[bear2531]

Hi to my fellow Vegas locals! I've lived in Vegas for a couple years now and I love this city. I've had great success so far career-wise and I see myself staying here for quite some time. Now at 34 years old I've decided to finally get my first home on my own. I've been approved for a mortgage and I'll be contacting a recommended realtor to help with my search. I have about 6 months until my lease ends and then I could always go month-to-month should I need to, so I’m not rushing this process.

I know this question comes up a ton on this thread so if this triggers you just move on to the next post lol. I’ll make mine specific. I’m working just east of the airport and my goal is to not have a commute longer than 20-25 mins. I currently live SW near the 215 and I like the area, a bit of a crowded commute but I’ve had worse. I have very little knowledge of the SE areas. Could anyone kindly advise me of the nicer pockets of the E/SE/Henderson areas? Altogether I’m look at the SW/S/SE/E/Henderson areas for my home search – maybe even Spring Valley if there are nicer pockets too. I heard it’s an older area so might find a decent house in a decent spot?.

My budget is around $165k. A bit lower that I originally thought as I was eyeing houses at $200k *sigh* but I knew I would have to adjust my expectations being a single income. I don’t care about schools (I would actually like to avoid them), I don’t care about pools, I care about living in a safe neighborhood, having a 2 car garage, 3 bedrooms, and not being house poor, hence my budget. Side note, when I first moved here I rented a room near NELLIS and CHARLESTON 0.0 0.0 …I’ve also lived in questionable neighborhoods in Atlanta…I’m always miserable and reclusive in those situations.

I absolutely don’t want a condo, I’m renting one atm and I have a ****** of a neighbor so I never want to share a floor or ceiling with people again. I’m open to townhouses, even though sharing a wall is not my optimal choice. I’ve been considering taking up the piano again (upright), so I imagine getting one and my neighbor hating me lol. Any recommendations for good areas would be much appreciated! Or even not recommended areas – whatever you’re feeling! Lol. I'm sure realtor will also be helpful in picking areas but I know this community could give further insight.

Also, any advice for what to look for as a first time homebuyer in Vegas? Things I should take extra time to look at? Or questions I should ask? Should I be checking stickers on the water heaters? haha 😊 I also never thought I’d consider being in a HOA but I know it’s hard to avoid here, any good way to find out of the HOA is a neighborhood menace or not? I’ve heard a rule of thumb is the amount of your HOA will tell you how “involved” they are.

[SportyandMisty]

I was with you until the $165K budget. That's much lower than any neighborhoods I'm familiar with. I think you'll need a good realtor who is knowledgeable about properties in your budget range.

My personal view is to always bring a good compass with you and avoid houses that have much glass on the west side of the house. Ideally, something where the house is in shadow past about 2pm in the summer.

I like HOAs if they do a good job preventing crap like this:

[BBMW]

Add another $100K to your budget, and you'd have a chance.

[bear2531]

Yeah I know the amount is low. I was approved for up to $185k but it brought my payment a bit higher that I would want. My income was too high for some of the other first time homebuyer programs. I found that weird since I don't consider my income very high, sustainable, but not high. Story of my life, I don't qualify for better (if any) programs because I'm always a bit above the "poor" bar.

[KingpinLasVegas]

Originally Posted by SportyandMisty

I was with you until the $165K budget. That's much lower than any neighborhoods I'm familiar with. I think you'll need a good realtor who is knowledgeable about properties in your budget range.

My personal view is to always bring a good compass with you and avoid houses that have much glass on the west side of the house. Ideally, something where the house is in shadow past about 2pm in the summer.

I like HOAs if they do a good job preventing crap like this:

I'm offended, That's my house.

[Willy702]

Originally Posted by bear2531

Yeah I know the amount is low. I was approved for up to $185k but it brought my payment a bit higher that I would want. My income was too high for some of the other first time homebuyer programs. I found that weird since I don't consider my income very high, sustainable, but not high. Story of my life, I don't qualify for better (if any) programs because I'm always a bit above the "poor" bar.

You could just start at Redfin and put in $175k max and you'll pretty much see your options don't include a single family home that you'd want to live in. There are a few townhomes, but even those will be at or above $165k. Even worse if you do get out there and bid on them you will see what a tight housing market looks like. Anything under $200k gets plenty of interest now, even individual investors are still looking at that price point.

[SportyandMisty]

Originally Posted by KingpinLasVegas

I'm offended, That's my house.

I didn't intend to offend you; it was just an unexpected bonus.

[bear2531]

I'm glad we could keep the standard of someone getting offended on the internet lol

[Camaro5]

Having just bought a home in Henderson I can vouch for how tight the housing market is, although prices are coming down a little, which cold be a seasonal thing. I personally think that the price drop is partially from homes being over-priced to begin with and just sitting on the market. Even when availability is low, most people won't over-pay, at least I wouldn't.

I'd also agree that for $165K there probably aren't many places you'd want to live in. Our budget was considerably higher and even in that price range we saw a lot of crap.

The OP said he had a realtor, but if he needs one the guy we used was great. He got the deal done for the price we wanted to pay and even got the inspection done within 2 days of the purchase. The whole process went a lot smoother than I expected.

[robojester]

You may have to wait....like us