Reno Home Blog

Sparks New And Existing Home Sales: Sep 2007, Oct 2007 and Oct 2006

A charming home for sale st Sparks,NV

About: Sparks housing sales report.  The Sparks housing sales (new and existing homes) is still in a downward trend.  Home sales fell by -38.5% from Oct 2006 to Oct 2007.   

But once again notice the decline of home sales in Sparks (-38.5%) was less than the decline in Reno (Oct 2007 Vs Oct 2006: -49.7%).  New & Existing Home Sales In Reno

This is a big deal for me.  I've always had the  impression that buying a home in Reno might be a better idea than buying a home at Sparks ( thinking that home prices in Reno hold up better than Sparks).  But this is not the case if we base it from the hard facts presented in this post.

Here's my other post comparing Sparks Housing Sales vs Reno Housing Sales

Sparks (Single Family Residence Sales)	OCTOBER 2007	SEPTEMBER 2007	PERCENT CHANGE	OCTOBER 2006	PERCENT CHANGE(Oct 07 VS Oct 06)
New & Existing Housing Sales	104	114	-8.8%	169	-38.5%

You can find the complete housing report of the Washoe County Assessor HERE

Information provided by: http://www.nsbdc.org/what/data_statistics/

Reno Condo Sales Oct 2007 VS Sep 2007

   www.downtownmakeover.com

About: Reno Condo Sales Report.  In this graph I compared the number of sales on September and October of this year.  I also compared the number of condo sales from October 2006 Vs. October 2007.

I was quite surprised about the positive change from October of last year to October of this year (a whopping 50% gain). 

Frankly, I haven't seen very many positive numbers in the Reno Real Estate Market for quite a while now.  This is definitely a breath of fresh air.  But I am not concluding that the Reno Condo Market has reached its bottom.   The scope of the numbers and time frame of the information presented in this post are  not big enough to reach a fair conclusion on the general health of the Reno Condo Market. 

You can get the full report of the Washoe County Assessor (Housing Sales of October 2007) HERE

If you want to check previous housing reports (of this year-2007) by the Washoe County Assessor you can see it HERE.

RENO (Condo Sales)	OCTOBER 2007	SEPTEMBER 2007	PERCENT CHANGE	OCTOBER 2006	PERCENT CHANGE(Oct 07 VS Oct 06)
New & Existing Condo Sales	90	91	-1.1%	60	50.0%

Information provided by: www.nvdata.org

Reno's New and Existing Home Sales: Sep 2007 VS Oct 2007

(click to enlarge)

If you are the busiest person in the world and has little time to study the Reno real estate market  but you still want to follow the pulse of the market, what should be the one market data you should focus on?

I think you should follow the Existing Home Sales. 

What is an existing home sale? Here's an article from Bloomberg reporting on the  national existing home sales.

Here's an overview of the Reno Housing Sales.  I got this from a report from the Nevada Small Business Development Center.  You can find the complete report in here.

 

 

RENO (single family residence)	OCTOBER 2007	SEPTEMBER 2007	PERCENT CHANGE	OCTOBER 2006	PERCENT CHANGE(Oct 07 VS Oct 06)
New & Existing Home Sales	178	190	-6.3%	354	-49.7%

Highlight: An almost -50% drop from Oct 2006 VS Oct 2007 in housing sales in Reno,NV.

The Reno real estate market is still in a deep real estate recession.   This data clearly tells me that we have not reached the bottom of the market correction.  I am planning on doing a more in depth study of the reno market statistics very soon.  I am just awaiting a software program that could give us a more detailed picture of the market. 

One thing that we should also observe is the velocity of  the market,  Is the market losing speed on it's way down? ( if it is, this could be signs of a near bottoming of the market) this is usually seen by comparing the numbers from the current year and the previous years or even months.

If you still have questions regarding the Reno real estate market don't hesitate to leave a comment or call Ian(775.338.7649)

Source:  Nevada Small Business Development Center 

How True is this?

istockphoto.com

As I was reading my Bible for my daily devotion I came across this Proverb and it got me thinking of my (again) Real Estate Investment Losses and the whole real estate Market.

