Quote:
Originally Posted by PaulyJames200x
parison, you mentioned $350/monthly HOA fees but what are your yearly property taxes that you have to pay a year?
Also, surely some ppl in this forum live in one of these high rises right? Im curious how much is the total amount they are paying a month... not including the mortgage. Like surely someone here paid everything in cash for it and just pay HOA and property taxes only? Like the one that is 552 dollars HOA for a studio at palms, how much is it total when you factor everything like property taxes and insurance?
i've lived in vegas high rises for 15 years and own a couple condos I rent out
here's my monthly breakdown
insurance: $74/month
property tax: $428.84/month
hoa: $1,058/month
water/trash: $0 (covered by hoa)
electricity: $47/month
1652 square feet (hoa is determined by sq ft), 2 bed 2 bath, the martin
No mortgage, but because it's hard to get a loan for these type of places. The 2% APR's or whatever won't cover high rise condos. All my quotes were in the 6-7% range with perfect credit. It's mostly because they're appraised far lower than what they sell for.
Is it worth it? Probably not, but I do like it and I can afford it so why not.
Pros: Gym close by, I've never heard any neighbors (and I've lived in 4 different high rises), easy access to the strip, easy parking, if something breaks they'll fix it (e.g., my ceiling was leaking once from an empty unit above me and they replaced my entire ceiling - this alone would have cost at least a years HOA fees. I've also had other condos where they replaced the roof under the HOA agreements. See what they cover first.).
Cons: Blowing 1k/month for just using a gym and building security isn't really a smart idea long term. I'm fortunate to be in a place where financially I'm okay so I don't mind it. If you're family person, etc. I'd just rent instead. Most of the rent prices are reasonable.
Tips if you're interested in buying one:
Do not buy at a place that allows air bnb. If you want to see what a disaster it is google "the ogden vegas air bnb". Vegas is not a place where you want airbnb guest coming and going everyday. Another negative is that most banks won't approve a loan for a place that has it and you'll be out the fees for applying.
I have had a lot of success renting condos at "Monterey at the Las Vegas Country Club". During the housing recession I was able to pick those up for 20-30k and they rent for ~$1200/month. It's apartment style but mostly old people and single people who work on the strip. Its actually a reasonably affordable place with a do-able HOA ($330/month or so).
Always check the HOA rules and balance sheets. Most of them are in good financial shape now, but with the economy who knows.
Don't do anything on the strip (Veer, Vdara, Sky). You might think living on the strip is great, it isn't. Traffic is horrible. Noise is insane no matter where you're at. Most only have valet parking which you think hey valet is awesome. Until you want to go somewhere and need to wait for your car. Or people expect a tip every time you make a trip. Then you take 20 minutes to even get off the strip. It's really not worth it.
Avoid condo hotels (MGM, Platinum, Vdara, Palms). They sell you on the idea that you can put your condo in the rental pool! They take a huge cut and if you're lucky you can cover the HOA fee for the month. Other negatives are they may have rules on decorating. I lived at the Vdara for a long time (5 years) and I was unable to change anything even though I owned the place. Same shitty desk, TV, etc. the entire time. I didn't care too much at first but then when my TV was an old blocky "flat" screen that took a minute to turn on and was 720p and I couldn't replace it I moved on. I'm not big on decorating and that, but there is something to making a place "yours". Coming back to a cold hotel room every night was kind of depressing after a while even tho it was a 400k hotel room with a $700/month HOA. Pros for condo hotels? Room service. Expensive but nice. And Vdara had a cleaning service as part of my HOA fee. They cleaned my place once a week.