Las Vegas New Homes - $0 Down and $0 Closing!

One Las Vegas new homes builder is pulling out the stops to attract new buyers! R/S Development, a highly respected local Las Vegas developer, has announced a special $0 down payment and $0 closing cost promotion for their new Liberty Hill project in the 1200 acre master planned community of Providence.

In an effort to compete with the foreclosures for sale in Las Vegas, R/S if offering terrific in-house financing with NO money down and NO closing costs to qualified buyers. Credit just has to be good (though not perfect), and of course the buyer must have enough income to make the payments comfortably. There are three floor spacious plans to choose from, ranging from 1513 square feet to 1876 square feet.

Providence itself features two community parks, Huckleberry Park and Knickerbocker Park, which capture the essence of small town Americana, and the whole community is interwoven with 10 miles of tree-lined walking trails and paseos. The Liberty Hill neighborhood also has its own private community swim park complete with pool house, restroom facilities, playground equipment & green belt.

R/S, a boutique builder in the Las Vegas Valley for almost 30 years, has long been known for the exceptional quality of their homes vs. other tract home competitors. Family owned and operated, they have won numerous Homer Awards for design.

Standard features included in the Liberty Hill Homes are:

1. 13 Seer air conditioning system
2. Dual Glazed Low “E” Glass Windows
3. Climate enhanced balanced power heating & air conditioning system
4. 40 gallon high efficiency gas water heater
5. 10-year limited structural warranty from Professional Warranty Corp.
6. Monier® concrete tile roof in designer coordinated colors
7. Drought tolerant front yard landscaping w/ automatic irrigation system
8. Fully enclosed rear yard with masonry fencing and wrought iron gate
9. Fully drywalled and textured garage
10. 9’ high ceilings on main floor
11. Formal ceramic tile entryway
12. Custom hand finished textured ceilings and walls
13. Architecturally rounded corners
14. Ceiling light in all bedrooms
15. Attractive beech wood cabinetry with finished interiors, adjustable shelves and hidden hinges
16. Energy Star rated Kenmore® appliances

To find out more details on Liberty Hill and other great deals on real estate in Las Vegas, give us a call today at 702-985-7654! But hurry before this special promotion ends.

Foreign National Mortgages Are Back for Las Vegas Homes!

During the recent mortgage melt down, banks had suspended all foreign national financing except for Canadians buying second homes in the United States. But as of last week, foreign national mortgage financing is once again available for citizens of other countries wanting to buy vacation homes in Las Vegas.

Most Las Vegas mortgage lenders, like Bank of America and Wells Fargo, don’t have these programs available, but there are now a few smaller “rising star” lenders that have foreign national funding for second homes. The basic guidelines of the programs are as follows:

1. Can only be for a second home, no investment properties
2. Buyer cannot own any other property in the United States
3. 30% down payment
4. An international credit report with acceptable credit scores – must be paid for in advance (about $200)
5. Buyer must have 24 months of credit history
6. $417k maximum loan amount
7. Debt ratios – housing debt ratio cannot exceed 36% of total income and total debt cannot exceed 45% of income
8. Buyers with diplomatic immunity are not eligible

The best news is that the interest rates and closing costs are excellent – very comparable to what a US citizen would pay. Over the past few years we have had hundreds of calls from the UK and Australia from buyers who wanted to purchase Las Vegas real estate because the exchange rates are great and the prices are so low. Most were willing to put up at least 50% for a down payment. But many were unable to come up with all cash for a purchase. Now second home ownership is once again affordable for these buyers with only a 30% down payment.

So call up all your out of the country friends and let them know the good news. (Maybe they’ll let you stay in their purchase as a thank you!) And tell them to give us a call at 702-985-7654 so we can get them hooked up with one of these great loans.

Real Estate and Real Life - Say What?!!

Communication is key in real life and in real estate. How we express ourselves and how other people interpret our words can make a HUGE difference to the context of a conversation. When buying Las Vegas homes, a miscommunication can lead to a lawsuit. In real life it can also be serious or just plain funny. Case in point:

My friend, Jamie, recently purchased a property in San Diego, California. This house is 80 years old and was originally the home of a sea captain’s widow. The home is only about 700 square feet and will need almost $150,000 in rehab work. But the location is great – only 5 blocks from the beach – and in a lovely residential neighborhood. (San Diego is pretty pricey - there are homes for sale in Las Vegas that are cheaper than the rehab! Luxury Las Vegas golf course homes with more than 4,000 sf are cheaper than Jamie's 700 sf fixer upper.)

Among the items that needed attention:

1. Shore up foundation
2. Exterminate termites, fleas and rats
3. Replace all interior sheet rock
4. Replace plumbing
5. Get all new cabinetry and appliances

I've never seen a foreclosure in Las Vegas that needed this much work! Not only that, but the floor plan needed to be redesigned within the existing footprint to make it more practical (no easy matter when you are only working with 700 square feet!)

After more than six months of trying to get permits (the City of San Diego does NOT make it easy!), finally the last blue print was signed off on, and work began last week. One of the first items on the agenda was removing the sheet rock and re-doing the foundation.

Unfortunately, the foundation was even worse than anticipated, and the home had to be raised to allow them to pour an all new foundation. In the process a Bobcat forklift was being used and the entire front of the house almost collapsed. (Thankfully they were able to save it!)

During this time, Jamie was emailing our friend Lisa about the progress being made and how fragile the whole structure was. Then she sent Lisa this message “Unbelievably busy with work, and then today my new-old house was almost knocked down by a bobcat doing foundation work. It's been a time alright.”

Lisa took this statement literally, and was hysterical thinking a wild bobcat had wandered up the road in downtown San Diego, brushing against the home and almost knocking it into oblivion. The following conversation ensued via email:

Lisa: “Are you kidding me?? A real bobcat..that’s incredible!”

Jamie: “I should have been more specific about this- actually it was a Bobcat forklift. Today they had to remove the foundation and lift the house in the air. Stressful wondering if the whole place was going to fall apart.”

Lisa: “OMG… I’m so stupid that I almost wet my pants in a fit of uncontrollable laughter thinking you meant a real animal. Promise me you won’t tell Diann!”

But of course this was one miscommunication that was just too good not to share. So Jamie, in an email to both of us, asks Lisa if it is all right to tell me about the “cat” with no other explanation. Keeping in mind I had not seen the previous correspondence, I immediately responded “What cat?” and Lisa, not realizing that I have NO idea what is going on, responds to me:

“The cute adorable kitten I left at Jamie’s doorstep was killed by the orange bob cat that strolled in her yard. Can you believe it?”

And now I am freaking out because I lost my cat a couple of years ago to wild coyotes in our back yard. I figured since Jamie knew how upset I was about losing my kitty she purposely didn’t tell me what had happened. I write Lisa back a LONG note about how devastating the experience was when my cat was killed and how sad Jamie must be. Fortunately I cc’d Jamie who finally clued me in on what had happened. But only after I had had a bit of a cry over my poor cat.

This is a perfect example of how one simple sentence misinterpreted in the wrong way can set off a totally unintended chain of events. That is why Las Vegas real estate contracts must be clear, concise and NOT open to interpretation.