TOP 5 TIPS FOR LAS VEGAS REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
Much of the financial press has been sounding a recurrent theme for a while: the complaint that the interest rate slump has left growth-oriented investors with few choices other than a Wall Street gamble. Las Vegas investors may find that some degree of risk is tolerable when you have a lifetime of earning ahead of you, but it’s a lot less tempting when the savings from that lifetime of hard work is already in the bank…barely keeping pace with the real inflation rate. Happily, one of those “few choices” is in our own backyard. A residential real estate investment in Las Vegas brings with it the built-in peace of mind that comes with an investment that is right here, where you can keep an eye on it. And it also has the additional appeal of offering flexibility in the degree of involvement and control you decide to exert. With a single- or multiple-family rental property as your Las Vegas real estate investment, you can either decide to be a property’s hands-on landlord, or choose to play a more passive role by letting one of the Las Vegas’s reliable property management companies handle the operational details. If that is your choice, you can sit back and let the professionals do their job. All you need do is a bit of top-down managing of the managers. Every property has its own unique characteristics, but you will be able to rely on the best property managers to diligently accomplish these “Top 5” performance bench marks: Keeping in touch. Beyond simply answering your requests and questions, the best property managers report to you on a monthly basis. Finding quality tenants. Filling any vacancy in short order (and with good tenants) is one key way professional property managers make it financially worthwhile to employ them. Good tenants are valuable! Tenant-handling. You should not have to be involved directly with tenant concerns or complaints. An important part of your property manager ’s responsibility is addressing repairs or problems rapidly and efficiently. Prevention. A stitch in time saves nine is especially apt when it comes to keeping your real estate investment in top shape. That translates into regular inspections, at least once a year, inside; more frequently, outside. Performance. The optimal result of a great Las Vegas real estate investment is both growth in its underlying value at the same time that positive cash flow is generated. Bottom line: the cost of property management should leave you smiling at the end of the year. When your real estate investment is handled properly, each of the Top 5 performance benchmarks will be met without fail. Of course, what makes it all possible is the sound investment that underlies the whole enterprise…which starts with a call to my office!
A REAL ESTATE GIMMICK THAT MIGHT SAVE THE PLANET
The headline had to stop everyone who even glanced at Bloomberg’s Technology section: Las Vegas readers (even those who are relatively gimmick-immune) would have been hard pressed to pass up last Wednesday’s Bloomberg Technology headline: “Can This Real Estate Gimmick Save the World?” Whether the subject of the article really is a gimmick or “the greatest real estate amenity since running water” is yet to be determined—but it’s certainly, at the very least, an intriguing idea. Steve Wynn is intrigued. He’s tearing up the golf course behind his Las Vegas Strip hotels to replace it with an installation. And with 60 of them already in place (and 250 on the drawing board), if it’s a gimmick, it’s one that’s making a large splash beyond the real estate world. The core of the idea is the creation of gigantic artificial clear-water lakes (“lagoons” is the preferred word). It is hoped that real estate promoters will see the innovation as adding an attraction that turns otherwise featureless landscapes into much more desirable (real estate developer-speak would be valuable) recreational oases. The whole thing is the brainchild of Fernando Fischmann, a Chilean entrepreneur who calls his company “Crystal Lagoons.” Its website shows a stunning vista of what looks to be an enormous, other-worldly swimming pool—acre upon acre of swimming pool—with a beach visible off to the side, a distant sailboat slicing through the water, people swimming, kayaking, etc. Since this is an actual photograph, it does lend credibility to the immodest claim: “Crystal Lagoons can transform any destination into an idyllic beach paradise.” Even if (as the video announcer says) the size of any given lagoon is “unlimited,” this alone might not seem likely to save the world. But it turns out that the technology behind it could have wider ramifications… The idea started when Fischmann set out to improve the murky, bacteria-laden water quality of a developer’s artificial lagoon that had gone bad. A world-wide search confirmed that the technology didn’t exist. Since he was a trained biochemist himself, he decided to see if it could be developed. The result is an ultrasonic filtration system, strategically released computerized “disinfection pulses” (said to release just 1% of the volume of chemicals used in swimming pools or water treatment plants), and a few more patented innovations that combine to create the inviting aquascapes. The CityStars resort in Egypt covers 30 acres. How does this save the world? Unless your world hinges on selling waterfront condos in bone-dry landscapes, it wouldn’t seem to be the case. The answer is that the technology also uses very little energy and very little water: it’s reclaimed sea water, using a process that requires about a tenth as much energy as previous methods. Maintenance uses a quarter of the water required for a like-sized golf course. And the dream extends to developing systems that cool electric power plants and use the excess heat to power desalination facilities. Since freshwater production figures high on the world’s imminent shortage list… Our Las Vegas may not be in line for any million-gallon artificial lagoons anytime soon, but if the technology continues to evolve, I guess we can’t rule it out eventually. In the meantime, we have plenty of our own captivating real estate amenities—they’re showing in Las Vegas properties that are available right here, right now. Call me!
LAS VEGAS HOMES FOR SALE THE RIDDLE OF THE ULTIMATE BUYER
While reading a real estate magazine article about “the pros and cons of buying during the peak selling season,” I was fairly certain (as you probably would be) that, one way or another, the cons wouldn’t outweigh the pros. The Las Vegas’s peak selling season is certainly prime time whenever there are homes for sale, but often there are reasons when other times of year can be opportune. The article in came up with more pros than cons. No surprise there: we can all bank on the inevitability of that conclusion (that NOW is a good time to buy or sell) whenever we’re hearing from an industry whose business is buying and selling! So—how do you actually get the straight scoop on the subject? The answer may lie in understanding why a true best answer for when to put up Las Vegas homes for sale always does tend to be “now.” It’s because of a phenomenon called “The Riddle of the Ultimate Buyer.” The riddle goes like this: The “Ultimate Buyer” is the prospect who will ultimately wind up buying your Las Vegas house. Before you put it on the market, there is no way to accurately forecast very much about who that will be. We can set our marketing outreach to target the haunts of the most likely buyer profiles (in fact, that’s what we do), but as any experienced Las Vegas Realtor will tell you, the Ultimate Buyer could also be anyone—and their identity is often surprisingly unlike what anyone would have predicted. Frequently, their choice of which residence to buy has been shaped by equally unforeseeable motivations. Not only is the profile of the Ultimate Buyer unknowable, her or his schedule is equally enigmatic. The only thing we do know for certain is that your Ultimate Buyer will be looking, become interested, and make an offer while your Las Vegas home is up for sale. If you put off listing for a month or two, those months might have been the only ones during which that prospect was looking to buy in Las Vegas. That might have been the only time when that buyer happened to drive past your house (it would have been without my “For Sale” sign out front); might have been the only time he or she was available to take a tour; found suitable financing—any number of factors might have been in play. The Riddle of the Ultimate Buyer is such a puzzle that we can only rely upon the one thing we know for certain: that buyer can only materialize once the home is up for sale. That’s why now is a better time to list than a month or two from now, when the person who would have been your Ultimate Buyer has already moved into another Las Vegas house. They’re someone else’s Ultimate Buyer—and they won’t be back! So, while there’s no pat answer to when is absolutely the best time to list a home for sale, logic says it’s more likely to be now rather than later. Especially while we’re wrapping up our Las Vegas’s peak spring selling season, when there are usually a greater number of potential Ultimate Buyers actively searching, it’s a doubly good time to give me a call!
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