Las Vegas Real Estate – Here’s the Home Buying Guide Everybody Needs
According to the Las Vegas Review, Journal housing sales are up across Southern Nevada and the country. Yes this is a Las Vegas real estate article but it contains useful information everybody on the planet can use. As your Las Vegas financial coach, I’m going to make sure your American dream doesn’t turn into a nightmare. They don’t call a house a money pit for nothing. Without sufficient information you could be in for a wild ride. So before we get into the nitty gritty of Las Vegas real estate let’s start with a simple question…
Should You Buy Las Vegas Real Estate?
Yes…no…maybe….
It depends.
If your total monthly income isn’t consistent, the answer is no. If you’re broke the answer is hell no.
As I write this on March 23, 2023, 30 year rates are 6.5%. When I closed on my house in Summerlin in November 2021 my rate was 3.1%. Therefore if you can wait, then wait. You’ll save a heck of a lot of money in interest until rates come down More about that later. I wish I could have waited until the conditions were right for me to get a 15 year mortgage but time was not on my side. I was renting in Green Valley and I had one of the many stupid landlords who wanted to kick out as many tenants as they could so they could move in new people paying 25% more on rent.
If I rented anywhere I was looking at a monthly rent not much less than a mortgage payment. The whole “rent or own” question had a no-brainer answer in my situation. The bonuses were the tax deductions for mortgage interest and real estate taxes, living large in roughly double the living space and a big backyard with my very own in-ground pool. No more community pool rules along with noisy neighbors for me. I blast the music I like and drink all the beer I want in a glass bottle if I so choose. Home ownership is so liberating in so many ways
Every situation is different so don’t let the easy math of my answer trick you into thinking it’s your answer too. Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t.
Las Vegas real estate decisions are seldom so simple.
The rent vs buy debate is exactly the kind of thing a financial coach like me is here to help you with. You give me the questions and I’ll guide you to the answers.
Las Vegas Real Estate Budgetary Considerations
If you’re buying a home in Las Vegas make sure you’re not stuck living in a SITCOM; Single Income Two Children Oppressive Mortgage.
Life sucks if you’re living in the home of your dreams and eating hot dogs and baked beans for dinner most nights in your gourmet chef’s kitchen. Fun fact: Hot dogs and baked beans don’t need to be stored in a Subzero refrigerator and cooked on a Viking oven.
In other words, don’t get in over your head. As your Las Vegas financial coach, one of the first things I do with my clients is figure out a budget. Before you pull the trigger and sign your loan papers, work out your monthly budget around your mortgage. If you’re a first-time homeowner factor in water and sewer, trash pickup, homeowner’s insurance, monthly security monitoring, landscaping, pool maintenance and other exciting possibilities. Then count on higher heating and cooling costs. How’s your budget looking now? Even if you think you have it all covered don’t even think about playing the Las Vegas real estate game without at least six months of living expenses saved up in an emergency fund. In fact, extending that out to a full year wouldn’t be overdoing it. Be sure to save money on living expenses every time you can.
That’s because you have no idea what you’re in for when you buy a home in Las Vegas or anywhere else.
How could I have known a simple toilet replacement would turn into a major repair with a $4,000 price tag? The home inspector didn’t question the trees on my property and ask them about their roots. Two teams of plumbers, a jack hammer, a big pour of new concrete and a tiling guy later I had my toilet, Shelling out the $4,000 was annoying but that’s all it was. There’s plenty stashed away so life didn’t change one little bit as I paid a damn big repair bill for my itty bitty half bath. I’d rather spend that kind of money on a vacation or golf lesson from a PGA professional but that’s all part and parcel of the Las Vegas real estate game and indeed the game of life With a large enough emergency fund you’re not sweating the small stuff; you’re sleeping like a baby at night. Any more questions about the importance of an emergency fund?
Make Sure Your Dream Home Has a Dream Team
I started my Las Vegas real estate journey with a realtor I knew from common circles. I picked up a diligent professional mortgage broker, home inspector and handyman along the way. Nobody ever tried playing games except the seller. I negotiated the price down by $10,000 and got them to throw in a two year home warranty. That’s a sweet victory considering the Las Vegas real estate scene was on fire with buyers weeping in joy at paying full price and sometimes bidding piles of cash over the asking price. By the way, that home warranty ended up being a Godsend in this thirty year old house. It didn’t help with the tree roots-under-the-bathroom problem but it came in very useful a dozen other times. The sellers didn’t know who were they were dealing with and I didn’t know they were pretty savvy real estate investors buying, renting and flipping homes all over The Valley until after I moved in.
Whether you’re buying a home in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Lakewood New Jersey or Lake Tallahassee or The Lake District in England, I’m the financial coach who will be your guide to glorious home ownership without any “gotchas” that could make your life difficult.
