Las Vegas Real Estate Career

In March 2008, as a result of the Economic Stimulus Package, FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac raised their loan limits.   These increases had a deadline of December 31, 2008.

The new limits were just announced for 2009.

Effective January 1, 2009:

• CLARK COUNTY FHA - $287,500 (down from $400,000)
• CLARK COUNTY FANNIE / FREDDIE - $417,000 (no change)
• NYE COUNTY FHA - $271,050 (down from $325,000)
• NYE COUNTY FANNIE / FREDDIE - $417,000 (no change)

If you have buyers looking to put down less than 10% and they are looking for a home priced over $296,000, they need to find a home quickly. 

Loans must be locked by 12/13/2008 and fund by 12/31/2008.   No exceptions.

Also, as a reminder, the minimum down payment on FHA loans will go up to 3.5% from its current 3% on January 1, 2009 as well.

The Nevada Real Estate Division announced the publication of its first textbook on Nevada real estate law, the Nevada Law and Reference Guide.  The book covers six areas of Nevada law including:  Agency, Fiduciary Duties, Brokerage Agreement, Disclosures and Advertising. 

Visit the Nevada Real Estate Division website to access the specific chapters and download the PDF files.

Chapter 1 - Nevada Law on Real Estate Agency

Chapter 2 - Nevada Law on Fiduciary Duties

Chapter 3 - Nevada Law on Brokerage Agreements

Chapter 4 - Nevada Law on Offers and Purchase Agreements

Chapter 5 - Nevada Law on Disclosures

Chapter 6 - Nevada Law on Advertising

Debbie Huber of Huber Appraisal and Home Pride Insections in Las Vegas is today’s featured guest blogger. Debbie has been appraising residential homes in Las Vegas for over 20 years and holds the SRA designation (Senior Residential Appraiser). She is also a Past President of the Appraisal Commission for the State of Nevada. Her topic is recent changes to FHA appraisal guidelines.

• To reach her at Huber Appraisal, please call (702) 243-3256 or email her at debbie@huberappraisal.com
• To reach Home Pride Inspections, please call (702) 363-1681 m.harrison@homeprideinspections.com

FHA Required repairs for residential appraisals will be limited to necessary requirements. They fall under the three “S’s”: Safety, Security (of the loan), and Soundness. Typical conditions requiring further inspection or testing by qualified individuals or entities include (if the appraiser thinks it may be an issue): infestation – evidence of termites, inoperative or inadequate plumbing, heating or electrical systems, structural failure in framing members, leaking or worn out roofs, cracked masonry or foundation damage and drainage problems.

Examples of property conditions that may represent a risk to the health and safety of the occupants or the soundness of the property for which FHA will continue to require automatic repair for existing properties include, but are not limited to:

• Leaking or worn roofs (also, there cannot be three or more layers of shingles on leaking or worn roofs; all existing shingles must be removed before re-roofing)
• Evidence of structural problems (such as foundation damage caused by excessive settlement)
• Defective paint surfaces in homes built prior to 1978 (lead based paint?)
• Defective exterior paint surfaces in homes where the finish is otherwise unprotected
• Inadequate access/egress from bedrooms to exterior of home
• Security bars on bedroom windows must have quick release mechanisms for emergency egress
• ”Green pools” should be operating and clean

Repairs/inspections NO LONGER automatically required by FHA:

• Wood destroying insects/organisms inspections
• Private or community well inspections
• Septic system inspections
• Roofing inspections for flat or unobservable roofs
• Installation of stove(s)

Questions to FHA (Santa Ana office) can be directed to (714)-796-5577

Prudential Real Estate’s Inline Media Strategy leverages the power of our Online Advantage solutions and uses offline media such as television and print to drive consumers to prudential.com and to our affiliates’ listings. The strategy includes many new Web alliances, online media partners and consumer resources. It reinforces Prudential Real Estate as a leading interactive real estate company and positions our Brand as a trusted source for real estate information.

This is simply the beginning of a whole new generation of interactive strategies. Prudential Real Estate will constantly rethink these plans going forward.

