LVA House Advantage blogger and Las Vegas Top 10 Real Estate Values guru Robin Camacho responds:
Mark, I can recite your story by heart. Let me guess - you and your wife are in your late 40s or early 50s, you’re financially secure, and you’re tired of the cold and want to spend winters in Las Vegas - or even retire here. I’m not psychic - I just know my LVA readers well. I’ve made friends with readers from all over the country - and especially the cold climates – long time Las Vegas visitors who are looking to take advantage of the bargains, and buy more home for their money than they ever dreamed they could.
To answer your question, I turned to LVA readers Dave and Jeannie Liming – proud new owners of their own "piece of Las Vegas." I thought it might be more interesting to hear it from the perspective of actual buyers.
"Our precise situation! We love to visit the warmer climate and scenic mountains, having lived in the snow and slush of Michigan ourselves. We are treated to free, very luxurious rooms and suites, food, shows and limo rides, so we can empathize and say there are two good reasons to buy real estate in Las Vegas. One is for investment - if you think things will rebound (as we do) sooner or later in the most unique city in the world, then now is the time to trade in those 1.25% money market accounts for a chance at a real investment gain over the next 3-10 years. The second reason is if you think you may want to retire to Las Vegas at some point in the future (or at least split your retirement ½ in LV and the other ½ in Florida or summers in the north), then buy now at a good value. Some will say it is cheap now; we would just say property is no longer way overvalued.
"We’re treated far too well by the largest casino chains in town, so because we met both of the above criteria, we began a long and winding search for a place in this never-never land. The gestation period took exactly 11 months and a dozen offers, all over asking price! We kept in mind that we wanted both a potentially good investment AND a home nice enough that we would want to live in if we decided to do so in a few years. Look for quality and be certain you know EXACTLY what you want in price, land, stories, layout, upgrades, number and type of rooms, etc.
"We journeyed through the tract houses on nearly zero lots all built (overbuilt) in the past 3-4 years but ended up with what we believed met the second criteria to a tee. It’s a custom home, in a nice neighborhood, very close to everything including the Strip, on a ½-acre lot, with real trees and grass and many upgraded features. It was from a private owner, so Robin had a response for us within hours.
"Our previous 11 home offers were all on foreclosures, which sound great on paper and IF you really can get one for a fair price, offers financially a lot of house for the money. Many of our offers were houses we liked, but didn’t love. One of our favorites that we did not get was very near Anthony Curtis’ home, which for diehard LVA readers and members, was a strange twist of fate, perhaps? We found it difficult to deal with the banks selling REOs; we made offers up to 35% over asking price and still didn’t get them. We’d see some of them come right back on the market within weeks, when the deals fell through thanks to those making dubious offers higher than ours. For those who are real buyers, the foreclosure experience can be very frustrating dealing with $10-hour bank clerks who could care less if and what they sell a home for. After all, our tax dollars are paying the bank losses - why should they care about selling homes to real buyers?
"Bottom line - we recommend getting the best of both worlds! Stay in the fine hotels now and skip having to buy groceries, cook them, and clean up after yourselves. But do consider buying as an investment or future retirement home. After all, with the graying of America, more people retiring in the future and wanting to move from the more industrial north, Nevada and Florida real estate is likely to rise again. And remember, Nevada doesn’t have the hurricanes and alligators of Florida nor the mudslides or fires of California!"
I also turned to Cindy, a San Francisco LVA reader, who told me that "It would make sense if he’s planning to rent it out until he retires, and stay at the comped hotel" as she does! In that case, according to Cindy, "Yes – it’s an investment, and a good time to buy."
There you have it, Mark. I couldn’t have said it better than another LVA reader!
For more information about Robin and the unique feature her Website offers for listing the current Top 10 best real estate deals in Las Vegas, in real time, just click here.
