South Entrance to Queensridge

Queensridge is known for the beautiful sculptured horses you pass as you enter the community, but the beauty extends beyond the sculptures.  It was originally designed to look like an English village with perfectly manicured pine trees, lots of green grass in the front lawns and median, beautiful pine trees and roses lining the streets.

Located on the Badlands golf course, there are two sections to Queensridge.  The South side of the community is entered off Charleston with two of the sculptured horses, one on each side of the guard-gated entrance.  In the Southern part of the community one finds a community pool, tennis courts and park like areas.  The Northern side is entered off Alta and features tennis courts and parklike areas, but does not have the community pool.  Beautiful Mountain views, golf views and Strip views are available in some locations within the gates.

Homes here include semi-customs that were constructed by Toll Brothers and Christopher homes.  Even the semi-custom homes are on nice sized lots with room for pools.  The custom homes are in a variety of styles.  Some of them have the feel of a romantic cottage with vines and flowers while others are very traditional or contemporary and there are some homes here that could truly be considered mansions.  In fact, the most expensive homes which have sold in this community have fetched prices of $12 and $14 million at the height of the market.  More recently, just over $6 Million was one of the most expensive homes sold in the community.  In fact, that sale was one of the most expensive homes sold within the past year in all of Las Vegas.  As with any community in Vegas and perhaps the Country, we have seen REOs and short sales here, but they seem to be dwindling down in the current market.

Queensridge homeowners have an ideal location.  Just outside the gates, the best shopping of Summerlin is within five

Views

minutes.  Everything from clothing stores like the Gap, Banana Republic to Williams Sonoma and Pottery Barn are actually on the corner of Rampart and Charleston, inside the Queensridge master plan.  On the other side of that street, one finds Boca Park with big stores like Target, Office Max, Vons, Total Wine and the local Lee’s Liquor Chain.  On the other corner, there’s even a Whole Foods Market, Pier One and Barnes and Noble.  In the mix off all those shopping areas are a variety of restaurants.  Newer stores have opened in the Tivoli Village across the street from Boca Park on the North side.  Dining in the area includes the major chains as well as a few of our favorite local, independents like Due Forni pizza, Petra Greek Taverna and the new Timbers in Boca Park.

Beautiful homes in the midst of it all.  To see homes for sale in Queensridge, call (702)354-6900 or email debbie@lvhomepro.com.

Next to the Red Rock Mountains

Red Rock Country Club in Summerlin is one of our most popular golf course communities. Nestled up against the Red Rock Mountains, it offers beautiful golf, Mountain and even Strip views from some of the properties.  Homeowners can enjoy all the scenic beauty while being only minutes from the shopping, dining and entertainment that Summerlin has to offer.  Convenient access to the 215 Beltway also puts you at the Strip/Airport in as little as 20 minutes.

Homes in Red Rock Country Club include both production homes which were built by Sunrise Co in the earliest phase of development and Toll Brothers which built the final homes in the West Gate between 2004 and 2007.  In addition, there are custom homes behind second mechanical gates within the guard gates.  Homes that are currently listed for sale start with a  $315K for a single story foreclosed home which offers 1938 sq ft of living space.  With the declining inventory in today’s market, we expect that home will sell at or above list price.  On the high side, we have three custom homes ranging from 6648 sq ft to 9158 sq ft that are listed for $3.499M to $3.995M.

In addition to finding beautiful homes in this community, you will find the amenities are very nice.  There are two golf courses.  One is the Arroyo course which is open to the public.  There is also a private course.  The club at Red Rock offers social memberships for those who don’t swing the clubs to enjoy the excellent tennis facilities, scheduled activities, fitness center, restaurants and community pool.

Two Golf Courses

Owners at Red Rock Country Club also have access to go hiking in the Mountains.  In the evenings, it’s a beautiful community for taking a stroll and enjoying the scenery.  The scenery here is enhanced in the evenings with soft lights that the HOA maintains to shine on the Mountains.  The lights are generally on from sunset until midnight and it is beautiful to see the mountains lit up in the night time sky.

