Real Estate Investing Archives | Jeff Howard's Las Vegas Area Real Estate blog

Industrial is the ‘Darling’ of Commercial Real Estate

The commercial real estate industry in Southern Nevada began 2022 on an upswing despite the lingering pandemic effects, supply chain constraints and threatening inflation.

Looking at the end of the third quarter, we are seeing headlines today that are contradictory.

Is it Inflation or stagnation? Are we in a recession or has the definition changed? The jobs report is healthy; however, some companies are laying off hundreds and thousands at a time.

Let’s review where we are today and speculate what the outlook for the rest of 2022 looks like. Should you hit the gas, or pump the brakes?

■ The Fed increased interest rates to offset the high inflation rate. In the short run, that has slowed down transaction sales volume, especially so in the runaway residential sector, and for levered buyers in the commercial sector. Given the limited supply of quality products and high demand to place capital, pricing should hold or be slow to decline until sold comparables have a chance to reset the sellers’ expectations. Expect softened pricing over the medium to long term.

■ The local office sector started waning midyear after experiencing a significant upswing during the first part of 2022. Southern Nevada’s inventory expanded by more than 382,000 square feet of new office space. With 41 percent of this space pre-leased, this will add as much as 225,000 square feet of vacant space to the local market. Look for vacancy rates to increase, with the understanding that this is a healthy increase. Southern Nevada has not added quality inventory since the Great Recession.

■ The industrial sector is expected to remain strong as the “darling” of commercial real estate through the remainder of 2022. Prompted by the exponential growth of e-commerce, Southern Nevada’s industrial inventory recently expanded by more than 753,000 square feet, while 1.3 million square feet of space was absorbed. This brought industrial vacancy down to 1.3 percent. That is the lowest industrial vacancy rate ever recorded in Southern Nevada. Plus, demand remains high, keeping developers busy and bringing capital sources to the market.

■ Southern Nevada’s retail market just had its strongest quarter since the fourth quarter of 2021, with net absorption surging to 459,545 square feet. Deliveries of new retail space were light, bringing vacancy down to 4.8 percent, the lowest rate since the Great Recession. Looking toward the end of the year, the local retail market should continue to do well, despite high inflation, and supply chain disruptions.

■ Commercial developers look to be positioning themselves for an expanding market in 2023 and beyond. Local land sales remained solid in the second quarter of 2022, with residential land dominating among all land types and industrial land sales falling significantly (most likely because parcels have been picked off). The average price per square foot for land in the Las Vegas Valley changed a little to $497,891 per acre, compared to $500,069 per acre during the previous quarter. On a year-over-year basis, the average price of land

■ Hospitality metrics for Southern Nevada saw room inventory increase by more than 3 percent, from 146,723 units a year ago to nearly 152,000 rooms through May 2022. Over the last year, Las Vegas saw the completion of Resorts World and the renovation/rebranding of Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, and the re-opening of the Palms Casino Resort. These properties added over 5,700 rooms and 540,000 square feet of convention space to the local inventory. Room occupancy averaged 83.3 percent through the second quarter of the year, an increase from 77.3 percent for the last quarter of 2021. Through May 2022, year-to-date visitor volume stood at 15.3 million people, representing 45.1 percent annual growth.

■ Business tourism figures are still down 34 percent compared to 2019. Las Vegas has not seen a complete return of its international business. That is not expected to recover until 2024. Despite these gloomy stats, Harry Reid International Airport set a new record for passengers in June 2022 (4,683,156), a 22.9 percent increase from June 2021. By midyear 2022, the airport has seen 52.4 percent more passengers (24,279,867) than the same time last year.

If you only look at the economic numbers, you’d be hard-pressed to find a problem with Southern Nevada’s economy. At worst, you could point to growth being slower in 2022 than 2021. This isn’t surprising, given that 2021 was being compared to 2020, the year of lockdowns.

Over the past three years, we have matured and added capacity in many ways. Newly completed projects include the West Hall expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center, Resorts World, Circa Las Vegas and Allegiant Stadium.

Pending projects in the pipeline are MSG Sphere, Fontainebleau Las Vegas, Hard Rock Las Vegas, UnCommons and Durango Casino &Resort by Station Casinos. Formula 1 is coming for sure. Major League Baseball is still flirting, and the NBA is like an imminent speculation.

When most economy experts look at what’s happening and what’s to come, they like the odds. As Las Vegas continues to navigate the current economy, the city will continue to do what it always does; we reinvent ourselves, bigger and better!

Do you have a need for commercial/industrial/retail buildings or land? Are you ready to buy or sell a home? Do you want a guaranteed cash offer? 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

Stock Investors are Considering Multifamily, Commercial Real Estate as Another Way to Invest

The primary place to investment in the United States has always been stocks and bonds. In fact, the 60/40 stock/bond portfolio is a standard that many investors follow, however this trend of investment points to one of the most stable long-term investments out there: real estate.

