Las Vegas Real Estate News

Mortgage fraud worse in nearby states

Nevada might be among the worst-hit states for housing foreclosures, but if it’s any consolation, other states are suffering more from mortgage fraud.

Bridge over troubled water

Theresa and Ron Fowler of Las Vegas stroll down the lane at MonteLago Village at Lake Las Vegas on Friday. The Fowlers were celebrating their 28th anniversary.

It’s a carefree life for the folks out at Lake Las Vegas — except for the developer who couldn’t pay the mortgage, the four-diamond hotel that just filed for bankruptcy court protection, and home foreclosure rates roughly the same as in the rest of the valley.

Foreclosure fallout

The Summerlin rental home where Dan and Peggy Montgomery live is their fourth since they moved to the Las Vegas Valley from upstate New York in late 2005. They found out the home they rented before this one was facing foreclosure when a real estate agent brought a client to look at the house, they said.

The biggest problem for renters is that a lease provides no safeguard against being evicted during foreclosure proceedings, even if the lease stretches beyond the date of foreclosure. And for the Montgomery family that has meant being forced to move for the third time in 18 months — paying $1,000 in expenses for each relocation — through no fault of their own.

Strip’s vaunted condo-hotels losing their luster

Condo-hotels are having a tough time on the Strip. The market has chilled, buyers are largely evaporating, banks are reluctant to finance the purchases or lend money for new projects because of slackening demand, and developers are questioning the wisdom of the condo hotel concept.

Mortgage bailout unfair to majority

Congress is considering financial assistance for home mortgage holders, who, for one reason or another, have slipped into foreclosure.

Congress goes extra mile for homeowners

Even as $600 rebate checks to fend off a recession are landing in mailboxes, Congress knows they won’t be enough to halt the mortgage meltdown.

Chic, urban … and deserted

Vantage Lofts, promoted as a visionary project bringing stunning views and new architecture to the suburban valley, sits unfinished a year after its scheduled opening.

A year after the $160 million Vantage Lofts was supposed to open to great fanfare, becoming a symbol of the changing Las Vegas architecture, it is a symbol of something else — a building market gone south.

Foreclosure hits the big guys, too

Hardly lived-in 9,400-square-foot Henderson home has 19 rooms, including eight bedrooms. The house and lot feature a mammoth kitchen and entryway, four fireplaces, and a pool and spa. Remarkably, three of the seven houses in the high-end neighborhood off Sunridge Heights Parkway have been in foreclosure.

With its lightly used 19 rooms — not counting the nine bathrooms, the studio-apartment-sized foyers and the six walk-in closets — and with its four fireplaces, three balconies, two wet bars, pool and spa, 821 Majestic Ridge Court really is what the ad says, a “luxury foreclosure.”

Republicans defy dogma, soften on mortgage help

Sen. John Ensign sat in his Capitol office Tuesday, images of Ronald Reagan peeking out from photos and bookshelves, to discuss something alien to the former president: government intervention in the mortgage mess.

Strip biz will peddle Alka-Seltzer, not glamour

One of the big names on the Strip is staking yet another marker for itself, this time at the site where Ivana Trump wanted to build a condo tower, at the northeast corner of Sahara Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard.

Whole-hog cottage industry

A communal dinner exemplifies the spirit of the cottages, where residents, most of whom work in entertainment, leave their front doors open during the day so their dogs can visit one another’s homes.

Normally if someone builds a gypsy wagon in his yard, outfits it with electricity, gas and plumbing, adds a titanium stove, a minibathroom and a grandfather clock, neighbors might raise a brow or two.

Senate Democrats may steal Porter’s thunder on mortgage relief bill

As the foreclosure crisis in Southern Nevada deepened last fall, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson proposed a way to help. Local housing agencies should be allowed to get into the refinancing business, giving homeowners another avenue for relief, Paulson said.

NLV residents, city council haunted by past deal

The North Las Vegas residents attending a neighborhood meeting Monday about 320 apartments proposed for Centennial Parkway and Revere Street wanted answers. But they didn’t like the ones they got from Pardee Homes representatives.

New motto for Las Vegas Sands: Let no space go to waste

In New York, developers commonly shoehorn buildings into odd places, erecting them atop or in front of existing structures. Las Vegas is cultivating its own shoehorn specialist in Las Vegas Sands, which continues building its casino empire on the Strip even though it has only a few acres of land.

Gridlock may sink foreclosure relief package

Lawmakers returned to town after a brief recess, but the slim list of accomplishments by week’s end was a reminder of the partisan gridlock that was foretold for this presidential election year.