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Tax Exemption for Las Vegas Short Sales Set to Expire at the End of 2012

Tax Exemption for Las Vegas Short Sales Set to Expire at the End of 2012

The green light may turn red at on December 31st 2012 for sellers of their personal residences who may want to do a short sale in Las Vegas. The Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act of 2007 expires on December 31st of this year. This Act allowed for sellers who were foreclosed, sold via a short sale or completed a Deed-in-Lieu of foreclosure to be exempted from any tax liability related to their mortgage debt on their principle residences as long as a few basic conditions were met. Debt used to either purchase the home or used for improvements (must be documented) to the property was eligible for exemption.

When a home is sold at a loss to the bank, a gain is realized by the owner. How could this be when the home plummeted in value many would wonder but it works like this: The bank loaned a homeowner $350,000 to purchase a home. They only got back $175,000 after a short sale. The bank lost $175k. The homeowner gave them back $175,000 less than they borrowed. That portion is considered a gain and could be taxed at the owner’s normal income tax rate…ouch! The Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act addressed the insanity of punishing devastated homeowners even further than merely losing the home by also taxing them.

Unfortunately, this benefit is now coming to an end. Given the fact that a Las Vegas short sale frequently takes 4-6 months to complete when you factor in the extra time a buyer needs to close on a home, homeowners that want the certainty of knowing they can still take advantage of the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act of 2007 need to take action. There is a clear mandate for sellers to sell their home in 2012, but not beyond. Any rumors of an extension to the Act are just that right now…rumors.

This article is not meant to be used as tax advice and is only a discussion of the general principles related to the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act of 2007. Only a tax professional can and should be consulted to know the impact of a short sale based on your personal circumstances.

Paul Rowe manages the short sale division at Shelter Realty. If you would like to speak to him directly, please call Shelter Realty at 702-376-7379 or email him at info @ shelterrealty.com.

Avoiding the pitfalls that come with older rental property and finding profit the aging housing stock.

One of the realities of real estate is that it needs maintenance and upkeep. The older a property the more issues tend to arise that will cost investors, landlords and homeowners more and more money. The trend in Las Vegas is to invest in newer property that will have less maintenance issues and in turn less tenant phone calls. The idea is to keep the management costs to a minimum. Many companies will manage older property because of the additional time and expenses that tend to come with older property. However, you may be missing out on some great deals and fantastic opportunities to make money or find a home if you set your sites on only newer property.

There are ways to limit the future issues that will come up with an older property and they often do not cost as much when done in advance. The major expenses come in when you find out a water line running through the attic springs a leak which can lead to the replacement of the ceiling, insulation and light fixtures. Another major headache can if the water heater is located inside the property and not in the garage. If the water heater leaks or rusts enough to leak out the bottom you could have a repair bill out of this world.

The question is whether you can do things to limit major issues and expenses to make it worth while to consider an older property as a home or investment. You may be able to find what you want in investment property in Las Vegas today that is only a few years old but this will not always be the case. The housing stock will get older and older. If you are not willing to consider properties more than 10 years old you will be limiting your opportunity to find great deal.

How can you avoid some of the headaches and costs of owning older property in Las Vegas? The number one answer is better preparation and planning. You will have to account for somewhat higher maintenance costs that are completely normal in older homes. In order to cover the higher costs you will have to look for property that will get slightly higher cash on cash return than newer units. This is simple enough to by just looking for slightly undervalued property in rental areas that have monthly rental pricing that has remained strong. There are many of these areas in town and there often is far less difference in rental pricing then there is in home price variation. Rental rates seem to fluctuate less over large areas of town where home prices can be much more inconsistent.

Once you find the property you like you can evaluate any issues that may lead to more management complications. Nearly everything can be fixed in older homes but there is always a price to pay. Some things are just not worth fixing if it will mean you will spend 10 years trying to recoup the cost. However, most property can be put in perfectly good rental condition by spending a reasonable amount of time and money before you find a tenant.

I will go into more detail about the minor and major things you can do to make owning an older rental property another profit center for you portfolio.

Has your nest egg become your anchor? Just about everyone is in the same position. We can help get your head above water again and allow you to take control of your future. Call me today and find out your best options to get out from under your monster mortgage. Don’t let the housing crash control your future. You have options.

Increase Your Real Estate Returns Using Leverage

Leverage is the number one reason you can get such great returns on real estate. Most people don’t understand leverage or understand the principals that make leverage such a fantastic tool in your real estate investing arsenal.

