Las Vegas HOA Recall Elections: How Do I Get A Board Member Recalled?

Las Vegas HOA Recall Elections: How Do I Get A Board Member Recalled?

Every executive board in an association must go through an election process on a regular basis, which is typically annually and spelled out in the association’s bylaws.  In accordance with NRS 116 and the associations governing documents, every board must consist of no less than three board members and can be as large as seven to nine board members.  But what happens when a board member needs to be removed from the board? Can a director be removed from the board?

YES.  According to NRS 116.31036 board members can be removed from the executive board and here’s how it works …

A member of the board can be removed with or without cause provided that the unit owners are able to obtain the signatures of at least 10% (or less if the governing documents allow) of the unit owners on a petition to request a removal election.  This petition must be mailed, return receipt or served by a process server to either the Community Manager or the Board.

The next step is to send out secret ballots to the owners between 15 and 60 days before the removal election meeting and is handled by the Community Manager.  The ballot process is handled the same way that a regular election is processed.  The removal election must be completed within 90 days of the receipt of the petition and is typically monitored by the association’s attorney given the nature of the process.

In order for a recall election to be successful, at least 35% of all unit owners must vote in favor of the recall and the majority of the total votes cast MUST be in favor of the removal  If the Association does not receive at least 35% of the owners to vote in favor of the recall and a majority of the total votes cast are not in favor of the removal, the Director will remain on the Board.

In conclusion, it is possible to remove a member of the board.  This may seem like a very high standard to meet but there is sound reason behind the restrictions. It is my opinion that the laws may have been written this way in order to prevent frivolous removals of board members while still making it possible to do so should there be a broad-based community support for such an action.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

Chances are very good at some point you will live in a community here in the Las Vegas area that is controlled by a homeowner association (HOA). There are about 2,300 associations here. If you live in a single family home built after 1995 there is a very good chance it belongs to an HOA.

What is the Purpose of an HOA?

HOA’s are set up as non-profit corporations in most cases and their purpose is to establish and enforce standards. These standards are meant to protect the assets and living experience of all the members of a particular community. Can you imagine someone in Sun City Anthem tearing down their home and replacing it with a double wide trailer? Obviously, the trailer would be incongruent with the standards of the community and if you were the next door neighbor imagine the effect of that homeowner’s decision on the value of your house!

HOA’ also are charged with maintaining records of the community, handling the finances, budget, and maintaining common elements, as well as their long term replacement.

How are HOA’s Organized?

As previously mentioned, HOA’s are set up as non-profit corporations and generally governed by Nevada State Statute (law) provisions named NRS116 and the accompanying code written primarily by the Nevada Common Interest Community Commission and Nevada Real Estate Division. HOA’s are also subject to relevant Federal statutes.

Once the HOA is filed with the State they have corporate documents known as “governing documents”. These include Articles of Incorporation, bylaws, rules and regulations. HOA’s also employ a representative government in the form of an elected board. This board has specific duties and powers to govern the community in accordance with the governing documents. Board members are unpaid volunteers and have legal responsibilities to uphold the duties of their office. Being the work associated with many associations is far more extensive than the time a board member can generally commit, so boards often contract with management companies to perform much of the work needed to run the HOA.

Here are Some Tips to Make Your Life Easier in an HOA

• Once a home is a part of an HOA, the occupants (including all tenants) are subject to the rules of the community. If you don’t like the rules don’t live there or try and work with the board to resolve issues. First, you will have to get educated on how an HOA works. Sometimes people who initially disagree with how a community is run come to understand why some things have to be accomplished when they come to know the totality of issues involved.

• Pay your assessments on time, even if you are in a dispute. Unlike rent where you can withhold rent in certain circumstances, not paying your HOA will only subject you to grief and fines. State laws provide avenues to address legitimate grievances. Did you know an HOA can actually foreclose on your home if you don’t pay your assessments?

