Been mulling over the idea of buying a small condo or house in LV as a vacation home, but have no clue what the market is like out there. Anyone have any suggestions on where to look - as in neighborhoods; I can do the googler thing but getting advice from someone who owns out there would be invaluable.

My budget is $300k and with a condo, monthly HOA no more than $300/mo. What can I expect for that price range?

 

Would you stay there as opposed to a hotel on the strip? I'm in Vegas a lot and people ask me why I don't just buy a place. I want to hit Las Vegas for 4 days and then go home. I want to stay on the Strip and enjoy my time there.

 

Check both northwest / Summerlin area, and southeast / Henderson area. Stay away from anything labeled North Las Vegas. HOA fees in Vegas tend to be higher than you may be used to

 

you may also be able to find a nice 3+2 house for that price range. A friend of mine (albeit a couple years ago when prices were lower) got a 3+2 with a pool for low $200's near Red Rock casino

 

you make some good points and I've been waffling for the past couple of years like that and I can't make a decision (like PPHold ). I think it's time to shit or get off the pot for me, and if I don't get serious about this and actually start looking at houses the next time I'm out there in late June, it may never get done. LOL

 

I love Phoenix/Scottsdale. I was conflicted over buying a place there. The reality for me was that I might end up spending 4 months or so in total, but never in one long stretch. I would have to hire some sort of caretaker for the property as well.

 

I'm also not adverse to renting it out for stretches when I'm not able to make it out there; at least it'll help with the payments.

Phoenix is another place that I can see myself retire in, but that's another 20 yrs away

 

Also, check to make sure that the HOA is financially sound. I looked real hard in LV during the financial / housing crisis in 2009/10. Took maybe 6 trips where I only was looking at housing, not even a gambling trip. It was so bad back then as most of the HOA's were bankrupt, and could not promise what they would or would not be taking care of. Some HOA's also have a lot of delinquent payers, so make sure that you are not liable for shortfalls in the HOA collections, where they hit up the live ones with added assessments because they are not taking in enough income to cover the basic maintenance, or if a huge expense comes up, that they are evenly dividing that expense among all registered addresses, and not just the homeowners that are currently paying monthly dues. Hope this makes sense.

 

Check Scottsdale before Phoenix

 

Yes, thank you for these suggestions and tips; it makes perfect sense to me. I dabble in R/E so I'm pretty familiar with structures of HOAs.