First let me define leverage in the way it applies to real estate. You use leverage when you buy a $200,000 property with a 20% down payment and borrow the rest of the money from the seller or the bank. If you paid cash for the property you would need to come up with 200,000 and change at closing to take over a piece of real estate. You would be using no leverage and you would be looking for a return on your capital that would be similar to what you would get in other investments. If you made $2400 in rent per month and after expenses put $1500 cash in your pocket each month you would make $18000. This $18,000 would be your yearly return on capital invested. It is a good return and it is possible to make a good living buying property for cash. You can calculate your cash on cash return by taking your $18,000 profit divided by your $200,000 investment.

The number is given as a percentage. You would end up with a return of about 9% for the year. This is a good return on capital but not nearly what you can get if you use leverage to make your purchase.

Let me give you the same example but with a 20% down payment. You would have to bring $40,000 to the closing for your down payment and you would be financing $160,000 from the seller or the bank. Rates are relatively low now but they tend to be higher on investment property but I will use 6% rate of interest on the $160,000 financed. We can calculate what it will cost you in interest the first year by taking 6 % of $160,000. The amount of interest on your loan will be $9600. You are paying $9600 the first year of your loan in interest to use leverage. If you fully amortized the loan you will pay $959.28 a month principal and interest.  This also leaves you the 160,000 in cash that you would have been investing in one property available in your bank account for other purchases so you are keeping your options open to buy more real estate.

Let’s take a look further at my example and see if you can actually make more money by using leverage.

You will still receive the same 2400 payment for rents per month except now we need to add in the interest cost into the calculation. You will still be taking in the 18000 a year but you have to pay your mortgage or at least the cost of interest out of cash flow.  You will pay principal and interest of $11,511.36 out of your gross rents and your free cash flow at the end of the year will be only $6489 in our example. It looks like a lot less but let’s pencil out what return you can actually get by using leverage and not paying all cash.

We take the $6489 net gain for the year and divide it by the amount of capital invested which is 40,000 this time. So what looks like smaller gain in income becomes a much greater return as a percentage of your capital because the new calculation comes out to over 16% return on your investment.

Leverage is the key to profiting from real estate. It is possible to double or triple your return on capital invested by financing a portion of the deal. The lower your down payment the greater your return on your money.

If you have any questions about investing in Las Vegas Real Estate, give us a call at 702.376.7379!

Three Simple Steps To Rent Your Las Vegas Investment Property Quickly

The real estate rental market in Las Vegas is competitive and also very lucrative. As a real estate investor, you’ll want to make sure you take some simple steps to make sure your rental property is the home that prospective tenants choose. Here are some simple tips to make sure your Las Vegas Investment property rents quickly.

  1. Competitive Price

The monthly rent price is your first step in getting prospective tenants through the door of your Las Vegas investment property. Setting your price is pretty simple. Ask your property manager to run a competitive rental analysis of the other rental properties in your neighborhood.

They can tell you what’s a good price for your Las Vegas rental property. A good rental price will make sure you get interest from prospective tenants, but getting them in the door is only half the battle.

The next two steps will make sure your home is the home that quality tenants choose over the competition.

  1. Flooring, Paint, and Window Coverings

Homes with new paint and clean carpets are always going to rent faster than those without. As a rental property owner, just accept the cost of replacing carpets and painting after tenants move out as a cost of doing business. People may live in places with dirty carpets and walls, but they usually won’t choose to move into one.

Also, many of the tenants I meet with actually prefer tile and hard wood floors to carpet. So installing some pergo or tile is a good way for a property owner to avoid having to replace carpets every few years.

Another simple way to make your place stand out from the competition is to put nicer blinds up on your windows. You don’t have to put plantation shutters on all the windows in your rental property, but some low cost faux wood blinds with thick slats look a hundred times better than the cheap aluminum ones. Take a look at the bigger picture and spend the money to get a tenant in and paying rent as quickly as possible.

 

  1. CLEAN!

I am shocked how many rental properties I show that are filthy. You obviously won’t be able to clean your rental property every day, but a good cleaning after a tenant vacates and every two weeks that your property is vacant will help to insure that your property won’t stay vacant for two months.

Rental Properties in Las Vegas take anywhere from a few days to a few months to rent. Taking these simple steps will keep your Las Vegas rental property ahead of the competition.

The Difference Between IRS Forms 1099 and 1042-S

What’s The Difference Between IRS Forms 1099 and 1042-S?

