September 4th, 2010 by Harvey Blankfeld
As I am between visitors at an open house I am reminded that Real Estate is still a service based industry. As Realtors we must remember that just because it’s a short sale or an REO doesn’t mean we should give any less service. I attended a Town Hall meeting recently and people are very concerned about selling their homes in this market. They have been besieged with all kinds of commentary from attorneys and politicians about the variables to consider when dealing with a home that is “upside down”. While my team and I have taken extra care to be certain we are well educated in the variables we have remained focused on the importance of providing our clients the same level of service we have always provided.
I am at this open house because my client needs to sell this home. I don’t know that this open house is the answer but I am prepared to do everything I can to sell this home. Too many agents believe that once you get the listing you need to wait and hope you will get a buyer. We believe that each home sells for a different reason. Sometimes it’s the sign or the flyers in the sign, sometimes it’s MLS, sometimes it’s an open house and sometimes it’s the extensive internet presence we provide for each of our listings.
I know that there are many Realtors that do things the right way and some that don’t, but I can tell you that success in our industry depends on our ability to adapt and our ability to be consistent with our marketing. We must never loose sight of our goal to sell our clients home for as much money as possible and as quickly as possible. That goal is most often attained by the Old Fashioned method of marketing the home in all ways and keeping the lines of communication open with your client.
Tags: agents, efficiency, foreclosure, las vegas, market, real estate, realtors, sellers, selling homes, short sales
Posted in Las Vegas Foreclosures, Las Vegas Home Sales, Las Vegas Short Sales | No Comments »
September 3rd, 2010 by Harvey Blankfeld
Inventory is increasing slightly. Prices remain stable. Short sales continue to dominate the market. We expect inventory to continue to grow as demand has decreased somewhat.
Tags: buyers, buying homes, downward market, inventory, las vegas, market, real estate, sellers, selling homes, short sales
Posted in Las Vegas Foreclosures, Las Vegas Home Sales, Las Vegas Short Sales | No Comments »
August 2nd, 2010 by Harvey Blankfeld
Inventory is slightly increasing. Activity is also slightly off since the tax credit incentive expired. Short Sales continue to dominate our market.
Tags: buyers, buying homes, downward market, inventory, las vegas, market, real estate, sellers, selling homes, short sales
Posted in Las Vegas Foreclosures, Las Vegas Home Sales, Las Vegas Short Sales | No Comments »
June 4th, 2010 by Harvey Blankfeld
While inventory remains tight and low, lenders and appraisers are keeping prices low as well. Activity is still strong. Inventory levels indicate a seller’s market but pricing continues to favor buyers.
Tags: buyers, buying homes, las vegas, lenders, market, real estate, sellers, selling homes, trends
Posted in Las Vegas Home Sales | No Comments »
April 5th, 2010 by Shelley Brown
In real estate, we have come to rely on our computers and our cell phones to facilitate our business and respond quickly to our buyers and sellers. Sometimes, they let us down and we are lost!! Last week, an agent wanted to show one of my listings without a lockbox. It is in a highrise so we need gate clearance and access through the concierge to lead the agent to the right elevator. The agent called about 1 1/2 hours before she wanted in. My phone did NOT ring when she called. I got a voice mail message about 40 minutes after she called. I can’t tell you if it is my cell phone or my carrier. Once I got the message, I called the seller who said “sure”. I called the agent back and got her voice mail. I left a message that she could show the house at 1 PM, just like she requested.
At about 2 PM, I called again and she answered the phone. I asked her how the showing went and she said she did not show it and had dropped her clients off back at the hotel already. She said she never got my message. I assume she got it later- much, much later!!!!!
In the good old days, we made appointments the day before. We left messages at an office with a live receptionist who paged the message out. The person then called us back to confirm. Maybe it was easier then???????????????
I hope clients understand that sometimes we cannot respond as quickly as they would like. If we don’t call back, maybe we didn’t get the message. Let’s all try to call again and be forgiving when technology lets us down. By the way, my seller was very understanding. He raced around picking up his house and no one showed but it was ok….. he’s a nice guy!
Tags: agents, buyers, las vegas, real estate, sellers, selling homes
Posted in Las Vegas Home Sales | 1 Comment »
March 25th, 2010 by Shelley Brown
Years ago, when the world was in balance and real estate agents were in step with each other, an offer was written for a client and then presented to the seller. The offer was either accepted, rejected, or countered in a timely manner. Everyone knew what was going on and the clients viewed the agents as professional, responsive, and knowledgeable.
