How I help you buy a home in Las Vegas

Most agents start by showing you houses. That is the fun part, it is the part you called about, and it is the wrong place to start. The buyer who ends up in the right house is almost never the one who saw the most houses. It is the one who knew what the house had to do, knew the real monthly number, and was ready to act the day the right one showed up.

So I start there. Four things, in order. Getting you ready, which means the payment conversation and what you sign with me, before we tour anything. Getting you educated, which means what your money actually buys in this valley right now, before you fall for something out of range. Getting the search aligned, so we look at fewer homes and better ones. And getting the deal locked, from the offer through the inspection, the appraisal, the loan and the keys, run so the ending is boring.

I have sold homes across the Las Vegas valley for 20 years, in Henderson, Summerlin, Southern Highlands, Anthem, Boulder City and North Las Vegas, and I work all of them, so I do not need you to pick a side. When you ask me which house, I will tell you. You get 100 percent of my attention whenever you contact me, and the person you start with is the person who gets you to closing. Here is how it goes.

This is the section that saves people months, and it is the one most agents skip because it is not always what you want to hear. Once we know the real number, I tell you what it buys in this valley right now, neighborhood by neighborhood, and where it does not go as far as you hoped.

A Henderson home and a Summerlin home at the same price can be twenty years apart in age, on very different lot sizes, with very different HOA dues. Southern Highlands often gets you more house than a comparable Summerlin address. Anthem is where the single-story homes are, and they carry a premium because more people want them than there are houses. Boulder City has a handful of homes on the market at any time, and they tend to be older and need something. North Las Vegas and the southwest are where a lot of first homes get bought. None of that is a judgment about any of those places. It is what your number does in each of them, so you can choose with your eyes open.

If this is your first purchase, you also get the process explained once, plainly, in order, before any of it happens. What an inspection is for and what it is not. What an appraisal does. What the HOA package is and why you should actually read it. What closing costs are and who usually pays which ones here. I wrote the whole first-timer's walk-through as an article, so you can read it before we talk and come with questions.

If you are relocating from California or anywhere else, the education is different: how the valley is laid out, why the commute should decide the neighborhood before the amenities do, what the summer power bill really looks like, and how property taxes work here, which is not how most people expect. You cannot make a good decision about a place you have never driven, so I will tell you what to go drive when you visit, and at what time of day.

When you find it, the offer is a strategy, not a form. Price, terms, timelines and what you ask the seller for depend on the house, how long it has been sitting, and what else is out there for you if this one falls through. I write it with you, I explain every line, and I negotiate it myself.

Earnest money. When the seller accepts, your earnest money goes to an escrow company, which in Nevada is usually part of a title company. Escrow holds the money and the paperwork and, at the end, moves everything at once. On the offers I write, earnest money is typically about 1 percent of the purchase price. It is negotiable, and it is your money, sitting in escrow, not the seller's until closing.

Due diligence. The contract gives you a due diligence period, usually 10 calendar days to two weeks on the offers I write, and that is negotiable too. Every deadline runs on calendar days from the last signature. During that window you inspect the house, read the seller's disclosures, and, if the home is in an association, read the HOA resale package the seller is required to provide. Then you decide: ask for repairs, ask for a credit, accept it as it is, or walk. I keep every one of those dates on a calendar and you hear about each one before it arrives. Here is what an inspection usually turns up in a Las Vegas house, so page four of the report is not a surprise.

Appraisal and loan. If you have a loan, your lender orders an appraisal. Most of the time it comes in fine. When it does not, there are a handful of ways to resolve it and you will know within a day. Underneath all of it, the loan is being finalized, and the one thing we control there is answering whatever the lender asks the same day they ask it.

Closing. A few days before closing you walk the house one last time to confirm it is in the condition you agreed to and any repairs were done. Then you sign, in Nevada usually at the title company or with a mobile notary who comes to you, and separately from the seller. The deal closes when the county records the deed and escrow releases the funds, usually the day after everyone has signed and the lender has funded. Then you get the keys, and you will hear from me the week after, not just the day of.

If you are ready to start, or you are not sure whether you are, call or text 702-881-6562 and tell me what the house has to do. This page describes my general process for buyers in the Las Vegas valley. It is not legal, tax or lending advice, and your contract sets your dates and terms.