[Jonotastic]

What's the best area to buy a home around Las Vegas in your opinion?

I heard the area around Red Rock Canyon is nice.
My budget would be a max of $350,000.

Thanks!

[jfkIII]

send olecapt a DM...he'll take care of you.

[SinCityModern]

There are a ton of messages about particular areas. I think you should check some of those out. Be sure you interview a couple of agents before settling in on one, as an agent, its best to find one that meshes well with you and can really get what you are looking for.

[Jonotastic]

Thanks, I'm still attending college right now, but it's a nice gift from my parents when I graduate next year, so I thought I'd start researching now. I'll be visiting again in the spring, so I'll be sure to send him an e-mail before hand, so I can get off the strip and check out the residential areas.

[delgadobb]

My guess is you'll get a variety of answers, but in the end, as with a lot of things ... it depends.

I just relocated to Las Vegas (actually North Las Vegas) from Chicago & I'm happy with the decisions I made. That said, not everyone would pick what I did. While Summerlin, Southern Highlands, Henderson & so forth were very nice, I was more concerned about living space, value for the dollar & accessibility to I-15 & the strip (part-time poker player).

I'm very new here (only living a month), but had visited & house-shopped for a while. Others will certainly have better local advice to give you. From my perspective, getting in touch with a good realtor was very helpful as well as spending time educating myself on the areas, communities & condition of the general housing market.

When all was said & done, I got to build a new house to spec for almost foreclosure pricing thanks to a builder wanting to finish off a development. (Including amenities that will both add value & wear well over time - granite countertops, upgraded cabinets, tile floors, smart box, large MBR & bath w/retreat & walk-in closet.) I bought more house than I needed, knowing friends & family were going to visit. (I'm SE of Aliante in the NE, west of I-15 & south of 215 - northern NLV, I guess.)

Foreclosures were a pain - I bid on some, but anything good was going for well over asking price - astute banks seemed to realize a low price would help the market adjust itself. Almost everything was a competitive bid situation & the banks wouldn't tell you anything. If you have the patience & the resources, you may find a nice deal on a bank-owned property - just don't expect to find houses for 'pennies on the dollar' like everyone outside Las Vegas told me I'd find.

That said, I think now's an excellent time to buy if you can do it. So many people asked why I'd buy in Vegas right now ... my response was "Why not?" The market's down quite a bit, maybe it goes down a little more but why try to time the bottom? The contrarian in me would ask when would be a better time to buy in Las Vegas? I bought a large house here for what a vintage shack would've cost me in Chicago.

What are the most important criteria for you? Quality of neighborhood, amount of living space, commute time, energy efficiency, updated amenities? That & a little direction from someone like olecapt will probably get you started ... my guess is $350K will buy you a LOT in my area, not as much in Summerlin.

[lexusman199]

350k should get you into a good area of town. Prices have dipped so that should help. You have some courage Id be so afraid to buy in LV bc housing prices have been so unstable. It's like playing the stock market.

[jfkIII]

Not really...the stock market has some up days.

[flyingtigers]

Originally Posted by Jonotastic

Thanks, I'm still attending college right now, but it's a nice gift from my parents when I graduate next year, so I thought I'd start researching now.

Now that's a graduation gift! Show of hands...anyone's parents buy you a house for graduation?

[airics]

Originally Posted by delgadobb

When all was said & done, I got to build a new house to spec for almost foreclosure pricing thanks to a builder wanting to finish off a development. (Including amenities that will both add value & wear well over time - granite countertops, upgraded cabinets, tile floors, smart box, large MBR & bath w/retreat & walk-in closet.) I bought more house than I needed, knowing friends & family were going to visit. (I'm SE of Aliante in the NE, west of I-15 & south of 215 - northern NLV, I guess.)

.

are you in the lyons homes development (cottages?)

[ndb3]

I would suggest the NW-Centennial Hills area. You can definitely get a lot of house (3000+sqft.) for 350k in that area. A lot of great parks and great shopping areas and it's also very convenient to all the major highways.

I would personally avoid the area that delgadobb is referring to. If you are interested in North Las Vegas I would stay north of the 215 highway in Aliante. JMO