DO YOU HAVE FOREIGN OWNERS/INVESTORS?

As a property manager, you are very much aware that by law, you must issue a 1099 form reporting gross rents to your property owners by 1/31 of every year.

However, there seems to be a great deal of confusion out there when it comes to property managers with owners that are citizens of foreign countries.  You see, foreign investors do not get issued a 1099.  What do they receive?  They get issued a 1042-S.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FORMS 1099 AND 1042-S?

A 1099 form is used to report miscellaneous income, such as gross rent, for US residents and businesses only, whereas a 1042-S (Foreign Person’s U.S. Source Income Subject to withholding) is used to report income paid to a non-resident regardless of whether the payment is taxable.  Unlike form 1099, form 1042-S is not due to be issued until March15th of every year.

I see way too many property managers issuing a 1099 form to a foreign citizen.  This will lead to serious audit problems in the future as the IRS is cracking down on property managers filing the incorrect form.

The function of form 1042-S is to let the IRS know that a foreign person has earned income in the USA.   For the purposes of the IRS, a foreign person includes a non-resident alien individual, a foreign corporation, a foreign partnership, a foreign trust, a foreign estate and any other person that is not a US person.  When a foreign person or entity has earned income in the USA they must file an annual non- resident tax return. The IRS uses the     1042-S as a means to monitor tax filing compliance on the part of a foreign person or entity.

MAKE SURE YOU ALSO HAVE FORM W-8ECI ON FILE FOR EVERY FOREIGN CLIENT

As a property manager, you would report the annual gross rents on the form and also report any federal taxes withheld.  This is an important note: If you do not have a form W-8ECI (Certificate of Foreign Person’s Claim that income is Effectively Connected With the Conduct of a Trade or Business in the United States) on file for your foreign client, you should have withheld and submitted to the IRS 30% of the gross rents of your client.  The IRS also uses form 1042-S to monitor your compliance with this.  Failure to be compliant with this law may result in the IRS going after your company for the taxes owed by your client.  Therefore the message is clear: Make sure that you have this form on file for every foreign client you have!  You also want to obtain an updated W-8ECI every 3 years but I would suggest making it part of your annual checklist when renewing the management contract.

FORM 1042-T

After you file your 1042-S with the IRS, you will also have to file an annual form 1042T (Annual Summary and Transmittal of Forms 1042-S)  which is a tax reporting form that reconciles all of the 1042-S forms and tax withholding deposits to all of your form 1042-S paperwork.  This form is also due to be issued by March 15th of every year.

GROSS RENTS BOX ON FORMS 1099 AND 1042-S

I have noticed that there seems to be some confusion as to what constitutes reportable annual rental income that should be listed under the Gross Rents boxes on forms1099 and 1042-S.

The second part of this article will help all property managers have a clear understanding of the tax rules that apply to this box.

The following are common types of income:

ADVANCE RENT

Advance rent is any amount you receive before the period that it covers.  Include advance rent in rental income in the year received regardless of the period covered or the method of accounting you use.

Example

  • On May 15th, 2011 you signed a 2 year lease to rent property.
  • The tenant decides to prepay the entire lease.
  • You receive $10,000 for the first year’s rent and $10,000 for the rent on the second year.
  • The whole $20,000 must be reported on form 1099 in 2011.

CANCELING A LEASE

If tenant pays to cancel a lease, this payment is reported as rental income.  Include the amount on form 1099 in the year that it is received.

EXPENSES PAID BY THE TENANT

If tenant pays any of your rental expenses, the amount paid should be included in rental income and you would also deduct the expense.

Example

  • If the furnace in the rental property stops working and the tenant pays for the necessary repairs and deducts the amount from the rent payment.  The amount paid by the tenant would be included in rental income and the repair would be deducted as an expense.

PROPERTY OR SERVICES

If you receive property or services as rent instead of money, include the fair market value of the property or services as rental income in the year received.

Example

  • Your tenant is a house painter.  He offers to paint your rental property instead of paying two months rent.  You include in rental income the amount he would have paid for rent and deduct the same amount as an expense.

SECURITY DEPOSITS

This is the area where I see the most confusion.  Do not include a security deposit in rental income when you receive it if you plan to return the deposit to the tenant at the end of the lease.  If you keep part or all of a security deposit during the year because your tenant does not live up to the terms of the lease, include the amount you keep in rental income for the year.

If an amount called a security deposit is to be used as final payment of rent, it is advance rent and should be included in rental income in the year received.

