The price of new homes sold in Las Vegas in August rose 1.7%. That's the 3rd consecutive month in which the price of new homes sold has risen, albeit slightly. More evidence suggesting that we hit bottom a few months ago.

Nearly 3900 homes were sold overall in the Las Vegas area in August. That's a very slight decline from July, but a large increase over August of 2008. The percentage of sales attributable to foreclosure was barely over 70%. That's down from 82% in the spring, and reflects the increase in the number of sales of non-bank owned homes, whether resale or new. With a shortage of REOs, more privately-owned homes are selling.

Naturally, with a shortage of bank-owned homes we are seeing flippers in the market again. If you are buying a resale home and are using a mortgage, find out when the home was purchased last. Many lenders won't finance a flip, so if the home you want was sold recently, check with your mortgage agent up front to see if it's going to be a problem.

 I'm still enjoying a little R&R in the Bahamas, where the "no-see-ums" feast on me as I float, half awake, on a mat in the ocean. The diving in the Exuma Islands isn't spectacular, but Gavin and Nick, owners of Turtle Diving, rewarded us with a one-hour layover at Chat N' Chill on Stocking Island after our shallow dives yesterday.

 It will be hard to get back into heels when I return to work…a dilemma I face every year around this time, when I generally return from some down-time in the Caribbean.

Incredibly, the demand for Las Vegas homes is still strong, even in traditionally-slow September. One of my clients just had an offer rejected at $60,000 over list. The winning cash offer trumped our 30%-down offer.

Dean and Jan have been looking for a home for at least a year. I don't know anyone who is better at getting offers accepted than I am, but we have been bested time and again. Initially, their offers were too low, against my advice. There were 2 good offers I was sure would be accepted last week, but weren't. Yet, I just had 5 of 7 cash offers submitted last week for another client accepted!

But Dean and Jan have very good taste, and there are a lot of cash buyers in the market who have the same good taste. Fortunately for this couple, we are entering the slow season. With less competition, we should be able to find something soon. I take it personally when they find a home they love and their offer is rejected. This time was like a punch in the stomach. We had a great offer. Woulda, coulda, shoulda…it's tough to compete with all cash right now.

I've noticed that some banks are pricing houses way too low in the past 2-3 weeks. That doesn't mean they can be had for that price, even for cash. I couldn't convince an investor 2 weeks ago to ignore the list price and go by the comps, so he missed by a long shot. I can't imagine why banks are listing homes at $110,000 when there are good, recent comps in the $165,000 range on the same street! Or why they are listing homes with $400,000 comps for $325,000. But be forewarned – my agents and I are seeing a lot of it this month. And while I actually can imagine why, I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

I'm in the Bahamas, on a very sleepy island, enjoying some sand, sun and rum. Not enough sun, but that's the drawback of visiting Exuma, or any island, in hurricane season.

I usually travel to the Caribbean in the low season because no one else does. What a great time to get to know the owners of local establishments such as Dee, of Santana's Cafe, and her mom, a.k.a. Mom, of Mom's Bakery next door. Dee served up a tender lobster, just pulled from the ocean by her husband. And shared some great photos of the celebrities who manage to find her little corner of the world.

Exuma is a relatively undeveloped island of 6,000 inhabitants. It can't compare to Grand Cayman or even Turks and Caicos – but it's a great place if you're looking for rum punch and a good cigar from you-know-where!

I'd better go chase some sun before the rain returns. Oh, wow, I just saw a fight between the former hotel owners and the guy who is managing it for the new owners. That's probably the most excitement this island has ever seen. Now, back to sun and a rum punch.

I just don't get it some days.

Yesterday my partner Ron Branson and I showed a 9,000+ square foot Spanish Trails home to a nice young woman and her mother. They loved this impeccable home, and arranged to have Ron show the mother's husband a short time later.

This incredible home on the golf course sold for $4 million previously. It was foreclosed on at $3.5 million. It was immaculate. The master bedroom was the size of a small house, and you'd almost need a golf cart to travel between the "his" and "hers" master bedroom closets.

