Las Vegas Real Estate Update

Hello. Welcome to Todd Miller TV. It’s January of 2013. I just got off a very important call with one of our big REO clients and I’ve been sort of gathering information over the last couple of weeks because I’ve been planning out our business here for 2013 and how we’re going to operate. And I’m trying to get a good feel for how much REO inventory we’re going to have this year.

So, I want to pass off some very important information to you that will help you with your decision-making. There have been some people who have been saying, the bank-owned homes are going to flood the market again because all these moratoriums amended and our AB 284 has been resolved, et cetera, et cetera. And the truth is that there have always been REO. I mean there’s been REO for years and years and years, sometimes a lot, sometimes a little.

Well, the REO clients all believe and what they’re telling us that they’re seeing on their end because they are the front end of it is it’s going to take years for them to get through properties that they have because there are so many things that they have to do either by legislation or by their own internal policies before they can foreclose on a property and put it to market.

So, they are doing more short sales. They are doing loan modifications. They are doing some other creative things to get people – revised to get people to stay in their houses. But a lot of people, they’re still foreclosing on.

So we’re going to still have REOs. It’s going to be a small volume like what we’ve seen and there’s not going to be a flood of properties in 2013. There might be one or two banks that decided to ramp up efforts but when that happens, there are always banks who do the opposite.

So, it’s important to understand that the shortage of inventory we have right now, there is not a two, three, four, six-month answer to that in the form of REOs. It’s not going to happen. I predict, at least for the first half of the year, a very short supply of properties here in Las Vegas. Other parts of the country, I don’t know. But the REO sellers, the banks traditionally, whatever they do in one area, they tend to do in the lot of areas.

So anyway, that’s my prediction for the first half of the year and that’s my update for January just because I’ve been talking to the REO clients and this is what they’re telling me they’re going to do and what they expect. So we’re going to see some REO but it’s not going to be in flood. So don’t get your hopes up. A few people – I heard a few people saying months ago, “Oh, that market is going to take again this year because of all the REOs.”

Everybody out there including Forbes and economists, news organizations have said, all 50 states, prices are going to increase. I believe it especially with no inventory. There’s only one way they can go. If you want a house, you got to outbid somebody for it.

Anyway, that’s the way it is. And so, that’s my update for today and hope to see you on another video. Thanks.

This video is part of the Las Vegas real estate update series.