Possibly moving to Las Vegas

[Scuba]

This is for sure. Right now we live on almost .3 acre. I've lived on as much as almost 3 acres. So, I do understand the attraction of larger lots. And, honestly, I'm tired of it. I am tired of dealing with yard upkeep (not to mention pool upkeep). One of the huge attractions of LV is not having to have a big yard. And, no grass!



I did want to see it in person. One thing is that the fence between properties is usually a fairly high concrete block. And the properties are built so that you don't have windows on the sides near neighbors (or the windows are high on the wall).



So for us, this is fine. I like the idea of a single family detached home (no common walls with anyone else) but on a very small lot. So, Las Vegas works well for me. For those who like large lots, well, it will cost a lot of money....

Glad it’s what you’re looking for. With prices declining now, I hope you find a great place for you soon.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Sounds like a great trip. As to the lack of traffic, I would have been curious to the day/time that you were "checking it out." I remember visiting San Antonio before moving and realized that traffic while we visited wasn't too bad...well, because it was a weekend! Obviously, being retired makes a BIG difference, but nonetheless..

I am torn on lot sizes. I have mentioned to my DW on several occasions when dealing with our multiple acre lot how much of a pain in can be and that living in the sand/dirt of Tucson would be great. BUT...we also were in a rental for a short period of time that was on a 1/10th acre lot and although there were tall/concrete fences between the neighbors, we could smell the neighbors cigarettes when on our porch and listen to them hack up their lungs...so I don't know what a happy medium would be.

 

[ivinsfan]

Kats what are your feeling on selling your current house so you can relocate?
Keep hoping for a buyer, lower your price, hold tight?


Seems like you are kind of in limbo and with interest rising your house sale might get even more complicated.

 

[Katsmeow]

Kats what are your feeling on selling your current house so you can relocate?
Keep hoping for a buyer, lower your price, hold tight?


Seems like you are kind of in limbo and with interest rising your house sale might get even more complicated.

You know that is an interesting question. When I have a house on the market I don't usually like to post much about it since you never know who will read it. So I will just say this.

Right now, the demand seems really low. Supply is not that high but with low demand I think buyers are thinking that they can take their time and buy exactly what they want. I mean, I've noticed the same thing with us looking at Las Vegas. There was a house we looked at while we were there that we really, really liked overall and it was a good price (could probably have gotten it for a little less if we had been ready to buy). But, there was one thing we didn't like (short driveway). A few months ago if I was in the market in Las Vegas that would not have held me back as it was so competitive as a buyer that it was hard to buy anything at all. However, now, that would not hold me back because I would figure that I won't have to "beat" a bunch of other buyers and I could take my time to get exactly what I wanted.

So, I think that for sellers right now the demand is such that buyers will want to wait for exactly what they want and so sales will be slower overall. In our case, I have mixed feelings in a way. We would like to sell our house and move forward with our plans. The trip reinforced in us that we are happy with our choice of Las Vegas. So we would like to just get it all done.

On the other hand, I sort of think that purely financially the wait has been good for us. That is, house prices where I live are going down less than house prices are going down in Las Vegas. Volume of houses available is higher in Las Vegas which contributes to the lower pricing. I think that in other areas with low demand and interest rate concerns, pricing has not gone down that much mostly because the supply of houses is low. But, Las Vegas is different in that its supply has gone up more than most places. So I think that, if for example, we were to just wait until next spring to sell, it would on balance work out fine for us in terms of buying something in Las Vegas even if we sold for less money then. And, overall, I think that is a reasonable place to be in. (Of course, no one really knows what will happen over the next several months. Maybe the two housing markets in question will change in some other way. Maybe interest rates will go up far more than is expected. And so on.)

 

[rodi]

What an exciting (but somewhat stressful) adventure, Katsmeow.

We are considering downsizing to a condo to get rid of house maintenance and have been going to some showings/open houses... but haven't gotten super serious because we need to prep our house for sale. That said - we see the same softening of the market that you are seeing. Less desirable neighborhoods are having price reductions, and the desirable neighborhoods (the ones we're interested in) aren't dropping as fast - but sitting on the market for a *lot* longer.

One thing that we are firm on - one level living. I see you prefer that but are considering 2 stories. For us - at our age - we need a place we can 'age in place'... no stairs since it's likely that sometime in the next 15-20 years one of us will have mobility issues.

Do the places you are considering have a ground floor bedroom and full bath? Even if it's not the primary suite? Not having that option is a deal breaker for us.

Keep us posted on your housing search, selling process, and all that - some of us are getting inspired by your adventures.

 

[Katsmeow]

One thing that we are firm on - one level living. I see you prefer that but are considering 2 stories. For us - at our age - we need a place we can 'age in place'... no stairs since it's likely that sometime in the next 15-20 years one of us will have mobility issues.

Do the places you are considering have a ground floor bedroom and full bath? Even if it's not the primary suite? Not having that option is a deal breaker for us.

