[JohnG72]

Originally Posted by WisconsinVegasHeights

Just crunching numbers a little, if I make 30 bucks an hour in LV, it seems like I would need 50 bucks an hour to maintain a comparable standard of living in California.

I loved being in the bay area as a youth and then as a teenager(usually just summers) in the eighties , but I can't imagine trying to return there now without a six figure income.

You can still buy a nice townhome or even a halfway decent sfr on your income in Las Vegas. With a spouse earning even minimum wage it becomes even easier.

In Los Angeles on $50 an hour you will be hard pressed to be able to buy anything. And if you do, it will be over an hour commute or in a crap neighborhood. In SF I think you’re actually considered low income.

If I was starting over again, I think I’d have to move out of state. Staying with my parents in LA and with what rents are...I don’t think I’d ever reach the point where I could move out.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by ddeemo

Depends on where you are. When I was working, I was right on the bay with a true million dollar view of a boat harbor, and still the building didn't even have AC because it was needed maybe 5-6 days a year.

My Electric bill is about $450/ mo in SD with a pool and 2 EVs without running any AC. My house in SD is about 10 miles inland and it can get hot there in the summer but I very rarely run AC and never at peak. The rates are $0.52/kwh at peak (4-9pm may-oct) and $0.10/kwh 12am to 06am (for charging EV), with the rest at about $0.26/KWh. My house in LV that is about the same size averages about $120/mo with AC, EVs and pool. The rate for LV that I have is $0.11 at worst but $0.044 for almost all use. I use about 50% more elec in LV but overall costs to me is about 1/4 as much. SD is 3-10 times more expensive per KWh.

I don't see how those rates are possible in Las Vegas unless you have a very small home. I lived in Northern Nevada and our bill combined gas and electric ranged from $250-$400 a month. We now live in Sacramento and have Smud. Our average electric bill in Sacramento is $60, gas is PG&E and averages $30, our home here is about 500 sq ft smaller than our home in Nevada.

Peak TOU rates in Southern Nevada $0.44/KWH. (noon to 7) In Sacramento peak rate is 5-8pm and is $0.28/KWH. Our average electric bill in Sacramento is $60, gas is PG&E and averages $30. I just can't make the math work for what you are saying, unless you are talking about the 200 days when the weather is mild in LV, but the summer has to kill you with those tou rates.

San Diego is a bit of an outlier for California, their utility rates are very high and I'm not sure why the residents of San Diego haven't tried to do something about it (or maybe they have and I just haven't heard about it)

[Vic Romano]

Originally Posted by waltchan

Some day, I'm going to create my own new-home builder business constructing only 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath, 1.5 car garage, single-story, detached homes, all under 799 sq. ft. . Eliminate the hallway, please, 3 bedrooms connect directly to the Great Room. Main entrance door opens at the right/left side of wall with narrow walkway. When you enter, you will immediately see 3 bedrooms and doors connecting directly to the Great Room at opposite end of side-wall, kitchen at front corner of house, laundry room located in kitchen (stackable only) next to kitchen sink with separate pull-out closet door, powder room left side of kitchen near entrance door, and main bathroom right side of kitchen. One main large drain pipe to sewer is all you need. Most 2-story new homes today can come with up to 5 main drain pipes (why?), and pass the extra cost to you.

I squeeze in over 1,000 brand-new, under 799 sq. ft homes (with only one, single floor plan type), built into one community onto one parcel land, which also easily bond neighbors and make new friends so closely. HOA fee never more than $30-$40 per month with no pool, in addition to creating my own lending mortgage company with the only standard 50-year term mortgage out there. This business will be successful to many first-time African-American home buyers, while uniting diversity. How hard is that...

Will people buy our sub-799 sq. ft. new homes if I charge always up to $100,000 less than any major builders' starting price, because they build the houses too big, that's why? If buzz is strong with demand, and I can afford to build identically and match to DR Horton's Express quality using only one universal 799 sq. ft. floorplan (meaning, everything base option with only white interior paint, no option or upgrade is available), let me know...?

So, what is your target price? $100,000 less than what? And where in Las Vegas? I think you haven't thought this through very well. Lots of unanswered questions, some of which you yourself ask. "Build it and they will come" doesn't always work.

