Team Plantone Offering Chase Foreclosures to Investor Buyers

On Friday, November 18th, Chase delivered to Team Plantone a list of 35 foreclosure properties in Las Vegas, NV that need to be liquidated immediately. Originally these properties were to be listed and sold only to owner occupants, but due to the current credit crunch and the difficulty many primary buyers are having obtaining financing for their purchases, Chase has decided to open up the list to investor buyers as well. The catch is that potential investors must move very quickly. All offers must be in place for this package by Wednesday, November 23rd.

There is no bidding on these properties. The price is the price. Interested investors simply look over the list and if a property they want is still available...it is theirs. It is that simple. This type of REO / foreclosure liquidation is extremely advantageous to the investor buyer because the investor is able to avoid the bidding wars and resulting price increases that plague cash buyers looking to purchase REOs through traditional listings in the extremely popular Las Vegas real estate market.

There are some great spreads in this lists for buy and hold investors. There is also a 2% commission available to any licensed buyers’ agents. Chase is only accepting cash offers.

If you are interested in viewing a list of the available properties, please contact Glenn Plantone immediately.

Glenn Closes 15 Property Bulk SFR Deal

Glenn Plantone of Nevada New Builds LLC in Las Vegas recently completed a bulk sale of 15 new construction homes to a private, out of state investor. The transaction, which closed on November 1st, 2001, represents one of the largest single transactions of single family homes in the Las Vegas valley this year. The transaction was an all cash deal that closed in 7 days.

The bulk package consisted exclusively of new construction foreclosures located in the Providence neighborhood of northwest Las Vegas. Most homes were 4 bedroom and averaged around 2300 square feet. The entire purchase closed for under $2M. The buyer plans on holding the homes long term and generating cash flow through renting, lease optioning and (possibly) offering owner carry programs.

This most recent deal is typical of the types of packages that Plantone and his team construct for their clients. Team Plantone specializes in acquiring distressed properties through short sales, builder closeouts, REO packages, and Trustees’ sales. The team then renovates the properties, clears any liens on the property, and adds great extras like ceiling fans, landscaping, upgraded fixtures and appliances. Plantone and his team then place long term tenants in the properties to create a turn-key investment. Because the properties have been acquired so far below market value, they can be resold to Plantone’s investor clients with CAP rates of 10% or more after all expenses.

Plantone and his team of seven professionals tailor their services to investors looking to purchase income property in Las Vegas. Team Plantone represents buyers that purchase more homes in Las Vegas than any other group. This includes teams that employ as many as 30 people or more. “We focus on our clients needs first,” Glenn said, “I have been a real estate investor for over 10 years, so I understand what investors are looking for...strong cash flow, good appreciation potential and security. We’ve been seeing a lot of money lately moving from the stock market into real estate. Buyers realize that we are seeing historically low prices and interest rates and that now is the time to buy.”

Many of Team Plantone’s clients are from Canada and China as the rest of the world rushes to capitalize on this buying opportunity. Like many other analysts, Glenn agrees that it may take Las Vegas another 5-7 years to recover from the current housing crisis and that investors will probably not realize significant appreciation until that happens. He still feels, however, that now is an excellent time to buy. “Cash flow is the key factor to examine when determining whether or not an investment is solid. We are currently seeing cash flow rates that haven’t existed in Las Vegas in five decades.”

If you would like more information on the Las Vegas real estate market or bulk investment packages, please contact Glenn directly.

Finally...Loans for Canadian Investors Looking to Purchase U.S. Real Estate

Over the last three years I have sold dozens of properties to foreign nationals looking to invest in Las Vegas real estate. Las Vegas has led the nation in foreclosures for the last three years running and has seen properties lose 50-80% of their value. Rents, on the other hand, have declined only a fraction of that percentage and, as a result, Las Vegas investment properties are cash flowing at a rate we haven’t seen in decades. Many foreign nationals, especially Canadians, who are familiar with Las Vegas as a vacation destination, are now looking to Las Vegas as an investment destination as well.

The only downside, for some Canadians, to investing in Las Vegas foreclosures has been the inability to use financing to leverage their investment. All of my Canadian buyers have had to pay cash for their investments because reliable financing for foreign nationals was simply not available through U.S. financial institutions. Until now.

I am excited to announce that Team Plantone has recently established a relationship with an established lending institution here in Las Vegas that has developed a loan product for Canadians looking to purchase 2nd homes in the U.S. and a separate loan product for foreign nationals looking to purchase investment property.

The second home purchase program especially for Canadians will fund 65% loan to value on single family residences with a minimum loan amount of $75,000. A Candadian credit report with a minimum score of 680 is required along with income and asset documentation. Competitive fixed rates are available on 30 year terms.

