[kzja]

Hi all,

I'm currently relocating to Vegas due to my work. I am 30's living a single life, so my options are pretty open.My work will be about a 20min drive from the strip. Currently I'm considering either buying one of those high-rise condos on/near the strip, vs buying a nice big house with a pool, further away in a nice area like Summerlin.

I'm thinking, Pros for buying a condo would be I would be close to where the fun is (I like clubbing, going to for food, meeting new people), less maintenance, and good amenities. Cons: not much room if friends/family visits, bad traffic since being near/on strip, inconvenient for everyday living.
Pros for house: large, spacious, good for friends and family visiting. Probably a better investment. Cons: might be boring/lonely living in a house by myself in a quiet community.

Do anyone have any thoughts/suggestions? Are those condos more for people looking to get a vacation property, or is it a good option for someone living long term in Vegas? (Bugget around 300-600k).

[08grad]

Are you a cash buyer? Have you lived in Vegas before?

If not, you should be renting for a few months to get a feel for what you want.

The high rises are far different in amenities, walk-ability, views, HOA dues, owner occupancy, etc.

[kzja]

Not a cash buyer, would be purchasing through a mortgage. I lived with family there for one to two months at a time.

For the high-rises that are walkable to the strip, is it reasonable to live there and work off strip?

[Chappy2017]

We are wrestling with the same question, however, we already live here in a 55+ community. Our community is very nice, guarded, gated, and all the amenities, BUT our house is too big at 1811 sq ft. We are 55 and 57, so double your age. We very much enjoy the shows and go to the Smith Center at least twice a month.
Our HOA dues are 200 per month and I find that very reasonable. A high rise can run 700+ per month depending on the place. However, I would not be spending on the water for outdoor plants, electricity to cool and heat, we need only 700-900 sq ft.
I lived in a highrise in Barcelona, so I know I have no problem with that lifestyle. If you travel it is nice to lock and leave. I take care of my neighbors house here, as they split their time between Maryland and Vegas. There is not a lot of Maint. with a rock yard, but you still have to trim and blow leaves.
I do like that I can go for a walk or to the pool at 4am. We are only 18 min from the Smith Center, 22 min to the strip, but here in N Las Vegas, there are not a lot of great food options.
If you are planning to remain single and travel I think a high rise is the way to go. I tell my family and friends that I am not running a B&B and to get a hotel. I would get less Sq Ft for basically the same price, but that is what I want as I do not want to spend my days cleaning. Less furniture to clean and you will be dusting, oiling wood cabinets. Too much fun here in Vegas to spend your time cleaning.

[airics]

For a “large house” in summerlin, think $450 and up. For strip condo, think $1000 a month for the hoa alone.

[movin1]

High rise HOA's were a deal breaker for me. I bought a 2,000 sq ft house in your budget range, HOA is $55/month. House is 3 bed/ 2.5 bath. I use one bedroom for an office and the other for guests. There is a nice community pool. I owned a 3,600 sq ft house in NW Vegas at the top end of your budget. HOA was $100/month. Don't get a house that's too big unless you want to hire someone to clean it.

High rise HOA's are a huge portion of the monthly budget, I owned one in Chicago for a while. You can join a gym for $10/month.

If you want more sq ft and lower HOA, you do not want to buy a high rise condo, simple as that. Depending on where your job is, look at Henderson too. I meet people at restaurants, bars, concerts etc as well as my neighbors in my community.

Vegas is what you make of it like any city. Get out and do stuff and you will meet people.

[luckydogg]

I may also be moving to Vegas in the next couple of months for a new opportunity and am having the same debate, Summerlin vs Strip due to proximity of work location. Sounds like we are thinking about the same exact things! Pro for a high rise, I like the idea of having everything right there (especially fitness center since I hate having to drive to the gym at 5 am), and on the weekends I would prefer the energy and vibe of the strip. But the pro for a house is I will be working long hours so during the week I would like peace and quiet after work, and I also do like having a house for backyard bbq's and relaxing outside when the weather is nice, which isn't so much of an option in a high rise.

I absolutely love the location of Veer Towers the most and I can walk to everything but seems like that would be the absolute worst for traffic and and getting in and out every day would be a pain in the a$$ after awhile. Then if I live at Sky or Allure is that too far north and I won't want to walk anywhere? Might as well just live in the burbs then. The Ogden downtown is another option I like for walking.