We were firm on one level living also. DH even more so than I was.

But, we have both decided that under some circumstances this is not a dealbreaker.

First -- the stair width/shape must be such that we could put a good stairlift on it.

Second - the house, in return, must have everything else that is important to us.

Basically the stairlift solves our issues. DH doesn't like stairs because they have started to hurt his knees. He can walk on them but realizes at some point it may be difficult.

I don't like stairs because I am terrified of falling (I have fairly mild osteoporosis). I also have knee problems in one knee although going up one flight of stairs is really not an issue.

Initially when we rejected 2 story houses I just overlooked stairlifts. But -- I have a friend whose mother (mid-80s) lives with them and she has a stair lift. Basically she says it has been great. Works well (rarely needs maintenance or repairs) and solves all the safety issues. She also says it is great to use a lift to take packages upstairs.

I've done research on stairlifts and they can be custom made to fit most stairs (I will reject any house where it can't be done). They aren't all that expensive. My friend even recommends that we get one now even though we are both still able to use chairs. She suggests using them more for carrying stuff up and down stairs.

So - why not just get a house without stairs? They are very unlikely to be available with the amenities we want. Las Vegas has few 1 story houses and most are very small.

We want to have an at least 3 bedroom house where one extra bedroom is a guest room and the other is an office for DH or I. He and I both spend most of the day at our computer at our desk. We don't like being in the same room (we are each distracted by the other). So, the house needs to have a space for a 2nd house. It can be a 4th bedroom or a den or extra living area downstairs. But -- most houses don't have that. Most houses get that extra office space by having an upstairs loft.

We want to have a newer house. Layout is important to us as is just having a newer house. The average single story house I find in Las Vegas is about 10 years older (at least) than what we want. It usually has 3 bedroom (sometimes only 2) with no space for the second office (except us using the living room for it which is not ideal). Also, 1 bedroom houses tend to be smaller (often less than 1300 square feet). So I am very dissatisfied with most of the 1 story houses in the areas/price range we are interested in.

Having said that, there has a couple of times been a house on the market that is 1 story that checks all of our boxes. If one turns up when we are ready to buy, we would certainly go for it. But, if not, I think that getting a house that could have a stairlift chair would be acceptable from a safety and comfort standpoint. We absolutely would prioritize a 2 story house that had a secondary bedroom downstairs. However, that is also uncommon in Las Vegas.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

OP. I really hope you have good luck (Pun Intended) with Vegas. Property wise they seem to be the last to go up and the first to drop. I have 3 local friends that left Vegas during the last downturn and made 100% on their homes. Those same homes are now 1/3rd of their sales prices. (They watch them). Also, your concern about reliable healthcare would be an issue for us. We have retired friends in Summerlin and Henderson and that is their main complaint. The only reason they are there is because their children moved from SoCAL.

One of the main reasons we moved to NE Fla. was the availability of quality healthcare, we have not been disappointed after 13 years living here. To us this trumps the hot weather in July & August and the occasional storm.

 

[Katsmeow]

OP. I really hope you have good luck (Pun Intended) with Vegas. Property wise they seem to be the last to go up and the first to drop. I have 3 local friends that left Vegas during the last downturn and made 100% on their homes. Those same homes are now 1/3rd of their sales prices. (They watch them). Also, your concern about reliable healthcare would be an issue for us. We have retired friends in Summerlin and Henderson and that is their main complaint. The only reason they are there is because their children moved from SoCAL.

One of the main reasons we moved to NE Fla. was the availability of quality healthcare, we have not been disappointed after 13 years living here. To us this trumps the hot weather in July & August and the occasional storm.

As for healthcare, I think I posted about that in another thread. I researched that a lot. I think the combination of a concierge primary care doctor plus willingness to travel for anything extremely unusual or serious would be OK. I recently traveled twice to another city in Texas in order to see specific doctors or centers. The distance was about equivalent to going to LA or Phoenix from Vegas. It ended up just not being that onerous or a big deal. The reality is that many people will end up living in an area where in later life that might need to travel elsewhere for specialized care.

Florida is one of a number of states that were not in the mix for us. Also, I preferred a community property state since we were coming from a community property state. The combination of the two limited our choices. That is why it is great that there are a lot of states out there for people to find the one that most matches their individual choices.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I agree Kat about traveling for the rare occurrence that you need specialize HC. It very different than being in a rural area and having to travel for most HC. You couldn’t pay me to live in Florida. I spent a week in April there and the heat/humidity was awful.

 

[BubbaChris]

As for healthcare, I think I posted about that in another thread. I researched that a lot. I think the combination of a concierge primary care doctor plus willingness to travel for anything extremely unusual or serious would be OK. I recently traveled twice to another city in Texas in order to see specific doctors or centers. The distance was about equivalent to going to LA or Phoenix from Vegas. It ended up just not being that onerous or a big deal. The reality is that many people will end up living in an area where in later life that might need to travel elsewhere for specialized care.

