Mayor Oscar Goodman of Las Vegas delivered his annual State of the City address in mid-January. His outlook was optimistic as he described steps that are now being taken to improve the city’s economy and diversify.

Step one will be the development of academic medical centers, including construction of the Nevada Cancer Institute and the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health which was completed in Symphony Park in Las Vegas. Mayor Goodman described these new developments as “absolute miracles.”

There are plans to construct the Smith Center for the Performing Arts as a place where high culture can be experienced. The third phase of the diversification of the economy will be a downtown entertainment district complete with a world class arena.

For businessmen in Las Vegas such as Kirk Sanford this is welcome news and bodes well for the overall economy of the area.

As a symbol of what can be accomplished even during a recession, the mayor of Las Vegas, Oscar Goodman, delivered the annual State of the City address from the Golden Nugget Casino in downtown Las Vegas.

The casino recently completed a major renovation with its acclaimed Rush Tower, despite the fact that the economy is weathering difficult economic times in Las Vegas.

The mayor began his address by describing a recent trip he took to London in order to fly on the inaugural flight of the British Airways new connection to Las Vegas. While in England Goodman visited the bunker where Winston Churchill, as Prime Minister of England during WW II conducted affairs of state and met leaders to discuss war related issues.

Learning a great lesson from Churchill and the people of England who endured the hardships of World War Two, the mayor explained,

“I don’t pretend to say that I have any similarities with Winston Churchill other than we both like martinis and we like Cuban cigars,” Goodman said. “But he was facing the dire times of World War II. And we in Las Vegas have the dire times of the economy.”

The attitude the British maintained throughout the war was, “There is no other course for us but to win.”
“That is the same attitude that must prevail in Las Vegas, and with that attitude we will prevail.”

Businessmen and other leaders in the community were happy to hear such an optimistic outlook, and people like Kirk Sanford, real estate investor in Las Vegas, are looking towards better economic times for Las Vegas and Southern Nevada.

On Tuesday, January 12th, the mayor of Las Vegas, Oscar Goodman, delivered his State of the City Address, an annual event. Despite the expected bad news considering the state of the current Las Vegas economy, there was a thread of hope weaving its way throughout the mayor’s words.

Mayor Goodman mentioned the hope that there will be a surge in the number of jobs available as several public and private projects get underway. The city is hoping to begin a process of diversification which will make Las Vegas a more stable and flexible economy, more able to withstand the inevitable economic crashes after enjoying years of growth and affluence.

The city is planning a new medical center, performance hall, and a spruced up downtown area. All this is news welcome to businessmen in the area such as Kirk Sanford of Sightline Acquisition.  As the mayor said, “Our priority remains the same — to have a world-class city. And we say that even in the throes of this economy.”  Kirk Sanford and others involved in Las Vegas business ventures are happy to hear this from the mayor.

Recently, the U.S. Treasury Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have been working to clarify some of the points in Obama’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). They are trying to speed up trial mortgage modification conversions so that homeowners will be able to obtain more permanent mortgage modifications.

A mortgage modification means that the lender rewords the terms of the existing home loan, usually in order to lower your payments and help you to afford to pay for your home. Under the plans that HAMP is creating, the borrower who is requesting a mortgage medication will have up to five months with a trial modification. This gives them time to submit all of the necessary paperwork, and to see if the modified monthly payment is something they can live with over the long term.

This will certainly benefit people in many cities, such as Las Vegas, where companies like Sightline Acquisition Corp and CEO Kirk Sanford, are also trying to stimulate the economy by investing in distressed properties.

A recent survey from Move.com shows that people have their sights set on their home – not just their diet – for 2010. Nearly 18% of Americans in the survey said that they hope to become first time homebuyers in 2010. With mortgage rates down, prices low and the new $8000 first time home buyers tax credit extended until April 20, 2010, this is certainly a good time to invest.

Certainly, Sightline Acquisition Corp and its CEO Kirk Sanford, and many other similar enterprises, see it as a great time to invest as well. Particularly in locations like Las Vegas, where people are still moving in and real estate is selling cheaply, this is a great time to make that investment.