The foregin national investment property product will fund up to 60% loan to value on residential properties with 1-4 units. There is no minimum loan amount and no proof of income or credit score required. Loans are amortized over 40 years and 3 and 5 year terms are available with rates starting at 8%. Even more encouraging is that the financial institution is able to order their own appraisal.

If you are a foreign investor interested in learning more about these programs or about investing in Las Vegas real estate, please contact Glenn Plantone for more information.

Glenn Opens Up Fixed Interest Program to Smaller Investments

For the last two years, we have been successfully flipping homes in Las Vegas using our proven formula. We purchase distressed properties well below current market value via short sales, the trustees’ auction and bank-owned REOs. We then rehab these properties to better-than-new condition and place quality, long term renters and lease option tenants in the properties and sell them to investors looking for turn-key real estate investments with solid cash flow and strong appreciation potential. Last year we flipped over 25 of these properties and this year we have already more than doubled that effort.

In order to fund our acquisition and rehabilitation costs, we have brought in private investors who have put up the funds for one or more properties at a time. We offer these investors a guaranteed 10% return on their money. Not only are the investments secured by a first position lien on the property, but we also guarantee the 10% return regardless of the success of the flip. During the last two years we have never missed a payment to an investor! (We have detailed documentation on each and every flip we have completed and are happy to provide this information to prospective investors upon request. We also have references available from current investors.)

Over the last couple of years, many investors have approached me looking to get involved in our projects and take advantage of these phenomenal (and secure) returns. Unfortunately, I have had to turn potential investors away if they didn’t have at least $100,000 available to commit to the project. The way our deals were structured, we weren’t able to allow investors to fund only a portion of an acquisition, we had to have one investor per property.

We are thrilled to announce that this has now changed. We have recently restructured our operating agreement in order to create an opportunity for investors to get involved with as little as $20,000. Our new investors will still receive a guaranteed 10% return on their investment and their investment will be backed by the real estate itself. Payments will be made quarterly and investors may exit the program at any time with 90 days notice.

If you are interested in learning more about how to make more than 5 times the current savings rate of return, please contact Glenn for more information.

Bank of America Agrees to Allow Buyer Substitutions on Approved Short Sales

Bank of America announced recently that it will now allow agents to substitute buyers into approved short sales in cases where the original offer falls through. This news was greeted with enthusiasm from real estate agents, investors and potential home buyers. Many real estate professionals view it as a much needed and long awaited step forward in helping to boost the success rate of the short sale process.

The biggest hurdle facing short sales is the long timeline associated with obtaining bank approval. (Short sales typically take between 60-90 days to be approved.) Because of the uncertainty and lengthy waits involved in purchasing a short sale property, many potential home buyers submit multiple offers and/or continue looking while the short sale negotiation is in process. Many times, if a successful agreement is reached with the bank, the potential buyer has long since moved on to another property.

This is what makes Bank of America’s new policy so helpful. According to their new guidelines, Bank of America will allow the listing agent on the short sale property to substitute a different buyer at the agreed upon price without reapplying for approval from B of A. While this is certainly not a silver bullet, it is a tremendous improvement to the short sale process and one that we hope other major banks will adopt as well.

Las Vegas has seen the highest percentage of foreclosures and short sales in the nation. Over the past three years, we have consistently purchased distressed properties through short sale offers and placed them in our rehabilitation program. As part of this program, we completely renovate the homes to move-in ready condition, place a quality, long term tenant in the property, and then resell the home to one of our investor clients looking for a turn-key buy and hold investment with strong cash flow and upside appreciation potential. We have had tremendous success with this win-win scenario. Our investors are averaging returns between 8-10% for cash purchases and 12-24% for financed deals. We are also providing quality rental housing for the large percentage of Las Vegans who find themselves unable to purchase a home at this time.

If you are interested in taking a closer look at the strong returns that are currently available in the Las Vegas real estate market, please contact me. I am currently offering complimentary two night stays at the MGM Signature for qualified out of town investors. Call me for details.

Glenn Plantone
Wynn Realty
(702) 656-3264 xt: 203
gsplantone@gmail.com

An Open Letter to Appraisers In the Las Vegas Real Estate Market

For the last three years, my team and I have purchased, renovated and resold over 100 properties in the Northwest Las Vegas area. Currently, our greatest challenge lies not in construction headaches, buying competition or even the scarcity of financing but in obtaining fair appraisals for our renovated homes that are re-entering the market.

Our business model consists of purchasing homes at a discount (REOs, trustees’ sales, and short sales), fixing them up, and selling them at today's retail value. Our properties sell at the top of the market because of the quality that we put into them. Most of our homes are literally better than new construction. We only rehab houses that are 10 years old or newer, and then we put in lots of upgrades that builders do not: landscaping, ceiling fans, blinds, upgraded flooring and fixtures, complete appliance packages (often including washer and dryer.) Of course, we also include new carpet, new (non-white) paint, and the like.