The bottom line: No one offers such a comprehensive lineup of integrated, online alliances and resources. Our Inline Media Strategy places Prudential Real Estate offices in all the hot spots on the Web, in front of millions of consumers, offering the listings, resources and information consumers want most.

Check out the new TV Spot:

 

Now you can subscribe to Mark Stark’s weekly conference call via a Podcast. You can select from a variety of podcatchers - the most popular is iTunes. Once you subscribe (by adding it to your iTunes, for example), all the new audios will be automatically downloaded when available and loaded on your iPod everytime you connect to iTunes. You can (re)listen to Mark’s conference call at your convenience. Just click on the Subscribe to the Podcast feed and select your favorite podcatcher.

We are pleased to announce the newest member of our Prudential Americana Group, REALTORS® family, Michelle Francis.  Michelle will be heading up our Company training program as the lead Educational Instructor.  She will be conducting our Nevada accredited Post-Licensing classes as well as a variety of continuing education courses.

Michelle became involved in the Las Vegas real estate scene over 10 years ago and was licensed with Century 21 Consolidated and Coldwell Banker Premier Realty.  In addition to Sales, her Las Vegas Real Estate experience includes service in the following capacities:

• The Director of the CENTURY 21 Real Estate Academy
• Director of Career Development for CENTURY 21 Consolidated
• Managing Broker for a Brand New Condominium Developer
• Pre-Licensing, Broker Management, CE and Post Licensing Instructor
• Sales Manager, Mentor and Coach for Coldwell Banker Premier Realty
• Brian Buffini’s 100 Days to Greatness certified Mentor/Trainer

Prudential’s exclusive Online Seller Advantage (OSA) was built to distinguish your listings from competing properties and maximize exposure to qualified buyers. This state-of-the-art art tool equips you with proof that Prudential Real Estate is leading the way for consumers who use the web to find or sell a home.  
 
OSA distinguishes you from competitors in three ways . . .

Wins Listings - Create a Listing Presentation Report that shows the benefits of listing with an OSA subscriber. The report emphasizes our exclusive relationship with Yahoo! Real Estate. It presents current online buyer activity in your listing prospect’s local area.

Maintains Listings and Gains Customer Loyalty - Your sellers receive email alerts on their property - everyday until it sells! Besides this area update, email alerts notify your sellers (1) the number of times their property returned in search results, (2) their home’s property details were viewed, and (3) the times their property was added to a prospective buyer’s portfolio.

Markets Listings and Creates Exciting Selling Opportunities - Display a Yahoo! sign rider with an exclusive Web ID on your seller’s Prudential Real Estate yard sign. When sellers’ enter that number in Yahoo! search, the Web ID sends those prospective buyers the property details for your listings online. 

Find out how you can start using this marketing tool in your real estate business by calling 702-320-4397 to schdule a confidential interview.

Prudential Americana is pleased to announce we now offer an online Nevada Real Estate Exam prep and practice test as a complimentary service.

The online module offers 12 different exam sets to assist you in preparing for your licensing exam. During this program, you will be able to select from a series of study modes along with timed simulations of the examination.

Just give us a call at 702-320-4397 or complete this contact form requesting your login instructions.   

With a national average sales price of $368,019 in 2007, the Prudential Real Estate Network (PREA) continues its streak of having the highest national average sales price for residential property among major competitors. This price is based on an analysis of transaction sides and sales volume data of the largest independently-owned brokers in the U.S. as reported in the 2007 Real Trends 500.

Prudential Real Estate Affiliates (PREA), our franchise network with about 2,100 offices and 64,000 sales professionals, announced a distribution agreement to feed about 140,000 property listings to real estate sites Zillow.com and Propsmart.com.  Earlier this year Prudential announced an alliance with  Trulia.com and HGTV-powered FrontDoor.com.

Laurie Keenan, president of Prudential Real Estate stated: “The sites are easy to use, they offer great information and they save consumers time. Most important, the sites offer consumers a rich search experience and, now, our listings will be a part of that experience.”

Read the press release for additional information.