Good bye to 2011, Welcome 2012 in St Thomas! - 1-10-12

This blog is going to be a repost from the content of my real estate blog found on ActiveRain. It started back in January and so many of these posts were made back in time, but without them it won't tell the real story.

Well here we are 2 weeks into the new year of 2012!
For 2011 I sold 265 homes for $31,000,000 in gross dollar amt for an average sale price of $116,000. #6 NNRMLS
Compared to 2010:
Sold 256 homes for $34,000,000 and an average of $132,000. #1 NNRMLS
As you can see, more work for less money!
But that is not even start of it. Since the NV legislature passed a new law asking for an avadavidt of who actual owns the loans our notices of default have gone down from an average of 700 per month to an average of 15 per month since the law went to effect on 10-1-11.
So why do I care about this statistic? Well our business model has been based since 2008 on Bank Owned properties or REO's.
Due to no new REO inventory as the law has taken its effects, we are sitting now on only 40 listings with an average price of $115,000 (prices still falling?). That would make an average commission of only $2875 per sale. Right now we are receiving about one new assignment a week with holidays would be about 3 per month of 45 per year if all would pan out and prices remained stable.  Prices will probably rise due to the lack of inventory but this will be a false bottom as the inventory that has not been foreclosed will still be waiting in the wings and once the banks figure it out, here comes the flood gates!
So I want to first wish the Nevada legislature for the bright idea in passing this law!
In celebration of this new law and the lack of inventory, I decided to work from the house we bought in 2009 (will give a post about buying this home another time) in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands.  I am on a soul searching mission as well to see what the market is about here more in depth.  I need to see if I can still make a decent living without killing myself selling 250 homes a year. Of course if I sold only 10 a year with the average price here, I don't think it could be a bad thing?
I am burned out of selling REO's and of having to work with incompetant large corporations (aggg, that was the reason I got into RE, was to not work as a cog in a workplace of stupidity)! We have no family or really any good friends in Reno, NV. We have no kids, just two recycled Labs. Hmmmm....I guess the only way to find out is to investigate, right?
So what did I do this past weekend?  Well went to Jost Van Dyke at the Soggy Dollar Bar with some friends and saw the NY Jets QB, Mark Sanchez! Also visited Norman Island and the Willy T's floating bar! What a way to relax!

My wife Shannon and I decided to ship our 2004 4Runner down here as well as we already have 3 cars in Reno and was just sitting in the garage and tired of renting a car here.  So we shipped it via Viking Moving Services, it left on December 14th. Well it arrived today! It went to Jacksonville, FL, then on a boat to San Juan PR, then another boat to St Thomas! Well I was informed today by Viking that the Bill of Lading had on there a chipped windshield, scratches all over and missing tail lights?  Missing tail lights?  What did they take the entire tail light assembly? No one knows as they still haven't unloaded it from the boat, "soon come" I am told. Hopefully it will be at Viking's warehouse tomorrow so I can see for myself!!! I was told that it would have to be repaired to pass the mandatory inspection. Yes, 4Runner, soon come!
I did get the insurance done for the 4Runnner, about $1000 a year or $400 more a year which I don't understand as you cannot drive more the 30 MPH on a 13 mile long island? I know, it must be that we drive on the left here?  Go figure!
As I noted in an earlier post, I would start blogging again! Well here I am! Stayed tuned!