September 2021 | Jeff Howard's Las Vegas Area Real Estate blog

The Smith Center Has Reopened!!

Myron Martin, president and CEO of The Smith Center, had his big day on Sept. 14, 2021 it marked the reopening of the city’s center of cultural and performing arts that has been shuttered since March 2020 by the pandemic.

The Smith Center’s ghost light that sits in the center of the stage when the venue is not in use, has been glowing for more than 600 days. Martin stated “It’s not something we ever contemplated, so to replace the ghost light with the bright lights of in-person performances is exhilarating for so many reasons.”

Not only is Martin excited to welcome patrons of the arts back to The Smith Center, he is beyond thrilled to once again embrace the Center’s family members – staff, employees and volunteers who each contribute to the venue’s success and execution of its many productions.

Slated for the month of October are two noteworthy Broadway hits Cats with performancesTuesday, Oct. 12 – Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021 and An Officer and a Gentleman Tuesday, Oct. 26 – Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021

Rediscover CATS—the beloved musical with breathtaking music—including one of the most treasured songs in musical theater, “Memory.” Featuring new sound design, direction and choreography for a new generation — experience CATS for the first time as it begins a new life, or let it thrill you all over again!

Based on the Oscar-winning film starring Richard Gere, AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN is a breathtaking production that celebrates triumph over adversity and includes one of the most iconic and romantic endings ever portrayed on screen. Features the Grammy Award-winning, #1 hit single “Up Where We Belong.”

The one silver lining of the pandemic is all the new development at Symphony Park that is adding new vibrancy to the area. Two new apartment communities, along with additional parking have come to completion over the past year. “It’s fun to watch nearby residents stroll through the neighborhood. With plans for future restaurants including Vic’s that will open in 2022, Symphony Park is truly taking shape as city leaders envisioned. “Performing arts centers have long been regarded as catalysts for development and The Smith Center is no exception,” said Martin.

The Smith Center, which already has a full schedule of planned performances this fall, including Broadway touring shows, the Las Vegas Philharmonic, Nevada Ballet Theatre and more, has also adopted a vaccine mandate for both guests and staff. Martin, who sits on a number of industry committees, including the Broadway League and the top 30 performing arts centers in North America, has participated in weekly calls over the past 18 months with a range of experts, including epidemiologists from Harvard, ventilation and touchless system specialists and other leaders from throughout the entertainment world.

For a full schedule of presentation at the Smith Center click here https://thesmithcenter.com/tickets/

Do you have a need for commercial / industrial / retail buildings or land? Are you ready to buy or sell a home? Do you want 3 cash offers? We can help you with all of that… just call us at 702 SELL NOW or click on this link to my website http://www.702SellNow.com

Choose to have an amazing day….Jeff

Experts Offer Tips to Make Your Home More Secure

In Southern Nevada, as well as most cities across the country, the news headlines covering rising crime rates are increasing. With that said homeowners and renters alike, may wonder how to effectively improve the security of their home. If you have been lucky enough to never have been burglarized, then I truly hope you never feel the sheer violation I felt years ago.

The good news is that there are a number of things you can do to keep your home safe and make it less desirable for any would-be intruder without breaking the bank. As sad as it is to say, we are never going to stop burglaries, so your job is to make your house look like more work than your neighbor’s… it sounds kind of crummy to put it that way, but if they look at your house and look at the one next door, well, which would you rather they chose? Here, experts share some simple, inexpensive home security tips that don’t take a lot of effort or money to implement.

Start With Doors And Windows

Advancing the security of your home starts with fortifying your front door. We all have heard about the importance of having a quality deadbolt lock. However there’s a little more to understand when it comes to the quality of the entire door lock components.

The point of failure for a lock is usually the strike plate or the small piece of metal screwed into the door frame where the actual bolt of your deadbolt lodges into. You want to invest in a stronger strike plate that requires four or six screws to anchor it. Then, buy 3-inch screws to anchor the plate. This advice comes from Chris McGoey, a Southern California crime expert witness who has analyzed thousands of crime scenes for homeowners and businesses.

“Those 3-inch wood screws can make all the difference in the world,” he said.

An even stronger solution, which costs more money is to have a security door installed. That is one of the things I have done, (with my HOA’s blessing of course).

Mike Johnston, chief security adviser for Boss Security Screens, a Las Vegas Valley-based window covering manufacturer, stated “Fortifying windows is important, too. Johnston is also a former Henderson Police Department captain.

Johnston encourages homeowners to also place a wood or metal bar in all sliding glass doors and windows. If you have a bigger budget, security window coverings are a deterrent as well. “The No. 1 thing is that you don’t want to make it easy for anyone to enter the home,” Johnston emphasized.

