[MadManofBethesda]

I realize that the title of this thread is subjective, but I'm looking for any and all info on the Southern Highlands area. (I've searched the forum and have read the old threads.)

I have/had an offer on a property on a lake in Desert Shores, but after making the offer, getting countered, countering the counter, and getting countered again, I don't think that we are going to come to an agreement, so I have begun looking at other properties for sale on the Internet.

I came across a couple of listings in Southern Highlands that just seem phenomenally beautiful. These are houses that would go for a couple of million dollars back here on the East Coast, but are less that $500k out there. Here is one example:

11817 Canons Brook Dr, Las Vegas, NV, 89141 - MLS ID#973779 - Single Family Home real estate - REALTOR.com®

When my wife and I were on our week-long house-hunting trip last month, we looked exclusively on the west side (Peccole Ranch, Summerlin, Desert Shores, etc.). The furthest south we ventured was Rhodes Ranch. We had been to Anthem on a previous trip, but found Henderson to be too congested.

On mapquest, Southern Highlands and Desert Shores seem to be about equally convenient to the MGM-Bellagio portion of the Strip, but I know that there is a lot of shopping and restaurants near Desert Shores. How far away would stores and restaurants be from Southern Highlands?

If the Desert Shores property does fall through, then we'll probably take another house-hunting trip out to Vegas in the next month or so, but I'd like to get an idea if I should even consider Southern Highlands.

Thanks.

[olecapt]

For Go0dness sake. If you are going to spend half a million dollars on a house in Las Vegas hire some agent you trust. This is not hard stuff.

Define isolated. Southern Highlamd is a major master planned community ten to fifteen minutes south of the strip. Do you bellieve it is possible to be isolated 15 minutes south of the strip? Or do you mean the center of neighborhood and area activity? than one could think of Southern Highlands as being isolated. But it is a strech.

There is also Seven Hills, Anthem Country Club, all the gated layouts around Silverado, Green Valley and dozens of other areas all providing quick strip access. Note that on the lakes in Desert Shores is another kind of buy and far more "isolated" if strip access is what you mean.

there are likely a hundred or more places that meet your spec. Just took a client into escrow for 485K on a place that would easily have gone a million in 2006.

YOu need to think through what you are looking for. Offhand nice Desert Shores and nice Southern Highlands are quite different...except they both put to much house on the lot.

[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by olecapt

For Go0dness sake. If you are going to spend half a million dollars on a house in Las Vegas hire some agent you trust. This is not hard stuff.

Sheesh, calm down. I do have an agent I trust. In fact, she is the one who told me the area was more isolated than areas that she took me to. I realize that the meaning of the word "isolated" is subjective, which is why I was soliciting opinions from the knowledgeable people on this board. Perhaps, even someone who actually lives there.

I also know to the 1/10 of a mile how far a particular property in Southern Highlands is from a particular hotel on the strip. I also stated that I knew that it would take almost the exact same period of time to drive there from Desert Shores or from Southern Highlands. Just because the Strip is only 15 or so minutes away, that doesn't mean that I want to live somewhere where I have to also drive 15 minutes to go grocery shopping or out to eat.

I spent a great deal of time last month driving all around Desert Shores and Summerlin so I am very familiar with all the commercial areas in those neighborhoods. I haven't been to Southern Highlands so I don't know what is around it. There was no reason for you to bite my head off for asking the question.

You have a habit of going off on anyone who offers any opinion on LV that you perceive as derogatory, but have no problem calling people who like to walk to places "effete eastern snobs."

Isolated is not pejorative, but it is subjective.

[airics]

my opinion is that yes the southern highlands are more isolated, it seems like its more difficult to get to places... if your spending a half million, you should fly out before you offer and see the area.. im in the northwest and love it.. today i was in the south, and i don't know what it was, but it just doesn't do it for me.. but again my opinion.. lastly, i wouldnt rush into this, (ill probably get blasted), but i think in that price range, there is alot of room for it to lose more value in early 2010.... also 500k seems like alot for 3220 sf...

[airics]

also , what is all that green stuff (looks like vines) on the front of the house.. on pic 1, there is none then on pic 2 its loaded and then on the last couple pics looks like its on the inside

[Tanque Verde]

Southern Highlands had the usual assortment of strip malls filled with grocery stores and such back in 2005. The community was still pretty new back then and no where near built out.

Hope that helps.

[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by airics

my opinion is that yes the southern highlands are more isolated, it seems like its more difficult to get to places... if your spending a half million, you should fly out before you offer and see the area..