What happened to your resort in the middle of Nevada? //www.city-data.com/forum/nevad...h-between.html

[airics]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

I don't see how those rates are possible in Las Vegas unless you have a very small home. I lived in Northern Nevada and our bill combined gas and electric ranged from $250-$400 a month. We now live in Sacramento and have Smud. Our average electric bill in Sacramento is $60, gas is PG&E and averages $30, our home here is about 500 sq ft smaller than our home in Nevada.

Peak TOU rates in Southern Nevada $0.44/KWH. (noon to 7) In Sacramento peak rate is 5-8pm and is $0.28/KWH. Our average electric bill in Sacramento is $60, gas is PG&E and averages $30. I just can't make the math work for what you are saying, unless you are talking about the 200 days when the weather is mild in LV, but the summer has to kill you with those tou rates.

San Diego is a bit of an outlier for California, their utility rates are very high and I'm not sure why the residents of San Diego haven't tried to do something about it (or maybe they have and I just haven't heard about it)

Time of use program. Jun-oct 175 average. Nov-may. 70 average. 2700sf 3 floor with pool facing west

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by airics

Time of use program. Jun-oct 175 average. Nov-may. 70 average. 2700sf 3 floor with pool facing west

I understand TOU, I even gave you the TOU rates to compare, but I can't see how you end up paying so little. I have a friend who lives in Henderson and we had this discussion last year. She said to keep a 2k sq ft house at 78 during the day and 80 at night it costs her $400 a month during the summer, and she doesn't have a pool. Are rates different in Henderson?

[lvmensch]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

I understand TOU, I even gave you the TOU rates to compare, but I can't see how you end up paying so little. I have a friend who lives in Henderson and we had this discussion last year. She said to keep a 2k sq ft house at 78 during the day and 80 at night it costs her $400 a month during the summer, and she doesn't have a pool. Are rates different in Henderson?

I have a 3,000SF home and a pool. My year round bills average about $275 though they peak in the summer around $450. We do not use the time of day programs...just straight $0.12 per kwh.


I would however point out that the utility bills on 2,000SF in Sun City Aliante are under $100. Our favorite inspector points out that the attic temperatures in that tract do not exceed 105 compared to the normal 140 he encounters in most places.

[WestieJeff]

I have a 2000sf house with a pool and with TOU my year round average rate is around $120. Summer is $175-$250/month and the rest of the year is usually around $50-$60.

In full disclosure, during summer, I rarely turn on the AC during the peak period (usually at work anyways). The 6pm-7pm hour during summer gets hot (85F) at my house.

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

I understand TOU, I even gave you the TOU rates to compare, but I can't see how you end up paying so little. I have a friend who lives in Henderson and we had this discussion last year. She said to keep a 2k sq ft house at 78 during the day and 80 at night it costs her $400 a month during the summer, and she doesn't have a pool. Are rates different in Henderson?

[airics]

Originally Posted by WestieJeff

I have a 2000sf house with a pool and with TOU my year round average rate is around $120. Summer is $175-$250/month and the rest of the year is usually around $50-$60.

In full disclosure, during summer, I rarely turn on the AC during the peak period (usually at work anyways). The 6pm-7pm hour during summer gets hot (85F) at my house.

That’s how it’s done. Crank it during off hours. Everything off during peak.

[waltchan]

Originally Posted by Vic Romano

So, what is your target price? $100,000 less than what? And where in Las Vegas? I think you haven't thought this through very well. Lots of unanswered questions, some of which you yourself ask. "Build it and they will come" doesn't always work.

What happened to your resort in the middle of Nevada? //www.city-data.com/forum/nevad...h-between.html

I like to be a game changer after I hit my celebrity status as musician, but nothing has been confirmed yet. I feel the same way and angry with the housing market that there is no such thing as a new starter home with a 50-year mortgage.

Most likely, my new less than 799 sq. ft., 3 bed, 1.5 bath, 1.5 car garage community will be built in central-California than Las Vegas, due to severe housing shortage there, and has less competition. Prices will start at low-$200,000 range after inflation-adjusted by year 2030, but you will get our industry's-first 50-year mortgage term instead of standard 30-year, which lowers your monthly payment quite a bit than any other builders.

[Commander666]

I thought all mortgages in California were 60 years, 30 for the original buyer and 30 for their heirs.