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What areas appeal to the retirees you're selling to? I agree that the prices are "about average" compared to most of the US. Except perhaps for an area like the Toll Brothers retirement community at Summerlin. Which seems pretty high to me (like the Del Webb retirement place in my area is high too). Sometimes I wonder if these retirement communities all have the same price point - which is designed to appeal to retirees from high COL areas who are selling their houses at big profits? Robyn
We do a lot in Sun City Summerlin where are office is located. We work the west side heavily. Sun City Summerlin, Siena, For non active mature we work everything from the Southwest through the Lone Mountain Rural Preserve, Pecole Ranch, The Lakes.
We also do a good bit in the other mature places...Anthem, McDonald Ranch, Aliante and a couple of others. Work Henderson a bit in the Green Valley Ranch, Seven Hills, Anthem area.
The 55+ places actually have a significant range. The top is probably Siena with Sun City Anthem next than Sun City Summerlin, Than McDonald Ranch than Aliante. Note the Aliante units are the best constructed in things like insulation. The electric bills there are half that of Summerlin.
Overall range is from about $175,000 to a million. Some have attached duplexes which are 10% cheaper per square foot but offset that with a second HOA fee.
That is a Carlsbad which is a duplex. It is in Sun City Summerlin which is not in southwest but in the northwest. In particular it is in the City of Las Vegas while the Southwest is all in unincorporated Clark County. 89134 is a also a northwest zip.
I honestly can't see new construction in the US without AC (or heat for that matter). Not with what new construction costs in most of the country today. Even if you only need one or the other a few days a year.
Even Santa Monica gets highs over 90 (and the very occasional 100+).
Our Florida summers are pretty much "same same" for the most part. Hot and humid. Lows in the 70's - highs in the high 80's or low to mid 90's. The worst I remember was the summer of 1998. It might not have set any records. But we had a major drought. And the rainy season was very late. We were getting close to or over 100 for days on end (very unusual). And - because of the wildfires - when you went outside - it was like gargling charcoal. Only time I can remember canceling early morning tennis matches because of air quality issues.
In any event - I know all of us have different temperature tolerances in terms of heat and cold. But there's no reason we should suffer through extremes because builders are too cheap to install proper HVAC systems that allow us to customize our indoor environments. Robyn
In Alaska the norm is for there to be no A/C in homes. My house was built in 2015 and it doesn't have A/C. We did have ceiling fans installed for the few days it gets into the 70's.
That is a Carlsbad which is a duplex. It is in Sun City Summerlin which is not in southwest but in the northwest. In particular it is in the City of Las Vegas while the Southwest is all in unincorporated Clark County. 89134 is a also a northwest zip.
I thought it looked good for a retirement house although North Las Vegas not too good.
Renting is definitely a good idea. You may like it for 6 months and then discover you are absolutely miserable. The heat just doesn't work for some people. It's also expensive - water and a/c are not cheap. Some people need green as in plants and grass. The harsh look and living of the desert just doesn't work for everyone.
I agree about the green part. The difference between Alaska and the Arizona desert is like night and day. I love my green Alaska summers.
This might be something you might not think of in advance -- a friend of mine moved to Vegas and she is horrified by the number of pedestrian fatalities they have there. (She is horrified by the way people drive in Vegas, too.) She told me every night on the news there is another story about someone trying to cross a busy highway and getting killed. There are probably multiple reasons for this (are pedestrians just less careful than they are here in South Jersey? Do drivers just not slow down, ever? I don't know.), but if you are a walker by nature, it is something to at least look into.
Same is true in Arizona. High pedestrian fatalities. (Nevada's pedestrian fatalities are 2.47 per 100,000 people in 2015. Arizona had 2.09.) But pertinent to the OP, Florida was worse than both of them. And just for the record, you friend who says that "every night" there's a Las Vegas news story about pedestrians being killed on roadways exaggerates.)
I think it's common in the west where intersections are spaced far apart and people take their chances crossing highways where there is no pedestrian crosswalk. Drunk drivers don't help, which may contribute in Las Vegas. Speeding is endemic in Arizona, which is a contributing factor. Other than the retirees and snow birds who may drive too slowly, Arizonans seem to consider speed limits a "suggested starting point." 10 Most Dangerous States For Pedestrians | Huffington Post
Same is true in Arizona. High pedestrian fatalities. (Nevada's pedestrian fatalities are 2.47 per 100,000 people in 2015. Arizona had 2.09.) But pertinent to the OP, Florida was worse than both of them. And just for the record, you friend who says that "every night" there's a Las Vegas news story about pedestrians being killed on roadways exaggerates.)
I think it's common in the west where intersections are spaced far apart and people take their chances crossing highways where there is no pedestrian crosswalk. Drunk drivers don't help, which may contribute in Las Vegas. Speeding is endemic in Arizona, which is a contributing factor. Other than the retirees and snow birds who may drive too slowly, Arizonans seem to consider speed limits a "suggested starting point." 10 Most Dangerous States For Pedestrians | Huffington Post
Always avoid state statistics when dealing with Nevada. Gives a terribly misleading result. Nevada is basically one big city and one medium sized city and not much else. So when you do Nevada versus another State it is mostly comparing a city to a varied state.