Now that banks control a large portion of our market, the agents have educated the buyers to know that it may be weeks for a reply or you may never hear at all! (The listing status may just be changed to “no longer available” in the computer). Why are we dealing with short sales in the same manner which is disrespectful to other agents and their clients?????
In a short sale, the seller of the property (NOT the bank with the mortgage!) signs the offer. Have we not prepared our sellers to be available to accept an offer?? The seller should be encouraged to sign an offer with a buyer that has these important qualifications:
1. Time to wait for the short sale to be approved.
2. Education that some of the costs they ask for may be turned down by the bank approving the short sale.
3. An “at list” offer- not a crazy bidding war offer. The bank with the short sale may ask for more so the buyer’s agent needs to prepare the buyers that they may have to increase their offer.
4. A professional agent that addresses the above items in the letter accompanying the offer.
5. An investor’s offer may not be the best offer because generally, they are making more than one offer.
6. Finally, EARNEST money with the offer and a willingness to place it in escrow!
Let’s answer (in a timely manner), the buyers that are willing to give us an offer that comes closest to meeting the criteria above! Let’s see some professionalism in real estate in cases where we have some control.
Tags: agents, banks, buyers, buying homes, downward market, las vegas, market, mortgage, negotiate, real estate, sellers, selling homes, short sales, trends
Posted in Las Vegas Short Sales | No Comments »
February 17th, 2010 by Harvey Blankfeld
It is so rewarding when we receive letters from our past and current clients chronicling their experiences with our team. It is the reason we do what we do and we wanted to share the letter we most recently received.
Please click the following link : Client Testimonial
Tags: agents, buyers, buying homes, las vegas, market, real estate, realtors, sellers, selling homes
Posted in Las Vegas Home Sales | No Comments »
February 11th, 2010 by Harvey Blankfeld
February 3, 2010
Harvey Blankfeld
Brown, Blankfeld & Associates
7475 W. Sahara Ave., #100
Las Vegas, NV, 89117
Harvey, Christina & Administrative Staff:
I wanted to write this letter now that I have had some time to reflect on the sale of our property on Pine Leaf. I don’t think I had told you at the beginning of our effort to sell our home, that I believed that I did not need a Realtor to help me find a buyer and successfully negotiate a sale of the property. How wrong I was. I entered the listing with reluctance, not on your abilities, but with my over confidence in my own ability to sell a property that I thought would sell itself. I was like so many sellers that wanted to avoid what I thought was an unwanted cost.
I knew it was a difficult time to sell a home with so many bank owned properties on the market. Your presentation convinced me that without the professional support of a trained and experience Realtor, that my chances in selling this property would be slim. Your detailed market analysis and step approach is what really convinced me that I had to have a professional team if I wanted to be successful. The first mistake I would have made would have been in establishing a realistic selling price. The second would have been the lack of exposure of the property to the market. I believed that its location and great curb appeal would be sufficient to find a ready and qualified buyer and I did not need the expansive exposure of the MLS and individual marketing that you provided.
It was your sensitivity and market awareness that allowed the selling price to be set at a level that brought multiple offers within a very short period of time.
The real strength of your team approach was in the process of the sale once we had received the several offers. There were so many pitfalls during this period that I know I would not have been able to complete the sale on my own. Your experience in overcoming objections on both sides of the transaction made the cost of the sale worth every penny. There was a period that I thought the sale would never be closed; your persuasive and positive approach with working with the buyer’s agent made the sale a reality. Key to the entire transaction was the communication that flowed on a daily basis. I never wondered how the process was proceeding; I received timely updates and suggestions that made the decisions easy and effective. The little extras that you and your staff performed were the “icing on the cake”.
Thank you for a job well done. I would not hesitate to recommend you and your Team to any potential buyer or seller.
Richard Yeakel
Tags: agents, buyers, buying homes, ethics, las vegas, market, real estate, realtors, sellers, selling homes
Posted in Las Vegas Home Sales | No Comments »
February 5th, 2010 by Christina Yeakel
This is a true story about a client who recently sold their house that they had lived in for many years. It is on first reflection a sad story. But I would ask you not to hastily judge the circumstances and possibly miss another one of those life lessons.
My client’s house was more than just a house in a lovely gated community of Las Vegas. I always viewed this property as a “home” proudly displaying the personality of its owners; it was always a pleasure to visit, as it stood out in the already upscale neighborhood as the most elegant landscaped house in the entire community. When you stepped into the house you felt a grand openness and warmth that is seldom found in the properties that I represent; it truly was an extension of its owners desire to provide a “place of welcome.”
