[lyra33]

Originally Posted by airics

you do realize that car theft is among that crime don't you.... there are ALOT of cities MUCH worse than Vegas. I noticed you changed your mind about moving or investing here..... GOOD!

Uh, er...well first of all I was joking, secondly - I live here.

[winknod]

It took me 6 months of looking and bidding to finally buy a house in that price range, and I was looking as an owner occupant!
There are a lot of investors with deep pockets snapping up all the inexpensive, viable rental properties.

I finally got lucky on my house because the bank listed it for only 10 days, they got 6 offers and mine for above ask, cash, with no inspection contingency was the winner. The kitchen is "dated", but it came with all working appliances (most places I saw had no appliances). I saw a lot of poor construction in Las Vegas especially when it came to the foundation (I saw places built on 6"-8" of concrete!). My house is really well built so I felt comfortable passing on the inspection. It would not have passed as there are no GFI outlets (not even under the sink for the dishwasher!) so no bank would have given a mortgage and the selling bank would not have paid for any work, so an inspection would have been pointless.
It's S of 95 and W of 215 and so far I love the neighborhood and feel safe, neighbors introduced themselves and all seem happy to have an owner in the property.

After each property I bid on and lost closed I checked public records. Without exception they all sold to asians. Las Vegas has about 3% asian population, so I suspect that they were all investors.

The best part of my story is that of all the properties I bid on the one I ended up in is by far the best of the bunch, the only one with every single thing on my wish list!... I'm so glad all those other properties fell through!

Good luck on your search and be prepared to pounce when you find the right property!

ps. It may have helped that I called the listing broker directly on the house I got... it shouldn't make a difference, but I suspect with the low commissions on these properties it didn't hurt.

[kcoliver]

Sorry I haven't answered sooner, I've been having problems logging in....As to my situation with our rental in 89129 Craig/Grand Canyon area, we had the house rented to what SEEMED to be an excellent tenant. Steady job, fairly reasonable credit report, no evictions. Then, for what ever reason, they simply stopped paying rent...(I think they gave management co reason that someone in family died), anyway, we gave them 2 - 5 day notices, and 30 days. They never paid, now no rent and had to evict.....cost was approximately $300 and locks had to be changed. Another $45 for garage door openers that were taken and needed to be recoded. We were lucky, they did no real damage, but house was really dirty. How long did it take to rent? About 2 1/2 months. How long was it rented? Only about 5 1/2 months. Again, we were lucky, but that house was perfect...new carpet, new paint, new appliances, new blinds. Now, how long it will be empty is anyones guess. If you get the right renter.....it's wonderful. But what if the renter does damage? More to spend money on for repairs. By the way it's approximately $300. per month for expenses..taxes, landlord ins, sewer trash. (that's not including utilities...you need to have electric, gas and water on for anyone to see the house. )if you have a mortgage (even $400 a month), you're still putting out $700 a month when empty. True no charge from management co when empty......But again they charge 1/3 of first months rent to find renter. Also they hold the deposit....which they use if needed when you must evict. Again, think about this if you don't live in Vegas, yes you can deduct the trip - but do you want to spend your time cleaning?

[olecapt]

Let us look at this a little bit...It is not clear here that the process is understood...

Originally Posted by winknod

It took me 6 months of looking and bidding to finally buy a house in that price range, and I was looking as an owner occupant!
There are a lot of investors with deep pockets snapping up all the inexpensive, viable rental properties.

I finally got lucky on my house because the bank listed it for only 10 days, they got 6 offers and mine for above ask, cash, with no inspection contingency was the winner. The kitchen is "dated", but it came with all working appliances (most places I saw had no appliances). I saw a lot of poor construction in Las Vegas especially when it came to the foundation (I saw places built on 6"-8" of concrete!). My house is really well built so I felt comfortable passing on the inspection. It would not have passed as there are no GFI outlets (not even under the sink for the dishwasher!) so no bank would have given a mortgage and the selling bank would not have paid for any work, so an inspection would have been pointless.

In general an inspection has little to do with financing. The bank never sees the inspection...goes only to the buyer. An FHA appraisal may include a limited inspection for things like running water and a working stove. Other than that the inspection is for the benefit of the buyer. I have yet to see a bank seller who cared whether you did it or not. Waiving all contingencies on a buy can be done...that is when the house catches fire just before close and the bank insists you close anyway....

An inspection will tell you where you are...does the AC work? Busted trusses? Roof at end of life? Blocked sewer line? Water leaks below the slab?

It will give some indications of how much it is going to cost you after you buy it.

It's S of 95 and W of 215 and so far I love the neighborhood and feel safe, neighbors introduced themselves and all seem happy to have an owner in the property.

Off hand that would be very difficult. The only place that would fit is Kyle Canyon. Hard to find a neighborhood there...pretty much open desert.

After each property I bid on and lost closed I checked public records. Without exception they all sold to asians. Las Vegas has about 3% asian population, so I suspect that they were all investors.

About 1/3 of the low end cash buyers appear oriental. And that is about 55% of the low end REO buyers. So maybe 20% of the low end is sold to orientals.

