Sparks NV - Opportunity?

Question

Not really sure where to post this one...

I may have an opportunity to go out to Sparks NV (near Reno)  for other business. If all goes well I may stay there for a while. My question is for anyone in the area.

What is your general opinion of the area?

Where are the best places to live?

How is the market pertaining to real estate investments?

Have you been finding good deals there or is that area still tight with high unemployment?

Any info would be great!

Thanks

Jason James · Answer

Bill Schrimpf Thanks for your reply. I love Tesla and I think Tesla will have a HUGE impact on the area. I hope to be in the area in the next few month for other business. I plan on checking some areas out then. Maybe since you know the area very well we could get together. I really think once the Tesla plant gets started there will be some real money to be made. We will see...

Bill Schrimpf · Answer

@Jason James Sounds good Jason.  Drop me a line if you come this way.

Bill Schrimpf · Answer

@Jason James Tesla is opening the largest battery factory in the world (called the GigaFactory) just outside of Reno in 2 years and the general business climate is improving.  NV has been a gambling and mining state but is making a good transition to warehousing, transportation and logistics because of appropriate taxation support.  There is always construction but that a boom/bust business.  Nevada and particularly Reno/Sparks best business attribute is proximity to the Bay Area without the heavy taxes and generally "business friendly" tax structure.  Companies are moving from CA to NV.

I'm VERY new to real estate investing but have lived here for 36 years.  I've finally scraped together financing and $$$ for down and will be making my first investment when the next good opportunity rises.

If you would like specific neighborhood info, I'd be happy to help.  Myself, I'd stay away from Red Hawk (it is a nice upper-middle class suburb) because of the terrible commute, by Reno standards.  That means it takes ~30 minutes to get to the main areas of town during rush hour :)  We are little spoiled here...

Jason James · Answer

@April W. Perfect. I will look check these out. Thanks

April W. · Answer

@Jason James  Check this site out - Ron Bell writes a blog about the real estate economy in Reno and he is a founder of the REI there.

http://renohomevoices.com/

And here is the REI website as well.

http://reno-reic.com/site7/

I haven't been to a meeting yet but looks like Ron has extensive information about the market.

Jason James · Answer

@April W.  Thanks for the info. I have been doing a little research and you are correct there are a ton of foreclosures. I see the unemployment rate is high as well. Not sure if the market is still bad or turning there. Hopefully someone doing business in the area can chime in.

As for myself I am looking at the area around the Red Hawk Resort for my personal residence. That is about 20 min from the area of Sparks I would be doing other business in. Area looks good and reviews online are good but still tough to tell.

Again thanks for the info...

April W. · Answer

@Jason James Hi Jason, I live in South Lake Tahoe about an hour from Reno and I grew up there. I've also been recently looking at investing in the area. Reno still has a very high unemployment rate but is getting better. I won't try to give the exact stat because I don't remember it exactly but it's double digits. The town has had major growth in new housing the last decade and the newest areas are norther Sparks and southern Reno. Southeast and southwest Reno are quite nice.

For investing, old Sparks has some rehabs as well as areas in near northwest (University area) Reno. Outlying northern valleys has a lot for sale and a ton of foreclosures. Get on Zillow to get an idea of what the area looks like as far as prices and what is for sale and where. Let me know if I can give you anymore info!