MS Las Vegas Real Estate is determined to convince the world that the new Las Vegas is completely different from old-school expectations. Culture plays a significant role in our development as a real city and this art exhibit is but one example. The Las Vegas Art Museum opens its latest exhibit, “XV Santa Fe Artists,” this Saturday. The museum is located within the Sahara West Library complex. There are 125 paintings by 15 Santa Fe artists featured in the exhibition curated by James Mann. The artists are Jo Basiste, Dennis Flynn, Paulette Frankl, Joel Greene, Whitman Johnson, Zara Kriegstein, Geoff Laurence, Trevor Lucero, David Mauldin, Jack Sinclair, Fred Spencer, Mark Spencer, Jody Sunshine, Jerry West and Michael Wright. “The exhibition aims to be completely groundbreaking,” Mann says. “It is not meant to be a representative survey of art being made in Santa Fe today, but rather to frustrate ordinary expectations of what `Santa Fe’ art is at the present time.”

The Southern Nevada Water Authority is having its annual “Celebrate Spring” event from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. this Saturday in the Gardens at the Springs Preserve. “Celebrate Spring” is full of activities to help you discover the fine art of landscaping for your Las Vegas home. Learn how to save water and money while keeping you garden green with a landscape upgrade or an irrigation system tune-up. You also can find out how to grow, cultivate and harvest gourmet herbs and sweet, juicy tomatoes. The event offers nine classes and six demonstrations to get you ready for springtime yard work. Las Vegas is a real city! MS Las Vegas Real Estate continues the process of educating people about the new Las Vegas…..and what it means in terms of lifestyle to own Las Vegas real estate. Most people don’t even realize that you can have beautiful landscaping for your Las Vegas home in the desert!

Kyle Busch is a Las Vegas local and a member of the Durango High School class of 2002. He is also an impressive rookie race car driver on the NASCAR Nextel Cup circuit and his older brother (Kurt) is the reigning NASCAR champion. But on Thursday of this week Kyle was on hand at Spring Valley High School to give safe driving advice to impressionable teens. Kyle’s words of wisdom? Street racing is stupid and dangerous, don’t ever drink and drive, cellular phones are a dangerous distraction, and focusing on the stereo instead of the road is not recommended. MS Las Vegas Real Estate would like to thank Kyle for taking the time this week to make a difference in the local community.

The Southern Nevada Chapter of the American Red Cross is getting ready for it’s annual golf fund-raiser. This year the host course is TPC Summerlin Las Vegas. This is the same golf course that hosts the PGA Tour every year for the Las Vegas Invitational. The Luxury Las Vegas real estate on the TPC Summerlin course provides a fabulous view of both tournaments. My guess would be that the windows in these beautiful Las Vegas homes are at somewhat more of a risk during the Red Cross tournament. It’s all for a good cause and besides, that’s what homeowners insurance is for! All proceeds raised by the event will assist the Southern Nevada Chapter of the Red Cross in it’s important work throughout the community. It’s not too late to get your foursome signed up! The golf tourney is scheduled for April 18th.

The Las Vegas Convention Center presently contains about 250,000 square feet of dedicated meeting space. This is much less than key competitors such as Chicago and Orlando, Fla., but more than rivals such as Atlanta, New York and San Francisco. As we mentioned in the Las Vegas real estate blog in January, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has been proposing to update the LVCC via renovation and expansion. Well, we’re on! The proposed $400 million expansion and renovation of the Las Vegas Convention Center received a unanimous go ahead on Tuesday. So you see, yet another facet of real estate in Las Vegas is about to expand. And you thought the market for Las Vegas homes got big fast! Wait till you see how quickly this LVCC upgrade comes to fruition. When Vegas decides to build….stuff goes up quick!

There’s really no way to deny it, the weather in Las Vegas has been kinda cruddy for the last 6 weeks. It really has resembled Seattle more than Vegas…..with copious amounts of rain and plenty of overcast skies. We’re happy to announce that we have come out of the funk! Las Vegas is bright and sunny with temperatures in the low 70’s and a chance of 80 degrees by Friday! If you’ve been thinking about a quick trip to check out Las Vegas real estate, now’s the time! Springtime weather is just fabulous for us. Because of the rain, golf course real estate and landscaping of every type looks especially lush and colorful. Las Vegas homes are basking in the sun and the spring flowers are just beginning to bloom. Real estate in Las Vegas is especially beautiful this time of year. Don’t wait too long….we’ll hit 100 degrees soon enough!

