Is RENO a wise move? (Las Vegas, Sparks: apartments, to rent, car insurance)

[xtranaut]

I may be moving to Reno. I had an interview there last week that went well.
My wife and i (both profesional people) have been out of work for two years!
We lived in Florida, sold our house before the housing market went cold and bought a house in Tennessee. We have been looking since JUne and nothing.
Everyone says they "hire from within" like it is some private club. I don't understand how they come by so many qualified people from within ranks. So, for as much as we love the area georgraphically fr it's beauty, nature and great outdoors things to do, we have to go where the money is - RENO is my first interview in about a month and that is one of six total that I have had since April. Biggest problem is that both me and my wife have accomplished resumes and have made decent money -- America is in this hire em cheap or
go to China mode and, in most cases, corporations don't care if you KNOW
squat.

NOW, I have a few concerns. I couldn't get a read off of RENO. Miami has an instant vibe and it is inviting and exciting. I get the feel that RENO isn't a "real" town and is only there for gambling and golf. The feel is that nobody is from there..they all just come off planes or have seasonal homes there.
Maybe a native RENO-AN can define for me.

The other is the cost of living. I see that the AVERAGE home is 309,000 in Reno and I have also seen warnings not to buy anyhting just yet and that you save a lot of money by renting because the house that someone paid 300k for is renting for 1500. a month - about HALF of a mortgage payment for that price home. I have looked and confrmed this is pretty much true...
the same for apartments.

Question - what is the reason new homes are renting for this cheap while the price of them does not seem to drop? If this is investment property..it doesnt seem to be a very good investment if one has to cut rent in half?

Question - if one is going to rent OR buy to be close in, where is the nicest, moderately priced neighborhood to live? I like trees, parks and fireplaces. Dig private garden patios and need a garage.

Question - Where is the nicest outside of town (rural type) setting where you could ride horses, yet not take more than thirty plus minutes to get to work and not have to put up wit horrible traffic? Something maybe with views
of some kind, some trees, and quiet that wouldn;t cost more than a 1-1500
a month?

Question - Who would be a good realtor and might list places that are already furnished and allow dogs .

Question - I have been told that there are certain areas of Reno that you do not want to live because the WIND STORMS are bad. Which are those?

Question - What is the closest town where you can get a REAL break on home prices or rent?

Question - Why is it that car insurance is so high in Reno?

Question - The averages say that Reno has a high crime rate -- what kind?

Question - Are utilities and groceries high or low in Reno?

Question - Can you live well on 80k a year in Reno?

Question - On a scale of one to ten, ten being the best, how does RENO rate?

This is a long haul. I want to make sure I am doing the right thing

Thanks

[Synopsis]

I can't answer all of your questions. Sorry, I'm not from Reno but I lived there in the late 80s. I know, 17 years ago but I'll tell you what I know.

I'm sure that you could live very well on 80k per year in Reno. As for the housing prices, I don't think they are quite as high everywhere in Reno/Sparks as you initially saw. It could be true, but when I lived there I saw plenty of homes in the lower price range, and they were in good neighborhoods.
As for gambling; I was not a gambler, I had a job at a semiconductor back end manufacturer, and it paid decent but not great.
On a scale of 1-10, I loved Reno, but I left when I was young and stupid, wanting to return to my home state of Oklahoma.
The summers there are great. It generally gets up to about 93 in the day and cools way down at night due to the high elevation; good sleeping weather as they say. The winters in Reno itself are not that harsh compared to winters in places like Minnesota or Chicago. Yes, it gets cold but not much colder than Kansas City or some other city along that latitude.
The scenery is absolutely awesome. Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada Mountains are spectacular. It does snow alot in those mountains, so much that in the winter it's hard to make a trip across the pass into California.
I don't recall ANY crime while I lived in Reno. It could've changed alot since I lived there but essentially it was a very quiet town.
As for car insurance, I had no idea it was high in Reno and if it is I do not understand why.
As for the closest town to get a real break on prices and rent, you might check out Sparks, which is essentially a twin city of Reno.
Carson City may be a costly place to live, it's a little higher up the mountain from Reno.
Do yourself a favor and google all of these things about Reno. You can probably go to realtor.com, realestate.com or use Zillow to check out home values. I've found Zillow to be an excellent source as it gives you the home values for a specific area and all of the neighboring houses as well.
Good luck! If I were single I'd move back to Reno in a heartbeat if there were jobs in the area.
One more thing. I don't know how "family" oriented (schools and such) Reno is because when I lived there I was single.

