[myronzz]

I am Considering moving to the Las Vegas Metro Area.I am retired, Single and Looking for a Nice Neighborhood. Housing Prices between 100,000 and 150,000. I would like to Buy a Fairly New home in one of The New Communities being Developed. Away from Any Airports. Mixed Neighborhood with Pretty Nice Amenities{Parks, Stores, Malls Community Centers}. Commuting and Traffic is not a Factor-For I won't be working. Just looking for a Nice Area.

[lvoc]

Originally Posted by myronzz

I am Considering moving to the Las Vegas Metro Area.I am retired, Single and Looking for a Nice Neighborhood. Housing Prices between 100,000 and 150,000. I would like to Buy a Fairly New home in one of The New Communities being Developed. Away from Any Airports. Mixed Neighborhood with Pretty Nice Amenities{Parks, Stores, Malls Community Centers}. Commuting and Traffic is not a Factor-For I won't be working. Just looking for a Nice Area.

Unfortunately we have an airport (McCarran) in the middle of town. Offset a little to the south but everywhere is within 20 miles and much of the nice areas are within 10 miles. To complicate it still further Nellis AFB is to the north east but the arrival and departure corridor runs right across the north side of the city. There are two smaller airports though not heavy enough to be a factor other than the near mile or two.

Also there are corridors used by the tourist helicopters that are actually more noisy than the outer airport zones.

So given that you will accept minor airport noise you can go to the normal developments. For your price range you would pretty much head to the northwest or southwest. For the best bang for buck you should consider an existing home. There is presently a huge differential between new and resale..something on the order of $50 per SF. Homes built in the early 2000s give a good tradeoff of age versus value.

[myronzz]

Thanks I have been to Las Vegas McCarren Airport.Thanks for the Info- I just do not want to be in the Takeoff or Landing Pattern Whereas they fly directly over the residences below. Good Info also about the Houses Built in the Earlier 2000's. What are the Safer Neighborhoods -ones with home ownerships versus a Bunch of Apartment Complexes!

[psurangers11]

Hi all... figured I'd resurrect a thread rather then make a new one and clogging things up.

It's not 100% certain yet but there's a good chance I may be offered to transfer from the Sands Casino in Bethlehem, PA to the Venetian/Palazzo some time this Spring and as many was looking on some advice on places to look. My boss out there basically told me the other day to start doing some research now this way I can be prepared if the opportunity does happen, which she says is highly likely: Here's my info below to help:

1. Budget amount. If renting, up to $1050 per month... If owning upwards of $150K and depending on house/location even $175K if able.
2. House/Condo/Townhome? No preference... if not house then hopefully HOA's are reasonable.
3. Employment Status (commute/work from home). Location of workplace. Venetian/Palazzo - My wife currently works for All State as Insurance Agent, hoping it wouldn't be too difficult to find a similar job in the area.
4. Children (Public school vs. Private). 1 Daughter (Will be 2 in March). Company offers discounts with any place that offers KinderCare Program.
5. Suburban or Urban lifestyle preference or a mix of the two.
6. Access to public transit, important or not? Not all that necessary, we own 2 cars
7. Cross streets (especially important in threads about crime). see below


I'm already lucky enough to have a friend I went to college with also employed with the company and she's been in Las Vegas for 7 years now so she's already given me advice. She told us to go east as far as Buffalo, Go west as far as Fort Apache, Go South as far as Blue Diamond, and go north as far as Tropicana. She claims they're great areas... she gave 2 zip codes to look at too for rentals/purchases 89148, 89113.

One major positive is the company would pay relocation expenses... so that's huge. Was wondering if there's any other advice that anyone may have? I figure you can never have enough info to research... thanks again all! :-)

[ddrhazy]

I would probably rent for a year before considering a purchase. Don't build roots till you've decided this city is the one for you.

[psurangers11]

Yeah... we are leaning more towards the rent option to begin with.

Plus I've noticed that it's cheaper to live out there compared to where we are now so putting away even more money couldn't hurt. Just figured I'd put in both a rent and buy figure.

[ScoopLV]

If you buy a tract house built in the 21st century, there isn't a dime's worth of difference neighborhood to neighborhood and house to house. (Assuming your $150-175K purchase price.)

There is no way I'd rent a year if purchasing is a viable option. Why fritter away down-payment money on rent? (Especially considering that prices are climbing. Waiting to buy doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.)

As for the rest of your post:

1) Don't get hung up on zip codes. There are pockets of great and pockets of awful in just about every zip code in Las Vegas. I wouldn't even get hung up your friend's street advice. She's basically given you the boundaries of areas called Mountain's Edge and Spring Valley. A $175K house in those areas is going to be indistinguishable from a $175K house basically anywhere else in Las Vegas. (Again, comparing recent construction to recent construction.)

2) HOAs in this town range from "basically hands off" to "completely and utterly draconian." In general, you can use the monthly assessments as a guide to what kind of HOA you're dealing with. It's a decent rule of thumb, at least.

This is what a $150K house looks like in Las Vegas. I picked this one at random and it's quite far from those boundaries your friend gave you. You really cannot tell one area of Las Vegas from another unless you've lived here for a very long time. (The only way anyone will guess where this house sits is by working backwards to find the website I yanked it from.)

[ScoopLV]

My wife and I purchased our first house in Las Vegas at the worst possible time -- July, 2007. We're way ahead in January 2015 compared to renting.

Perhaps you'd like to back up your opinions with some numbers?

[von949]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

My wife and I purchased our first house in Las Vegas at the worst possible time -- July, 2007. We're way ahead in January 2015 compared to renting.

Perhaps you'd like to back up your opinions with some numbers?

I do the numbers every time you post this and it works more in your favor each and every time.

I have an in-law that doesn't get it either. She fell in love with a home in 2011 that was around 150k. Instead of buying, she chose to rent in the same neighborhood. At the time she said, "the timing isn't right to buy right now". So she waited till a few months ago to close on a home. Same neighborhood, over 200k. So she rented at a premium market price for over three years and paid about 50k+ for roughly the same house she could have gotten in 2011.

About 90k down the drain.

But some people are alright with this so no big deal.

[jjameson922]

$650 per month......dumpy little place in a bad part of town. If that works for you, so be it!