Las Vegas Realtor

[sdsubie]

I 2nd Summerlin. Summerlin has the best feel of a community in Vegas IMHO. Lots of the communities in this area also have mature trees and greener streets, which I like (though I know it’s not as water friendly). I also think the Summerlin will be the best positioned in a housing price recovery (if one ever comes to Vegas).

[briansd1]

I have been to Summerlin before. It’s near Red Rock Canyon and the Red Rock Casino where they held the MissUSA contest.

What about Henderson?

I’m thinking about an area closer to the strip, for convenience.

We don’t want to spend too much on the house. My buddy is in an industry where can officially live anywhere, so he will relocate to Vegas to avoid state income taxes. We will not rent out the house, but rather let it sit and offer it to friends and family as a place to stay when visiting.

Letting the money sit in the bank doesn’t earn anything… so why not buy a house, relocate and save income taxes, own a potentially appreciating asset, and have a place to enjoy?

[briansd1]

Crazy hot market in Vegas
Everything decent goes pending immediately with multiple offers

My realtor says 80% of his buyers pay cash.

Lots of short sales that never come to fruition. Everybody under water is attempting short sales so it’s hard to separate the “legitimate” listings. It’s like a free for all mess but with lots of activity.

Going there this weekend to look around. But I’m placing offers sight unseen as soon as the listings hit.

[CDMA ENG]

[quote=briansd1]I have been to Summerlin before. It’s near Red Rock Canyon and the Red Rock Casino where they held the MissUSA contest.

What about Henderson?

I’m thinking about an area closer to the strip, for convenience.

We don’t want to spend too much on the house. My buddy is in an industry where can officially live anywhere, so he will relocate to Vegas to avoid state income taxes. We will not rent out the house, but rather let it sit and offer it to friends and family as a place to stay when visiting.

Letting the money sit in the bank doesn’t earn anything… so why not buy a house, relocate and save income taxes, own a potentially appreciating asset, and have a place to enjoy?[/quote]

Henderson is still a good area but… It’s realitvely older now and might be a little less hip. Plus its further away from the strip… Summerlin still the better bet… Plus close to Red Rocks which I love…

CE

[briansd1]

Why do so many older houses in Vegas have the A/C unit on top of the roof? Strange. Nobody has answer that questions for me.

I looked at new houses and they have better roof insulation (some kind of foam heat reflective insulation under the red tiles) to keep the heat away from the attic.

Probably not that important in San Diego, but, in Las Vegas, energy efficiency will save money over the years.

New residential central air conditioner standards went into effect on January 23, 2006. Air conditioners manufactured after January 26, 2006 must achieve a Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) of 13 or higher. SEER 13 is 30% more efficient than the previous minimum SEER of 10. The standard applies only to appliances manufactured after January 23, 2006. Equipment with a rating less than SEER 13 manufactured before this date may still be sold and installed.
http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/space_heating_cooling/index.cfm/mytopic=12440

[briansd1]

CDMA, do you know how much the average electric bill of a 2000sf house in LV is?

Sounds expensive to run the A/C in the summer.
http://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/What_is_the_average_ELECTRIC_utility_bill_during_t-48138

I have to admit that I like it cool, like 72, rather than 79.

[ucodegen]

[quote=briansd1]Why do so many older houses in Vegas have the A/C unit on top of the roof? Strange. Nobody has answer that questions for me.
[/quote] Probably retrofit AC. Did the houses have ‘flat’ or ‘flat-ish’ roofs with very little if any attic to run AC/heating ducting with? The heaters may have been the old fashioned wall units. A surprising number of those old AC units may be swamp coolers (which work fairly well in the dry environment).

[briansd1]

ucodegen, I will post a picture when I see one.

In Vegas, they have red tile roofing like we do here. But part of the roof where the AC unit is mounted is asphalt. Kinda strange and ugly looking.

FWIW, the inventory is very low and everything goes pending immediately.

Another thing is that, in Vegas, lots of houses still have laminate counter tops and oak cabinets. The oak is old-fashioned and ugly but it’s to appeal to the snowbirds and retirees.

[briansd1]

This is a picture the weird AC units I see in Vegas, often in older houses.

You’d think that putting the whole thing on the roof would cause it to heat up more from the sun.

