[Bijjy]

I am in the process of a 1031 from Portland, Oregon and they only give us 45 days out here to select a property. I originally had been convinced by my family I should give Florida a shot so I came out, and well after three weeks and 5 cities I have decided I should stick with my gut on Vegas as FL is not for me. My budget ideally is about 350k althought I am a little flexible. From surfing around this forum non stop I have gathered that Summerlin is the place to be.. there appear to be a lot of agents and generally very informed locals on here so I was hoping for any advice on where in summerlin to move to be in the best area and best value. Also if anyone knows of some great deals I would be grateful. I am flying out to property hunt on the 9th, and if it makes any difference in summerlin a limited commute to the strip would be ideal. Thank you for taking the time to read all this and I look forward to your responses.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by Bijjy

I am in the process of a 1031 from Portland, Oregon and they only give us 45 days out here to select a property. I originally had been convinced by my family I should give Florida a shot so I came out, and well after three weeks and 5 cities I have decided I should stick with my gut on Vegas as FL is not for me. My budget ideally is about 350k althought I am a little flexible. From surfing around this forum non stop I have gathered that Summerlin is the place to be.. there appear to be a lot of agents and generally very informed locals on here so I was hoping for any advice on where in summerlin to move to be in the best area and best value. Also if anyone knows of some great deals I would be grateful. I am flying out to property hunt on the 9th, and if it makes any difference in summerlin a limited commute to the strip would be ideal. Thank you for taking the time to read all this and I look forward to your responses.

Summerlin is fine. As are a number of other places. Do you know where you will be working? School age children?

If you go to...

Crime in Las Vegas

Any place in the green or yellow is OK. Correlates very well with income. Green is better than yellow.

The best buys in Summerlin are REPOs. In your price class you will have little trouble. Note that you get a little less house in Summerlin than in some of the nearby areas. Summerlin has appeal and charges for it.

My recommendation on REPOs is always the same. Try and get one in a neighborhood that has only a few. That generally mean built before 2004.

If you want a pool buy a house that has one. Pools lose 50% of value as soon as you put water in them.

[MomMom]

Originally Posted by Bijjy

I am in the process of a 1031 from Portland, Oregon and they only give us 45 days out here to select a property. I originally had been convinced by my family I should give Florida a shot so I came out, and well after three weeks and 5 cities I have decided I should stick with my gut on Vegas as FL is not for me. My budget ideally is about 350k althought I am a little flexible. From surfing around this forum non stop I have gathered that Summerlin is the place to be.. there appear to be a lot of agents and generally very informed locals on here so I was hoping for any advice on where in summerlin to move to be in the best area and best value. Also if anyone knows of some great deals I would be grateful. I am flying out to property hunt on the 9th, and if it makes any difference in summerlin a limited commute to the strip would be ideal. Thank you for taking the time to read all this and I look forward to your responses.

Who said Summerlin "is the place to be?"

There is Green Valley, Henderson, Whitney Ranch, Centennial, Aliante, neighborhoods all over the valley that will give you more bang for your buck and are just as nice and have the same resale values.

Please keep in mind Summerlin has HOA dues and some tracts (old and new) have the SID fee, as do other Master Plan communities. Gather up all your info and come here first and investigate. Get in touch with a licensed realtor (some on this board) who can direct you to the more desirable areas, but please, don't limit yourself to Summerlin.

[Bijjy]

I was originally interested in Henderson communities such as Anthem, GV, Seven Hills, etc but the more I read on this forum it lead me to believe that these areas have traffic issues which are tolerable but not ideal. I will be working on the strip so a brisk commute to that area would be ideal

[crazy8s]

Las Vegas in a whole has traffice problems. Around Anthem, St Rose PKWY is usually the best way to go...stay away from Eastern during rush hour...actually during any hour.

Southern Highlands is nice...I still own a home there but recently moved to Texas because Las Vegas doesnt rank well with schools nor does it in much unless its gambling, sex or drinking. Even in the nicest areas of Vegas you have problems.

If you want close to the strip dont choose Summerlin. The drive is a killer trying to get from Summerlin PKWY to the 95 and the 95 no matter how much they fix it will always be behind the times in population growth.

350K...lots of houses below that because Las Vegas is one of the worst hit cities in this housing mess and people are practically giving away there homes.

Henderson, Green Valley, Southern Highlands, Silverado Ranch...all decent areas...but not really close to the strip but the 15 doesnt usually backup until Russell unless its 3 in the afternoon and dont expect to get anywhere on the 15 in an hour.

[tovahsez]

Our daughter lived in S. Vegas off Warm Springs Road and the 215, and worked at the Wynn....never heard too many complaints about getting to work, but she usually left for work around 3 o'clock because she managed a restaurant. We lived in Vegas for 2 years but did not like it there...now in Daytona Beach. However many others love it there so who am I to say.

[Bijjy]

For ole or the other people out here with far more knowledge and experience then I could hope to accumilate, what areas would you recommend moving into on a 350k budget so that I could have a quality home IE granite countertops/SS appliances/etc but reduce the risk of having my property value freefall as they have in many areas? Also looking for best value for my dollar of course, thank you all once again.

[olecapt]

I don't quite follow where everybody is coming from on this...

The best places to get to the strip are central city...but nobody wants to live there. It is loaded with strip people and, if you don't have children who need to go to public school, it is an excellent choice. From the more suburban places there are many areas in the SE and South that can get very quickly into the strip. If you live in the back of Anthem it will take a while...if up in the front of Seven Hills it is not bad at all.

From most of Summerlin it is 15 or 18 minutes to the spaghetti bowl...but from there it may well be another 20 minutes to get up to Mandalay Bay. From some places in Summerlin it may pay to come through Trop or DI to get to the strip.

I would deny Summerlin has any particular advantages over say GV. It depends on where you are going and at what time.

Finally there simply are no bad commutes in Las Vegas. For a very long time I did 20 miles on the 405 in LA...that is a bad commute. 25 minutes at 3AM. Plan an hour in the rush hour. Friday night with a little rain it might take 2 and 1/2. That is a commute. And the inland empire people routinely do 2 hours each way. That is a commute.

Even Pahrump commuters can't get to those kinds of numbers.

[Bijjy]

Ole from reading many of your posts I know you get this a lot.. but thank you! (just incase it doesnt get old) Well I suppose I will try a different approach. If I dont mind commuting 20-30 minutes, where would you say I will get the best value for my dollar in the 350k price range IE most sq ft with quality amenities with the least risk of depreciating further? Or god forbid.. someday have the best chance of appreciating.

[mikenbacismama]

Originally Posted by Bijjy

I am in the process of a 1031 from Portland, Oregon and they only give us 45 days out here to select a property. I originally had been convinced by my family I should give Florida a shot so I came out, and well after three weeks and 5 cities I have decided I should stick with my gut on Vegas as FL is not for me.

Smart move. We probably shouldn't have moved from Vegas to FL! But, being a NY girl, I did miss the water living in the middle of the desert. It's a shame that the economy has taken a total nosedive!