Southwest beauty packed w/ features including a secured entry, 3 gar garage, formal living/dining rooms w/ vaulted ceilings, open kitchen w/ nook, breakfast bar, tile counters/flooring, island & pantry, family room w/ fireplace and custom niches, huge master w/ sitting area, 2 walk-in closets and massive balcony and the large backyard has a covered patio, spa & it has the potential to be your own lush paradise! Offered at $179,000. Call HARVEY BLANKFELD at (702) 203-1165.

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Upgraded & ready to go! A fabulous corner lot is just the beginning in this 3 bedroom home w/ RV parking, lush lawns front & back, inviting living room, vaulted ceilings, island kitchen w/ granite counters & upgraded lighting/cabinets, family room w/ custom niches & fireplace, large master bedroom w/ walk-in closet, warm/neutral colors throughout, solar screens, backyard w/ covered patio, professional/mature landscaping & you’re close to the 215! Offered at $149,000. Call HARVEY BLANKFELD at (702) 203-1165.

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Attractive 3 bedroom home in a cozy gated community w/ many upgrades including warm paint colors throughout, ceiling fans, wood flooring downstairs in the open living area, island kitchen w/ pantry, large master bedroom w/ walk-in closet & double sinks, good-sized secondary bedrooms, garage and the community offers a refreshing pool/spa & much more! Offered at $90,000. Call HARVEY BLANKFELD AT (702) 203-1165.

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Strip views enhance this immaculate single story home in The Vistas presents an open courtyard, inviting family room, kitchen w/ granite counters & pantry, large master bedroom w/ walk-in closet & separate tub/shower, ceiling fans throughout, new water heater, water softener r/o, great sized backyard w/ covered patio, Pebble Tech decking, pool/spa, storage above the garage & you will love the amazing sunrises & sunsets! Offered at $239,000. Call HARVEY BLANKFELD at (702) 203-1165.

Don’t miss out on the grand amenities in this well kept condo in Aliante including community pool & more! Features include an open living room, kitchen w/ breakfast bar & dining area, large master bedroom, good-sized secondary bedrooms, private balcony w/ views of the nice community, detached garage & much more! Offered at $59,000. Call HARVEY BLANKFELD at (702) 203-1165.

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Beautiful 1722 single story home that features 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, tile flooring throughout,  kitchen w/ custom cabinets & handles, Corian countertops & breakfast bar, in-line vacuum, vaulted ceilings, separate dining & family rooms & RV parking! You don’t want to miss this house! Close to the baseball fields and more! Offered at $127,000. Call SCARLET ELKINGTON at (702) 280-8733.

Fall in love with this 5 bedroom beauty in Peccole Ranch that sits on the green belt! Highlights include a spacious kitchen with lots of cabinets, granite & double ovens, newer paint inside and out, formal living room w/ high ceilings and fireplace, downstairs bedroom w/ backyard access that can be either a secondary master or a guest suite, upstairs master bedroom w/ sitting room/retreat, backyard w/ sparkling pool that’s all ready for summer and much more! Offered at $310,000. Call CRISTIN ROGERS at (702) 682-2067.

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Well kept, 2 story home in a great central location! This home offers decorative hardwood flooring, neutral colors, fireplace in family room, open kitchen with breakfast bar, upstairs laundry room, master bedroom with walk-in closet, cozy backyard with synthetic grass and easy care landscaping! Former model home! Offered at $120,000. Call TISH GONZALES at (702) 371-4437.

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That being said, I need to relay a story that happens all too often.  An FHA buyer submitted and had accepted an offer on a beautiful one story home in Summerlin.   His offer was equal to the last sold model match, which sold only 2 months earlier.  When he received his appraisal, it came in $21,000 light of the contracted price of $180,000.  The last sold model match sold for $180,000.  The appraiser felt it necessary to reduce the most recent sold comparable by 5%/month to accommodate what he said was a declining market.  The prices in this sub-division haven’t fallen at all in more than 15 months.  So the buyer, being stuck with this appraisal has no choice but to withdraw his offer and try to find another home that will appraise.  In the meantime, an investor that wrote a cash offer that doesn’t require an appraisal, will end up getting the home for $172,000.  That will help justify the appraiser’s work and force our market to slide again.

When an appraiser doesn’t do his job correctly, it impacts so much more than one deal.  This real estate transaction, could have served to help stabilize our values and put an owner occupant in a home, instead it de-stabilizes our market and created another rental.

There are some that believe the banks loaning money have implemented procedures to insure that appraisals come in low.  The ironic part of that is that the banks own most of the homes on the market and they are serving to keep the prices down on the very product they are selling!  I myself, don’t believe they are doing that, but I do believe they should be helping all of us to insure that appraisers can be held accountable for bringing in low appraisals.

I know that there may be people that believe that I’m just another Realtor complaining about appraisals because it’s hurting my commissions.  I can assure you that my rant is about what’s fair to regular home buyers versus investors.  I actually help many investors buy homes and I believe in real estate investment as part of anyone’s financial portfolio, but I also still believe in the American Dream.  I know it’s been a nightmare the last several years, but if we are going to go back to good times, we need to have an environment that promotes home ownership.  I’m not in favor of “no money down” or going back to the days of loaning money to anyone that can fog a mirror.  I’m in favor of giving families an opportunity to own their own home, instead of renting it.

Well, that applies to our real estate market too. The most recent development surrounds our current inventory. As of this moment we have 5,474 single family homes available in our entire multiple list. We have 13,113 single family homes in escrow. We have closed 3,195 homes in the last 30 days.

That means we have about 45 days worth of inventory available. One of the basic premises of economics is that when an inventory of available product is low and the demand is high, prices go up. That’s not happening though. There are three reasons that pricing has not reacted to the inventory. First, the low inventory is partially a result of the lack of bank foreclosures over the last 5 months. The banks will eventually start bringing homes back to market. I do want to caution buyers however, there aren’t as many out there as you think. It’s likely that once the banks fire up their machines again the output will be the same or even less than it was last year. That’s because the banks are liking short sales. The second reason for prices not moving is the appraisals. You have heard me whine about this before, but it’s still happening. Appraisers just find it easy to bring homes in low and there is no way we can get them to allow prices to start moving in the right direction. The third reason, is that buyers are still cautious. There is a real sense that we may see another downturn in pricing as a result of either interest rates going up, or demand drying up.

All of these reasons have some validity. There will come a day, in the not too distant future when prices will start to rise. That’s when the buyers will all want to buy.  Some of the wealthiest people in our country made their money in Real Estate markets just like this!  Pay attention buyers.  You will be wondering in 5 years why you didn’t buy now.