Nearly 16% of those surveyed are considering buying an investment property this coming year. As Nancy Osborne, CEO of Erate.com, a Santa Clara based financial information publisher says, “If you anticipate inflationary conditions in the future, investment property could be a good bet to hedge against it.”

According to research analyst Dave Dworkin of the real estate firm Grubb and Ellis, the serious recession now hitting Las Vegas and vicinity will necessarily cause banks to adjust the pricing on their land holdings. This in turn will create investment opportunities with distressed properties, the kind of which Sightline Acquisition, founded by Kirk Sanford, will be able to avail themselves of.

The weak, flat real estate market, caused by the loss of jobs which is itself an outcome of the national recession can be of benefit to many who are still employed in Las Vegas. Due to a shortage of renters and a surplus of available apartments and office space, landlords are making offers that in many cases, are too good to refuse.

Tenants are now in positions to renegotiate their leases for lower rents and other benefits. In many cases landlords are offering two and three year leases to entice tenants to remain in their apartments or offices.
But most relevant to Kirk Sanford and the Sightline Acquisition Corporation is that as reality sets in and banks realize that the value of real estate was overinflated in 2005 and 2006, today’s more realistic and lower pricing will create a situation of distressed properties which can be seen as great investment opportunities for those in a position to take advantage of the situation.

Sightline Acquisition, the blank check corporation founded by Kirk Sanford to invest in the slowing real estate market in Las Vegas, is designed to benefit from the softer, flatter real estate market trends seen today in Las Vegas.

As job opportunities remain scarce, landlords must vie with each other for the fewer potential tenants available, driving rental prices downward. Growing amounts of empty office space is a reflection of the loss of over 8,300 jobs throughout the Las Vegas valley area.

For someone with a job the landlords’ predicament can be highly beneficial. With landlords offering enticing incentives, such as several months’ rent free; generous tenant improvement allowances; help with moving costs, and other perks, renters with jobs are enjoying a real chance to save money.

Kirk Sanford’s Sightline Acquisition Corporation will also be one of the beneficialries of such an economy.

The real estate market in the Las Vegas area has shown a great deal of fluctuation in the recent past. Sightline Acquisition Corporation, founded by Kirk Sanford is a blank check corporation designed to take advantage of a real estate market on the downbeat.

According to a recently published report, the real estate market in Las Vegas is expected to remain soft into the coming new year of 2010. Job losses continue as the recession hangs on in Las Vegas, with 13% unemployment in the gambling capital of the U.S., which is 40% higher than the figures for unemployment last year.

In the past Las Vegas has always been less susceptible to the effects of recessions. According to analysts, this is the first time the Las Vegas economy has lagged so far behind the general national economy in terms of recovery. Since there has not been the expected growth in jobs, it has been difficult for the rest of the economy in Las Vegas to recover.

Sightline Acquisition Corporation is a blank check corporation founded by Kirk Sanford in Las Vegas, Nevada. The strategy behind investing at Sightline is to identify distressed real estate and purchase it for significantly below market value.

The expectation of a large number of distressed loans coming to market has not been realized even though there is a shortage of mortgage capital and many loans maturing late in 2010 nationwide. However there are certain regions where that have had the greatest downturn in housing and economic activity, and Nevada is one of them.

Sightline is well positioned geographically to locate and invest in distressed mortgages in the Las Vegas area.

The real estate market in Las Vegas is experiencing an exceptionally good summer this year, and Sightline Acquisition with Kirk Sanford at the helm is paying attention.

According to the GLVAR, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, the month of June in the year 2009 was the best on record for home sales in the area. The statistics include single family homes, townhomes and condominiums in the local Las Vegas area, and the numbers are impressive. Despite the decrease in the number of homes available for sale, the overall cost of a home has remained stable.

In June the number of homes which sold came to the record-setting figure of 4,702, the highest number sold in any single month since the GLVAR has been keeping records. July posted as the second highest single month for home sales, with only 100 fewer homes sold.

Separating out the dollar value of just single family homes from the total, deals totaled $634 million worth for the month of July, and $611 million in the month of June, or a 3.6% decrease since last month and a 7.4% downturn since June 2008.

Sightline Acquisition will continue to keep you in the know about what to know in the real estate scene in Las Vegas.