In the last 12 months, ending June 30, 2022, all aspects of the stock market were down. The S&P 500 was down 11 percent, Dow Jones Index was down 14 percent and Nasdaq was down 22 percent. The volatile Bitcoin went down 68 percent.

In the meantime, the real estate rent amounts continued to increase during that same period, meaning profits continued to climb for investors.

The annual rent for multifamily properties grew an average of 13.5 percent during 2021 (which is admittedly higher than historical increases) so multifamily properties generated the highest average returns among real estate classes in 2021. This is a trend that has been going on for the last 40 years.

A point you should consider is that real estate does not follow the typical stock market swings. Stocks and bonds follow the stock market ebb and flow, and multifamily properties are independent of those swings. While this may mean that real estate doesn’t see large swings in gains and losses like some stocks do, it does mean that return profits are more stable and consistent.

Multifamily properties give the strongest average total return (9.75 percent), according to a 2017 report by CBRE Research, however, there are also other types of properties that give average total returns over eight percent as well; hotel (9.61 percent), industrial (9.57 percent) and retail (9.44 percent) & office properties (8.38 percent).

The main reason that multifamily properties top the list is that millennials have a solid desire not to own their homes properties, and now baby boomers have started renting more, as well.

Lease agreements for multifamily rentals also typically last just one year, allowing for faster increases over office, industrial and retail leases, which are typically five years or more.

I remember one of my real estate mentors once telling me “The stock market is a great place to have your money… when it’s not in real estate”.

Choose to have an amazing day….Jeff

The 10 Most Promising Real Estate Markets

The National Association of Realtors just released a report identifying the top 10 metro areas it expects to appreciate in the next 3-5 years; taking into account several variables, including domestic migration into the area, housing affordability for new residents, attractiveness for retirees, consistent job growth outperforming the national average, age structure of the population, and the area’s home price appreciation.

In alphabetical order, the markets are:

Charleston, South Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Columbus, Ohio
Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Collins, Colorado
Las Vegas, Nevada
Ogden, Utah
Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida

Click here for the full report: Top Ten Outperforming Metro Markets Report (takes you to another website)
Click here for data reports for all metro areas (takes you to another website)

Do you have a need for commercial / industrial / retail buildings or land? Are you ready to buy or sell a home or investment property? 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

2018 housing numbers are in for the Las Vegas valley

If you would like to see home price appreciation in the Las Vegas valley by zip code, just click here… before you do though… try to guess how much your zip code appreciated.

Was your guess close? Some areas appreciated by double digits!

2019 may (or may not) present a different picture. There are currently more than double the number of homes for sale compared to a year ago… and closed sales are down approximately 15% compared to a year ago. If you remember your economics class, when the supply increases and the demand decreases… well… that changes things.

What do you think will happen to home prices in 2019 in the Las Vegas valley?
Comment below.

Are you ready to buy or sell a home? Do you have a need for commercial / industrial / retail space? We can help you with that… just call us at 702 SELL NOW or click on this link to my website www.702SellNow.com

Choose to have an amazing day….Jeff

Happy New Year – 2019 should see more growth from the housing market

Here we are in the first week of the year 2019 in the Las Vegas Valley and indications for the housing market look good for this year. Reports from Real Estate Analysis companies show that Las Vegas is still one of the strongest markets and will continue through the year.

People from all over the country are moving to Las Vegas for many different reasons – the Southern Nevada area is still very affordable so you can a bigger bang for your buck. Retirees like that as well as people that no longer can take the cold weather in many parts of the country.

With the Raiders moving here, many employees, not just the team, are moving here since their headquarters will be located in Henderson. Other companies like Google are bringing non-gaming businesses jobs to the Valley.

New home builders are still actively developing new neighborhoods in all areas of the valley with Summerlin offering not just single-family homes, now including new attached townhomes and condos in both low-rise and high rise buildings. In 2018 we saw Las Vegas have a 15 percent appreciation and it predicted that 2019 will be half at seven percent. The appreciation level continuing to rise, even at a slower pace, is a positive sign (the national average is three to four percent).

If you are thinking about buying an investment property, now is the time to act.

Choose to have an amazing day….Jeff

Looks like there are going to be more changes to laws on short term rentals.

As we are all aware Las Vegas and Clark County has seen a growth in population and the housing market in the last few years. With growth comes change – and we will see changes in laws regarding short term rentals.

Make sure to check the HOA rules on rentals to start before you do anything. Almost all HOAs have a minimum of 30 day leases required and some are as much as a year.

