[nursewithgrace]

Hi all... I'm relatively new to the forums. I've spent the last few weeks lurking around but still have several questions. I'll apologize in advance if this seems a little disjointed... My husband and I are a military family currently living overseas so I have limited access to information via the WWW because of host country censorship. So, my questions are these: We are looking at living in the northwest quadrant of LV for a minimal commute time to Creech AFB. Most of the houses I've found on the MLS are REO properties. I understand that it can be fairly time consuming working with banks in trying to purchase these properties. On average how long should we expect to wait from the time we put an offer in with a bank till closing? (Provided we are pre-approved, of course) We don't have a stateside home to hang out in and will likely be staying in temporary quarters until we close. Expense is definitely a concern and after having all of our household goods in storage for over a year I am anxious to get settled again.

Also, we will have a 1st grader and 4th grader next year. I have found some mention of elementary schools on the forum but would like to know a little more. We are concentrating our search in the Bilbray/Scherckenbach/O'Roarke district and understand that they are being considered for a year round calender next year. Does anyone have any experience with this? Is the school district considering this because of overcrowding? How are the teachers for the most part? While I know it is important for parents to be involved from an academic standpoint (I homeschooled our children this year, so I would say I am very involved in our children's education) is there a lot of bullying/violence in the schools? Do you feel that the quality of education in the elementary/middle schools in this area are as good as private schools?

Can you recommend any good private schools within easy driving distance of the northwest quadrant that are affordable? We haven't ruled this out as an option but don't have an unlimited supply of funds. (I'm totally snickering as I'm writing this...) Suffice to say, like most parents we simply want the best for our children.

Thank you in advance for any insight you can offer. I, for one, am looking forward to living within driving distance of a Target again.

[Daddys///M3]

Closing will depend much more on the lender who is providing the financing as opposed to the bank who owns said property. They may take a few days to accept or decline your offer, although they are much better than short sales, as well as a few days with getting the seller signed docs to title, but other than that the timeline will be in the financing. Also, since I assume you will be using VA financing, you will want to be very particular in the home that you offer on. VA has some of the most stringent property requirements out there, and VA appraisers don't take their assignments lightly (even had one question the dirty carpet on a purchase that I am working on even though clean carpet is not necessarily a VA property requirement). You certainly don't want an offer to die due to the home not meeting VA property standards, so be mindful of that.

As far as the schools go, my son attended Schreckenbach from K-2 and is currently attending O'Roarke for the third grade. With the exception of his second grade teacher, all of his teachers have been very good (he still did very well in second grade due to my wife's and my involvement as you mentioned). My son has experienced zero violence in his school and has many friends, including those in the higher grades. Private schools out here are not cheap, and the closest one that I know of is The Meadows School, which is one of if not the most expensive. Very competitive from what I hear, but the education is certainly top notch. That being said I feel that a top public school (our schools do rate very well and are on par with the Summerlin and Green Valley schools) combined with solid parental involvement can rival if not exceed a private school education.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by nursewithgrace

Hi all... I'm relatively new to the forums. I've spent the last few weeks lurking around but still have several questions. I'll apologize in advance if this seems a little disjointed... My husband and I are a military family currently living overseas so I have limited access to information via the WWW because of host country censorship. So, my questions are these: We are looking at living in the northwest quadrant of LV for a minimal commute time to Creech AFB. Most of the houses I've found on the MLS are REO properties. I understand that it can be fairly time consuming working with banks in trying to purchase these properties. On average how long should we expect to wait from the time we put an offer in with a bank till closing? (Provided we are pre-approved, of course) We don't have a stateside home to hang out in and will likely be staying in temporary quarters until we close. Expense is definitely a concern and after having all of our household goods in storage for over a year I am anxious to get settled again.

Also, we will have a 1st grader and 4th grader next year. I have found some mention of elementary schools on the forum but would like to know a little more. We are concentrating our search in the Bilbray/Scherckenbach/O'Roarke district and understand that they are being considered for a year round calender next year. Does anyone have any experience with this? Is the school district considering this because of overcrowding? How are the teachers for the most part? While I know it is important for parents to be involved from an academic standpoint (I homeschooled our children this year, so I would say I am very involved in our children's education) is there a lot of bullying/violence in the schools? Do you feel that the quality of education in the elementary/middle schools in this area are as good as private schools?

Can you recommend any good private schools within easy driving distance of the northwest quadrant that are affordable? We haven't ruled this out as an option but don't have an unlimited supply of funds. (I'm totally snickering as I'm writing this...) Suffice to say, like most parents we simply want the best for our children.

Thank you in advance for any insight you can offer. I, for one, am looking forward to living within driving distance of a Target again.

You basically are golden. Now quiet down and do the right thing. You have the right neighborhoods in the right time and the right money.

If you screw it up it is your fault...the opportunity seldom gets better.

And you get the free commute...the best communte in the USA just about is that from the NW to Creech. Twenty minutes and if you are military you are close to being ticket proof.

