Raving Reviews For The Brenkus Team

Testimonial Gil&Chrys Azam David was a pleasure to work with. He prepared us for the crazy market conditions in Las Vegas. He provided much needed insights on the properties we were interested in especially regarding area comps. He understood our desires and catered to our lengthy search period. He was always quick to carry out our offers and contact listing agents to help get attention to offers on our desired properties. It was a long grind but we never saw him falter. He is a very amiable young agent with a depth of not only real estate knowledge, but Las Vegas area info as well. We'd do it all over again!

LV Housing Market

Las Vegas has not been at the top of the destination list for home buyers until now. For the first time since 2008 the housing marketing in Vegas is showing signs of improvement even from just a year ago. Home sales prices are on the rise, and the market has definitely shifted. With homes at affordable price levels and mortgage rates averaging 4.2%, now is the time for the first timers and would be investors to jump into the market.

Michael Eckerman’s Las Vegas Real Estate Asset Management Firm Fills Big Shoes, On a Local Level

Las Vegas, NV (PRWEB) July 11, 2013 The current state of the reemerging real estate market’s success is partly due to the return of sophisticated cash investors such as large hedge fund firms like Blackstone and Colony Capital. According to a recent July 8th, 2013 article from Bloomberg, to date, Blackstone has already spent $5 billion on more than 30,000 distressed residential properties nationwide. More than 50% of all home purchases in hard hit areas like Las Vegas, Phoenix and Southern California have been made by big hedge fund investors. “The success of firms like Blackstone is based on a foundation of keeping up with the current market trends and future forecasts. They use those opportunities to bring in capital,” says Michael Eckerman, CEO of Novus Dia Financial. Eckerman says, his company follows those same principals and approaches to real estate investing, but focuses on smaller, more robust income producing real estate opportunities. In addition, Novus Dia Financial has launched their own $25 million private equity offering to lock in and capitalize on the growing Las Vegas and Southern California real estate markets. “We take the approach that big things come in small packages. We are very fortunate to have our feet well-grounded in Las Vegas and Southern California. In one year, the prices increase on homes is over 30% here in Las Vegas and many of those properties are well under the $250,000 range. Essentially, we are buying smaller priced properties that the larger firms like Blackstone would see as too low priced, and would require them to hire additional manpower to manage a larger inventory of properties. The larger funds prefer to have higher price-points on properties which keep their inventories smaller. That practice gives us a competitive advantage and enables us to take advantage of these inefficiencies in the market and gives us tremendous opportunities on a local level," explains Eckerman. Eckerman adds that additional success of his company is based off the old principal of being a local “brick and mortar” establishment. “Investors want the ability to be interactive and to take ownership in the fact they have the freedom to visit and get involved with the operation. They want to see the faces and personalities of those folks managing their investments. We embrace those qualities and produce the same financial results as the larger firms,” said Eckerman. The operational risk is always a growing concern for smaller investors looking to purchase residential real estate for the purpose of renting it out. Eckerman is confident that keeping investors interested in two markets, minimizes the risks. “We know the Vegas and Southern California markets well and have our own people on the ground in both. Sticking with assets in two of the nation’s fastest growing real estate markets not only allows for more lucrative returns, it enables the investor to become more knowledgeable about the trends in only two markets as opposed to having to endure multiple learning curves, in multiple markets,” explains Eckerman. Novus Dia Financial is a Real Estate Asset Management and Strategy Firm that specializes in acquiring, leasing and selling Residential Real Estate. Novus Dia Financial also provides education to individuals on how they can earn above market returns through Proprietary Real Estate Investment Strategies. Novus Dia has office locations in Las Vegas, Newport Beach, Beverly Hills and San Francisco. Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1354515#ixzz2Z7lQgAVb

