Bad Economy Provided Good Opportunity for Las Vegas Realtor
Steve Schneider, a Las Vegas Realtor for Prudential Americana Group, has a hopeful
thought for people worrying about the economy. He said that the hard times can
be a good opportunity to increase a company’s market share.
During the last time that the Las Vegas’
economy was this bad, he and two sales partners founded the state’s largest
residential real estate sales company, now known as the Prudential Americana
Group Realty. At the time Schneider sold his one-third interest in the company
in 1999, it had more than 700 sales associates on its staff. Schneider, who was
56 back then, realized it was about time to retire, but after a few months of
retirement he figured that he would only remain happy if he continued to work,
so he went back to selling, making deals, and developing properties.
Learn More About Today’s Las Vegas Real Estate Market!
Schneider spent his childhood days growing
up in a small Nebraska town as the oldest of five children of a local car
dealer. After he moved to Las Vegas, he started teaching English at Bishop
Gorman High School in 1967. And his younger brother, Sen. Mike Schneider, moved
here at Las Vegas at the same time. He started his career in real estate in
1971, working for Jack Matthews and Company. On his first year of business, he
sold 50 Las Vegas homes; his average
sale was at around $18,000. Back then, the economy was bad but certainly not as
bad as today.
In those days, he said, there were a lot of
assumable loans from the Federal Housing Administration and Veteran Affairs,
and that’s what saved them. The people can’t even pay 18% interest. Companies
were going out of business; it was easier to grow in a more difficult market.
He also commented that growth is the
salvation of Las Vegas. The only thing that is going to fix our current
economic situation is growth.