I am thinking of leasing for 6 months at the Ogden and see how I like it. Gotta start somewhere right?

[JonathanLB]

Summerlin is too family oriented and too far from the Strip if you ask me. If you’re single, Strip condo would be a lot of fun I think, but Henderson would provide better value for your money and always listed as better for singles. I guess it depends where your work is located.

The HOA dues are high for luxury high rises but you save a lot of money on house expenses. I wouldn’t worry at all about cleaning a big house - if you’re mainly using one or two bathrooms, it’s not like it takes long to clean that and anyway you’re saving enough money on HOA dues to have housekeeping once a month, anyway. I got housekeeping the second I left my condo for a house - I was saving $600+ per month on dues anyway, so it was still a cost savings plus a quality of life improvement.

Most people who complain about house maintenance don’t realize it’s THEIR house, it isn’t “houses.” A new house doesn’t have almost any maintenance required, the proper landscaping in a desert has flat out zero maintenance, so that leaves you with housekeeping duties, which you’d have anywhere and it’s not the end of the world. Either it takes you 2-3 hours every 3-4 weeks or you hire someone, neither is the end of the world.

Closer to your $600K you can get a large house, but closer to your lower to mid range that’s just an average sized house in Vegas, especially Summerlin. One thing I noticed is the average price for a house in Vegas doesn’t get you the average size for a house. Houses are 2,400 square feet nationwide on average new, but an average ($310K) house in Vegas is maybe 1,600 to 1,800 square feet new. Small. Older houses are smaller and there aren’t that many old houses in Vegas so I guess there’s that. But just an advisory because houses aren’t exactly cheap in Vegas compared to the nation, just compared to the West Coast major cities.

[Merrily Gather]

We thought we'd have more people want to come visit Las Vegas and stay with us so we had a spare guest room with a queen size bed in NW Summerlin area about 20 minutes from the airport. We advertised this to all our friends and family encouraging them to come visit.

We ended up having a total of six guests for one time visits over a period of three years. Two were couples. Three were singles interviewing there. One group was a couple and their two kids that took blow up matteresses in the living room.

Everyone else in my friends and family wanted to stay on the strip and a lot more did that than stay with us, but they'd invite me to their hotel so I had a lot of fun seeing different properties with them on their trips. Come to think of it even my Mom stayed on the Strip with a friend so we could go to all the spas. She was the most frequent visitor coming maybe twice a year.

I wouldn't get a house if you don't need all that space for yourself. Go for a two bedroom condo in a high rise so you have a guest room/office. Most of our visitors were weekender trips so they won't stay more than a few days anyways. There are plenty of condos to choose from that work within your budget right now. The commute will depend on where you work. We can give you more details if you have more specifics on what area it's in.

[08grad]

Originally Posted by kzja

Not a cash buyer, would be purchasing through a mortgage. I lived with family there for one to two months at a time.

For the high-rises that are walkable to the strip, is it reasonable to live there and work off strip?

Don't. Rent is cheaper in these high rises than your Mortgage Interest + HOA does + Property Tax + Home Insurance. And that's with a 20% down investment and favorable interest rates. My opinion is that the high rises are overpriced due to speculation with the Raiders Stadium and Resorts World opening next year.

You will be doing a cross commute if you're working in the suburbs, so I wouldn't worry too much about traffic.

I still think you should rent a high rise otherwise you will regret not giving it a chance. But for a lot of these high rises, your walk to the casino is just as long as the drive in from the suburbs, adding that you're often walking in excessive heat dodging the grifters and clueless tourists on the streets.

Veer is the only walkable high-rise, IMO, especially with the Aria tram. The north strip in its current state is sketchy and the only walkable casinos (SLS, Westgate, Circus Circus) aren't really places you want to hang out. This may change with Resorts World. The walk over the Harmon Bridge to Aria from Panorama/The Martin would get old quickly.

Grocery stores aren't convenient and you will be navigating through seedy areas to reach nearby commerce. Restaurants are overpriced because you pay the tourist surcharge for everything. Most of the people you meet at the clubs and restaurants on the strip will be tourists.

My brother lived next to the strip for a few months and that's all it took for him to wisen up and move to the burbs. Got tired of all the domestic disputes at night, airplane noise, and general feeling of safety when going to any retail establishment.