[horseplayer]

Originally Posted by gtbguy

You should really think twice about buying a condo. Yes there are the arguments that you don't have to worry about building maintenance, yardwork, pool maintenance, etc. etc. You don't have any say in your property, you are just a voice. You don't own any real property, you just own air. Condo assoication fees can go up and you don't have any control over that. You can get charged one time assessments for just about any kind of major maintenance, law suits, etc.

I went down the same avenue until I started to look closer at the numbers. I looked for a weekend at condos and realized afterwards I was better off just buying a small house with desert landscaping and be done with it. You own the property and have no assocation fees. Yeah you might have $70 for common pool maintenance, security gate, etc. You at least own the home and its all yours. I think a house would be easeir to sell when you want to get rid of it also.

I realize it might be a bit more money but probably worth it on the long run.

my .02

Where do you think your 70 Bucks would be going? The HOA.
I pay 121.92 and that includes security gate, water, trash, pools/spa, roofs, landscaping, irrigation, and insurance.

It's nice to be away form the Taco Trucks, and boarding houses, also.

[Wing Feathers]

Originally Posted by gtbguy

until I started to look closer at the numbers.

This is very true.

You always end up paying more for things when a group of people makes the decisions... kind of like our government. All of the sudden gardeners make $100 an hour

[007 license to sell]

Originally Posted by kevinjanet

Got back from an amazing Condo hunt in Las Vegas and learned a lot. Olecapt was gracious enough to spend a day with us and show us several areas of Vegas. That and his innumerable stories made us feel like Las Vegas insiders in only a few hours!

We didn’t succeed this trip but I learned a few things that I want to pass on in case you are planning on doing this too.
1: the pickier you are the longer it is going to take. In our case, we decided that we didn’t want a condo that was facing the parking lot. We wanted one with a Pool view, mountain view, or park view. We spent 4 solid days looking at at least a hundred condos and only 2 came close.

2: The MLS listings are not very helpful if you are searching for a condo with a view. Only a few listings even mention it. The best approach we found was to focus o a few Zip codes and /or condo complexes and try to quickly look at everything in a particular complex from the outside first. Once we identified ones that might have some good views we put them on a list to go back the next day and look at the interior

3: If you are working with a real estate agent you can speed things up by doing the initial winnowing yourself. Just pick out a few complexes you are interested in and drive around checking out the various units that are for sale from the outside. I know you are saying “but they are GATED COMMUNITIES”
It turns out that is pretty much of a joke. You just drive up, wait by the gate and someone else will come along and you can drive in behind them. We were never questioned, stopped or looked at with suspicion. We never waited more than 3 minutes and probably looked at over 30 different complexes In 4 days.

4: If you are looking at a condo as a vacation home, think about distance from the airport. We were planning on leaving a car in Vegas so If we bought a condo say at the Lone mountain area it would cost us $88 one way to take a taxi out there. (there is a taxi rate calculator on-line) A better approach might be to rent a garage near the airport. Then you just spend a few bucks to get to your garage.

5: Be prepared to wait. There are a lot of short sales and bank owned properties and getting your deal finalized can take awhile.

6: Check HOA and complex for Litigation and financial health. The Vistana condos are a great example with the lawsuits, theft and FBI investigation.

Feel free to add tips I have missed that will help people in their condo search.

I don't know if your paying cash or finacing but if your financing banks will only lend on condo communities with a 70% occupancy, also FHA has a list of the condo communities they will even loan on.

Also you need to make sure that the HOA isn't in trouble due to the high foreclosure rates the hoa's aren't getting their money to maintain the properties like grounds gates security if there is any. HOA's are filing bankruptcies right now and if not they are having to raise their rates to maintain the property.

I hope this was helpful.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by kevinjanet

4: If you are looking at a condo as a vacation home, think about distance from the airport. We were planning on leaving a car in Vegas so If we bought a condo say at the Lone mountain area it would cost us $88 one way to take a taxi out there. (there is a taxi rate calculator on-line) A better approach might be to rent a garage near the airport. Then you just spend a few bucks to get to your garage..

My company had a plant in rural Utah. We kept a car in a storage unit approximately 10 minutes from the airport. We would take a shuttle to the storage area, pick up the car, and head out of town.

Should you go that way, put out a little D-con to ensure that the mice don't take over the vehicle.

[kevinjanet]

I am sitting in my condo now over looking the immaculate pool and grounds.
After a long and interesting search plus over 6 months of delays due to short sale complexities we finally took possession January 30th.

