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Something very pertinent to the present market situation was drawn to my attention this morning. We all know that the Las Vegas real estate market is soft, but even taking that into account, I had been noticing that appraisals lately were coming in way below what both the buyers and the sellers were expecting.

In “normal” times an appraiser is required to disregard the sales price of distressed properties (i.e. auctions, foreclosures and short sales) and only consider recent “fair market value” sales when making an appraisal. As the market softened last year, appraisers in some areas were advised to use no more than 50% of distress sales in calculating values. NOW, we have a situation in some areas where there are NO recent sales other than distress sales, so those are the ONLY recent comparables the appraiser can find, and this state of affairs is likely to persist at least for the next few months.

This is very troubling for sellers, but a golden opportunity for buyers! As soon as the market turns around, which of course it will sooner or later, those artificially depressed values will rocket upwards. So experts, including Donald Trump (who probably knows), advise us to BUY NOW!

Find out the average cost to build a home in your area, and buy now, at or below replacement cost. That way, even if perceived values drop further, your investment will be secure. When the builders resume building in your area, all the new homes will be priced much higher than what you paid for yours.

So, our advice remains the same: If you don’t NEED to sell, don’t sell at this time. Go out and find a cheap home to BUY!