Die-hard fans probably know that Anthony Zuiker is the creator of the “CSI” television crime drama. But here’s something you may not have known, Zuiker is a 1991 graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and is an alumnus of Chaparral High School in Las Vegas! How cool is that? Luckily for us, Mr. Zuiker is serious about giving back to his home community. In fact, he’s making an impressive jump-start contribution to a brand new piece of very special Henderson real estate. Anthony Zuiker recently committed one million dollars to help build a new $37 million crime lab in Henderson, Nevada! It’s a sure bet that when the facility is finished, film crews from the CSI series will be doing some “on location” filming!

At MS Las Vegas Real Estate we just want to remind you that life in Greater Las Vegas extends well beyond the endless poker tournaments on ESPN. For example, check out the latest Southern Nevada fishing report (courtesy of the Las Vegas Review Journal). Now I just need someone who’s willing to bait my hook! Seriously though, outdoor recreational opportunities in the Las Vegas Valley are numerous to say the least. In fact, we just recently assisted a client with the purchase of a Las Vegas home because Red Rock Canyon has the second highest cliff climbing rating in the entire country. He can’t wait to get started! Who knew? Ok, back to the bait bucket and current conditions at hot fishing spots in Southern Nevada.

LAKE MEAD — Despite good weather last week, the lake was quiet and little action was seen in the Overton Arm area, according to Nevada Department of Wildlife creel census clerk Walt DeMattos. A few boaters out of Echo Bay reported catching striped bass in the 1- to 2-pound range.

In the Boulder Basin, fishing continues to be good for smaller stripers in the 1- to 2-pound range near the Special Events beach and the Hemenway fishing dock for anglers using shad and anchovies.

• ECHO CANYON RESERVOIR — Water temperatures continue to drop as nighttime temperatures fall below freezing. Fishing for planted rainbow trout is good using most baits or lures, such as PowerBait, worms and small spinners.

• EAGLE VALLEY RESERVOIR — Fishing has been excellent this week. Most anglers are doing well for rainbow trout using a variety of baits and lures. Fishing should remain good to excellent throughout the fall and winter months until the lake begins to freeze.

• KIRCH WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA — Water and air temperatures continue to cool off in the management area. The cooler water temperatures have knocked the weed beds down, leaving a lot more open water. Anglers have been doing well for rainbow trout using PowerBait, worms, spinning lures and flies.

Come on, admit it, you never thought in your life to wonder about the fishing conditions in Las Vegas, Nevada! More and more often, people make the choice to purchase Las Vegas real estate with no intention of ever walking into the Sports Book at Caesars Palace. Your lifestyle in Las Vegas can be whatever you want it to be! Ok, we’ll admit it, life as a meteorologist might get pretty boring. It’s sunny and clear about 325 days a year!

There’s no need to head to Cali to get the very best in high-end custom work done on your car, truck or SUV! Outlaw Motorsports has put Las Vegas squarely on the map when it comes to world-class “tricked out” transportation. Located just a few miles from the Las Vegas Strip, Outlaw occupies a 10,000 square foot garage outfitted with the latest state-of-the-art technology and equipment. The shop boasts one of the most accomplished custom crews in the industry, having worked on cars for some of the biggest names in entertainment and sports. Alex Anderson and Bobby McCurdy provide the creative forces that inspire all that technical wizardry and mechanical know-how. Anderson and McCurdy both worked with Jesse James at West Coast Choppers. How’s that for a reference! Outlaw Motorsports creations have been featured on Discovery Channel’s “Monster Garage” and MTV’s “Pimp My Ride.” There’s virtually no limit to what they can do for your ride, provided you have the time and the cash! Full service can potentially run upwards of $150K and take an entire year to complete. No question, the results are well worth it! MS Las Vegas Real Estate is thinking about sending over a couple of our Avalons for an upgrade. What do you think?

