Las Vegas Real Estate - time to buy?

April 21, 2008 8:54 PM

Tell me about buying a house or condo in Las Vegas

I like going to Las Vegas and I live close enough in CA to do it often. The real estate prices are kind of obscenely low (although I am waiting for them to go lower still through 2009). But has someone from out of the area actually bought a house or condo there? Do you have advice about the neighborhoods or any real estate agents? Thank You.

posted by Kimpossible to work & money (2 comments total)

heh, like all Californians, LV does seem obscenely low.

This was also the cause of LV's obscenely steep valuation bubble 2003-2006.

The place has simply imploded because prices were predicated on flips and not actual ownership or rents. Most houses for sale in LV are EMPTY and foreclosure now. LV is the one of the main posterchildren of the present RE debacle.

Good RE resources include ziprealty.com. You can do map-level searches, see nifty bird's eye views of the property.

As for areas to live in, I personally wouldn't mind living within 1 mile of the Whole Foods on Charleston. Peccole Ranch is my favorite area. Looks like its run by the usual HOA nazis, but hey, in LV's condition perhaps that's not a bad thing.
posted by tachikaze at 9:42 PM on April 21, 2008

I am currently in escrow on a house here. But that's because I live here.

I have three words for you: REPO! REPO! REPO! You can get great deals on bank-owned homes, because the banks prices their properties well below market prices so that they will sell instantly.

The condo situation is a bit of a different story. Most of the cheaper condos (the ones that cost less than houses) are apartment conversions. The nicer, purpose-built condos all claim to be "luxury" and sell for luxurious prices. When I was house hunting, I did not find that the condos were an especially good deal. But it could've been my luck. There's a ton of property on the market right now, and it's hard to see everything at once.

As far as neighborhoods, it of course depends what you're looking for. General rule of thumb in Las Vegas is to stay west of Decatur. In North Las Vegas, rule of thumb is to stay north of Craig.

Funny tachikze should mention it, I actually currently live within a mile of Whole Foods on Charleston. But I cannot afford to buy a nice home in this area, so I'm heading north.

I don't know if I would buy if you weren't planning to live here full time - just because it might be difficult to rent the house/condo for the period you were not living there, but I am not sure about that. Consult a professional.

I can put you in touch with my real estate agent, no problem. Shoot me a mefi-mail if you have any questions.
posted by falconred at 10:25 PM on April 21, 2008