THE BALLEN GROUP

"We Get Results!"

I'm a:	Real Estate Professional
Company:	Coldwell Banker Wardley Real Estate
Location:	Las Vegas Las Vegas, Las Vegas
Web sites:	Las Vegas Real Estate Agent Forum
	Search the MLS
Phone:	(702) 604-7739

25 Answers
1 Best Answer
4 First Answers
9 Useful Answers

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About Me

Coldwell Banker Wardley gave its’ highest honors at their recent award rally to Rookies Richard & Lori Ballen of Summerlin, Nevada.

Richard Ballen joined the real estate industry in 2006, becoming a member of Coldwell Banker Wardley in Summerlin. Shortly thereafter, in 2007, his wife, Lori Ballen joined him in his real estate efforts. At a recent award rally, Coldwell Banker Wardley presented Richard & Lori Ballen with Top Honors. Awards included: Presidents Cabinet, Rookies of the year, Top Achievers in the company (500 + agents) Silver, Rising Stars, Most Closed Transactions, Perfect attendance in the qualifying Top Producer luncheons, and Top Sales Executive for Summerlin.

Richard & Lori Ballen are no strangers to running a business. Working together since 1992, Richard & Lori founded and ran a very successful Event Planning & Catering company for 13 years. The Ballens are used to working together using each of their strongest attributes. Richard, also known as the Wizard of Real Estate due to his skills in Magic, is a charmer, a master negotiator, and a people person. He works the field and helps buyers find homes. He negotiates the best deals for his buyers, and sellers. Lori has been called a “Marketing & Internet Guru” by fellow agents and clients. While Richard is out in the field face to face, Lori is running the front end in the office, managing staff, e-mailing clients, presenting competitive marketing reports, managing the business web site and so on. It is the fact that Richard & Lori work so well together and have such strong work values that lead them to be the Top Producers in the company after only 1 year.
For additional information on Richard & Lori Ballen, and Coldwell Banker Wardley Summerlin, visit http://www.BallenandBallen.com

About Richard & Lori Ballen,
Richard and Lori Ballen specialize in marketing and selling Real Estate through Coldwell Banker Wardley. Although they work with home buyers and home sellers around the Las Vegas Valley, they work and live in Summerlin, Nevada.

Contact:

Richard & Lori Ballen
Coldwell Banker Wardley Real Estate
702-256-4900
http://www.BallenandBallen.com

My Q&A View all >>

THE BALLEN G…'s Questions (5)

THE BALLEN G…'s Answers (25)

My house is worth $225000 and my loan is $330000 . Is a short sale doable ? And what are the consequences ?

Asked Sun Jun 29 2008, 16:00 by Olivier - 89131 - Foreclosure - 7 answers

THE BALLEN GROUP answered:

Yes yoru short sale is doable. The short sale "rules" are changing every day. In fact, there really are no standards in the Las Vegas market. We have had short sales approved for nearly $200,000 difference. You need somebody who specializes in short sales, knows the banks and how to handle them, and are willing to spend the time and money marketing your property to sell. We would be happy to speak with you about that. We recently posted some short sale information on our website. This is not to be taken as legal advice, but may give you some information you were not aware of. Visithttp:// www.theballengroup.com and click on the shortsales tab (the last tab down on the left). We are going to be adding more, but this is a great starting place. Please contact us to have us come see your property. 702-604-7739 - Sun Jun 29 2008, 18:24

How important are photos in a listing?

Asked Thu May 17 2007, 00:15 by California M… - Las Vegas - Home Selling - 38 answers

THE BALLEN GROUP answered:

This is a major hot spot with me & the group! I don't get why agents won't spend the money to get professional pictures. Not just that, I can't believe how many times I see a bathroom toilet in a pic on the MLS, and quite often, the lid is lifted! In a recent real estate magazine it stated that homes with good pictures sell for more, and sell quicker than homes without pictures or with bad pictures. They even showed that the prices and time changed between 1 picture,6 pictures, 12 pictures and 24 pictures. For me, it is VERY important. We need to do our job and represent our properties that we are "marketing" to sell, to the best of our ability. It takes money to make money. Take a look at our property athttp:// www.RedTwigDrive.com for an example. Some of the listings showing on our site are company foreclosures and other companies listings. You can really see the difference. In this market, we need to do everything we can. Thanks for the GREAT question! - Wed Jun 4 2008, 17:44