Penn National real estate move could become industry standard

By HOWARD STUTZ LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL Penn National Gaming’s plan to split the regional casino giant into two publicly traded companies was granted preliminary approval by Nevada gaming regulators Wednesday. The concept would separate 19 of the company’s 29 casinos and racetracks, including the M Resort, into a real estate investment trust, often referred to as a REIT. Penn National would continue to operate the casinos. The REIT will be known as Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. Penn National Chief Financial Officer Bill Clifford told the Gaming Control Board customers won’t notice any difference in the operation of the M Resort once the split takes place, possibly by the end of the year. “Bottom line, there is no changes at the M Resort,” Clifford said. “Anthony Marnell (III) remains as (general manager). He’ll be there as long as he wants.” The split, which was announced last November, would result in Penn investors receiving a dividend of roughly $5.35 per share plus stock in the REIT. The casino operation side will pay the REIT a estimated $450 million a year in rent for the casinos. REITs, by law, don’t pay federal income taxes. With real estate the primary source of income, REITs are required to distribute at least 90 percent of their taxable earnings to shareholders. Clifford told the control board the REIT would offer Penn National increased expansion opportunities. He said the process still requires approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission and other gaming regulatory bodies. Penn National previously disclosed and it received a private letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service related to the tax treatment and qualification of Gaming and Leisure Properties as a REIT. Gaming Control Board Chairman A.G. Burnett said Penn’s REIT was the first for the gaming industry and it might be a concept for other casino companies to explore. The Nevada Gaming Commission will have the final say on the plan on July 25. Clifford told the control board there are some 150 REITs publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange that own more than $150 billion in real estate assets. The real estate associated with the 19 casinos in Penn’s REIT would total more than 2,900 acres and 6.6 million square feet of building space. The REIT would lease back to Penn National 17 of the casinos while it will own and operate casinos in Baton Rouge, La., and Perryville, Md.

Property Sales in Old Downtown Las Vegas are Hot

July 8, 2013 Tony Hsieh has big plans for the redevelopment of downtown Las Vegas, as his company, Zappos, prepares to move up to 1,500 people into old City Hall in the center and heart of old Las Vegas. But despite spending well over $100 million to purchase dozens of acres of downtown property -- old motels, empty lots, empty storefronts and more empty lots -- Hsieh's Downtown Project isn't the only player in downtown's "SimCity" game to rebuild the area. Downtown Project has dedicated $200 million to real estate. The Sun earlier this year reported Downtown Project's purchase of 90 parcels totaling 50 acres for $110 million. Most of those purchases have been made since the start of 2012. With additional purchases since then, Downtown Project's total comes to about $193 million, said Geoffrey West, investment specialist with Cushman & Wakefield Commerce, a commercial real estate firm. But that's only half the story. Hsieh and the Downtown Project may have begun downtown's revival, but others are following. Additional data collected by Cushman & Wakefield show in a select downtown area defined roughly by U.S. 95 north, the Union Pacific railroad tracks west, Oakey Boulevard south, and jogging northeast from Las Vegas Boulevard to Bruce Street, a total of $390 million in commercial real estate has been purchased since 2010. Year by year, it looks like this: 2010: 24 properties for $92 million. 2011: 45 properties for $29 million. 2012: 90 properties for $155 million. 2013: 50 properties for $114 million (through June 20). A map of those properties shows what most who follow downtown already know: many properties purchased are downtown near the Fremont East Entertainment District with the second most clustered around the Arts District, generally located near Charleston Boulevard and Main Street. In between those two clusters lies something of a no-man's-land, a gap in purchases and sales indicative of little movement in retail, office or other business ventures, said Dan Palmeri, office specialist with Cushman & Wakefield Commerce. "We need to be able to fill those gaps for the walk between Soho Lofts and Juhl," he said, referring to two multi-unit residential buildings that went up during the boom years, "between Main Street and Commerce, between the Arts District and Fremont East." West said the "lack of investment in the connecting areas creates isolated pods of activity rather than a truly interconnected downtown." Make no mistake, Palmeri added, downtown's emergence is dramatic. He remembers a time when businesses wouldn't locate in the city proper because they didn't want their address to include "Las Vegas." "It's that sin perception," he said. Yet office space, at $115 million, accounts for the largest property purchases over the past four years collected by Palmeri and business partner Geoffrey West. Multifamily properties account for the second-highest amount of purchases, at $78 million, followed by hotels/motels, $76 million; land, $46 million; and retail, $42 million. Industrial and "other" made up $31 million. Also, the two biggest years are 2012 and 2013. West and Palmeri marvel at the sheer volume of purchases over that time, given it has really only been about 18 months since the Downtown Project's purchases began. The volume of sales in 2013

