Today I’m at Serving Our Kids, a foundation that provides meals to children in Southern Nevada who would otherwise go hungry. Many of you have called and emailed to ask how you can show your support for this charitable cause. As I’m sure you’re aware, the Clark County School District has suspended classes for the next few weeks.

Serving Our Kids is working with school counselors now to develop a system for getting food out to kids while school is not in session. Our usual 3,500 bags per week program is at a standstill until we can figure out the best way to distribute them. However, we hope you will still help us by donating. We need three main things: Ramen, fruit cups, and granola bars.

We need three main things: Ramen, fruit cups, and granola bars.

We understand that local grocery stores and warehouses are in short supply of some food items, but if you’re shopping and see one of the items listed above and are willing to give, please contact me. We’re willing to come pick up the items from you. We still have a bit of supply, but many of our shelves are empty. Local at-risk kids would truly appreciate a food or monetary donation.

If you have questions about Serving Our Kids, or what is going on with local real estate, please reach out via phone or email. I would be glad to speak with you.

Here’s what you need to know about our current inventory in Las Vegas:

We ended January with 4,906 single-family homes on the market; that’s down almost 33% compared to 2019. We had 1,418 condos on the market, down almost 17% compared to last year. This means we’re short on inventory. 

Right now we’re sitting at 2.1 months of inventory for single-family homes. For condos, we have about 2.5 months of inventory. In a normal market, we would see four to five months of inventory. This means our current inventory would have to almost double to balance out the market.

If you’re a buyer, you’re in for a battle.

What do these numbers mean for buyers? If you’re a buyer, you’re in for a battle. You’ll have to have a very strong, competitive offer and work with a real estate agent to help position you correctly to win in this market. You’ll be competing with many other buyers. You’ll likely have to write an offer asking for zero closing costs, no home warranty, and you may have to shorten your inspection windows. 

What does this mean for sellers? You’re currently in an enviable position because of the shortage of inventory. If your home is in fairly good condition, shows well, and is priced reasonably, there’s a great chance you may receive multiple offers. 

If you have any questions as a prospective buyer or seller, give us a call or send an email. We would love to help with any of your real estate needs.

If you didn’t, there’s a possibility that your taxes have gone up to 4.8%. Go to the Clark County Assessor’s website and check to see what your taxes are. I checked myself and found that I’m paying the 4.8% rate, so I needed to register my home as my primary residence to have my taxes capped. Making the change equals roughly $18 per each $1,000 in taxes paid, so you could save a good amount if you do.

If you have any questions about this process or real estate in general, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to help you!

There’s a new player in the real estate game today: the iBuyer, or ‘instant buyers.’ They’re also known as ‘institutional flippers.’ Have you ever driven down a street and seen a sign that says “We Buy Ugly Houses” or “We’ll Buy Your House for Cash in Seven Days”? Those signs come from mom-and-pop flippers, but other recognizable brands like Zillow Offers, Offerpad, and Open Door—all these companies can also be considered iBuyer's. Here’s how they work:

A home seller visits one of the iBuyers’ websites and fills out the information about their house. The company they chose will send them an instant offer within a day or two, which the seller can accept or reject. An iBuyer’s offer comes with the promise that selling to them is a simpler, easier way to sell your home as compared to a more traditional approach. Essentially, they’re selling a speedier, more convenient way to list a home; all the seller has to do is accept the offer and then the iBuyer will take care of preparing the home for sale, marketing, and so on.

An estimated 40% of homebuyers in Phoenix have received offers from iBuyers before they even considered putting their homes on the market. That begs the question, “Should you sell your home to an iBuyer?”

My answer to that question is that it depends. Do you need to sell your home very quickly? If so, selling to them may be worth considering. However, it would be short-sighted for you not to consider the downfalls of selling to an iBuyer.

One of the downfalls associated with iBuyers is that they’ll offer you a lot less for your home than it’s worth on the open market. Not only that, but they’ll also charge a service fee and they may even have a list of repairs tied to that offer. If you choose not to make those repairs, they’ll lower their offer.

Our team is passionate about giving back to the community in more ways than just helping you buy and sell real estate. We also like to get involved with local charities, which is exactly what we’re here to talk about today.

Recently, I had the opportunity to meet with Dale Darcas of the Serving Our Kids Foundation at their warehouse to talk about what this organization does for our community. We also chatted about a couple of great events that are coming up, both of which we’d love for you to attend.

Before we share more information about those events, let’s first go over what Serving Our Kids is all about. 

“Serving Our Kids is a 100% volunteer organization that provides weekend food bags to homeless and at-risk kids throughout the Clark County school district,” says Dale. He went on to explain that this year, Serving Our Kids is working with over 70 local schools to help feed about 3,500 children each and every week.

Today my guest Jerry Cornell of Bug Fighter Pest Control will talk about why you’re better off hiring a professional exterminator to handle pest control in your home instead of trying it yourself. 

Many people prefer to make the trip to Lowe’s or Home Depot, buy some pesticides, and spray their own home rather than call a professional (I do the same thing). And the ironic thing is, you can buy nearly all the same pesticides that an exterminator can. The difference between hiring a professional and trying to do the job yourself, though, is that these professionals are a part of a highly regulated industry that features a lot of continuing education. 

In other words, they know the state and federal regulations regarding pest control, and they know which insects are in your home and the proper chemicals to use to get rid of them.

So why is it better to work with a Realtor when looking at new construction homes?

1. Representation. If you walk into that new home sales office without an agent, you’re no longer allowed to have your own representation, which is very important to have when navigating through the new home sales process.

2. It’s absolutely free. The builder pays your agent’s commission, not you. You have nothing to worry about on that front.

I’m joined today by Brian Maier of Mortgage Box to give the answer to a big question many people have: What kind of credit score do you need to purchase a house?

There’s a lot of misleading information online when it comes to credit scores. Each lender uses different restrictions and overlays when it comes to approving a loan—ideally, you’ll want to have a credit score of 620 or higher.

However, there are programs that accept scores of 580, and some even accept scores as low as 500.

If your score is over 700, it usually makes the most sense to go with a conventional loan. These loans are driven by credit scores; 740 and higher is the top tier, but for each 20-point increment that your score drops, your interest rate rises. This goes all the way down to 620 for a conventional loan.

Brian Maier from Mortgage Box finds it surprising how many people think that they need to put 20% down on a home. If they’re saving up for that long, it could be years before they have enough, and they’ll have missed a lot of opportunities in that time. That’s not to mention the appreciation rate; a home that sold at $200,000 two years ago is selling for over $250,000 today. We can’t accurately predict future appreciation, but based on past appreciation, home prices are going up faster than people are able to save for.

The fact is that you don’t need to put 20% down to buy a home. In fact, the majority of Brian’s borrowers put way less than that down. There are programs for first-time homebuyers and for those who are simply buying a primary residence that allow for a down payment as small as 3% out of pocket. He’s also able to get his borrowers lender credits, which help to cover closing costs.