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Month: September 2017

Vegas Officials Announce Public Works Staffing Issues Could Spell Possible Delay for Raiders Stadium Opening

LAS VEGAS, NV – According to reports, numerous construction projects in the Las Vegas area are facing the very real threat of being thrown off-schedule due to a lack of staff in Clark County’s Public Works Department – still recovering from cuts made during the mid-2000’s recession – including one of the biggest projects in Southern Nevada’s recent history: the upcoming stadium of the newly-transplanted NFL Raiders football team.

In May 2017, the Raiders purchased 62 acres of land west of the Mandalay Bay resort, finalizing the decision and clearing the way for construction of a brand-new, state-of-the-art stadium that will serve as the team’s new home when they move to Las Vegas from their current home of Oakland, California. Previously, the Raiders had moved from Oakland to Las Angeles in 1982, returning to Oakland in 1995. The Raiders’ impending arrival in Las Vegas has been heralded as a sign of the recovering economy and housing market in the region, and is also being credited for actually aiding said economic recovery – by means of the team’s enduring popularity – by attracting additional tourism and business to the area upon their arrival.

Details on the stadium have also been coming into focus in recent weeks; at a projected cost of $1.9 billion – including $750 million in public funding by way of Nevada legislator approval – the indoor, climate-controlled facility is slated to seat 65,000 (with the ability to expand seating to 72,000), features U-shaped seating arrangement; the open end faces a view of the Las Vegas Strip. The stadium was originally expected to be completed in time for the 2020 NFL season, although estimates allowed for the possibility of early completion for 2019; however, due to staffing issues in Clark County’s Public Works Department, that estimate may now have to be revised.

Public Works commissioners Steve Sisolak and Jim Gibson have expressed concerns that current staffing levels may result in a delay in conducting surveys and processing applications for numerous developers, including ones submitted by those behind the Raiders’ stadium. While attempting to increase the number of employees they have with new hires, commissioners are looking into other ways of expediting the application approval process. In attempt to streamline the design and approval process from their end, the Las Vegas Stadium Authority has noted that they are planning to employ a construction industry consultant on a short-term basis to review design specifications provided by the Raiders’ contractors and provide advice to the authority.

Regardless of any possible delays, the fact remains that the creation of the Las Vegas Raiders Stadium is already providing a boost to the local economy, including jobs (and corresponding wages), tourism, and especially the real estate market, which has already been seeing a steady and constant increase in prosperity since the housing bubble pop of the mid-2000’s. Home and rental prices have been climbing on a regular basis, and with the much-anticipated arrival of the Raiders, Las Vegas is looking to enter a legitimate boom period that the region hasn’t seen in over a decade.

Need information on the fast-evolving Las Vegas market? New home construction referrals? Las Vegas developers  for investment homes in the area? Please feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

Construction Worker

Why Hiring The Right Las Vegas Property Management Company Matters

I recently sold a home in the Northwest part of Las Vegas for a former real estate investor. He purchased the home years ago with the intentions of living in the home but plans changed. He ended up meeting someone, they got married and they bought a house. So instead of selling his Las Vegas home, he decided to become a landlord. Unfortunately, he did not choose a reputable Las Vegas Property Management Company and decided he doesn’t want to be a landlord anymore after years of issues.

The tenant was not authorized to have a pet and the property management company returned majority of the tenant’s deposit back to the tenant; the client was now paying for all the damage and clean-up out of his pocket and the property management company refused to compensate him for mismanagement.

I won’t name the property management company but they managed the property for several years and after hearing about the issues he had with them and seeing the current condition of the property, it was obvious the property was mismanaged during the entire time he had it rented out with this particular property management company. Before I could even list the home on the market for sale, my client had to replace the entire carpet upstairs as it was saturated in pet urine which was beyond obvious by the stench in the house. He also had to remove drywall in the downstairs hall closet as it was stained with pet urine and had a tremendous stench of urine. This should have been handled by the property management company once the tenant vacated the property but they never documented the obvious pet urine stains and smell in the hall closet or the stench in the house which would have been a major indicator there was pet damage. Another indicator that the tenant had pets was the pet feces in the backyard and based on the amount of feces in the backyard, it had to have been there for months. Here’s the kicker, the tenant was not authorized to have a pet and the property management company returned majority of the tenant’s deposit back  to the tenant! My client was now paying for all the damage and clean-up out of his pocket and the property management company refused to compensate him for their mismanagement!

If the property manager would have conducted property inspections at any point during the lease term, it’s highly likely they would have detected the tenant had a pet and prevented the pet damage before it became a big issue. According to my client, the property management company did not conduct any property inspections and the move-out report indicated the tenant left the property in good condition. I was beside myself on how they believed the tenant left the property in good condition based on the overall current condition of the home???

