The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller twenty city index was out last week. This index has been tracking the prices of houses which have been sold over for many years, gauging the increase and decrease in values of houses across the country. They reported that the worst ever year to year drop in prices was seen in May, 2008, with prices in Las Vegas affected the most, reporting a drop of 28.4% in May, 2008.
This makes clear that prices of Las Vegas homes are now considerably lesser than what they were not so many years back. With foreclosure houses usually selling for lesser than others in the same neighborhood, for buyers, they present an interesting option.
For existing renters who have toyed with the idea of buying their first homes, falling prices of houses which are part of the Las Vegas foreclosures, along with the $7500 loan in the form of tax credit they could receive as part the recently passed housing bill, will offer more reasons to think further along those lines. The first payment will not be due until two years, and they would have fifteen years, starting after the two years, to pay the interest free loan back.
Houses that have been through the entire bank foreclosures process are seen as the safest best for first time owners. The title of a house gets to the bank only after a long foreclosure process. The home owners usually try to sell the house before the foreclosure goes through in order to pay the remainder of the mortgage off. When they are unable to do so, and before the property reaches the back, an effort to sell it is made at an auction. Only when it still fails to attract a buyer, does it reach the bank.
This does not necessarily mean that it is in a bad shape (as was previously the notion about foreclosed houses). The home owners could have taken out a second mortgage on the house or have unpaid taxes, not making it viable for purchase. Once the property has been foreclosed upon, it is the lender who has to take care of the unpaid arrears on the house.
Lists of bank foreclosures can be found on-line, in newsletters, or with banks and real estate agents. With an investment such as a new house, a good amount of home work should definitely be put in.
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Written by Alex Rolim.