• Understand assessments should increase incrementally over time. Assessments that never go up may appear on the surface to be a good thing, but as inflation makes the cost of services more expensive, assessments that don’t keep pace forces the board must scale back on the upkeep of the community’s assets in order to stay on budget. This can lead to components of the community needing replacement sooner, increased legal liabilities such as slip and fall hazards. The possibility of large special assessments to pay for unexpected costs in later years can end up costing far more in the long run than regular small increases to the assessments.

• If you get a notice of a violation don’t ignore it, deal with it directly. Most HOA’s just want compliance. Good communication is welcomed in a good HOA to get problems solved quickly, and at a minimum of inconvenience to all parties. Nobody likes paying fines, so if you receive a courtesy take action right away. Delaying will usually just end up costing you more in the end.

• Seek out a few neighbors and the board members. Having direct relationships can really help you when issues may arise.

• Do not make any architectural changes without first checking to see what the HOA’s policy is on changes. Nobody wants to pay for changes to their home only to have the HOA force them to remove the changes. Yes, they can legally do this, so be careful. Again, simple communication is the key.

• Know the basics of your HOA: parking restrictions, rules about noise, rental restrictions etc. Most of the important rules governing use are usually located in the governing docs and outlined in a table of contents. You don’t have to be a legal scholar to understand your governing documents.

Jamie Collins is co-owner of Shelter Management Group (SMG) and a licensed Supervising Community Association Manager (CAM). For questions about HOA’s and related management services you may call her at 702-818-4780 or email: info @ sheltermanagementgroup.com

I receive calls from Yelp at least once or twice a month to sign up for their ad program for Business Owners but I have yet to sign up and for very good reason. As many property managers know, managing rental properties is a thankless job. It’s very rare you receive phone calls from landlords or tenants stating how happy they are with your services. It’s usually a tenant calling to notify you of some type of repair that is necessary or a repair that wasn’t completed to their satisfaction.  Many tenants believe property managers are at their beck and call and if a repair isn’t handled quickly enough or to their satisfaction, they won’t hesitate to place a negative review of your company on Yelp or threaten to place a negative review.

Am I worried about the negative reviews we have received? Not at all, as I know almost all the negative reviews are inaccurate.

Shelter Realty currently manages over 600 rental properties and have rented to thousands of tenants over the years and only have a few negative comments. There are just some tenants that no matter what you do, you will never make them happy.

The problem I have with Yelp reviews is that almost all our positive reviews aren’t displayed. You have to click on the link that states “other reviews that are not currently recommended” to view all our positive reviews from landlords who have shared their experience with Shelter Realty as their property manager. I asked the representative from Yelp why these positive reviews don’t display and the only answer I received is that it has to do with the algorithm. So my response to Yelp is:

Why would I pay to use your ad program and have my target clients (landlords) only see negative comments from tenants but none of  the positive reviews from my landlords?

I will continue to ask my clients who have advised us of their happiness with our services to take the time and share on Yelp but I would not recommend to any colleagues to pay for Yelp’s ad program until they fix their algorithm issues.

It seems like a simple term, “unit owner”, however the Nevada Real Estate Division was recently tasked with a request to formally define what a unit owner is. According to a newly drafted opinion provided by the Commission, the term “UNIT OWNER” has been clarified and defined as follows and is referenced in NRS 116.095 and NRS 116.093 as well as NRS 116.2105:

“A unit’s owner is any person who is considered an owner of real property by law. Real property interests must be transferred in writing. Therefore, a unit’s owner is a person or entity that can provide a written conveyance or other writing that transfers a unit to them. The written conveyance or other writing must be signed by the person transferring the unit. A unit’s owner is also a lessee of a unit if the written lease expires when the common interest community expires. An owner of an entity that is a unit’s owner is anyone who can provide the association with evidence of ownership of the entity regardless of the ownership percentage.”

Note:  A deed does not need to be recorded for ownership to be effective, the law only requires that any transfer of interest in real property be in writing, signed by the grantor and notarized.  *Draft Nevada Real Estate Division Advisory Opinion, November 20, 2013.