You will not find affordable private schools if less than a Major. And then you will be challenged. There are a couple in Summerlin but they are not inexpensive...and you are already high enough on the hog you really don't need it.

So dig in and enjoy. It might go year round but I doubt it...the climate is running the other way right now...but it will still be very nice. Nice people...nice schools...nice home prices...Make a small offering to the gods for their kindness and get with the program.

Seriously...it seldom gets any better...

[nursewithgrace]

Also, since I assume you will be using VA financing, you will want to be very particular in the home that you offer on. VA has some of the most stringent property requirements out there, and VA appraisers don't take their assignments lightly (even had one question the dirty carpet on a purchase that I am working on even though clean carpet is not necessarily a VA property requirement). You certainly don't want an offer to die due to the home not meeting VA property standards, so be mindful of that.

Thank you for the heads up with this. We are planning on using a VA loan and I was not aware that their requirements could be a bit more stringent than most. It's definitely something we will keep in mind.

It might go year round but I doubt it...the climate is running the other way right now...but it will still be very nice. Nice people...nice schools...nice home prices...Make a small offering to the gods for their kindness and get with the program.

Either way, whether year round or traditional calendar, we will do fine. Better than fine. After four PCS's in the past six years I would say we are, if anything, flexible. It does make me feel a bit better to hear some positive reviews on the schools though... so thanks.

If you screw it up it is your fault...the opportunity seldom gets better.

Dear Jesus in Heaven, let us please not ***** this up.

Amen.

[KonaKat]

Year round is no big deal. We moved there and my kids had never experienced year round and adjusted almost instantly. It's so freaking hot in the summer, they might as well be inside and AC school room anyways! the different tracks (schedules) within the schools have various breaks and holidays. At first I chose the track that had the longest summer break because they would go back to Missouri for visits. Then, we had to choose a certain track because one wanted band, another wanted something else, another needed special ed for a couple of subjects. For a few years I had 5 kids on 4 different schedules! aarrgh! But we survived. Trust me, the year round school schedule is going to be the least of your worries.

Best wishes.

[nursewithgrace]

IF (and it sounds like a big if at this point) the schools go year round, is it fairly easy to get the track that you want or do most people gravitate towards a specific track and have to let school administrators assign accordingly?

[RedRockAAAA]

I can't promise this relates, but ...

We had a great realtor, a terrific mortgage broker (prequalified) and were very pleased with our closing at a title company which was a new experience for us (we were accustomed to lawyer style closings). Our purchase was FHA. Our loan was sold to a larger bank right after closing and everything is fine.

From day of offer to closing was 4 weeks. I'm sure we had a great string of luck. I made myself available 24/7 for phone calls, inspection and the appraisal. We needed to move at end of a lease. Our realtor had good contacts to make things happen.

The house we bought sold for $200,000 in Jan, 2008 and we paid $140,000 in Oct, 2008. The bank paid all of our closing costs. We have 3 Br and 2 Ba with 2 car garage in a gated community in an area somewhat near the NW.

I hope the details fill in the picture for you. Good Luck and Welcome.

[Daddys///M3]

Originally Posted by nursewithgrace

IF (and it sounds like a big if at this point) the schools go year round, is it fairly easy to get the track that you want or do most people gravitate towards a specific track and have to let school administrators assign accordingly?

Although I have no experience with year round schools, I do believe that most people gravitate towards a specific track (the one that most resembles 9 months schools I believe). I have also heard that if a child has siblings in a 9 month school or 9 month type track precedence will be given to those children, although this is simply what I hear and have no evidence to back that up so take it for what it is worth.

[Daddys///M3]

Originally Posted by RedRockAAAA

I can't promise this relates, but ...

We had a great realtor, a terrific mortgage broker (prequalified) and were very pleased with our closing at a title company which was a new experience for us (we were accustomed to lawyer style closings). Our purchase was FHA. Our loan was sold to a larger bank right after closing and everything is fine.

From day of offer to closing was 4 weeks. I'm sure we had a great string of luck. I made myself available 24/7 for phone calls, inspection and the appraisal. We needed to move at end of a lease. Our realtor had good contacts to make things happen.

The house we bought sold for $200,000 in Jan, 2008 and we paid $140,000 in Oct, 2008. The bank paid all of our closing costs. We have 3 Br and 2 Ba with 2 car garage in a gated community in an area somewhat near the NW.

I hope the details fill in the picture for you. Good Luck and Welcome.

Luck may have played a role, but your availability likely made all of the difference (that and a lender that was willing to work to get the home off of it's balance sheet). As an aside though, unlike FHA loans we don't pick the appraiser for VA loans. The appraiser is assigned to the appraisal when we pull the VA case number, and per VA guidelines the appraiser legally has up to 10 business days to complete the assignment, which can obviously hold up the process especially if there is a need to go out and re-inspect.

[nursewithgrace]

Are most banks willing to pay/help pay closing costs? I assumed they were still trying to get the maximum amount of money they could for every home they have on the books.