Real estate investors cast watchful eye on Las Vegas' high stakes housing game
in less time than it takes to build a single house, the market changed.
Egged on by the stratospheric prices their neighbors were asking -- and getting -- homeowners in Las Vegas flooded the market with "for sale" signs. The number of existing houses posted for sale on the Multiple Listing Service ballooned from about 1,400 in February to more than 16,000 by October.
Among them were never-lived-in homes offered by investors who had bought them only months before from national homebuilders -- who were selling their own brand-new houses literally across the street.
Doncov, a 57-year-old engineer who was a victim of the technology flame- out, was one of thousands of investors who hoped to turn a quick profit by buying and selling Las Vegas property within a few months. Early last year he bought two new houses from Pulte Homes for $515,000 each.
By the end of the summer, he said, the houses were worth well over $600, 000, based on Pulte's prices for the same models. Then Pulte cut the price by about $180,000.
Doncov sold the two properties in December and January for $480,000 and $490,000; after closing costs and sales fees, he estimates he lost $100,000.
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"Because the market has cracked in Las Vegas doesn't mean it's imminent in other areas," Leamer said.
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