Life in Las Vegas
Las Vegas: Median home prices have biggest jump in 9 years
I still have my real estate license here in Nevada and I’ve been watching the market steadily improve over the past two years.
I hope more of this news gets out, as many buyers still come to the market thinking we’re giving homes away for a dollar fifty. Inventory is low and prices are rising.
Southern Nevada’s housing market began 2013 with mixed results last month, with rising prices, shrinking inventory and an uptick in nondistressed sales.
The median price of single-family homes sold in the region in January was $150,000, an increase of only 0.7 percent from December. But it was up 27 percent from a year ago, marking the largest year-over-year jump since at least 2004, according to a report out Friday from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.
For the first time in years, “traditional” sales between a buyer and seller, with no lender calling the shots, accounted for more than half of all deals last month. Short sales, in which lenders agree to sell a home for less than what’s owed on the mortgage, accounted for 36 percent of the deals in January. That was down from December’s record-setting 46 percent but still up from 28 percent a year ago.
Additionally, sales of bank-owned homes comprised 12.5 percent of the month’s deals. That was up from 9.5 percent in December but down from 45.5 percent last January.
In addition to all that, at the end of this year the Mortgage Relief Forgiveness Act will expire making the “forgiven” part of a short sale taxable again. That will cause a lot of short sales to dry up, in my opinion.
Las Vegas: 3rd Annual LGBT Wedding Expo 2/10/13
Rainbow Wedding Network returns to Las Vegas for their 3rd LGBT Wedding Expo on Sunday February 10th, 2013 from 1-4pm.
Las Vegas Pride acts as the premier community sponsor and Circus Circus Hotel & Casino will host the event.
From the website:
The event will feature dozens of gay-friendly wedding vendors, fabulous raffle giveaways, LGBT-planning tips, music, samples and interactive presentations. RSVPs are requested through this event webpage and 25% of attendee donations will be contributed to Las Vegas Pride.
Experience the joy of planning in a welcoming environment! 25% of all donations will be contributed directly to Las Vegas Pride!
Couples, singles and marriage equality advocates are all invited to attend!
Sunday Feb. 10th, 2013
(1:00-4:00pm)
Circus Circus
2880 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
Las Vegas tourism ads – 1 guy and 29 women
This is apparently an ad for gay tourism in Las Vegas. Click on the pics to enlarge.
Check the tagline – “Everyone’s welcome. Even straight people.”
More ads below…
(via JMG)
Las Vegas: Krave makes a temporary move to The Rio
Grand Opening January 18th at The Crown in The Rio. My understanding is this is “temporary”…
More info as it becomes available.
Las Vegas: Grammy Award winner & music legend Melissa Manchester on The Candi & Randy Show
Loved having the fab Melissa Manchester on The Candi & Randy Show this week.
The divine Ms. Manchester chats about how touring life is “normal life” for her; her work with women’s causes; and her thoughts on how the music industry has changed over the past few decades.
Melissa’s latest CD release is “Playlist: The Very Best of Melissa Manchester” – I love greatest hits CDs because you get all the songs you want in one place! Check out the CD by clicking here.
Las Vegas Men of Pride Calendar Release Party tonight
|
| Click pic to view larger |
The Southern Nevada Association of PRIDE, Inc. (SNAPI) and the Las Vegas Conventions and Visitors Authority, (LVCVA) have combined efforts to produce a 2013 Men of Las Vegas PRIDE Calendar to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Las Vegas PRIDE.
Don’t miss the official launch party for the calendar tonight at Fashion Show Mall Runway. The event begins at 6pm with no cover charge. There will be a full bar – MORE WINE! – and appetizers. AND the Men of Las Vegas Pride!
The calendar features many different locations throughout the wonderful city of Las Vegas, Nevada. “We wanted to feature local casinos and other destination locations. The calendar will highlight some of the city’s entertainment, great restaurants, relaxing pools and tourist attractions. We also plan to showcase many of our local nonprofit organizations and their events. It will truly be a community calendar,” says Ernie Yuen, President of SNAPI.
Not your typical “male” calendar, participants were selected because of involvement in the community. The models truly enjoy serving their community and helping to make a difference. The seventeen models that were photographed for the calendar will all be part of the launch and ongoing calendar sales efforts.
Yuen stated, “All of the men have been supportive of local charities, community oriented, have an amazing personality, and a beautiful smile. We chose a very diverse group to represent Las Vegas PRIDE. We have men of every nationality, age group, and affiliation within our community (i.e. bear, leather, twink, cowboy, etc). We hope that everyone will be happy with the results.”
Garth Brooks ends Las Vegas run early?
I’m hearing today that Garth Brooks’ run of monthly acoustic shows at The Wynn in Las Vegas is coming to an end a bit earlier than expected.
From Mike Weatherford at the Las Vegas Review Journal:
The shows began in December 2009 in an arrangement always described as open-ended, but planned to last five years. Wynn sweetened the deal by giving Brooks unrestricted use of a private jet to commute from his home in Oklahoma.
Not sure why the end after only three years. I do know audiences have been thrilled by Brooks’ performances where he’s been known to mix it up and often perform songs off the cuff.
Still a great star.
The remaining shows are Friday and Saturday, Oct. 26-27 and Nov. 16-17. Click here for ticket info.
98 Degrees Jeff Timmons does his best Tebow after singing at UNLV Rebels game
Jeff Timmons of 98 Degrees does his best “Tebow” after singing the national anthem at the UNLV Rebels game tonight in Las Vegas.
Las Vegas adrenaline junkies! Rappel down Planet Hollywood for Special Olympics Nevada!
For adrenaline junkies looking for a little adventure, Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino is offering the opportunity to rappel more than 300 feet from the hotel’s rooftop for “Over the Edge,” a fundraising event benefiting Special Olympics Nevada.
To participate, individuals must raise or personally donate a minimum of $1,000 to Special Olympics Nevada. Fundraising is done by soliciting donations from family, friends and co-workers through the online giving site www.overtheedgelasvegas.com.
“Raising the money to rappel is not a challenge once you explain what you are doing and that you are raising money for Special Olympics athletes in southern Nevada. People either think you are cool or crazy, but no matter what, they recognize their donation is worth the cause it supports,” says Maggie Schwarz, Special Olympics Nevada’s Regional Vice President. “How many people can say they “rappelled over-looking one of the most famous streets in the world, Las Vegas Boulevard? The experience is crazy and unique; and the benefit to the athletes of Special Olympics Nevada is colossal.”
Caesars Entertainment, parent company of Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, has sponsored the event for the past two years at sister property, Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. The event has raised more than $150,000 to benefit local children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
The “Over the Edge” event will kick off on Friday, Oct. 12, with a preview day.
Rappellers will start their descent down Planet Hollywood on Saturday, Oct. 13, from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. No experience or prior training is required. Maggie Schwarz asks,