[HLBlanton]

Hi - I'm coming out to LV in September to start looking for a residence. Ive been to town many times, but only as a tourist.

Here is why I'm looking and what I value. Maybe with this I can get some guidance as to where to start.

This will be a second home which will convert to a primary home for tax reasons in coming years. It will replace a vacation home I currently have near Palm Springs (desert to desert.)

My wife and I are in our early 50s and are not really suburbanites (live in San Francisco) and would prefer to avoid a pure development kind of area. DEFINITELY no golf course developments as we have big dogs who bark and it would be impolite to the golfers. We don't' have kids so schools, etc. are not a consideration. Being relatively close (1/2 hour?) to airport is important.

One thing we love about our place in the Coachella Valley is that we are RIGHT up against undeveloped desert and get out there all the time to hike, walk the dogs, etc. and we'd love to replicate that. At the same time, one thing we will like about LV vs. Palm Springs is access to more fancy restaurants on the strip, concerts, sports, etc. Everything is a tradeoff, right?

In an ideal world I guess I'd get a place on the margins of development, and get a lot with some space (and acre or two?) I don't want a postage sized lot where we are on top of our neighbors. A pool is a must, but we could always add one.

Our budget will be somewhere between half a million and a million, with $750k sounding very comfy for me. Because there are just the two of us we don't need massive space. In fact in SF we live very comfortably in under 1,500 square feet. In the desert we like to have a bit more space for guests, and our current house is perhaps 2,200 feet.

That seems like plenty to get the thread started. I really appreciate any input. I'm not looking for addresses at this point, but areas to go check out. If someone has a referral for a great Realtor, terrific, but in reality this is still an advance party w/buying not to happen until 2014.

[icecreamcake]

Hmmmm.. Have you guys taken a look at Mountain's edge or the southwest in general? It's semi-developed, moreso in other areas. But I would like to think it has great opportunity for hiking since there's a lot of open land nearby. Also close to airport/strip.

[owelles]

I agree with the above post about southwest Las Vegas. There generally is more space between houses, larger lot sizes and often a higher percentage of custom homes, which certainly fit into your price range. The area technically is called Enterprise, although most residents don't call it that, but it might be listed that way in some online searches. Access is good to the 215 Beltway, I-15 and the airport.

Good luck.

[BBMW]

Just south of the airport, there is a neighborhood that is not part of a masterplan developement and has lots of customs houses interspersed with empty lots. This MIGHT give you what you want. It's not really on the desert border but it has that feel.

[skugelstadt]

If you are also considering Henderson, the Seven Hills/ Anthem area is nice

[lvoc]

If you want easy desert access you have to be within a short distance of open desert. There is reasonably good open desert access at a few points. From the SE going clockwise...

Sunrise Mountain above Hollywood. These are all half acres plus The desert can be steep here so you need to see the local topography to know if anyone other than a mountain goat can hike there.

Racetrack. eastern edge of Henderson. 1/2 acres some with desert access. Basically just south of Lake Las Vegas

College Drive. Southern Henderson. 1/2 acres with some desert access to the south.

Southwest. Lots of half acres but with a problem. The zoning is very variable in the area so that a few developed acre properties may well end up surrounded by much higher development density. Much of the land is held by BLM but it is not in the protected areas and can eventually be sold.

North West - near Lone Mountain 1/2 acre zoning. Desert access through a very nice trail head at Cheyenne or through Lone Mountain but few places have realdirect access.

Grand Canyon - New build half acre tracts. No direct desert access. Half mile through tracts to get there.

North. Number of local areas along Iron Mountain Road which have access to the desert and that desert is all destined to be park or otherwise protected.

I would think 750,000 will easily get a smaller home in any of these areas. In fact I would bet you will end up over 3,000SF