Las Vegas Suburb Accused of Plotting to Seize 5,000 Homes with Eminent Domain to Flip Them for a Profit

July 5, 2013 | NEWS & POLITICS Courthouse News / By Megan Gallegos Las Vegas Suburb Ac LAS VEGAS (CN) - The City of North Las Vegas is endangering its financial status with a cockeyed plan to seize up to 5,000 homes through eminent domain, buy them with public money and flip them, a man claims in court. Gregory D. Smith sued North Las Vegas, its City Council and City Attorney Jeffrey Barr, in Federal Court. They are the only defendants. "The City of North Las Vegas has entered into and embarked upon a plan to use the power of eminent domain to condemn and seize privately-owned residential mortgage loans in the City," the complaint states. "The City intends to target for seizure mortgages 1) that are performing, i.e. current in their mortgage debt obligation of the homeowner; and 2) where homeowners owe more on their mortgages than the current fair market value of their home, i.e. 'underwater' mortgages; and 3) that are owned by private securitization trusts in secondary mortgage market lending portfolios rather than backed by the federal government through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or the Federal Housing Authority. "An example of the functioning of the Plan is a home in North Las Vegas worth $200,000 in the real estate market today but with a $300,000 current mortgage balance. The City plans to condemn and seize privately owned residential mortgage loans and to pay the owner of that note what it believes is just compensation, say, $150,000 for purposes of the example, from money borrowed from private investors. The City would then purport to accept a short payoff of the mortgage loan originally seized, through a new loan for, say, $190,000, if such new financing could be found and the homeowner can qualify for same. The City then plans to extinguish the original $300,000 note it had seized for $150,000 and to pocket the $40,000 difference as revenue to the City. "There are, by City estimates, approximately 5,000 mortgages in North Las Vegas that qualify and will be targeted for seizure by exercise of the power of eminent domain. "On June 19, 2013, the City Council approved a contract (the 'Agreement') between itself and MRP to initiate and carry out the Plan. "Preparation for and implementation of the Plan will require expenditure of public funds. Seizing all 5,000 or so of the estimated numbers of mortgage loans targeted by the City, at $150,000 each, would require the City to borrow more than $750 million. Such borrowing will entail interest, fees, and servicing costs. Indeed, the loaned monies themselves would represent City funds to be expended on the Plan. "The Plan itself and the Agreement entered into by the City with MRP, calls for expenditure of public monies by the City. Out of the $40,000 of City revenue identified as the outcome of the example described above in Paragraph 15, the City would be required under the Agreement to compensate MRP and its investors for their 'facilitation' of the Plan. "At its June 19, 2013 meeting, the City Council directed the City Attorney to engage outside legal counsel to advise the City on its conduct of the Plan, and has or will expend public monies for such engagement and retention. "The public fisc of the City of North Las Vegas will be depleted and endangered by the unlawful use of public monies expended in pursuit of the Plan, which is an unlawful and invalid exercise of government power under the United States and Nevada Constitutions, and under Nevada statutory law." Smith wants the plan enjoined as unconstitutional. He is represented by Don Springmeyer, with Wolf, Rifkin, Shapiro, Schulman & Rabkin. North Las Vegas, pop. 220,000 is a suburb of Las Vegas.