All Forum Posts by: Eric Fernwood

Lots of interesting comments. I will respond to a few.

On "buying property unseen", not the way our process works. We are engineers and believe in processes. Documented repeatable processes enable us to reduce errors and inefficiencies. Below is a visual representation of our process from raw MLS data through the end of the due-diligence period.

On "believing what is on the MLS". We "trust but verify" the information on the MLS and other sources. We verify everything we can.

On “hedge fund and big players have stopped buying” and “mom and pop investors”. I really do not know (or care) what the hedge funds are doing. They do not have the software, hyper local data, or local knowledge to find the few good properties. This is where “mom and pop investors” win big time over hedge funds. Hedge funds are looking to buy hundreds. We are cherry-picking 5 or 10 a month.

On “real estate agents acting dishonestly”, a few thoughts:

There certainly are people of questionable ethics in any profession, like your own I suppose?

On “a good time to sell.” The owner chooses when to sell, not the agent. Also, people sell their property for a reason. Usually, the reason is somewhat time specific. Not many sellers can wait years for the “right” time. Also, in an appreciating market like Las Vegas or the Bay Area the sales price of a property will almost always be increasing over time. So, later is almost always better. If this is the case, when is the “right” time to sell?

On buying an investment property, in almost all cases, do not depend on the agent. Very few agents know how to select or evaluate a property. I regularly receive “investor’s dream” flyers from agents. When I bother to evaluate them, almost all will lose money. Evaluating a property is the investor’s responsibility. What we do is to provide all the data we can obtain to our clients. Our clients then determine if the property meets their goals and decide whether they wish to make an offer.

On whether landlords will get paid, it depends. In Nevada, while tenants cannot be evicted during the Coronavirus, they still owe all of the rent. Whether they pay the rent depends on what the tenant thinks will be best for them. For C (or D) Class properties, tenants are mostly cash based so there is no future penalty for an eviction, judgement or any other sort of legal action. Owners of such properties are very likely going to get seriously hurt, as they do in every downturn. The tenant pool we target is credit based and typically occupy mission critical positions in their respective companies. Of the ~160 properties our clients purchased through us, to date 6 reported they will have problem paying the full April rent. Except for one early termination of the lease, all worked out a deferral agreement because they are concerned that not paying the rent will hurt their credit. So, for our target tenant pool, there is a big motivation to pay the rent.

As to the rent dropping, not seeing it in Las Vegas. The rents actually increased in March and the time to rent decreased. As to sales, prices set a new record in March and time to sell decreased. As of now the MLS is showing a healthy number of properties going under contract each day so people are still buying. If there is a crash, I am not seeing it. Could it occur in the future, of course. But, there is no evidence of it today.

As to “Las Vegas is the Titanic”, this is not 2008 where everything fell apart. So far, we see a good market but we will have to wait and see. I am not in the crystal ball business, I just report the facts. On the 2012 article someone referenced, I see no similarities between then and now. If you do, I would like to hear.

@Cliff T

Good comment. I have a saying, “projecting anything beyond yesterday is guessing”. Since I do not have a crystal ball, all I can provide is the actual statistics.

On Las Vegas being impacted, of course it is. Just like every other city in the US and most cities on the planet. My comments only concern the tenant pool/property profile we target. Typically, these properties sell for between $250,000 and $350,000 and rent for between $1300 - $1900. If you go too much below this price range (or in different areas), you will have a high probability of tenants not paying, skips or evictions. If you go above this price range, you are likely targeting tenants who are not in “mission critical” positions (like @Guy Bouchard described). Higher income employees are very prone to being laid off in bad economic times.

Even during the 2008 crash, our clients had zero decrease in rent and no vacancies. Will the same be true today? I do not know and no one else does either.

On how long or how bad the economy will last, no one knows. Anyone who claims to know is not honest.

@Brad D.

