A Stern Glance

Mike Shustek, Founder Vestin Group, on the economy and real estate
Friday, October 10, 2008
McCormick & Schmicks - 335 Hughes Center Drive
11:30 AM Check-in, Speaker & Lunch 12 PM Cost: $35
Please RSVP-Judy at 839-7222 or jlaub@regenmd.org or go to www.CEO-CFOgroup.com

This is not an easy time to be in the real estate market in Las Vegas. Mike Shustek is the owner of the Vestin Group which until recently has been profitable every year and ranks third among private lenders in Nevada with $500 million in mortgage loans outstanding (2006). As land prices have dropped in value, problem loans rising and fewer banks willing to make loans, the “hard money” market has become challenging.

Shustek will talk about the “hard money” industry, its challenges, gauging the recovery and how to make money in real estate at a special October 10th CEO-CFO meeting.

The Vestin Group owns Vestin Mortgage which was founded in 1995 by Mike Shustek and has been responsible for more than $2 billion in real estate transactions. More than $180 million of those loans have been provided for start-up casinos such as Terrible’s Hotel-Casino and The Cannery casino which made those projects possible.

Vestin Mortgage manages two publicly traded REITs, Vestin Realty Mortgage I and Vestin Realty Mortgage II. The Review Journal reported that the Vestin REITs have large concentrations of loans in Nevada. About 45 percent of Vestin II’s loans and 30 percent of Vestin I’s loans are in Nevada. Mike Shustek told the Review Journal that the Vestin REITs do not have any loans to John Ritter’s Focus Property Group. (Focus has $2 billion in its land and development portfolio and has reported to have difficulties in refinancing.)

Michael Shustek founded Vestin Mortgage, formerly known as Del Mar Mortgage in 1995 and has been involved in the real estate industry in Nevada since 1990. In 1993, he founded Foreclosures of Nevada, Inc., a company specializing in non-judicial foreclosures. In 1997, Shustek was involved in the founding of Nevada First Bank, which was later purchased by Western Alliance Bank. Shustek has also co-authored two books, “Trust Deed Investments,” and “If I Can Do It, So Can You.”