This, like many other definitions that we hear on a daily basis can be somewhat confusing. We have compiled a number of commonly used terms, like the one above, and provided an abbreviated version of the definitions of those terms for your reference on the Shelter Management Group website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact a member of the Shelter Realty or Shelter Management Group (SMG) team, we would be happy to help.

*It is highly recommended that you review these definitions with those sections of NRS 116 mentioned by logging on here.

There has been a lot of public discussion whether the new Homeowners Bill of Rights (Nevada Law SB 321) will open up short sale transactions that are not considered “arms-length transactions”. The term “arm’s length” means that a sale does not occur between principals who are close relatives, those with existing business relationships, straw-buyers etc. The theory is that the buyer and seller do not have other incentives influencing the transaction. An example would be sellers in a Las Vegas short sale selling to their parents in order to buy the home at a later time. Under this scenario, the parents would be incentive to get the lowest price for the children to buy back later. It is easy to see how a bank taking a loss on the mortgage would see that as not in the bank’s best interest.

The banks who hold the mortgages on upside down properties generally have the principals in a sale (buyer and seller) sign agreements stipulating the sale is an arm’s length transaction between essentially unrelated parties. Once these agreements are signed, the principals are bound by the terms and subject to breaking federal bank fraud laws if they are found to have violated the terms of the arm’s length transaction agreement. One of the most eagerly monitored items was the expectation that SB 321 was going to prohibit banks from imposing arm’s length transactions in Nevada. The following statute in the bill addresses this issue:

Sec. 16.5.

1. No provision of the laws of this State may be construed to require a sale in lieu of a foreclosure sale to be an arm’s length transaction or to prohibit a sale in lieu of a foreclosure sale that is not an arm’s length transaction.

What is missing is there is no language barring arm’s length transactions. I am not an attorney and I am not offering a legal opinion. This is simply my opinion as a real estate professional after consulting with attorneys as well as reading the bill myself. It appears the State is communicating legislative intent that a “sale in lieu of foreclosure” (short sale) that is not an arm’s length transaction is essentially welcome.

This falls considerably short saying banks cannot require the “arm’s length agreements” in Nevada.

There have been plenty of local attorneys and real estate agents putting out a narrative that under SB 321 banks cannot require an arm’s length transaction agreement to be signed. While not really true,  this tactic gets their phones ringing from potential clients, and that is always the goal when trying to get new business.

My consultation with attorneys indicated that the State of Nevada does not prohibit short sales which are not arm’s length transaction. The bottom line is that nothing has changed; signing an arm’s length transaction agreement while trying to do a short sale remains voluntary between all parties. The seller isn’t required to sign and the bank doesn’t have to require one, though they usually do. If the bank agrees to the sale without a signed “arm’s length”, and a seller has provided honest personal and financial documentation, there is nothing illegal about doing a short sale that is not an arm’s length transaction.

Here is the rub, if you want to attempt to do a Las Vegas short sale that is not an arm’s length transaction you’ll have to be up front about what you want to do and try to get your short sale approved without ever signing an arm’s length transaction agreement.  If I have a seller inquiring about what their options are, they should consult an attorney and if they need an attorney recommendation, I can recommend attorneys I have worked with in the past they can consult for free.

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to construed as legal advice and all sellers considering a short sale should consult with an attorney and seek professional tax advice as well.

Shelter Realty, per our lease agreements, requires all tenants to purchase renter’s insurance.  Many tenant’s inquire as to why we require them to purchase rental insurance.  Laurie Yakubik with Farmer’s Insurance has provided the following information about the importance of having renter’s insurance.

HOW RENTERS INSURANCE HELPS COVER YOUR VALUABLES

Imagine a moment you’ve just returned home from a long day at work to find there’s been a fire. Everything you owned has been destroyed: your flat-screen TV, computer, furniture, books, game consoles, CDs, jewelry, collectibles and clothing. Where will you stay until your home is renovated? Who will pay to replace all your belongings? Not your landlord.

A Farmers renters policy can be the answer. It provides coverage to help you to replace your lost or damage items. If you suffer a covered loss, we’ll reimburse you for your lost or damaged items. And if the loss makes your home uninhabitable, we’ll also pay for the additional living costs for hotel, meals and related expenses.

