[dano]

Entertaining give and take. While I appreciate A1M1700's synical comments (usually defending her/his addopted state of Arizona), he/she continues to appear emotionally bias against Las Vegas. I once again have to agree with Olecapt (the Las Vegas guru), who believes that the two largest, desert southwesten cities of Phoenix and Vegas are very similar and head & shoulders above most other cities in terms of economy, weather, newness/niceness, and lifestyle. The negativety on this board toward the two cities is largely unjustified.

[RedWingsFan]

Originally Posted by a1m1700

Those Station Casinos are crime infested too, especially the Palace Station, Sante Fe has bums in there too be careful.

Not at all a true statement. Red Rock Station, Green Valley Station and Sunset Station are all very nice and not at all crime infested.

Palace and Sante Fe I would say are not as safe because of the area.

[RedWingsFan]

Originally Posted by olecapt

Illegals are rare to non-existant in the strip hotels. They receive careful scrutiny and many require various cards...Food service workers for instance. They are all also members of the Culinary Union. Many Hispanics...but almost all legal.

Sorry to break the news to you but this is TOTALLY untrue!!! There are A LOT of illegals working in the hotels on the strip. A LOT!

Yes, the hotels ask for various cards, all of which can be purchased on the black market. Do some research on illegals using false social security cards/numbers to get jobs and such. Or they steal them to get the jobs or buy things.

This has effected me personally. Over the summer we put our townhouse up for sale in Vegas. It sold. Or so we thought. It was a young Hispanic couple making the purchase. They BOTH worked at the Mirage (on the strip) in culinary positions. Both of them mind you!

The house sale was coming along just fine. Then wham! The DAY BEFORE signing to close escrow I got a call from my realtor. The underwriter at the mortgage company would not write the check or pass it through. Why?

Because the guy was using a bogus social security number and upon investigating it the mortgage company found out that very same number had been used by 9 other people in the valley to obtain mortgages. Bottom line is the mortgage company said they were illegals using bogus SS cards. The same cards they gave to the Mirage to be hired and had been employed by for THREE years.

Believe me, there are so many illegals working in those casinos. There are people that obtain those cards for them and sell them to the people so they can work there.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by RedWingsFan

Sorry to break the news to you but this is TOTALLY untrue!!! There are A LOT of illegals working in the hotels on the strip. A LOT!

Yes, the hotels ask for various cards, all of which can be purchased on the black market. Do some research on illegals using false social security cards/numbers to get jobs and such. Or they steal them to get the jobs or buy things.

This has effected me personally. Over the summer we put our townhouse up for sale in Vegas. It sold. Or so we thought. It was a young Hispanic couple making the purchase. They BOTH worked at the Mirage (on the strip) in culinary positions. Both of them mind you!

The house sale was coming along just fine. Then wham! The DAY BEFORE signing to close escrow I got a call from my realtor. The underwriter at the mortgage company would not write the check or pass it through. Why?

Because the guy was using a bogus social security number and upon investigating it the mortgage company found out that very same number had been used by 9 other people in the valley to obtain mortgages. Bottom line is the mortgage company said they were illegals using bogus SS cards. The same cards they gave to the Mirage to be hired and had been employed by for THREE years.

Believe me, there are so many illegals working in those casinos. There are people that obtain those cards for them and sell them to the people so they can work there.

It is not absolutely impossible to get hired at a Casino if illegal but it is very difficult. Simple strategies like using a legal brother in laws number and identity work quite well. The system does not have a way to differentiate between those with two jobs and two people using the same number.

But in general the Casinos are obvious targets with any number of people prepared to blow the whistle. What could be more career making for a federal prosecutor then to march in and haul away a few hundred employees from the Wynn and Caesars Palace on the same day? Sure the Gaming guy have clout...but more than a major chicken processor in rural Georgia? Not in either of our lifetimes.

These are well paid union jobs. They offer no advantage to the hiring employer. The pay is the same and the union the same regardless of status.

So your position is that the Casinos, for no advantage, risk Federal indictment and the loss of their gaming license to hire illegals?

They must really be strange people.

By the way you should of course have received the earnest money if this was not discovered until the day before the close of escrow. While obtaining financing is a contingency you cannot wait after you know there is a problem without forfeiting the earnest money.

I would also point out there are any number of loan specialist in the Hispanic community who deal with mortgages without good social security numbers. Nothing in the law requires them.

[RedWingsFan]

Originally Posted by olecapt

It is not absolutely impossible to get hired at a Casino if illegal but it is very difficult. Simple strategies like using a legal brother in laws number and identity work quite well. The system does not have a way to differentiate between those with two jobs and two people using the same number.