The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will kick off a nine city comprehensive training program for public housing agencies (PHAs) and assisted-housing practitioners in Las Vegas on March 29. Participants will get the latest information regarding HUD information systems and will receive training to help them navigate a wide range of program areas under HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH). HUD is the federal guardian that seeks to create affordable housing opportunities for Las Vegas homes and communities across the United States. Each three-day conference is free in the following locations: Las Vegas (March 29 - April 1), Dallas (April 19-22), Cleveland (May 10-13), Denver (June 7 - 10), Boston (June 28 - July 1), Seattle (July 12 - 15) Atlanta (July 26 - 29), Milwaukee (August 9 - 12), and Washington, DC (August 30 - September 2). The Department of HUD also promotes economic and community development as well as enforces the nation’s fair housing laws. Opportunities in the market for real estate in Las Vegas and every city in America are greatly enhanced because of the efforts of HUD.

The City of Las Vegas Aquatics Program was honored at the 20th annual National Aquatics Conference by receiving the National Park Association’s “2005 Excellence in Aquatics Award”. The award is given to only ONE organization a year in the entire country with a city population of 650,000 or more. The City of Las Vegas aquatics program covers virtually everything you can do in a pool. It offers synchronized swimming classes, lifeguard training, first aid and lifesaving training, water safety and lifeguard training for instructors, learn-to-swim classes, water aerobics, arthritis water exercise, Boy Scout merit badge training in swimming and aquatic therapy for stroke patients. MS Las Vegas Real Estate continues the process of educating the wider world about the REAL Las Vegas. This is a real city! Las Vegas homes offer a truly wonderful quality of life….and living!

Lake Las Vegas Resort was recently cited as one of 10 “significant new projects that will define urban life in the 21st century” at the Architecture and Design Exhibition in Glasgow, Scotland. After getting off to a slow start, Lake Las Vegas has truly come into it’s own. The first people daring enough to buy Lake Las Vegas homes were Vegas locals who understood the vision and had an appetite for risk. More recently, investors from all over the world have added a Lake Las Vegas home to their portfolio as a second or even third residence. Lake Las Vegas is now ramping up for a new wave of locals as production-home builders Pardee and Woodside establish subdivisions with more “affordable” homes in the next phase of development. Pardee and Woodside have committed to building about 1,000 homes in the $250,000 to $350,000 range. Models are opening this spring and homes should be coming onto the market in 12 to 15 months. MS Las Vegas Real Estate has been working with Lake Las Vegas clients for the last 5 years, and we look forward to presenting this next phase of development to potential purchasers. Put our expertise to work for you.

Beazer Homes just purchased 44 acres of vacant land in Indian Springs, about 45 minutes north of Las Vegas on U.S. 95. The sale price was $3.3 million, according to Clark County Assessor records. Now what do you suppose they plan on doing with that piece of dirt? How does a 45 minute commute sound to someone from Southern California that normally drives 2 hours each way? MS Las Vegas Real Estate will keep you posted.

Summerlin is not only one of the most incredible master-planned communities in Las Vegas, it’s a nationally ranked award-winning community as well. Here’s a bit of Summerlin trivia. Howard Hughes bought the huge chunk of desert that is Summerlin today. His original intention was to put the manufacturing facilities of Hughes Aircraft out in the southern Nevada desert. He ended up changing his plans in part because he was worried about his employees spending all their money in the casinos! Summerlin was the maiden name of Howard Hughes’ mother and thus it was named. Today Summerlin is nationally recognized as one of the finest master-planned communities in the country. Las Vegas real estate has a rich and interesting history.

Robin Leach of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” is a serious television entrepreneur. He helped to create “Entertainment Tonight” and got the Food Network off the ground as one of it’s first TV personalities. Now he’s launching a Las Vegas TV Station. KVTE-TV, Channel 35, officially switched on at 5am this morning. The station basically will be “all Vegas, all the time,” Leach said, and offer a broad mix of entertainment, news, public affairs, financial, lifestyle, travel, dining, fashion and sports programming. TV broadcast history buffs will remember that the TBS Superstation began in a very similar fashion. MS Las Vegas Real Estate wishes Robin Leach the best of luck in his new venture. Hey Robin, let us know if you want to do a Las Vegas real estate show!

Co-founders Jerry Yang and David Filo created an Internet business that started making profits in under 10 months. Not bad for two guys that were supposed to be focused on graduate studies in electrical engineering at Stanford University. MS Las Vegas Real Estate salutes Yahoo on it’s 10th birthday. Yahoo search results for Las Vegas real estate and related terms have played a significant role in the success of our firm.