The price is less than $1.9 million. There's a lot of money to be made on this house. These opportunities don't come along every day.

If I had a dollar for every house I could pick up a quick million on… Well, I'd have a dollar.

I'm checking out the incredible new tool Ron just bought for me – a miniature keyboard that is Bluetooth enabled. Unbelievable…I'm typing on a little keyboard hooked up to my cell phone!

Ron apparently doesn't want me to have any excuse to miss my blog writing. And now I don't!

This is incredible.

Cash is King, once again. I know this is Las Vegas, and you were thinking that Elvis is the King. (Elvis is dead. No, really.) Cash is back – it's the new black.

I've never seen so many banks ready to take less money for cash offers. Of course cash is always preferred, but in today's market the discount for cash is greater than it was in the past. Don't get too excited – even cash buyers are most often paying list price or above lately. But buyers using OPM to buy their foreclosure property are finding they can't offer enough. OPM  is SO early 2009.

Before late April and the surge in offers, buyers using FHA or conventional financing were forced to offer quite a bit more than cash buyers to get an offer accepted. But with homes appraising low and banks forced to lower their price or put the REO back on the market, banks are salivating over cash offers which are generally not going to fall out of escrow over appraisal issues.

The big downside for Las Vegas residents is that so many of the homes are being bought up by out-of-state investors who really aren't invested in the community so much as the property. These aren't speculators that will bail out; these are investors who intend to buy and hold for the cash flow as well as future appreciation. But first-time homebuyers are struggling to buy at a time when homes are affordable again. I help my investor clients make money, but every once in awhile I enjoy a warm, fuzzy feeling when I can help a local family buy their first home.

Prices are remaining steady. Intuitively I think I'm seeing that REOs are coming on the market at slightly higher prices, but this is based on anecdotal information at this time. Don't be surprised to see that prices are rising very slightly.

Lots of new changes that I'll share with you soon. You'll have noticed some of these on the website already if you are a regular viewer. The feedback on the changes has been very positive, with many homebuyers raving about the newly automated Top 10 and the list of all Las Vegas bank-owned homes.

If I said we had a housing shortage, people would think I'd lost my sanity.

It certainly feels like a shortage. If you look at raw numbers, the fact is that we still have an oversupply of homes in the Las Vegas area. But with most of the homes on the market priced well beyond what buyers are willing to pay, most homes just aren't going to sell any time soon.

If I had a dime for every time I heard someone say, "The seller needs to get real and drop the price if he wants to sell it," I'd take all those dimes and buy every REO I could get my hands on right now. When you have a mortgage that's twice the value of your home today, you can't sell it except as a short sale or by coming out of pocket with a big chunk of money. No matter how motivated most sellers are, they can't drop the price low enough to sell their home.

So we have an oversupply of homes for sale. But with only 2100 REOs on the market and fierce competition for those homes, it feels like a shortage. The good news for some sellers is that their homes are getting shown more now. With strong demand for homes today, and fewer REOs on the market, buyers are beginning to look at some of these privately-owned homes again. I'm seeing increased activity on my listings. This may change again, at least for awhile, when the banks release more REOs.

Here at Top10RealEstateValues.com, we continue to grow. I'm proud to introduce 3 new agents. Lucy Stewart is a former Clark County zoning director, and brings a wealth of knowledge in land use and planning to our team. Linda Masciola has years of experience in real estate sales. Patricia Hernandez is bilingual, and a former restaurateur. I'm disappointed to have lost Cailin, who moved on; she is a bright young woman and future superstar.

We recently introduced a cellphone application to a limited number of our clients who agreed to be "beta testers". This application allows our clients to search for homes very easily from their own cellphones – very handy for clients who want to drive neighborhoods and view homes without being trapped in the back seat of a Realtor's car. Buyers can find the price on any house on the MLS, and this gps-based application will map other homes for sale in the neighborhood. So far the feedback is great: easy to use, fun, and very helpful in finding the best deals in any area. We'll roll this out soon to all of our clients; in the meantime, if you'd like to be a beta tester, just ask.