The Palms Hotel in Las Vegas is about as famous as it gets, especially if you’re a hip, relatively young jet-setter with the cash and the brash to come to Vegas and take it all the way. For players on this level, the Palms has amenities that no one in Las Vegas can match. Case in point, The Studio at The Palms. Hell no dude, they don’t do hair and facials there and this isn’t their nightclub either! The Studio is nothing less than a full service multi-million dollar recording facility that works in conjunction with top artists and their labels to provide an experience that takes recording to a whole new level, Vegas style! How serious is this? Just ask Lil’ Jon or Kelly Rowland or Maroon 5. Home-town favorites The Killers have also laid down tracks at The Studio at The Palms. When it comes to the hotel/casino segment of the Las Vegas real estate market, The Palms is right at the top!

Did you know that there was such a thing as the Women’s Professional Football League? Would you believe that the league has 17 teams? At MS Las Vegas Real Estate, we admit that we didn’t have a clue! But now we know, because the Showgirlz are the newest addition to the WPFL and the team calls Las Vegas home! This is no joke. These girls play full-contact tackle football and the rules are the same as the NFL. The roster is a full-scale 45 players and the team plays in the West Division of the American Conference. The home field for the Showgirlz is Valley High School and over 400 fans came out for the season opener on July 29th. Quarterback and team leader Shawna Kennelly is a UNLV graduate with three years of professional experience. Dion Lee is the founder, co-owner and head coach of the team. Does your daughter play sports? Take her to a game! Tickets are just $8 for adults and $3 for kids. Spend an afternoon with the family and support this new professional team as they grow within the Las Vegas community!

Did you ever imagine buying a Las Vegas home in the desert southwest and having the opportunity to cheer for a home-team that skates on ice? The Las Vegas Wranglers, a semi-professional hockey team in the National Conference West Division, play right here in Las Vegas in the Orleans Arena. Originally operated as an ECHL (East Coast Hockey League) expansion team, the Wranglers ended up moving to Las Vegas for the 2003 season. Their NHL affiliation is with the Calgary Flames.

Now ready for their fourth year in Vegas, the Wranglers will skate their season opener on October 20, 2006 against the Fresno Falcons. Here’s more good news for this year, The Las Vegas Wranglers announced in July that the team has agreed to terms with goaltender Marc Magliarditi for the 2006-07 season. How good is this guy? Magliarditi finished second in the league MVP voting for the 2005-06 season. Magliarditi also earned All-ECHL Second Team honors in 2005-06 after finishing second in the league in wins and fifth in goals-against average.

The Las Vegas Wranglers have been absolutely great for the Las Vegas community as well. The Wranglers announced last May that the team helped raise over $50,000 for local and national charities during the 2005-2006 season, as well as donating numerous non-perishable items. Tickets are reasonable and begin at $12.50 for adults and $7.50 for kids! MS Las Vegas Real Estate invites you to enjoy a night-on-the-ice with the Wranglers. The action is fast paced, the fans are enthusiastic and the team is exciting to watch. The Orleans Arena is a great sports venue, one of many in the Las Vegas Valley!

When most people think of Las Vegas and sports, they think about the sports books in most of the major casinos in Las Vegas. What many people don’t realize is that a total of three semi-pro sports teams call Las Vegas home. We have a great minor league baseball team, a cool (get it?) hockey team and a bang-up arena football team. Let’s start with the baseball story, but stay tuned for more information about hockey and football in the coming weeks.

The Las Vegas 51’s (formerly the Las Vegas Stars), an affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, play their AAA minor league season right here in Las Vegas. Currently in their 23rd season, the 51’s play ball at Cashman Field, located in downtown Las Vegas. The original Las Vegas Stars opened up Cashman Field in 1983 as a AAA team for the San Diego Padres. The LV Stars played Vegas for 18 years (longer than Elvis!), until the affiliation with the Padres came to an end in 2000. The Los Angeles Dodgers stepped up to the plate (what a pun!) for the 2001 season, and a new name was given to the ball club, the Las Vegas 51’s.

The logo is the number ‘51′ with an alien’s head in the lower half of the ‘5′. The alien logo bears a striking (not another pun!) resemblance to the same green guys that are most commonly associated with Area 51, where the government secretly keeps all the aliens!

