Tonight hubby and I had a somewhat serious talk about our future which include some discussion about moving to LV for a change of scenery, and more importantly, possibly careers. It's all just dreams right now -- or possibly an early mid life crisis -- but for fun I was looking at real estate listings and saw some homes that were cute Spanish style, affordable and some even had my much-desired in -round pool!

I really want to come out for some poker on Labor Day weekend. If I'm able, I might be picking you locals' brains about the pros and cons of living there, particularly LVM and others with young kids.

If you would like I could refer you to my real estate agent and maybe you could get a look at some typical properties for your price range.

I can also offer the same.

As I'm sure Psand's was, my agent was phenomenal in both his patience, and his willingness to let us know everything about the market at the time.

With kids, let me ask you right up front, are you a public school person or a private school person?

Your range of neighborhoods (and price range) may change based on your school prefernence. If you are a private school person, then your neighborhood range will be much wider versus a public school person where your range for a quality public school is much slimmer.

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Incessant Twitter Ramblings available here: LasVegasMichael

We've been public school people just because our son has some special ed needs. Nothing too dramatic but public schools, at least here, seem to be more equipped to handle kids like him (ADHD). But we're open to other options.

Can you recommend areas to look for middle-class housing? Even ZIP codes, as this was one search method I found but didn't know what to enter.

Thanks. Labor Day weekend is looking good, so get your 2/4 and Crazy Pineapple skills ready!

Thanks to both of you for offering real estate agent info, but we're not quite ready to make contacts yet.

Generally, the west (89135 and surrouding areas) are amonst the nicest in the Valley, as those are deep Summerlin. Very pricey.

The Southwest is growing like crazy right now. This includes the newly developed master planned Mountain's Edge community. Zip codes for that area are 89178 and 89139.

The far north has a cheaper alternative to Mountain's Edge. Their new master planned community is called Aliante, and generally, houses run about 100K on average cheaper then Mountain's Edge, however, the houses are of course, not at nice, as well as the surrounding neighborhoods. The zip code for the Aliante area is 89084 and surrounding areas.

Henderson (Green Valley and Anthem) has a strong mix of older run down areas and new pricey developments. It is a very popular city to live in, and is one of the oldest residential communities in the valley. Its zip codes range from 89014 and surrounding areas.

Usually I recommend avoiding the Strip and the immediate surrounding areas. This includes zip codes 89109 and surrounding areas. Of course, this advice is moot if you were looking at areas like the Las Vegas Country Club, Turnberry, Scotch 80s/Rancho Bel Air or Trump Towers, but those are obvious exceptions.

Avoid downtown and north of it. 89101 and surrounding.

With regards to schooling, for Special Ed, public is definately the way to go in Vegas. There are little to no private school facilities with those capabilities. I do know some some people in the special education program here in Clark county that I can share with you privately at a future date, if you like.

Hopefully, this will get you started. Enjoy!

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Incessant Twitter Ramblings available here: LasVegasMichael

Wow, above and beyond as usual. Thanx so much!

You're welcome! Glad to help!

See you soon.

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Incessant Twitter Ramblings available here: LasVegasMichael

give up any fantasy of lot size unless you are prepared to spend mega-bucks.hey don't even talk about acreage here.

As a RN my wife and I have lots of options. One is for me to take a traveling nurse position in LV. Most agencies pay around 1 1/2 to 2 times what I make now. Also they offer either a furnished apartment or a housing stipened. The trade off is that I would be away from the wife and daughter for 13 weeks minimum. But I think it would be a cool way to be in Vegas without the commitment of moving there. It is also a way to really rack up some cash. Anyone know anything about the hospitals in the LV area? Or how much a typical studio apt would run in a decent neighborhood? Any input would be appriciated.
Thanks,
Darrin

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Studio in a safe area will range between 600-900.