PS. I went to Zillow.com and checked out the median home values for Reno and sure enough, the home values there average around 331K. However, I'll almost bet that is because the area is growing like you wouldn't believe and my bet is that most of the higher prices are the result of a TON of new, high-priced homes being built in and around Reno. I think it's one of the fastest growing cities per capita in the U.S. because of it's climate and scenery. Believe me, there are probably a ton of moderately priced homes (albeit a little older) in the city proper and they are probably in decent neighborhoods. Like I said, when I lived there I lived in a little dump of an apartment and I never saw any crime. The best thing for you to do is to check it out yourself, in person, for several days - maybe even a week. You can get good deals on casino packages and flights, just use that time to check out the city instead of gambling. Even better, if your potentially new company really wants you there, they should pay for the trip.

[greatbasinguide]

Hi, I work in Reno, live in Truckee, I will try to answer your questions.


Question - what is the reason new homes are renting for this cheap while the price of them does not seem to drop? If this is investment property..it doesnt seem to be a very good investment if one has to cut rent in half?

>>>>>>>>>>> There is a glut of apartments, the new ones have features that people want, other places are not as desirable.

Question - if one is going to rent OR buy to be close in, where is the nicest, moderately priced neighborhood to live? I like trees, parks and fireplaces. Dig private garden patios and need a garage.

>>>>>>>>>>>> The south end of town is new and professional, also north of Sparks at Wingfield Springs is good. There is a lot available, housing prices are supposed to go flat in Reno, which is good for you.

Question - Where is the nicest outside of town (rural type) setting where you could ride horses, yet not take more than thirty plus minutes to get to work and not have to put up wit horrible traffic? Something maybe with views
of some kind, some trees, and quiet that wouldn;t cost more than a 1-1500
a month?
>>>>>>>>>>>> South to Pleasant Valley, and Washoe Valley, also north in Spanish Springs,, is horse country. Depending on where you live the freeways choke up at rush hour, I would not live north of town along 395 if I worked in town.

Question - Who would be a good realtor and might list places that are already furnished and allow dogs .

>>>>>>>> Dickson and Ferrari are big companies, but everyone is on MLS.

Question - I have been told that there are certain areas of Reno that you do not want to live because the WIND STORMS are bad. Which are those?

>>>>>>>>> Never heard of such a thing, wind the wind blows it blows everywhere. However, the new northwest gets pretty breezy in the afternoon.

Question - What is the closest town where you can get a REAL break on home prices or rent?
>>>>>>>>>>>>. Fernley 1/2 hour east.

Question - Why is it that car insurance is so high in Reno?

>>>>>>>>>>. Did not know it was high,,,, maybe all the Californians that moved in.

Question - The averages say that Reno has a high crime rate -- what kind?

>>>>>>>>> Mexicans killing mexicans mostly, Meth is high, but that is everywhere now. It is a lot safer than Las Vegas.

Question - Are utilities and groceries high or low in Reno?

>>>>>>>>>>> I don't know that it is higher than anywhere else. One problem is good vegetables,, not as good as California.

Question - Can you live well on 80k a year in Reno?
>>>>>>>>>>> Yes, if you pay attention to your mortgage costs.

Question - On a scale of one to ten, ten being the best, how does RENO rate?

Compared to Truckee, a 4, compared to Sacramento a 9, compared to Las Vegas, a 10,

If you ski, mtn bike, hike, jeep, swim, sail, powerboat, camp, it is a great place.
If you gamble, stay away from gambling towns.
If you like theater, there is good theater
One of the top 10 operas in America.
Because of the casinos there are lots of shows,, from the Who, to the beach boys. Great restuarants.

Myself, I would not want to live in Reno, I prefer the pines and mountains of Truckee, but, Truckee has become unaffordable.

I also drive 100 miles a day round trip to work.

[olecapt]

Nice exposition...I do disagree on the crime rate. Reno is a little less but pretty close to the same as Vegas...Scarey huhh.

Police Force Pop. Violent Crimes
Las Vegas Metro NV 1,239,805 789.1
Reno Police Dept NV 201,981 732.7

[xtranaut]

This is a wealth of information...and I was even able to dispell myths such as places where the wind blows more than others! ha. I now have a clearer picture of where I will look for a place to live and what tools i will use to do that. ****, wiwsh I could live in Truckee now! Born too late.

[greatbasinguide]

Here is an idea, depending on how rural you like it, and how much you like driving. North of Reno on 395 and west on 70, you have left the 21st century and gone back to the 19th, Sierra Valley, logging and Ranching,, small redneck towns, like Truckee once was, Vinton, Beckworth, Portola, Loyalton.

[xtranaut]

Excellent! I will check these out! Just don't want to get so far removed that i appear to be the only "alien" in town!