Housing market?

I'm near the beach in south jersey and thinking of moving there. We hear homes there are super cheap especially if you make a low ball offer and we hear for closures are at a record high there also meaning even more discounts is this all true. How's the lifestyle being a single man I hear there are around 3 girls to every guy again is this true. Thanks answer me soon

 

I am by no means an expert on LV real estate but, from what I hear, the cheap housing market is over. Investors are buying up houses and prices have gone steadily up, up, up. If you're comparing it with NJ where we also live, I guess you can find decent housing relatively cheap in Vegas but they may not be houses or areas in which you would like to live. Keep in mind, too, that most housing is in developments with very small lots. This is what partially has kept us from thinking about the move. We have an acre now and could never get that in LV.

Again, just MHO.

 

I examined this thoroughly a few years ago.

It's my view that homes in Las Vegas are not well constructed. This is what prevented me from making a purchase. I live in the Midwest, where the homes seem to be much higher quality.

I could be wrong, but that's what I thought.

 

Wow didn't know thanks for input I do like the lifestyle being single and all unlike here which is tough to meet anyone maybe I should check it out for a month tent something and see if long term it's suited for me my first choice is Hawaii but I thought it would be too expensive now I'm hearing it isn't that much as one might think so where in jersey are you I'm in margate

 

Hillsborough

 

Home prices are relative. However, deals are few and far between. The market is currently inflated (yet far off from our peak so plenty are still underwater). There are still many shortsales and foreclosures (though, not as many as year's past) but you need to move quickly and cash is king. Investors have purchased much of what was to be had, hence the inflated market. I don't see how it is sustainable so I expect the bottom to fall out once again.

Prices still may be cheaper than where you live so my recommendation is to go to realtor.com and plug in your minimum requirements to see where you land.

Some home builders are better than others, you'll quickly learn which you prefer. Homes built during the boom went up in a hurry and it shows.

 

We bought a home in May of 2012 just as the market bottomed out. Now there has been 18 months of steady growth and we've seen 12 months increases of 36 percent in most of the valley. What was $130K (3 bd, 2bth, 2000sq) is now about $190K so judge for yourself. It's our retirement home and we are going to be downsizing from our current home. I don't know how it will be going from an acre of land and 3000 sqft to an 1800 ft ranch on a 50x100' blocked walled lot. It's rented now, and we have 24 months to retirement.

After shoveling 14 inches of snow this morning I'm ready to move right now.

 

Las Vegas housing prices have drifted up considerably over the past 3 years, but housing is still a bargain compared to most of the country. Some areas are still priced well below replacement cost.

For example, my home sold for $158K in 2006, then I bought it in 2009 at the foreclosure auction for $30K. The zillow.com price is back up to around $60K, but the replacement cost would be about $75K. It still has a long way to go to reach the $158K bubble price, but since it's priced below replacement cost it's a bargain.

Having cash is a real plus in this market. If you don't have cash you can pre-qualify for a loan and have it ready to for an offer, as if you have cash. That's fine for most sales.

If you have cash, consider attending the foreclosure auction (the trust deed sale). It's in the parking lot of the Nevada Legal News building, located at 930 So. Fourth Street just north of Charleston. They auction an average of 500 properties each weekday. The residential auction starts at 10 am and goes until they are done, normally until around 2 pm. Bring your own lawn chair.

To bid on properties at the trust deed sale you'll need to pre-qualify before the auction by presenting a cashiers check (payable to yourself) to the desk inside. You can then bid up to the amount of the check. If you win a property you will give them the cashiers check and sign a power of attorney authorizing them to cash the check, buy the property, and refund the difference.

The trust deed sale is where to take advantage of low foreclosure prices. The so-called foreclosures available on the open market are marked-up considerably from auction prices, but you have to be willing to trade risk for purchase price.