I hope that this article gives clear direction on the IRS tax guidelines for what is reportable rental income, as well as helping all of you with foreign clients to establish a system within your office to remain compliant with the IRS and protect yourselves from costly audits!

__________________________

Guest article written by Richard Hart with Hart & Associates:

Richard Hart EA, CAA
President
Hart & Associates
Tax Consulting and Preparation Services
702-985-7148
www.hartassociate.com

Getting a Mortgage Loan in Las Vegas – Some Tips To Follow

Getting a Mortgage Loan in Las Vegas – Some Tips You Should Follow

According to recent reports, the fixed rate mortgage loan rates throughout the nation had hit a 40 year low, making this the perfect moment to refinance home loans for all those struggling homeowners who aren’t able to make their monthly payments on time. If you’re a resident of Las Vegas, you should be aware that the 30 year fixed rate mortgage varies from 3.85% to 4.54% in the beginning of 2012 and therefore any prospective homebuyer in Las Vegas can easily think of taking out a home mortgage loan at the present moment. If you take out a home loan that is beyond your affordability, it is most obvious that you have to go for mortgage modification or a refinance loan in the near future. Are there any tips that you may follow before taking out the right home loan in Las Vegas? Read on to know about them.

Shop around: Taking out a mortgage loan without shopping around among different lenders is a wrong decision that may lead to a chaos in the future. You should get multiple quotes from multiple companies so that you may easily be able to compare and contrast the rates and choose the best loan with the best possible terms and conditions. The interest rate and the closing cost are the two most important factors that need to be taken into consideration before choosing the loan.

Repair your credit score before applying: Whether you’re taking out a home loan in Las Vegas or anywhere, remember that the lender will certainly check your credit score before deciding the loan amount and the interest rate on the loan. Pull out a copy of your credit report so that you may know the various reasons that are dropping down your score and thereby work on it.

Check the amount you can pay down: Most mortgage lenders in Las Vegas ask for at least 20% down payment on the loan by the borrower and if you’re not able to pay down this amount, it is most obvious that the lender will make you pay Private Mortgage Insurance that will unnecessarily increase the monthly mortgage installments. Therefore, you should save enough money so as to be able to pay down the required amount on time.

Determine your debt burden: The total amount of debts that you have to pay in a single month in accordance to the income that you earn is another factor that is taken into consideration by the lender before determining the interest rate of the home loan. You should not only reduce the debt amount but also get help from a professional so as to be able to repay your high interest debts and be able to get back on track.

Organize your documents: Most often it happens that a borrower delays the entire process of taking out a loan due to his ignorance about the kind of documents that are needed by the lender in order to lend the loan. You should assemble your monthly statements, the income tax returns and the other bank statements that are necessary for the lender.

Thus, when you’re in Las Vegas and trying to take out a home mortgage loan, you should follow the tips mentioned above. Manage your finances so that you can take out the best home loan in Las Vegas and avoid opting for mortgage modification in the long run.

I am Alfred Smith from New Jersey and I am associated with several good finance community sites as guest authors and forum members. I do write articles on different genres of finance.

UNLV: Parents Also Investing in Las Vegas Real Estate Along with their Children’s Education

With housing so affordable in the Las Vegas area due to the real estate meltdown, some parents of UNLV students are also choosing to invest in the local Las Vegas real estate market at the same time. Many students at UNLV live off campus. Due to its central location in the Las Vegas Valley, most residential areas are located no more than a 20 minutes’ drive from campus.

The median price of a single family home in Las Vegas currently stands at around $105,000 and condos are at around $50,000. Prices have not been at these levels since 1990 which is about 13 years before the first signs of a housing bubble in Las Vegas. This means there is essentially a market over correction in prices of about 13 years if you buy at today’s prices.

Investors are now here in droves, many of them cash buyers. Rental prices for homes and condos have certainly not declined at all so investors are able to purchase homes that create positive cash flow immediately on their investment.

For parents looking to also make a real estate investment, it makes good sense to consider purchasing. Not only are the current market conditions extremely favorable, but you have a ready tenant in the student whose not a risk like your average tenant would be.

For a traditional investor, there is a large pool of renters, not only students, but also many of the displaced homeowners who have lost their homes but not left the area. Many people are also needing to rent while their financial and credit profile recovers.

Purchasing a home here in Las Vegas, especially if you live out of town can be a challenge, but still be accomplished after having done your research and getting the best assistance possible when you’re ready to buy. Your REALTOR® should have a lot of experience with foreclosures and short sales. The real estate practices related to these two categories are constantly changing.

