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Sunday, March 10, 2013 | 3 a.m.
Another view?
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I haven’t lived in an apartment in a long time. I can still recall some of the memories, and they weren’t good.
Las Vegas has record foreclosures, leaving neighborhoods blighted and in disarray. A bad renter of yesterday is not the same as the bad renter of today. The big problem is that investors are buying homes, sometimes by the dozens, all over Las Vegas and renting to whomever they think will pay the rent. They’re doing the bare necessities to make the homes rentable.
The perfect storm is happening. What used to be neighborhoods of homeowners will be neighborhoods of renters, who do not care about the home or the neighborhood. I was a renter in Las Vegas many years ago in a cul-de-sac. Many months after moving in and after getting to know my neighbors, one by one they all told me of their fears about renters in the neighborhood.
A renter does not have an incentive to maintain or improve the property. Even if he has pride in himself, maybe he can’t afford to keep up the property. Investors are also not known for keeping up their rentals as they have no vested interest in the community.
Multiply that situation into neighborhoods where renters may make up 70 percent of the occupants. Therefore, any neighborhood, regardless of size or home value, has the real possibility of turning into an apartment building-like community. The homeowners in those neighborhoods will see the value of their homes plummet.
News flash. Home prices have already plummetted. Renters or owners really makes no difference. Home prices and neighborhoods don't rise and fall by a preponderance of one over another. There are good home owners and renters and bad ones. Bad renters generally leave alot sooner than bad home owners. That's better for the neighborhood in the long run.
CarmineD
Oner-occupied homes are most likely to be well maintained. Vacant and abandoned homes are the least maintained. A rented home is probably somewhere in between. If a home is owned by a landlord who cares about the value of their property, they might appreciate hearing about neighbors' concerns. You can obtain ownership information on a property from the Assessor's Office website and contact the owner if you have any concerns.
After living in Las Vegas for 27 yrs I had tired of the direction in which that city and state were heading (can you say Los Angeles?) and decided to make a move to Arizona. I moved into an area of town that I found people had been living in their houses for 25, 30 and up to 50 yrs. In other words a real neighborhood, not investor properties filled with a parade questionable tenants (Section 8 anyone) who have no interest in the neighborhood other then to view it as a potential "hunting ground" for whatever criminal activity they're into. My last night in Las Vegas my truck was broken into and this was in a supposedly "good area" in Summerlin. Sad to see this in a city that I did really enjoy for a lot of years, but it's nice to be able to trust my neighbors again and now I don't have to wear a motorcycle helmet....lol and if I need my "Vegas fix" there are couple of casino's nearby. Ah freedom, baby.
"The big problem is that investors are buying homes," Hardly the biggest problem Dave, it's "gang mentality". Nearly all of America's social and economic problems are gang related. Take the Democrat, Republican, media and golden calf worshipping Wall Street gangs for instance. Individually they appear educated civil and morally driven, however when bunched together their collective IQs drop substantially and they become extremely delusional self centered and vicious like vampire bats at twilight. Gangs caused the bubble, gangs TARP-ed the bubble, gangs are squatting in the bubble, gangs are destroying the very fabric of American society. Wash rinse and repeat, they're too big to fail remember.
The problem with the letter writer's assertions is that I have seen no statistical data to back up what he is saying. Inventories are tight and homes are flying off the shelves.
When there were 22,000 plus homes on the market neighborhoods looked like disaster zones. Thousands of homes were abandoned and sitting empty. Today it's just the opposite. I have owned income property in several states. It's in an owner's best interest to see that the properties are well-maintained. I ride my bicycle all over Vegas. I can assure you the numbers of dilapidated properties and brown lawns are few and far in between compared to what I saw several years ago.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/eco...
Check the above data. The rental rate is roughly the same as 13 years age. Barely moved in Vegas. 41% vs. 43%
"Vacant and abandoned homes are the least maintained."
That's what HOA's are for.
CarmineD
The HOA's are just another device to turn you into paupers; after ten years mine wants me to pay for more insurance. The corporatists want us to default. Keeping the banks from stealing would be socialism right Fazio ?
I have some rental properties in this county and believe me if my tenants keep a shabby property I give them a 5 day quit. It is written in the agreement that they will cut grass, do not park on the lawn, do not make repairs to their vehicles on the property or in front of the property with the exception of fixing flat tires and car washing. If the vehicle needs attention the tenant has to call a tow truck.
Remember this ...the owner of the property pays all kind of taxes and those taxes support the schools, fire and police dept. etc etc.
Comment removed by moderator. Inappropriate
Las Vegas has always been a haven for renters.If you remember the phone book at one time came out twice a year, do to frequent people moving in and out mostly renters.
