Ok so I've been super jealous of the baller house that X bought early last year, which is a sweet 6,000sq mansion formerly owned by Randall Cunningham. I've been tossing the idea of buying a 2nd home around off and on in Vegas ever since 2004 when I started coming out regularly to play poker/bet sports. I have to admit though, it was little more than a pipedream until I saw X's house. Sure the first time I saw it there was no running water, it was 100 degrees inside, and there were dragonflies in the pool... but hey, it's super baller now.
My needs aren't quite as elaborate as his, as he plans on using his place for corporate rentals. He filled the house with 100k in leather sofas, plasmas in every room, a fitness center, and a home theatre. For me though the main goals of having a place in Vegas are a little different...
1. House to stay in when I come out 2-3 months a year. Up until this point it's been usually less than 2 months, but my wife after 5 years of asking her finally quit her job. Now I can travel more because of it, sweet.
2. Buy and Hold for a long term flip. Home prices in Vegas have plummeted in the last year. Sure, right now Vegas is a huge disaster, but give it time and I believe it will improve. I don't see how in 20 years I'll be selling it for anything less than 2x the purchase price this year.
3. Not this year, but hopefully as early as next year I'm hoping to bring out my wife and 3 kids out for the summer. My kids are small (4, 2, and 3mo), so I really want them to be in a nice house as far away from scumbags as possible. I don't want to have to worry about their safety playing in the back yard while I'm playing wsop events.
I also have a friend lined up to rent this house pretty much from day one. He would get to live in a fairly large house for the price of a one bedroom apt, and in return he'll help me out by doing things like making sure the pool guy/landscapers show up and stuff like that. Nothing that involves a ton of work, but stuff that needs to be kept up on if I'm back in PA for 4-5 months in between visits.
Ok, so in comes the tilt section. Holy shit, I've been pouring over hundreds of listings for days, and I just can't seem to find the perfect house. I've seen a few nice houses, but those turn out to be short sales and will no doubt be a nightmare and with the advice of my realtor I'm probably going to stay clear of them. At this point a lot of the houses are starting to all look the same, and I'm just going to have to come out and spend a few days looking at dozens of properties.
Questions. I've pretty much narrowed it down to West LV and Henderson. Henderson seems like a great place to be, except I'm just not seeing the kind of house I'm looking for, which is...
250-300k
0-10 years old
2000-3500sq
4+ Bedrooms
Good Condition
Gated Community preferred
Pool Preferred, but not necessary
Everything I look at either has a desert landscaped horrible looking backyard, or has a great view of a desert mountain past the fence. I would love to host some pool party/cookouts from this pad, and that isn't the scenery I'm looking for. I'm not saying I need the Vegas Strip in the background, just not a view of coyotes pissing.
I've found a few nice properties in the NW, where a few good friends live off I-95, but those are way the fuck out there and easily 30mins from the strip if not more with traffic, which there's a lot of on 95/Summerlin Pkwy. That leaves me only due West and SW, which I think is probably going to be my best bet, but I have heard there are sketchy neighborhoods in this area. I really don't want my kids anywhere near any of that. So I'm open to opinions here.
Here are a few props I've singled out so far. A few need some paint, but for the most part are fairly nice and I'll definitely be looking at them.
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-...9129_1108064239http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-...9144_1107747313http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-...9134_1105128749http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-...9148_1104311700