The best part of my story is that of all the properties I bid on the one I ended up in is by far the best of the bunch, the only one with every single thing on my wish list!... I'm so glad all those other properties fell through!

Good luck on your search and be prepared to pounce when you find the right property!

ps. It may have helped that I called the listing broker directly on the house I got... it shouldn't make a difference, but I suspect with the low commissions on these properties it didn't hurt.

The listing brokers just love that. There is one born every minute...so jump right on it. That sort of buyer does cash and pays over list with no contingency...what could be sweeter?

And you likely tripled the agents fee for the transaction.

[intrepidnomad]

Originally Posted by MomMom

Quite honestly OP, but in my opinion why do you even want to consider buying a property in Las Vegas, strictly for renting it out, with our bad economy here? What do you think the quality of renter is going to be paying such low rent for a very small home?

And being you live in Cali, you'd have to hire a Property Management company here in Las Vegas to manage your house.

Really, the legend of the Las Vegas gold mine money making home ownership is over for folks such as you, using a smallish home as a source of rental income.

You'd be better off putting your nickel and dimes into buying a rental property in places that have better and growing economies, such as Texas, Colorado and North Carolina. At least your investment will gain in value, and not go further down like it's doing here in Las Vegas.

Don't say we didn't tell you so

Much good luck to you in whatever you decide to do! Have fun while here!

Texas, really? I looked into Texas and have you seen the PROPERTY TAXES? I'm sure you have. Who in their right mind would want to have to pay that?

[GeorgeJ.]

Originally Posted by kcoliver

Sorry I haven't answered sooner, I've been having problems logging in....As to my situation with our rental in 89129 Craig/Grand Canyon area, we had the house rented to what SEEMED to be an excellent tenant. Steady job, fairly reasonable credit report, no evictions. Then, for what ever reason, they simply stopped paying rent...(I think they gave management co reason that someone in family died), anyway, we gave them 2 - 5 day notices, and 30 days. They never paid, now no rent and had to evict.....cost was approximately $300 and locks had to be changed. Another $45 for garage door openers that were taken and needed to be recoded. We were lucky, they did no real damage, but house was really dirty. How long did it take to rent? About 2 1/2 months. How long was it rented? Only about 5 1/2 months. Again, we were lucky, but that house was perfect...new carpet, new paint, new appliances, new blinds. Now, how long it will be empty is anyones guess. If you get the right renter.....it's wonderful. But what if the renter does damage? More to spend money on for repairs. By the way it's approximately $300. per month for expenses..taxes, landlord ins, sewer trash. (that's not including utilities...you need to have electric, gas and water on for anyone to see the house. )if you have a mortgage (even $400 a month), you're still putting out $700 a month when empty. True no charge from management co when empty......But again they charge 1/3 of first months rent to find renter. Also they hold the deposit....which they use if needed when you must evict. Again, think about this if you don't live in Vegas, yes you can deduct the trip - but do you want to spend your time cleaning?

Management Companies are charging 10-12% in the Jacksonville area (some others are as high as 15%).

The typical charge to find a tenant is HALF a month's rent.

And, check this out, if the tenant signs a new lease a year later, they want ONE QUARTER of a month's rent to write it up (like it takes more than 10 minutes to do) - it should be covered under the monthly fee they get...

I don't know if Los Angeles has much more competition, but a large Mgt Co I spoke to in LA County only charges 5% per month and a flat $300 fee to find a tenant...

[MomMom]

Originally Posted by intrepidnomad

Texas, really? I looked into Texas and have you seen the PROPERTY TAXES? I'm sure you have. Who in their right mind would want to have to pay that?

Apparently a lot of people and their economy is not depressed like ours is. From what I read on the Texas forums,there are plenty of jobs there.

Texas is currently the fastest growing state population wise.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/22/real...source=cnn_bin


YOU may not like the property taxes, but for a lot of people, they don't seem to mind. And I'm sure all those folks moving there are all not apartment dwellers who want to avoid the higher property taxes either

In my own opinion, despite our bad economy here in town, no place could ever come close to being as wonderful as Las Vegas!! But then again, I don't personally care if the economy here in town is good, bad or indifferent right now.

If I were investing, I wouldn't do so in Las Vegas right now..I'd go put my scheckels in a place where they are building new communities, people are flocking to and where the jobs are. Your investment is likely to gain in value in markets like that, not go down in value as Las Vegas homes have been doing.

[Swigchow]

Originally Posted by MomMom

In my own opinion, despite our bad economy here in town, no place could ever come close to being as wonderful as Las Vegas!! But then again, I don't personally care if the economy here in town is good, bad or indifferent right now.

If I were investing, I wouldn't do so in Las Vegas right now..I'd go put my scheckels in a place where they are building new communities, people are flocking to and where the jobs are. Your investment is likely to gain in value in markets like that, not go down in value as Las Vegas homes have been doing.

At some point the bleeding will stop.

[5597]

for a 50k house, property tax should be $40-$70/month. Management Companies charge 8%.