I tried to convince my client that not all property management companies mismanage properties and he should give Shelter Realty an opportunity to manage his property. We have a full time staff of property managers whom work together on the overall management of each and every one of the properties we manage. We conduct property inspections every 6 months which is documented on an iPad app that allows our field agents to take photos and embed them within the report, detailed notes and the tenant can even sign with a stylus or their finger. This inspection report can then be emailed directly to the landlord right from the field without the need to go back to the office to email.

Even though my client was impressed with how Shelter Realty uses technology to manage over 600 properties in the Las Vegas valley, he made the decision he no longer wanted to be a landlord. This is why hiring the right property management company is important. If you own an investment property, it’s imperative you interview multiple property management companies, ask questions and request to speak with a few of their current clients in order to get feedback on how they are managing their investment properties.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of HendersonLas Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

Las Vegas Real Estate Sales Continue Rise As Builders Commit Resources, Appease Demand

LAS VEGAS, NV – When it comes to the Las Vegas real estate scene, one thing remains true – demand is far outpacing the available inventory when it comes to the number of housing options available within this very hotly-contested marketplace. Since the area’s recovery from the burst of the real estate bubble in the mid-2000’s, Southern Nevada’s housing market has been on the rise like few others in the United States, resulting in numerous positives – growing economy, a robust property seller’s market, and an influx of jobs and new residents to the region – but also a significant negative, namely steadily climbing housing prices exacerbated by a severe lack of options for those looking for a place to live in Las Vegas and its surrounding areas, as any available house or rental unit is often snapped up as quickly as they hit the market.

However, recent news indicates that this problem may see a bit of relief soon, as a number of developers are putting home construction plans into high-gear; with more housing options hitting the market, demand should be satisfied and, in turn, prices – currently reaching record levels with your average family dwelling going for well above the region average – should begin to lower in response. For instance, in August of 2017 alone, building companies filed 839 new home permits, bringing the year’s total up to 5,843; this represents an increase of 5 percent over the same period in 2016.

Sales of single -family homes – the primary type of housing in the area, and the kind most sorely in demand – rose once again in August 2017 along with the news of increasing inventory in the region, but despite that fact – overall availability of housing options are still currently lower than those of 2016. 3,284 homes were sold in Southern Nevada throughout August, an increase of 4.5 percent over July and 5.9 percent from the corresponding point in time last year; the median sales price of single-family homes was $260,000, a leap of 10.6 percent from August of 2016.

An example is the Miami-based Lennar Corporation, of the largest home builders in the United States currently, who recently spent $10.8 million on a 22-acre stretch of land at Lake Las Vegas in order to construct a housing tract, closing the deal on August 31. The number of single-family home plots purchased by Lennar comes in at 90, and according to reports they are fast-tracking the project and anticipate making model homes available for viewing to prospective buyers in early 2018.

In addition, the hotbed of real estate activity in Vegas also represents an attractive location for house flipping; in fact, approximately 8.9 percent of the homes sold in Southern Nevada in the months leading into summer of 2017 consisted of properties that were later renovated and flipped for a profit, according to reports, which makes the region the fourth most popular in the country for people who specialize in buying and flipping houses. A flip is, by definition, the act of buying a home and selling it off within the span of one year.

Either way, the real estate market in Las Vegas continues its juggernaut-like course upwards while basking in the post-recession glow of recovery, but relief from the correspondingly-rising prices is hopefully on the horizon as builders continue to sink resources into expanding the cutthroat housing market and, in the process, reaping the rewards of sales that are sure to follow.

Looking for information on investment properties in the area? Considering moving here? Give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can help answer any questions you may have about either relocating here or potentially investing in the area.

City of Las Vegas to Compete for Amazon.com Second North American Headquarters Location

LAS VEGAS, NV – Amazon.com, the nation’s largest online retailer, is planning on opening a second North American headquarters to supplement its original home base in Seattle, Washington; among the locations being eyeballed by the company may be Las Vegas, Nevada, and the city, in turn, has expressed enthusiasm at the thought of Amazon setting up shop in their zip code, and to that end – is already actively courting the mega-corporation.

Amazon.com noted recently that is plans on sinking over $5 billion in the construction of its proposed second headquarters, a complex that will house of up 50,000 employees, and Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos was quoted that this new location will not be playing second fiddle to their Seattle complex; indeed, Bezos noted that it will be in every respect a total and complete equal to the company’s current HQ.

“We expect HQ2 to be a full equal to our Seattle headquarters,” Bezos said in an official statement. “Amazon HQ2 will bring billions of dollars in up-front and ongoing investments, and tens of thousands of high-paying jobs. We’re excited to find a second home.”

