[Swigchow]

It really sounds like that realtors are too busy and making too much money to bother with you. Life must be good being a Las Vegas realtor.

[dynimagelv]

Originally Posted by Natali :)

So, what time tell ?

9:32 AM PST

[IT_Coder]

I have been working with my realtor remotely from Texas. I flew out on Tuesday morning, looked at houses Tuesday and Wednesday before I flew back out.


Needless to say I put in offers on my top three houses, all three countered within two days and I am now in contract.

My realtor was great, had huge market insight and has been in the market/area for over 20 years.

He only works the north side of town, if you want his info just send me a message.

[butterflybird]

Originally Posted by IT_Coder

I have been working with my realtor remotely from Texas. I flew out on Tuesday morning, looked at houses Tuesday and Wednesday before I flew back out.


Needless to say I put in offers on my top three houses, all three countered within two days and I am now in contract.

My realtor was great, had huge market insight and has been in the market/area for over 20 years.

He only works the north side of town, if you want his info just send me a message.

At this stage of the game, I don't want to work with an agent who only works one side of town. I'm interested in various areas, including Henderson, parts of the North side, etc. So, that wouldn't work for me. Also, you must have had a very narrow focus to be able to look remotely, fly out, look for only two days in person and purchase. That doesn't work for most buyers who are unfamiliar with Vegas , so let's be realistic. Also, it sounds like your deals were standard deals, offer, counter, voila deal. I'm looking mainly at shorts because that's where the inventory is (no not bargain basement, but more to look at and most are foreclosures, reos, etc.) If all I wanted to do was come out, pay 200K, classic deal, top three, close the deal, fly home............sure. But that's not what I'm looking at. And who would have thought I'd be fighting such a battle to get a realtor(s) to even bother with showing me stuff?

If I landed on the moon and had never been to the moon, I doubt I'd be able to buy something on the moon in two days. Most people need to and should look at 50 or more homes when they are very unfamiliar with a city, otherwise they're at risk for making a major mistake. It just depends on your situation, price range and familiarty. Bottom line, many of the agents in town don't want to do the work. Some apparently don't even have gas money to take buyers around to multiple properties to show. Hey, maybe I should throw in gas money or hire a town car for me and the agent and sweeten the deal and actually get in to see something. But thanks anyway. I'm trying to put together something now, I hope it works but so far I still have not seen inside ANYTHING. Hoping to this weekend and into next week, but I keep saying that and NADA. Enjoy your new home, I'm glad it worked out for somebody around here.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by butterflybird

At this stage of the game, I don't want to work with an agent who only works one side of town. I'm interested in various areas, including Henderson, parts of the North side, etc. So, that wouldn't work for me. Also, you must have had a very narrow focus to be able to look remotely, fly out, look for only two days in person and purchase. That doesn't work for most buyers who are unfamiliar with Vegas , so let's be realistic. Also, it sounds like your deals were standard deals, offer, counter, voila deal. I'm looking mainly at shorts because that's where the inventory is (no not bargain basement, but more to look at and most are foreclosures, reos, etc.) If all I wanted to do was come out, pay 200K, classic deal, top three, close the deal, fly home............sure. But that's not what I'm looking at. And who would have thought I'd be fighting such a battle to get a realtor(s) to even bother with showing me stuff?

If I landed on the moon and had never been to the moon, I doubt I'd be able to buy something on the moon in two days. Most people need to and should look at 50 or more homes when they are very unfamiliar with a city, otherwise they're at risk for making a major mistake. It just depends on your situation, price range and familiarty. Bottom line, many of the agents in town don't want to do the work. Some apparently don't even have gas money to take buyers around to multiple properties to show. Hey, maybe I should throw in gas money or hire a town car for me and the agent and sweeten the deal and actually get in to see something. But thanks anyway. I'm trying to put together something now, I hope it works but so far I still have not seen inside ANYTHING. Hoping to this weekend and into next week, but I keep saying that and NADA. Enjoy your new home, I'm glad it worked out for somebody around here.

You appear to be determined to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

I don't think there is a rational spec that would lead to needing to see more than 25 homes in Las Vegas...and to get to 25 you would have to have a wide open spec with a broad price range.

[IT_Coder]

I mostly looked at flipped houses or short sales that the buyer would pay the rest. We are moving out there next month and we are using a VA loan so short sales or REO's were not an option for me. Still even with a flipped house, all new 18 inch tile down stairs, new SS appliances, granite counter tops, new carpet, and paint... we went into contract at 158k, they where asking 169k, and it sold new in 2006 for 397k.

My wife is in the military so this is not our dream house, but we can see both the mountains and the strip from the rooms upstairs.

[butterflybird]

Originally Posted by olecapt

You appear to be determined to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

I don't think there is a rational spec that would lead to needing to see more than 25 homes in Las Vegas...and to get to 25 you would have to have a wide open spec with a broad price range.