For the 2006 season the 51’s have a new manager, Jerry Royster. He managed the Vegas minor league team once before. He was originally with the Las Vegas Stars from 1996-1998. At MS Las Vegas Real Estate, we’re counting on Jerry to manage a successful and entertaining baseball team. The 51’s need solid local support to hoist themselves up to the top of their division! Tickets are available on-line and start at seven dollars for General Admission on up to twelve dollars for Field Level seats. Come spend an afternoon or evening at the park!

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas! This is especially the case for one of the newest targets for party-marketing in recent Las Vegas history, the wild and crazy bachelorette party scene. Bachelor parties have been a staple of the Las Vegas experience for as long as anyone can remember. Now it’s time for the girls to have their fun as well! There is no shortage of venues available for Las Vegas bachelorette activity. Women have a choice of half a dozen different male review shows to choose from. Party consultants are all over this one, with plenty of ideas about where to go and what to do. Anecdotal evidence suggests that bachelorette parties are now 30-40% of their business. This is a craze that’s here to stay……in fabulous Las Vegas!

The “High Roller” rollercoaster that wraps around the Stratosphere at 111 stories has been closed since January. Recently, construction crews have been taking the track apart in pieces at night! Have you seen those nocturnal daredevil dismantling crews up there? Talk about a job with a view! What are they making way for? How about a 6,880 square foot nightclub with a revolving outdoor deck and VIP Sky Boxes! Yup, that’s the plan. The Stratosphere just keeps on trying to reinvent itself into something that works and makes sense. Next up, 360 degree dancing at 900 feet! MS Las Vegas Real Estate has spent some time at the Top of the World Restaurant on the 109th floor and we can see the appeal of the idea. We’ll send our next report from a skybox at the club!

Transportation in Las Vegas is big business. Just look at all of the Limousines and Taxis running up and down the strip 24 hours a day. There are probably thousands of Limousines and cabs on the strip at any given moment, considerably more on a weekend night.

Someone has got to be making a ton of money off of this wouldn’t you think? Of course they are! But probably not who you think! The people making the SERIOUS money (pure profit with ZERO expenses) are the REAL transportation power brokers in Las Vegas: The Doormen. You know, the loud guys standing next to the cab line in front of the hotel dressed in the funny looking uniforms, big hats, and white gloves which are always outstretched in your direction looking for money.

First off, don’t confuse the bellmen with the doormen, the bellman are the ones who carry your baggage to and from your room. Most doormen wouldn’t be caught dead doing this, they have much more important business to take care of outside the hotel, making money!

To understand how how and why doormen make so much money off of transportation in Las Vegas, you first have to understand the dynamics which go on in front of practically every hotel/casino in Las Vegas. The doormen control everything that occurs outside the front door of the hotel. EVERYTHING. A doorman personally opens EVERY cab and limousine door the hotels guests get into. This goes well beyond just giving good service to the guests leaving the property. By personally escorting EVERY guest into a cab or limousine, the doormen essentially control what form of transportation guests use to leave the hotel.

Doormen do NOT want guests leaving the hotel in taxi cabs. If a guest leaves in a taxi, the doormen aren’t making any money. Even though you might give the doorman a dollar or two for opening the cab door, he still is not happy. He might have received 100 dollar bills during his shift from people just like you, just for opening up the cab door. That $100 is pocket change for him. The doormen make the REAL money from working the cab line, talking to the guests waiting to get into cabs. The longer the doormen can make people wait in the cab line, and the longer the cab line becomes, the more money the doormen are about to make. Doormen are notorious for putting people into taxi cabs real slowly, to keep the line long.

The two or three doormen working out front do this together, working as a team. They do this so the doormen not loading the guests into cabs can work the cab line talking to everyone in it. They appear to be real friendly people, asking how you are doing, how you are enjoying your stay, and most importantly where you are headed this evening. All the while they are sizing you up. Do you appear to have money? Are you with your wife or girlfriend? Are you part of a large group all going to the same place? Are you part of a bachelor or bachelorette party? Are you going to a strip club (a doorman’s dream!)? Once they have this information they will always then try and sell you on the idea of travelling to your destination in either a limousine or a “super stretch luxury SUV or hummer”. They even promise to get you a “super good price, just a little bit more expensive then riding in a cab”. More often then not, they will even tell you the price right there on the spot. If you are heading to a strip club, they often will tell you that you can ride in that big beautiful H2 Hummer parked at the curb FOR FREE, as long as it drops you off at the strip club of your choice!