How a property is maintained is a direct reflection on the OWNER of said property. If it is a rental, the real owner should make sure the property is maintained, and presentable. I've lived in my home for over 30 years, and have never let it become a seedy POS, and a blight on my community. Sadly, that can't be said for other owners (renters). If you grew up in a POS neglected property, then your values regarding where you live now are reflected accordingly. Properly maintaining your property will also help to make it last longer as a viable property.
Exactly right Mr. Starr. My old neighborhood in Henderson is now almost completely rental properties. The crime rate has soared, most of my old neighbors who lived there for decades have now left because of it.
Whoever is saying there is a housing shortage in Vegas is delusional. There are still so many unoccupied homes it will take years to fill them. The banks have halted foreclosures because of the all the new laws, but they will soon pick up again. This current "housing" shortage is fictitious. So you all just keep thinking that the housing market is healthy and on the rise. You will soon learn the truth when the huge back log of foreclosures hits the market, they will have to sooner or later. As soon as it does, the prices are going to go back down again. And for those who are still underwater, its going to worse before it gets better. So just keep telling yourself its not true, and keep throwing your cash into the black hole. Obviously, you made a wrong investment, and your too proud to admit it, so you get what you deserve.
Housing prices go up and down for many reasons. Who cares unless you are an investor and buying and selling hedge funds in houses in LV. If you're here to stay, live, work, retire....SO WHAT about the prices fluctuating. Make the best deal you can and lock it in.
CarmineD
"Keeping the banks from stealing would be socialism right Fazio ?"
When you willingly give it, it's not called stealing. Not called fascism. It's called free will. And everyone has the free will to be stupid.
Even you.
CarmineD
Dave, another factor is security. When it's my home, I can put up the security door, the video cameras... When it's my home with an attached garage, I'm much safer than if I had to walk to my assigned parking spot. Don't ever think I'm kidding. Tune in to the scanners re apartment-complex crime--assaults, rapes, robberies, homicides of strangers. The population density in many rentals means you get to hear your neighbors flush. You (particularly when you are female) get approached by all sorts of "neighbors" wanting a hand out, wanting your groceries, wanting.... I digress a bit but I recall an elderly woman who had completed her grocery shopping when some dude grabbed the very full cart and fled--west Chas. area. He didn't even wait for her to drive home. Anyhow, the SAFETY FACTOR usually enhances the home-ownership preference.
What came first, the chicken or the egg?
All of you Adam Smith worshipers had better learn to live with the harvest of which you have sown. Lets get rid of those greedy union types who want to artificially inflate wages. It doesn't matter if we lose living wage, as long as you are living well. That free will Carmine speaks of is also going to make stealing, selling illegal drugs, starting illegal businesses more and more preferable to working a minimum wage job. Heck, as you say, its free will if people come here to work for less than minimum wage, yet you rail against illegals taking jobs which citizens could do. Rant about the drain on social services while reaping the benefits of cheap labor. Don't complain if you see a four bedroom home occupied by four different living units, baby. It's the wave of the future your asinine plot to keep wages low is forcing people to enter into. Do you really think people WANT to live in a crowded housing situation, or do you think they do it of necessity? A necessity of a screwed up society that will stop at nothing to screw anyone so they can to better their own position. Get used to it, you made the bed, and now you have to sleep in it.
<<"Vacant and abandoned homes are the least maintained."
That's what HOA's are for.
CarmineD>>
Sorry, Carmine - the upkeep of the outside of the home is the responsibility of the homeowner, whether the owner rents the house or lives in it himself, not the HOA.
@Roselenda:
Just before I left Vegas, I was living in a very nice apartment complex in a pretty nice neighborhood right near Summerlin. Knew all my neighbors, most of which had lived there for awhile. I felt decently safe most of the time but was still a little apprehensive. And I think that that was because it was still Las Vegas - where it doesn't matter where you live, the scumbags were everywhere.
Vegas has a tendency to draw in more worthless scumbags than you can count. It might be the draw of vice (gambling, booze, girls, entertainment, sin city mentality and everything in between). You have to be VERY careful where you move here or buy a home. Those that come here and buy immediately are in for a rude surprise. Always, always rent for at least 6 months to a year. By that time you'll know where the best place to live is located. Summerlin.
"Sorry, Carmine - the upkeep of the outside of the home is the responsibility of the homeowner, whether the owner rents the house or lives in it himself, not the HOA." Det_ _Munch
In most cases yes, NOT IN ALL! Depends on the HOA and fees paid.
CarmineD
"That free will Carmine speaks of is also going to make stealing, selling illegal drugs, starting illegal businesses more and more preferable to working a minimum wage job."
Not if the punishment is swift and just. God gave free will, the law and our conscience protect us from it. It's called guilt [ours] and prison [society].
CarmineD