Las Vegas Advisor readers who’ve been watching our Top10RealEstateValues.com for awhile will remember a time when I gleefully helped homebuyers snatch up foreclosures at below-market prices. Buyers who purchased homes in 2007 and 2008, when we only thought prices couldn’t go any lower, saw their home values slide another 20%, give or take a few tens of thousands. (Ouch, that’s hard to write.)

Once the carnage of 2008 began to abate in early 2009, my clients were able to buy homes that have pretty much maintained their value. Those buyers who purchased in 2009 or 2010 can probably sell their Las Vegas home for what they paid for it. If you bought before that, prices will have to climb quite a bit before you will regain your equity.

I’m thrilled to see that we are once again able to find homes for my clients at below list price. Not always, but often. Evan and Adrian sat tight while the bank waited for a better offer on their vacation home, a 4,000+ square foot home priced at $279,900. The bank, unwilling to accept their $250,000 offer, countered not once, but twice – something we rarely see in this market.

When no more offers arrived on this gorgeous home with a pool, slate flooring and kitchen fit for a chef, the bank finally accepted our $262,000 counter offer. Why? With rising foreclosure inventory, it’s not difficult to find a home with no offers on it right now. A flexible buyer who can jump quickly, and has no emotional attachment to any particular home, has a real advantage in this market.

The upcoming holiday season will be the best time to buy. After 3 summers of fighting to get a home at all, and then well over list price, Las Vegas homebuyers can look forward to home shopping without the frenzied pace. Buyers have complained for several years about the bidding wars, even when there’s been no bidding going on! But when 20 people want the same house you want, and they are all willing to pay more than the seller is asking, it can certainly feel like a bidding war.

Expect sales to remain reasonably steady for the immediate future, but you should have more choice and good deals can be found again.

Now if the banks would just approve more of these short sales. Jerome and Britney have had their dream home in escrow for months, while Bank of America sits on its ass and orders appraisal after appraisal. Their baby, born before the offer was accepted, is now 4 months old; she may be in college before BofA makes a decision.

On a happier, more sane note, LVA readers Steve and Kiota had a home in escrow for 2 months before BofA suddenly foreclosed on the homeowner. Within weeks it hit the market as a foreclosure, and we caught it on the rebound. My buyers were willing to pay $245,000 for a short sale, saving the bank tens of thousands of dollars in foreclosure costs, but in it’s infinite wisdom the bank sold it to the same couple for $235,000 after spending a small fortune to foreclose.

Go figure.