“Thus the market is in a death spiral downward.” I heard similar statements during the 2008 crash. We recovered and if there is another crash we will again. As to banks raising qualifications, the lenders we talk to are overwhelmed with refinancing. They tell me part of the reason to increase rates and tighten credit requirements is to reduce the flood and only deal with people who are very likely to be approved.

You seem to keep equating what is happening now to the financial crash of 2008. I see no similarities. 2008 was a financial crash, largely brought on by the Fed not providing liquidity when the markets needed it. Not so this time. Also, the US is extremely strong, which is attracting world wide investments. Over $1T formerly held in foreign banks has been repatriated back to the US. I can give many other examples of why this is not 2008. The corona virus is hurting and will continue to hurt for some time, but the world will recover.

@Jay Hinrichs brought up an excellent point. In the 2008 crash, it took a very long time before the government acted. This time the government acted in a matter of weeks.

I just do not see any similarities to 2008.

@Johnny B Bad

No one knows when this will end and what will happen. Lots of speculation, zero facts. On your comment that many on furlough will lose their job, I agree. This will most likely be at the lower end and the upper end of the salary range. The mission critical people, like experienced dealers in casinos, will be retained.

On marginal operators going into bankruptcy? Absolutely. The service or function these companies provided will be replaced by another provider. This has always been the way.

@Brad D

On your questions, I can tell you what happened in 2008 - 2012 but no one can predict what will happen in the future. So, I will respond in terms of 2008.

1. If the price has dropped to $120k in 2 years, what would you expect it to rent for then?

Below are two charts. Both charts ONLY apply to our property profile. The top chart is what happened to median $/SF. As you can see, the price dropped about 50% relative to the prices in 2006 or 2007.

Below is median $/SF for conforming rental properties (the same property profile as above). As you can see, rents were largely unchanged. This also shows why after location, selecting the right tenant pool is so important.

@Guy Bouchard

I ignore the “experts”, they keep getting it wrong. For example, Paul Krugman, New York Times chief economist and Nobel Economics Prize winner, predicted that if Trump won the 2016 election: “… we are very probably looking at a global recession, with no end in sight. I suppose we could get lucky somehow. But on economics, as on everything else, a terrible thing has just happened.”

In my opinion, the rate of correct predictions by the so called “experts” is little better than random and the articles I read mostly just expressed the political views of the author.

All I have time for today. Have a lot of clients who want investment properties, especially the ones who lost much in the stock market or have investments in California and want to start making money and controlling their properties.

@Brad D.

Now is a bad time to buy

In my opinion, there is no such thing as a good or bad time to buy. There are good deals and bad deals. No matter how “good or bad” the market is, if it is not a good investment, do not buy it. If it is a good investment, no matter how “good or bad” the market is, buy it. What is a “good investment”? I believe every good investment location/property must meet three criteria:

1. Sustained profitability - The property must generate a positive cash flow today and into the foreseeable future.
2. Currently appreciating and likely to continue appreciating for the foreseeable future at or above the rate of inflation.
3. In a location where you can make money and you control your property as opposed to the government dictating what you can do.

However, know that good investment properties are few and far between no matter the condition of the market.

“…less experienced investors to act on it and ruin their lives…”

I do not understand this statement. If an investor, regardless of their age or experience, buys a good property, they will do well. If an investor, regardless of their age or experience, buys a bad property, they will fail. However, real estate is the most “forgiving” investment I know of. As long as you buy property in a good location, all but the worst mistakes will be corrected over time through appreciation, inflation and rent increases. However, the corollary is also true. If you buy in a bad location, there is little you can do to turn things around after the fact.

@Account Closed

Investment properties mean tenant occupied properties

I do not necessarily agree that tenant occupied properties are good investments. In my experience, investors do not sell performing assets. So, if an investor is selling a tenant occupied property, you can almost bank on the fact that the property is losing money or there is a lot of deferred maintenance.