Renters policies are very affordable, generally ranging from $12-$20 each month. For less then a dollar a day, you can have valuable insurance coverage!

BENEFITS

• Personal property coverage
• Personal liability coverage
• Additional living expenses

OPTIONAL COVERAGES

• Personal articles floater
• Jewelry, furs, fine arts

For more information on renters insurance, feel free to give Laurie Yakubik a call at 702-456-8119 or visit her website at http://www.farmersagent.com/lyakubik

As of this writing, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service (MLS) showed a total of 8,793 active Single Family Homes, Town Homes and Condominiums available with no offers. Here is the breakdown:

1. 649 foreclosure listings which comprise 7.3% of all listings
2. 1,338 short sales which comprises 15.2% of the market
3. 1,987 distressed sales (short sale + foreclosures) which equates to 22.5% of the market
4. 6,806 listings are traditional sales which make the up 77.5% of the market

The University of Nevada-Las Vegas’ Lied Institute for Real Estate (pronounced “LEED”) reported in its Housing Market 2013, 2^nd Quarter (displayed above) there were an estimated 72,737 vacant properties in the Las Vegas area. This is a vacancy rate of 9.4%. It is clear from the numbers of listed homes as compared to the overall vacancy rate in the Las Vegas real estate market that there is still a sizable shadow inventory that exists.

Another interesting component of the overall health of the market is new home sales. According to Lied’s Oct 2013 Market Conditions Report, new homes sales were down 77% from last year at this time. You may be wondering what new home sales would have to do with the amount of foreclosures. The relevancy is that still 41% of homes with mortgages are under water (UNLV LIED INSTITUTE FOR REAL ESTATE STUDIES, REPORT ON NEVADA HOUSING, OCT 2013, PAGE 16). The prospect that prices have peaked means that those yet hoping to get bailed out by rising prices are unlikely to see that scenario pan out, leading to more distressed sales.

If this data correctly suggests that prices will stall or decline once again; then the action buyers and sellers should take is pretty clear. If you were thinking of selling now is a great time to lock up your equity. If you’re looking to buy, you’ll need to look at this market very honestly when deciding whether or not to enter.

The Las Vegas real estate market has seen a run up of about 32% across the board over the past year according to several sources such as Zillow.com and Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors released for the month of August 2013.

During the past three months there have been some fundamentals in the market that causing concern to a growing number of persons attuned to the Las Vegas Real Estate Market.

• Las Vegas’ unemployment rate remains high. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the unemployment rate in Las Vegas declined from 9.7% to 9.6%. That figure of one tenth of one percent equates to about 1000 persons. Unfortunately 5,000 workers left the job market and are no longer considered part of the equation so although the rate dipped the actual number of persons without work actually increased. Las Vegas trails only Detroit in the highest unemployment rate of major metropolitan areas.

• Interest rates currently held down by Quantitative Easing (the Federal Reserve pumping money into the economy by purchasing bonds and other assets). Currently, the Fed buys 85 Billion dollars a month or over a trillion per year. Printing that much money will eventually stop and interest rates are then expected to rise. Remember, to the average home buyer getting a loan, a rise in interest rates erodes their purchasing power. This point goes to affordability. Since payments go up when rates go up, the amount a borrower can then qualify for goes down. In essence, the Affordability Rate goes down.

• The Wild Card, Investors – During 2010 through early 2013 as much as 50% of the purchases were made in cash, which most likely indicates investors and not long term homeowners. Las Vegas Realtors during 2012 were bombarded by institutional buyers such as hedge funds seeking to purchase homes directly off the Las Vegas MLS. The pitch was that these buyers were looking for a 5-10 year hold period for the assets they purchased and were mostly interested in attractive rents. Even Wall Street didn’t expect to see 30-60% gains in values in less than a year as some neighborhoods subsequently appreciated. It cannot be understated that as quickly as these investors came in, they could pull up stakes and leave by selling their assets. These owners are not here for the long term, they came simply to make money. If values were to go down, these investors would have to head for the door to protect their gains. Once that happened the market could become flooded with inventory.

