TO WHAT DECADE DOES YOUR LAS VEGAS HOMES DCOR BELONG
First of all, a Spoiler Alert: It’s not fair to peek down where the answers are! Now that we’re clear on that, this is a quiz that will tell you how “ Decade Sensitive” you are when it comes to Las Vegas home décor. It took a little browsing around to put this together, but it sure was fun. The idea is to match the décor item with the decade it is most closely associated with. Ready? GO! A. Popcorn Ceilings B. McMansions C. Sherwood Green & Stratford Yellow D. Stainless Steel Appliances E. Shag Carpets F. Sustainable Materials G. Kitchen Islands The 50s The 60s The 70s The 80s The 90s The 2000s NOW — Now that you’ve matched the items with the decade, you’ve probably noticed that there is a lot of ambiguity here, because Las Vegas home décor themes didn’t just go in and out of style at the beginnings and ends of decades. The answers are combed from a variety of sources, but here is what the consensus (sort of) agrees on: THE ANSWERS The 50s: Answer-C. Sherwood Green and Stratford Yellow were first popularized for kitchen appliances during the postwar era. The 50s can be forgiven for these unnatural apparitions, which might have had something to do with the advent of vinyl flooring in the kitchen … The 60s: Answer-A. Popcorn Ceilings – Thank you, The 60s, for giving us this innovation. They were popularized for conveying a “textured” look, adding insulation and cutting down sound. We’ve been scraping them off ever since… The 70s: Answer-E. Shag Carpets (of course!). Sometimes associated with the 60s, but unmistakably reaching peak popularity in the 70s, a “period when wall-to-wall carpeting was fairly new.” Its fluffy look and feel remained popular until The 90s, when it is said to have “faded into oblivion.” Hardly—it’s still causing vacuum cleaner jams in Las Vegas homes with cool “vintage” décor. The 80s: Answer-B. McMansions, aka “garage Mahal,” “starter castle,” and “Hummer home.” They may have been around since The 70s, but the term first appeared in the Los Angeles Times in 1990. Even the wisecracking nickname couldn’t curb the irresistible advantages of the mass-produced luxury home. Unexpectedly, some of them turn out to have been quite well-built. The 90s: Answer-G. Kitchen Islands. If you placed these in The 80s, you’ve got a good argument, because that’s the era when modern kitchen design took off. In The 90s, though, the ‘island’ first took its place in the majority of new kitchens spacious enough to make it practical. They are still everywhere, so you’re forgiven if you put them in The 2000s or Now. The 2000s: Answer-F. Sustainable Materials. Even defining “sustainability” can get you into an argument (it could be salvaged wood countertops; might be granite), but the Green movement that took off in The 60s began to get serious government support in the New Millennium. NOW: Answer-D. Stainless Steel Appliances. You can’t get away from them: today’s prospective Las Vegashome shopper is finding glistening stainless steel refrigerator and oven doors in kitchens all over the place. This finish may have been around for more than a decade, but is NOW available at so many price points it’s hard to think of a single décor item that is as widespread—or one that’s more likely to stay popular long into the future. With or without the stainless steel appliances, if yours is one of the Las Vegas homes that will be listing this winter, do give me a call!
