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Month: January 2011

Las Vegas Rental Property Inspections

It is my opinion that a Las Vegas Property Manager should inspect a residential rental property inside and out at least two times a year.  I can’t tell you how many times I have been contacted by a landlord who has recently fired his property manager due to the damage caused by the tenant which was only discovered after they moved out and come to find out the property manager never inspected the property during the tenancy.  Sure enough, when the tenant moved out of the property, the landlord was stuck with all the expenses in order to get the property rent ready again.

Shelter Realty schedules an inspection every 6 months for every property we manage.  A property manager does an inside and outside inspection of the property to ensure the tenant is properly maintaining the property.  A form is completed depicting the condition of the property and listing any maintenance issues that need to be addressed. By conducting multiple inside and outside inspections of the property, it enables us to catch small issues before they become bigger and in most cases it’s a deterrent for any future problems.

In order to protect your investment, make sure you property manager is conducting regularly scheduled inspections by requesting a copy of the inspection report.  If it is time to renew your property management agreement, request that inspections of your property be completed every 6 months in order to ensure your property is being maintained by the tenant before you sign the renewal.

If you have any questions about our property management services in the Las Vegas Valley, feel free to give us a call at 702-376-7379 or complete our contact  form.

Las Vegas Short Sale Update: HAFA: Treasury Dept Tries to Shore Up Program

In 2010, the government rolled out a supplemental program to Home Affordable Modification Program called HAFA. HAFA stands for Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives. This program was specifically designed to facilitate short sales and “Deed-in-lieu” of foreclosures. From the very beginning there was strong skepticism from real estate professionals who specialized in selling distressed properties about the ability of this program to deliver. Housingwire.com reported that between April and December of 2010, only 661 deals had closed under the HAFA program nationwide.

Over-Promised, Under-Delivered

HAFA has many fatal flaws. First, it was born of another complete failure, the HAMP program. Secondly, the program was supposed to fast-track short sales and deed-in-lieu’s but in doing so, participating banks were not incentivize, and in fact, lost many of their recourse options. For example, 2nd lien holders had to accept meager payoffs and waive any deficiency balances on their losses. Thirdly, this program was completely voluntary on the banks’ behalf. They only had to consider borrowers for approval, not approve them!

2nd Lien Holders say no thanks!

Junior lien holders if they chose to participate in HAFA had to accept a maximum payoff of $6,000 or 6% of the loan balance, whichever was less. You can see the problem. A 2nd lien with a $50,000 balance would have to accept a $3,000 payoff and waive any right to pursue the borrower? Not likely. This rule meant that unless your 2nd lien was the same bank as your first, you had zero chance of an approval. I recently just obtained a HAFA approval for one of my short sale listings here in Las Vegas. The home had two loans but they were with the same lender.

This week the Treasury Department announced:

  • HAFA eliminated loan servicers from having to verify borrower’s finances
  • HAFA also relieved loan servicers from verifying whether a borrower’s monthly payment exceeds 31% of their gross monthly income
  • 2nd lien holders may receive a max payoff of $6,000, even if the payoff exceeds the 6% of the unpaid loan balance. This should help small 2nd liens under $50,000
  • Once approved for HAFA, loan servicers have 30 days to approve an offer. The previous requirement was 10 days which was unrealistic

In the end these measures may allow more short sales and deed-in-lieu’s to proceed but it will never approach the demand represented by millions of homeowners. When you’re trying to top 661, anything will look like a victory, I guess.