Proverbs Chapter 28 verse 22
"A GREEDY man is in a HURRY for WEALTH; He doesn't know that POVERTY will come to him."

Yikes! If that is not self explanatory for what has happened to me, I don't know what is.
'HUMAN NATURE DOES NOT CHANGE'.
Even the Bible that has been written thousands and thousands of years ago still APPLIES today even in INVESTING.

GREED: I had my reasons to want more and believe me it was all NOBLE reasons i.e. For my Children's future, retirement.

HURRY: As I have mentioned before I did feel the need to hurry because it felt like that if I did not act then I would never be able to do what I need to do due to the prices skyrocketing by the minute.

WEALTH: Of Course, Why not? The thought of "I do not have to worry about making so much because I have enough money in the bank." is a good motivation for me back then.

The last sentence "...He doesn't know that POVERTY will come to him."
Ann O., Perry and some other people out there had Market Indicators that was telling them that this recession was well on it's way but not the MAJORITY.. including me, a real estate agent, a fan of "RICH DAD POOR DAD" book and thought to himself "Well I want to get out of that Rat Race so I think this is the way to go.

So lessons learned are the following:

1.  I learned to wait and be patient. Right now I am waiting for the market to tell me when to move rather than me telling the market "NOW BECAUSE I NEED AND WANT IT NOW."

2.  Before getting into anything I do a lot of INVESTIGATING, asking the right questions, looking at different market indicators, statistics before thinking again "should I or should I not? Now? Really?"

More importantly I learned to pray harder, read more (Bible and other books) and to actually LISTEN to the Market.

Market Bifurcation

 
'bifurcation' of my camera lens

Pretty fancy word.  What is a market bifurcation? (wiki:bifurcation)

If you're still confused, market bifurcation is what happens when some parts of the country have spectacular real estate markets while other parts of the country are experiencing deep real estate recessions.

Here's a great report on market bifurcation by Pat Kitano of Transparent Real Estate blog.

       "NAR reports this morning that housing prices increased in 62% of metropolitan markets in the US....."

Wow.  This is a good reminder for me.  Real estate markets should always be measured locally.  I still think that the health of the United State's real estate market as a whole plays a role in the decision making of people.  Mainly because of how the media influences the decision-making of people (Mainstream media tend to 'nationalize' their views on real estate,maybe because they just don't have time to dissect it city by city- too time consuming I guess).

But to be truly effective buyers and even sellers should strive to get good and solid data on their local markets.  You can usually get it from your local Small Business Development Center - great resource for anyone serious in researching the Reno Real Estate Market.

(Part 2) Response to Ann's Comment About Realtors in Reno Not Knowing Any Better

Click here for part one of this article.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

So when the time came that I was getting approved and I was seeing the opportunities that 2005 presented to me I was excited and wanted to move fast.

Ian and I made a friend named Dan Wyatt.  A man who was totally an odd ball for me, he always had a book with him, does not want to drink a bottled water(preaching that it wasn't really purified the way the companies presented it) and was telling us to not get RID of the Red Rock home in Reno Stead and sell the other homes that we had under our belt because the 'Bubble is going to burst!' not based on his opinions but based on the
market.- The Top

Confirming the blog that Robert K. was talking about.('Booms and Bust') Ian and I (like with everything else) were discussing and arguing about the move of purchasing the property at Red Rock(North Reno) and Somerset(located in Northwest Reno. I reserved two homes there that were going to be built in 2006 and 2008) My plan was to sell the other two investments (Northwest Reno and Spanish Springs, Sparks) and get the two homes in Somerset plus continue with the purchase of the new home Red Rock, North of Reno (the one I won through raffle)

To make a long story short (If I don't cut the story short I will be talking to you as far as our trip we made to Boise Idaho to invest in, you guessed it REAL ESTATE.) I argued my way in to purchasing the Red Rock property and keep the reservation in one of the Somerset homes(I finally dropped the other one) because I wanted to get a house that can accommodate the whole family, plus I was finally getting a house in my own name (The other two, Northwest and Spanish springs were under my partners name) and I was looking at the comparable homes and by the end of November (which was the closing on this property) I was again 'up' by tens of thousands of dollars. I bought it ,signed the papers with a smile and I won the argument with Ian and I was going to prove him wrong when I do sell this property with profit.

