[simplefresh]

Originally Posted by Swigchow

Agree with above.
The flip side is that there are a number of owners and renters who are active participants in the Art's District which seems to be having increasing vitality. This adds to the diversity of the complex.
The owner turnover is nearly complete. There a few more foreclosures to go but much less than before and the ownership is stabalizing.
The HOA seems financially sound. HOA fees are somewhat high but about the same or even less than other high rise condo's in town.
Basically, the Newport Lofts is very cool. Finding renters hasnt seemed to be a problem.

The Arts District is certainly part of the appeal for us. Glad to hear what you have to say about the HOA being financially sound. We've been wondering about that. I question how many occupants there are in the building though. We drove by it on a Saturday night a couple weeks ago (probably 10pm-ish) and there were only 8-10 lights on in the whole highrise. Made me nervous.

[mquintana]

I can't help with the areas and market but I can say for someone who has worked in property management for a long time as well as who has had family all my life who rented out homes and such...being a landlord is not half as easy as you think.

There are many legalities involved when it comes to getting things fixed in a timely fashion, evicting, noticed, leases, and so much more.

Another HUGE pitfall...fixing the place up. Trust me, no matter how much you think a person is clean, this is not always the case. At some point flooring will need to be replaced as well as other major repairs can come into play...

Being a landlord isn't that great when it comes to that aspect-although having a little bit of cash monthly may be nice, it is always good to anticipate the worst and base your desicion on that-meaning look at how much you would have to pay for the mortgage/HOA's/insurance and so forth versus how much you would charge (remember to do "market survey" as we call them in the apartment industry-pricing and comparing) as well as the cost to turn the house for the new tenant (painting, changing locks, replacing the carpet, repairing damages, replacing appliances and so forth). You can't just think that by requiring a deposit (which should be placed in an interest bearing account) will cover all of that because it may not and not only that but you also have to take into consideration what people are looking for at this time in this economy---getting something reasonable. So-you may charge $1200 a month and ask for 1st, last, and security--but the person may find an apartment for $1000 a mon and there may be a special to have the deposits waived (let's say the SF is similar)...they would probably take the less expensive option...(and say you do waive the deposit, if there are a lot of charges at move out, you might just get stuck with the loss) and there is no guarentee that you would have it leased out ASAP, so there may be a few months or longer where you are paying the bills and not getting any supplimental income for it...getting a person in, well-you will want to check their rental history and credit (because you want to see how they pay their bills) and some even do background checks (private landlords, I mean).

These are just things that you are also going to want to look at before you make an investment that you lock yourself into...

-Sorry so long...

Originally Posted by simplefresh

Noted. How about thoughts on the "vintage" type homes in the 89121 area. Sunrise Villas? Or a condo at Laguna Palms on E. Flamingo? I don't have experience as a landlord, but I'd like to learn. It seems like it would be a lot easier as a first time landlord to avoid having to deal with landscape maintenance.

[Swigchow]

Originally Posted by simplefresh

The Arts District is certainly part of the appeal for us. Glad to hear what you have to say about the HOA being financially sound. We've been wondering about that. I question how many occupants there are in the building though. We drove by it on a Saturday night a couple weeks ago (probably 10pm-ish) and there were only 8-10 lights on in the whole highrise. Made me nervous.

I suppose the Building manager would know the occupancy. On the couple of times we visited, it seemed reasonably active. Soho and especially Juhl seemed much less inhabited.

[simplefresh]

Follow-up. We did it. Bought a unit at Newport. Very happy. Using it as a workspace for now instead of pouring rent into an office space elsewhere. We'll rent it out someday if we need to. I know pretty much all of the available rental units there are occupied now.

[Swigchow]

Originally Posted by simplefresh

Follow-up. We did it. Bought a unit at Newport. Very happy. Using it as a workspace for now instead of pouring rent into an office space elsewhere. We'll rent it out someday if we need to. I know pretty much all of the available rental units there are occupied now.

Congratulations.

What kind of workplace?

[jacattack]

How would you invest $100K in Vegas?

$100K Black

[Bideshi]

Buy physical silver.

[dynimagelv]

e-o-aight the hard way,,,,,30:1

[las vegas drunk]

Originally Posted by Bideshi

Buy physical silver.

Or gold

[Danknee]

Buy 100 super hero costumes (assorted). Then hire 100 unemployed job seekers to stand staggered across the strip standing in pictures for money in the costume. Pay each costumed person 50% of their money collected. Hire one really big tough guy and give him 10% of the total revenue to pimp these super heros and keep them in line and all proceeds accounted for. Finally, sit home and live large.