CREATING LAS VEGAS LISTINGS THAT STAND OUT FROM THE PACK
If you had to come up with a single characteristic that the most effective Las Vegas home listings have in common, there are several good candidates: A well-crafted listing catches your eye with superior photography, for sure. But that’s not possible with every property. Good photographers know how to select the best angles, use light effectively, and eliminate distracting details (or at least downplay them). But since all homes aren’t equally photogenic, there are built-in limits to how even the most skillful listing creator can count on visuals to make a listing stand out. Careful attention to detail is common in superior listings. The best Las Vegas listings don’t skimp on the details, or on brief adjectives that further enhance them—especially when they serve to differentiate a home from the pack. You can test this for yourself by scanning through some of today’s listings in Las Vegas. The best ones often have one or two relatively insignificant details that give a property character; that make it memorable. “Spacious walk-in closet” may not be nearly as important as “completely remodeled kitchen,” but for a certain number of prospective buyers, that can turn out to be the one detail that strikes a responsive chord (and creates a mental note to check this one out!). Descriptions that employ proven advertising principles almost always make superior Las Vegas listings. One standby: arouse curiosity (headline writers are experts at this). An example might be “Brick barbecue center.” ‘What the heck is that?’ prospective buyers will ask themselves. Even if outdoor cooking isn’t even on their list of priorities, they might not be able to resist scheduling a home tour to find out…and sometimes a buyer is created! But if I had to pick the one single characteristic most likely to be found in truly effective local listings, it would be this: The best Las Vegas listings in some way tell a story—add character to the cold facts. They stand out from other listings by engaging more of the reader’s imagination than others that are merely an illustrated bunch of data. The ‘story’ may be a phrase that hints at a property’s interesting past: its historical origin or that of the neighborhood; a prominent previous owner; or an unusual construction history. For a fixer-upper, the story might be an expansive invitation to imagine how a creative Do-It-Yourselfer will be able to transform the property. For a luxury listing, the story might be an appeal to experience the full array of lavish trappings as the suitable reward for the accomplishments of a lifetime. The story may be fleshed out or merely hinted at by a well-worded phrase—but when listings contain the elements of the story, they add the memorability. Creating a stand-out listing is only one of the many elements that go into a successful Las Vegas home-selling campaign. I hope you will give me a call when it comes time to get your home into the hands of a new owner!
7 TIPS FOR SPEEDING UP YOUR FIRST LAS VEGAS HOUSE PURCHASE
For Las Vegas renters who are beginning to investigate the possibility of buying a first house, the prospect can look like more than just a steep hill to climb—it can look more like a cliff! Just last month, the Daily Real Estate News cited recent research that indicates in most places (512 counties surveyed, in fact) it can take the average family more than twelve years to save up for a 20% down payment. When you consider the significant financial advantage that the first house brings its Las Vegas owner, the situation seems like a Catch-22. How can you save any faster when that big tax advantage goes only to the existing homeowners? If a decade-plus wait sounds unreasonable, there’s a lot you can do to trim the delay— 1) (Obvious) Cut excess spending If you take notes for a month or so about how you really spend your money, you find that the little things really add up: morning coffee, daily lunches, planned and unplanned shopping expeditions all put serious dents in your wallet. Spot the expenditures, you can cut back on, and then reduce or eliminate them as soon as possible. 2) (Less Obvious) Create a ‘First House’ account Create a separate savings account with the single purpose of holding your first house down payment. Watching it grow month by month will more than makeup for the inconveniences caused by scrimping on daily and other spending. 3) (Way Less Obvious) Pick up extra work You may never have considered it, but sometimes moonlighting is a great way to add additional income that quickly build your First House account. If you have a hobby that lends itself to web sales, think of starting a store on sites like Etsy or Amazon. 4) Reduce your current bills There are those bills that you can’t quite get rid of — cell phone, credit cards and other bills don’t just go away because you’re saving for a new Las Vegas house. For some bills, though, there are options for slimming down your monthly payments. Try negotiating a lower APR or reducing your phone or cable plan. 5) Make (and stick to) a budget Those notes you made up there on 1) can be the raw material for making a detailed budget that separates necessary expenditures from extras like gifts, trips and special nights out. Find creative ways to entertain yourself and get together with your friends. Hosting movie nights, finding free concerts, and moving cocktail hour to home are all surprisingly doable. 7) Downsize It may seem counterintuitive: why would you decrease the size of your current digs? If you can temporarily scale back, the lowered rent can materially boost your savings. If it’s at all practical, living with relatives might move the process along even more quickly! The kind of scaling back that builds for a local first house down payment is a lot more fun if you can see quick progress. And the possibility of qualifying for a smaller than 20% down payment is also currently increasing. Give me a call for a realistic discussion of your own Las Vegas first house purchase!
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