By Buck Wargo
If real estate agents are applauding the historic snowfalls pounding the Midwest and Northeast, little wonder.

History tells us that blizzards prompt snow-weary homeowners to move to Las Vegas, and the depressed housing market is making that all the more attractive.

With a 60-percent decline in home prices in Las Vegas since 2006, the valley is certainly an attractive option to homebuyers tired of wielding snow shovels.

Las Vegas has been relying on investors and first-time homebuyers to swoop up a lot of the inventory triggered by foreclosures — but Realtors and housing analysts note it is uncertain how much longer that market can be tapped.

Enter the snow factor.

“We’re expecting the most recent weather along the East Coast will make more people relocate to the Southwest,” said Linda Rheinberger, president of the Nevada Association of Realtors and owner/broker of One Source Realty in Las Vegas. “Some people are fixated on Arizona and New Mexico, but they are open to the opportunity in Las Vegas, especially with the undervaluing in housing. They know they can buy at such a great deal.”

Homeowners looking to upgrade have remained on the sidelines because many are unable to sell their homes after values have declined so much. And there are no jobs to speak of to lure new residents.

That means retirees could be an important piece of the puzzle until the economy recovers. And who hates snow more?

“I believe they could be an even more important component,” Rheinberger said. “Unless we concentrate on job creation, we are forced to consider retirees and people who are not subject to the job market as a crucial part of our economy.”

Rising home prices in the past decade shut out many seniors who might have wanted to retire in Las Vegas. Now they may be ready to pounce, said Bob Hamrick, president of Coldwell Banker Premier.

One analyst suggests people 60 and older comprise 16 percent to 17 percent of the market today. Watch that number rise by as much as half, Hamrick said.

Demographics are on Las Vegas’ side, too.

The first of the Baby Boom generation turns 65 next year and those in a financial position to do so are looking to warmer climates for retirement, said Steve Bottfeld, executive vice president of Marketing Solutions.

“I think seniors are going to be the next wave of buyers,” Bottfeld said. “What you are going to see is a strong movement here beginning this year and peaking in 2012 and 2013. A lot of people are looking east but look at California (instead). There are a lot of people who want to get out of the congestion and want a simpler life. It is a much lower cost of living (in Las Vegas), and most important is the lack of a personal income tax.”

Thirty-two million people will turn 65 from 2010 to 2030 and 30 percent will move at least once during retirement, according to Applied Analysis.

The U.S. Census Bureau projects that from 2010 to 2020, Nevada will see a 61 percent increase in residents 65 and older.

Bottfeld said seniors will be in a better position in the next couple of years with the stock market rebounding. In addition, they can qualify for loans more easily than many other buyers,

“We are the single most underpriced city in the country. A lot of people are looking at us and saying, ‘It is a bargain,’ ” Bottfeld said.

Rheinberger said one reason Realtors nationwide pushed for an expansion of a tax credit of $6,500 for existing homeowners was in part to target seniors who want to move. That extension expires June 30, she said.

“They are less subject to the whims of the marketplace,” Rheinberger said. “They have a stream of income that is defined, whereas those who have to work to support themselves are in a worse position.”

Although Las Vegas will attract a lot of seniors, it won’t be the first choice of many, according to a 2010 Del Webb Baby Boomer survey. It shows about one-third of seniors plan to move to a new home during retirement and 50 percent of those who plan to move will go out of state.

North and South Carolina were at the top of the list of places to move to followed by Florida, Tennessee, Virginia, Arizona and California. Nevada didn’t make the top tier of states.

John Restrepo, principal of Restrepo Consulting Group, said competition among states for seniors will be fierce. The primary attractions include cost of living, entertainment, availability of medical services, weather, tax structure, proximity to family and work opportunities. Southern Nevada rates high for some factors, such as cost of living, including housing prices, entertainment and tax structure, but not so well in others such as health care services and job opportunities, he said.

“But retirees want a complete set of senior-related services and amenities to attract them to a community or region — not the least of which are health care services and even jobs,” he said.

Dennis Smith, president of Home Builders Research, said he is telling clients to watch the trend of seniors relocating, which also will help bolster the new-home market.

He suggests that the housing industry focus more marketing efforts on retirees who eschew Las Vegas because it is perceived as Sin City.

Restrepo said it’s worth discussing whether public dollars should be spent to attract retirees, but his research suggests that middle- and upper-income retirees are sophisticated enough to know the qualities and amenities of the various Sun Belt regions they are considering.