I remember this line from Ian 'you can argue with me but you cannot argue with the stats':The Top Needless to say now,'BOY WAS I WRONG!' and I have been paying for it ever since. Early 2006 I withdrew my reservation in Somersett and I placed the other properties in the market. I made a little bit with the Northwest home but not what I projected it to be the first time when I bought it and lost money with the Spanish Springs home.  I was living in my Two Story, 2130 square feet, 4 bedroom 2 and  a half  bath  home in  Red Rock which I bought for $322,000 and is now $290,000. So now I say to Ian,'I told you those COMPS were wrong!'

So you see Ann, I was looking at everything else that was really irrelevant about investing and was also fooled by the 'Comparable Market Analysis' prices from the MLS that I ignored. I wish I was this open now and not so stubborn and greedy then, but what don't kill us only makes us stronger. I wish I read that blog that Ann read... but then again I might have still made the same mistake. 

Response to Ann's Comment About Realtors In Reno Not Knowing Any Better

 www2.tku.edu.tw

About: A recent comment posted by Ann O. on my last article really raised a very good point and question.  Here's what she said:

'One of the housing bubble blogs I was reading then (yes, way back then) said the way to know when the bubble was going to burst was when the inventory started rising. It seemed to take a long time, but the bubble did burst.'

'All this time I thought the Realtors saw what was going on and were keeping quiet about it to keep the prices up. But you're saying that you didn't see it. Seriously, did you not notice that the inventory was rising in 2005? Maybe you noticed but thought the builders were keeping ahead of demand or something?'

Well like I said earlier she raised a very good point and question.  I answered her comment already but somehow I think it did not really do justice to what really happened and maybe this will help some of our readers in the process.

July 2005, I got in contract on my Third Real Estate Investment, I was fortunate enough (so I thought) to get picked at the lottery that the builders held and boy did I think it was such a blessing because this was the first time that I got picked because I lost in three other events with three other builders, but on this one I won.

So I gave them my $2,000 check to hold the property which I did not even get to pick the home I wanted because they already picked it for me. I went home and looked at my comparables for this property in Red Rock, North of Reno and I was actually ahead by $50,000 so I thought,'THIS IS IT!.  Sell this in two years and for sure I will make a huge profit!' We are not even talking about the other two properties that I already have lined up that I was ahead of at least $100,000 on the property at Northwest Reno and $30,000 on the property at Spanish Springs (Based on comps in 2005) Here I was working as a Real Estate Agent working and investing just the way I was taught by the industry and the few people that I knew and was learning on their own 'in investing and making money' I figured hey, they drive nice cars and they have Beautiful, Glamorous homes so I thought they must know what they're talking about and if I don't listen and do some action now I will be left behind again.

The only investing book that I have read up to that time was Rich Dad Poor Dad; and I never really found the need to read more about investing and the need to investigate and study what I was getting into because all my sellers who didn't have any idea about investing were netting $100k to $200k just for selling their homes and the only reason why I am not one of them was because of my bankruptcy that I had and that was enough to prevent me from all my investing plans ever since 2002 (I could not get a loan for a house)

So when the time came that I was getting approved and I was seeing the opportunities that 2005 presented to me I was excited and wanted to move fast.

Ian and I made a friend named Dan Wyatt.  A man who was totally an odd ball for me, he always had a book with him, does not want to drink a bottled water(preaching that it wasn't really purified the way the companies presented it) and was telling us to not get RID of the Red Rock home in Reno Stead and sell the other homes that we had under our belt because the 'Bubble is going to burst!' not based on his opinions but based on the
market.- The Top

Confirming the blog that Robert K. was talking about.('Booms and Bust') Ian and I (like with everything else) were discussing and arguing about the move of purchasing the property at Red Rock(North Reno) and Somerset(located in Northwest Reno. I reserved two homes there that were going to be built in 2006 and 2008) My plan was to sell the other two investments (Northwest Reno and Spanish Springs, Sparks) and get the two homes in Somerset plus continue with the purchase of the new home in Red Rock, North  Reno (the one I won through raffle) 

