Las Vegas New Home Construction

Am considering a SFR in Las Vegas on a golf course within 15 minutes of The Strip in Las Vegas or a SFR in Sacramento, CA within 5 minutes of downtown. Homes are both in gated communities and are of newer construction. The home in Las Vegas is slightly larger (+500 sf). I am planning on renting the properties and am interested in long term appreciation, not short term cash flow.
I don't have a set return in mind, but am looking for the best long term (5 yrs +) appreciation.

I would say the Las Vegas area. Prices have dropped significantly and are much more affordable than the homes in the Sacramento area. I did an mls search in Las Vegas and it was staggering the prices of some of these homes, you'll never be able to find these kind of deals in CA and if you do they get snagged up very quickly. Below is the site I used to find these properties.

2009-04-25 16:18:00 by Jack L

It is cumbersome and long, please see if you can crack it.
In the Las Vegas metropolitan area, houses can be built quickly and easily at a cost of about $200,000 each; they just spread across the desert and are all virtually identical. But in the San Francisco metropolitan area, it takes about 5 years to get a permit to build a new house, and the mountainous topography means that as more houses get built they must be built in more and more inaccessible places
With this info, can you answer these questions.
a. Where is supply more elastic?
b. In January a popular proposal to deal with the fall in housing prices was for the federal government to raise the demand curve for houses by offering very low interest rates and refinancing opportunities; some proposals were for the federal government to pay most or all of mortgages for 10 years for home purchases. What would these proposals have done to housing prices in San Francisco? What would they have done to home construction in San Francisco?
c. What would they have done for home prices in Las Vegas?
I am sure I am asking too much, but, please give whatever you can impart with..

a) Supply in Vegas is more elastic. If people are willing to spend more, it's easy to build more and the market will respond. But in San Francisco, the difficulty in getting permits and finding places to build means that more money won't always mean more houses.

b) The proposals would have increased the demand for houses and raised the prices. But, as we discussed in part a, there won't be a large increase in the number of houses built.

c) They would also have raised prices in Vegas; and in Vegas, the increase in prices would result in an increase in supply.

2009-09-21 18:39:33 by ambere

Price: $19.95

Just watching the news and there are a group of Chinese coming to America to buy homes. They feel its a good time to buy because of the cheap prices. The group will visit San Francisco, Las Vegas, New York and Boston looking for houses and apartments in the $300,000 to $800,000.

New York, Los Angeles and many American cities were not expensive. In Manhattan, $300,000 can buy just a kitchen, but the average price for a house in the US is $300,000. That is two million yuan. Nothing for some Chinese.

Story is online here:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/bu siness/industry_sectors/construction_and _property/article5740534.ece

So this should help the economy right? And its perfectly legal too.

OH God i was fraid of this..screw the economy they are wanting to take over the US . Mark my word.

2009-02-24 09:31:52 by eric53

Price: $349.99 $169.95

Sturdy metal and fiberboard construction with piano black finish; shelves in 5mm clear tempered safety glass
Equipped with universal hardware mounting kit; TV weight capacity of 150 pounds
Sleek media stand with mount for 50-inch flat-screen TV and 3 storage shelves

I need a average quote for the cost of gutting and rebuilding a house.
I'm 23 (live on my own) and my father isn't good with money at all and he basically is in the process of losing his home. He has this insane idea that he either A- wants to fight to keep the house. or B- if he does lose it he wants to buy it back.
BUT
The house is a total mess and need to be gutted- insulation is bad thorough-out the house, plumbing, electrical, septic, floors, the property it's on is even a mess. Also there is a run down barn, which is very unstable.
My sister and I are trying to get him to sell the house, pay what he owes and start over with a new place. He doesn't even live in the same state anymore, but out in Las Vegas, so there really is no point to keep it.

I'm trying to get peoples opinions and quotes for the cost of a rebuild. to show him how ridiculous he is being.

House is on 5 acres, has 4 bedrooms( 2-10x14) (1-12x12) (1-12x20), 2 smaller full bathrooms, 2 living rooms (12x20), kitchen & dining (15x15) utility room (10x14) I'm guessing on the sizes

I am a contractor myself and from my experience there is more work involved in a project of that caliber than there is in building a new home!

2010-05-01 14:51:55 by Sarah

I just received a bid for a new air conditioner. I currently live in Las Vegas (dry, hot climate). I currently have a 3.0 ton split system SEER 10 rating. The bid I received is $3800 to upgrade to a 3.5 ton SEER 13 (with newer Puron refrigerant) This covers all materials and labor to:

1) Replace the outside unit

2) Replace the indoor coil

3) Run an extra 25 foot duct in attic to add a register to the living room which already has two smaller registers, but doesn't cool well

It has been determined that my current unit is undersized for my 1500 sq. foot home (stucco construction, tile roof), and I agree with them because it runs CONSTANTLY without shutting off, unless its a milder day. They explained that going up half a ton would cool the house down faster, and cycle off saving me money. I obviously don't need dehumidification because of my location. They are not just trying to milk me for my money because they said I can choose a 3.0 ton if I'd like, and just suffer with the warmer temp inside the house on the hottest days.

I have TWO questions:

1) How much more electricity does a 3.5 TON SEER 13 unit use, compared to a 3.0 TON SEER 10 unit? Assume ALL other variables are the same. Assume both units are brand new, from the same company, and the same product line. My hope is that the 3.5 ton seer 13 unit will not use more electrical power while it is running, than a 3.0 ton seer 10 unit. So which will use more power while it is powered on?

2) Do you agree with the philosophy that replacing my 3.0 ton seer 10, with a 3.5 ton seer 13 can possibly save me money by cooling the house down and cycling off instead of running 100% of the time?

3) Less important than the other questions, but do you think the $3800 bid is a good price? Thanks.

1) Typical 3 Ton system - Savings over base line 5 seer condenser..and 55% AFUE gas furnace
Estimated Annual Operating Costs
Cooling Hours: 1487 . . . Electrical cost: $0.085/per kwh
Heating Hours: 1640 . . . Gas cost: $ $1.00/per therm
1990-2006
10 seer 70% AFUE. . . . . . 13 seer 80% AFUE
Heating . . . . . . . $1110 . . . .$971
Cooling. . . . . .. . . $455. . . . ..$379
Total . . . . . . . . . $1565. . . . $1350
Est.An.Sav . . . $215
Savings for Cooling Only are $76/per year

I can only suggest that a 3.5 Ton will have a shorter run time by 10% so you could add $7.60 per year to that for a total of $84.60/year.
2) Yes
3) Yes

2009-09-16 12:34:42 by Pete