Once you have made your purchase you may also need good property management, especially if your tenant is not your own son or daughter! Effectively managing properties by staying on top of tenants, dealing with homeowners’ associations, managing repair issues, collecting repair bids and effective accounting are issues many companies lack. You don’t want a “rent collector” you want a MANAGER who will fight to preserve your property’s value.

For any questions related to purchasing real estate or property management in the Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas markets contact Shelter Realty at 702-376-7379.

Eviction: A Property Manager’s Four Letter Word

Evicting a tenant is never pleasant (or easy), but for most landlords, it is unfortunately an unavoidable part of the job. Yet it’s one that the landlord must approach with caution, and a full awareness of all of the relevant state laws.

Tenancy termination laws vary from state to state, so before you proceed, know your state’s law. In most cases, before you can evict your tenant you must first legally terminate the tenancy with a written notice (often called a Notice for Termination with Cause) according to your state’s termination statute. If your tenant doesn’t “perform” (pay back rent or stop breaking the rules) or move, then you can file a lawsuit to evict.

Here I’m going to focus on how to write and deliver a Notice for Termination with Cause.  While the specific legal terminology varies from state to state, there are basically three types of these notices:

  1. Pay Rent or Quit Notices. These notices are typically used when the tenant has not paid the rent. They give the tenant a few days (three to five in most states) to pay the rent or move out (“quit”). In Nevada, where I run a property management company, a landlord can choose to accept partial rent payment and then rewrite a new notice of rent owed.
  1. Cure or Quit Notices. These are typically given after a tenant violates a term or condition of the lease or rental agreement, such as a no-pets or excessive noise clause. Usually, the tenant has a specific amount of time to “fix” the issue or violation. A tenant who fails to do so must move or face the possibility of eviction.
  1. Unconditional Quit Notices. These are the hardest to issue because they order the tenant to vacate the premises with no chance to pay the rent or correct a lease or rental agreement violation. In most states, unconditional quit notices are allowed only when the tenant has:
    • Repeatedly violated a significant lease or rental agreement clause
    • Been late with the rent on more than one occasion
    • Seriously damaged the premises
    • Engaged in serious illegal activity, such as drug dealing on the premises

Unfortunately, some tenants won’t pay the back rent, fix the issue, or leave even after receiving a Pay Rent or Quit or Cure or Quit notice.  If they don’t, your next step is to begin an unlawful detainer lawsuit by properly serving the tenant with a summons and complaint for eviction.

As they should be, state laws are set up to protect tenants’ rights.  But oftentimes they make even lawful evictions complicated.  Yet staying on the right side of state lease laws is critical.  It’s another reason why hiring a property management company to handle the management of your investment property can make great sense.

Stuck with a Las Vegas High Rise Condo?

It wasn’t long ago that Las Vegas was going to experience a phenomenon coined as the “Manhattanization” of Las Vegas. Approximately fifty high rise towers were planned, but in the end only around 12 were ever built. There are many owners of these buildings who own units that they now cannot afford, especially given the high monthly association fees.

Due to plummeting Las Vegas real estate prices, many of the owners of high rise condos are now upside down on their mortgages as well. It is a myth that mortgage holding banks will not consider short sales on these investment properties. This is untrue. As long as we have an offer that provides for a better return than a foreclosure, the bank will generally consider a short sale.

Generally, with a short sale, a seller must possess a financial hardship (job loss, decreased income, divorce, moving out of the area for work, death of an owner, medical hardship). Now some owners of these owners may not have a classic hardship but are planning to let the property go anyway. Banks may still want to consider a short sale. In this strategic default scenario sellers may not be able to simply walk away without making a cash contribution, but if a settlement can be reached for 10-20% on the outstanding balance for a full release, this can be preferable to many borrowers who don’t want to foreclose and simply want to settle their debts.

If you don’t have classic hardship, a full team of professionals will be needed: tax advice, asset protection attorney, a REALTOR® with short sale experience where the sellers have assets. In our short sale department here at Shelter Realty, we can make recommendations for attorneys and tax preparers to help you get the answers you need to make the right decision on whether to list your condo unit.

Paul Rowe is the managing agent for the short sale division at Shelter Realty Inc. He may be contacted via email: info(at sign)shelterrealty.com or by calling 702-376-7379.

