KLAS-TV Channel 8 News Las VegasCheap Las Vegas Houses Cause Bidding Wars
Foreclosures continue to put Nevada at the top of a bad list, but real estate agents say they are seeing a small bright spot. It seems that some of the homes on the market are getting multiple offers.
The high number of foreclosures plus the dropping cost of homes has created a buyer's market with bidding wars especially in homes priced between $100,00 and $250,000.
One person's loss is now Sarah Longson's gain. She had been on the sidelines watching the prices drop over the past year-and-a-half and finally decided to make her move.
"Recently we put in like three, or four, or five different offers," she said.
Longson quickly found that she wasn't the only one ready to pounce on a good deal. Real estate agent Kerri Yates says in the price range between $100,000 and $250,000, "You can see 13, 14, even 20 offers on one house." Investors have found their way back into the market and are competing with many first time home buyers.
It's a phenomenon that frustrates buyers like Longson but it gives Nevada Mortgage owner Bill Ochs hope, "There is some competitive bidding out there, which kind of gives out the idea that maybe things are improving a little bit."
Yates says it is a good sign, but not the signal indicating the end of the housing crisis, "I don't have a crystal ball, it's still on back order. But in 2009, we will probably see more foreclosures than what we did in 2008."
She adds at the end of last year, some banks put a moratorium on foreclosures to help homeowners in trouble. That moratorium ended and the foreclosure process started again for thousands more in Las Vegas.
Still, what one person could not afford, Longson was able to get for a steal when she was finally the top bidder, "I am really excited, but with all of the hoops that you have to jump through, you don't want to get excited until you got the keys."
She should know in about two-and-a-half weeks if the sale went through.