How you achieve criteria #1, Sustained Profitability: If a property is going to generate a sustained positive cash flow, you must have it continuously occupied by what I call a “good tenant”. I define a good tenant as someone who:

• Has stable employment in a market segment that is very likely to be stable or improve over time.
• Pays all the rent on schedule
• Takes care of the property
• Does not cause problems with neighbors
• Does not engage in illegal activities while on the property
• Stays for many years

Good tenants are not common. A good tenant requires a combination of:

• A property that targets a tenant pool with a high concentration of “good” tenants.
• A skilled property manager who has the processes and ability to select a “good” tenant. (Hint, a prospective tenant with an 800 FICO score is NOT a good tenant)

Going back to my statement that investors do not sell performing assets. If the investor has a property occupied by a good tenant paying market rate, it is highly unlikely that they would want to sell the property.

On investors needing to see a property before they buy:

This is not the situation with our clients. We’ve never met more than half of our clients. Most live in other states or countries. Also, our clients are not actually buying real estate. What they are buying is a highly reliable income stream that increases every year, with tax advantages, that will appreciate over time. Our clients purchase investment properties (5 to 10 a month) without ever seeing anything but video walkthroughs and the analytics we provide, backed by property manager walkthroughs and evaluations. We also provide rehab over watch so our clients do not ever have to set foot in their properties.

In summary:

• The “condition” of the market is not all that relevant. What matters is that you buy a property that conforms to the three criteria and targets “good” tenants.
• Investors buy income streams, not wooden boxes. The floor plan and appearance is much less important than how the property will perform.

@Tom Kastorff

Why Open At All? The Customer, Macau, and Travel Restrictions

I read the article but do not understand it. I could ask, why reopen NYC? Or Atlanta? Or LA? Las Vegas is not unique, all of the US is “paused” until COVID-19 is under control. I believe that once COVID-19 is no longer an issue, there will be a huge pent up demand for a vacation. And, a prime location will be Las Vegas.

Another factor the author does not seem to consider is that there is over $24B under construction in Las Vegas, with more projects announced before COVID-19 became a factor. For example, Google is building a $600M data center here. I do not think that all the people in Las Vegas and all the companies investing billions in Las Vegas will turn off the lights and go… where?

Coronavirus Impact Update 4-8-2020

While I read dire predictions, the property profile we target for investors is doing OK. Things are always changing but so far, our clients’ properties are performing well. Below is a brief summary of the current situation and below that you will find statistics on what is happening in the market.

Current Situation

As of today, out of the current 160 or so properties our clients own, we have six tenants reporting problems paying April rent. One tenant, who lost their job, requested early termination of lease; all others have agreed to pay partial rent for April and defer the balance until no later than June 1st.

Rent deferral will likely rise depending on how long COVID-19 impacts business. However, our target tenant pool is credit based and they “fear” bad credit. So, while there may be a delayed payment, we believe the vast majority will pay because they know even a late payment will harm their credit for years. Note that even during the 2008 crash, our owners had zero decrease in rent and zero vacancies. So, we expect that while there may be some delays getting paid, the vast majority will pay the rent in full.

Market Statistics

The data below covers the preceding 13 months for properties that conform to our basic search criteria, which is summarized below:

• Single family
• Sale price < $400,000
• Bedrooms: 3 to 4
• Garage: 2 to 3
• Stories: 1 or 2
• The map below shows the location of about 80% of our clients’ properties as well as the approximate search area.

The charts below are based on data from the Greater Las Vegas Association of REALTORS (GLVAR) MLS.

Rentals - Inventory Levels

Note that inventory levels continued the decline that started in January.

Rentals - Median $/SF

Rent rates rose in March and posed a significant increase year-over-year.

Rentals - List to Contract Days

List to contract days has declined since January.

Rentals - Closings by Month

We are still seeing a lot of rental activities, even into April. What about sales?

Sales - Inventory Levels

Inventory started falling in August 2019 but rose slightly in March.

Sales - Median $/SF

Prices started rising from November 2019 and continue to do so.

Sales - List to Contract Days

List to contract days continued to decline since December. There is a lot of unmet demand for Las Vegas properties which match our property profile.

