Bus tour showcases foreclosures

Homes of all sizes now available across the valley at bargain prices

PHOTOS BY PAUL BIESCHKE JR./VIEWTop, real estate agent Laurie Carson, left, reads off the description of a house to a group of potential home buyers. The group was visiting foreclosed homes as part of the Vegas Foreclosure Express bus route. Gary Wittman checks out the storage space in a garage. Advertisement

All aboard for the deal of your dreams. The Vegas Foreclosure Express is out to show houses to people who are looking to buy a home.

Owned and operated by Barbara and Marshall Zucker of Realty One, 10750 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 180, the vehicle leaves its station from there each Saturday. It travels to homes on the market that are prime examples of bank repossessions, distress sales, foreclosures or short sales -- having a mortgage that's larger than the home's value.

Such homes are being snapped up by savvy buyers.

"We did a bus tour one Saturday of 11 homes on the market and by Tuesday nine of them were gone," Barbara Zucker said.

On a recent tour, the bus had 15 occupants. Some were casual shoppers, others said they had the intention to bid if they saw something they liked.

Daphne Riggsby of Summerlin, a casino worker, was looking on behalf of family members who planned to move near her. They currently live in Northern Nevada and were looking to land jobs in the Las Vegas Valley before moving.

She said she appreciated that the bus tour was a time-efficient way to look at homes and that it meant not getting lost trying to find the places.

"And it's not my gas," she said.

Another individual on the tour was David Klubeck, 39, who lives in Spring Valley. The associate for Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc. explained he had experienced a turn of events regarding his family life.

"My kids live with my ex-wife in my ex-house," he said.

He was looking for something with enough bedrooms for when his children visited, plus a bonus room that he could use as an office. Klubeck categorized himself as a casual house shopper.

"So casual that I'm not buying anything until this business (Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc.) explodes," he said. "Then, I'll be in the market."

Jeri Fischer, an accountant who lives in Summerlin, was on the tour, as well. She was looking for a house for a friend in Wisconsin who wants to retire here.

"One of the things she wanted was to be in a gated community," Fischer said. "I thought, 'Oh, what are the odds?' Especially when you're looking at foreclosed homes, but there they were ... in this market, a $660,000 house is now going for $300,000."

Fischer said she felt sorry for the people who got caught up in mortgages with rising loan rates and lost their homes.

"It breaks my heart," she said. "Those people thought they had a chance at the American dream."

Nita Marzorati, a schoolteacher, and her husband, Theodore, wanted to find a single-story home in a Summerlin gated community. Marzorati said the bus tour was an enjoyable way to look at possibilities.

"I think it's good to view homes with other people," she said. "As you walk around the places, you hear their comments as they talk to one another. Maybe they noticed something that you didn't."

Marzorati didn't find quite what she wanted and signed up for another bus tour.

The homes chosen for the tour ranged in square footage from 1,295 to 2,480. On the drive to each one, the specifics were read aloud to the group -- how long it had been on the market, its original price, and how many reductions the property had gone through.

The bus pulled up to each location and participants disembarked to have a look around.

"This home has great bones," Barbara Zucker said while inside one of the structures.

The term means a floor plan that is well thought out.

Almost half of the properties had no power and were stifling hot. Some had the water turned off, as well, and their front lawns were brown. One had been occupied by smokers, the carpet emitting the odor. Another home had been stripped of its appliances.

"People sell them for cash. Sometimes, they'll remove the faucets," Barbara Zucker said. "They'll even take the cabinets."

Some places had half-hearted attempts to update the home with earth-toned paint. Brush strokes showed where they'd given up. One home had roughly 15 feet of office cabinetry installed in the garage. It caused potential buyers to open the doors and peek inside.

"Look, no skeletons," joked Gary Pace, a Green Valley resident who was on the bus to pick up a couple of investment properties.

"That's a lot of money that went into that," his wife, Sheri, said. "I don't know why they put it in the garage, though."

Another house on the tour had a pool in the backyard. It had been neglected to the point where the water looked like a swamp.

When it comes to features, women want great kitchens and bathrooms, Marshall Zucker said, but men want low payments. His wife pointed out other important features buyers wanted -- a mother-in-law suite downstairs, a three-car garage and large bedrooms.

Men may want low mortgage payments, but size counted, too.

"This kitchen is so small, you have to go outside just to change your mind," Klubeck said while looking around one of the homes.

The Vegas Foreclosure Express services Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Pahrump, Boulder City, Mesquite and surrounding areas. The Zuckers started the tours in February after purchasing a $34,000 bus that seats about two dozen people.

Not all areas of the valley appeal to buyers. Marshall Zucker said that Aliante in North Las Vegas has more foreclosed homes than any other area of the city, but his office saw almost no participants requesting a bus tour there. He cited the distance from town as one reason.

At the end of the tour, Riggsby said she wanted to make an offer on one of the single-story homes. Fischer also entered a bid on a house.

"Neighbors are happy to see us pull onto their street," Barbara Zucker said. "They come out to greet us ... They are the forgotten victims of all this ... they're hard-working people, people who did everything right. But now, they're watching the value of their home go down the toilet."

A bus departs at 11 a.m. Sundays for tours of various parts of the valley, each determined based on group demand.

For more information, visit vegasforeclosureexpress.com.