LOCAL REAL ESTATE GAINS WITH PETFRIENDLY FEATURES
Las Vegas residents don’t have to be pet owners to get a sense of just how nutty Americans are about our animals. Just a few minutes of watching TV will do it. After you’ve been bombarded with the images of happy/sad/exuberant/listless cats and dogs who are saved/rewarded by the pet products in the commercials, you won’t doubt that $60.59 billion is being spent on pets this year. It becomes clear how Fido and Kitty can afford to foot the bill for so much of today’s prime time television. Another fact—one that directly relates to Las Vegas real estate—is that slightly more than 56% of all American households are said to include a pet. The ASPCA says that 37%-47% of households have a dog, and 30%-37% of households have a cat (as far as the cats are concerned, it’s the cats that have the households, not the other way around). Whether or not Fido and Kitty are part of your family, this does give rise to how important the real estate concept of “pet-friendly” homes has become. Consideration: Does your finicky cat need a room of his or her own? Does your MegaDog require a large yard? Space is always a leading qualification when you go to assess minimum real estate requirements for your Las Vegas family, but since 68% of families include pet needs in their calculations, that is one of the basics that qualify a property. That’s why it makes increasing sense to emphasize pet-friendliness. For instance, if the back yard has a low or not very restrictive fence, a proactive seller might research the cost of installing an invisible fence. Even if they don’t go ahead and put it in, having a bid in hand showing that the cost is reasonable could be enough to sooth pet-owning prospects’ concerns. Consideration: Although pet owners are unambiguous about considering the four-footers to be family members, that’s not a universally shared concept. If you don’t see (or hear) any signs of pets in a prospective neighborhood, buyers should make certain that a property they are thinking about buying doesn’t carry restrictions that could cause pet turmoil. Local ordinances and neighborhood associations can enforce restrictions on the number and kind of pets. Consideration: Along with the growing popularity of pets have come some pet perks that have real estate implications. Pet amenities like dog parks are becoming more and more common in newer communities (in some areas, a movement is afoot to feature a dog- and even cat-friendly cafes and public buildings). I hope you will give me a call if you are embarking on a Las Vegas house-hunting exploration or are preparing to list your property this summer. Pet accommodation is only one dimension I’ll help you make sure is fully addressed!
LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION IMPORTANT FOR YOUR RESIDENCE TOO
“There’s No Place like Home” is one of those quaint sayings that somehow lasts forever, probably just because it’s so true. “Home is Where the Heart Is” is another one: corny, maybe, but undeniable. There’s a strictly real estate saying that Las Vegas residents will recognize at once, too. Less corny as well as a good deal more practical. It’s “Location! Location! Location!”—and it’s every bit as true as the other ones. It’s the where of real estate, and although it is usually thought of in its commercial connection, to a slightly lesser degree, it has major local residential significance. For those of us who are already town residents, where our next home should be located is almost certainly one of the two or three primary considerations. But even more so for out-of-towners who will be moving into our area. After price range, it’s a ruling factor: location location location—which Las Vegas neighborhood will be our best choice for home—is a good place to start. When you’re brand new to any area, just thinking ‘location location location’ is one thing, but going about finding the right one in a timely manner isn’t necessarily easy. The first step will be to consult the real estate professional you’ve teamed up with (a good one would be me!) and have an in-depth orientation conversation about our neighborhoods. Next come prioritizing your priorities: Professional. If you know the ‘location location location’ of where you’ll be working, the commute distance is likely to be a key factor. The convenience of having your local home as close as possible to your local work will only grow with time. School. If you have school-aged children, you’ll want to research how the schools are rated, or opt to a top-notch private institution. Either way, getting the kids to and from can be less of a hassle if the home is in the right place. Location, location, etc.! Shopping. Weekend mall visits certainly don’t need to be right around the corner, but things like visits to the grocery store can become an irritant if it involves 15-minutes each way…every day! Perhaps not a governing factor, but one that gains importance over time. Community. Church, social groups, cultural gatherings are either to your liking or less so. Once you have gauged all of those “practical” factors, it will take some local visits and conversations with residents to get the real flavor of the possible communities—and determine which seem most inviting. Access to sports and outdoor recreational facilities also fit into this category…which, taken together, can easily turn out to be the most important quality of life factor. Unless you happen to be a longtime local resident, many of the qualities of a listing’s location location location in Las Vegas isn’t fully evident from the listing information. It takes some on-the-ground knowledge, and (ideally) more than one visit. It also will benefit when your buyer’s REALTOR® is a knowledgeable and experienced local resident…which is another good reason to give me a call!
BEYOND BACKOFTHEENVELOPE NEW HOME AFFORDABILITY
You want your approach to finding a new home in Las Vegas to be at least somewhat hard-headed and businesslike. The financial stakes are certainly major, and to some extent, much of what your future lifestyle will be like will depend on making a good choice. This is not to totally discount the emotional component that’s inevitably part of finding your new local home. You do want your family to feel good about the final choice—you’ll be moving to the dwelling that will become everybody’s center of operations. So if your repeat visit begins to convince you that this really is the place you’ve been hoping to find, it’s the appropriate time to take a step back to do your most hard-headed, businesslike projection. This is beyond the back-of-the-envelope kind of calculation (the one that originally guided the price range you gave to your Realtor). This is time to take everything into account to see how well this new Las Vegas home truly fits—on some counts. A new home’s true affordability begins with the banker’s basic price formula—purchase price, mortgage, insurance, and taxes. You should also contemplate the cost of having the property inspected and the closing costs (your REALTOR® can give you a close estimate). But that’s not the whole picture—a new home’s true affordability also incorporates the difference between your family’s current expense profile and any factors that will change it. For instance, if the square footage of the new home greater, you can expect that simple maintenance costs will rise proportionately (unless the new home’s condition is a good deal better than your current one). Utility costs may rise, too, if the living space is greater—unless more efficient systems are in place. If the location necessitates a change in driving distance or other transportation expenses, they should be taken into account. Does the new place have a significantly larger lawn or other landscaping features? If you have a green thumb and enjoy getting that kind of outdoor exercise (IOW, mowing), that won’t have much effect. If not, you’d better factor in a gardener’s bill. There is one other element that’s easy to overlook, but accounting for it can eliminate the possibility that the whole move results in an unexpectedly depleted bank balance. Most people who are moving into a terrific new home forget to account fully for the few changes they’ll need to make before the place is perfectly suited their family. These could be minor, like changing out a light fixture that doesn’t fit the dining room table. Or they could be major, like addressing wholesale décor clashes that call for choosing between repainting the walls—or reupholstering— or even purchasing new furniture! Helping you make sure your new area home is a comfortable match for your family’s needs is a large part of the service I provide my buyers. If you are ready to take a look at the latest crop of local new home offerings, I’ll be standing by for your call!
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