This is how the doormen make the vast majority of their money (some people have overheard doormen at major strip hotels brag about making $5000 PER WEEK IN CASH!). Every time they load you into a regular or SUV limousine they are given 20% of the total price you paid for the ride by the limo driver. So if the doorman quoted you a price of $50, the limo driver gives the doorman $10 for setting up the ride. If the doorman is REALLY lucky and you and your 20 friends are going to a strip club, he might still try and sell you the super stretch Hummer H2 limo ride for $100. If you balk and tell him you will just take cabs, he will ALWAYS give you the limo ride for free. Here’s why: Strip clubs in Las Vegas pay taxi and limo drivers $20 per head, YES TWENTY DOLLARS PER HEAD, for each and every customer they deliver to the front door of the strip club in their vehicle. Twenty guys getting out of a Hummer H2 limousine, multiplied by $20 per head, is $400. The limo driver has to give HALF of this money to the doorman. That’s $200 each!

Limo drivers HATE having to give this money to the doormen. But if they don’t, the doormen will NEVER load that limo driver with passengers again. He will never get another ride from that hotel again. For all intents and purposes limo drivers are held hostage by the doormen, they can’t make a living without them. Either pay the extortion or don’t make any money, that’s the limo drivers dilemma. Cab drivers (some of the hardest working and honest people in Las Vegas) also hate this practice. Whenever a doormen diverts customers going to a strip club from a cab (cab drivers do not kick back money for rides or strip clubs to doormen) to a limousine the cab driver loses money. Cab drivers and doormen are usually at each others throats over this issue. Cab drivers feel that doormen are stealing money from them by engaging in the practice of diverting customers from cabs to limousines.

So, the next time you are in line in front of your favorites casino with 20 of your closest friends heading out for a night of strip club hopping, and the doorman asks you where you are going, tell him the truth. Tell him exactly where you are going. When he starts drooling, you know you have him hooked. Tell him you want a free ride, AND you want half his strip club kickback. Tell him to hand you $100 in cash right there on the spot and you’ll LET HIM load you and your friends into a big stretch SUV limo. The funny part is he’ll do it. Funnier yet is watching him cry as he is handing you the money!

Yeah yeah, I know…..Mother’s Day was a few weeks ago. I’m a little late.

But I just ran across this “Mother’s Day Video” two sons we’re making for their mother. It’s classic!

Click here to watch the video for yourself, just make sure to turn the volume up so you can hear it.

Any of you who have a brother or sister around the same age as you will definitely think this looks familiar!

Where I come from, directions might be given like this: “Turn right on Main St, keep going for about a mile then take a left at the light on Town Rd. At the second stop sign take a right, and the building is the third one on the left.” The residents of Las Vegas have a slightly different way of giving directions!

In Las Vegas, it’s more likely to go like this:
“Head south on Las Vegas Blvd for 5.27836 miles past the Mandalay Bay, then turn east on Silverado Ranch. Keep heading east, until you reach Maryland Parkway. Then turn south. The store is on the west side of Maryland Blvd.” I’m not exaggerating!

The first time someone gave me directions this way, I was like, what the #$%^ are you talking about? North where? South on what? What is the matter with you people!

If you’re new to Las Vegas, get used to it. This is the way EVERYONE gives directions. Everything is by the compass! It really starts getting confusing when they start throwing in terms like “south-east corner of Rainbow”. But don’t worry, after you have been CONDITIONED to think like this (yes it’s definitely conditioning / brainwashing / mind alteration however you want to think of it) it doesn’t take long to get into the “Las Vegas” way of giving directions.

Maybe I can help speed up the learning curve a little bit. When I first came to Las Vegas a friend gave me a quick primer on how to start thinking like a compass.

