Everyone wants to own a home as part of the American Dream, right?
Nope.
Home ownership has varied in the United States and in Las Vegas, generally hovering in the 60 percentage numbers. Most surveys of renters discover that most renters consider home ownership a worthwhile pursuit. They’re just not able to pull it off just yet.
But that’s not everyone.
Some people don’t want to own a home because they want to move around. The New York Times profiled renter Timothy Brown, who has rented seven studios there in the past 16 years because he has intra-city wanderlust. He just likes moving.
I ran into a traveling nurse in Las Vegas not long ago who has used her job to explore the country, either figuring out where she wanted to plant herself but also reveling in the search itself. She came here from Colorado and left for Reno, mostly on six-month gigs. Owning a home would put a stop to that right now.
Another couple for whom I helped find a rental property is planning to retire in a couple of years. Although they’ve owned a home in Las Vegas for 25 years, they’re not sure what their life is going to look like in a couple of years. They could afford and qualify for the rental house they’re in now, but then they’d either be stuck there or perhaps have to pay the cost of selling before the house appreciates enough to cover the cost of acquisition and sale.
When we first came to Las Vegas, we didn’t know the city well enough to know where we wanted to put down roots. As transient as the city is, we are not alone.
Both buyers and renters like new homes better.
What we also find with the retiree market are people who want to be able to leave their home on a whim and not worry about the yard or something going wrong. Sure, they could own a condo or townhouse (or even many single family homes in Las Vegas given the no-grass landscaping prevalent here). But the financial logic of that often doesn’t override the emotional “what if?” sentiments.
So they rent.+
We are huge fans not only of the American Dream but also of the financial and tax benefits of owning real estate, and we love to help others find their castles. But a lot of people aren’t into that, and – as Jerry Seinfeld used to say, “not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
Free consumer’s guide on buying a new Las Vegas home
Want a FREE advance copy of Hal DeKeyser’s upcoming book on how to buy a new home in Las Vegas? It walks buyers through all the steps in the process, from figuring out what kind of home you want to finding financing, shopping the models, monitoring construction to what you do in the first year. It’s a helpful guide even for those who have done this before. To get one, simply email Hal.DeKeyser@gmail.com with “I want the book” in the subject line. (No obligation.)