To bring those who do not know the current rules here are what is currently on the books:

1) City of Henderson – minimum 30 day lease

2) Unincorporated Clark County – Minimum 30 day lease

3) City of North Las Vegas – no rules at this time

4) City of Las Vegas – You must apply for, and get approved, for a special use permit – only 167 approved to date – approval process includes inspections by the city, the neighbors giving their approval, the HOA approving, getting city and state licenses, paying hotel room tax, etc.

As a recent article in the RJ stated – there are approximately 3,000 illegal short term rentals in the city of Las Vegas and another 4,000 in the county. Last year, in the entire valley, there were over 500,000 booked nights in the short term rentals. In 2012 it was less than 20,000. That is quite a difference!

If you don’t think the hotels have taken notice of this jump in short term rentals you may be enjoying the recent marijuana law changes too much.

Last week, Lois Tarkanian, proposed a revision to the law eliminating short term rentals in the City of Las Vegas. There are a number of reasons for this:

First and foremost– a short term rental is a commercial enterprise (like a liquor store or an auto repair shop) and people don’t want those in residential areas.

Second – the number of complaints the police, and government officials, have received have skyrocketed. Complaints such as loud parties at all hours of the night, cars parking and blocking neighbors driveways, trash and damage to neighboring homes, fighting, belligerent people, the list goes on and on.

Third- many lawsuits by other commercial businesses (like liquor stores or auto repairs shops) have been denied because they wanted to open in a residential neighborhood.

Fourth- lawsuits by owners who have been denied permits to have a short term rental stating that the process is unfair.

Fifth – lawsuits by people living in the city and county against the city and county for not enforcing the laws that are on the books.

There is a lot of support in the council for this change, and you can bet there is a lot of money pouring in from the hotels to encourage passage of this law. It was not in the article but the county code enforcer said that the city is not processing any more applications until this is resolved. He also said that the city, county and Henderson are “aggressively” going after people who are illegally doing short term rentals sending out up to 500 cease and desist orders per week. People, who are trying to hide their addresses from the ads and think they won’t get caught, are getting caught by code enforces posing as potential tenants. With a $1000 a day fine, this is turning into a big money maker for the various cities and counties. I guess someone has to foot the bill for all the Tylenol (from the headaches…)

I did a short 4 minute video on this subject in February 2018 – click on this link to view (https://youtu.be/gk5FszAemUs)

As I learn more I will pass it along!

Choose to have an amazing day….Jeff

Tips and Tricks to Saving for a Home

So, you’ve made the decision to buy a home, but you don’t have a down payment saved up. Owning a home has been the American dream since shortly after World War II when owners first eclipsed renters in this country. Many people would love to own a home however can’t figure out how to save money to make it a reality.

The following are some steps to help you figure out how to be able to save money for a down payment, so you can get you and your family into a home of your own.

Track Your Spending and Expenses – know what your monthly expenses are and how you spend your “extra money”. This is something you should be doing anyway. Use an app or online tool that tracks your spending and keeps a running total of the amounts you spend on specific items. There are tons of options – just do a search for “create personal budget”. It’s easier to track spending if you use a debit card for everything (not a credit card) and then using a check register to track those debits. This process is quite eye-opening, as it’s easy to be unaware of a how much you spend on frivolous purchases each month. You would be surprised how quickly the amount adds up. Finding out where your money goes is the first step in figuring out how to keep more of it in the bank. Do you go to a fancy coffee place every day? Imagine how your savings could increase if you just eliminated that… and there are almost certainly other things you often spend your money on that you could skip.

Create a Budget and Stick To It – Once you have looked at your spending, you will likely find spots where you can cut back or eliminate extras. This is very challenging and often isn’t a lot of fun. Just keep focusing on your end goal – getting the keys to your home. It’s important to work a few small yet rewarding “splurges” into your budget to keep your spirits up – remember that you are trying to save so keep those splurges in check – use a specific percentage of your income (I suggest 10%).

Be a Deal Hunter and Savvy Consumer – put your monthly bills under a microscope. There’s a good chance you are paying for services and features you don’t really need. Call your service providers, credit card companies and other businesses you pay every month and see if they can lower your rate or offer you a better deal – they often will.

Save for a Down Payment – savings accounts that are set up for a down payment should be considered untouchable. Don’t even think of dipping into this account unless you have a major emergency. Think of this account as being a one-way street: funds should go in, but never come out—at least, not until you are ready to write out that down payment check. Some banks will even allow you to make this transfer automatic on a schedule, like every 2 weeks when you get paid.

