A PROPERTY SEARCH IN LAS VEGAS IS A PARTICIPATION SPORT
For anyone who has never participated in a serious house-hunting effort, their mental image of how the experience will unfold may be a little off. They might imagine that, after narrowing down their requirements for a Las Vegas home (size, price range, and the like) they will agree on a day and time, then just climb into their Las Vegas agent’s car and settle back to have the likely prospect properties exposed before them. In fact, the house-hunting procedure is almost like that, except for one major detail: A property search is a participation sport! Experienced Las Vegas property searchers have learned to husband their energy on any day that includes home showings. Especially when their property search doesn’t immediately yield a find that fits their target criteria, they know that it may take a while—and more than a few house-hunting outings—before they identify a suitable house. What takes so much energy? Sophisticated home buyers know that every showing holds the possibility that they could be setting foot in what might just become their future home. Every showing is literally the only time they will ever have a valid ‘first impression’ of the place that might become a major purchase. And each of those first impressions often come as part of a day that includes multiple showings—one that can easily result in a jumble of impressions, where homes with similar features are easily confused in memory. Since second and subsequent showings should be reserved for properties that qualify as serious contenders, wasted time and effort (not to mention the inconvenience to the homeowners) can be avoided by alert, sharp-eyed property searchers. It takes stamina! That’s why more experienced prospects know from the outset that a home showing isn’t a passive experience. It’s not a bad idea to have a pen handy for jotting notes on the listing sheets the Las Vegas agent provides—notes about distinguishing features (good and bad!) that will help with comparisons at the end of the day. For those who are veterans of previous property searches, this is old news: they remember reviewing sessions that include, “No – that was the one with the bay windows, not the one with the [fill in the blank].” For first-timers, it’s good to know in advance: a property search is a participation sport. And you’re the team, captain! If you are about to embark on the search for a Las Vegas property or have one that’s soon to be listed, do give me a call. Properly arranging efficient home tours is only part of my track record of helping successful home sales happen!
FED FUNDS DECISION CLARIFIES LAS VEGAS MORTGAGE INTEREST PICTURE
The way the media treated last week’s federal funds rate announcement by the Federal Reserve Board was a convincing demonstration of how much importance is placed on that singular piece of the financial puzzle. That rate may not be directly tied to Las Vegas mortgage interest rates, but since it determines lenders’ borrowing costs, its effect is considerable. For many years now, Las Vegas mortgage interest rates have been comfortably nestled near the bottom of their historical range. Many Las Vegas homeowners have enjoyed the resulting low monthly payments on their mortgages. Las Vegas home sellers have likewise benefitted from home loan interest rates that make their properties more affordable than would otherwise be the case. Real estate repercussions are a major part of the reason that the Fed’s announcement, which came midday last Thursday, had the national media holding its collective electronic breath. With ten minutes to go, one cable network talking head could add little illumination. “Wall Street will be watching the announcement very closely,” was her understatement. Channel flipping with five minutes to go, viewers found the streaming banner at the bottom of one network trumpeting BREAKING NEWS…BREAKING NEWS… before the fact. On CNBC, “the most highly anticipated announcement in years” was awaited by four commentators who had the unhappy challenge of predicting the decision mere seconds before the fact. Above the ever-moving streams of real-time data (oil was down, the stock markets up) panelists chattered about China (“it’s big and mysterious”), inflation targets (“missed again”), and optimism (“a rate hike won’t hurt the economy, it will help”). Only if the Fed “saw something down the road,” it was agreed, would they not raise rates. Then, just 5 seconds to go…then- The Fed left rates unchanged. The most highly anticipated announcement in years was, er, the same one it’s been making since 2008. Citing concerns over global this and financial that, the Fed said they were going to be monitoring them. The economy expanded at a moderate pace, and housing improved moderately, they said. But since global conditions might cause trouble… The media’s excitement level flat-lined within minutes. “The markets are not panicking,” said a gentleman in a snappy suit. He looked irritated. “I blew it,” said another, who moments before had thrown in with the majority predicting a rate rise. “They cited uncertainty,” he frowned; then blurted, “The Fed is the biggest source of uncertainty!” The stock markets didn’t react at all at first. Later, they closed mixed. The next day, mortgage interest rates crept downward. What seemed to be an excitement bust for the media was good news for many of the viewers. When the Fed funds rate continually hovers close to zero, there’s ample reason to suspect that Las Vegas mortgage interest rates might stay put for a while. TheStreet website later reported that they expected rates to rise a bit before year’s end. Given the recent record of expert predictions, it might be safer to stand behind one with a better chance of success: the next Fed announcement, I predict, will be the most anticipated announcement in years. Meantime, if you have been mulling over whether to take advantage of the current balmy mortgage interest environment, I hope you’ll give me a call!
A LAS VEGAS HOUSE FOR SALE CAN ALSO HAVE A MARKET TIMING ELEMENT
When your family needs more or less elbow room, or a neighborhood change is in order, it’s time to start combing the listings for the right Las Vegas house for sale. At the same time, though, now that prices have been steadily rising for so long, it’s not unreasonable to ask yourself if this a good time to be looking? The question arises from the investment side of a home purchase; so it’s logical to ask what the investors are doing… Those who looked upon any Las Vegas house for sale only as an investment rather than a place to live tend to fall into one of two groups. The first live by the buy low, sell high school of investing. It’s a philosophy that makes perfect sense—it’s been around since before Wall Street was even paved, and its logic is unarguable. Back when U.S. real estate prices took the express elevator down to street level (and below), this group looked at the chart that showed median house prices, noted the cliff they had just gone over, and started looking for the nearest house for sale to scoop up. Their assumption was that these prices had to go up…eventually—no matter how bleak the future looked. Because that’s always the case. But that group of canny Las Vegas investors soon found themselves with the unexpected competition. Big investment conglomerates started showing up, suddenly looking for houses for sale at bargain prices. The result was a strange kind of bidding war, where the ‘buy low’ investors who spotted a Las Vegas house for sale at a fire sale price had to compete with institutional bidders (and they had unlimited budgets!). A lot of all-cash sales were made, at a few dollars higher than would have been the case if strictly Las Vegas investors had had the market to themselves. Although the second kind of investors may have agreed that there is unarguable arithmetic underlying the ‘buy low, sell high’ philosophy, they are unimpressed by it. Buying low and then selling high is a fine abstraction, but since you never know when the lowest price has been reached, nor when the peak high prices have arrived, they ignore the whole price roller coaster phenomenon. Whenever they have accumulated the right amount of money to invest, their single concern is to find a quality Las Vegas house for sale, buy it at a fair current comparable price, and then hold on to it. They have confidence that markets rise and fall, but in the long run, a quality residence will appreciate in value. So these are the buy and holdinvestors. Now, most of us consider a Las Vegas house for sale primarily as a place to live rather than as an investment vehicle. Nonetheless, we don’t offer to pay more than its current market value because we don’t want to lose financially should we decide to sell. But in most cases, we plan to live in the home long enough that we consider a loss unlikely. In other words, we fall into the buy and hold the group. So what does that suggest about whether it’s wise to be looking at Las Vegas houses for sale when prices have risen as they have? I may be a bit prejudiced, but a ‘yes’ isn’t hard to come by. For the ‘buy low, sell high’ folks, we haven’t even hit the previous high water mark when you take inflation into account. For the buy and hold adherents, it’s always the right time to buy a quality home at a fair price—especially when mortgage rates are low. Which means that now is also the right time to give me a call!
Categories
Recent Posts