To make a long story short (If I don't cut the story short I will be talking to you as far as our trip we made to Boise Idaho to invest in, you guessed it REAL ESTATE.) I argued my way in to purchasing the Red Rock property and keep the reservation in one of the Somerset homes(I finally dropped the other one) because I wanted to get a house that can accommodate the whole family, plus I was finally getting a house in my own name (The other two, Northwest and Spanish springs were under my partners name) and I was looking at the comparable homes and by the end of November (which was the closing on this property) I was again 'up' by tens of thousands of dollars.  I bought it ,signed the papers with a smile and I won the argument with Ian and I was going to prove him wrong when I do sell this property with profit.

I remember this line from Ian 'you can argue with me but you cannot argue with the stats':The Top Needless to say now,'BOY WAS I WRONG!' and I have been paying for it ever since. Early 2006 I withdrew my reservation in Somersett and I placed the other properties in the market. I made a little bit with home in Northwest Reno  but not what I projected it to be the first time when I bought it and I also lost money with the Spanish Springs home.  I was living in my Two Story, 2130 square feet, 4 bedroom 2 and  a half  bath  home in  Red Rock which I bought for $322,000 and is now $290,000. So now I say to Ian,'I told you those COMPS were wrong!'

So you see Ann, I was looking at everything else that was really irrelevant about investing and was also fooled by the 'Comparable Market Analysis' prices from the MLS that I ignored. I wish I was this open now and not so stubborn and greedy then, but what don't kill us only makes us stronger. I wish I read that blog that Ann read... but then again I might have still made the same mistake. 

RHB'S Believe it or Not: Home in Somerset Reno for $399,000

About this post:  A gorgeous home in Northwest Reno.  This home is on the market for $399,000.  The next comparable home that is for sale is at $425,000.  I could be biased of course, but the comparable home I mentioned (the one selling for 425k) is not nearly as captivating as this house(pictures below).

Ok, so I am finally disobeying my Golden Rule of not posting any of our listings in this blog.
But this is one of THE honorable exceptions.  Even if it wasn't our listing I would have still put this in here.

A client called us  last week and wanted to list her lovely home.  I won't try too hard to sell it to you.  I think the pictures will do the selling for me.  This home in Reno is subject to short sale.  This home is located at the exclusive gated community of Somerset.  This community is 10 minutes away from Downtown Reno. (Somerset has one of the most extravagant Country Clubs in Reno-Sparks)

Here are the pictures I took last Tuesday morning:

More information about Somerset's Country Club and Amenities : Somerset Country Club & Amenities

P.S- I almost forgot to mention, the owners have already spent $25,000 on the backyard.  A very nice place to have your morning coffee.

 

When Sincerity is just not enough Whether In Basketball Or Investing in the Reno-Sparks Real Estate Market and Beyond (part 3 of 3)

About this post: Joe connects his experience in losing a very important basketball game and his losing in the Reno-Sparks Real Estate Market in 2005.

Read Part 1 of this article

Read Part 2 of this article

'Keep on keeping on' 

I remember feeling sort of envious (I know. Immature huh?) of our friend who bought their house for $130,000 (2002-2003 price of a new home in Stead) and sold it for $250,000 a year after! So I sat back and thought, "Man, if they can do it, I can too! And If I wait a little longer I might not be able to buy a house."

But we didn't know anything about the real estate market (Nor did the Realtor or loan officer that was helping us.  They were as clueless as I was about the real status of the real estate market ) So I determined to talk to a few so called investors before buying the house but basing it from what happened now and from their 'investment advice', they did not know any better either.  Much like the people invited to speak on our major news channels.

While 'searching' (more of looking for validation of my uncontrollable impulse to already buy a home) for some signs on whether I should buy a home, I remember reading an  article by Robert Kiyosaki. About Booms and Bust of real estate, he was warning people of what he saw as a coming real estate depression.  Mind you, this was in November of 2005, Nobody in the main stream media as far as I can remember, nobody was reporting negative things about the real estate market. (disclaimer: I no longer believe everything Robert K. says or the principles he teaches but I still greatly admire him for his way of encouraging people and opening their eyes on the 'rat race') But In this article that Robert wrote he was absolutely right in the Money (the market was indeed about to experience a very deep recession)

 but I refused to listen to Robert's advice. The selfish and greedy me ultimately prevailed.  The result of this bad decision has been one of the most humbling experiences of my life.