Sales - Closings by Month

The number of closed sales remained stable throughout March. We were expecting fewer closed sales in March but were surprised.

Summary

Any major market discontinuity is an opportunity to make money. Now is one of these times.

We are not seeing any general price declines, let alone a crash. What we are seeing are some individual attractively priced properties coming on the market resulting in excellent returns. But these are scarce. Unless something drastically changes, Las Vegas properties may ride out the storm.

References

• Las Vegas home prices set new record in March
• Why the Housing Market May Weather Coronavirus Impact Better Than the Great Recession

Coronavirus Impact Update 4-8-2020

While I read dire predictions, the property profile we target for investors is doing OK. Things are always changing but so far, our clients’ properties are performing well. Below is a brief summary of the current situation and below that you will find statistics on what is happening in the market.

Current Situation

As of today, out of the current 160 or so properties our clients own, we have six tenants reporting problems paying April rent. One tenant, who lost their job, requested early termination of lease; all others have agreed to pay partial rent for April and defer the balance until no later than June 1st.

Rent deferral will likely rise depending on how long COVID-19 impacts business. However, our target tenant pool is credit based and they “fear” bad credit. So, while there may be a delayed payment, we believe the vast majority will pay because they know even a late payment will harm their credit for years. Note that even during the 2008 crash, our owners had zero decrease in rent and zero vacancies. So, we expect that while there may be some delays getting paid, the vast majority will pay the rent in full.

Market Statistics

The data below covers the preceding 13 months for properties that conform to our basic search criteria, which is summarized below:

• Single family
• Sale price < $400,000
• Bedrooms: 3 to 4
• Garage: 2 to 3
• Stories: 1 or 2
• The map below shows the location of about 80% of our clients’ properties as well as the approximate search area.

Rentals - Inventory Levels

Note that inventory levels continued the decline that started in January.

Rentals - Median $/SF

Rent rates rose in March and posed a significant increase year-over-year.

Rentals - List to Contract Days

List to contract days has declined since January.

Rentals - Closings by Month

We are still seeing a lot of rental activities, even into April.

Sales - Inventory Levels

Inventory started falling in August 2019 but rose slightly in March.

Sales - Median $/SF

Prices started rising from November 2019 and continue to do so.

Sales - List to Contract Days

List to contract days continued to decline since December. There is a lot of unmet demand for Las Vegas properties which match our property profile.

Sales - Closings by Month

The number of closed sales remained stable throughout March. We were expecting fewer closed sales in March but were surprised.

Summary

We are not seeing any general price declines, let alone a crash. What we are seeing are some individual attractively priced properties coming on the market resulting in excellent returns. But these are scarce. Unless something drastically changes, Las Vegas properties may ride out the storm.

References

• Las Vegas home prices set new record in March
• Why the Housing Market May Weather Coronavirus Impact Better Than the Great Recession

@Account Closed: In response to your question on Class A properties. The class A properties we target are generally priced between $230,000 and $350,000; rents between $1300 - $2000. Minimum returns are 3%, including all costs (management, debt service, taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc. and not including tax advantages, principal pay down, appreciation, etc.). However, not just any property in this price range will work. You have to buy properties that target a very specific tenant pool that has the highest concentration of what I call "good" tenants. I define a good tenant as someone who:

• Has stable employment in a market segment that is very likely to be stable or improve over time.
• Pays all the rent on schedule
• Takes care of the property
• Does not cause problems with neighbors
• Does not engage in illegal activities while on the property
• Stays for many years

It took a lot of time to determine which tenant pool had the highest concentration of good tenants. This was not a simple task. Once we understood the pool we wanted to target, we then developed a property profile that attracted this tenant pool. A property profile defines at least four key elements:

• Location
• Configuration
• Rent range
• Property type

On your other comments:

"Booming is so subjective." Really? Seems pretty simple to me and most of the world.