BIGGEST LESSON LEARNED? - Get a great real estate agent! I am not allowed to mention names on this forum but if you want her name, email me at kevin@hallsofmagic.com

Normally I don't get excited about real estate agents. Our agent, (I'll call her Terry) was vitally important in both finding the unit we purchased and actually getting the sale to go through. We literally looked at hundreds of condos. That is where Terry and her iPhone really came in handy.

When we went to look at a particular unit at a complex, we usually walked around the grounds. If there happened to be a few "for sale" signs that looked interesting, Terry could immediately get the info and entry code number on her iPhone. Even better, it alerted her to NEW listings, that is how we ended up finding our current unit. She called us, said a new listing just popped up and we were over there within a few hours. It was a gorgeous place and we made an offer immediately. Then she found us another great unit in a different part of town! To hedge our bets we put offers on both units (they were both short sales)

The short sale process was a nightmare of complexity and way too long to relate here. However, Terry kept on working it and finally it all came together. Without her efforts I sincerely doubt it would have gone through.


Bottom line: Find yourself a hard working, iPhone toting agent. You'll be glad you did!

[KidsinVegas]

The competition for housing in the sub $200,000 K market is fierce. That's because everyone needs a place to live and if rent is going to be as expensive as owning you might as well buy. Banks are in no hurry to unload inventory because they are flush with free government cash.

Many complexes are poorly built, lack security, have not garages. So everyone wants the same few prime locations and properties.

I find the BING Maps has even better satellite imagery than Google Maps... with their Birdseye View you can get a really good idea of not only the complex, but the neighborhood as well.

Good luck... sometimes it's the key ingredient.

[airics]

Originally Posted by kevinjanet

I am sitting in my condo now over looking the immaculate pool and grounds.
After a long and interesting search plus over 6 months of delays due to short sale complexities we finally took possession January 30th.

BIGGEST LESSON LEARNED? - Get a great real estate agent! I am not allowed to mention names on this forum but if you want her name, email me at kevin@hallsofmagic.com

Normally I don't get excited about real estate agents. Our agent, (I'll call her Terry) was vitally important in both finding the unit we purchased and actually getting the sale to go through. We literally looked at hundreds of condos. That is where Terry and her iPhone really came in handy.

When we went to look at a particular unit at a complex, we usually walked around the grounds. If there happened to be a few "for sale" signs that looked interesting, Terry could immediately get the info and entry code number on her iPhone. Even better, it alerted her to NEW listings, that is how we ended up finding our current unit. She called us, said a new listing just popped up and we were over there within a few hours. It was a gorgeous place and we made an offer immediately. Then she found us another great unit in a different part of town! To hedge our bets we put offers on both units (they were both short sales)

The short sale process was a nightmare of complexity and way too long to relate here. However, Terry kept on working it and finally it all came together. Without her efforts I sincerely doubt it would have gone through.


Bottom line: Find yourself a hard working, iPhone toting agent. You'll be glad you did!

so basically you used a realtor from this board to show you all around.. hence your first post, and then you didn't use him for the purchase... nice... real nice...

[mresort]

Originally Posted by airics

so basically you used a realtor from this board to show you all around.. hence your first post, and then you didn't use him for the purchase... nice... real nice...

Thats why I never want to be a real estate agent.
I am not going to spend a full day showing properties to someone who actually treat me like a tour guide.

I think Olepat is a nice guy. He may not be a native English speaker (by reading his posts I have this kind of feeling) but I still believe he is a responsible and informative real estate agent.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by mresort

Thats why I never want to be a real estate agent.
I am not going to spend a full day showing properties to someone who actually treat me like a tour guide.

I think Olepat is a nice guy. He may not be a native English speaker (by reading his posts I have this kind of feeling) but I still believe he is a responsible and informative real estate agent.

Well I would certainly agree that my English usage is sometimes non standard. But it is my native tongue and I do use it well. Don't feel bad mresort. My mother always warned me that erudite english was a turn off to those who do not handle it well.

Kev and Janet are very nice people. It is good they fell into an agent tuned to their needs. The actual purchase appears to have no relationship to their initial goals so I would think the new agent did a good job....

iphones are quite inferior to blackberries here as the coverage is simply no place near as good. We use one but consider it a backup in unusual situations. We also use a car mounted lap top which is vastly more effective than either of the handhelds. In general though that is all window dressing. Proper planning for efficient showing is not done ad hoc.

[jjameson922]

Kevinjanet, I was going to say exactly the same thing to you that the previous posters said. Not only do you not know what the word "loyalty" means, you are so flakey you blattantly post your kuddos to a realtor who probably never reads this forum and further insult one who does and who also tried to help you. Oh well, whatever goes around comes around. Hope you make a lot of friends in your new community.