[hotjambalaya]

I spent a long time looking at high rise buildings and eventually bought a house.

My house has huge hoa (approx $500 a month), and being an older house has quite a lot of maintenance issues, particularly pool related.

You'll spend about 120 a month on pool service if you have one, and another $100 a month on yard service. Fortunately my hoa covers things like external paint, and strangely the roof. But its all the extras that add up, new plants in the yard, even more new ones when the irragation system malfunctions, new irrigation lines, home insurance etc etc. The 'unforseen expenses' side of things is much much higher with a house. Its worth checking whats included in the hoa in a high rise, some like turnberry I think, include things like cable and internet (or maybe just internet).

Hoa fees in a high rise are insane, though a few of them have tried to keep them reasonable, particularly the Martin, which is where I was very close to buying. The problem is that if I want a high rise, I would only want it with a strip view, and I believe they wanted $10k more every floor up it was.

However it should be pointed out that certain blocks (trump, martin, panorama) do have house cars where you can book and get the driver to drop you somewhere within 3 (?) miles of the building.

I will however say that a house gives you much more space and its nice to have the outside space. I wouldnt get that hung up on bedrooms, after all, as someone said to me, you're spending money on more bedrooms is basically money you're spending to accommodate your friends which when you think about it is a bit silly.

Ultimately I do still like the idea of a nice strip view place with a good balcony, but its hard when just a few miles away you can get 3x the space for the same price...

[kzja]

Thanks everyone for the replies and advice! Glad to hear I'm not the only one struggling with this dilemma. I will be working primarily in Summerlin. The neighborhood there looked great, I'd definitely live there if I had a family. After reading all the replies, I'm leaning towards high-rise, seems like if it turns out I don't like it, I can move on to a house, would be harder the other way around. The HOA fees are a bummer though.

Coming from a major Coastal city, I thought the housing in Vegas is super cheap, but after looking into it a bit, seems like right now might not be the best time to buy.. Not sure but I'll do more research. The high-rises seems to be in the 300k-400k range for a 2 bedroom, which doesn't seem too crazy.

[movin1]

If you rent, you don't lose money re: realtor commission if you decide you don't like it and want to sell.

If you wait to buy, prices may go up and it could cost you more to buy next year. If you buy now, prices may not go up much and you lose if you sell.

Things to think about.

[vegasfan1985]

Originally Posted by 08grad

Don't. Rent is cheaper in these high rises than your Mortgage Interest + HOA does + Property Tax + Home Insurance. And that's with a 20% down investment and favorable interest rates. My opinion is that the high rises are overpriced due to speculation with the Raiders Stadium and Resorts World opening next year.

You will be doing a cross commute if you're working in the suburbs, so I wouldn't worry too much about traffic.

I still think you should rent a high rise otherwise you will regret not giving it a chance. But for a lot of these high rises, your walk to the casino is just as long as the drive in from the suburbs, adding that you're often walking in excessive heat dodging the grifters and clueless tourists on the streets.

Veer is the only walkable high-rise, IMO, especially with the Aria tram. The north strip in its current state is sketchy and the only walkable casinos (SLS, Westgate, Circus Circus) aren't really places you want to hang out. This may change with Resorts World. The walk over the Harmon Bridge to Aria from Panorama/The Martin would get old quickly.

Grocery stores aren't convenient and you will be navigating through seedy areas to reach nearby commerce. Restaurants are overpriced because you pay the tourist surcharge for everything. Most of the people you meet at the clubs and restaurants on the strip will be tourists.

My brother lived next to the strip for a few months and that's all it took for him to wisen up and move to the burbs. Got tired of all the domestic disputes at night, airplane noise, and general feeling of safety when going to any retail establishment.

Living right off the strip near Flamingo or Tropicana, there are plenty of grocery stores and shopping within a to 3 mile radius on the West side of town. Living near or on the Strip isn't the problem, it's a matter of perspective really.

The North end of the Strip isn't scary or unsafe. So a few homeless people may hang around there, but as long as it's decent hours of the day, you have nothing to really worry about.

[JonathanLB]

As a single guy, it’s hard to go wrong with a luxury high rise condo. I did that in LA for 4+ years and I loved it. You get spoiled by the basics I think, like the absolute worst thing about owning a house that still constantly annoys me is ordering anything significant online. The dreaded “signature required” that either leads to a doorbell way before I’m awake, a doorbell I don’t hear, or rushing to the door to sign for something stupid or I’m flat out not home and miss the delivery. I peacefully slept right through all of that nonsense in LA and the front desk signed for it. It’s the absolute best part. There’s always people for that at a condo, who can deal with nonsense almost like a partial personal assistant.