Photo's in a listing are the most important thing in my opinion! As they say in Real Estate, "a picture is worth a thousand dollars". I know as a Realtor in Las Vegas, that when I sift through the 30,000 homes that are on the market here, I avoid listings that have dark, unattractive, or blank pictures. Why bother? We have a lot of homes to choose from and want to show our buyer the best possible homes. I believe virtual tours are a step up from traditional photo's and are now a "must" here in Las Vegas. We have to stand out compared to the competition. It's worth spending a little extra money on the pictures/tour to get the house sold. In addition, those pictures we put on the MLS are the same one's we use for websites, print marketing, flyers etc. so they have to be good. We actually sold a home, in 19 days after it listed, off the website pictures alone. The buyer fell in love with the house and only went to see it in person days before we closed. He lives there now and is very happy with his choice! Pictures are a must! I've attached a link to one of my property websites to show you the difference with professional pictures. - Sat Aug 4 2007, 16:34

Are prices going to go still lower in Vegas? When would YOU buy? I don't want to buy a house and lose equity

Asked Sat May 31 2008, 21:15 by Sal - Las Vegas - Market Conditions - 24 answers

THE BALLEN GROUP answered:

Great Question, I have an answer. I sold a house last year to a buyer in a new housing track. Since that time, the price of his home has declined about $25,000. He keeps telling me that he is upset that he has "lost" $50,000. The same thing I told him would apply to you. I told him that he has not lost anything unless he plans on selling, which he doesn't. You want to buy low obviously. Today the market is low. Nobody has a crystal ball, sadly, so it's anybody's guess where we will go from here. If you buy now, even if the market declines a bit more, you won't lose anything unless you sell. If you plan to keep your home 5 years or more, I would imagine you would be comfortable with your amount of equity. We would love to help you find your home ( "we" being the Ballen Group of Coldwell Banker Wardley Real Estate in Las Vegas). We also have a buyers agent that specializes in Henderson if you are wanting to buy there. Feel free to search the live MLS feed on our website at http://www.theballengroup.com - Sat May 31 2008, 21:52

Question removed

Asked Sat May 31 2008, 07:49 by Rita Douglas - 89178 - Home Buying - 12 answers

THE BALLEN GROUP answered:

As mos tof the agents have said, you would be a mortgage lenders dream if your information is accurate. We don't see a lot of 800 credit scores and your down payment is a considerable "chunk of change". We wish there were more buyers like you in Las Vegas and would welcome the opportunity to help you find your Las Vegas Real Estate. You can search the Ls Vegas MLS live on our website at http://www.TheBallenGroup.com - Sat May 31 2008, 10:08

moving to vegas in november 08 from nj

Asked Mon Mar 3 2008, 06:11 by Jay - 89128 - Home Buying - 12 answers

THE BALLEN GROUP answered:

Jay,

We have access to multiple las vegas real estate foreclosures. We have our own listings, but we also have access to Pre - Listings where you can bid before it even reaches the MLS! Give us a call at 702-604-7738 or e-mail sold@theballengroup.com. You may also search the Live MLS Feed for FREE on our website at http://www.findlasvegasforeclosures.com - Fri May 30 2008, 23:08

Hi Jay,

You need to be very careful about pulling up foreclosures on the internet. What is happening in our market right now, is foreclosures are receiving multiple offers on properties (sometimes dozens). The agents who "specialize" in foreclosures often do not change the listings to pending and you are probably looking at many properties that are no longer available. You should use a site that uses LIVE MLS feeds. Our sitehttp:// www.BallenandBallen.com allows you to search the MLS Live just as an agent would. You may need the agent to go further in the transaction, or to discover the history on the property etc.

It would be to your advantage to let the seller pay for your Real Estate Services. In Las Vegas, YOU do not pay the Realtor fees to help find you a property, the Seller does. Why not let the agent pull available homes for you, so you know what you are dealing with?

We help buyers everyday in foreclosures (listing & sales) and would be happy to help you if you need it. In any event, we wish you the best of luck. It's a great time to buy in Las Vegas! - Mon Mar 3 2008, 11:37

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