While we have many wonderful golf course communities in Las Vegas, the location next to the Mountains and the natural landscaping give this community a distinct beauty of its own.  To find out more about Red Rock Country Club in Summerlin, call (702)354-6900 or email debbie@thelasvegasluxuryhomepro.com.

Southern Highlands is built around a private golf course.  The course which was designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and Robert Trent Jones Sr. restricts their membership to only 300 members who join by invitation only.  It is also one of the most exclusive courses in town.  Production homes in Southern Highlands were built by Christopher.  The phases of the community where production homes were available have been completed and only resale homes are available in those areas at the moment.  

Custom homes are located behind mechanical gates within the guard-gated community.  The highest prices homes have sold for in the estates reached $9.5M and $10M.  There are beautiful estate homes here as well as a few undeveloped lots where you could build your dream home.

While views of the Mountains and Golf course are excellent the community isn’t as highly elevated as Seven Hills, Anthem, MacDonald Highlands or the Ridges.  One does find a few locations within the gates where there are excellent Strip views from second floor balconies.

In addition to the golf course at Southern Highlands, there is a top notch spa.  The 13,000 sq.  ft. spa devotes 4000 sq. ft. to a fitness center with the latest equipment and training.  For swimming and tennis enthusiasts, the spa has top notch facilities as well.

Outside the guard gates of this elite community, one will find the necessary grocery shops, dry cleaners, coffee shops and a few nice restaurants within a few minutes.  Eventually the master plan is zoned for more shopping and even a Casino.  If you would like to take a tour of the Estates at Southern Highlands, call (702)354-6900 or email debbie@thelasvegasluxuryhomepro.com.

Wynn's "Garden"

The foods served revealed the creativity you find in the Wynn and Encore restaurants.  Try medium rare steak served in a Chinese soup spoon with a horseradish sauce.  Our favorite was the Lobster Bloody Mary.  On second thought, it might have been the cup of Corn & Crab Chowder.  Or the whimsical Chicken with waffle on a toothpick.  Have to admit that when the waiter told us that was what he was serving us, I did a double take.  Sounded more like a Southern diner than five star, but it was delicious.  In fact, we had seconds.

Once again, we were reminded that we live in one of the coolest cities in the world.  The Wynn is a beautiful property.  It offers some of the best designer shops in the world.  They have a very good ventilation system so you can walk through the Casino without smelling like smoke when you leave.

At the Wynn Las Vegas, you can count on a great experience.  Attentive service, great food, great shows and a beautiful setting.  If you have a chance to pick up a copy of the Wynn Magazine, you will find it has tempting articles about the restaurants.  You can also follow them on Facebook where their profile is a photo of the gorgeous pool at Encore.  Who knows, maybe they’ll tempt you to come to Vegas.

When I moved to Vegas years ago, I started using the Spa at the Bellagio because a hairdresser I knew in San Francisco was working there.  Unfortunately, she moved back to California, leaving me to find my new salon through trial and error.

Contemporary Comfort

There are great salons and spas on the Strip for those times when you want an extra bit of pampering.  I love sitting in the mani/pedi chair at the Encore, sipping on a mimosa and looking out at the view of the tops of the trees and the North Strip.  We have world class spas at Trump, the Venetian, Palms Place and the new spa at the Mandarin Oriental.  Even Red Rock Station has a luxurious spa that offers discounts for locals from time to time.

Quality Products - Kerestase, Gelish, etc.

A client suggested that I try the Square Salon at Ft. Apache and Charleston after a bad color treatment I received elsewhere.  The staff introduced me to Jason who got my color back to where we like it and kept my hair healthy in the process.  Visits to the Square have become part of my routine now.  The location is great, right in the heart of the Boca Park shopping area.  Close to Summerlin’s favorite restaurants for a nice lunch or dinner afterward you’ve been refreshed.

