[JonathanLB]

If he wants to live in it and enjoy it, that’s the better option. My guess is OP has similar tastes as I do. To get that, it just costs $1-2M sadly. Beats CA prices that’s for sure but still not cheap by any means.

[ddrhazy]

The only 1-2 million dollar houses that make sense to me are in Cali/Hawaii/NYC/Seattle/Vancouver/Toronto.

[kttam186290]

Originally Posted by ddrhazy

The only 1-2 million dollar houses that make sense to me are in Cali/Hawaii/NYC/Seattle/Vancouver/Toronto.

Right...

I don't get why someone would go over a million dollars anywhere in Nevada, save Incline Village perhaps?

[JonathanLB]

You're kidding, right? I haven't seen one house under a million I'd want to move to Las Vegas for. That's simply the cost of most nice homes in the region. There isn't a single home I've found under that price point that would work for us. That means two bedrooms to use for sleeping, two bedrooms for home offices, an entertainment area (NOT a living room) that's far enough away and separated from the master so that you can safely watch movies / play games / do whatever without the noise carrying to the master whatsoever, and an area for a home gym (whether that's a loft, whether that's the same space as the entertainment area, any option like that is fine). Nova Ridge Plan 4 is a good example from Pardee Homes, it has 5 bedrooms, an entertainment area, and there's a loft upstairs where we'd put the gym equipment, but the entertainment area is on the other side of the house from the master. My GF and I both work from home, so having our own office space is a requirement and it's something we already have now. We wouldn't move to Vegas and accept a worse house than we already are living in, that just doesn't make any sense. In our current house, we have 4 bedrooms, 3 stories, so on the bottom floor it's a large, open 750 square foot area where the arcade, pinball machine, two TVs for gaming, and gym equipment lives, a nice separate so that noise doesn't travel to the sleeping area.

To get even just the same thing as we currently have in the Vegas market costs more than a million dollars. Every place I've seen under that price doesn't have a good enough layout even if it's enough square footage (our house is only 2,880 square feet, but it's so well laid out that it works really well). For the Nova Ridge plan, it starts at $812K but that's not even close to the closing price, because you have a $200-300K lot premium, about $200K let's say in upgrade options (most people spend 20-30% on that area), and a minimum $150K to develop the outdoors is the number I've been told (that's separate from the builder). So you're looking at anywhere from $1.35M to $1.45M for that kind of place all together. Another great plan is Wall at Axis in Henderson, but that's $1M plus everything else, an even bigger outdoors, you're probably in there for $1.6M maybe even $1.7M.

The bottom line is simple: If you're living in an apartment, I'm sure that any house that's $350K looks great to you, but we're already living in a house that fits our lifestyle perfectly. We already enjoy working out at home, we're happy and healthy because of it, we love having our personal space, we've always had our own offices even in a 1,700 square foot condo, and we wouldn't give up the amenities and the lifestyle we already have in our $600K house to move to Las Vegas. There is nothing comparable at that budget range. I was certainly hopeful when I began my search that there would be. I had in mind, "Well, it's a cheaper market by far, and we want more outdoor space so that adds cost, maybe a bit better finishes, so that adds cost, but should be able to find something for $800K." Not even close. The houses that are $800K look pretty ordinary honestly. Do a Zillow search, they're nothing special, their curb appeal is alright, the sizes are usually just over 3,000 square feet, so not very big, the layouts are very poor most of the time, and there's just nothing to love about them. I'm sure they work for someone; they don't work for us.

Here's an example: https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sal...07_rect/10_zm/

That's a house in Summerlin, so you have the "good area" part down. The kitchen is a 100% gut job. The counters are awful, the wood looks hideous on the cabinet and the floor, the appliances are garbage, not one is stainless steel, so you're into that kitchen for $40K probably just to make it look nice. The bathrooms are all equally awful. Carpeting is bad throughout. There is basically no outdoor space at all, no amenities or features, and the house is only 2,700 square feet. That's what $600K buys you in a nice area of Vegas and that house is godawful.

[NLVgal]

Then Jonathan, buy a patch of land and have a house custom built. You can do that on your budget.

Jesus. Talk about first world problems.

[JonathanLB]

Not from what I understand, no. Custom builders in Vegas want $2M or more and from what I understand $2M gets you more of a semi-custom situation, like choose your own floor plan from a book or something like that, customize finishes, maybe you could possibly rearrange a wall or two. There are a few developments that say they start at $2M for custom homes, but from interviews with the development company it's on the iffy side. Too rich for my blood! Close, but no cigar. Maybe 10-15 years down the road that'd be sweet, but we'll be perfectly happy with something like Nova Ridge Plan 4 for now I'm just re-aligning some investments.

I was just looking at Zillow for $5M+ homes to see what craziness exists, wow, half the houses are in Promontory Point at The Ridges, and oh my god they are amazing. That's like an entire neighborhood of unbelievably rich homes. It's like the nicest part (Promontory Point) of the nicest village (The Ridges) of the nicest neighborhood (Summerlin) of Las Vegas. Unreal, I wonder what those people do for a living. Or did, maybe, is the better question ha ha. If anyone has $6.5M to spare, there's an unbelievable 4.75 acre lot for sale on top of Promontory Point with a 360 degree unobstructed view of the entire Valley from Strip to mountains. It's the most gorgeous lot in all of Vegas at present, I believe. So if you DO have $6.5M burning a hole in your pocket and maybe another $7-10M to build a house, well you're all set.

[NLVgal]

^^ one of my former bosses lives next to Sheldon Adelson, who is one of the richest men on the Forbes list, typically. There is serious money in the valley.

But if you wanted to do your thing, I’d defer to LVMensch. He’s a realtor. I’m the go-to for a different advice.

[ticking]

As far as I'm concerned the feedback/discussion has been exceptional and helpful to me.

I happened to see an interesting house with an extravagant pool area which I like. I'm not interested in buying at this time, but it did fall within the price range and is large.

[Commander666]

Originally Posted by kttam186290

Right...

I don't get why someone would go over a million dollars anywhere in Nevada, save Incline Village perhaps?

Im with you. Doesn't matter how nice the house is, you're still in Las Vegas.

[ddrhazy]

How much "house" do 2.5 people need? I imagine that huge living room, loft and guest bedrooms barely get any use.

I had a relative who was in the market 4 years ago for a house in the 500k range. I told him to buy a water adjacent property in Lake Shores, he didn't listen. He instead bought a 4000 sqft property in that same area, but it wasn't within vision of the water. It's only him, his wife and his daughter.

For all the hate I have for townhomes/condos/apartment, as long as the people in the community are respecting the cleanliness of the common areas, those are perfectly fine housing options.

Anyhow, McMansions are dumb. Simplify your life.