• Inventory is up and closings are down. One thing appears fairly certain from my view, there is no upward pressure on Las Vegas real estate prices any further. The only question seems to be whether they will stabilize at current levels or begin to decline again. Sellers if considering selling their home may well be choosing a great time to sell.

I spoke with one of our property management clients today and he inquired about selling his Las Vegas home but he wanted to know if he had to wait till the tenant vacated the property before he could sell.  This was the second time I was asked this question in the last two weeks.  Any Nevada landlord has the right to sell their investment property whether the property is occupied by a tenant or not and the tenant is required to give the landlord reasonable access to show the property.

Usually, our tenants agree to cooperate with showings when they are notified the landlord has decided to sell the property but they do have numerous questions such as:

1. Do I have to move? No, you have a valid lease and the lease will transfer with the sale of the property.
2. Do I have to let people in to see the home?  Yes, our lease requires you to allow reasonable access to the property for showings to prospective buyers.
3. Am I required to have a lock box on the property? No, we understand that you don’t want strangers walking through your home when you aren’t present so all showings will be scheduled with you.
4. Can I buy the home?  Yes, as long as the owner accepts your purchase offer.

Occasionally we will get that tenant that states they don’t care if the owner wants to sell and they have the right to quiet enjoyment so they will not allow anyone access to the property.  At that point we will explain that their lease explicitly states they have to give the landlord reasonable access to show the property to prospective buyers.  Lastly, we will point out that NRS 118a.330 states the following:

A tenant shall not unreasonably withhold consent for the landlord peaceably to enter into the dwelling unit to exhibit the dwelling unit to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workers, contractors or other persons with a bona fide interest in inspecting the premises.

If the tenant still refuses to give access to the property, we will post a 24 hour notice to enter the property during normal business hours.  Luckily, we have never had to post a 24 hour notice to show a property to a prospective buyer as most of our tenants understand the owner has the right to sell their property and cooperate.

If you have any questions about selling your Las Vegas investment property or are in need of a property manager, give me a call at 702.376.7379.

Statistics provided by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported that in June of 2013 the median home price in the Las Vegas area was $183,569. That is a nearly 38% increase over the median price of a single-family home in July 2012 and up 55% since the bottom in Jan 2012. The $183,569 median is also akin to the same median of late 2003/early 2004.

On the surface it is easy to come to the conclusion that prices are simply rising to the pre-bubble prices prior to 2005. Real estate markets though offer other clues to determine the motivation of buyers and seller and indications of what may be to come.

Some of the most savvy real estate professionals and investors who have been dialed in to the post-crash market are wary of the rapid price appreciation. In my own business, I was advising buyers to quickly purchase in late 2011 and early 2012 when foreclosures halted in anticipation of an inventory shortage. I wanted to get them a home, before a price spike hit. I was worried the buyers might become afraid of the market change, or even worse, no longer qualify! Luckily, most were able to purchase during this time period and they are sitting in a great position today.

If you want my conclusions, skip to the bottom. If you want to know “the why”, keep reading!

Some of the troubling aspects of our Las Vegas real estate market are as follows:

