Las Vegas Investment Property

Gambling is synonymous with LasVegas.  Part of the gambling spilt over into the housing market a few years ago.  Investors from all over were rushing to get in, as new communities throughout the city were being built.  Owners were making sometimes ten to fifteen thousand dollars on property value before their investment was even built.  Alas, things got out of control and the housing bubble popped.  With the drop in property value Las Vegas investment property is once again attracting savvy investors.  Whether out of town or out of country, hiring a company that knows the rental market for your investment is a wise choice.

Terra West Property Management

Hiring a property management company saves an investor time and frustration.  The trade-off is it also costs the investor.  Terra West has an initial start-up fee of $300 right out the door.  Once they’re managing a property for you, the cost is 10% of the monthly rent on that unit.  (Discounted to 8% is five or more units are managed.)  To maintain the repairs on your Las Vegas investment property, a reserve of $250 is required.  Should your tenant decide to renew, a $150 lease renewal fee is required at the beginning of the next year’s lease.  Terra West’s management also includes services like accounting, direct deposit of rent into the investor’s account, periodic inspections of properties, etc.

Occupation of your Las Vegas investment property is a must, to keep passive income flowing.  Should you decide to outsource finding a tenant, Terra West has two leasing programs, a premium residential and a basic option.  Both are mostly the same, acquiring photos of the property, having an inhouse agent find a rentor for it, post ads on local websites, and sign all the papers.  The two additional factors with the premium plan is that you have an ad placed on a local homes for rent website and receive email updates on how the process is going.  The premium plan has a fee equal to the first month’s rent, while the basic has a $20 per month ad fee, and a $350 fee once a tenant is found.  Although the basic seems cheaper, the market in Las Vegas is currently flooded with rentals, so be sure to weigh out the options of the premium vs. the basic (remembering the more your Las Vegas investment property sits vacant, the less money you’re making).

No information is listed on the website for emergencies, but as this company has several offices around Las Vegas, I imagine at the least a 24 hour messaging service is set up for electrical or water emergencies.  Should you require further information about Terra West, please contact:

Mario Malatesta Jr. ARM®, PMP, CAM
Director of Residential Property Management
Broker Salesperson, REALTOR®
Terra West Property Management
2655 South Rainbow Blvd, Ste 200
Las Vegas, Nevada 89146
702.251.4563 office
702.251.4594 fax

Taking advantage of low prices in Las Vegas investment property is catching on with investors around the world.  During the pop of the housing bubble, numerous housing communities were in different stages of building.  A few years ago, you’d purchase a house or condo and vefore it was even built the property value had risen 10-20%.  This is no longer the case, and coupled with the subprime mortgage crisis, recently built homes can be purchased at a percentage of the original cost.  Should you be an out of town investor looking at Las Vegas investment property, especially a foreign investor, choosing a property management company might be a worthwhile idea.

Desert Realty, Inc.

The main concern every investor asks of a rental management company is cost.  The monthly fees are 10% of a month’s rent for managine a single unit, 9% for two units managed, and 8% for 3 or more units managed.  To cover any accidents that might need a quick fix a reserve of $200.  A security deposit of one month’s rent is held by in a trust account by Desert Realty.

Keeping the passive income flowing from your Las Vegas investment property is crucial, and finding new tenants from a few states away would be a hassle.  Desert Realty, Inc. can search for new tenants for certain fees.  To advertise a vacant property the cost is $95 per month.  Once a new tenant is placed, there is a $295 leasing fee.  Background checks are performed by all applicants, who pay $40 for this process.  The checks include credit, sex offender, previous landlord, and eviction reports.  There is also a background check into the applicants funds to make sure they can afford the monthly rent which avoids problems in the future.

During emergencies the tenant or investment property owner should call the office.  After business hours an answering service is available, with calls forwarded to an oncall employee of Desert Realty.  This is important both to keep tenants happy in the unlikely event of a water or power emergency, but also to let owners get in touch with the individuals managing their Las Vegas investment property.

Desert Realty currently manages properties in the Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, and Henderson areas.  They specialize in residential properties and are currently not taking on management of condo units.  Beverly Long also suggested that the rental market in Las Vegas has been tough, with the supply of units to rent, but also mentioned things are beginning to pick up.  For more information, or to contact the company, please see the below information.

Key Opportunity

Although current property climate in the US is not so encouraging for short term investors; with shrewd planning one can still manage to reap profits.

The key parameter today is location, places like Florida and Vegas will always attract tourists and they hardly ever have an off-season. As you would see once you get into the Las Vegas investment property market, the off-plan prices are always lower than the completed projects at comparable locations with similar scale of development. This has given birth to the “flip” investment strategy, where the capital investors sell off the unit prior to project completion. They basically rely on the appreciation of value as the project nears its completion. It is therefore important to get the terms and conditions of re–assignment of property clarified before you enter into the deal. At times, the trade-off for the power to reassign is a charge to be paid in form of a certain percentage of the purchase price.

Timeline

Payment terms are flexible and are designed to give the maximum benefit to investors, who are provided the ease of payment in installments. Another popular scheme allows payment after the completion of project with a token amount to be deposited in the beginning. Of course, the earlier the investment is made, greater are the returns. Early birds have the first choice of units in the project; hence they can choose the one which is most likely to attract the buyers.

Risk Management

Risk management is probably the most important facet of any investment. The investor will always have a range of choices in front of him. The key is to rate each Las Vegas investment property opportunity in terms of certain predecided parameters like appearance, location and facilities; and then evaluate each option individually.

Before entering any deal, the foremost step to take should be deciding the exit strategy. Investors need to formulate a plan to liquidate their holdings as and when they want. In case a buyer is not found till the completion of property; investors should have a back-up plan.

ROI

The economic crisis has affected the short term return on investment to an extent. The recovery, although on cards, will still take some time. In fact, the current market is perfect for long term investment. This will ensure substantial capital returns apart from a steady flow of rental income from your Las Vegas investment property. The investment’s profitability can further be increased by spotting an opportunity early on and reserving it at pre-release stage at a discounted price.