"No doubt USA is Best economy, competition is a bunch of Donkeys." Markets are always relative. Money flows to the best opportunity. There is no "perfect" economy. The fact that money is flowing into the US from other parts of the world is what matters. Not our economy's "goodness" on some etherial scale.

"A few years ago Japan PM screamed at the top of his lungs when the economy gets going im going to raise taxes."[Sic] You clearly stated one reason why the current economy is doing so well. Taxes and regulations were reduced and the economy responded with growth. The economy is much stronger than it has been for a long time based on metrics like:

• Repatriation of funds to the US ($1T!)
• The number of jobs created
• The amount of money pouring into the US from foreign countries
• The rate of unemployment
• The rise in the stock market
• Consumer confidence and spending

You may be tempted to state that since the Corona virus created extreme market turbulence, it proves the economy is and has been bad. Any economy will react badly when markets are driven by fear, panic and a lack of confidence. For example, people are buying vast quantities of toilet paper. What in the world are you going to do with all the toilet paper? Coronavirus has symptoms closer to the flu, not dysentery. The same fears driving toilet paper sales are driving the stock markets. In my opinion, Apple, Google and every other major stock is about the same as it was a month ago. All of what is happening is driven by panic. Do not evaluate the success of the US economy based on what happened in the last few weeks.

Hello,

Lots of good comments on this thread. I will respond to some of the threads and update with what we are seeing in the Las Vegas market this week. I will also comment about why you buy investment properties for the bad times.

Responses

@julia on "Vegas investments generating 0.00", the minimum rate of return for our properties is 3%, most are higher. This is all inclusive return (management, debt service, taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc.) If you can provide (DM) your property's address I will be able to comment on the property. It may be the property you purchased and nothing to do with Las Vegas in general.

@Paul Collingwood - It depends on the tenant pool you target. If your property targets low wage workers, you are likely correct. Most of our target tenant pool is salaried so we do not expect delayed rent.

@Julia Jabronski - on "worse than Great Recession". I do not agree. This is not a financial crisis, it is a spending and confidence crisis. The US economy is currently the strongest economy in the world. The EU, with a -.5% interest rate, is driving investors to US markets. Business was booming here and likely to get even better. For example, Amazon just announced that they will hire an additional 100,000 workers. Last year $1T was repatriated back to the US from off shore. $1T in federal hands would most likely be wasted. $1T in private hands will be invested in expansion. So, I just do not see the reason for panic. We will have a bad 2 or 3 months but, assuming the corona virus is brought under control, things will sort themselves out fairly rapidly.

@Caleb Brown - So far, we have seen NO (zero) changes for the property profile we target. If anything at all, we are seeing an increase in activity. @Nicholas B. stated his properties are renting well. Our own experience is also very positive. We listed two properties for rent this week and both had strong applications in 3 days. Note that both are A class properties.

Some observations:

• This week we are starting to see some properties coming onto market at attractive prices thus yielding excellent returns. They are going under contract rapidly, usually in 1-5 days.
• The property managers we work with have had calls from tenants in C Class properties and they are asking for reduced rent for April or getting out of the lease early with no penalty. So far, zero calls from tenants in our client's (A Class) properties.

Buy Investment Properties for the Bad Times

There is a lot of anxiety expressed on this thread and other places about what the short and long term impact the corona virus will have on investment properties. In my opinion, the tenant pool the property targeted will have a major impact on what will happen. I will explain using the diagram below.

The total pool of renters can be grouped by their monthly income (and thus the rent they are willing and able to pay).

Transient Renters - This tenant pool segment is largely minimum wage, or near minimum wage, hourly workers. They tend to live cash based lives. Most do not have bank accounts, credit cards or unsecured loans. Since there is no dependency on credit, skips, evictions and even damage judgements have little or no present or future impact. They tend to move frequently. We have found that property damage is common and tends to be expensive. They are also the first to be laid off and the last to be rehired. In economic downturns, this is the least desirable tenant pool. Also, C Class properties tend to be older, need more maintenance and are typically located in high crime areas. If this tenant pool is unable to pay April's rent, they are unlikely to ever pay it. They do not earn enough to "catch up". If you own such properties, you could get hit very hard. As I mentioned earlier, the property managers we work with reported many of the C Class property tenants will have problems paying April's rent.

