Want to Move to Las Vegas?

Discuss all things Las Vegas. Hotels, restaurants, good deals, airfares, cabbies, conventions, shows, etc.
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DougJ
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Want to Move to Las Vegas?

Post by DougJ »

No surprise here: although housing has slowed slightly in the past month, the average home has increased in value almost 8% in the last 12 months. My home has increased in value over 30% in just two years . . . though we are never selling, so just paper profit.
Meanwhile, rents in Las Vegas have skyrocketed. We now have the fifth highest rents nationwide.

Well, no wonder all the self proclaimed AP's who want to live in Las Vegas and rent are now moving out.
MATH is simple. Keep renting and throwing that money out your car window every single month. . . or move to FA LA LA land.

case
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Post by case »

Still cheaper than California. Prices have gone up all over the country.

notes1
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Post by notes1 »

don't we have a poster who moved from nyc to vegas a couple of years ago and made the financial argument that it was better to rent than buy. if housing has indeed increased by 30% in just 2 years, that would seem to invalidate his previous position.

if one had bought a $250k home, made 30%, and sold that property, even after expenses, it would be a net gain of at least $50k. purchased a home earlier than 2 years ago, or bought more than a $250k house, the gain would likely be greater. not a tax expert, but i believe the first $250k (single filer)) of profit made on one's primary residence is tax free.

that's a tidy tax free profit and one didn't have to spend their time scrounging for a good gambling opportunity.

billryan
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Post by billryan »

I'm moving because I bought a mixed use commercial acre of land that will allow me to live for free while making about $2500 a month in rental income as well as having almost 1200 feet of retail space for my business. I spent almost three years looking for a similar set up in Vegas but they simply don't exist.
Nevada has strange laws about mixed use premises. I'd have greatly preferred buying in Nevada but the opportunities simply don't exist. The few eligible properties are ridiculously expensive. Commercial/ residential lofts start at about $600,000 for 3,000 square feet. I paid a quarter of that for a full acre.
As this is the same poster who recently claimed he observed me playing video poker at a time I was in Mexico, I'd suggest his claims are simply more of his bullshit. Strange how he never took me up on my free $100 offer to introduce himself. That offer is still open, by the way.

Despite recent increases, houses in Vegas are still below 2008 prices, which means any long term homeowners haven't seen a single dollar increase in their biggest investment in over a decade.
Meanwhile the Dow has basically tripled.
One of us is playing with dollars, the other is playing with paper.
I spent roughly $32,000 on rent in three years. My portfolio is up several times that. To put it another way, even after paying cash for my Bisbee property, I'm leaving Vegas with more than I arrived with. More importantly, I leave with two, possibly three revenue streams intact. I'm leaving Vegas but some of my money will still be at work here.

Truth be told, the one thing I didn't account for in my Vegas adventure was allergies. Almost all my trips had been in the Fall or Winter and I had no issues, but this last spring was horrible. I ended up at Urgent Care twice and made three visits to my Doctor.
I'll be returning to Vegas on a pretty regular basis, just not during allergy season.

onemoretry
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Post by onemoretry »

notes1 wrote:
Thu Jun 27, 2019 12:13 am
if housing has indeed increased by 30% in just 2 years, that would seem to invalidate his previous position.
And, if it had gone down (not that that has ever happened)? 20/20 hindsight is such a wonderful thing!

billryan
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Post by billryan »

onemoretry wrote:
Thu Jun 27, 2019 8:05 am
notes1 wrote:
Thu Jun 27, 2019 12:13 am
if housing has indeed increased by 30% in just 2 years, that would seem to invalidate his previous position.
And, if it had gone down (not that that has ever happened)? 20/20 hindsight is such a wonderful thing!
It actually validates my position that investing in Vegas real estate is a crapshoot.
Trying to time the stock market is hard, timing the real estate market is harder.
DIs situation is a perfect example. His house went up 30%. So what? Is he 30% richer? Is he sells and takes his profit, now what? He is shopping for houses that went up the same 30%. Can he take a HELOC and cash out the 30% What's that accomplish besides digging yourself deeper into debt?
Only in America can someone buy a house for $200,000., pay 200,000 more in interest and property taxes, put 50,000 into upkeep, then sell the house for $250,000 and think they made out on the deal.
The average house in Law Vegas is worth less than it was in 2008. Is anything else in your day to day life cheaper than it was in 2008? For half of the long term owners, $200,00 invested in a house in 2008 is worth $200,00 or less today. That money invested in a decent fund would be worth somewhere north of $500,000. Take away 130,000 for thirteen years of rent and one person comes out way ahead.
My friends Dad lives in North Los Vegas,in a moderate house on an oversized lot.. Prices had dropped quite a bit and some yuppies and dinks were buying, with some hipsters as well, but it's a rough place. He doesn't feel comfortable walking or shopping locally. He moved in the1990s and paid about $60,000 for it, and at one time he says he could have gotten $300,00 for it. Today,in its current shape, it's worth half that. Yet in his mind it is worth $300,00 and that's what he will sell for. He is literally a prisoner in his own home because his house was once worth more.
On paper. Now multiply that by a few thousand and a clearer picture of the state of the Valley.

notes1
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Post by notes1 »

onemoretry wrote:
Thu Jun 27, 2019 8:05 am
notes1 wrote:
Thu Jun 27, 2019 12:13 am
if housing has indeed increased by 30% in just 2 years, that would seem to invalidate his previous position.
And, if it had gone down (not that that has ever happened)? 20/20 hindsight is such a wonderful thing!
irrelevant. he made a financial decision, posted it on a public website, and was wrong. i have little doubt that this poster would have certainly boasted about his decision, if he had been correct.

notes1
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Post by notes1 »

what a disjointed argument. if one has a 30% or more tax free gain, it is a gain. and, that is without accounting for the $32k spent in rent, and no consideration that interest and taxes are largely deductible. sell the property now, take the gain. where one lives after is another decision. take the gains and pay rent.

is housing (including vegas) a risk, absolutely. i/m/o, home purchases are a lousy investment. but, renting on a long term basis, i/m/o, is even a worse investment. and, the argument was not about buying in 2008, at the peak, but, rather, after vegas housing had taken a massive hit.

billryan
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Post by billryan »

How was I wrong? Did I ever say house prices would go down? Was I wrong to have the money in the market during one of the best runs in recent years?
Had I bought a house for $200,000 and sold it for $260,00, I'd lose 5% on commissions, bringing it down to 247. Taxes take it to 240. Toss in $2,000 for maintenance. Let's say you clear $239,000. A $39,000 profit over three years is 6.5% return on investment, not considering tax ramifications. Without boasting, I did much better than that. Probably everyone here did.
Help me out here, what did I do wrong? I, in effect, lived cost free for three years, with no hassles.
My portfolio has done very well, yet I never boast about it. I certainly have never boasted about any gambling wins, nor how any of my investments do. In fact, I don't believe I've ever even discussed them here. I'm pretty sure I've devoted more time speaking about pizza.
I've barely even brought up my Arizona move, just asked if people had been to the town.

billryan
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Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:20 pm

Post by billryan »

I haven't had a mortgage in over 20 years. I pay cash, and then leverage it. No interest, but more deductions than I can use. Remember, half of my gambling earnings go to charity, as do 10% of my eBay store.

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