As an aside – my clients can't accuse me of holding them hostage, trapped in the back seat of my car until they buy! I drive a Corvette; a two-seater. As any of my clients who've been out looking at homes with me can attest to, riding with me would be a very scary experience. My driving style could best be described as Creative, Freestyle Driving; those white lines and road signs are merely suggestions. My clients prefer to follow me in their own car, quickly becoming adept in Intuitive Driving techniques. What is Robin about to do? Will she turn on that street 12 feet ahead without ever slowing down or even using her turn signal?

So I'm not the hard-sell type. I sell a lot of homes; I must be doing something right. I think people appreciate that I'm  there to advise and counsel, not to "sell". I listen well, and I show my clients just what they tell me they are looking for. When I take them to the perfect home, they make an offer. I don't ever want to influence someone's decision; I prefer to help buyers see the pros and cons in any home they view.  After all, that's how I want to be treated.

It's times like this that make me so happy to be a Realtor.

Real estate is all about giving people the key to their new home – their new lifestyle. It's not about recognition, as your broker would have you believe. It's not just about being a community leader, as the real estate association would have you believe. It's not just about the paycheck, as your kids seem to believe.

It's about calling Kris and Sandi late on a Friday night to scream, "Congratulations!" because you know they are going to be so excited – and you get to be a part of that. It really is this simple; being a Realtor is about opening that door and standing aside while your clients walk into their empty new home, with nothing in hand but a key, their dreams and some ideas. Being a Realtor is fun, and I'm so excited that I have the best job in the world!

After 13 months of working to help this disabled vet and his wife buy a new home, I got to make that call tonight. A year of struggling to get credit issues resolved, and pleading with Kris to keep his spirits up every time he suffered another defeat. Finally, we’re home.

Four weeks ago we thought we were there, just as we have several times in the past. But after clearing every hurdle you can imagine, the appraisal came in at $135,000 on their $155,000 home.

I offered a rebuttal when the appraiser said the value would come in under $130,000. I showed why this particular model was more desireable than the comps the appraiser was using. This helped, but the appraisal still came in very low at $135,000. My clients have shopped for a year; they know full well they couldn’t get an offer accepted on this house today for $155,000. With 1862 REOs on the market today, homes are generally selling for above list price.

My clients love the home they’ve been trying to buy for 2 months. Before we start looking for another home, I suggested, let’s just see if the bank will reduce the price to appraised value. The banks don’t have to do this; the house would sell again for $155,000 to a buyer with a conventional loan who can pay the difference in cash.

Last night, I received the signed Addendum lowering the price to $135,000. And then I woke my client’s up with the good news. Hey, this is hard work…I have to find my fun somewhere.

We’re going to have one helluva housewarming party. It’s all good.

The foreclosure tsunami continues to recede. As of this morning, there are only 1,899 REOs listed on the MLS in Las Vegas, creating the shortage that is resulting in multiple offers on everything from McMansions to doghouses. 

According to a group of Asset Managers who held a panel discussion for the Nevada Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals in Las Vegas yesterday, we may see the banks releasing more REOs to the market soon. This should help relieve the feeding frenzy that is making offers of $10,000 to $20,000 over list price commonplace.

Juan Martinez, NVAHREP President, did an incredible job of bringing a group of Asset Managers from various banks together to face a sea of Realtors at NVAHREP's monthly luncheon. Over 500 Realtors turned out to find out firsthand what on earth happened to the assets.

With most moratoriums having expired, we should see some of those REOs that the banks have been holding back show up on the market soon. No one yet has an accurate count of the number of empty bank-owned homes that remain unlisted. Our Top10 researcher, Ron, found at least 6,000-10,000. I've heard figures as high as 30,000, but I don't think there are anywhere near that many.

Expect to see a steady stream of REOs hitting the market as the tide rolls back in. Not a tsunami. Look to see REOs – and good deals – coming to the market over the next 3 or 4 years.