Best of all, the Square Salon in Summerlin offers on Strip quality and pampering for off Strip prices.  If you want to treat Mom, buy her a $100 gift certificate and she’ll also receive a gift basket with travel size shampoo and masque.  To keep up with their specials and events, like them on Facebook.

Next to the Red Rock Mountains

Homes for Sale in Summerlin has to be one of the most common requests we hear from out of State buyers.  This master planned community on the West side of Las Vegas rivals Henderson as our most sought after address, and we can certainly understand why buyers request this area with all the amenities it has to offer.

What a lot of buyers don’t realize is that Summerlin is also a large area.  The “Hills” are located in the Northern section, convenient to the Summerlin Parkway and the 215.  This is a more established area with homes dating back to the 80s and 90s.  This area includes everything from Sun City, one of our most popular age restricted communities with four club houses and three golf courses to estate homes on the TPC private golf course.  You’ll appreciate the beauty of this area as you drive down wide streets with beautiful mature trees.  Homes here include guard gated communities like Country Club Hills, Eagle Hills and Tournament Hills for those looking for the private but prestigious setting.

In the central part you will find newer communities.  This is the area bordered by the Summerlin Parkway on the North and the 215 Beltway to the West.  The Summerlin Hospital is located in this area.  It also borders Queensridge and the Boca Park shopping area.

The central part of this master planned community is home to the Sun Coast, Marriot Rampart Street Casino and the newer Red Rock Station Casino.  All three have great restaurants and offer entertainment ranging from bowling alleys to concerts to movies in addition to the gaming.  We do suggest that out of the area buyers try staying in one of the hotels in the area rather than on the Strip so they can get a real feel for the neighborhood.  Homes here range from condos to mid-range homes to golf course estates in communities like Bellacere and Canyon Fairways.

Homes in Tournament Hills

For those who want a more residential feel, West Summerlin is bordered by the 215 Beltway on the East and the Red Rock Conservation area on the West.  There is a small strip mall with an Albertson’s, a gas station, bank and a handful of restaurants, including one of our favorite local pizza joints, Mark Rich’s New York Pizza.

The Southern part of Summerlin includes mid-priced homes in the popular Willows and Gardens and two luxury communities.  Red Rock Country Club is located on two golf courses, one private and the public Arroyo course.  Homes in Red Rock range from the mid priced production home to estate homes with Strip, golf and Mountain views.  This area is also where you will find The Ridges of Summerlin, arguably one of the top three guard-gated, golf course communities in Las Vegas and Henderson.  Homes in the Ridges tend to be contemporary in design and depending on the location within the community, their views are spectacular.

The Gardens

Newer homes in the mid-priced range are being built in the Mesa’s, which is the Southern tip of Summerlin and the newest community.  Homes in the Southern part of the masterplan are sometimes preferred by those who want to hop on the 215 Beltway and get to the Strip/Airport in a very quick time frame.  Click here to see Homes for sale in Summerlin.

You arrive at the absorption rate by taking the total number of homes sold over the past year and dividing by twelve months.  This gives you the average number of homes being sold each month in your area.  Then you determine how many properties are currently listed for sale without accepted offers on them.  Divide this number by the number of homes sold per month to arrive at how many months it would take to sell all the current listings “if” no new homes were listed for sale.

For example, in Las Vegas, we currently have 5479 homes listed for sale in the MLS.  This includes condos, town homes and single family homes in all of North Las Vegas, Las Vegas and Henderson.  Over the past year, we sold 47,095 homes in these areas.  Divide the number sold by 12 to find that we averaged 3924.58 homes sold each month in the Las Vegas area.  Divide the 5479 homes currently listed for sale by the average of 3924.58 per month to find that we currently have 1.39 months worth of inventory.  If no new homes were listed for sale, the current listings would be sold in less than six weeks.