Adjust Your Landscaping

Johnston is certified in Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design by the National Institute of Crime Prevention. CPTED was created to make crime prevention part of the landscape design process. One of the key elements of CPTED is what Johnston calls the “2-foot, 6-foot rule,” meaning shrubs should be no taller than 2 feet off the ground and tree canopies should not hang lower than 6 feet.

Dan Kopec, an associate professor in UNLV’s School of Architecture, added Thorny bushes like roses near pathways can also be a deterrent. Larger rocks in desert landscaping, while they add thermal gain, are difficult to run across and are a good security choice.

Assess What Passersby See

McGoey says it’s important not to leave visual enticements for anyone casing the area. This can be as simple as leaving your garage door open for long periods of time during the day. In these cases, the door from the garage into the home is usually unlocked as well, and if not, they may just walk up brazenly and take items from the garage. I know we all like a nice breeze during those 2-3 weeks of spring and fall that we get every year in the Las Vegas valley, however, even open windows on the front of the home can be an enticement.

Giving the appearance of activity at your home can deter an intruder. When you’re home, having blinds open so that people can see you moving around inside during the day is good practice, Kopec noted.

Security Plans & Technology

Once you’ve secured access points, some homeowners create an overall security plan for the home. That can include making sure the home is well-lit, alternating lighting schedules, installing security doorbells that let you see and talk to your guest from your phone, and even adding a whole home camera system and/or a home alarm service.

It’s important to view these strategies as “layers” that complement one another, said Johnston, and even the best technology only serves you well if you use it properly and maintain it. A maintenance plan can include:

Regularly trimming trees and shrubs to make sure your home is visible from the street.

Regularly testing alarm systems and technology components.

Having a system of checks in place when you leave the home for windows, doors and systems.

And if all of that unfortunately fails, McGoey also notes that in the event of a burglary you can more easily and accurately identify stolen items, if you have taken photos/videos of items and kept them, along with receipts, in one place (ideally, electronically, such as on a smart phone, hard drive or cloud storage).

Choose to have an amazing day….Jeff

Fall Landscaping

Here we are in September when the days are gradually getting shorter and the nights grow a little cooler. This is a good time to start thinking about how you want to handle your fall landscaping.

Maybe you’ve never really put much thought into what your fall landscaping will look like; after all, many people see fall as a time to start prepping for winter and let the look of their landscaping kind of fall by the wayside until spring. Las Vegas does not have too many below freezing nights and with a little bit of TLC, though, you can transform your landscaping and create a striking contrast between spring and fall without having to break the bank or spend all your time working in the yard.

One easy way to do this is to add some new plants to your landscape as the season change approaches. There are a wide range of autumn-hardy plants in both flowering and ornamental varieties, so you should be able to find some options that you like regardless of your preferences.

Flowering Plants

While many people think of flowers as a big part of spring, there are a number of flowering plants that absolutely flourish during the autumn. Many of these flowering plants are available in a wide range of colors, and some are even perennial, so you’ll get to enjoy them year after year. Here are just a few of the fall flowers you might add to your landscaping:

Autumn Crocus
Blue Mist Shrub
Shasta Daisy
Aster
Chrysanthemum

There may be other options that are available here locally in addition to this list above, so be sure to check with your local nurseries to see if they have any recommendations for autumn-blooming flowers.

Ornamental Plants

Flowers are always a welcome addition to landscaping, but there’s something to be said for colorful and hardy ornamental plants as well. Some of these do well throughout the fall and even into the chill of winter, making them favorites when it comes to building up landscaping that will survive colder nights and chilly winter winds. While this is far from an exhaustive list, here are a few ornamental plants that you might consider for your fall landscaping revamp:

Chinese Lantern
Cotoneaster
Ornamental Kale
Purple Fountain Grass
Winterberry Holly

Many plants that work well as ornamental pieces in the fall will also produce beautiful flowers in the spring or early summer, making them staples of your landscaping year-round. In most cases they can be planted either directly in the soil or in containers for an additionally striking look. As with flowering plants, be sure to check to see if there are additional options that do well in Southern Nevada.

Landscaping Revamp

In addition to changing out the flowers in your yard, the fall can be a great time to make other changes to your landscaping as well. Everything from adding garden paths to installing outdoor lighting or planting and removing trees can be done as part of an autumn revamp to your overall landscaping. This can be done alongside floral and ornamental planting to get the most out of your autumn, and by starting in late summer or early fall you can be sure that everything is in good shape before freezing temperatures or other problems arrive.

If you think that a larger landscaping remodel sounds like a great idea alongside some fall planting, and you don’t care to do it yourself, you can just call me – Jeff Howard, your realtor for life, and I can recommend some landscapers to you.

Choose to have an amazing day….Jeff