SOME INVESTMENT PROPERTY BASICS ARE JUST TOO BASIC
Being in real estate, it’s probable that Las Vegas investment property popups hit my screen more often than yours. Nonetheless, I bet that every Las Vegas web user knows the phenomenon: you’re trying to accomplish something on the internet, and these ads keep bouncing up, doing their best to distract you. It seems to take more time to continually patrol your browser settings than to just X the pop-ups. In any case, the other day while stuck waiting for something to process, I noticed the headline on one of those ads (they seem to be news items or features, but they all turn out to be ads). It showed a pretty model looking into the snout of a piggy bank under the headline, “How to Use Real Estate Investments to Cover Student Loan Debt, Car Payments & More.” It occurred to me that this wouldn’t even make the first draft of any decent Investment Property for Dummies book (there seem to be several). I didn’t click on the ad, but I bet it would point out that a good Las Vegas investment property produces cash…and then you could take the cash, and use it to cover student loans…etc. This seemed to be beyond a no-brainer—more like a no-chance-of-ever-having-a-brainer. But it was intriguing that the sponsors seriously expected that people would click on it to find out how to use real estate investments, etc. It set me to actually looking at more of the pop-ups. Over on the right of the monitor was a great big threatening one. The model was holding a hand to her forehead as if it ached terribly under “How a Lack of Confidence in My Real Estate Calculations Just Cost Me $25K.” This one was more tempting, but still resistible. There was a good chance that the article was actually an ad for a mortgage offer that, had she only trusted it by believing in their calculator, would have led to lower payments. I never ever click on the calculators that ask if you live in Las Vegas, because they make you jump through hoops, and only at the very end tell you they’ll send you the answer (soooo, what’s your name and email address, chump?)… There were 7 ABSOLUTE MUST-READ REAL ESTATE BOOKS FOR BEGINNING INVESTORS, which didn’t even have a picture of a model trying to look intelligent (it showed the back of a book being read by the model). When the title is in all caps, it’s like the ad is shouting…best to skip those. There were a much more intriguing 6 Superstitions That May Affect Your Real Estate Investing—but the picture only had what looked like a motel room key with a key-tag that had a big number ‘13’ on it. Clicking on something like that is usually bad luck (maybe that was one of the superstitions). Next to it was the seemingly not-directly-relevant EARN YOUR MBA THE SMARTER WAY, which sounded like a good idea, but a resistible one, since I only had a minute or two before the computer finished processing. One last temptation was You Can’t Succeed Without Discipline, Right? WRONG. Here’s Why, which showed a ditzy blond with big glasses and a sun dress holding her forehead with both hands! But then my project finished processing before I could find out why you don’t need the discipline to make the most of your investment property. You have to suspect that discipline couldn’t hurt, even for the ditzy model. If you agree, have at least a bit of discipline, and would like to have a look as some promising Las Vegas investment property opportunities, I hope you’ll give me a call!
