'Hypothetical' Market Value!?

In my years as a Licensed Real Estate Broker, I think I can smell a rat when I come upon a rat.

This is just a revelation of a recent event that took place here in Las Vegas, NV.

A fairly new client is searching for a particular property.  He's young yet has some experience.  He has a particular Acquisition Criteria that to me makes sense.

He is searching for this property type in the $10 to $30 Million range; must NOT be older than 1990; and must be fairly well taken care of (preventive maintenance wise).

Okay, not too many properties fit this; but i am willing to "search" for that type of property given the anticipated fee I would receive upon the close of a sale.

Anyway, with that said, I found a property that fit.

The current owner had acquired the property out of foreclosure and had marketed the property to re-sell.

The problem was/is, the current owner thinks his property can be converted to a resort casino.

(Just so every reader knows, just because you own a property in Las Vegas doesn't mean you can have an Unrestricted Gaming License to operate a casino on your land.)

So, I found the property, negotiated a fee and signed the appropriate agreements to proceed with 'selling' this current owners property.

As the information about the property was received in my Inbox, I perused it and was amused at the verbiage while reading the appraisal.

Digging into it further, I re-read the appraisal and was concerned at the verbiage: Hypothetical Market Value.

Now, as everyone who has ever acquired a property -- most of you might have bought a house -- knows, that the appraisal sets a market value for a property -- usually for the lender's purpose of financing the purchase.

So, when I read the words: Hypothetical Market Value in this current owners paperwork I knew that the appraisal wasn't going to be able to be used for any financing.  And, it would never pass a review appraisal process.  I had a good chuckle.

I called my client and asked if he had noticed that.  He did.  But, he wasn't using that as a basis of value.  He was using the current owner's financials for the property and he determined that the property was worth about half what the current owner was asking.

I had to agree.

Well, I emailed the current owner and told him my and the client's concern about the value.

Even though the property was located on Las Vegas Blvd, it was no where even close to being on the "World Famous Las Vegas Strip!"

And even though the zoning was H-1 -- and there was a resort casino nearby -- obtaining an Unrestricted gaming License on this property was going to be difficult at best.

(FYI: Most resort casinos don't share a property line with a SFR residential neighborhood.  Check that out the next time you are in Las Vegas for a visit.)

Bottom-line here is: Just because you own a Las Vegas real estate property, and just because their street address contains Las Vegas Blvd, that doesn't mean the property is valued at or even worth $10 Million an acre.

To Contact David Howes try: davidATdavidhowesDOTnet OR; 7 0 2 5 01 9 3 8 8 AND Please #Follow David on Twitter: @DavidAHowes Have a nice day!

A New Beginning for Las Vegas?

Las Vegas!

Everyone knows your name!

Translated, it means Fun! (Not really.)

But, when some one, anywhere in the world says: "Let's go to Vegas!"
Everyone, no matter where you are in the world, knows what they mean.

And Fun means: Lots of Free Alcohol (if you are gambling), Gambling (if you are drinking free alcohol), and Partying all night long (a result from gambling and free alcohol).

So, when the NFL took up the topic of: "Should the Oakland Raiders be allowed to become the Las Vegas Raiders?  For some reason, they voted 31-1: Yes!

And as the insert article from Casino Industry Gaming News states: It was money!

Gambling Finally Becomes Non Issue With NFL Owners

That's because "Money Talks and Bull S@&t Walks!"  Is the old saying, isn't it?

And, they Voted, Yes despite the facts that Las Vegas doesn't rank very high media wise,  But, according to their vote result: Las Vegas still ranks! (No pun intended.)

Las Vegas City Rankings (Just for Fun!)

And, lastly, and this is my personal assessment, as a place to live, work, and raise a family (having lived and worked in other markets) Las Vegas is Number 1!

I think the best thing is: Nevada doesn't have a State Income tax.

Lots and Lots of money pours into Nevada via the Mining Industry, just as well as the tourism industry.

Las Vegas roads are wider than any other city in the world -- even wider than the city (supposedly) built for cars -- Los Angeles.

And on the outside looking in, Clark County and City Planners are more up to speed as to what is necessary to make traffic flow easier around the valley.

When people I'm with complain about the "Orange Traffic Cones" lining the streets, I remind them  that, that signals progress and growth!  We may NOT see the results of that growth immediately, but we will as traffic volume increases, the roads are already wide enough to handle that traffic.

And repairing roads, building much needed On and Off-ramps, wider Freeways and Streets, is all part of a growing economy.  A Valley destine to grow even larger.

Years ago, a developer told me: "If you don't have orange cones in your roads, you have a dwindling economy."

I think Mark Davis knew this and wanted to be apart of it.

To Contact David Howes try: davidATdavidhowesDOTnet OR; 7 0 2 5 01 9 3 8 8 AND Please #Follow David on Twitter: @DavidAHowes Have a nice day!

How Do You Make Money Living In Las Vegas?

Not too many people ask me this question.

Most family members and friends understand that I am not too tempted by gambling.  Oh, sure, once in a while I will play $21 in Megabucks.  And I have driven a handful of times to Prim or even to Arizona to purchase a Power-ball ticket.

Yes, those, in retrospect have been such a waste of time and money.

But since the most money that I have ever won at gambling is $150 dollars, I quickly cashed out and put that ticket in my pocket. (I guess I'm cheap like that.)

Anyway, since it isn't a well-known fact, that the average Las Vegas resident gambles +/-$2,000 per month while living here, I like being the one that doesn't gamble at all -- or truthfully anywhere near that amount.

When I first moved here and was searching for a Real Estate firm to hang my Nevada Real Estate License, I had one meeting with a broker at the time who knew just what to do when the subject about real estate commissions came up"

He asked me: 'How do you make money in Las Vegas?'

Stumped, I gave the standard response of: work hard, be persistent, etc.

He said, in his experience, he has seen way too many real estate agents take a hard earned commission check down to a local casino, cash it, and by the time they leave (usually several hours later) they have nothing left.

He took a piece of paper (like below) and wrote the word Casino in the middle, he circled the word for emphasis.

Then, looking at me with earnest intent, he said, "Stay out of the casinos!'

Well, I took that as probably the best advice I had ever heard.  For one thing, I don't like the 'Strip' casinos because they are well, you know, greedy.  And, the noise and crowd isn't something I am attracted to.

Besides, once I moved to Las Vegas I found out for the first time that a casino would be willing to cash a pay check -- without taking the usual 15% that check cashing places take.

I told the broker, that I have a young family and cashing a real estate commission check at a casino wasn't something I was going to do.

I remember him saying something like, 'I hope not.'

It was apparent, that this broker knew too many agents that did that.

Eventually, I hung my license at a firm closer to where I was living at the time, and through the years, I have learned that agents do -- for whatever reason -- gamble away their commission checks.

To me that is probably the dumbest thing you can do.  The reason I know this to be true is: only one person makes money in a casino -- the owner.

To Contact David Howes try: davidATdavidhowesDOTnet OR; 7 0 2 5 01 9 3 8 8 AND Please #Follow David on Twitter: @DavidAHowes Have a nice day!