Permanent Renters - This tenant pool is credit based and typically are the mission critical workers. The only time companies let this segment go is when the company is permanently shutting down. Since they are credit based, they know that if they make a late payment, have a skip, eviction or a damage judgement, they will be hurt financially for years to come. They tend to abide by the lease, pay bills on time and take good care of the property (since they know they will have to pay for it if they do not). This is the tenant pool we've focused on since 2006 and, with a property population of over 200, have had 4 evictions in the last 10 years. Also, our clients had zero decrease in rent and no vacancies during the 2008 crash. This population also tends to be long term renters. This tenant pool is unlikely to pay the rent late in April. So far, the property managers we work with have reported zero calls out of occupants of Class A properties concerning issues paying April's rent.

Transitional Renters - These are people who are also credit based but make enough income that they are, in most cases, home buyers. Our experience is that they tend to stay only one or two years before they buy a home. They are also frequently laid off during difficult economic times since they are not in mission critical positions. Our clients have very few properties that target this tenant pool. This tenant pool is unlikely to pay the rent late in April.

The lesson is that while you have no control over the property's market value, if you buy properties that target the right tenant pool, you greatly reduce the odds of income reductions. The key is to only buy properties that target credit based tenants (segment 2 above). When you buy investment properties, buy for the bad times and you will likely do well during both good times and bad.

Today we sent our investors a special update on the impact of Coronavirus to the Las Vegas market. I thought it would be helpful to share it here.

There are multiple canceled events and conferences. Hotel occupancy is defiantly down. When I drive by the casinos on my way to places, the parking lots are not as full as I would expect. Also, for some strange reason, toilet paper is in short supply in the stores, but Kleenex is readily available. So, we are seeing the same panic we read about in other cities.

As to the impact to our segment of the Las Vegas real estate market, we have seen NO (zero) changes. If anything at all, we are seeing an increase in activity. More about this later.

Good properties are still going under contract in 1 to 5 days. Inventory levels continue to fall. Below are some charts for single-family homes from the MLS as of yesterday.

As you can see, demand has not decreased, prices are increasing and inventory continues to decline. However, if the panic caused by the Corona Virus continues for an extended period, I believe it will impact every real estate market. But we are not seeing any impact at this time.

For example, we listed a property for sale yesterday (2020-03-12) morning and had six showings for the day, including three in the first 4 hours after it hit the market. We received a full price cash offer in the evening. We made offers on two properties in the last two days and both are competing with multiple offers (one property had 9 offers and the other an unknown number of offers.) The Las Vegas real estate market today seems to be unaffected by the general panic over the Coronavirus.

On rents and such, we are seeing increases, not decreases. We had a single family home listed 4 days ago and received two rental applications yesterday. And, while the stock market is going crazy, we are not seeing any rent turbulence. Tenants sign one year leases, and they have to have a place to live. Even during the 2008 crash, our clients saw no decrease in rent or vacancies. We target a tenant pool that remains employed in good times and bad.

I think the fear is summarized on the chart below.

As always, the disadvantage of real estate is the lack of liquidity. The advantage is a very stable and reliable income stream with tax advantages and inflation protection combined with appreciation (assuming you buy in a good location). What we are seeing is more interest in a stable and reliable income stream by potential clients. So, if anything, the stock market turmoil is increasing the sales of investment real estate. We think that now is actually a great time to buy investment real estate in a growing market to add stability to your investment portfolio.

Agents, please share what you have been seeing.

Hello @Benjamin A Ersing,

There are databases that will enable you to select locations, but for individual property selection I have found none. Whether such databases exist for location selection in foreign countries, I do not know.

We probably have a different approach to selecting properties than most. We are engineers and use data-mining software we developed for selecting the few good properties from the thousands available. The data we use for property selection is hyper-local information and varies by tenant pool. Some examples.

