Buying Pre-Foreclosure Homes in Las Vegas
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Shopping for new digs in Sin City? If so, you could save money by purchasing a pre-foreclosure home in the Las Vegas area. These homes are often priced to sell quickly, with an asking price below the current market value. In this article, I’ll explain the steps you would take when buying a Las Vegas pre-foreclosure home.
Nevada leads the nation in the number of foreclosure homes, and Las Vegas tops the list of cities. It’s not really something to be proud of, but it is a good opportunity for first-time home buyers. How many properties are we talking about?
- In the first quarter of 2009, there were more than 41,000 foreclosure filings in the state of Nevada. This number includes notices of default, auction notices and repossessions.
- Las Vegas, in particular, accounts for more of this foreclosure activity than any other city in Nevada.
- At the time of this publication (April 2009), there were approximately 19,000 Las Vegas homes in a pre-foreclosure status.
- I have confirmed these numbers through RealtyTrac and other real estate tracking services.
Quick Definition: In the context of this article, pre-foreclosure means the homeowner has received a notice of default from the lender. This is what eventually happens when you fall behind on mortgage payments, and it’s the first step in the foreclosure filing process.
When homeowners are notified that they are in default, they will often try to sell the home as quickly as possible (to avoid being foreclosed upon). This is typically done by pricing the home below market value, which is a great way to achieve a quick sale. And this, my friends, is where the potential savings come into the picture. If you buy a pre-foreclosure home in Las Vegas, you could get the house for less than the current appraised value. This means you go into it with equity, right off the bat.
If you’re a first-time home buyer, I recommend hiring a real estate agent who is familiar with the foreclosure process in the state of Nevada, and familiar with the Las Vegas real estate market in particular. Such an agent can help you find a pre-foreclosure property that meets your needs, and they can also help you evaluate the list price.
You can find plenty of these agents online, just by doing a Google search. For example, I did a search for the phrase “las vegas real estate agent +specialize in foreclosure” when writing this article, and I found a lot of agents who claim to be familiar with buying pre-foreclosure homes in the Las Vegas area.
Nevada Cities | admin | 
April 26, 2009 4:54 pm