NOT! I decided I’d better make that point clear.

B) I still get a kick out of the alliteration that I made up for the topic.  “Fun Fixtures Found In Foreclosures” can also be “Fun FEATURES Found in Foreclosures”. I find myself chuckling when I type either one.  

C) There’s terrific features and fixtures buried in all the dirt and clutter and abuse and neglect. And occasionally I actually find a real treasure because of the architecture,  or the ridiculously low price or because the agent doesn’t “get it” about Vintage Vegas. 

Most buyers start out with the fantasy of the “bargain priced bank owned repo”. Some actually have the stomach (as well as the money) for doing a home over from top to bottom. Most don’t, but have to get to that realization for themselves.

9 out of 10 bank owned foreclosures have only one photo which is usually worthy of being a WMLSPOTHD. Most of you will never get to see the insides of them unless I show you.

D) I have absolutely no sympathy for the banks, and the beating that they’re taking to get these homes off of their books.  They created the mess, and the buyers who are buying now are getting the benefit of the mess. And the sooner they’re gone, the better it will be for all homeowners.

E) I don’t have to get permission to publish the pictures. It’s not like I’m showing the owners kids in the pictures.

There’s redeeming qualities in even the worst of homes. Well, I saw one today that I laughed about when I left because the ONLY fun feature or fixture I could find was the door knocker.

F) Hopefully, the Tuesday Open House thing will continue to be as successful as last weeks. I went to contract with a reader today who came to last weeks open house at 704 Canosa.   TODAY we’re doing one in McNeil from 3 to 6pm. I posted the announcement the other day.

G) I hear it all the time that everyone seems to love it when I post pictures of fun fixtures and terrific features that can only be found Vintage Las Vegas Homes and Historic Neighborhoods. Since the foreclosures are full of them, why not kill two birds etc.

H) They’re easy to access. No phone calls, no appointments, no sellers following me around pointing out things that aren’t important. I can see every foreclosure in a neighborhood in an hour, and come away with dozens of great pictures. AND I’m totally on top of knowing the inventory, whether they’re bank owned or not.

I) I’m committed to keeping VeryVintageVegas fresh and entertaining. The average real estate blogger posts something every 4 or 5 days, and it’s mostly statistics. I’m about as prolific as you can get. That way you’ll tell people about me and about Vintage Vegas in general. You’ll want to call me instead of an agent that thinks anything that’s not summerlin is a gang infested slum. Whether you’re buying or selling, I want you to remember that guy who spends 2 to 3 hours of each day writing one of the best read real estate blogs in America (not my words). He’s the one who’s fully committed to saving or reviving our historic neighborhoods, and your referrals helps to fund that goal.  

J) Beat up foreclosures, as well as the nicest homes in Vintage Vegas are ALL THAT I DO, and I realized that I hadn’t balanced the two extremes very well as far as my coverage is concerned. For the moment, I’ve tipped the scales the other way.

That’s why all the recent emphasis on foreclosures. Tomorrow, I’ll talk again about some of the nicest of homes.

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The only thing worse than a bad picture is NO PICTURES AT ALL.

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Very few of you will get to see the ridiculously cheap Paradise Palms Bank Owned REPO because it’s going to sell in just a few days. It’s over 3000 sf with a pool and garage and tons of Modernization, Tuscanization, Funkinization, and all kinds of other izations.

But it’s NOT a 259,900 home. But that is the list price. Don’t ask me why.

If it’s not already sold, or they’re stacking up multiple offers, I’ll make it the open house for a week from Tuesday, but it’s not likely that I’ll get to do it. (And I’ll have to have permission either way)

Some of it’s real vintage. Some of it’s retro. Some of it is suburban modern, some of it’s deco, but it all seems to work well together.

I’m just going to publish a bunch of the pictures. If you can’t pass up a REAL bargain, or think this might be right for you, then give me a call.

 There’s more pictures below the fold, and if I get a chance maybe I’ll add in some descriptions later tonight.

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I had shown this home in 2006 when it was 535,000, and almost wrote an offer on it that would have been in the 490’s.

NOW, it’s come on the market over the weekend as a bank owned REPO at only 259,900. Here’s the link to the NEW MLS. The agent says it’s not beat up at all.

If Ever There was a “going to go quick” deal, then this will be one of them.

I’m on my way to go see it, now.

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The runner up, however, deserves some coverage and a plug as well. It’s in Glen Heather, one of the other great mid mod neighborhoods at Oakey and Rancho.

The address is 1900 Loch Lomond. Here’s the link to the MLS, but it gives absolutely NO information about the house and only this one picture.

I didn’t pick it because it’s in too bad of a condition to meet the FHA “livability” standard, but there’s plenty of reasons why I might have considered it, and that you might also, if you’ve got lots of cash for a big downpayment and for fixup costs once you own it.

For starters, it’s only $180,500. BUT WAIT… THERE’S MORE!

The seller is offering a $3000. decorating allowance, not that you’d get real far with it.

It’s 2246 square feet, but that includes the REALLY bad garage conversion. It was permitted, but it’s really disfunctional, and unless you need the space, I think it would be better to put it back to a garage.

It does however have the stone fireplace wall and entry way wall that I showed before.

And it’s got a lot of holes in the walls, that are easily repairable by anyone who knows how to do drywall.

 There’s more pictures below if you click on the “read the rest of the story” button.

The swimming pool is empty, but appears to be salvageable.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bathrooms are a toss up as to whether to start over or to work with what’s there. I really like the  tile bathtubs in the master with it’s built in back rest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the trustee sale that returned the property to the bank, someone changed out the main electric service panel, but no one finished buttoning things back up.

 

 

 

 

 

There’s a huge patio cover that runs the full width of the house. The roof and Air Conditioner aren’t all that old either.