Even though our properties are generally better than any other homes available in the neighborhood, we still generally price them below the highest recent comp for the area. This is because we know that because our property is a flip (being resold within 90 days of our purchase) it is going to be more closely scrutinized by the lending bank and will often require two appraisals.

Our request to you, the appraiser, is simply that you compare apples to apples when drawing up your appraisal. As you know, most distressed properties (REOs and short sales) are in very poor condition. Our homes are not distressed and as such they sell for a price higher than trustees’ sale purchases, REOs, and short sales. When you are looking at comparable sales in the area, we would ask that you compare non-distressed sales and not use REOs and short sales in your comps, just as you would not use trustees’ sale data. We understand that non-distressed homes are the minority at the moment and that REOs and short sales make up as much as 75% of the resale market at this time. However, there are sufficient examples of non-distressed sales in the area to paint an accurate picture of comparable value.

According to Larry Murphy (of Las Vegas Crystal Ball and SalesTraq) certain types of homes are currently selling for certain dollar amounts per square foot in the Las Vegas marketplace. As of June 2011, Murphy released figures based on his exhaustive database of recent sales that shows that trustees’ sale homes are currently selling for around $65 per square foot, bank owned foreclosures (REO’s) for about $71 per square foot, short sales for around $80 per square foot, non-distressed properties at $88 per square foot, and new construction at $100 per square foot.

We appreciate your efforts to use the right types of homes in your market research during this challenging period in the real estate market.
Glenn Plantone
Wynn Realty
(702) 656-3264
gsplantone@gmail.com

www.glennplantone.com

If you’d like to see more of Glenn’s articles, follow his blog at:
www.vegasforeclosures.blogspot.com

Double Dip? Probably, But That Shouldn’t Scare Real Estate Investors Away

As a full time real estate investor, with a portfolio of over 20 properties in several states, as well as a licensed Realtor, I have made my living by following the trends and helping my investor clients to do the same. For the last four years, those trends have kept me here in Las Vegas, NV...the foreclosure capital of the United States. I have risen to become the 4th busiest buyers’ agent in all of Las Vegas for two of the last three quarters, selling almost exclusively to investors who have come rely on my advice and ability to find strong, cash-flowing, turn-key investment properties for them.

Many of my clients have been asking me if Las Vegas home prices are heading for a “double dip” as the recession continues to drag on. I don’t know if I would call it a “double dip” since I definitely don’t predict that home prices will experience any further drastic declines in the Las Vegas market. I do, however, believe that home prices will continue to trickle downward until the economy as a whole begins to really improve.

So, in light of this prediction, what advice am I giving investors now? BUY, BUY, BUY! I can’t say it strongly enough that now is the time to buy investment property in Las Vegas. Why? Three major factors:

1. After losing between 50% and 70% of their peak value, average property values in Las Vegas have continued to decline over the last year at the rate of approximately 1% per month. To put this number in perspective, it means that a home that was worth $115,000 in May of this year will have been lowered in value to about $112,000 as of today. These decreases might scare away the average investor, but it is important to note that the key factor when decided where to invest should be CASH FLOW. If a property has a strong rate of annual return at the price you are currently purchasing it, then it can be a very good investment even if prices dip slightly over time before they inevitably recover. Because home prices have plummeted much lower than rents over the last several years (home prices falling around 70% and rents only 15%), cash flow in Las Vegas is stronger than we have seen it in the last five decades. We are currently achieving 8-10% CAP rates for our cash buyers and over 15% for our financed buyers.

2. Interest rates are currently at lows that we are unlikely to see again in our lifetimes. Once the economy begins to recover, interest rates will be the first things to change...and quickly. Interest rate hikes usually precede the general public’s notion that a recession has ended. Purchasing property now with a low interest rate will save the savvy investor thousands of dollars in the long run over trying to pick the exact bottom of the real estate market.

3. Lastly, demand for properties in Las Vegas is even higher than statistics may indicate. June of 2011 saw over 5500 single family homes close in the Las Vegas market, but many more untold numbers of buyers would have purchased a home if not for the continued difficulty in obtaining financing, difficulties getting appraisals that match sales prices, trouble finding homes to purchase that haven’t already been snatched up by cash buyers, etc. When credit availability improves, appraisals rise to reasonable levels and distressed properties take up a smaller portion of available inventory, we will likely see an influx of buyers that have been trying to purchase homes but have not yet been able to do so...this influx will inevitably drive prices up.

Many potential investors are understandably nervous about the rocky ride we have been experiencing in real estate over the last several years. I encourage you, however, to take a good look at the facts. Now is a great time to invest in real estate...probably the best time to invest since the Great Depression. Savvy investors...make your move.

If you are interested in purchasing Las Vegas investment properties or learning more about the Las Vegas real estate market, please contact Glenn Plantone.