EVALUATING REMODELING PROJECTS FOR ADDED VALUE
Las Vegas homeowners don’t have to be planning to sell before they set out on the remodeling track. Growing families can need more room; aging homes can require structural renovation to prevent larger problems from developing. And sometimes a creative brainstorm strikes, resulting in a design enhancement that brings an undeniable improvement to the living space. There are lots of reasons that remodeling projects beckon, especially when there are glaring faults to be dealt with before a house can be listed for sale. If its ‘as-is’ condition even begins to look like a hazard, it needs to be brought up to snuff before anything else can get going. But even for those who are remodeling for other than an impending real estate sale, it’s interesting to get a general idea about what value the market places on various improvement projects. If for no other reason than peace of mind, if you are about to spend money on a Las Vegas remodeling venture, it’s good to know what the outside world thinks it’s likely to be worth. Remodeling is a magazine for designers and builders that has also attracted readers from the wider home-owning public. Every year it updates a listing of cost versus value for a variety of remodeling projects—35 of them. Even though I’d argue that the national dollar averages cited are not spot-on for Las Vegas area costs and values, its findings are useful as a guide to universal trends. For instance, if you are thinking about planning a deck addition next spring, you might not want to count on the listed average costs of $10,048 (for wood) or $15,912 (for composite), but the percentage of value added is more useful. In 2015, a wood deck addition is found to return an average 80.5% of its cost upon a property’s sale. A composite deck, on the other hand, adds a significantly lower 68.9%. That lesser value is probably attributable to the 50% more that it costs, which is unlikely to be recouped. Composites offer ease of maintenance, but they’re costly. Nonetheless, your own choice might be swayed by how long you intend to stay in your property (especially if you aren’t really fond of yearly deck staining). This year, Remodeling’s report included a column that added some more food for thought (or at least a snack). It showed a comparison with the findings from the year before. In other words, by listing the “change vs 2014” column, we can see the direction that recoverability is moving. For the upscale projects—like adding a bathroom or fully replacing a roof—the costs recouped are even lower than in 2014. Expensive projects never return much more than 75% of their cost, but the direction is to be lower still. Midrange projects are mixed. Most have lost a bit of their ability to fully recoup their costs, but not all. Entry door replacements of every kind have gained steam…in fact, a steel door promises to return 101.8%. Replacing a garage door is now a better bargain than last year; likewise, vinyl siding replacement. Somewhat confusingly, a minor roof replacement is a better bargain this year than last. Selling may not be the reason you are planning to remodel, but if it’s even on the horizon, I may be able to offer some advice that takes the future into consideration. I’m always happy to share a professional opinion on all your real estate questions!
LAS VEGAS RESIDENTS SURVEY RETIREMENT LIVING ARRANGEMENT OPTIONS
As Las Vegas residents age, we grow wiser—at least we hope we will. If we take good care of ourselves, are lucky enough to have inherited good genes, and have some luck, too, we hope to be able to stay physically and mentally active long past many of the birthdays that used to mark old age—or even “advanced old age.” But if wisdom does actually accrue along the way, even the spryest of Las Vegas seniors eventually begins to consider whether it might not be a good idea to explore some of today’s alternative post-retirement residential directions. Advil or not, the most physically active seniors will tell you the morning after a full round of golf or a couple of sets of tennis: ouch! Even copious amounts of positive thinking can’t match the persuasive power of aching joints and muscles. Some accommodations to Father Time are going to be called for… It turns out that on this front, there is a lot of good news developing out there. Probably because the massive wave of Baby Boomers is sweeping into traditional retirement age, more and more residential options are opening up. Las Vegas residents approaching retirement have more choices than ever before. Some of the major headings include— • Staying with family. This used to be the hands-down leading choice when infirmity was at hand: moving in with care-taking relatives (or the reverse). This can be a terrific solution when the family situation fits and doesn’t create unworkable demands on family members. • Roommates. Sometimes sharing living quarters is an alternative that isn’t given much consideration, but a homeowner who could use help with daily living chores can choose to share their home in exchange for help with shopping, cooking, cleaning, etc. • Board-and-Care Homes are usually small-scale: residences that provide room and board and varying degrees of daily activity support. • Congregate Housing caters to seniors able to take care of themselves; providing meals, communal activities, and/or housekeeping services. Retirement Communities can add resort-level facilities and activities into the mix. • Assisted Living residences—all the way to full Nursing Homes—provide levels of care from minimal all the way to skilled nursing support. • Continuing Care Retirement Communities—are designed to meet the reality that residence and assistance need change over time. CCRCs consist of separate apartment-style or condominium units as well as full assisted-living facilities. Residents can move from one to the other if more independent living becomes impractical. Residents pay an entrance fee and monthly charges (they can be hefty)—but CCRCs have the advantage of allowing residents to remain in a familiar community at junctures when a greater dislocation would be much more stressful. Of course, many Las Vegas seniors are not about to even consider moving away from Las Vegas, choosing instead to simply look into downsizing—or switching to a more [knee-friendly] stairless neighborhood home. For those and other real estate endeavors, I’m here to help!
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