South of Vegas for $600 or less / month? (Las Vegas, Henderson: RV park, apartment complexes)

pyrotech · 05-11-2014, 05:00 PM

I got a job at the Jean Airport in Jean, NV and have been living in a motorhome here for about a week, camping out in parking lots and BLM land. I'm currently staying in an RV park in Henderson, but it's about 35 miles from work. I get about 8 miles per gallon in the motorhome (no car yet), and work 7 days a week, so it's costing me about $35 just in gas alone to get back and forth to work, which ends up being around $900/mo just in gas to go to work. I can't really afford that, so am working on moving out of the motorhome and into an apartment as far south of Las Vegas as I can get. Preferably, somewhere like Sloan or Goodsprings would be perfect, but the furthest I would like to live is the Silverado Ranch or Enterprise areas.

I'm very new to this part of the country, and cannot seem to find what I'm looking for on Craigslist. Maybe I'm searching for the wrong things, but looking for 'enterprise' or 'silverado ranch' don't seem to return results. A friend of mine took over a lease from a friend for a 1br for $575, and it's a pretty nice place, so I know I'd be able to find a run-down efficiency apartment or similar for less than $600? I don't mind if I have to live in someone's basement at this point, but I can't seem to find anything when I search online. When I've called to numbers written on banners outside of apartment complexes, most are looking for $800+ for a 1br. I did find a studio apartment for $610/mo, and am considering using it as a last resort (at least by the highway maybe I can hitchhike to work?), but surely there's something out there I can find for around 500 or so for just a roof over my head, running AC, and a hot shower after work? I own very few things, so I don't need much space.

Am I going crazy here? I can do the camper thing for a little while longer, but it's starting to get pretty hot during the day. I'm not really sure what to search for when looking for apartments here, or if I'm even doing myself a disservice using craigslist. Is there another tool I can use to find an apartment? Any type of property management service that I can call to find affordable housing in my price range ($500 - $600)? I feel like I'm not asking for a lot for a $500 studio... Maybe I am? Please help!

SoHoVe · 05-11-2014, 05:57 PM

Try searching Sandy Valley.

Rent a room month to month, sell the RV and buy a car then decide where you can afford to live.. You are unlikely to find someone renting a basement as they are typically only found in higher end homes and very few of those at that. You are also pretty unlikely to find a place where you can keep the RV parked on the street in any of the newer communities.
Heck in some communities you can't even park your car on the street!

Good luck with all of this, I hope you are able to get settled somewhere soon.

yellowsnow · 05-11-2014, 06:02 PM

There's not a whole heck of a lot to choose from in Sloan and Goodsprings. I work out at Primm so I know some people who live in these small towns. Here's my suggestion. Rent a car for a weekend and go there. Look for the bulletin boards at the local stores to see what's available. Talk to the clerks in the stores. Next talk to your co-workers and see if they have ideas. The casino at Jean also has a bulletin board. If you can't check it yourself, ask someone to look for you. Check the Shell Station on the W side of I15 too. The people who work there know everyone.

No, you aren't asking for much but these are small communities in the middle of just about nothing. You are going to have to do some real looking and fast. In a couple weeks you will be sweltering in a motorhome with no AC. I would be amazed to find much of anything posted on CL from either of these communities.

SoHoVe · 05-11-2014, 06:16 PM

You could also try to find a coworker or casino worker to carpool with...offer them like 10 bucks a day.
Since they are driving out there anyway they would only be making money.

pyrotech · 05-11-2014, 06:40 PM

Thank you SoHoVe and yellowsnow for the suggestions. I did a search for Sandy Valley and called someone who has some land to rent; it's a few hundred bucks cheaper per month than I'm paying now, so maybe I'll get lucky and get a call back. I'll stop in the Shell station tomorrow after work and ask around. Someone mentioned stopping into the bar in Goodsprings to ask around also; I'm just not sure how the town takes to strangers coming in asking for places to live, haha. Definitely worth a shot though; Goodsprings is right down the road from the airport! Thanks again for the suggestions, I'll check out the town and bulletin boards tomorrow afternoon.

ddrhazy · 05-11-2014, 09:03 PM

Do you have co workers you can carpool with? Does the airport offer any sort of transportation to the airport? I know that some of the casinos in Primm did this for their workers before.

MSchu · 05-11-2014, 09:05 PM

get a motorcycle

LasVegasPlayer · 05-11-2014, 09:55 PM

For $35 per night couldn't you just stay at Goldstrike w/o having to put the miles on your RV in the meantime? I have seen several RVs in that lot before. Is there not somewhere around the casino as a temp solution?

PinkString · 05-12-2014, 03:28 AM

Now that is something to look into. (post above mine) And maybe they will give the OP a better deal for a room on a monthly basis. Then get a cheap bike or scooter to go back and forth to work. Until the OP finds a more permanent solution.

pyrotech · 05-13-2014, 01:53 PM

THANK YOU guys again for all the recommendations! I looked into all of them, and the best situation for me right now came around by going to the gas station and bar in Goodsprings and just asking the locals. I got several suggestions on places, and someone even took me to a neighbor's place to get a spot to park and plug in my RV.

Until I move there next week, I'll be carpooling with a coworker who lives about halfway to my new job. I'll just drive there and carpool with them, spending only half the amount in gas for the week. I can then drive the RV back and forth to work (MUCH shorter distance) until I can get a cheap car, get an apartment, and sell the RV.

MSchu, I've asked around about motorcycles, and most people seem to agree that a bike is not very good for the summers here. Would you disagree? Seems like it'd be really hot wearing leathers in the temps it gets here, and one coworker mentioned he got blisters on his legs from riding in shorts in the summer.

LasVegasPlayer, I didn't realize it was so cheap to stay at the Goldstrike. I guess I'd just assumed it would be much more expensive being a casino and all.