[mntonv]

I am getting overwhelmed reading all the posts in the forum!

Long story short, my husband was laid off last December and has been looking for work since then. Now his previous employer has called him back for a job in Las Vegas. We are anticipating the formal offer sometime this week, so I thought I'd do some preliminary research on housing.

I've been looking for houses to rent and boy, it seems like a tough market with not a lot of options! We own a home in Minnesota and are not planning on selling at the present time, but will rent it out, thus I haven't been looking at any homes for sale.

Can you advise me what the best course of action would be? More than likely, the kids and myself won't be out there permanently until after the 1st of the year. I was thinking that I would shoot for a 12/1 date to be out of our home and then we'll camp with family until after Christmas. Should I even be looking for a rental at this time? Hubby will probably be heading out there right after Labor Day. I'm sure he'll be a Residence Inn or something of that nature for now.

Is it best to find a rental myself or work with a realtor or other person? I see on Craigslist some realtors who say they specialize in rentals? Are there any other websites to look at other than LVRJ, realtor.com and craigslist?

We are mainly looking in the Henderson area, mostly due to hubby's POE being just south of the airport, but we would consider other areas as well. How would the commute be from Summerlin to Sunset Rd these days?

Oh, and we used to live here, so we do know a little bit about the area. I know it's changed a lot though. He had a different job with the same company here eight years ago and we were here from 99-02.

Thanks for the help!

Kim

[volfanga]

I don't know what exactly your looking for but I did a quick search on realtor.com and there are over 650 listing for rent in Henderson. With all
the foreclosures and people having to move to rentals may be a little tough but many of the foreclosures are being bought by investors and turned into rentals. I think you will have an easier time than you are imagining.

[KiwiKate]

I agree. There are lots of rentals -- apartments and houses -- in Henderson on Realtor.com. I guess it would depend on your price range, but honestly don't think you'll have any problems. I would recommend that you just call the listers you see on the properties you'd like. Most of them are realtors and they'll at least get a commission on the rental if you work with them. I'm renting a house while I househunt and that's how I did it.

[SportyandMisty]

How large a home do you want to rent?
How many kids do you have? ages? Are they old enough for school yet? Would you put them in public school or private school?
Would your Husband's stay in the "Residence Inn" or something like be provided by the employer, or would this be something you would have to pay for out of your take-home pay?
How long do you expect the assignment to last for your husband?

[mntonv]

Thanks for your input!

My thinking on the house rental is we have some things we'd really like in a home, but if it came down to it, we'd probably compromise. I don't think we're looking for all that big of a home. I'd like to be around 2000 sq ft or so (our current home is about 2600), give or take, 3 bd minimum, would prefer four or a loft or den. We'd like one with a pool, nice kitchen, etc., since we are anticipating this possibly being a long term rental. I think that's probably why I think the inventory seemed more limited due to the pool thing. We have two kids, twins, who will be in second grade. I would put them in public school.

Yes, hubby's stay will all be covered by employer, along with car rental, etc. They'll probably pay for me to fly out a couple times to look for housing. I don't really know all the details yet, because we don't have the formal offer. I'm just going by what was provided last time. They'll pay for all our moving and packing.

As for the assignment, we'd expect at least 2-3 years minimum, could be longer, or maybe we'd choose to stay. Who knows?

I probably won't be able to fly out until September sometime, so that's why I was thinking maybe it's not even worth looking or contacting people right now, if we're not really going to be making the move until Nov-Dec timeframe.

Thanks again for any advice...

[SportyandMisty]

Hmmm.....

If it were me, I would look at moving the entire family for the beginning of the academic year rather than having my kids start 2nd grade and then mid-way through move states. I think it might be a bit easier for them to make new friends in the beginning of the academic year here, but that's just me.

But, that is a lot of work on your end to get ready to move your family... which may be why you don't anticipate moving to join your husband for several months.

Having said that, I think your best bet is to work with a Realtor, especially since you are doing this from afar.

Some landlords prefer to list their properties solely via MLS & a realtor. That way,the realtor does some screening on the applicant. Contrast that with a CraigsList applicant -- the landlord starts from scratch on screening out flakes & undesirables.

You sound like a very reasonable person, and assuming your credit history doesn't scare someone off, I don't think you will have a problem. You own your home currently, your story makes sense, your husband will have a job, you will derive some rental income from renting out your current home -- what's not to like?

You didn't mention a price range, but based on what you describe, I suggest adding to your list the 7 Hills neighborhood, and perhaps Anthem

[mntonv]

I can see your point about moving at the beginning of the academic year, however, it's just not feasible. I believe Clark County schools begin on Aug. 30 this year. We start the day after Labor Day. I've heard different schools of thought about moving during the summer and during the school year. Some of my friends who have moved during the school year say it's a good to move then, because then they get right into school and make friends right away vs. if you move during the summer, there may not be as much opportunity to find kids your age or ones that may be in your class, etc. Thus, why I'm thinking if we can all be in place as of January 3, that will be good. Kids can finish their term here, do all the fun holiday things with their class, etc. and then we'll head out after Christmas.

Price range? Well, I'm hoping to stay under 2K, but we'll see how that all pans out. I think that's doable. I've been mostly drawn to the Green Valley Ranch area, or zips like 89052 or 89012, etc., but I'm definitely not stuck on that. We are somewhat open, but the schools are important to us. When just hubby & I lived there before, we lived southwest. We are from a small town and hubby has always commuted, so a little drive doesn't bother us either.

I appreciate the thoughts!

[WestieJeff]

You should have no problem finding a place like you're looking for with a pool in a good area (GVR) for less than 2k per month. I'm thinking probably around $1600-$1800/month tops depending on how big and fancy you want to get.

[007 license to sell]

Here are some links to property management companies that specialize in rentals in case you haven't seen these. There are allot of rentals that never make on the MLS, so these sites might have more inventory to pick from. Stay away from craigs list allot of people have been scammed by people claiming to have a house for rent in Vegas and the surrounding area.

Keller Management - Las Vegas Real Estate - Henderson Real Estate -

Triumph Property Management <eit@e-info-tech.com>

Tyer Realty and Management <Flyer@AdvertiseRE.com>

Management ONE Group <info@managementonelv.com>

Good Luck in your search

[mntonv]

Thanks for the comments, links and emails. I'll check them out.