I had a potential client from a north central state (Wisconsin?) who stated that unless a property has a mudroom (an entrance on the side of the house to a room that has a tile floor where you take off your muddy boots), you could not rent it. In Las Vegas, which is in the Mojave Desert (the hottest and driest desert in the US), mud rooms do not exist. The mudroom is an example of a location specific factor.

Even in a single location, some factors are tenant pool specific. For example, security bars and granite counters. For one tenant pool, security bars on first-floor windows are critical, but granite counters are irrelevant. For another tenant pool, bars on windows would likely scare away prospective tenants and granite counters are a requirement.

I’ve looked for but never found databases that provides hyper-local information. As we’ve developed our data-mining software, we discovered many tenant pool specific factors. For example, for our target tenant pool if any dimension of the master bedroom is less than 12’, the time to rent significantly increases. So, a property with a 11.5’x18’ master bedroom will take far longer to rent than a property with a 12’x14’ master bedroom. I do not know why, but it is true. We have accumulated approximately 40 such factors. Such hyper-local factors are part of the criteria we use for selecting good investment candidates.

However, even if you have the hyper-local data, it cannot be blindly followed. For example, if there is a constantly barking dog next door, no matter how good the numbers are, the property will have a hard time renting . The lesson is to validate everything.

How did we build our hyper-local data? We started (about 12 years ago) by talking to many local property managers. They can tell you what are popular (low time to rent) properties and communities. From there, you could search for common elements. Also, look at what does not rent well and determine why that is the case. This is what we did to build the rules for our data-mining software.

Sorry that I did not have the answer you were seeking.

Hello @A Mills,

Thanks for the kind words. People were very kind to me when I started. My way of repaying their kindness is to help others.

Here is our 2020 Las Vegas Investor Outlook.

Hello @Account Closed,

As others have stated, the Las Vegas market is very strong. Here is how I see Las Vegas from an investors point of view:

• No state income taxes.
• Pro business government actively seeking growth and diversification business opportunities.
• Average property tax: 0.55%
• Time/cost to evict: <30 days and $500
• Economic activity: Currently, $24B under construction (and more announced), which will create thousands of new well paying jobs and bring more people to Las Vegas. Remember that this is a town of 2M population so $24B investment has a tremendous impact.
• Google is building a $600M data center. Facebook moved their servers to Las Vegas as have other providers.
• Commercial energy cost: California: $0.​19/KwH, Nevada: $0.08/KwH. Also, Las Vegas is one of the few cities in the US with dual sources of power, critical for servers and electricity dependent industries like data centers and Internet switching.
• The fiber optic bundle connecting Southern California to the East Coast runs under Las Vegas Boulevard, which is why Switch Company, one of the largest data centers in the world is located in Las Vegas.
• 87.5% of Clark County is federally owned. Today, the amount of vacant buildable land is <28,000 acres, much of which is not viable for residential development. Consumption rate is about 5,000 acres/year. See the GIF below​. The areas in brown are federal land. The time-lapse only goes through 2018 and there was a large amount of development in 2019 so even less land is available now. I believe that the shortage of land and increasing population almost guarantees prices and rents will rise.
• Many people moving from California to Las Vegas. Currently >30% of properties sold in Las Vegas are to California addresses.
• Affordable. The best price range for single family investment properties is between $250,000 and $350,000.
• Return with 25% down is usually between 3% to 5% after all expenses including management, insurance and debt service.​ Add about 2% for a cash purchase.​
• Average appreciation over the last 9 years: 11%. This year is likely to be above 6%
• Rents increasing rapidly. 4.5% last year, and we expect it to be higher this year due to the inventory shortage.
• Landlord insurance on a $300,000 property is about $450/Yr.

In summary, Las Vegas is a good market for investors today and should remain so for the foreseeable future. If you would like more details on our view of the market, please see our 2020 Annual Investor Outlook under our BP Member Blog.