Look for Ways to Boost your Income – Your budget consists of two parts: money coming in, and money going out. See if there are opportunities to work extra hours. You may even want to consider a part-time job. Think about skills or talents that you could parlay into freelance income. Maybe you could be a Lyft driver or a vendor on www.Fiverr.com or mow lawns or pet-sit or ??? Just so you know, lender’s get touchy about “cash” being deposited – it could be from some illegal source as far as they know. Lyft & Fiverr as well as any part-time job with an actual paycheck will have you covered there… working any job for cash, won’t. If you are going with any kind of cash earnings, check with your lender to see what they suggest for how to handle those deposits. If you need a great lender, reach out to me, I work with more than one that I feel are worthy of recommending.

Choose to have an amazing day…..Jeff

Selling Real Estate Without an Agent Will Likely Cost You Money

First, I realize this article may seem self-serving – after all, I earn a living helping people sell real estate, but I truly hate to see people lose tens of thousands of dollars, and statistics show that is what usually happens to FSBO’s. What does FSBO mean? For Sale By Owner — it’s the process of selling real estate without the representation of a real estate broker or agent.

This way of selling your property is not the greatest idea in most cases (trust me – I was that guy many years before I got my real estate license). That is why you hire a real estate professional – their job is to know the local real estate market and put the most money in your pocket. Let’s face it, people pay more when a salesperson is involved. Think about it; when you have a garage sale, even if you are selling quality items, the buyers always expect a discount. And if the discount on the property you are selling turns out to be as much (or more) than the commission you would have paid, then you did all the work and still did not make more money. I don’t know about you, but I really don’t like doing more and getting less.

Sellers who choose to sell their home on their own just may experience “seller’s regret” when they see how much less they get for their properties (or worse, not even realize how much they lost). FSBOs sell for an average of $60,000 to $90,000 less on the sale of their home than sellers who work with a real estate agent, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. Here’s the breakdown:

* All agent-assisted homes: $250,000 (median selling price)

* All FSBO homes: $190,000

* FSBO homes when buyer knew seller: $160,300

With the knowledge of the numbers shown above – why would anyone want to sell their home on their own? Some sellers want to avoid paying a commission to an agent — but even factoring in a commission; researchers from the NAR researchers have stated “The closing price for the agent-assisted seller is likely going to be way above a FSBO. [And] in reality, homes sold by the owner make less money overall.”

Sorry (not sorry) for the Las Vegas based pun… but don’t gamble when selling your house; hire a professional.

This message is getting through to homeowners: Only 8 percent of home sellers in 2017—an all-time low—chose to sell their home themselves, according to NAR’s 2017 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. This figure has been falling since 2004, when 14 percent of homeowners sold their own homes.

Choose to have an amazing day…..Jeff

Summerlin attracting more Commercial Development

The office market in the Las Vegas Valley has been marching forward on the path to recovery after the Great Recession. The master-plan community of Summerlin, known for its award winning home development and Downtown Summerlin, is expanding the development of office space buildings due to a great demand.

The Howard Hughes Corp. expects to complete the six-story Class A office building in Downtown Summerlin this fall. They already have many spaces preleased according to Summerlin president Kevin Orrock. This is the second office building in the open air mall with many types of tenants like attorney offices, brokers and gaming technology companies.

Orrock stated “I think it gets down to what we’ve done here in Summerlin. We’re providing an urban core. We’re providing a place where people want to live, work and play- plus the sports venues that are here or will be here.”

A couple of miles away from Downtown Summerlin, the Howard Hughes Corp is almost finished with another office development for Aristocrat Technologies, an Australian slot machine maker.

The commercial submarket in Summerlin has seen less vacancy averages than other commercial markets in Las Vegas. A senior director at Cushman & Wakefield said that Summerlin is the most desirable location for commercial consumers in the valley. He also said that many employers are considering millennials predominantly when making decisions on the location of their offices.

Do you have a need for commercial / industrial / retail space? Are you ready to buy or sell a home? We can help you with 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

CapRock Partners from California Invest in Las Vegas

CapRock Partners, an industrial real estate firm from Newport Beach California has just acquired about 300,000 square feet of multi-tenant industrial space in the western and southwestern part of the Las Vegas Valley.

Taylor Arnett, vice president of acquisitions at CapRock, stated “An estimated 6 million square feet of industrial space is set to come on-line in 2018 and similar figures for 2019, with more than 90 percent of those projects estimated to be big box distribution space.”

CapRock owns and invests in multi-tenant industrial properties with smaller tenants and they see this type of property as hard to find in Las Vegas at the moment. A good reason for them to invest in the Las Vegas area, and they are looking at other sites to develop.

Brian Gordon, principal at Applied Analysis, agreed that most of the industrial ventures in Las Vegas are aimed at larger tenants. He believes that multi-tenant buildings can be a main component in the industrial market. With Las Vegas growing as fast as it is, having industrial space for smaller tenants can only be seen as a huge plus for companies that would like to move to our great city.

Choose to have an amazing day…..Jeff