Las Vegas Realtor

[briansd1]

Are you predicting increasing prices this winter?

I think the holidays are more about people having fun. The buyers in Vegas want to be landlords, not residents. And being a landlord has downsides that many are not prepared for.

Anyway, banks are foreclosing again and approving short sales.

[spdrun]

I can’t speak to LV, but asking prices in Phx have basically flatlined in the last month after going up for about 8 months. Inventory there is now holding steady, if not creeping up slightly.

(Good!)

[bearishgurl]

[quote=briansd1]Are you predicting increasing prices this winter?

I think the holidays are more about people having fun. The buyers in Vegas want to be landlords, not residents. And being a landlord has downsides that many are not prepared for.

Anyway, banks are foreclosing again and approving short sales.[/quote]

I don’t know if prices will increase there (due to massive “shadow inventory” trickling out) but feel you will have to compete everywhere against all-cash investors from out of state.

EVERY CO mtn town I stayed at least one night each in last summer (six towns in 2011) had individuals and couples in the breakfast room and in the jacuzzi at night headed for Phoenix and Vegas to buy up rentals for their “retirement income” and to possibly use for a vacation home (LV) or for their children/parents to rent from them. Some were from CO and others were from the midwest and WY (traveling thru CO). ALL were in search of deeply-discounted bargains and (presumably) prepared to consummate cash deals on the spot (if they found something). Ages were 55-65 who were driving all gamut of (expensive) SUVs and even motorcycles!

Just like us, they were staying in chain lodging everywhere, taking advantage of the “free night” promotions and accumulating lodging points and using them!

The Rockies are but just one little corner of the world. En route to my brethren two weeks prior to visiting the Rockies, I observed my Albuquerque motor lodge also filled with the same type of folks with the same goals … albeit coming from the Eastern Seaboard, the South and the Southwest part of the country en route to LV and Phoenix, but didn’t have as much time to converse with them.

These individual-investor types don’t typically fly. A lot of them just retired (or one of the couple did) and drive their own vehicles (often luxury 4WDs) and MC’s so they can see all the country and attractions they couldn’t see while a worker-bee and maybe also see grandkids or other relatives on the way up and/or back home :=]

[spdrun]

I don’t know about not flying. On the plane back from CA about a year ago, I had a stop in PHX. I sat next to a Chinese lady who had just bought a condo in AZ because she wanted a rental for her son, who had moved there after college.

Foreigners are buying up a lot of property as well (good thing in my book – I don’t consider myself very American).

Real problem with both Phoenix and LV is climate and lack of water. This won’t get better with global warming, and they’re borderline intolerable 5 months out of the year as it is!

[bearishgurl]

[quote=spdrun]I don’t know about not flying. On the plane back from CA about a year ago, I had a stop in PHX. I sat next to a Chinese lady who had just bought a condo in AZ because she wanted a rental for her son, who had moved there after college.

Foreigners are buying up a lot of property as well (good thing in my book – I don’t consider myself very American).

Real problem with both Phoenix and LV is climate and lack of water. This won’t get better with global warming, and they’re borderline intolerable 5 months out of the year as it is![/quote]

spdrun, I don’t think a woman traveling alone would necessarily drive 2500 mi (from NY to PHX) by herself just to buy an investment condo and for no other reason. I agree about her reason for buying. I’ve talked to a lot of people whose kids (and grandkids) are constantly moving seeking a lower rent when their rents are raised. They don’t like to see their (out-of-state) grandkids living such a transient life so are searching for a property they can reasonably rent to their kids for the long term.

The road-traveling investors I saw last summer were mostly couples with a few individual men.

Are your sure your “Chinese” traveling companion wasn’t actually an American? My instincts tell me she probably was if she had a son going to college and now employed in the US.

Yes, PHX and LV ARE unbearably hot. But they appeal to winterbirds during their cooler, winter months and low-income families due to having an overall lower cost of housing than the more desirable, coastal cities.

[briansd1]

spdrun, foreigners tend to forget that American real estate comes with HOA and property taxes and generally high maintenance costs when labor is involved.

In most of the world, property taxes and maintenance are insignificant so people just sit on their real estate.

As far a Vegas goes, water and electricity is more readily available than in San Diego where we enjoy mild weather but have to import our water and electricity.

Vegas has Hoover Dam and Lake Mead right next door.

I’ve been going to Vegas for 20+ years mostly on conferences. People want to vacation there for the same reasons conferences are scheduled there. Vegas offers luxury at a fraction of the prices elsewhere because all the tourists together share the cost. You have celebrity restaurants and luxury shops that can’t be found but in world class cities.

The latest fashion and luxury goods are available in Vegas. Vegas offers a champagne environment at beer prices. Sure, Vegas is not elegant and well-bred, but people don’t really care, and they don’t look deeper anyway. I call it the “Cheesecake Factory” effect. I won’t eat there but I don’t deny that they have a great business model.

Right now, I’m enjoying my house in Vegas. I plan to offer it to my friends and relatives as a vacation getaway. I’m sure my cousin from New York would like to spend a couple months in the winter.

I wish there were a Piggington of Vegas. I’m too lazy to look for data so I’m just going by expected cash flow and gut instincts. Rents are dropping somewhat; and if you’re tenant picky, you have to prepare for some months of vacancy.

[spdrun]

Are your sure your “Chinese” traveling companion wasn’t actually an American? My instincts tell me she probably was if she had a son going to college and now employed in the US.

Possibly a dual-citizen, since she claims to have come here in the mid-80s, but she referred to herself as Chinese.

[spdrun]

spdrun, foreigners tend to forget that American real estate comes with HOA and property taxes and generally high maintenance costs when labor is involved.

In most of the world, property taxes and maintenance are insignificant so people just sit on their real estate.

I’d say that taxes in Phoenix and San Diego (the parts w/o Mello Roos) fit that description pretty darn well. Absent HOA fees or bonds, tax rate in Phoenix is under $2 per $100 per year. You can easily get a 3 bdr in a decent area of Phoenix for about $100k, meaning that your taxes would be about $150 per month, assuming no HOA stupidity. About 1/3 to 1/4 of what you’d be paying for mortgage.

[briansd1]

Talking about foreigners and Vegas, there a huge Chinatown there and I believe that whatever American city where there’s a growing Chinese population, house prices will do well, long term.

I bought a beautiful chess set on CL from an Eastern European family. Nice house with beautiful wood and tiles. They are walking away because they are $200k underwater.

Foreclosures and short sales will continue until equity for homeowners is restored. Vegas is a gambling town. If they have no skin the game, people will walk.

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