Simply compare Clark County to other cities to get a straight storyl
Don't overlook the East Central area of Las Vegas, boundaries being roughly Desert Inn to the North, Tropicana to the South, Eastern to the west, Boulder Highway to the East. I live here and refer to it as the Townhouse district, skads of older, well-established townhouse communities, no less safe than Summerlin. For retirement communities, there's Sunrise Villas 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, all separate communities, take your pick!
Then there's the mixed townhouse communities: Braerwood (425 units), Heritage South, Garden Park, Pecos Villas, Pecos Estates, The Colony, Greenbriar (433 units), Tiburon, Pelican Bay, and various other townhouse communities, with lots of conveniences nearby.
And for a more historic flavor, there's Huntridge, roughly bordered by Charleston/Sahara/Eastern/LV Blvd. Or a more recently re-discovered area: Paradise Palms, also on the East side.
If you Google Most Conservative cities, 250k and over, you'll find Las Vegas slightly more conservative than Phoenix, and much more conservative than Tucson, one of the rarer liberal cities in the SW. Recall, that Las Vegas was initially a Mormon settlement, and the Mormon influence is still here, on a city/country/state level. They may only number 200k but what's numbers! In SE Asia, the Chinese are a minority in all those SE Asian countries, but they all but run the show!
Las Vegas almost became one huge Desert Tortoise refuge, back at the turn of the last century, and the desert tortoise is an apt symbol for this city, as everything moves here at a tortoise pace, whether it be getting more bike lanes along our major streets or getting a light rail line built in this city. Light rail indicates a system designed for locals to use, not the Monorail that serves only tourists. Tortoise pace: Medical marijuana approved by voters in the year 2000, and it "only" took them 15 years to open the first dispensary! To show you how conservative this city is, when the dispensaries were approved for Clark Country, our flamboyant Mayor of Las Vegas stated: There will be no medical marijuana dispensaries in the City of Las Vegas! And? With the sweet smell of money, they finally opened!
A bipartisan effort put a Physician Assisted Suicide law together, last legislative session, and the head of the Health Committee, Dr. Hardy (From Mormon Boulder City) refused to even read the proposal! Dead on arrival!
One of the factors in pedestrian deaths in this city is the mindless higher speed limits on all our major avenues. 45MPH! And how I wish, wish, wish they'd only drive 45MPH on those avenues! Many: 50-55-60-65MPH! And many of our avenues were Mormon designed, 6 lanes with a middle lane inbetween!
I've tried crossing one of those streets, and it's a real challenge to get across one of those wide avenues alive, without some car flying by at 60MPH! What we need is a night time speed limit like I've seen when in Tucson, a much more civilized city that won a Platinum award for bike friendliness, which is where I'm headed one day!
As far as crime, with all these investor-owned homes today, in the 20 years I've been here, I'm seeing crime spread all the valley now.
What I'd miss the most about Las Vegas is the wraparound Mountain scenery! I love it, love it! And! The absence of terrorists: flies, mosquito's, gnats, woodticks! Lol!
I know you are not comparing TX and NV, but here is some perspective for consideration:
Retired in Henderson. 2300 SF Townhouse. Gas heat, water, dryer, grill, stove...$15/month. Electric in August was $155. Last month was $88. Trash and recycle $15/month. Thermostat stays on 78F. Our TX utilities were comparable. Our water and sewage are included in HOA fee, so I really cannot compare anything to the $60/month in TX.
Property taxes on my TX property assessed at $240k was $5k. My NV property assesses at $280k and tax bill is ~$2700. Homeowners insurance is 30 percent less.
Vehicle registration was far cheaper in TX. You can estimate your registration fees on the NV DMV official site to compare to your FL car and plate fees. Car insurance was about the same.
Sales tax in our neck of TX was 8.25%. Henderson/Clark County is 8.15%.
I am on promotional rates for internet and TV, so really cannot compare these costs, although our internet is faster and more reliable than our TX service.
The sidewalk connecting to my front door puts me on a walking and biking trail whether I turn left or right. Henderson has almost 200 miles of trails. Depending on the trail, shade is available. The trails connect the dozens of city parks. Many of the master planned offerings in the valley have amazing trail networks. My city trail network in TX was 9 miles....I knew every inch because I walked that same 9 over and over.
As a retired person, traffic is never a problem for me. I also don't shop for groceries on the 1st or weekends--a little sense and restraint goes a long way toward inner peace. I never lived in LA, but had to transit in and around DC for several years--traffic in Las Vegas is insignificant by comparison.
I am within a 3.4 mile radius of every service and retailer we might need or use. We had our pick of 3 churches of our denomination within 3 miles. It will take us years to try every mom and pop restaurant within 5 miles of our home, and we still have the tourist corridor as a back up. Gasoline is expensive compared to TX, but we are driving less than 500 miles a month compared to 1000 in TX.
Uber and Lyft are up and running here, so check that off your list.
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To show you how conservative this city is, when the dispensaries were approved for Clark Country, our flamboyant Mayor of Las Vegas stated: There will be no medical marijuana dispensaries in the City of Las Vegas! And? With the sweet smell of money, they finally opened!