Let’s start with Las Vegas Blvd, parts of which are also known as “The Strip”. This is basically the center of the universe in Las Vegas. Las Vegas Blvd runs North and South. Basically, everything on the east side of Las Vegas Blvd is known as “the east side of town” and everything to the west of Las Vegas Blvd is known as “the west side of town”. Easy right?

OK, lets add in some of the major arteries which cross The Strip. Let’s start at the south end of The Strip (subliminal conditioning taking place). The first major road which bisects The Strip is Tropicanna Ave, heading east and west. The MGM Grand, New York New York, Excalibur, and Tropicanna casinos all lie at the four corners of Las Vegas Blvd and Tropicanna Ave. The next major road to cross the strip is Flamingo Ave, also heading east and west. Caesars Palace, Barbary Coast, Bellagio, and Ballys all lie on the corners of Las Vegas Blvd and Flamingo Ave. We have a great map which shows the strip and it’s main arteries here.

That’s it! What you just learned are the building blocks for getting ANYWHERE in the entire Las Vegas Valley. Within a few months you’ll be giving directions that would make any cab driver in Vegas envious.

So, the next time someone asks you how to get from the Thomas and Mack Arena to the Bellagio, your answer might go something like this: “Head west on Tropicanna Ave, then turn North on Las Vegas Blvd. The Bellagio is on the west side of Las Vegas Blvd. Turn west into the driveway of the Bellagio. Valet parking is right at the front of the hotel.”

Just remember to tip the valet $20 for a good spot!

The Las Vegas Review-Journal recently conducted it’s annual Best of Las Vegas reader’s poll. This is serious business for Las Vegas business establishments. Winners are very aggressive about letting their customers know that they have been chosen. This year’s survey was especially anticipated due to the arrival of Wynn Las Vegas. Despite this fact, Bellagio again took top honors for the best Strip Hotel. Best coffee in Las Vegas? Yup, it’s Starbucks. The best burgers in Las Vegas? In-N-Out burger blows away the competition. If you don’t have one in your part of the country, grab a cab on your next visit and tell the driver…..hit the In-N-Out drive thru! Angel Park took top honors as the best public golf facility and it’s The Orleans if you like to bowl! Pure at Caeasar’s was without question the coolest club and Ghost Bar was rated the hottest place for singles. Andre Agassi is our most popular local celeb and Ben Affleck is our favorite celebrity tourist. Who was voted the worst celebrity tourist? Paris Hilton…Yikes!

What do you get when you mix 65 college basketball teams, St. Patrick’s Day, thousands of bachelor/bachelorette parties, NASCAR, spring break and blackjack? Answer? A truly incredible month of partying, clubbing and gambling…..Las Vegas style! In 2005, the busiest month of the entire year on the Las Vegas Strip was March! I’m betting that we do it again this year. There is simply no place on the planet to experience March Madness Hoops like a Vegas casino sports book. The Nextel Cup Series was a huge success again this year. Hotel occupancy rates are running at a ridiculous 98-99% for the rest of the month. It seems as if there are as many limos on the strip as cabs! The nightclubs are packed and the gaming revenue projections are just off the charts. This kind of frenzied activity reverberates throughout the valley. Local restaurants are doing very well and the malls seem to be more crowded than ever. The Sterling Team at Red Rock Canyon Realty is busy showing property on a regular basis and the market for Las Vegas homes is holding steady. Only one problem, it’s cold by Vegas standards…and we even had a dusting of snow this month!

The MS Las Vegas Real Estate Blog has been a big fan of the Hard Rock for years! As if you haven’t already heard, the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas is for sale! Peter Morton is finally ready to cash in his chips. He’s a super cool guy, but at 60 years old, how much longer can he do this? What would you think that Las Vegas Real Estate of this caliber would go for? If you’re not talking $750 million, you’re not in the conversation. Word around the neighborhood indicates that plenty of players are absolutely in the conversation. I’m betting on The Rank Group, the same guys that bought all his HR Cafe’s west of the Mississippi a number of years ago for over $400 million. They certainly understand the brand, but then again, baccarat ain’t burgers, so we’ll see.