If you’ve got the credit but not the cash, there are programs to assist first time home-buyers to clost the gap between dreaming about and actually owning their own home. Prices and mortgage interest rates have never been equally lower making this the perfect time to make your dream of homeownership a reality.

Nevada Housing Division offers programs for new homebuyers The State of Nevada Housing Division’s First-Time Homebuyer Program is being offered to help the state’s low-to-moderate income residents buy a home.
“Today we can offer prospective homebuyers an amazing low mortgage rate of 4.5 percent,” said Charles L. Horsey, administrator, Nevada Housing Division. “The Division was established in 1975 and historically this is the lowest rate we’ve ever been able to offer Nevadans.”
In addition to the 4.5 percent, mortgage interest rate, the division offers a down payment assistance program of up to $4,500. If eligible, the buyer can also take advantage of up to $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers and up to $6,500 tax credit for repeat buyers.
A first-time homebuyer is considered to be anyone who has not owned a home within the past three years. However, these conditions are waived for veterans if they meet the income criteria. The division’s income limits represent one of the highest limits of any government program anywhere in the state. For a household size of 3 or more persons, income limits range from $75,785 up to $103,320 per household, depending where in the state a family resides. The maximum purchase price of a home ranges from $258,691 up to $409,587.
The Nevada Housing Division serves all areas within Nevada, both rural and urban, and has more than 50 participating lenders serving the state. Since the Nevada Housing Division’s creation in 1975, the agency has funded more than $2 billion in loans and has assisted more than 20,000 families achieve homeownership.
Anyone interested in learning more about the Division and learn about qualifications for the 4.5 percent mortgage rate, visit nvhousing.state.nv.us. The Web site features criteria for securing a loan, steps to follow in becoming a homeowner, along with a list of participating lenders.
Feb. 06, 2010
Las Vegas Review-Journal

This is just another avenue of down payment assistance programs that are available to home buyers.
By Michael Mishak, Las Vegas Sun

Three years ago, as the Culinary Union sat down with Las Vegas casino companies for a new round of contract talks, labor leaders sought to preserve the city’s identity as a worker’s paradise, the place where a housekeeper owns a home. Part of the Las Vegas dream had always been homeownership — and the housing bubble, driven by subprime mortgages and real estate speculation, was pushing that core promise out of reach for many of the union’s rank-and-file members. The median sale price for a single-family home in 2007 topped $300,000.

So the union asked the casino companies to chip in to a fund that would help its workers buy homes. Three years later, nearly 200 families have used about $1.1 million in down-payment assistance to purchase homes. The program, a joint partnership with a matching grant from the state, has leveraged $24.3 million in home sales throughout Southern Nevada.

Under the program, members can get up to $20,000 in down-payment assistance but must first qualify for a mortgage, contribute 1 percent of the purchase price and complete an eight-hour homebuyer education course. Borrowers must repay the down-payment loan when the home is sold or refinanced. Today, half of the trust fund, or about $1 million, remains.

To be sure, the recession has rocked the union, which has lost roughly 10 percent of its members to layoffs and hour reductions. But tumbling home values and access to the loans has created opportunity for 197 families over the past year, with the program seeing big demand in the last quarter of 2009.
These first-time homebuyers are a rare bright spot in Nevada’s battered economy. Below, four of their stories:

Carla Henderson, 48: Booth cashier, Paris Las Vegas
Carla Henderson and her husband moved to Las Vegas from Kansas City 25 years ago. They raised a family on casino jobs and had dreams of starting their own mom-and-pop restaurant.
But life had other plans. They ended up with custody of their three grandchildren, making home a rented condo near UNLV. Over the years, Henderson watched their neighborhood decline and feared for her grandkids’ safety. When the complex saw a rash of shootings, the Hendersons went house shopping.
They sought financial counseling through a nonprofit but their paperwork was going nowhere. Enter the Culinary’s housing program. After taking an eight-hour class, Henderson had her sights on a house. Apparently, so did a group of vandals. They broke in, smashed holes in the walls and destroyed the toilets, sinks and bathtubs. Total damages: $80,000.
Henderson found another house and, with the help of the down-payment loan, closed on the deal last spring. “That was always the obstacle for me,” she said. “I had good credit, good work history. I just didn’t have the lump sum to put down. That was keeping the dream from coming true.”
Shortly after moving in, she had her first house party — and invited her loan officer, home inspector and real estate agent. Her grandchildren — ages 9, 11 and 12 — love the place. Her husband has planted fruit trees and the couple are busy on a variety of improvement projects.
“I have never been more ecstatic,” Henderson said. “It’s that security, to be able to say, ‘This is the foundation. This is mine.’ ”
Still, there’s guilt, especially when she thinks of her troubled co-workers.
“I’m happy, but in the back of my mind, in order for me to have my happiness means somebody else lost theirs,” she said. “And there’s a part of me that feels bad because my happiness came about as a result of somebody else’s misfortune.
“But I worked hard and the opportunity presented itself. I’ve put down roots now. I’m not moving. I’m not selling. This is it.”