A new report from the State of Nevada demographer’s office shows Clark County continues to drive the population explosion that’s making Nevada the fastest growing state in the nation. As of July 2004, more than 1.7 million people had become residents of Clark County, up from 1.6 million in 2003. The Clark County growth rate of 5.8% exceeds the state average of 5% for the same time period. Also noteworthy is the fact that approximately 35% of the people that arrived in Nevada came from California. This is more good news for the Greater Las Vegas real estate market. Clark County continues to drive the population explosion that’s making Nevada the fastest growing state in the nation. Greater Las Vegas is smack in the middle of Clark County. MS Las Vegas Real Estate is in the right place at the right time with the experience you need to become part of this massive demographic shift.

The boom in real estate has been accompanied by a boom in mortgage fraud and other real estate related schemes, the Internal Revenue Service said yesterday. The number of real estate fraud investigations initiated by the IRS doubled between fiscal 2001 and fiscal 2003. The IRS also says that the average prison term handed down by federal judges in cases that ended in conviction nearly doubled as well. One of the most common schemes to attract IRS criminal investigators is property flipping that involves false statements to lenders. Also on the rise, fraudulently created qualifications to obtain a mortgage via false credit reports or employment histories. MS Las Vegas Real Estate urges you to use caution, especially if you are involved in the FSBO process. Know who you’re dealing with and check credentials. Our reputation for ethical conduct is beyond reproach. At MS Las Vegas Real Estate, it’s our most valuable asset.

Stars Live 365 is a brand new venture on the Las Vegas Strip that literally puts you in touch with famous people! For anyone who’s been on the Las Vegas Strip, it’s hard to miss the giant Coca-Cola bottle at the Showcase Mall in front of the MGM. Stars Live 365 has set up a booth right next to Coca-Cola that faces the strip and some of the heaviest pedestrian traffic in the world. Who sits in the booth? Famous athletes and other celebrities that charge a fee for a personal greeting, autograph, pictures and memorabilia. This week Pete Rose was on hand to greet his fans. Past participants include Steve Garvey and Kenny Stabler. Plans are in the works to include the cast from Dallas as well as the Brady Bunch. MS Las Vegas Real Estate would like to suggest a purchase at the Residences at MGM Grand. That way, you’ll be a short walk from your next autograph!

The State of Nevada officially saluted Las Vegas yesterday by passing a resolution in honor of our 100th birthday. The city’s 100th anniversary (May 15) commemorates the land auction in which the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad sold lots for the 110-acre Las Vegas townsite. The railroad, owned by Sen. William A. Clark of Montana, had just completed a line between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. Las Vegas is Spanish for “the meadows” and the first settlers laid down roots in the early 1800’s. MS Las Vegas Real Estate wishes Las Vegas a happy 100th!

Free classes about the home-buying process have been scheduled by the Nevada Fair Housing Center. Sessions presented in English are scheduled from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, March 12, as well as from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thursdays, March 17 and 24. A class in Spanish is set from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays, March 8 and 15. All classes will be held at the center, which is located at 3380 W. Sahara Ave., Suite 150. A certificate will be presented to all participants completing the course. Advance registration is required. To sign up, call 731-6095. MS Las Vegas Real Estate encourages you to do so.

HUD’s 2006 budget proposes a zero downpayment mortgage option in the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that would allow first-time buyers with a strong credit record to finance 100 percent of their home purchase including closing costs. The Budget also proposes a program called Payment Incentives, which would allow borrowers with limited or weak credit histories to purchase homes by initially paying higher mortgage insurance premiums that would gradually be reduced after a period of timely payments. In 2006, these new mortgage programs will help more than 250,000 families to buy a home of their own. The 2006 Budget also provides $200 million to fully fund the American Dream Downpayment Initiative (ADDI). This Initiative helps first-time homebuyers with the biggest obstacles to homeownership, the downpayment and closing costs. Since being signed into law, ADDI has helped more than 3,500 families to purchase their first home. MS Las Vegas Real Estate supports these HUD initiatives for 2006 and urges you to contact the U.S. Congress if you feel the same way.