The Bureau of Land Management just conducted a real cowboy round-up of wild horses in the desert just outside Las Vegas! That’s right…37 wild horses were corralled by real cowboys from Utah and safely domiciled at Oliver Ranch in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area! No, it wasn’t done as part of a movie shoot! A major brush fire last year wiped out much of the food supply that the horses would be counting on for survival in the coming months. So the cowboys rounded them up…wild west style! Next they will be transported to a wild horse facility in California for an extended stay. But before that happens, 16 will be carefully selected to return to the free-roaming range to keep the existence of the herd in tact. Pretty cool stuff…and a real wild west story.

Las Vegas real estate agent Alex Smith has a great story to tell! In his own words….check this out! You’re not going to believe this one. Well, maybe you will. I was checking up on one of my rental properties last weekend and thought I would change the air filters. It’s a vacant property…ready to move in…available for rent in the north end of town off of Loosse Road. Dual masters upstairs, plus two additional bedrooms with walk-in closets and a huge down stairs living room that opens into an airy kitchen that’s loaded with all the appliances you would need. $1395 a month (will consider lease option). In any case…that’s my plug for the rental! Now for the story….which takes place upstairs. I went upstairs to change the filters and noticed that the laundry-room door was shut. Now…may calls have been coming in asking to view the property, so I figured that it was just a Realtor showing the property that shut the door. So I finished my little project and then proceeded to go over the laundry room to open the door. WELL, to my surprise, the laundry room (fully equipped with a washer and dryer by the way) was not….how should I say this…ummm vacant? I seemed to have a little friend that was not paying rent! A BIRD FLEW OUT AT ME AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED…RACED TO THE WINDOW AND SLAMMED INTO IT. Well, after I composed myself…I somewhat gracefully (bull in a china shop) went over to the bird, picked him up and opened the window and let him fly out. NOW, what I want to know is if you go to show another agents’ listing and a bird flies in the window…wouldn’t you think to call the listing agent and say something instead of letting a bird hang out in the laundry room?? Hmmmmm…maybe not. In any case….the moral of the story is…if you go into a house with a closed door…have a net ready?Alex Smith is a member of The Sterling Team at Red Rock Canyon Realty. He can be contacted for bird removal and all things real estate at alexs@rrcrealty.com or by calling 702-296-3190. The Sterling Team is your trusted advisor in the market for Las Vegas homes of all shapes and sizes! Give us a call at 888-349-2595.www.mslasvegasrealestate.com

Regular readers of the MS Las Vegas Real Estate Blog know that the market for Las Vegas luxury homes has exploded over the past five years. Here’s another sure sign that Las Vegas has arrived as a high-end residential destination on par with south Florida and southern California. Lamborghini has just opened a full-service dealership in Las Vegas. Believe me, they didn’t open this facility to sell cars to tourists. Located at 7770 Dean Martin Drive, Lamborghini Las Vegas is primed and ready to cater to owners of Las Vegas luxury real estate. You wouldn’t believe how many Las Vegas homes have four garages or more! MS Las Vegas Real Estate is well-versed in the luxury market. Put our skills and experience to work for you.www.mslasvegasrealestate.com

Here’s a sweet holiday treat for owners of Las Vegas homes. Ethel M Chocolates is located here in the Las Vegas valley and how lucky we are for this! Las Vegas chocolate lovers of all ages are invited to share the holiday spirit at the Ethel M Chocolate Wonderland! The fun starts on November 17th and continues on through the new year. Santa will be there, local choirs will sing and Ethel M will be demonstrating their special methods for making amazing chocolate creations. Call 800-438-4356 for more information. Maybe we should bring our clients by and see if they would like a Las Vegas home made of gingerbread and chocolate! MS Las Vegas Real Estate will definetly be making a visit to the display!

