[tinacheeks]

My husband and I want to move to Nevada. (We live in NY now). We were thinking about renting an apartment in Summerlin, Henderson or Green Valley for a year or so, just to make sure Nevada is really for us. We were wondering how renting in Nevada compares to renting in NY. I can see from looking at some of the apartment websites that there are all sorts or utility fees - gas, electric, waste, water, etc. Could someone give me an idea of some of the going fees / rates? (We don't have to deal with all of these as renters in NY).
Also - How do these areas compare in terms of activities? We both love outdoor sports, especially softball / baseball. We would LOVE to be able to play these sports as often as possible.

We are really looking for a more fun filled and laid back lifestyle. We want warm weather and sunny days. We are tired of dealing with nasty people, the rat race and 9 months of gray days, rain and cold weather.

Any input anyone has would be greatly appreciated!

[RedWingsFan]

Summerlin or Green Valley will be a good fit for you. The only bill you'll get each month that will be kind of costly is the electric bill from running the air conditioning. We had a condo and the electric bill in the summer was around $250 per month, much lower in the winter. Gas bills are really low, maybe $30 a month and a little higher in the winter for heat. The waste and water bills are all pretty low.

In NY you might not have to handle the bills directly but it's because the fees are just wrapped up in your monthly rent amount. Here you pay it yourself, although there are some apartments that do take care of the water and waste bills.

[olecapt]

As RWF said...

You might also consider a condo or a private house. If you are trying out Nevada you will pretty quickly learn that the only thing you get to find out about in an apartment complex is how well run it is...

In general condos and single family residences parallel the apartments in price.

Green Valley by the way is one of the very nice areas in Henderson. There are others.

There are also areas in the SW and NW that are as nice as either GV or Summerlin. .

Just spent a day showing properties to a professional single lady who is deciding between a place downtown and a place just off the strip. To be clear she works downtown and has no children...but being an urban type she dismisses all the suburbs as "little houses made of ticky tack"

Takes all kinds.

[tonyjunior]

talked to a lady in the casino that said from the riviera hotel - freemont street is nothing but mexican gangs, drug dealers,shootings & stabings

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by tonyjunior

talked to a lady in the casino that said from the riviera hotel - freemont street is nothing but mexican gangs, drug dealers,shootings & stabings

You talk to strange Ladies in Casinos they tell you strange things.

No that area has some rough areas some nice areas and some in between. There is also a massive amount of commercial/public/professional dealing with the legal profession and the court houses.

[PinkString]

Originally Posted by tonyjunior

talked to a lady in the casino that said from the riviera hotel - freemont street is nothing but mexican gangs, drug dealers,shootings & stabings

Of all the times ive visited Fremont street, ive never seen any of that. Maybe because im not there at 2 or 3am and i dont veer off of the fremont street experience. ive been there alone many times and never had problems. so the weird people in casinos tell some great fibs.

[billeethakid]

Originally Posted by tinacheeks

My husband and I want to move to Nevada. (We live in NY now). We were thinking about renting an apartment in Summerlin, Henderson or Green Valley for a year or so, just to make sure Nevada is really for us. We were wondering how renting in Nevada compares to renting in NY. I can see from looking at some of the apartment websites that there are all sorts or utility fees - gas, electric, waste, water, etc. Could someone give me an idea of some of the going fees / rates? (We don't have to deal with all of these as renters in NY).
Also - How do these areas compare in terms of activities? We both love outdoor sports, especially softball / baseball. We would LOVE to be able to play these sports as often as possible.

We are really looking for a more fun filled and laid back lifestyle. We want warm weather and sunny days. We are tired of dealing with nasty people, the rat race and 9 months of gray days, rain and cold weather.

Any input anyone has would be greatly appreciated!

My girlfriend and I are going the excact route you and you wife are, and we also reside in NY. 10 minutes from Albany to be excact. We have looked at properties in Henderson and Summerlin, mostly 3-4 bedroom homes, 2 car garage, gated community type deals. Renting to me makes much more sense right now. You can rent a decent sized home in either of those areas for $1200-1600 a month, where as you mortgage would be anywhere in the area of $4000-$7000 a month, taxes included? I don't know where you guys are at in NY, but as one person stated in this forum before, when you move, you take YOU with you... Now that being said, if you understand that, I believe no matter where you go, despite the weather conditions, you will not be anymore happy in a new location then you are now. It may sound silly, but you get what you put in. You are going to find just as many rude, ******* type people in Vegas as you do at home. I will have to agree with you on the whole 9 months of darkness thing. I dont ski, and snowmobiling has turned out to be not very efficient these days.. I dunno. We are going out there with open minds, possibly pursuing more exciting careers and different lifestyles, but if it doesn't workout, we will have had a great time trying. Good luck to the both of you, and touch base here, I am interested in what you decide and what you think once your settled in.

[olecapt]

You are well off on your mortgage rates...a reasonable four bedroom 2000 SF house can be had for around 325,000 which would give a mortgage payment of about $2000.

There is however nothing wrong with renting in Las Vegas initially. It is a pretty good deal economically...just not as good as you thought.

[billeethakid]

Originally Posted by olecapt

You are well off on your mortgage rates...a reasonable four bedroom 2000 SF house can be had for around 325,000 which would give a mortgage payment of about $2000.

There is however nothing wrong with renting in Las Vegas initially. It is a pretty good deal economically...just not as good as you thought.

4 bedroom, 2000 sq ft? From what Iv'e seen there for sale recently, the 4 br's are well over 2000sq/ft up into the 3000's not that its a rule... But I was thinking more like a $500,000 house as far as the mortgage goes. 30 year, 6% being conservative, and property taxes included... Yea the payment would be well doubled of what the asking lease is now. Right around $3500 a month, thats if the term was 30 year... Is it assumed that the term is always 30 year? Thanks for the input though

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by billeethakid

4 bedroom, 2000 sq ft? From what Iv'e seen there for sale recently, the 4 br's are well over 2000sq/ft up into the 3000's not that its a rule... But I was thinking more like a $500,000 house as far as the mortgage goes. 30 year, 6% being conservative, and property taxes included... Yea the payment would be well doubled of what the asking lease is now. Right around $3500 a month, thats if the term was 30 year... Is it assumed that the term is always 30 year? Thanks for the input though

In the entire nice west side there are 3 houses for rent below 2000 with 4 BR and 3000+ SF. There are 16 below 2500. There are hundreds around 2,000 sf for less than 2,000.

You will find very few 500,000 homes available for anything less than 2500.

There are some very good rentals available on 500K/600K houses. But they do not get below around 2000 to 3000 a month. With a pool (which is rare) they don't come below 2500.

It is a nice renters market...but it is not that nice.