Relating it to basketball, the whole team has been telling my teammate to pass the ball (in the championship game) because he was having a bad game and we needed to involve our other teammates, but he did not listen to us.  Before we knew it, we lost by 30 points, GAME OVER.

In moments like this in the game of basketball, you turn around and say "Well, there is always next season" you take that pain in your heart, cradle it for a day or two but move on with your life.

Unfortunately, for some who are now going through troubles, heartaches and pains because of the wrong Real Estate Decisions we made (Two year Arm loans that adjusted and are going too because of lack of information) it is not that easy.

We made a mistake but that doesn't mean we should let it Kill us. We get beat once we stop trying, learn from our mistakes and keep on keeping on.

' Keep on KEEPING on'

I'm humbled to say that because of my losing tens of thousands of dollars in my bad investment, it has opened a whole new perspective and consequently, windows of opportunities that I have never dreamed of before. 

And for the next Market Boom- (note to the market) Be afraid. Be very afraid. Because I and many others (including you my dear reader) will bounce back stronger and you can be absolutely,positively sure that we will be TAKING THAT LAST WINNING SHOT OF THE BALLGAME. 

ALSO with that team that beat us, I Guarantee you that Next League it will not be THAT EASY.

When Sincerity is just not enough Whether In Basketball Or Investing in the Reno-Sparks Real Estate Market and Beyond (part 2 of 3)

About this post: Joe connects his experience in losing a very important basketball game and his losing in the Reno-Sparks Real Estate Market in 2005.

Read Part 1 of this article

joefelso.wordpress.com/2007/05/09/my-dad-and-me/

Wikipedia describes integrity (this is perhaps the best definition of integrity I've ever heard in my life)

"Integrity is a characteristic that belongs to people who are self-actualized. It is the quality or condition of being whole, complete, unbroken, and undivided. Knowing oneself heightens a person's integrity.

The Ethics and Guidelines that all real estate agents need to sign are something that should never be taken lightly (I need to constantly remind myself of this) But fortunately there is a lot of loan officers and real estate agents  who really works in the best interest of the consumers.  Consumers can find this out through the past clients of the particular agent ( note to the brave: call your agent's past clients) and/or simply interviewing the agent and loan officer extensively before committing to anything.  Do not be afraid to ask tough questions.  The best agents I know of thrive and perform the best when challenged  by their clients.  One agent told me that her client, even before meeting her, had a 15 point checklist on what he wanted in a real estate agent.  This, according to the agent, made her even more excited to work with this particular client.  Now, that's a WIN-WIN situation.

In Both Arenas (basketball and real estate) It is very hard to win if you're missing one of the three things I mentioned above. Unfortunately, the past Market Boom makes that statement untrue because a lot of people made money simply because they were in the right place at the right time in one of the best real estate markets in the history of  Reno and in the United States.

But those days as Robert Kiyosaki (wiki Robert K.) said, "is like winning the Lottery" it was just plain luck and as you and I know there is no specific way to get lucky.  You can have the top Feng Shui masters from China 'bless' your property, but if it is not priced right it will not sell and If you buy a house now and decide to flip it (expecting a hefty profit) It Will Not Happen! (Of course if you purchase a house with a $100,000 leverage from the Market Value then Maybe you can profit)

Going back to the basketball game..

The rest of my Teammates and I were all sincere in wanting to WIN that Championship but the other team was too.  The only difference (which I hate to admit) is that they had more STAMINA (before getting to that game we had to beat another Great Team so I think we gave our all in that game), better TALENT (they were making their 3 pointers without touching the net) and a bigger HEART (they wanted it more and they wanted it real bad. We beat them last year to get to the Championship)

As for the rest of the country including myself who are now all Hurting (Short Sales, Foreclosures, high mortgages). We were all sincere in making some (a lot) of money through Real Estate Investing.

To be Cont.. Read Part 3