Las Vegas Realtor Telling Me to Offer Above Listing Price for Short Sale and REO

[Andy H.]

Is Las Vegas a different market than Orange County, Calfornia ? I'm an investor looking to buy a rental property in LV. I got a realtor looking through craiglist. Anyhow, she sent me a few homes, and each time I tell her I'm interested a property and I want to make an offer, she advices me to put an offer $100 above the list price. She said I won't get it otherwise. I would have to convince her to put in my offer. It is usually 10% below list price. She makes me feel like I'm being cheap.

On top of that, she charges a $500 flat rate above the commission. Apparently, it's common practice in LV.

Anyone else have this issue or this is just an isolated incident. Should I get another agent ? She seems very knowledgeable about the LV market, especially REO market.

[Marc Freislinger]

Andy,

The markets that got hit the hardest now have the toughest competition. Have you been losing out on the deals where your offering below list price? If you've been trying for a while, it may be worthwhile to jump the offer up if it still makes sense to your bottom line.