Green light into sadness

Sometimes, a dream does not happen.

We are approaching retirement age, and after our 5th and most wonderful trip to Wonderland, and 1st off strip experience, finally fell in love with the idea of living here.

Our first off strip visit, finally cemented the desire to live here. In years past, we said, if we can't be on the strip, why go to Vegas. We decided on this last trip to take a chance, and try a complete off strip vacation.

It blew us away and not expecting this wonderful way. So my better half said, she would love to love here.

She gave me the Green Light to explore, said, lets give it some very serious thought.

So I am the researcher, and I gave a us a failing grade for moving. I have not told her yet, and she is not expecting this. We live in the Tampa Bay Florida area, and our 2/2 and one car garage house, after selling will net us $250K. Did some exploring on Zillow for Vegas, and came back with sadness.

Approaching retirement age, we do not need a house. A condo, with association fees, could eventually erode our ability to meet the bills.

So I have to let her know, We have green light in desire, but Housing is is out of our league.

So we are forever stuck in Florida. I have just done a basic search.

Am I right, or is there decent ways to find housing in the 250 - 300K range?

I know, and expect hahahaha....

We can be OK, with the understanding, Vegas will always be just a vacation destination away from home.

We just need to understand reality, and you can help us get back to reality of the truth.

Thanks!

 

Ever think about buying a house and turming it into an AirBnB? Don't know much about it for costs and profit but you could do research.

https://www.airbnb.com/a/Las-Vegas--Nevada--United-States?af=43720035&c=.pi2.pk1301821802192262_81363884419288_c_81363880404348&msclkid=6de340b0c9661627cdff1d116d8206d9&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=USA%3ADTM%3ABRD%3AAirbnb%2BDEST%5BEXACT%5D&utm_term=airbnb%20las%20vegas&utm_content=Airbnb%3AUSA%2BLas%20Vegas%2BEXACT

 

We also live in Tampa, and also plan to retire in Las Vegas.

We have done a lot of research, and have decided when the day comes, we will rent. No maintenance, no HOA dues, no taxes, insurance, or headaches, and when we die, no fighting between the kids.

 

Can u sell now, put the money safely away, rent for awhile and wait for the next recession to buy? There is bound to be another one before too long. Then u can scoop up your dream house for a discount. Heck, u might just like renting in the end. I'm personally tiring of the "joys" of home ownership myself. Best of luck

 

I love trips to Vegas, but I don't ever think I could live there. I live in LA so I could really live anywhere, but I don't think I would ever move from Cali. Likewise, I don't think I could ever move from Florida, although hurricanes and constant humidity could change my mind. Just like the months of heat in Vegas, even though its much dryer.

Do you think you can plan a six month trip out here to see if you even like it in the long run (and in the summer time)? It can also get pretty cold in the desert.

 

I remember thinking, when we moved to Tampa, "Oh this is great. We'll be hitting the parks in Orlando, lounging by the beach on weekends, etc.". How-ev-ah, it turns out that life gets in the way. There's bills to pay, the lawn won't cut itself, and the commute has mysteriously grown longer year by year, though the geography has remained constant.

I think Vegas might be kinda sorta the same. If you live there, I doubt you'll be camped out either on Fremont or LVB night after night. Don't know how Nevada compares to the peninsula, tax or cost of living wise, but Florida is friendly to those with a touch o'grey. Something to ponder, having been to Vegas but five times, you might wanna make a few more recon-specific trips before making the final decision.

The reason I say that is, renting might be the way to go. Yeah, there's gonna be annual rent increases, and you need to know where in Vegas you want to park (e.g. transportation once driving becomes unavailable, amenities, vibe, etc.).

 

I can attest to this, speaking as someone who just spent his Friday night watching Netflix. Which I certainly don't mind, and it's overall fantastic here (especially compared to where I lived before), but anyone considering it should be cognizant of the fact that it's not permanent vacation.

 

Don't confuse a vacation with a lifestyle.

 

Whenever we are in LV on vacation, dh always talks about getting a several month rental and seeing what it is like for a longer period of time. I have always laughed ( and will continue to do so) because I tell him that we could not afford to live the way we do in a week-10 day vacation for a longer period of time and we would get tired of it if we could.....so just let it go and appreciate the vacations.

 

A vacation and living there are very different. That said, I love the desert and enjoy areas like Summerlin, Henderson and other parts of Nevada. I’m not sure what cost of living is like for you in Florida, but the cost of living in different parts of Nevada is all around cheaper than where I’m at in CA.

I don’t know where you were looking, but you can definitely find a house in Nevada in the $250k - $300 range. And, you can always rent too.

There’s other factors to look at too, climate, gas prices, style of homes, recreational activities(hiking, biking, etc) etc. I don’t think you should write it off completely - take a trip or 2 out there, look at renting, stay there a while away from the Strip and figure out if it’s doable.