Vegas condos gain steam, but what lies ahead? Jeff Burbank SPECIAL TO THE RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL2/14/2005 10:03 pm LAS VEGAS ? About 80 percent of the 1,092 condominium units that real estate mogul Donald Trump put up for sale in October have been reserved.Clark County Commissioners approved eight new condo projects ? a total of 24 buildings ? during a meeting Feb. 2.More than 60 condo projects have either been approved or are under construction in Las Vegas, thanks the surging cost of acreage.Bare, undeveloped land sold by the Bureau of Land Management this month went for $263,000 an acre, up from about $160,000 in 2002. An acre with water, power and other services can go upwards of $500,000, and more than double that on the Strip.Trying to make sense of the current mania for condos ? high rise, medium and low-rise, is veteran Las Vegas real estate saleswoman Michelle Sterling, for whom condo sales has become a lucrative sideline.Among the units she sells, the most expensive are the high risers overlooking the Strip ? one goes for $2.3 million, another $3.1 million, and still another $3.9 million.?The price of land is going up faster than we?re used to, and developers want to look at creative use for the land,? said Sterling, who?s been a Realtor for 10 years and works for Liberty Realty in Las Vegas. One thing she?s learned is that many patrons who plunk down hundreds of thousands for a high-rise condo don?t stay in town that much.?A lot of people want to live here, but not necessarily full time,? said Sterling. ?A lot of those on the Strip enjoy coming to Las Vegas several times a year and want a place to stay. A lot see it as a good investment.?Others are locals who?ve decided to chuck their detached homes.?I?m hearing the term ?lock and leave? a lot, people who don?t want to worry about their yards or security anymore,? Sterling said. Still others stay briefly, then offer their units for rent, although managers of some high rises prohibit renting, Sterling said. Some permit six-month or one-year leases, and others ? such as Trump?s pending building, and the planned Majestic Las Vegas ? mix condos for sale with hotel rooms for rent (and separate entrances for both).Units in the Turnberry and Park Tower condo towers, which were the first of the new condo projects on the scene several years ago, have gone up 30 percent since then, Sterling said. And it?s hard to get anything for less than $500,000 in town. New condos offered by Trump are going for as much as $700,000, with a minimum of $20,000 to hold one, Sterling said.Whether all of those 60 condo projects OK?d by the county are built, is ?an unknown,? Sterling said.?(Condo sales) will remain like any kind of housing market,? she added. ?We?ve never seen this many built. But it?s always difficult to compare Las Vegas to anywhere else. I?ve been here 25 years and I?ve never seen how we?re like anybody else.? Jeff Burbank is a Las Vegas free-lance business writer who covers Southern Nevada business-related issues for the Reno Gazette-Journal.Copyright ? 2005 The Reno Gazette-Journal

Google top executives said they can’t expand as rapidly as they would like because they can’t find enough qualified employees or deploy new computers fast enough. Google has a little over 3000 employees at present. They have managed to add 700 new people since the middle of 2004. Google is famous in silicon valley for their rigorous hiring process. Prospective candidates endure a battery of tests and at least half a dozen interviews. The thing I find more confusing about the latest Google news is their claim to be 20% below optimum level in terms of technical infrastructure. Has the world suddenly run out of cheap computing power? Google deploys thousands of computers in data centers around the world, assembled from low-cost parts and linked together by sophisticated proprietary software. Maybe they can’t even find enough people to integrate those low-cost parts into their existing network? Maybe they should set up an operation in Las Vegas!

Declining mortgage rates and rising family incomes made it more affordable for Americans buying homes in the fourth quarter, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. The trade group’s composite housing-affordability index was 131.8 points during the fourth quarter of 2004, up 2.9 percentage points from 128.9 the third quarter. Good news for Las Vegas real estate! The index shows that a typical U.S. household had 131.8 percent of the income needed to purchase a home at the fourth quarter median re-sale home price, which was $187,500 for the country as a whole. The median price for a re-sale home in Las Vegas is $250,000.

The Bush Administration’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2006 includes $28.5 billion for programs administered through the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The HUD budget allocation signals a continued commitment to increasing record home ownership in America and ending the most chronic forms of homelessness. The 2006 Budget provides $200 million to fully fund the American Dream Down Payment Initiative. ADDI helps first-time homebuyers with the biggest obstacles to home ownership (down payment and closing costs). Since this initiative became law, ADDI has helped more than 3,500 families to purchase their first home. The Bush Administration is also proposing a zero down payment mortgage option in the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that would allow first-time buyers with a strong credit record to finance 100 percent of their home purchase including closing costs. We’ll see if that one makes it through the congressional labyrinth. MS Las Vegas Real Estate will be watching this process as it unfolds.

The University of Maryland has somehow figured out that American businesses spend 22 billion dollars a year deleting junk e-mail. They made this estimation based on the time spent at work every day on this laborious task and the monetary worth of that same time well spent. I’m wondering how they can be sure that these same people would spend that same time wisely (meaning working) if they had no junk to delete? In any event, according to the University, 75% of the people they surveyed (at work?) receive junk e-mail every day. The average time per day spent deleting is 2.8 minutes. Yes, it’s true, we get alot of spam at MS Las Vegas Real Estate. Why didn’t the University of Maryland call us?

The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors logged 4,398 condominium closings in 2004. The GLVAR reported 582 condo closings in 2003. Get the picture? What’s the difference? Las Vegas High Rise Condos, no doubt about it. The number of condominium closings is expected to TRIPLE in the Las Vegas real estate market over the next two years. The urbanization of a U.S. city on a truly historic scale. Be a part of the action, call MS Las Vegas Real Estate at 888-349-2595.