I appreciate your opinion. I definitely would not make an offer sight unseen. As I noted in the last sentence of my first post, I plan to fly out to Vegas for another house-hunting trip in the next month or so. I just wanted to get some idea of whether I should have my agent set up any appointments in Southern Highlands before my arrival, or whether I should stay with my original plan of looking on the west side of town.

Originally Posted by airics

.. lastly, i wouldnt rush into this, (ill probably get blasted), but i think in that price range, there is alot of room for it to lose more value in early 2010.... also 500k seems like alot for 3220 sf...

That is one thing to consider. But I look at it this way: if real estate values continue to fall, my current house would lose value as well, so it seems to be a wash.

As for $500k being a lot for 3220 sq. ft., $155/sq.ft. is less than houses are going for on the lakes in Desert Shores. Again, I don't know if it is an apples-to-apples comparison, but asking prices on the lakes in Desert Shores are around $250/sq. ft, although the recent sales have been in the range of $160 - $180. And just because they're asking for $500k, that doesn't mean that they're going to get it.

Thanks again for your response.

[jjameson922]

If you're living in Maryland, it will be hard for you to compare what is overpriced. You are so accustomed to it with buyers there having to pay close to $300K for an entry level home that would be in the $100,000 range in most other areas. You say you have an agent in LV but you missed the point in the post you attacked of Olecapt where you replied he was snotty and something else. He wrote " get an agent you trust" and once you have one you trust, you won't need to ask others who are not in the business. For all you know, eighteen people in Southern Highlands who all want to sell could get on here and praise the area to the gods.

I looked at the hyperlink you sent and was not that impressed. It too seemed quite overpriced to me, had very little curb appeal with the garages being split up as they were and want you to know you can check out the density factor by getting on the google street level maps. Also familarize yourselves with the mid to high end neighborhoods and the next time you come out, tour them extensively and check out the density level, noise factors, view potential and convenience to the areas you would be frequenting and remember the higher priced the home, the more of a dent in it when prices fall and less number of buyers out there to buy it in that price range.

[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by jjameson922

If you're living in Maryland, it will be hard for you to compare what is overpriced.

I'm not trying to compare Maryland to Las Vegas. I'm trying to compare prices in Summerlin & Desert Shores to Southern Highlands. I also said that I didn't know if that was an apples-to-apples comparison.

Originally Posted by jjameson922

You say you have an agent in LV but you missed the point in the post you attacked of Olecapt where you replied he was snotty and something else.

What!! I attacked his post. You've got to be kidding me!

And FWIW, I didn't say he was snotty; I said he has a habit of jumping on anyone who he believes has impugned Las Vegas and I quoted him exactly from a post on another thread.

Originally Posted by jjameson922

He wrote " get an agent you trust" and once you have one you trust, you won't need to ask others who are not in the business. For all you know, eighteen people in Southern Highlands who all want to sell could get on here and praise the area to the gods.

Oh please. Give me a little credit. I've been on this board long enough to know the regulars and whose opinions I can trust. Moreover, you don't need someone "in the business" to give you general info. You use them when you are seeking their professional advice. Additionally, listening to just one person, regardless of how well-trusted or well-respected that agent might be, is just plain idiotic. There is no reason not to get more input on the subject at hand.

Originally Posted by jjameson922

I looked at the hyperlink you sent and was not that impressed. It too seemed quite overpriced to me, had very little curb appeal with the garages being split up as they were....

I don't recall asking if anyone was impressed with the property or if they thought it was overpriced. I said that I liked it. Moreover, I have an agent I trust to tell me whether it might be overpriced. See how that works? I was asking about the area.

Originally Posted by jjameson922

Also familarize yourselves with the mid to high end neighborhoods and the next time you come out, tour them extensively and check out the density level, noise factors, view potential and convenience to the areas you would be frequenting.....

Yes, that is exactly what I did on the west side of town last month. And that is what I am planning to do when I come out again next month. I was just trying to get an advanced idea of what Southern Highlands was like.

I didn't realize that asking what appeared to me to be an innocuous question could create so much animosity.

[olecapt]

SH has one major drawback...it is very hard to get anywhere from there when I15 is jammed up. That happens reasonably regularly. The alternatives are almost non existent. It is somewhat better now that one can get over to the other side of I15 but I suspect that intersection may be challenging when I15 is bad.

Much of the south side suffers from that problem. There really are only two ways out of Anthem and Seven Hills and only Eastern is an arterial. From the west side there are both the freeway and a set of alternatives that let you avoid a jammed freeway.

I did not take your comment as derogatory...just the sort of thing an agent should straighten out in a 3 minute conversation. A glance at a current map would also give you a pretty good idea. The area does have local services but they are sparse. No where near the selection of the west side. And "effete eastern snobs" was an obvious put on. Lighten up a little. You are taking all this much too seriously.