Las Vegas shared housing rentals
April 30, 2011 7:11 PM   Subscribe

Las Vegas Shared Housing Monthly Room Rentals... I realize that Las Vegas has been hit hard economically, but are these shared housing monthly room rentals I see on Craigslist for real... $350/$500 for what appear to be rentals in very nice single family homes, etc.? Thinking of "picking one up" as an inexpensive escape as a second "home"... feedback appreciated re red flags, etc. Or have I simply been out of the rental mkt too long and don't appreciate opportunities that exist...
posted by america4 to Home & Garden (8 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
These are horrible deals.

redfin is in Las Vegas now so fire them up and look around. You can pick up very nice condos for $70,000 now.

Here's a totally random pick (in my favorite part of town).
posted by mokuba at 7:23 PM on April 30, 2011


Yeah. It's been a few years since I've been in Vegas, but last time I was through there I remember thinking that for not much more than I was paying for a hotel room I could just get a month-to-month apartment.
posted by straw at 7:47 PM on April 30, 2011


Best answer: To rephrase the answer above - because you can pick up very nice condos for $70,000, it's definitely not out of the realm of reality to rent a room in a very nice home for a very low price. If you're looking for a vacation home option, that may be much more appealing than owning a mostly-vacant home or having to deal with renting it out to others.
posted by ferociouskitty at 7:49 PM on April 30, 2011


They're probably legit. I pay $450 a month and that is about 50 more than I should be paying.
posted by betweenthebars at 8:22 PM on April 30, 2011


The holding cost of a $70,000 condo is ~$400/mo if you can get the 5% 30-year loan. Just sayin'.

I'd rather have my stuff in my own 2B condo than someone's house.
posted by mokuba at 9:20 PM on April 30, 2011


Thinking of "picking one up" as an inexpensive escape as a second "home"... feedback appreciated re red flags, etc.

I'm assuming the other rooms in the houses might be rented to people you don't know?

This would make me very uncomfortable. With the shady, transient, grifter population probably being higher in Las Vegas than other parts of the country, I'm not sure I could sleep at night in a house in Vegas with the other rooms rented out cheaply to god knows whom.
posted by jayder at 9:21 AM on May 1, 2011


Dang - that's cheaper than what I used to pay in Kentucky 3 years ago for a decent apartment.

The biggest question you'll have is whether Las Vegas will continue an upward trend or stay a depressed area - if needing a job in the area, that cash flow might be what keeps you in that cheap place.
posted by chrisinseoul at 11:25 AM on May 1, 2011


My sister has been living in vegas for the past few years and found her roomate through craigslist. Here's my take on the situation you are seeing - based on what she (and her friends) had explained to us about the vegas market when we saw them last summer:

There are a lot of young professionals in Vegas (many originally from Nevada), who bought 2 & 3 bedroom condos and homes in nice residential areas during the peak pricing period of the real estate market, thinking they needed to buy then to not be priced out of where they wanted to live.

Vegas has been one of the areas hardest hit by the economic downturn, and much of the boom was tied to real estate development and the construction industry already. So lots of these young professionals then found themselves laid off or working for less than they used to make (because their hours were reduced, they had to change to industry that paid less, etc). And one of the easiest ways to manage something like that and still make your mortgage payments when you're single is to just take in a roommate. Or move back in with your family, and rent your entire place to someone (or a group of people).

So I think what you are seeing is legit. Though it may subside over the next few years - particularly as mortgage companies become more willing to do short-sales. Her roommate recently did that with the place she owned. And my sister found a really nice, cheap condo to rent from someone who had bought it, can't sell the place, and is desperate to bring in at least some cash on it as rent.
posted by buttercup at 12:50 PM on May 1, 2011


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