1. Until about 2 months ago we had been in a low inventory environment since the 2^nd quarter of 2012 after the implementation of NV 284 (the anti-robo-signing legislation which virtually halted foreclosures for over a year). Over the last 6 months however inventory has increased 60%! Sales have been flat at around 3800 units per month since March of this year.
2. There is a conversion occurring from a seller’s market into a buyer’s market. The reason any buyer wouldn’t think this to be the case is based on their experiences they have witnessed themselves or have hear stories of  multiple offers situations, buyers being forced to pay for short sale negotiation and assorted extra fees. Due to the large amount of cash buyers, getting closing costs paid has been quite rare, even on financed offers. How can this be if inventory is increasing? The reason is simple. Distressed real estate makes up only 16% if the available inventory and that is where the cheap prices have resided. With that comes the highest demand. Many buyers are now becoming more patient as their choices on the amount of homes is increasing quickly for the first time in years paired with their reluctance to pay high prices. This is less the case in the under $125,000 market but more prevalent in higher ranges.
3. Too many investors purchasing homes in Las Vegas. This is not healthy. This is institutional money being invested in our market and it is short term. These investors will leave. They are not like traditional owner-occupants who are here for the long haul. The danger is when they do leave they could do so quickly in order to try and protect their gains. Doing so could place large numbers on the already flat sales market. Once buyers sense a potential glut, the slow-down often becomes self-fulfilling, pulling sales and prices down.
4. Some of the large hedge funds are slowing down their purchases or stopping as their projected rents are no longer attractive when compared to purchase prices.
5. New Homes: the average price is around $265,000, almost a whopping $100,000 above the median resale home. These homes are grossly over-priced and quickly lose value in a year or two when as resale homes they must go the market and compete as like properties with other resales.
6. More notes about new construction homes: the parallels to 2005 are eerie. I can still remember one of the first salvos of the market correction when Pulte Homes lowered in many of communities by a straight $100,000 across the board in July of 2005. Imagine you were a home homeowner who saw that report on the news a month after you closed escrow.  New homes are over-priced! I cannot stress that enough. They have plenty of room to roll back prices and that is dangerous. They can trap their homeowners in underwater positions when they significantly reduce prices. Realtors are also once again seeing very high commissions in some new home communities. When commissions go up it another sign that things are not well. We have also seen some lotteries at new homes sites. Imagine that, a metropolitan market such as Las Vegas with 44,000 vacant homes and over 80,000 mortgages not being paid is having home lotteries!
7. The price of money and interest rates: we have become so used to these low interest rates that the average person gives no thought anymore to their meaning. The government has been printing money to stimulate our economy for four years now. Essentially, they are giving it away for nearly free. It is not however being given to you and I. It is being given to large financial institutions and they can’t buy stuff fast enough. These guys are simply looking as Las Vegas as an investment pool. You can’t fault them for it. It is their job to make money. Do not however look at their purchases as any sign of a true recovery. Few things have more impact on a real estate market than interest rates and we all know we have benefited from artificially low rates due to Feds monetary policy of Quantitative Easing, pumping money into the economy to stimulate it. Interest rates are in the opinion of most in the Industry are set to go up over the next year. The higher they go, the more they erode the purchasing power of the buyers.
8. Las Vegas home prices trends over the past 8 years versus the previous 20 years have been composed of wild swings, not the slow line appreciation or depreciation. 2004-2006 saw the bubble, then the cascading crashes of 2007-2008. We saw an REO (foreclosure listing) bubble in 2009 as buyers wanted to take advantage of the $8000 tax credit. 2010 saw more falling prices when the “tax credit bubble” ended. In early 2012 prices started up and are now up 48% since that time. Some of the hotter neighborhoods such as Summerlin are up even more than that. In 2010-2011 you could pick up two bedroom condos for $50,000 all over MLS and now most of those are $80,000 and above.
9. The basic problem of the real estate/foreclosure crisis has still not been fixed. The fundamentals are still wrong, 80,000 homeowners not paying their mortgages and tens of thousands of vacant homes still loom over the market. Our inventory is very likely to continue experiencing inventory expansion when you factor that the “shadow inventory”  which will eventually be brought to market and the high number of investor-owners in Las Vegas that may choose to cull their profits and sell; especially if the public perception becomes one of a buyer’s market. An increasing Las Vegas real estate inventory will make it likely corrections will occur as sellers will have to compete to get their homes sold.
10. Public perception lags several months behind hard data. Do not under-estimate psychology in the market place. Do you know how many buyers told me in 2012 they were waiting to buy because they thought the market was going to drop another 5 points? The market was down 55% and they wanted to squeeze another 5% off the adjusted basis price. Prices quickly went up in a month or two and many missed the opportunity to buy all together. Some bought later paying 20-30% more fearing prices would only escalate.

