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Free Help for Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

Submitted by Natalie Cullen, Online Editor
Tuesday, March 6th, 2012, 4:46pm
Free Help for Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

Nevada’s governor and HOPE NOW are holding a two-day event for homeowners struggling to keep their homes.

The event is 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Cashman Center. It is free and open to the public. Representatives from some of the largest mortgage companies and banks will be at the event. Homeowners will get a chance to meet face-to-face with their mortgage company and a counseling agency approved by HUD. HOPE NOW is a group created by major mortgage lenders to bring together homeowners and banks to find solutions to the foreclosure crisis.

Those interested in attending should bring the necessary paperwork. For more information about the event, go to hopenow.com.

Mortgage Servicers:

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Housing Prices Climb in Las Vegas

Submitted by 8 News NOW
Tuesday, November 30th, 2010, 7:06pm

LAS VEGAS -- Just five years ago, Las Vegas was booming and in the midst of a housing bubble. But that bubble burst, leaving home prices plummeting. Now for the first time in years, housing prices are climbing again.

A new report shows Las Vegas is one of two cities that saw an increase in home prices in the U.S. in recent months.

"Las Vegas is a very dynamic market. When it was going up, it was news. When it's going down, it's news," said Dr. Nasser Daneshvary with UNLV's Lied Institute for Real Estate Studies.

Dr. Daneshvary just wrapped up a year long study on the local real estate market.

"I think the prices have bottomed out. It is the sign of things getting better, or at least being stable without going down," he said.

His focus was foreclosures, but says it's a positive sign that Las Vegas is one of two metro areas to post gains in monthly home sale prices.

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Program Gives First-Time Buyers Leg Up on Investors

Submitted by 8 News NOW
Thursday, May 6th, 2010, 10:50pm

LAS VEGAS -- Foreclosed homes in Las Vegas are being snatched up left and right by investors. But starting this week, Fannie Mae is trying to help homeowners get first dibs. The program is called First Look.

First Look allows first-time home buyers to place an offer first over an investor when buying a Fannie Mae-owned home. The window of opportunity has now been extended from 15 days to 30 days in Nevada.

At least 50-percent of the foreclosure sales in Las Vegas are cash only because banks see it as a hassle-free way to get the properties off their books.

With inventory at an all time low, and competition heating up, the First Look program can help people who don't have the cash to pay up front.

"(The) First Look program was Fannie Mae's program designed to strengthen communities and give first-time home buyers an edge," said Claudia Turcaz with the Nevada Association of Hispanic Real Estate.

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Housing Market May Be Rebounding

Submitted by 8 News NOW
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010, 9:40pm

LAS VEGAS -- As more people are finding new jobs, the housing market is getting a boost. Nationally, the number of people behind on their mortgage payments has dropped for the first time in four years.

Across the country, homeowners are finally starting to catch up with payments and experts say Las Vegas is improving as well.

"In the last 18 months, people have been faced with either, 'You make your mortgage payment or we take your house,' and a lot of people say, 'Ok, take my house because the mortgage is twice what the value is,' and that is starting to stop," said mortgage expert Roger Rothberg.

Thanks to some improvements in the job market, people are now catching up with payments. Those who can't afford the homes they're in have let them go, giving the battered housing market a chance to heal.

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Expert Says Las Vegas Housing Market Healing

Submitted by 8 News NOW
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010, 2:01pm

LAS VEGAS -- The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors says home sales jumped 33 percent in March as buyers rushed to beat the deadline for the home buyer tax credits.

The group unveiled its latest numbers at a panel discussion on the Las Vegas housing market Wednesday morning.

Panelists say the emphasis in the coming year will be on short sales. GLVAR President Rick Shelton says he also expects there to be more foreclosures on the market because banks are not willing to work with homeowners on reducing their loans. He says that will result in more homeowners opting to do a short sale. Currently, short sales make up about half of the houses that are for sale in the market.

The panel says home prices are beginning to stabilize with the median home price for a single-family home at $136,000 which is up slightly from February. There has been an increase in home sales for the past 15 months.

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More Homeowners Falling Delinquent on Mortgages

Submitted by 8 News NOW
Monday, March 29th, 2010, 11:54pm

LAS VEGAS -- The number of Southern Nevada homeowners delinquent on their mortgage payments has climbed steadily for the past several months. In some cases, it's people just willing to walk away from their homes, and in other cases, homeowners are holding out hope that they will get a loan modification.

In any given neighborhood, chances are good that a homeowner is the process of walking away from their mortgage. In the past, five months was typically the longest a homeowner could stay in their home until the bank would come knocking. But that is no longer the case.

Nick Nolf with The Nolf Group has been in the real estate business through the boom, the bust, and now the slow turn-around.

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One Key Unlocks 600 HUD Houses in Las Vegas

Submitted by 8 News NOW
Monday, March 15th, 2010, 8:04pm

LAS VEGAS -- Las vegas is on the cutting edge of a new scam: People posing as real estate agents illegally collecting rental deposit money on government-owned homes.

One key gains access to around 600 empty homes in the federal HUD housing program. This creates a gaping hole for scam artists to walk right through.

"They could theoretically get into all 600 houses that we have," said HUD Director Kenneth Lobene. "It could be a problem. Hopefully the things that we're going to do will help to prevent that."

A Las Vegas woman was arrested last week for scamming a local man out of $500. She's accused of posing as a real estate agent, breaking into the government-owned home and posting it on Craigslist.

She allegedly stole rental deposit money from people interested in the deals she was offering.

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