Jan. 30, 2007 - Visiting around Town

I have lived in Las Vegas for 7 years.  The growth has been really something to see.  You would have never believed 10 years ago that the growth would be this much.  I have never been much of a gambler.  I do not think you can be a big gambler and live in this town.  Just in the Summerlin area alone there are three major hotel/casinos.  Sun Coast, Rampart, and Red Rock Station.  Not to mention every gas station, drugstore, and grocery store has gambling in it.  So if you have a problem gambling this would not be a good place to be.  That being said my mom and I decided to explore the town a bit and do some overnight stays at some of the casino's.  So from time to time I will let you know where we have stayed and an over all view.

Our first adventure was at Sam's Town.   Sam's is located on the corner of Boulder Highway and Flamingo Ave.  It is built around a hugh atrium that is a huge park like setting.  Inside is Mystic Falls which several times a night has a lazer show with the water.  It is a beautiful sight.  Our room was situated where we could watch th show.  Very nice view.  It was built in 1979 by a father and son team Sam and Bill Boyd.  There are several restaurants Willy and Jose's Cantina and Billy Bob's Steak House and Saloon.  There is also a food court and a cafe.  We chose to eat at the cafe and they had very good roast beef.

Over all our adventure at Sam's Town was very nice and we enjoyed it very much.  I would recommend it very highly to people coming to visit Las Vegas.    

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Jan. 23, 2007 - Selling Your House Part Two

Selling your home Part-2

Now that you have great curb appeal that will lure your buyers inside, you have to live up to their expectations.  There are plenty of easy fixes you can do to meet those expectations.  Cleaning is so very important.  Your windows, floors, and bath tiles should sparkle.  Make sure you have clean heating and air conditioner filters.  Shampoo dirty carpets, clean tubs and showers, fix dripping faucets and oil squeaky doors.  It may not seem too important but a peek into your oven may be the standard that buyers judge your home by.

Your garage, basement, and attic should be neat and tidy and uncluttered.  Put away anything that is very personal such as a lot of family pictures.  You want the buyers focused on imagining their selves in this house not looking at all of your things. If you have too much furniture in the space consider putting a lot of t in storage.  Take as much off the walls as possible and repaint a neutral color.  If people think they have hundreds of nail holes to patch it may turn them off.

Cosmetic changes do not have to cost a lot of money.  It is attention to detail that screams this home has been well maintained and will get the price you want.   

More to come

Jan. 22, 2007 - What about those New Home Sites

®As a buyer when you come to town it is really tempting to stop in at the waving flags announcing a new home tract.  There are some good values to be found at these tract sites.  Lots of incentives offered, upgrades to these new homes, if you use their lender some are offering all closing costs being paid.  SO why should you not just stop on in without a Realtor®?

First of all a Realtor® is familiar with the areas and the builders.  We know of the litigation that is going on within communities.  We know where the schools are, we know where the hospitals are, we also know future plans going on in the area.  Shopping developments and other infrastructure.

Another fact to take into consideration.  The sales agent that works at the tract may hold a real estate license but she or he are not Realtors® and the are employed by the builder.  Their duty and loyalty are to the builder not to you the consumer.  Your Realtor® can watch out for you can read the contract and look for things that should not be there.  They can do a lot of things for you.  It costs you no more for using a Realtor® , in fact I have heard that a commission paid for the representation is already built into every home for sale and it is just gravy when a Realtor® is not used.

Most new home sites require your Realtor® to be with you on your first visit or they will not honor that representation.  Some home sites are recognizing Buyer agreements but not all.  If you want someone watching out for you please let your Realtor® take you to the new home sites for your protection.

Jan. 22, 2007 - Real Grass vs Synthetic in the Desert

The desert is a very dry place.  We have water problems in Las Vegas.  So we become more and more gray and brown.  In other work rocks and dirt.  So an alternative to all this brown and gray is synthetic grass.  It is becoming more and more prevalent in this valley.  The Wynn and The new Red Rock casino both have used SNYLawn and it looks pretty good.  A person down the street from me also has it and it looks great. 

Reading the weblog for SNYLawn  a company that does most of the business here in Nevada there are many uses for this grass.  It has been used in sport fields, putting greens, dog pens, playgrounds and as you can see from the photo's below some creative things can be done.

The weblog also says some McDonald's and quite a few places in Britain use this grass.  It may be the answer to not only the water shortage but all the brown and gray landscape.