In my home town there are 2 interesting properties.  One property is in a great neighborhood, but has been vacant since the owner died 3 years ago.  My real estate agent tried to get in contact, but got no reply.  I'm...

Still good deals in the desert.  

Desert is cheap to develop in this purple state.To actually answer you question, no, I live in Reno.

If I am going to live in the desert (Phoenix, Tuscon), then Las Vegas would be the only acceptable place to live.

You could say parts of our mountains, deserts and the San Joaquin Valley is our midwest version sort of speak:) The rei meetings sound like a great start too.I think it is important to recognize some out of state promoters have been giving less than stellar advice for years.

You could say parts of our mountains, deserts and the San Joaquin Valley is our midwest version sort of speak:) Good luck with your search!

My last four houses have been in flood zones and it had no effect on the sale of the properties.If you think I am on a coast somewhere the properties were actually in the desert  of Palm Springs, Indio area, The flood zones were classified as once in a 100 year flood zone, Also to mitigate the insurance requirements you just have to submit a elevation report some on file with county some had to pay for. 

It absolutely makes ZERO sense to buy turnkey properties east of the Rockie Mts when SO MUCH opportunity can be found in any town around here from Newport Beach to Desert Hot Springs.

Both states are VERY wet on the Western edge, and high desert on the Eastern side.  

If you are on the edge of a desert, it makes little sense to sod with {non native} grass species which require moisture levels above and beyond what Mother Nature supplies.Even way up here in the north east, we do not landscape our properties with non-native species - particularly non-native grass species and ornamental shrubs - many of which come from warmer climates further south and can be high maintenance given our winters and their lower resistance to {native} weeds and insects.