Unemployment is high due to all of the Construction workers still hanging around thinking that the building is going to start up. (Fastest Growing City in the 1990’s through 2006.) The cost of living is cheap enough for them to hang around and live off of their unemployment checks. MANY of them are doing side jobs and being paid under the table.

Underwater Homes — More of a Wall St. problem. The smart Las Vegans have short sold their homes or moved on. Really now, who loses when somebody walks away from a home with an inflated mortgage?

Your statement: “It’s Estimated that 65% of all homes are underwater” should be modified to “It’s Estimated that 65% of all homes WITH MORTGAGES are underwater.” — Numerous Homes are PAID off with NO Mortgage. Over 50% of all real estate purchases for the past three years Have been CASH deals.

Cost of Living — Cheap, Cheap, Cheap. I lived in Chicago and my property taxes alone were over $800 a month. In Vegas, my place is paid off and my property taxes are less then $3,000 a year.

Has Las Vegas had it’s share of problems since the big boom? Of course… but it’s certainly on a positive track to Recovery and not the cesspool you describe trying to compare it to cities like Detroit.

Do yourself a favor and visit before you write about something you know nothing about. The Strip is jammed, restaurants are filled and anybody with a degree has a pretty good paying job.

The rest of the whiners are criers. They would have a much rougher time in the majority of other cities across the country where you have to have a degree to work as a Burger Flipper at McDonalds.

Sure… no longer do they make $100K+ a year for jobs that only require a GED… but I still know plenty of Cocktail Waitresses, Bartenders and even food servers making $60k+ a year. What other city can you name where that’s possible?

I am a Realtor in Las Vegas, and I have people who visit here often.

My mom and a friend of hers of 40 years just visited, and they are long time visitors of LV. They couldnt believe how many people there were everywhere. how many lines they had to stand in, or how expensive everything is.

As far as my experience, I moved here, at the end of the boom to try and clean things up a bit. Sell off all of those foreclosures and short sales. And boy have we been selling. It seems funny to me that every article that mentions statistics about how many under water homes in Vegas there are, always fail to mention the fact that since the bust we have set records in sales. consistently. for 2 major reasons.

1st and foremost, the investors that have bought and rehabbed or kept for rentals are vast. It is not unusual to have a candian or californian or a las vegan buy 10-20 houses in a year for investment. unlike during the boom (when the investors were really speculators that were just hoping not to be the last line of a ponzi scheme – todays buyers are INVESTORS).

2ndly. a vast amount of people that had lived here for 10 years or so and couldnt afford to live here because of the inflated prices all of a sudden could afford to buy a home.

So we had a double whammy of buyers, and buy they did. it was common during 2010 to have a listing come on the market on a monday and by friday have 35 offers on it. almost all of them over asking, and at least 50% of them cash.

2010 closed as the year that more homes sold in Las Vegas than any other year in the history of LV. and for the first time over half were cash deals. I sold a $250,000 condo to a 24 year old that had been a server in the casino in Connecticut and when he applied at the Wynn before moving out here, it took him 4 months to get a comparable job here. no jobs? really?

I will tell you that a large number of jobs that were lost here were in the construction industry. plain and simple. and most moved soon after losing their jobs and never came off the unemployment #s. its just the way construction workers are. they are essentially nomads. they go where the newest “boom” is, or they go back to where they grew up, but they never give up those unemployment benefits. id do the same. but it has made our numbers here inflated. having said all that, I came from Toledo Ohio. and the reports out of Toledo are much worse than LV and getting worse.

I dont think LV is dead or dying. i think that the whole country is, but so far LV is doing better than most, I think.

Besides, haven’t you thought – about your complaints that Vegas was too crowded? Now it’s not crowded enough? My gawd people – get a grip – everything rises and falls and rises again – did you not live through the 1980’s crisis? or the 1990’s crisis? Everywhere there are problems and if you can help – and in turn, help yourself – get a little place for family & friends to gather – buy your next car, boat or motorhome from someone in need of the money in Las Vegas instead of from a high end car dealership…

You’re really looking at this in the wrong way – Opportunity is knocking, open the door if you dare and can… a $30K condo is $110 per month mortgage payment… cheaper than a storage unit – – 5 years from now – it might be worth 3x’s that amount, and if not – so what – who cares – you will have a 2nd home, a vacation home, a rental/income property – a place to go to – go to Lake Mead – go to Henderson and bike/hike/walk the trails, go to Red Rock or Mt. Charleston to do some snow skiing…

Just take a moment to invest some time – and look at this from a different angle – as it really is our original Dubai – and yeah, it’s in a jam right now – and it’s a little sleezy – let’s do something about it – it is part of America and make it the family destination it should and could be once again…

My only complaint is I miss hearing the money come out of the slots… When Vegas lost it’s sound, honestly, I think that’s when we all started to lose interest…

Get your boat, your dirt bikes, your motorhome, your jet ski’s your bikes, your family & friends and plan a weekend out on Lake Mead… Stay at the cheaper hotels, or camp, or rent a house boat – you don’t have to opt for the most expensive – – buffet’s are still cheap – – and besides that – – have you even been on Eastern Avenue in Henderson??? If not, I suggest you get your booty in your car and drive on over to Lost Wages and have a little visit – stop by a realtor’s office, go see some foreclosures and make an offer – – then blog about that~!

And yes, that’s exactly what I did – – and hopefully I’ll be having a nice little desert oasis for family & friends to join me at in the near future – –