BiggerPockets

Not sure if I'd call Las Vegas 'stable' but there are cashflowing homes available because of the huge downturn, and I believe the possibility of solid appreciation in a few years. Like any real estate investment, buy something that makes sense now and don't bank on appreciation!

You could look into Bay and Walton counties of Florida that includes Panama City Beach, Destin. We are having a new international airport opening next May that suppose to bring lot of jobs and tourist to this area (new airport in the country in many years).

Ted,
Interestingly enough, Vegas/Henderson was the first area I looked at, but the hoard had already arrived and sellers were getting multiple offers. Broker i worked with there said out of staters would do better offering cash.

Months supply of housing (existing inventory) has gone from 15 months to only 3 months in the last year. Pending inventory is also high. So the market is hot in Vegas now. Lot's of competition. Ditto for San Diego county.

You're exactly right Tom about investors swarming to Las Vegas and inventory dropping dramatically (homes sub $100k) .... I went down in June and got beat out. Hoping to have better luck end of this month. Gonna use the shotgun approach this time. My agent says expect to make 6-8 full price, cash offers before getting one accepted.

Number of sales were down sharply (30%) the month of August. Prices, despite the sharp increase in NOS from Feb through July, haven't move up much. Probably because of all the overhead supply.

http://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Henderson-Nevada/market-trends/http://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Henderson-Nevada/market-trends/

Note: There is still a large number of ARM "resets" hanging over the market. And there may still be more foreclosures ahead.

What part of Vegas are you looking at. I don't think I would live there with kids. I heard Vegas has the lowest high school graduation rate in the nation, and they have a "dysfunctional" Board of Education. Also, some zips have crime trouble and gang activity. Click-click BANG!

----

Interesting about the August sales .... I think the ARM resets aren't isolated to LV but an issue throughout. Las Vegas like many places will continue to see foreclosures but I believe prices are finally settling after their massive drop ... another 10% off from a $50k house could happen but most of the value has already been wiped out when you consider many of these homes were selling over $200k. Doesn't surprise me LV has lowest HS dropout as it's pretty transient .... it's also one of the last places where you can earn a good wage without an education (valet, dealers, etc). I think their economy has a ways to go to recover so buying now should be done with a long range (3+ yrs) outlook. I prefer the NW part of LV.

Yeah, heard nice things about Dallas.

What part of dallas is best for investment?

Tom

Tom - I live in Central Florida - Orlando area...the market is decent - not as bad as south FL where it's inundated with inventory...the good houses are moving. I have one investment property here that I rent out. I would say it may be a good spot b/c of the college and some movement to bring in more industry and jobs. Also the hurricane insurance isn't as bad as the other parts of the state and our taxes are fairly low also. Just beware closing costs and FL are high..

Good luck and feel free to ask me about any areas...

-Lisa Prieto

Have you checked out Phoenix? Another warm place that's been hit hard and could eventually have a nice rebound ... I think it offers a place where both working and retired folk like to reside so increased population. I think there are a lot of homes less than 3 yrs old you can make cashflow which helps as well.

I saw this article on msn today which I thought had a pretty funny title.

"You can buy a home for under $150,000"

http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=21364704&GT1=35000

It's clearly targeted towards owner occupants but still.

How about the top places where you can find homes under $50,000..now that would be more interesting.

It's not that hard to find a home under $150k these days.

I'm thinking most of these writers are from NYC or other high rent metros, so they are impressed with places under 150k.

Also thought it was funny that the article from Forbes referenced above starts out with "The days of flipping houses for profit are over.."

When people on this board appear to be making their living flipping homes!

And the example that they use of a guy that is making a decent return in the rental business...fails by the 2% rule!...

$127,000 purchase price , with a rent of $1150 a month!

That is nowhere near a good deal...

How come these article writers never write about the kind of deals that really cash flow?... I guess they are just clueless.

Wow.

True, people are focused on price. But as far as single family homes go, it doesn't seem that you can typically cash flow on a 300,000 house.

As the price of a single family home goes up the rental rate seems to go down (percentage wise).

I am wondering why you would just want to break even in this market, if there are plenty of deals that will cash flow today?

Check out Indianapolis for a cash flow market