I had looked at every single Strip high rise extensively back in 2010 because that’s what I was planning to do before I met my fiancé and got marooned in Portland until now. Coming from an LA pricing perspective I was so jealous, that was a big reason I decided to move to Vegas in general, the bang for the buck. I was looking at my recession battered studio condo that was $365K and we had a 3 foot deep pool, no gym, no real amenities besides just having a front desk dude, and then I looked at Vegas and I’m seeing 2 bedrooms for $210,000 in many buildings where their HOA dues are the same as mine but include valet parking, sometimes cable TV or satellite TV, a far superior pool, a gym, etc. Then I’m looking at the property tax difference - which was enormous - and it became a no brainer that only an idiot would keep living in LA if they didn’t have to. Out the door in Vegas on the Strip, the world is at your fingertips. Out the door in my LA condo, I had the Staples Center and LA Live, cool stuff, but not world class entertainment.

[AA702]

Originally Posted by kzja

Thanks everyone for the replies and advice! Glad to hear I'm not the only one struggling with this dilemma. I will be working primarily in Summerlin. The neighborhood there looked great, I'd definitely live there if I had a family. After reading all the replies, I'm leaning towards high-rise, seems like if it turns out I don't like it, I can move on to a house, would be harder the other way around. The HOA fees are a bummer though.


Coming from a major Coastal city, I thought the housing in Vegas is super cheap, but after looking into it a bit, seems like right now might not be the best time to buy.. Not sure but I'll do more research. The high-rises seems to be in the 300k-400k range for a 2 bedroom, which doesn't seem too crazy.

I live in Summerlin and I know someone who lives across the street from downtown summerliin and he doesn't have a car. You can totally walk everything there or even if you get a bicycle with a rack you can go to the stores and restaurants that are really close by. Trader Joes is the closest grocery store within walking distance with smiths or albertons on charleston that is also not too far but not really a short walk. According to him 2 bedroom apartments are around 1100-1200 range. I ride my bike a lot in the area because it runs along the beltway trail and I don't have to deal with car traffic going that way. If you work in Summerlin that is a great plus because it will save you money not having to get a car.

[vegasfan1985]

Originally Posted by JonathanLB

As a single guy, it’s hard to go wrong with a luxury high rise condo. I did that in LA for 4+ years and I loved it. You get spoiled by the basics I think, like the absolute worst thing about owning a house that still constantly annoys me is ordering anything significant online. The dreaded “signature required” that either leads to a doorbell way before I’m awake, a doorbell I don’t hear, or rushing to the door to sign for something stupid or I’m flat out not home and miss the delivery. I peacefully slept right through all of that nonsense in LA and the front desk signed for it. It’s the absolute best part. There’s always people for that at a condo, who can deal with nonsense almost like a partial personal assistant.

I had looked at every single Strip high rise extensively back in 2010 because that’s what I was planning to do before I met my fiancé and got marooned in Portland until now. Coming from an LA pricing perspective I was so jealous, that was a big reason I decided to move to Vegas in general, the bang for the buck. I was looking at my recession battered studio condo that was $365K and we had a 3 foot deep pool, no gym, no real amenities besides just having a front desk dude, and then I looked at Vegas and I’m seeing 2 bedrooms for $210,000 in many buildings where their HOA dues are the same as mine but include valet parking, sometimes cable TV or satellite TV, a far superior pool, a gym, etc. Then I’m looking at the property tax difference - which was enormous - and it became a no brainer that only an idiot would keep living in LA if they didn’t have to. Out the door in Vegas on the Strip, the world is at your fingertips. Out the door in my LA condo, I had the Staples Center and LA Live, cool stuff, but not world class entertainment.

Jonathan, your perspective is absolutely correct. I bought a condo in the 100,000s right off the strip in a gated community and have a secure door separate from my front door so no one can get in. The Strip is 4 minutes from the house and so are the grocery stores. There is also no upkeep.

[08grad]

Originally Posted by vegasfan1985

Living right off the strip near Flamingo or Tropicana, there are plenty of grocery stores and shopping within a to 3 mile radius on the West side of town. Living near or on the Strip isn't the problem, it's a matter of perspective really.

The North end of the Strip isn't scary or unsafe. So a few homeless people may hang around there, but as long as it's decent hours of the day, you have nothing to really worry about.

My point exactly. If you're in Veer Towers, it's a 12 min drive (3 miles) to the nearest grocery store, needing to go to either Decatur or Maryland. Your only walk-able options are CVS and Walgreens. The neighborhoods in between are predominantly low-income apartments.

Within 5 minutes of my house, there's a a Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Sprouts, and Smith's. I don't have to wait for an elevator, walk through the parking garage to my car, deal with heavy pedestrian traffic, idiot taxi drivers, or figure out how to carry all my groceries from my car in one trip.

[Merrily Gather]

OP if you commute to Summerlin from the Strip you should be alright. There used to be some congestion around the Charleston exit but I believe they've opened the Neon Highway project in that area that alleviates that. You'll have several options to take heading west to choose from.

[longviewJoe]

Good thread. I too chime in with renting a while. I would rent a plush condo near the strip and ENJOY Vegas for a while. Assuming you get tired of that you can buy a house off strip in Summerlin or elsewhere at a later date. Good luck!