Minjia Li, 26: Bus person, Japonais, at the Mirage
Minjia Li came to Las Vegas from China a decade ago.
He graduated from Clark High School and pursued a degree in electrical engineering at UNLV, supporting himself with a bus job at Japonais in the Mirage. Li interrupted his studies to return to Shanghai to get married. He and his wife came to Las Vegas to start a life together, but a house seemed out of reach.
“The market was crazy,” Li said. “I thought I would never purchase a home in my life.”
Then the recession hit and sliding property values prompted them to start looking. Still, real estate agents wouldn’t return their calls. The home-buying education class at the Culinary Training Academy changed that. Officials even helped him navigate the bureaucracy of verifying money his relatives had sent from China to help with the purchase.
Li and his wife moved into their four-bedroom house, complete with three-car garage, in July.
“I do believe that people deserve the right home and it takes efforts from everyone — the right Realtor, the right financing,” he said. “This is a total achievement of the American dream. For you to be settled and grow in America, to feel you are a real American, you need a home.”
He was so inspired by the experience that he got his own Realtor’s license and has sold four homes. Still, Li said, the banks need to loosen credit for working families.
“The banks aren’t helping the people that need to be helped,” he said. “They are looking for cash purchases and the easy deals. Investors are taking advantage of that. When we see the right people can’t get the right help, there’s a lot of frustration.”

Juan Exposito, 55: Room service server, Harrah’s
Juan Exposito (wife Milagro is also pictured) moved to Las Vegas from Los Angeles in 1997. He got a job working room service at Harrah’s and moved his family into a rental home in Summerlin. A few years later, he considered buying a home but the prices had skyrocketed. Rent was far cheaper than a mortgage.
“It felt like California,” he said. “We didn’t have a chance to buy a house.”
When home values tumbled, Exposito went on the hunt. He looked at 50 homes over the past year before settling on a four-bedroom home. His limit was $200,000. He got his dream house for $170,000. His neighbor, he said, paid $450,000 at the height of the bubble. Today, Exposito’s mortgage payment is $200 cheaper than the rent he used to pay.
“It’s like it came from the sky to us,” he said. “It’s what people call the American dream, to find this type of house for the price I got it. It’s unbeatable.”
Asked about his house, Exposito gushes: “It’s 2,400 square feet, living room, dining room, huge kitchen, family room, guest room with full bath.”
Still, the recession has taken its toll. Harrah’s reduced Exposito’s hours, so he works an additional shift at Red Rock to round out a 40-hour week. His tips are also down dramatically, from around $300 a night in the go-go years to $100 now. Nevertheless, Exposito is glad to be working.
The house, he said, provides stability.
“I’m happy,” he said. “I feel safe.”

Erika Pabst, 67, & Judy Hahn, 49: Retired food server, Binion’s & Hostess, Hugo’s Cellar, at the Four Queens
Erika Pabst and Judy Hahn met when they served tables at Binion’s two decades ago. Pabst, a former flight attendant from New York, and Hahn, a Vegas transplant from Washington, struck up a friendship and decided to become roommates, renting a spacious three-bedroom apartment.
After years of apartment living, they had talked about buying a house but prices were too high. When the Culinary announced its housing program, Pabst and Hahn jumped at the opportunity. The down-payment loan was crucial, as was the education program, which walked them through each step of the purchase.
They settled on a four-bedroom house with a view of Sunrise Mountain.
Four years ago the asking price was $279,000. Pabst and Hahn paid $124,000.
Compared to some of their co-workers, they said they had it easy.
“I’ve heard horror stories,” Hahn said. “Someone finds a house, puts in a bid and then an investor outbids them. It’s been hard for people to even find a house.”
In October, Pabst and Hahn moved in and have been busy painting and laying tile. After 21 years of serving at Binion’s, Pabst was laid off last May.
She’s collecting her pension and Social Security and looking forward to volunteering for her friend’s judicial campaign.
“We are kind of overwhelmed with all the space we have,” Pabst said. “We’re loving it.”