All in all, if you can get financing, have the cash or credit cards to do the repairs and remodeling, and are looking for a serious project, this could well be the right house.  If you’d like to see it, give me a call.

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I’d have probably shot it from the other direction, at least showing if there’s a door to the back yard at all.

The only thing worse than a bad picture is NO PICTURES AT ALL!

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It’s a little rough around the edges, but for $256,000, you can get into McNeil and spend a few months playing with the floors and the paint and the landscape. The floor plan is typical mid mod ranch, and the room with the brick fireplace is a patio conversion off of the back. The kitchen’s and baths have been kind of updated, but beyond being dirty, they’re not bad (in an updated sort of way).

It’s “livable” by FHA standards, which means you can get in for as little as 3% down if you’re owner occupied.

I’ll be there Tuesday from 3pm to 6 pm if you’d like to stop by. I’d love to meet any of the VVV readers in person whether you’re in the market or not. Even if this isn’t the right right bargain for you, I probably know the one that is. Come by and say HELLO! 

2813 Gilmary. From Oakey and Rancho, West one street to Strong. North on Strong to Gilmary, and West on Gilmary to 2813

There’s more pictures below the fold. Just click HERE to see the rest of them.

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There’s 3 large bedrooms. Hardwood Floors over crawlspace, and both bathrooms and kitchens have ALL the original period tilework. The hall bath is in yellow and grey and the master bath is in Pink and Grey.

Both the front and back yards are beautifully landscaped with covered patios under roof.

I’m not going to show all the pictures, but trust me, if you’re into original custom floorplans, beamed ceilings, hardwood floors and original kitchens and baths that are in excellent condition, then you ought to give me a call.

Even though the seller has opted to “go it alone”, you should ABSOLUTELY have representation on your side.

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Here’s front yard and the back yard of a typical cookie cutter that’s currently what they call “the modern starter home”

Thats why we have to add the “MID CENTURY” label to post-war modernism.

 I guess there is a difference after all!

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RISMEDIA, July 14, 2008-Amidst the gloom on Wall Street about housing someone forgot to check the stats. The National Association of Realtors® has now reported four straight months of rising housing prices, but it seems no one is listening.
According to NAR statistics, the median home price has fallen from a high of $230,200 in July 2006 to a low in February 2008 at $195,600, a drop of 15%. Since February, however, it has risen steadily every month. By May the index (which will be revised on July 24) had risen to $208,600, up $13,000 and a full 6.6%. Another indicator, the mean home price (otherwise known as the average home price), has also shown strength and has risen from a low of $242,000 also in February of this year to $253,100, a rise of $11,100 or 4.5%. It, too, has risen every month since February of this year.

We’ve been talking about foreclosures since they account for a big chunk of the inventory. I’ve actually gotten more leads and people starting their home search with the foreclosures. The fantasy of 1/2 price housing is very exciting. The reality is a little different.  Many realize quickly that by the time you buy them, fix them up and make something of them that they might be better off buying a non-foreclosure in the first place.

It’s a little different out in the suburbs where so many of the bank owned homes are relatively new, and have mostly cosmetics to deal with. In Vintage Vegas, many of the bank owned homes are truly broken down houses. I’m always on the hunt for the best HOUSE at the best price. But it scares me when someone without the resources or money AFTER THE CLOSING wants to by a “fixer-upper”. That’s what I call a big mistake!

The banks who own the foreclosures know this. That’s why we’re seeing the spread between list price and sale price on the foreclosure shrinking dramatically. I’ve been writing lots of offers on the foreclosures, (and getting some of the accepted). The banks are not jumping on any old offer that comes along. They’re stacking the offers, and trying to get a bidding war going. If that approach doesn’t work for them, then they’ll counter back a few thousand less than their list price.

We’re seeing the regular first time home buyer or sideline buyer jumping back into the water. The numbers have ALREADY shifted as the article I quoted above from RISMEDIA notes.  

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The only thing worse than a bad picture is NO PICTURES AT ALL!

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Both of these houses are contenders for the next foreclosures open house I do. I’ll decide which one by tomorrow.

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One of our agents, Karol Lucan actually took detailed notes. All of this information is stuff I try to convey to the buyers BEFORE they start the process. This gives me the opportunity to give the information to lots of you all at the same time.

Previously, (the last 6 months) all of the foreclosure business I was doing was with investors who were buying cash. They aren’t ever going to live in the property. Without exception every one of those investors had a 1 or 2 year rental period in their business plan before they will even consider trying to re-sell.

There’s been a big shift in the market in the last month. OWNER OCCUPIED (reallllllly going to live in the home) buyers have started looking at and buying the foreclosure inventory.

There’s Things You Need To Know About Buying Foreclosure Property In Las Vegas

The roundtable was FOR REAL ESTATE AGENTS, so that they can INFORM THE BUYERS. I’ve cut and pasted Karol’s notes for you.

If you want to take advantage of this market, or have any questions, GIVE ME A CALL OR SEND ME AN EMAIL.

Before writing an offer on a bank-owned property, what should an agent do?

1. Educate the buyer on the process – that it is longer because you are dealing with asset managers, servicing agencies and banks.  There are many people involved in reviewing the offer, counter offers and signing off on a purchase agreement.  There may also be numerous offers on a single property.  Don’t set your heart on a property.
2. READ the MLS listing, especially the Agent/Agent comments!  This is where you should find the latest information.

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Step One: Move the clutter

Step Two: Turn on ALL lights

Step Three: Compose (angle, desired purpose, frame the picture)

Step Four: Push the button

Step Five: Clean it up on the computer (adjust brightness, crop it, etc).

The only thing worse than a bad picture is NO PICTURES AT ALL!

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