First there was the famous MTV “Real World” Suite at The Palms, home to decadence and debauchery that would make MTV blush since the show ended and the real parties began. Now The Palms Hotel is about to slam dunk Las Vegas with the 347-room Fantasy Tower, a $600 million monument to everything cool that includes the world’s only luxury hotel suite with an indoor basketball court! The two-level, 10,000-square-foot “Hardwood Suite” comes with a locker room, scoreboard, pool table, poker table and dance floor. Las Vegas luxury real estate of the casino-resort variety just keeps pushing the envelope, and why not? In Las Vegas anything is possible! MS Las Vegas Real Estate is right in the middle of the action. Dial the phone…888-349-2595. We’ll show you some incredible Las Vegas homes.www.mslasvegasrealestate.com

We’re serious…the Nevada Gaming Commission has officially approved plans for a Las Vegas casino based on the Hooters business model. The San Remo Hotel (across the street from the MGM Grand) is slated to be transformed into everything Hooters to the tune of $65 million. The Hooters Hotel is scheduled to open in early February 2006. Football celebrity Dan Marino will be opening an up-scale restaurant in the facility. It should prove an interesting experiment…after all….no one has tried the provocative approach in Las Vegas before! MS Las Vegas Real Estate will check out Dan Marino’s place and let you know. Thinking about Las Vegas real estate for investment or vacation purposes? Consult with The Sterling Team at Red Rock Canyon Realty. Give us a call at 888-349-2595.www.mslasvegasrealestate.com

Less than a month after wrapping-up (no pun there, really) their amazing run at the Luxor Pyramid, Blue Man Group officially made their debut at The Venetian Hotel with a brand new show and also introduced their new theater! The Blue Man Group now has it’s very own 1,760 seat theater and it’s almost scary to think what these crazy guys might do with it! If you can do something really bizarre with a Gondola, expect the Blue Men to try it. MS Las Vegas Real Estate salutes Blue Man Group and wishes them the very best!www.mslasvegasrealestate.com

I’m sure that you’ve heard by now about Ivana Las Vegas, the 923 foot $500 million tower being developed at Las Vegas Blvd. and Sahara Avenue. It seems that Ivana is confident enough about success that she’s willing to step up to the plate and make a purchase. 487 units were secured on Sunday at the sales debut of these new Las Vegas luxury homes, including two purchased by Ivana herself. Construction on Ivana Las Vegas is scheduled to begin next summer and conclude in December 2008. These Las Vegas luxury real estate units will range from 500 square feet to 1,900 square feet, and a penthouse will include 20,000 square feet of space. Prices will range from $550,000 for a one-bedroom home to $35 million for a penthouse with nine bedrooms and a recording studio. Amenities at Ivana Las Vegas homes will include a pool and spa, a gym, a Zen garden, a business center, an ultralounge and a coffee shop. Contact MS Las Vegas Real Estate for more information at 888-349-2595.www.mslasvegasrealestate.com

Last year, Las Vegas hosted more than 1.56 million overseas travelers, a 20.6 percent increase over 2003, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Travel and Tourism Industries. What do these numbers actually mean? It means that we are incredibly popular compared to other US cities as a foreign tourist destination. In fact, Las Vegas ranked #7 in the entire country! Yup, NYC took top honors and Los Angeles was number two for reasons I’ll never understand. But hey, we’ll take the #7 spot and the cities still ahead of us better watch out! Luring more overseas travelers here is key to the LVCVA’s stated goal of drawing 43 million visitors to Las Vegas by 2009. That year, it hopes nearly 6.5 million international travelers will visit the city annually, up from last year’s estimated 4.5 million. Also on the rise is overseas interest in Las Vegas homes as an investment and/or vacation property. MS Las Vegas Real Estate is your local partner and experienced guide in every aspect of the Las Vegas real estate market.www.mslasvegasrealestate.com

The Las Vegas Monorail had a record breaking month in July! The monorail carried 1,020,796 people last month, for an average of 32,928 riders per day. July was also the monorail’s second-best revenue month ever. Farebox receipts last month totaled $2,945,701, for a daily average of $95,022. Don’t get too excited though…this thing cost $650 million and is still nowhere near covering it’s overhead. Maybe an extension to the airport would help, who knows? One thing is for sure, reliability is a key component to this puzzle. If the monorail starts working consistently and reliably, it can only help things. MS Las Vegas Real Estate would like to see the project succeed financially as well as mechanically, but we’re just not sure on either score.