Las Vegas Short Sale Info: Chase offering some borrowers up to $30,000 as a selling incentive

Chase Bank is paying up to $30,000 as an incentive for borrowers to do a short sale. This program has not been well promoted by Chase. In fact, the only way to know if you qualify is to call their Customer Service Department.

I called Chase directly for details and I was told that borrowers would have been notified by letter. From what I can gather, you can’t apply for this incentive. Either, your loan is included or it isn’t. It seems the prime candidates are persons whose mortgage loan was originally a Washington Mutual Loan (WAMU).

It is also important to note that $30,000 is the maximum they will pay and your incentive, if offered, may be lower depending on geographic area and the loss the bank is incurring by accepting the short sale.

Paul Rowe is the managing agent for the short sale division at Shelter Realty. Contact him directly for any short sale questions by emailing: info(at)shelterrealty.com or by calling 702-376-7379.

What You Should Keep In Mind Before You Downsize Into Your New Las Vegas Home

There are many different reasons why people downsize – they retire, get divorced, become empty nesters or are just tired of paying for (and maintaining) a larger home. But before you move from your 5,000 square foot Las Vegas home to a bungalow, you should…

…remember location, location, location.  Even though your kids don’t live at home anymore, the proximity of your local school (and how well it’s ranked) will influence your property value. Remember, schools (with good test scores), taxes, public transportation, highways and shopping all impact the value of your home.

…keep all costs in mind.  Costs to remember when buying either a home, condo or town home (besides the down payment, closing costs and mortgage) are HOA fees, building and maintenance fees (pool, tennis courts or fitness rooms) or assessment fees (for common area renovations, for example). Try to get an idea (either through association meeting minutes or from copies of HOA invoices) to how much fees have gone up in the past and if there are any planned for the future.

…picture yourself in the future.  Visualize yourself living in your smaller home when possible health conditions may surface. You don’t want to buy a multi-level home (with many stairs) if you have hip or knee problems. You also want to think about where (and how high) you kitchen cabinets are. Is grabbing your morning coffee mug going to be a problem because you can’t reach it without using a stool? Remember, downsizing is supposed to make your life easier – not more complicated.

…size up your stuff.  Oversized furniture fits and looks great in your 5,000 square foot home, but may look cramped and stuffy in your new smaller place. See if you can sell your larger pieces of furniture, then take the sale money and buy separate pieces that fit (and can be moved around) in your new home. This is also a good time to de-clutter and streamline your possessions. There’s no point moving things that you don’t want or have room for.

There are many homes on the market in Las Vegas that are perfect for downsizing homeowners. Give one of our agents a call at (702) 376-7379.  You can also browse property listings online at www.shelterrealty.com.

Marketing Your Las Vegas Home

Just as successful businesses don’t use one single marketing strategy to the exclusion of all others, so is it with real estate.  Successful Las Vegas real estate agents use a number of marketing tools to market their clients’ homes.  That said, some are more popular than others.

Listing online.  Once the mainstay of real estate marketing, newspaper ads have become dramatically less popular.  With the rise of searchable home listing sites like REALTOR.com, Zillow.com, Trulia.com, and others, flipping through the pages of a physical newspaper is, for most buyers, so 1999.  And that’s the key in successfully marketing your Las Vegas home to sell – going where the buyers are.  Sure, you can get a killer deal on a 1/4 page ad in the newspaper, but if very few buyers read it, what’s the point?

Another benefit of advertising listing online is the ease of measurability.  You can easily measure the number of impressions your ad or listing received (how many times it appeared on a page that a web visitor was looking at), the number of clicks on that ad or listing, and more.  That way, you can see what’s working – and what isn’t – and make smart changes in response.

It’s all (or partly at least) about who you know.  They say that most real estate transactions are the result of connections.  That’s why the best real estate agents have extensive networks of other buyers’ agents and sellers’ agents who act as one big referral network.  That way, I can target my clients’ listings to buyers’ agents who help buyers in that particular neighborhood, for example.

Market, then market some more.  At the end of the day, marketing – online, offline, through connections, with a yard sign, whatever – is how you’ll get the word out about your home for sale.

When interviewing real estate agents to help you sell your home, ask about their marketing strategies – ask how they spend on advertising and where they advertise. (How much money a real estate agent spends on marketing is not nearly as important as how he spends it.) Ask what kind of innovative technologies they use to market your home.  And perhaps most importantly, ask to see the proof.

Ask me how we can market your Las Vegas home for sale.  Call us at (702) 376-7379 or contact Shelter Realty online here.