But in general the Casinos are obvious targets with any number of people prepared to blow the whistle. What could be more career making for a federal prosecutor then to march in and haul away a few hundred employees from the Wynn and Caesars Palace on the same day? Sure the Gaming guy have clout...but more than a major chicken processor in rural Georgia? Not in either of our lifetimes.

These are well paid union jobs. They offer no advantage to the hiring employer. The pay is the same and the union the same regardless of status.

So your position is that the Casinos, for no advantage, risk Federal indictment and the loss of their gaming license to hire illegals?

They must really be strange people.

By the way you should of course have received the earnest money if this was not discovered until the day before the close of escrow. While obtaining financing is a contingency you cannot wait after you know there is a problem without forfeiting the earnest money.

I would also point out there are any number of loan specialist in the Hispanic community who deal with mortgages without good social security numbers. Nothing in the law requires them.

Many of those jobs are not good paying and there are not as many legal people to fill them as there are jobs (especially the housekeeping positions). The casino makes it look as though they made an effort by looking at the card, but nobody verifies any of the information.

About the earnest money... I'm sure you know that both parties must agree what happens to it. Well they weren't going to budge and neither were we because rightfully it was ours. We finally both agreed to split it. So we got half of it.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by RedWingsFan

Many of those jobs are not good paying and there are not as many legal people to fill them as there are jobs (especially the housekeeping positions). The casino makes it look as though they made an effort by looking at the card, but nobody verifies any of the information.

About the earnest money... I'm sure you know that both parties must agree what happens to it. Well they weren't going to budge and neither were we because rightfully it was ours. We finally both agreed to split it. So we got half of it.

YOu are simply incorrect. Virtually all strip hotels are union and the rate of pay is negotiated by the union. It runs around $12 an hour for lower level employees. It includes family health insurance and a paid vacation. It is common for the few non-union hotels to match these benefits.

There may be private contractors in food service and other places who beat the system. The union periodically claims this goes on. But with the union trying to force these people out how long do you think it would take for any significant non-union employer to be turned in to immigration?

Your outcome on the earnest money is a reasonable one. You do not have to agree...but if not you need to go to court. You can pursue it in small claims court if less than $5000. But that still takes 6 months and a win is not guaranteed.

[LivingLikeAGradStudent]

Again, moving past the surface-level immigration discussion ... the Orleans and other Coast hotel properties are expanding and seem like decent places for support workers. There are still places in town that are reasonably priced, but the trend is not good for entry-level buyers.

[anyone101]

Looking on Windemere.com I've noticed a number of houses are around the $200k level around the area NW of the I-15 & US95 junction and border by W Cheyenne Ave or Craig Rd. and bounded by US95 (going northbound) on the west side. Is that a good safe area? That area seems cheaper then some of the others in the SE like Henderson. How about the areas SW of the I-15/US95 junction opposite of the freeway from the Las Vegas Blvd strip?

[lvkewlkid]

Typically in that area, you want to stay SW of that junction, more or less near Shadow and Alta, one of the nicest areas in the city...NW of that junction is West Las Vegas, one of the most dangerous areas in the city...

[wanttoretire]

If you want to start working as a housekeeper to get your foot in the door my suggestion to start with is to go to the Culinary Union and join them. They will send you to the various Union Hotels for employment. You will most likely start as a steady extra but I really believe that you will get your 40 hours in pretty much of the time. The reason I am suggesting going to the union to be sent to the different hotels is because you will probably make the most money at a union hotel doing that type of work then you would in other places. Also the union has medical benefits and as of now you don't have to buy the insurance as you do with non-union hotels. This is very costly so a big savings would be to get a job in a union hotel. You can probably expect to make $13. something an hour, I'm not sure what the exact figure is. You will not only get free medical but also free lunch everyday which is another advantage.

Once you get your foot in the door you would have opportunities to transfer to other departments and/or look around for the makeup artist position.

I'm not exactly a union advocate but frankly for that kind of work it is the best game in town.

Another job you might be temporarily interested in is casino porter work. Same union, same place, same salary range, same benefits. If you go to the union you can request both positions. I have no doubt they will find you a job in no time flat. Again, you can transfer to other departments that would interest you but at least you can get your foot in the door.

I moved to California from NY first then to Las Vegas. California is very expensive. While Las Vegas has become costlier to live here, it is still far less then California is.
I don't care for Las Vegas, it's too hot in the summer for me, I think crime has risen consderably but of course so has the population. I am planning on retiring to another state where it is cooler, less expensive to live, and less congested with of course less crime.
You would have to make your own decision about Las Vegas. Try it, a lot of people really like it here, a lot don't.