Home4Sale

I'm Back!!!! I really didn't go anywhere...

I'm back. The real estate market has been undergoing a correction the past few months. It was decided that rather than try and guess what the market would do, we would just ride it out and then adjust as needed. Well, we think the market is done correcting. The result is more homes are on the market than ever, but more homes are selling each month than ever. Mortgage Interest rates are stable, if not a little lower than they were a few months ago, which is helping keeping the market strong. The New Home market is still very tight with costs rising monthly and waiting lists as long as ever. Las Vegas itself remains a hot destination for new residents and no one sees any end in sight to that trend.

All those factors and more, were considered last night and a new listing price was decided upon. Yes, it's significantly lower than where I was originally priced. But that was in June and the market was very different. Could I sell my original listing price today? Sure. Homes in that price range in my area sell every week. A property right down the street from me sold for $875,000 and many around me are listed at 800K and above.

If you're in the Las Vegas housing market as a buyer, realtor, or investor, I hope you'll look at my listing and then stop on by to see what makes me unique (as I've been trying to describe in the previous entries).

I look forward to seeing you soon!

Notice...

Just a quick note to let you all know that while I remain on sale this weblog will be going dormant for a while. I may poke back in to post every now and then. But for reasons that will become clear later, I can no longer regularly update this page. Very Sorry. I was having so much fun doing so.

The huge backyard

If I may be a little less than humble and state that I think I have a lot of nice features for a home. My owners paid for a lot of upgrades and the Harvard model itself is the largest and nicest of all the Del Webb homes in Anthem Coventry. With a jacuzzi tub and marble tile in the master bath, double ovens in the kitchen, pergo flooring downstairs, a beautiful children's mural in the front bedroom, and more -- there is a lot to choose from for my best feature. But I think what is really going to sell me is my lot size.

Here's a the lot map that was provided by Del Webb when my home owners bought me. The lot itself is .62 acres. It's about 225 feet across the back wall and 280 feet from the back corner to the curb. The side yards in my back are each the size of the typical Las Vegas back yard for any home that was build since 1999. It's impossible to find a new home with a yard approaching this unless you're willing to build a custom home. And I don't know if you've looked at the prices for custom homes in Las Vegas, but they're up there.

There's plenty of room in my backyard to build a pool, a basketball and tennis court, a guest/pool house, a lawn area, and a entertainment patio/barbeque complex. Even after all that you'll still have the side yards to put something in (my current home over was thinking about a chip and putt practice green). You might think about Xeri-scaping (water smart land use) part of the back yard and even consider putting artificial turf in the back yard. No I'm not talking about that old green rug stuff, today's artificial turf is designed to closely resemble the real stuff with different varieties to choose from. You can also lay artificial turf over foam to make a safe, but cool, child's play area.

I hope you'll print out the picture I've provided and play around with your ideas for the lot. I know I've had a lot of fun doing just that.

Open House

I hosted an open house today. Met a lot of nice people and a few that I think are potential buyers. It's tough being the house and having strangers walk through you. They're very critical, look at the landscaping, look at the floor, etc. But I guess they should be expected to be critical. After all they're trying to decide if I'm their next home. I thought I'd take the time and answer some of the questions that I hear being asked around the house. What better forum than here.

1) How far is it to _______? There are a lot of variations of this question. I've included the map link below to help you get a better idea. But here are a few of the major points. Nearest park - 3 blocks or about 2 minutes. Nearest Supermarket - 6 blooks or about 3 minutes (4 if you hit the red light). Nearest school - A middle school is being built in the park that is 3 blocks away. The elementary school is just down the hill from that (about 6 minutes drive time). The high school is about 7 minutes away drive time. Many kids walk to both from this area, but a bus does come buy and pick up the children. We're about 20 minutes away from the strip, but a nice local's casino (Green Valley Ranch) is about 12 minutes away. Green Valley Ranch is also the closest hotel. But a new hotel is supposed to be going up just about 5 minutes away on Eastern. The airport is 20 minutes away to pick up or drop off. The drive to Disneyland is 3 and a half hours if you're lucky enough to miss all the traffic and don't mind going about 75-80 mph most of the way.

2) How are the schools here? There are no school age children in the house, but the cul-de-sac has at least 6 of them. Most attend the elementary school and moved here partially because of that school. The other parents talk highly of the teachers there and parent involvement in the school is very important.

3) Why isn't the backyard landscaped? The short answer is that my owners were hit doubly hard by 9/11 and then a drunk driver. So money was a little tight for a long time. But since they decided to put the house up on the market, everyone told them to just leave it a blank slate for the next home owner to draw on. No sense in planting anything or laying paths and rocks if the next home owner has a different vision for the back yard.

I hope that answers some of your questions about me. If you have any other feel free to drop me an email, just use the link to the left so it cuts down on spam, or leave a comment below.

