Las Vegas Real Estate Blog

I think one of the biggest misconceptions that homeowners have about their property is what increases its value.  A good example would be an inground pool. Generally, having a swimming pool does increase the value of the home, but not by the amount the pool cost. Just because it cost $30,000 to put the pool in, doesn't mean the house is worth $30,000 more. Of course there are several mitigation factors, all of which also contribute to the added value. 

Case in point, I had a client who spent $6,500 on a new a/c unit. They felt that the home should be worth more, because the unit was new......$6,500 more. Just because a new a/c unit was installed, doesn't necessarily increase the value of the home. In reality, unless the unit is a super high-end energy efficient model with a high seer rating of say 20, it wouldn't positively impact the value of the property.  Now if you didn't have a working a/c, your home would be worth less.   When putting money into a home, usually only two areas of the house (if you want to get your money out of it) are worth it, if you are planning on selling it within a few years---the kitchen and the bathrooms.  Generally remodeling either is a sound investment.  If you are thinking of remodeling but may be moving in a short period, think it over first.  Unless it something that isn't more cosmetic, you may be better off not doing it. And when you are ready to sell, always consult a Realtor!

Sometimes, we as realtors, are tarred by the actions of our fellows. Public perception of Realtors as a whole I think is still positive, but its no wonder given the actions of some that consumers are wary. A licensed realtor here in Nevada took a land listing from a client.  The client was a little on the fence about selling, but the realtor convinced him to do so.  At the time, he also told the client not to worry about the listing contract, he had five days to cancel.  The land listed at $130,000, which the client felt was too low. He wanted $150k. Still skeptical, he called around and spoke to other agents who felt the property was underpriced and told him his initial reaction of $150k was a fair price (compared to similar property nearby).

The consumer tried reaching the agent over the next 5 days to no avail.  After two weeks, a full price offer appeared.  The client wanted to refuse, thinking he could get the 150.  The agent told him this was price he was asking and if he didn't accept, he could be tied up in court for refusing to sell the land.  A couple of months later, the client found out that the company that actually bought the land was owned by the brother in-law of the agent, and both were members of the LLC.  The agent also sold the property the same day to another client of his, who had hired him to locate land in that area.  The property sold for $395,000.

The client ended up filing a complaint with the Board.  The panel found that the agent did violate specific articles of the NAR code of ethics.  He received a small fine of $3,000 and had to attend 10 hours of ethics and disclosure classes (which would cost another $500). He then appealed the decision and lost.  The judge then gave him an additional 30 days to complete the classes.

Is it me or was his punishment ridiculous?  Its no wonder he went ahead and did it, he and his brother in-law made a nice tidy profit of hundreds of thousands of dollars for betraying the trust of not one, but two clients.  Where is the deterent to follow the rules?  If he knows that he can make hundreds of thousands of dollars by breaking the rules and the worse that happens is a small fine and a few hours of classes, why won't he do it again?

I was looking through the new blog posts and this one about contracts caught my eye.  When I first started in real estate, the thing I hated the most was the thrice faxed offers, counter offers, ad infinitum that became a real challenge read after the third or fourth faxing.  I began to stipulate runner delivery to ensure the offer was readable the first time around, but that had its own problems.

Then Prudential bought the rights to use Zipforms and many other brokers followed suit.  I thought that everyone used them, but apparently that's not the case. All of our contracts, notices, addendums,etc are online.  The interface is similar to an old version of MS Word.  The program remembers your past information, so things like broker information can be filled from a drop down list.  The best part is you can email the contract to whomever, who can then print it on their end, sign and fax it back to you....giving you a perfectly legitable document.  The amount of time just filling out paperwork is justification enough.

Does anyone else use Zipforms or something similar?

Last year Nevada added a new custom license plate to their charity plate list. For those of you that live in Nevada or are thinking of moving there, the plate fee is initially $61 and then $30 to renew each year.  Of that, $25 of the initial fee and $20 of the renewal is donated to local animal rescue groups and charities.

 One of the charities I foster dogs for, Heaven Can Wait Sanctuary, received a $5,000 grant from the donation pool raised by this plate in 2005.  When you go to the DMV, you have to ask for a special plate, they really don't advertise them too much. The Nevada DMV offers a total of 27 charitable and collegiate license plates.  You can view the entire list on the DMV Site.

I see quite a few realtors here that have completed some of the additional certifications the NAR offers. It seems that they are coming up with new ones everyday!   This year I need to complete an additional number of CE credits.  I was wondering if I should concentrate those classes and get a certification. I have the experience requirements met for several, ABR, CRS, etc. But do those additional certifications really make a difference, or is it more a prestige thing? 

For those that have acquired them, has it really made a difference in the amount or quality of business you are doing?

One of the biggest challenges for a realtor is finding new clients. Many traditional real estate marketing materials tell you to 'farm' your sphere of influence and seek to constantly expand it. Generally speaking, they are referring to people you know, your friends, family, acquaintances, etc.

One of the best ways to meet new people and increase your sphere of influence is to volunteer for a charity. There are so many worthy charities that are desparate for volunteers. Whether its fostering a dog or cat for the local shelter, helping in a blood drive for the Red Cross or building a new home for Habitat for Humanity, get out in the community and give the most precious thing you have----your time.  Don't get me wrong, I'm sure these organizations would also love to receive your financial contributions as well, but the thing that most need is manpower. 

I have been fostering dogs long before I became a realtor.  Several of my past clients have adopted dogs from me and have volunteered with the same animal rescue groups that I support.  I post pictures of the adoptable dogs I am currently fostering on my website (I also foster cats also, but am very allergic to them). I have had dozens of clients choose me to represent them precisely because of my charity work.  When you volunteer, you always get more out of it then you put in.

Nevada has started requiring a background check in order for a person to receive their real estate license.  The requirement started last year and has slowed the process of obtaining a license to a crawl.  All potential license holders must submit their fingerprints to the Central Repository for Nevada Records of Criminal History and to the FBI.  The division also retains the right to submit them to additional law enforcement agencies if necessary.

Is this common practice now in other states?  To date, I haven't heard of one person who was denied a license due to something found in their background.  The strange thing is that even if you have a valid, current license in another state, you still must go through the background check here.

I was skimming the newsletter from the Nevada real estate division, when the disciplinary actions/hearing section caught my eye.  It seems that despite the number of infractions recorded by the glvar, very few warrant the attention of the division.  The thing that seemed most prevelant among those that were cited, was their failure to have a valid real estate license.   One person was ordered to a pay a fine of over $100,000 for operating a business without a real estate license (21 transactions, rentals).  However, another person who forged a buyer's name on a contract received a fine of only $9,000.  Does this seem balanced to anyone?

Please post your comments. I'm curious to see if most people agree with the real estate division or think the fines were unfair.

Las Vegas is hosting the pubcon SEO conference in November. The conference will cover everything from pay per click advertising to organic ranking. The keynote speakers are Guy Kawasaki, Jon S. von Tetzchner and John Battelle.  The conference is from November 14 through the 17th at the Las Vegas convention center.  Tickets are $450 until August 1st, after that it will be $1299.

I was wondering how many other realtors or their agents were planning to attend.

Recently the GLVAR mandated that all realtors switch over to the new Suprakey.  Aside from working basically like the old one, the new keys are now required to "update" each night, forcing you to hook the base up to a phone line in your house.  IF you forget to put the key on the charger before midnight of that day, the next day the key will not work.  It is touted as a security feature, should your key be lost or stolen it would be worthless within 24 hours.

Are these the same type of keys used in other areas or are we in Las Vegas just lucky?  And do you think that it will help keep listings more secure?  Please leave me your comments.