If you end up in Vegas, do a little checking into St George Regional Medical Center 120 miles away in southwest Utah. They keep making big investments in the facilities and are always working to attract more medical professionals to support our community.

St George has long been a snowbird and/or retirement location for folks from Salt Lake City and beyond. Some of our infrastructure gets built up beyond what our local population would suggest. Vegas is the closest big city, and SLC is 300 miles away. So residents from a lot of the rural areas in the region shop here and will come here for advanced medical needs. SGRH is a level 2 trauma center and we often receive lift flight patients from the Vegas area.

Best regards,
Chris

 

[aja8888]

I agree Kat about traveling for the rare occurrence that you need specialize HC. It very different than being in a rural area and having to travel for most HC. You couldn’t pay me to live in Florida. I spent a week in April there and the heat/humidity was awful.

When describing "Florida", always mention The Bugs and Florida Man!

 

[Letj]

How would you know if the stairs can accommodate a chairlift?

 

[Teacher Terry]

I am watching the local news and Vegas was voted the 4th rudest city in America. It’s due to lack of personal space and hygiene).

 

[Katsmeow]

If you end up in Vegas, do a little checking into St George Regional Medical Center 120 miles away in southwest Utah. They keep making big investments in the facilities and are always working to attract more medical professionals to support our community.

Thanks, I will. That would be something not too far away. By the way, St. George is on my list of good places to visit when we move.

How would you know if the stairs can accommodate a chairlift?

Measure and research.

https://www.caring.com/caregivers/best-stairlifts/how-much-space-is-needed-for-a-stairlift/

https://www.lifewaymobility.com/res...istance needs to be,the user of the stairlift.

https://www.stannah-stairlifts.com/stairlift-requirements/

Most houses we've looked at would need a curved stairlift. A few can handle one straight stairlift. If the stairs have a landing or turn in them then you either need 2 stairlifts (costly) or a custom curved stairlift.

Most of my reading has said that 28" to 29" in width are needed for a straight staircase and curved will need about 30" although that depends on the specific layout. So, if we found a house we liked we would measure and consider all the information we've read and make sure there was enough room.

 

[albireo13]

Eeeuuhh!!

 

[Alex The Great]

Katsmeow, thank you it is a great write-up.
Looked at weather in LV today and it is 108F which is the same as we currently have here in San Jose, CA

 

[bmcgonig]

Thanks, I will. That would be something not too far away. By the way, St. George is on my list of good places to visit when we move.







Measure and research.



https://www.caring.com/caregivers/best-stairlifts/how-much-space-is-needed-for-a-stairlift/



https://www.lifewaymobility.com/res...istance needs to be,the user of the stairlift.



https://www.stannah-stairlifts.com/stairlift-requirements/



Most houses we've looked at would need a curved stairlift. A few can handle one straight stairlift. If the stairs have a landing or turn in them then you either need 2 stairlifts (costly) or a custom curved stairlift.



Most of my reading has said that 28" to 29" in width are needed for a straight staircase and curved will need about 30" although that depends on the specific layout. So, if we found a house we liked we would measure and consider all the information we've read and make sure there was enough room.

I had a stairlift put in for mom and she loved it. The cost difference between a straight one and one that is curved to go round corners is a lot. Straight would have been around 2k where a curved one was about 6k. But the impression I got was that they can fit any curves you throw at them.

 

[RobbieB]

If you're going with a "stair chair" get a house with wide stairs. It's a pain getting around the one in my FIL's place.

 

[Katsmeow]

I had a stairlift put in for mom and she loved it. The cost difference between a straight one and one that is curved to go round corners is a lot. Straight would have been around 2k where a curved one was about 6k. But the impression I got was that they can fit any curves you throw at them.

The only thing I worry about are the stairs where it is a very tight U turn. As far as the cost, the 4k difference in cost is a lot of money relative to the 2k straight one. But, over the course of many years is not that big a deal. That is, it wouldn't be enough to reject a house that I otherwise loved. The vast majority of the houses I've looked at either in person (open houses) or online do have at least turn, often two.

If you're going with a "stair chair" get a house with wide stairs. It's a pain getting around the one in my FIL's place.

My friend has one so I've familiar with the space it takes up. Newer ones generally will fold up to make it easier also. Here is a pic of one:

https://www.stannah-stairlifts.com/resources/stairlifts-dont-get-way/

Depending on the configuration of your stairs sometimes they can make so they wrap around to the side at the base of the stairs.

 

[mojavesue]

Sounds like you had a good productive trip. We really like the NW side as well. Our last place was near Ann and Durango. Centennial Hills shopping was very close by. Our current place is near the 215 and Cheyenne. Just north of Summerlin. I really like this area because I can walk the dogs from our house to Lone Mountain park or Police Memorial park. Also we can be in Centennial Hills, Red Rock casino, Summerlin Center and Suncoast casino Boca Park areas in 10 to 15 minutes. I know you mentioned a newer home but there are some nice single story neighborhoods that have well kept homes in our area.