 

I can vacation there because of the Strip. I can't live there because I would be in the desert. I'd rather live closer to the water even though I'm only at the ocean once to three times per month.

 

Changes of this magnitude do not appear or disappear in what is essentially a blink of time spent "dreaming" and "exploring."

Vacation is a great time to ponder, "Hmmm, could we live here?" That's a no-brainer; you obviously like the place because you're vacationing there. But you still need the logical separation from the emotion of the vacation. We go to Hawaii a lot. We love Hawaii. We certainly don't want to live there for any number of reasons. We've been to Vegas way too many times. We love Vegas. We certainly don't want to live there for any number of reasons. Now Central Oregon or Tucson? Real possibilities. I spent many years in the PNW and since moving back to CA have made countless trips back. As for Tucson, we know it well because of dozens of visits over several decades. But in both instances our retirement move in several years is still tempered with questions needing to be answered and new questions to be discovered and answered. The moral? With eons of first-hand experience, significant knowledge of the areas in question, we're still figuring it out over the next x years until it is time to squeeze the trigger. Again, never base a decision of this magnitude on a relative flash of time and a whimsical desire. If you think Vegas is it -- or wherever -- rent for a month or so across a bit of summer AND a bit winter before selling and relocating so you can really see and feel something close to the actual experience.

As for punting because of the housing cost? Please. I just spent 27 seconds on Century21.com and populated a listing of maybe 75 homes priced sub-$300,000. I'm sure plenty are shitholes in shitty locations, but you figure some large number are comfortably occupiable.

Do you WANT to own again? Does your financial situation suggest renting and CAREFULLY investing the equity from your current home? And as for fees, plenty of single-family residential developments have HOAs and fees, and you still need insurance on your place. Now in a condo, if the roof, for instance, goes in most cases that is on the association. Plus you get the honor of paying property tax on whatever you own.

In another retirement thread here I suggested writing down on individual slips of paper all the things that are important to you and the things you don't want to deal with -- weather (wanted/unwanted), transportation needs and dislikes, any mobility issues, aesthetics, culture and built environment, will you have visitors, animal needs, outdoor offerings, etc. Nevada has no state income tax which is nice but you need to look at the entire tax/cost structure; take Oregon, for instance, not having sales tax is great but it's still one of the highest tax-burden states. Anyway, once you get all those plusses and minuses itemized, start ranking them. If having an ocean nearby turns out to be a really really really important thing then you've eliminated most of the U.S.

Even if we all move to a favorite vacation location, it's no longer vacation when it's home, so you need the entire package of things to line up to be happy.

 

First, I agree with the sentiment that others have stated...….you probably need to spend more of an extended amount of time in Vegas before deciding that its the place for you to settle.

Second, even if you've determined you can't afford the Vegas area, what about a place that's relatively nearby? We've vacationed in southern Utah (St George) for several years and are seriously looking at it as a viable option to settle down in retirement.

 

Not sure what the finances look like post retirement, but there are plenty of houses in the 300k range.

Making the assumption you net 250k, perhaps a 1031 exchange may be feasible but not certain on the actual application. A 50k payment would be around 250 a month.

 

These are what’s showing up for 250k and less. The southwest would be a good place to start since it’s less busy, less traffic and still only 15 min to the strip.

 

If you really want to do it you will FIND a way.
And all the while being practical.
As someone else stated, you don't want to buy in a seller's market unless you have to.
But then again with the Raiders coming to Vegas, the housing market may buck a recession just a little bit.

 

A nice 2/2 Condo could be had for under $200 with HOA of around $170-$200/month. I think this is very reasonable living. I've found Florida to be more expensive in general than NV. Just my opinion.

TomTWI

 

There's a lot of ways to tackle this.

You can expand your search area for one thing. Surely there are options in the $250k-$300k range somewhere in the valley that aren't in an undesirable area.

You can change your ideas of what you need in a retirement house. Maybe a 1 bedroom apartment or a studio would fit you just fine since there is so much you can do in Vegas outside your own 4 walls anyway.

You can find ways to supplement income like renting a room as an Air BNB or driving for Uber/Lyft. I often get Uber/Lyft rides in Vegas from people who are retired and just take rides in their spare time to help fill in the gaps.

Hell, maybe you just move out to Vegas and continue to work full time for a few more years. Maybe you'll find something you like to do and it becomes preferable to farting around doing nothing.

If it really is your dream, don't give up on it. You only get one shot at life and there are no re-do's once it's over.

 

I agree with that 100%. We bought 4 years ago. 2 BR in gated condo in NW area was less than $150K. Mostly retired people. HOA is $145/ month. Great pool, incredible scenery. Close to 4 great casinos (Red Rock, Santa Fe, Rampart, Suncoast). Not one single complaint.

 

That sounds really nice!
Sorry to ask what is probably an ignorant question... but is that monthly HOA fee separate from (I mean, in addition to) annual property taxes? If so, could you ballpark what you pay each year for your tax? TIA!