Pahrump Question (Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City: for sale, real estate market, homes)

[Paul3086]

Hi All,
I've been researching towns in NV and had some questions about Pahrump. The posts that I see either love it or hate it. The reason I was looking at Pahrump was because it seems the housing prices for towns loser to LV (Henderson, Boulder City, etc.) are much higher. Also, the closer you are to LV the more riff raff you will encounter. I'm intersted in a 2,500+ sq. ft. home on one acre of land in the $250,000-$300,000 range. Is this a realistic price for what I'm looking for? Or have prices gone up. The acre zoning is important to me as I don't want to be on top of another house, one acre should provide me with space and privacy I'm looking for. From what I understand, Pahrump is a rapidly growing town and the quality of life and services should get better as time goes by. Mesquite is another town I'm looking at, but again, the housing prices really seem to be booming and the small size of the town would make the acre zoning I'm looking for difficult. I'm retiring from my state job here in NY in '08. Nevada is attractive for not only the climate and wide open spaces, but NV will not tax my pension (NM does). Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.
Paul

[olecapt]

IN Pahrump you can get 2500 SF on an acre for around 250K with a manufactured home. Stick built on an acre start around 325K for 2500SF.

[DennisL]

Originally Posted by Paul3086

Hi All,
I've been researching towns in NV and had some questions about Pahrump. The posts that I see either love it or hate it. The reason I was looking at Pahrump was because it seems the housing prices for towns loser to LV (Henderson, Boulder City, etc.) are much higher. Also, the closer you are to LV the more riff raff you will encounter. I'm intersted in a 2,500+ sq. ft. home on one acre of land in the $250,000-$300,000 range. Is this a realistic price for what I'm looking for? Or have prices gone up. The acre zoning is important to me as I don't want to be on top of another house, one acre should provide me with space and privacy I'm looking for. From what I understand, Pahrump is a rapidly growing town and the quality of life and services should get better as time goes by. Mesquite is another town I'm looking at, but again, the housing prices really seem to be booming and the small size of the town would make the acre zoning I'm looking for difficult. I'm retiring from my state job here in NY in '08. Nevada is attractive for not only the climate and wide open spaces, but NV will not tax my pension (NM does). Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.
Paul

I highly recommend AGAINST moving to Pahrump! Pahrump is growing way too fast. The infrastructure here is already woefully behind, so much so, that it cannot possibly ever catch up. I moved here one year ago from Pittsburg, in the the eastern San Francisco Bay area, with the expectation that I was moving to an area that would be ideal for retiring -- peaceful, quiet, less traffic, less crime, etc. Boy, was I wrong!! Most every home is right on a busy, noisy street. Every day, I regret the move. I have my place up for sale, and as soon as it sells, I am out of here. Pahrump has all of the problems of wild, out of control, unmanaged growth. There is no zoning here. All over, you see right next to a beautiful, custom-built stick home, a dilapidtated, run-down, 20-year-old or more travel trailer inhabited by a meth head. The climate is horrible. Summer is ungodly hot. Winter is ungodly cold. Ninety percent of the days are windy, with dust devils blowing everywhere.

Awful traffic, noise pollution, air pollution, growth and people pollution. FORGET PAHRUMP! There is nothing good to say about this hell on Earth.

Don't move to Pahrump. In all likelihood, you will hate it.

[olecapt]

There is a prior thread on Pahrump at....

http://www.city-data.com/forum/nevada/219-pahrump.html

Note that Nevada outside of Clark and Washoe counties is a different place...ain't likely to work for people accustomed to an urban environment.

Nevada outside of the big population centers is Liberterian and distrustful of government. Services are few. If you are not self-contained you will not like these places.

Pahrump makes a fetish out of NOT being Las Vegas...

[456321]

Hi Paul,
As a resident of Pahrump for the last 5 years the only thing I can agree with on the above statements is...the town just started zoning. It is in its infancy and is going thru growing pains. With that being said it is a great town to live in. As a former southern Californian, and Vegan I enjoy the slower pace of Pahrump. The air is clean, the land is vast, the people are friendly and as a mother of 3 I feel safe letting them ride bikes or the horses without the fear of them being kidnapped. We dont have metal detectors that the kids have to walk thru to get to school. You can get plenty of homes in the 225k range you just wont get as much land. Average lot size in the town is one acre. At 225k you are looking at a .25 acre lot. If you are looking to slow down but still need to commute to a major city Pahurmp is a great choice.

[dano]

Originally Posted by DennisL

I highly recommend AGAINST moving to Pahrump! Pahrump is growing way too fast. The infrastructure here is already woefully behind, so much so, that it cannot possibly ever catch up. I moved here one year ago from Pittsburg, in the the eastern San Francisco Bay area, with the expectation that I was moving to an area that would be ideal for retiring -- peaceful, quiet, less traffic, less crime, etc. Boy, was I wrong!! Most every home is right on a busy, noisy street. Every day, I regret the move. I have my place up for sale, and as soon as it sells, I am out of here. Pahrump has all of the problems of wild, out of control, unmanaged growth. There is no zoning here. All over, you see right next to a beautiful, custom-built stick home, a dilapidtated, run-down, 20-year-old or more travel trailer inhabited by a meth head. The climate is horrible. Summer is ungodly hot. Winter is ungodly cold. Ninety percent of the days are windy, with dust devils blowing everywhere.

Awful traffic, noise pollution, air pollution, growth and people pollution. FORGET PAHRUMP! There is nothing good to say about this hell on Earth.

Don't move to Pahrump. In all likelihood, you will hate it.

This sounds a little suspicious of an old-timer trying to scare newcomers away. Heck, Tonapah or Battle Mountain are nicer than what is described here. My only gripe with Pahrump are rednecks that are attempting to thwart growth and progress at every turn.

[DennisL]

Originally Posted by dano

This sounds a little suspicious of an old-timer trying to scare newcomers away. Heck, Tonapah or Battle Mountain are nicer than what is described here. My only gripe with Pahrump are rednecks that are attempting to thwart growth and progress at every turn.

On the contrary, I am not an oldtimer in Pahrump. In fact, I arrived here just one year ago from the San Francisco Bay area on the recommendation from an acquaintance. What a mistake coming here was. I hate it for all of the reasons stated in my previous reply, the main one being out of control, unmanaged, and unplanned growth . . . with all of its attendant problems and destruction of the quality of life for those already here -- contruction trucks running around everywhere, traffic noise pollution, air pollution (flying dust), and traffic congestion. And with no zoning here, you will see all over, right next to a beautiful, custom-built stick home, a dilapidated, run-down, 30-year-old trailer inhabited by some meth head.

I cannot wait to leave Pahrump and will be selling my property as soon as the real estate market picks up again.

[flyfisher]

I live in Henderson (just outside Las Vegas). I work in Pahrump and drive the 140 mile round-trip each day because I do not choose to live there. As a full-time practicing Physician Assistant, I find drugs to be a major problem in the area. On a per person basis the problem is worse than in Las Vegas. It is a realtively nice city and yes, it is growing, but like so many small cities, it is also controlled by a select few. One of which is my boss. The traffic is bad because you have so many who shouldn't be on the road (because of drugs or age) and the overall road system is a nightmare for such a small town. Although bigger, you need to look at some of the other outlying cities like Boulder City, Mesquite, etc.

[olecapt]

There is no commonality between those cities. Only Pahrump is even roughly rural. Boulder City is an expensive Vegas suburb. Mesquite is a moderate income Vegas suburb.