Red Rock Country Club

This is an important overall gauge of how a specific market is doing.  The National Association of Realtors traditionally considers a six month supply of homes for sale as a “stable” market.  If you have more than a six month absorption rate, it is a buyer’s market.  Las Vegas has been a buyer’s market for much of the past five years.  If you have less than a six month supply, it is regarded as a seller’s market.  While prices are still low, we are seeing that the market is behaving like a seller’s market with multiple offers on homes that are well priced.  If our inventory continues to decline, we are likely to see upward pressure on prices over the common months.

We can take the absorption rate a step further. If you look at a specific neighborhood, such as homes for sale in Summerlin, you will see that we sold 1858 homes through the MLS over the past year, or 154.8 per month.  We currently have 271 homes listed for sale in Summerlin.  That works out to a 1.75 absorption rate.

Why does Summerlin have a higher absorption rate than the broader Las Vegas market?  Summerlin is one of our most popular communities, which is reflected in the home prices.  In Summerlin we currently have 68 homes that are priced at more than $1 Million.  We have two homes in Summerlin that are listed for more than $10 million.  The majority (59%) of the Las Vegas homes that have sold this past year were priced for less than $125,000.  We only have 13 homes listed for $125,000 or less in the Summerlin area and only three of those are single family.

If you look at the Luxury Home communities in Summerlin, you will find a higher absorption rate.  Red Rock Country Club has 38 homes listedwith prices that range from $330K to $3,499,999.  We sold 95 homes in Red Rock over the past year which means they have a 4.8 month supply of homes for sale which is moving into a seller’s market.

The Ridges of Summerlin

The Ridges of Summerlinhas 30 homes that are currently listed with prices ranging from $799,997 to $13.9M.  There were 28 homes sold in the Ridges over the past year, giving them a 12.8 absorption rate.  If you are buying in the Ridges, there will be more room to negotiate than you’ll find in Red Rock or less expensive neighborhoods in Summerlin.  If you are selling in the Ridges and need to sell quicker, the higher absorption rate means that you should price your home aggressively.

If you are selling your Las Vegas home, understanding the absorption rate for your specific community as well as for homes in your price range will help you determine how aggressively you should price your home.  If you would like to take a more specific look at your particular subdivision and the price range that is typical for your home, just call (702)354-6900 or email debbie@thelasvegasuxuryhomepro.com.

Carts full of delicious treats

Finding dim sum in Las Vegas was not that easy when I first moved here ten years ago. While living in San Francisco, I had grown spoiled by the variety of restaurants that served this traditional Chinese “snack” food.  The first time I took my boyfriend to San Francisco, he had never tried dim sum before and looked on with dismay as I ordered half a dozen dishes for us to taste (he was buying).  Should have seen his face when he got the check and it was a fraction of what we’d been spending in other restaurants.  Having discovered that he liked dim sum, I was determined to find the real deal if it existed in Las Vegas.  It wasn’t long before someone turned me on to Orchids Garden on W. Sahara at Lindell.

With so many restaurants to choose from, we haven’t been to Orchids recently until today.  As we expected, their parking lot was full when we arrived for lunch.  We did get a seat without having to wait.  When we first discovered Orchids, they only used one side of the restaurant for dim sum and lunch.  That changed a few years ago after the Las Vegas Review Journal posted an article by their food critic about the various dim sum restaurants in town.  Before the article about dim sum was published, the place was busy but after the article it was so busy they had to start using both rooms.  And, while dim sum is traditionally served only until early or mid-afternoon in most restaurants, Orchids now offers the delicacies all day long.

After years of dining at Orchids Garden, we found today’s service to be quick and the food was excellent.  Our favorite is the Pan Fried Chive Dumplings, but we also loved the Har Gow (shrimp dumplings), Shiu Mai (pork & shrimp dumplings), the Bean Curd Roll and the noodles.  All that food, plus a couple of teas and steamed pork buns for him for $25…Possibly one of the best lunch deals in town.  So for our California expatriates, yes, you can get great Dim Sum in Las Vegas.