Amazon has released a laundry list of requirements for any city or municipality that may eventually find itself the home of its secondary headquarters, including being near a metropolitan area with more than a million people; being able to attract top technical talent; being within 45 minutes of an international airport; having direct access to mass transit; and the space to allow Amazon to potentially expand the complex to encompass as much as 8 million square feet in the next ten years.

Las Vegas officials, already riding high on a wave of a reinvigorated economy and real estate market after years of financial slump following the mid-2000’s housing bubble burst, are looking to continue their good fortune by attempting to lure Amazon to their doorstep. The Governor’s Office of Economic Development and the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance have officially announced that they will be working in consort to put together a proposal for Amazon to review and consider, knowing full well that such a coup could being untold millions into their city and help to generate thousands of jobs.

Steve Hill, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, noted that his agency has a very solid relationship with Amazon; in addition, Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance CEO Jonas Peterson was quoted as saying that “Our goal is to compete for projects on all levels. We believe our community has a great product to offer headquarters-related projects.”

Amazon already calls Las Vegas home to one of its largest regional fulfillment center for the countless orders placed via their website on a daily basis; the center, one of over 75 warehouses Amazon currently has across the country, comes in at 800,000 square feet, and is located near Lamb Boulevard and Tropical Parkway. The facility opened its doors in summer 2017, bringing an immediate boon to the local economy in the form of 1,000 new jobs, many of consisting of workers who stock items and pack orders that are destined for numerous locations throughout the Southwest.

Need real estate information on the fast-evolving Las Vegas market? Thinking of relocating here? Maybe investing? Please feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

Las Vegas Housing Prices Continue Climb as Out-of-State Money, Construction Companies Pour into Region

LAS VEGAS, NV – Housing statistics for the Southern Nevada region for July of 2017 have come in, and as usual, the summer heat of the Las Vegas desert is only matched or exceeded by the hot market of local real estate. Following the housing bubble burst of the mid-2000’s followed by a decade of dormancy, the housing and especially the rental market in Nevada is skyrocketing upward, leaving big money men – especially those from out-of-state – scrambling to get in on the action.

According to the most recent Greater Las Vegas Association of REALTOR (GLVAR) report, July 2017 saw the median price of existing single-family homes sold during July increase to $260,000, which represents a 10.2 percent increase compared to the same period in 2016. Meanwhile, the median price of local condos and town-homes sold in July jumped to $138,000, an increase of 20 percent from the previous July. And – as it has been for months and months now – GLVAR’s President, David J. Tina, noted that the demand for housing continues to exceed the current supply; Southern Nevada currently has less than a two-month supply of existing homes available for sale, whereas a balanced market typically has a six-month supply. In such an environment, prices for any dwelling will continue to rise until equilibrium between supply and demand is established, which in Vegas’ case could take some time.

Meanwhile, investment opportunities galore continue to make themselves available to those who are willing to sink the funds into the region, and lately the most money has actually been flowing in from banks, lenders, and investors outside the confines of Nevada. Part of the cause for this is the fact that many lenders within Nevada, hit hard by the recession, are still reeling from its effects; loathe to dole out cash after having been burned by numerous loans that went belly-up when the housing market crumbled in the mid-2000’s, many regional and national banks based outside of the Las Vegas Valley have been more aggressive than the local banks, according to reports. Stricter lending laws within Nevada have also contributed to increased reliance of contractors and construction companies on out-of-state lenders, who have fewer hurdles to clear.

That money is sorely needed if new housing is to be completed in a timely fashion to satisfy the near-insatiable demand on the part of prospective tenants and families drawn to the Southern Nevada region in hopes of taking advantage of the new job opportunities in the area and a slowly-but-surely growing local economy. But in the meantime, buyers are scrambling for any piece of real estate they can get their hands on; by the end of July, GLVAR reported a mere 4,995 single-family homes currently listed for sale on the open market without an offer, which represents a 31.9 percent decrease from July of 2016. And when it comes to condos and town-homes, there an even bigger decrease from July of 2016, with only 625 offer-free properties available on the open market for buyers to choose from. Homes sales have continued to soar, as 3,798 homes, condos and town-homes were sold in July, representing 351 additional sales over 2016. Overall, 2017 is outpacing 2016, a year that saw 41,720 properties in total sold in the Southern Nevada region.

Needless to say, the investment opportunities continue to flourish in Las Vegas and its surrounding areas, and anyone with the business savvy and access to sufficient funding is sure to make a killing if they get in on the action as soon as possible. Looking for information on investment properties in the area? Give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.