My unit is in the attic. In San Diego, however, the AC units are always inside a closet and not in the attic.

I also noticed that newer Las Vegas houses are better insulated than houses in San Diego. My Vegas house has a polystyrene type insulator under the stucco.

[img_assist|nid=16560|title=AC on roof|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=75|height=100]

[sdsubie]

Brian, where did you end up buying?

[briansd1]

I bought in the SW, off of Blue Diamond. I had to be near the airport for ease of travel. And I wanted a newer house with good AC and insulation. My house was built in 2004. The AC is SEER 12. Not the best, but better than an old SEER 10.

Summerlin is nice. I’d say it’s more like the Carmel Valley of San Diego. But it’s too far into “lizardia” for me.

Silverdo Ranch, just south of the airport is nice too.

Ideally, I would have like a pad in a high-rise, like Trump, but that’s too rich for me.

Now that I have a vacation home in Vegas, I’ve real estate investing in the city. I think that it’s always better to be a hands-on investor rather than absentee. There are currently plenty of investors buying in Las Vegas. And yes, there are a lot of trashy people. If you have a cheap house/condo, chances are good you could end up renting to some filthly renters. I think that I’m a good screener.

But time will tell… in 30 years, we’ll see if I made money or end up on welfare (if there’s still such thing). 😉

[sdsubie]

I don’t think welfare will be around, so lets hope Vegas works out.

Agreed, there a ton of investors buying in Vegas right now, stuff really flies off the market quickly, a lot of cash buyers too.

The good thing about Las Vegas is even a pretty nice house, in a pretty nice area is not only cheap (compared to SD prices), but also cash flows pretty well too, so you can hedge a bit against filthy renters by not going to the cheapest area’s. “Hedge a bit” I guess is the key here, since you can find filthy renters at all income and rental brackets.

[CDMA ENG]

[quote=briansd1]CDMA, do you know how much the average electric bill of a 2000sf house in LV is?

Sounds expensive to run the A/C in the summer.
http://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/What_is_the_average_ELECTRIC_utility_bill_during_t-48138

I have to admit that I like it cool, like 72, rather than 79.[/quote]

Sorry didn’t see this earlier. Mom pays mid 250 to 300 a month in the summer time coupled with two GIGANTIC mulberry trees shading the house a good part of the day. House is roughly 1700 sq ft. She also doesn’t run the AC at 72…

CE

[briansd1]

I’m bummed out I could not get the one-story house with casita I wanted.

Las Vegas is swimming with investors driving prices up.

I hear that short sales get approved much more easily these days so I have offers on a couple. People are overbidding and builders are increasing prices.

Of course, all the people underwater are walking one by one so there is plenty of shadow inventory out there. But the for sale inventory is very low.

I used to see Fannie Mae selling 1-bed condos, but no more. My Realtor said they are packaging them for bulk sale.

My prediction is that the summer buying spree will give way to a winter lull as out of town investors retreat for the year. We will see….

[bearishgurl]

[quote=briansd1]. . . My prediction is that the summer buying spree will give way to a winter lull as out of town investors retreat for the year. We will see….[/quote]

brian, Thanksgiving week and the last week of the year are the BIGGEST weeks for “tourism” in Vegas, fueled MOSTLY by CA visitors. Since LV’s “bargain-basement RE prices” have been highly publicized all over the nation, I don’t see a “lull” in visitors or investors. Lake Mead is also a “snowbird” hangout and has many areas around it to park RV’s and store boats, replete with “landings” equipped with boat gas stations and mini-marts. The average boat towed there from out of state is about 36 ft long. The people towing all this stuff (incl an extra small car to go the city in) are mostly boomers with money. Lots of them will no doubt try to shop for a low-cost vacation home/condo in LV, Henderson or Boulder City.

Living in a $60K condo there (PT) with their extra Honda Civic parked (covered) in their pkg space and paying property taxes is far cheaper in the long run than gassing up an RV to tow toys there from Indiana for two RT’s per year.

All manner of “cigarette boats” and jetskis can be permanently stored at low cost at several points around the lake and in Henderson. Imagine Laughlin 30-fold. You, in a passenger vehicle, just don’t want to be on I-15 heading south (to SB, CA and beyond) on Columbus Day, Veteran’s Day or the Sunday after TK :=].

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