Eye Brows Raised

This past weekend, I was watching the Travel Channel’s Vacation Home Search. The show follows a family around as they view three homes and purchase one for their vacation home.

Last weekend, the show featured three homes in Las Vegas. Three average middle-class homes. One of them had dark green, turf-like carpeting. It was horrendous. None of the houses were anything to look at and the average cost was around $300K.

After the realtor showed this New Jersey family the homes, the show’s commenter identified that houses in Las Vegas sell in one day — and often more than the asking price — so this couple had to act quickly if they wanted one of the houses. The show was hinting that the market was hot, hot, hot.

However, what was so odd was that two of the three homes that the couple visited WERE EMPTY. They had no residents, no furniture — and they were older model homes because they showed you the warping siding which was in need of a little repair.

For a house to sit empty, two houses — it takes time — time that these houses should have already sold.

Don’t you think?

If a housing market is that HOT, you don’t see two empty homes without furniture or occupants. You don’t see vacant houses. Period.

Something smelled really fishy!

In the end, the show stated that the couple competed with seven other home purchasers, and finally got the house they wanted after paying $30,000 more than the asking price.

And that is not the strangest part: They bought one of the two houses that no one was living in. They bought an empty home where the owner had long ago moved out. The one that sat vacant for god knows how long…

Is this a new game in real estate, or is there something I am missing???? My alarm bells are ringing. If I were the purchaser, I’d have some some serious investigation work to do before I’d make an offer. This just isn’t logical.