Conclusions

I want to be clear; I am not calling for a price crash. I am however projecting that it is very likely we will see corrections in the market based on the previous reasons listed. The old adage still applies, buy when most want to sell, and sell when most want to buy. The trough of low inventory has already passed and the amount of sellers is on the rise. Once public perceptions take hold and the media also begins to report the change, the momentum will likely increase.

When the affordability index starts to favor renting as opposed to buying, it’s time to sell. Let’s be honest, most of you never expected to see gains like you have in the past 12 months. This time around, don’t get caught, turn your paper equity in to what really matters, cash.

Paul Rowe is a short sale specialist and listing agent with Shelter Realty. He is also a real estate investor.

Call Shelter Realty at 702-376-7379 and ask to speak to Paul. He will provide free analysis of your home value and how it relates to your needs as seller. You may also fill out a contact form on this website or email     info @shelterrealty.com

Many real estate investors are finding the Las Vegas area, including Henderson and North Las Vegas, a great place to meet their investment goals. Investors from out of state or out of the country are flooding the market with cash and snatching up homes. Especially these days, you often find news articles talking about how much real estate has gained in value; investors feel pressure to purchase as quickly as possible, since the appreciation rate is going up faster than expected.

Buyers who were waiting for so called “Shadow Inventory” missed their chances to purchase at the bottom. Now we see bank owned homes listed at higher than traditional sales, banks are not flooding the market with low-priced homes at present.

For investment, not only purchase price and location, there are many other factors that have to be considered. Many home owner associations restrict renting homes, and some communities have too many available rentals on the market. To help you acquire the best investment property for your needs, we provide rental comparatives of the same subdivision which include the number of available and leased homes or units. We also research the history of each property and check the prices in the same communities at the peak of the real estate boom.

Home owner association fees, master plan fees and SID/LID will add up your monthly expenses. Repair costs, landscaping, window blinds and appliances also have to be considered.

Atsuko Winston and Sachi Reeske together hold a property manager permit, short sale designation CDPE, bank owned BPO/REO designation and single family CFAC/SFR certification.  We assist investors daily in purchasing properties and placing good tenants in them.

Many Nevada landlords are not aware they have a responsibility to provide the tenant with an itemized accounting of their deposit within 30 days of the termination of tenancy.  If the landlord fails to return the tenants entire deposit or an itemized accounting of the deposit within 30 days, the landlord could be held liable by the courts for up to the full amount of the security deposit.

NRS 118A.242 states the following:

Upon termination of the tenancy by either party for any reason, the landlord may claim of the security or surety bond, or a combination thereof, only such amounts as are reasonably necessary to remedy any default of the tenant in the payment of rent, to repair damages to the premises caused by the tenant other than normal wear and to pay the reasonable costs of cleaning the premises. The landlord shall provide the tenant with an itemized written accounting of the disposition of the security or surety bond, or a combination thereof, and return any remaining portion of the security to the tenant no later than 30 days after the termination of the tenancy by handing it to the tenant personally at the place where the rent is paid, or by mailing it to the tenant at the tenant’s present address or, if that address is unknown, at the tenant’s last known address.

If the tenant disputes the itemized accounting statement in writing within 30 days of receiving the statement, a landlord cannot send the outstanding balance owed to a collection agency unless you obtain a judgement against the tenant.  This is why it’s very important to have a move-in condition report completed at the time of tenancy along with pictures to compare with the move-out report and pictures.  Keep in mind, a landlord can only hold the tenant responsible for damages to the premises, cleaning and any unpaid expenses during tenancy such as rent.

Whether you are accidental landlord or an investor, not knowing Nevada law can get you in big trouble.  If you decide not to hire a knowledgeable property manager, it’s imperative you take the time to familiarize yourself with NRS 118A to minimize future legal issues.

Not knowing or understanding Nevada landlord/tenant law is another reason why hiring a property management company to handle the management of your investment property makes sense.  To discuss the management of your investment property, give Shelter Realty a call at 702.376.7379 or email us at info @ shelterrealty.com.