ChasingMarquee

ChasingDaisy asked to read more of the story concerning the Disneyland Marquee and how it ended up in my sideyard. It's a long story, and I can't tell you parts of it because my owners signed a non-disclosure agreement. But here's what I can tell you:

On June 14th, 1999 Disneyland dismantled the Disneyland Marquee. This was the second marquee in the park's history. Parts of the first one are owned by a collector, however at last glance it is just sitting in his backyard getting progressivly rusted out. The second one was put up for bid by Disneyland in two parts. The first part being the Large Disneyland letters. They were bid on and won by John Stamos for a sum of around $30,000. My home owners have spoken with him regarding his plans for the Letters. At the time they were being stored in his barn on his Malibu Property. Now that he's divorced his lovely wife, I don't know what has happened to the letters). The second part was the gold castle that sat at the top of the marquee.

In May 2000, The Castle was auctioned in a closed bid auction to celebrate the anniversary of the remodeled Disneyana Store on Main Street USA at Disneyland. Here's where it gets interesting. The sales material for the castle marquee auction mentioned that the Castle was a one of a kind piece. When Disneyland Cast Members in charge of the auction were questioned about the other side of the marquee and the second castle, they claimed it was either damaged or destroyed and would never come on the market. They said that the current castle up for auction was indeed a one of a kind and would have a certificate of authenticity stating such (which it did).

So my home owner happily bid on and won the Disneyland Marquee Castle thinking it was a one of a kind museum quality piece. It sat in storage for a while, then was moved up to my side yard (the photos you see in the gallery), when my owners moved in in March 2001. The plan was to install the piece in my front room that has vaulted ceilings high enough to house the castle.

When in 2003 Disney Auctions issued a press release stating they were going to auction the Disneyland Marquee, you can imagine my home owners confusion. They contacted Disney and asked about the auction, and the answers did not make them any happier. The item, which turned out to be the second side of the castle, went up for auction on Ebay Disney Auctions and closed at an amount significantly lower than the winning bid for the first auction.

Confused, and a little upset, my home owners contacted the people at Disney and asked what could be done to fix the problem. Unfortunately this is the part we really can't talk about because of the NDA. But suffice it to say that Disneyland settled with my owners and sent someone to pick the sign back up. Thus ended a curious saga in the life of the Disneyland Marquee and my short lived claim to fame as the house that once held it.

Here's the closer, and it's a real kicker: a few months later Ebay Disney Auctions put the Disneyland Castle Marquee that had rested in my sideyard for many months back on ebay. It sold for $508.

-- 2001 story regarding Disney Auctions messing up another collectible, this time a Ford Thunderbird convertible movie car.

I'm on the Map

I'm busy dusting and mopping myself to make myself all pretty for any of you potential buyers who want to stop by and get a closer look. But in the meantime, here's a link to the Yahoo Maps page of my neighborhood. You'll see there is lots of great golfing nearby, plenty of shopping and dining, and we're close (but not too close) to the major freeways and surface streets.

Map of Anthem Pkwy At Reunion Dr
Henderson, NV 89009

I've opened comments on this post in case you want to ask me anything specific about the area.

A Dr Seuss Adventure

Today is my chance to tell you about the room that excites me the most. It's the children's room located on the second floor at the front of the house. You can see pictures of it here and here. My homeowner's wife did this amazing 360 degree mural. It features many characters from the Dr Seuss stories, including The Cat in the Hat, Sneeches, Horton the elephant, Sam from Green Eggs and Ham, and more. The trees are Tuffula trees from the "The Lorax". The Lorax himself even makes an appearance himself standing on a tree stump right next to the closet. Speaking of the closet, inside there is a Wha'sit. The beautiful blue sky features fluffy white clouds and Seussian birds soaring around the room. If you look close you may even see a cloud formed as a homage to the home owner's favorite character, Mickey Mouse! A perfect room to use as a playroom, guest room, or children's room.

Around the Neighborhood

Part of the reason behind this blog is to tell you why I like living in this neighborhood. Today it's about the parks.

I'm just 3 blocks from one of Henderson's newest and nicest parks, Anthem Hills Park. So far there have been big events there every few months or so. Whether it's del webb sponsoring a party, the city hosting a holiday celebration, or some local sporting events, you can find something to do there. The park features a large playground, baseball diamonds, soccer fields, an outdoor hockey rink, a skatepark, and for family outings there are picnic areas with barbeque pits!

Henderson Parks and Rec also has a great Multi-generational center just a few minutes away that's perfect for hosting events, playing a game of pickup basketball, working out at the gym, or going for a swim in the community pool.

While you're at the City of Henderson site, check out some of the other exciting stuff that happens around town.

I've Got Photos!

Just finished setting up a quick photoblog of myself. Please stop on by and see what fun we have here.

Did I mention I'm on a large lot. You really have to see it for yourself, but the photos will give you an idea of the size. You just can find anything like my lot these days unless you're looking to build a custom home.

Let Me Introduce Myself....

Hmmm. Where to start? With an introduction, I suppose. For the last 3 years and 3 months I have been the Frost Residence. They were the first family to occupy my many rooms, I love them and they have loved me, but now they are moving away. So I am on the market with an MLS listing, but that listing is somewhat plain and devoid of many of the things I think are great about myself. So I’ve decided to log on to that internet thing everyone is talking about and start one of those new-fangled weblogs that are all the craze these days. Who knows? I might meet my new family this way. Maybe it’s you!

(you can look me up at GreatLasVegashomes.com or Realtor.com in zip code 89052 with MLS #469000 (link)).