you factor insurance and taxes into your payment, plan on roughly $100 a month per $1,000 financed. Thats assuming 5.5 to 6% interest and is a very rough estimate. So, to keep you payment under $1,000 you will want to look at a houses 100k or just below.

I'm no expert on Vegas but I would think a forclosure or short sale would be your best bet at this price point. However, I did read an article recently that said banks were really only considering all cash offers on these types of properties, but who know... your market might be different than mine.

As someone who has been through the process many times, (I'm an investor) I can tell you that the NUMBER 1 RULE is to GET A VERY, VERY GOOD AGENT. Too many people go with a friend of a friend or someone that just seems nice.

[olecapt]

I would not be in any great hurry if I were you. I don't know what the market will be in 9 months but it will be different. I would wait until spring before even thinking about doing anything.

The median price of the single family home in Las Vegas is about $135,000. That means half of the homes sold are selling for less than $135,000.

Note though that you may find it quite difficult to buy a home at the lower parts of this range. Below the median and particularly below the 100K level investors with cash make it difficult to impossible to buy with a significant down payment. Basically the investors are willing to pay an amount above the appraisal value. That means someone financing must be willing to put up enough cash to cover the amount needed above the appraisal Thus to buy a house with 5% down you may well need 8% or more. Or in the case of your $20,000 down you may need $25,000.

Condos show a similar pattern though at lower prices.

[sierramadre44]

Originally Posted by Lost_Lady

Hello everyone,
My questions is this will be my first-home and I am somewhat confused of the home buying process. I have done some research and found out I need to be pre-approved then start looking for a home. My concern is I want my payments to be less than $1000/month for my mortgage. My credit is 700+ with little debt. I've been talking with a realtor who has been sending me listings, but all her listings are $120,000 and up. I'm looking for a 3bed 3bath home with a "OK" size backyard, not the backywards on the new homes that you can hardly turn around in. Also I want the house to be fairly new (2003 or up). What's the median price of homes for these specifications, and are my ideas unrealistic? Should I raise my price range? Or should I not even be thinking about this right now because the market could change in 6-9months? Also, I want to stay in the SW area of Vegas. Thanks so much!

All I can say is good luck!

I started last month preparing to buy a home because an investor stopped paying the mortgage on the home she leased through a property mgmt company. Put off with that unethical behavior I wanted to buy my own house because it isn't right that I paid the rent and she intentionally did not pay the mortgage. I'm hoping that new laws will make this type of 'investing' a criminal act and I'm ready to help prosecute.

At any rate, as the loan process goes, that is currently the easy part. Finding a house and getting an offer accepted is another story. Every house I went to visit had multiple offers with half of those being cash offers. We were trying to find a house and close within the time the 1st-time home buyer credit incentive. With the market as looney as it is right now, I realized that was probably not going to happen by 11/30.

I'm moving to a new rental and fully expect that the 'investor' that owns this property will likely do the same thing as the other 'investor' of the previous property --- rent to me and intentionally not pay the mortgage. Meanwhile, I have some breathing room to find a house, and a six month extention is being considered for the 1st time home buyers $8K credit.

I am actually looking at homes in the SW too and you can find mortgage calculators on the internet that can gestimate your payments. The SW properties are close to the median- $138K. The calculators are pretty accurate as long as you input reasonable numbers. And, definitely the market will change in 6-9 months. There is yet another wave of foreclosures expected in the spring.

[coldbeer]

Originally Posted by sierramadre44

All I can say is good luck!
At any rate, as the loan process goes, that is currently the easy part. Finding a house and getting an offer accepted is another story. Every house I went to visit had multiple offers with half of those being cash offers. We were trying to find a house and close within the time the 1st-time home buyer credit incentive. With the market as looney as it is right now, I realized that was probably not going to happen by 11/30.
.

WOW, is it that bad? I'm pre-approved for a home loan and will arrive around November 15 to start looking.

So what happened? You made offers that were not accepted? Why did you go see houses that already had offers?

I'm discovering that the majority of houses on realtor.com already have contingent offers so it's useless.

Any suggestions?

[Slim10]

www.cbvegas.com

has an active search. Once you do a search, one can then select additional search options such as listed by date. Pretty much those that list within a week will likely be in the active range. The listing broker is normally stated as well.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by Slim10

Las Vegas Real Estate - Coldwell Banker Premier Realty

has an active search. Once you do a search, one can then select additional search options such as listed by date. Pretty much those that list within a week will likely be in the active range. The listing broker is normally stated as well.

It works only on gross criteria. For well structured searchs you need an RE Agent.

Try I want to search in Summerlin... Givens, Lummis, Bonner...more than 1900SF, Less than $225,000....lot bigger than 5500 SF...newer than 1995.

[Slim10]

Not really. Once you click the submit button on the main page, you will go to the detailed search page with a number of listings.

In that detailed page, one can actually select the size, age, zip code, type of house, date listed etc. And from my exp, its pretty up to date.

I used that to find my house and do comparable searches. Additional records are of course per accessclarkcounty.com records.

That's not to say a buyer's agent is not needed. Its useful to have one.