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8th Hole

Painted Desert Golf course is a mature, beautifully landscaped 18 hole, par 72 course.  It’s located only 12 minutes Northwest of the Strip off the 95 Fwy. at Ann Rd.  With terrific greens and lush fairways, it routinely wins awards for the best conditioned course in Las Vegas.  What makes this course unique is the landscaping features mature trees that offer a lot of shade to park your golf cart underneath.  There aren’t too many of these shaded courses in Las Vegas that offer a comfortable round with a break from the desert sun.

The course is very narrow and a premium is placed on your T shot in the fairway.  If you manage to keep your ball in the fairway then the course sets up well for a good score.  What makes this one of our favorite tracks is that there is a nice mix of risk/reward Par 4 holes and the par 5s are reachable in two.  Combine that with several beautiful par 3s, in particular the 8th hole, and you’ll find a fun, exciting golf course.

Painted Desert Mountain Views

Painted Desert offers beautiful mountain and the course is very affordable.  As well maintained as this course is, we find it’s frequently one of the best golf deals in Las Vegas.  The club house has a restaurant & bar that offers a nice neighborhood feel rather than the resort setting you find at some of the more expensive courses.  The Painted Desert clubhouse will make you feel right at home.

18th Hole with Snow Mountain in the distance

Painted Desert is nestled inside a guard-gated community which also features mature landscaping with grassy lawns, palm trees, golf and Mountain views.  Homes in the community include condos, town homes and single family homes.  The single family homes range from smaller, 1363 sq ft single story homes to larger homes with more than 5000 sq ft.  Earliest homes in the community date back to 1988 with some built as recently as 2006, especially in the Estates at Painted Desert where we find the custom homes.  Click here to see homes for sale in Painted Desert Golf Community.   

Great view for people watching on Cabo Wabo patio

Las Vegas celebrates Cinco de Mayo this week-end and with the day falling on a Saturday, it should be a big celebration.  Even without the holiday, the Strip is bound to be packed this week-end with the Mayweather-Cotto fight at the MGM Grand.

One of our favorite watering holes for Cinco de Mayo is Sammy Hagar’s Cabo Wabo at Planet Hollywood.  Get there early so snag a seat on the patio where you can watch the tourist passing by while enjoying our favorite margueritas made with Sammy’s own tequila.  To go with the tequila, we love their guacamole, some of the best in town.  Fajitas are always great here, but Sammy’s Tequila Shrimp are our favorite with big, juicy shrimp with a hint of lime.

For a bit of humor, check out the Comedy Club on the second level of Cabo Wabo.  This week-end features BRANDT TOBLER & SHAYMA TASH.  I’m not familiar with them, but have enjoyed all the acts we’ve seen at the Comedy Club.  For those who want to really celebrate, ask the bartender about the $25 all you can drink special.

The Border Grill at Mandalay Bay is throwing a three day Cinco de Mayo party.  I’ve been a fan of the Border Grill since they opened their first store on Fourth Street in Santa Monica, CA.  For a California expat, finding the restaurant had a location at Mandalay Bay was a nice touch of home when I first moved here.  On a recent visit, we found that the food is still excellent and the view of the Lazy River will make you feel as if you’re on a tropical vacation… For Cinco de Mayo, the Border Grill will be serving Patron Margueritas for $5.

And if you want to stay up all night, you can catch a bit of history as we close the only “dive bar” on the Strip.  The Rockhouse in front of the Imperial Palace closes Saturday night.  Drink prices will be starting at $6 and drop $1 per hour until 4:00 a.m., when those left standing can drink for free until it’s all gone.

For a more complete list of Cinco de Mayo events, visit the guide published by the Las Vegas Sun.  Have a great Cinco de Mayo and remember to have a designated driver.