Just one month after the close of escrow, I received a call from my clients. They had been recently told by one of their past neighbors that the new owners had practically leveled the once beautiful yard. The neighbors were sad and confused; this was the showcase property of the neighborhood and they could not understand why anyone would destroy something that had brought so much enjoyment to the community. It did not stop with the yard. The new owners had gutted the once open and warm interior and were in the process of constructing restrictive and unconventional living spaces. My clients were too upset to drive by their once owned home and see the extent of the devastation.
There was nothing I could say at the time. I had been fortunate to assist them in their relocation to another property, which was their retirement home. It was located in a beautiful golf community with expansive views of the fairways and desert mountains. I attempted to refocus their thoughts on their new property and the opportunity they had to recreate the same sophistication and warmth they had experienced earlier.
Several months later I had the opportunity to visit my clients and see first hand the fruits of their efforts in their new community and home. It was still painful to talk about their past home, but time will heal those memories. I was amazed at how far they had come on transforming what was a very nice house to begin with, into a stylish and warm recreation of their previous home. This time it was even more elegant and they seemed to be now happier than ever.
These past weeks I have given much thought to the preceding events. There are several life lessons that can be drawn from these experiences that I will keep and share at the appropriate time.
Tags: buyers, buying homes, las vegas, real estate, sellers, selling homes
Posted in Las Vegas Home Sales | No Comments »
January 25th, 2010 by Harvey Blankfeld
Today I find myself writing this blog to relieve the stress of dealing with a bank on a short sale. Now I believe that just about everyone understands that Short Sales are difficult. They are difficult on sellers, buyers and agents. This short sale however is not only difficult, it just won’t go away.
In May of last year we took a listing. It was a short sale and the owner was very concerned about the time it would take and the toll it would take on her life. We received an offer in June and submitted the package to the bank for approval. We toiled for 5 months with the bank and got re-routed, re-started, re-negotiated and just regurgitated until in December we caught a break.
My client, the seller, met a lady that knew someone that knew someone else that might be able to help us. At first I thought it was just a hoax to get my client to send a check to someone, but it wasn’t. The man we found out was a big shot at the bank and he looked into the deal and got it approved in about 48 hours.
We proceeded to closing with great haste as we thought we were just dreaming and didn’t want the bank to re-something to us again. The good news is the deal closed in December. You would hope this story would end at this happy albeit drawn out point. Unfortunately it doesn’t end here.
Just today 1/25/2010, I get a call from the buyer’s agent. She is panicked and doesn’t know what to do. The buyers have received a letter from the bank telling them that the home is going to be auctioned on the courthouse steps on February 12, 2010. The buyers naturally told the bank that they had just purchased this home from them and they paid cash. The bank told the buyers, they must be mistaken and they should bring the account current or suffer the consequences of a foreclosure. The buyers spend the better part of the day talking to various people at the bank and trying to get them to understand that they are making a horrible mistake. The bank continually reminds them that they need to get the balance paid or suffer the ordeal of being put out on the street.
When the buyers agent called me to tell me this story, I let her know that I wasn’t sure what we could do, but we would certainly try to explain the situation to the bank and get them to understand. I had heard of a similar circumstance from a colleague, but I wasn’t really certain what to do. We called earlier today and they sent my assistant on a wild goose chase of transfers and disconnects. I then called the bank myself and was subjected to the same typical re-routing. I eventually got a person to actually listen to the situation. She then, to her credit, got her supervisor involved and I got to have a civil conversation with a person that would save them from terrible embarrassment, not to mention potential litigation.
The supervisor dug into the file and discovered that the negotiator that was handling the Short Sale never closed the file. She never let anyone else know that the money was received and the home had been recorded in the new buyers name. This is the same negotiator that dragged the process on for more than 5 months with no progress. I know the banks have it tough with so many people attempting to sell their homes as short sales, but they must be more professional, and they must be at least efficient enough to actually close a file properly and not subject a buyer to this kind of scare.
The buyer is very relieved and actually having a good chuckle about it now, but I would be willing to bet the bank wouldn’t be laughing had they actually sold the home again and put this owner out. I bet the bank would have been subjected to a significant financial hardship of their own.
Tags: banks, buyers, ethics, foreclosure, hardship, las vegas, lenders, negotiate, real estate, sellers, short sales
Posted in Las Vegas Short Sales | 1 Comment »