At this point, I guess I'd be thrilled to get in to see ONE. Furthermore, I would think in the 10+ days I've been here, I should have seen at least five but so far I can't even get emails or calls returned or its a litany of delays and excuses. I'm an all cash buyer, sent various realtors active listings that I want to see NOW and am ready to roll, and NOTHING. I've discussed this with a couple of people who surmise that the agents don't have the gas money to take me in their car to show me homes? wow, if that's true, things are worse than I thought in Las Vegas. And that gets back to the other fiasco I've discussed here of being advised by one agent, "we just take you to look at exteriors, put in offers, then backtrack later blah blah"....which of course I said NO WAY. And most people on this forum told me to fire that agent fast, which I did and not get into any exclusive buyer's agreement with a company that works that way. I'm trying to get some outside help/advice and see a few homes before time to go....but probably wouldn't be comfortable buying after only seeing a handful of properties. That's a recipe for disaster....

if I could see 25 I'd consider that a good cross section. I have more than 25 that I've culled from MLS that I'd be interested in looking at in my price range. Since most of these short sales/foreclosures are vacant, I figured I could easily view 5 in a day. What's the big problem with that? If I even averaged TWO a day, that would be great. 10+ days of waste and excuses and nonsense like "only look at exteriors"....I think Vegas is great and I'm not knocking the town or the people, but this is just beyond weird and like nothing I expected to run into....

[butterflybird]

Originally Posted by IT_Coder

I mostly looked at flipped houses or short sales that the buyer would pay the rest. We are moving out there next month and we are using a VA loan so short sales or REO's were not an option for me. Still even with a flipped house, all new 18 inch tile down stairs, new SS appliances, granite counter tops, new carpet, and paint... we went into contract at 158k, they where asking 169k, and it sold new in 2006 for 397k.

My wife is in the military so this is not our dream house, but we can see both the mountains and the strip from the rooms upstairs.

I'm glad you found something..even though it's not your dream home, I think it proves my point that many factors are affecting my situation. Price point being one of them. I'm looking at the 110-120 range...all cash, and most of those are shorts/foreclosures. 158K is over my price range, and I truly think that has a lot to do with why a number of agents are just blowing me off. They don't want to do the work for what they see as a small amount of $$ in their pocket, so i'm left in the dust. There's many factors that play into this.

Also, I don't want to buy foolishly, I want to buy something I'll be happy staying in for several years, not just some transitional thing that's sorta kinda okay. So, it's imperative and should be my right as a buyer, to see sufficient array of properties that I feel comfortable putting up the cash to move in. Younger people who feel okay about buying an "it's okay until...." home might be able to handle that, but retirees on budgets that aren't in that realm have to be more careful and ask a lot of questions and get some answers. Some of us are trying to make our hard earned life savings last us, buy a modest yet decent home, and feel good about it for a number of years. Thus, it's not possible to just come out to Vegas and grab a house. But I wish you well and I'm sure you'll do okay. Again, each buyer's situation is different and I think realtors have to be viewed in that light, they adjust their behaviors accordingly.

[Natali :)]

Originally Posted by butterflybird;15475554[B

]At this point, I guess I'd be thrilled to get in to see ONE. [/b] Furthermore, I would think in the 10+ days I've been here, I should have seen at least five but so far I can't even get emails or calls returned or its a litany of delays and excuses.

@butterflybird

look to the mirror - I thinks there is "VICTIM" and "LOSER" stickers somewhere on your head.

Also (sorry) I think you are the sort of the man who is ready to go with everyone except "the girl from the next door " - I mean olecapt was ready to show you top 10 from your favorite list (voluntary !!!) week ego.

Remember this ?
"For goodness sake. Send me a list of ten that you want to see and I will show them to you tomorrow. Call it a city data freeby...you don't even have to use me as your agent. "
https://www.city-data.com/forum/las-v...trategy-4.html


We all know olecapt here (in person or not)- he is here from "Join Date: Sep 2006" - he is very professional . (plus we all will be monitoring your progress)

So, what prevent you from doing job with Realtor who is really can and will help you ?

[IT_Coder]

Very true, There was a bunch of houses that I looked at over by base that where in the low 100's, one of them even had a pool, center vac system, and was in pretty good shape. I think that one was 135 though. With the interest rates the way that they are, a 20k difference in mortgage is trivial when it comes to monthly payments.

I feel your pain though, USAA had referred us to a different realtor, and I was already talking with the one that I ended up using. I asked the one that USAA had referred us to what he could do for me and he gave me a lame azz answer of " I can not do anything that the other guy cannot... I just look at the MLS and take you to the houses"

I have a feeling that you are getting in contact with realtors like that guy. I wish you luck !!