Las Vegas Applicants for Short-Term Rentals Encountering Issues Obtaining Insurance

LAS VEGAS, NV – In addition to delays in the pre-approval process on the part of Clark County and early regulations that were considered overreaching and burdensome by many, the latest hurdle that applicants for short term rentals in the Las Vegas area are encountering is difficulties in obtaining insurance. 

According to Las Vegas insurance broker Tiffany VanTuyl, Clark County’s short-term rental regulations are utilizing uncommon and confusing terminology when it comes to insurance requirements which are causing issues for her clients who are attempting to submit applications. 

The problems, VanTuyl noted, are due to the regulations that specifically state the following: “Evidence of general liability insurance in the amount of at least five hundred thousand dollars per occurrence that indicates the property is used for transient lodging.” 

The complication is with the term “transient lodging,” which VanTuyl said is not utilized in her industry and is causing a roadblock for her clients who are attempting to obtain coverage. 

No insurance company that I’m familiar with uses that term,” she said. “They use either ‘short term rentals’ or ‘seasonal lodging.’ Every company uses different terminology, so it’s not a cookie cutter coverage.” 

VanTuyl stated that she has reached out to Clark County officials about the issue, but claimed that they have been dragging their feet on assisting her with a resolution, frustrating her clients who have already experienced problems with the short-term application process. 

They did say that they wanted it to say a specific terminology and I’ve sent documents from the underwriting department of two different companies, and they have not responded yet,” she said. 

Louis Koorndyk, co-founder of the Greater Las Vegas Short Term Rental Association. said that he has also been experiencing complaints from renters who have attempted to contact the county over the confusing terminology and have often received conflicting information in response. 

Whoever picked up the line at Clark County will say it absolutely has to say, ‘transient lodging,’ it cannot say seasonal,” Koorndyk said. “Then somebody else will make that exact same phone call and get different information, ‘yes, it may say seasonal.’ So, we have this confusion going on.” 

Clark County officials approved approximately 1,200 short-term rental pre-applications in May, allowing those individuals to proceed with the process of acquiring a full rental license. 

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – Construction companies that have been working on the MSG Sphere in Las Vegas claim the company behind the futuristic entertainment venue – which is still under development – owes them millions of dollars in unpaid labor fees, according to a lawsuit filed with the Eighth Judicial District Court of Nevada.

MSG Las Vegas and Platte River Insurance Company of Nebraska are named as defendants in the lawsuit, which has been filed by plaintiffs comprised of Rider Levett Bucknall LTD and 20 unnamed individuals or business entities.

The plaintiffs allege that they had provided construction services for the MGS Sphere valued at approximately $3 million, and that $2 million of that outstanding balance has yet to be paid to them; eventually, they placed a lien against MSG.

Lawyers representing the plaintiffs blame the lack of payment for their clients on James Dolan, CEO of MSG.

There was supposed to be the world’s longest bar in this project,” the attorneys said to the judge overseeing the case. “And they built it and then he came through and deleted it and wanted to take it out. He increased the project cost. Mr. Dolan’s decision against advice increased the project cost and now he’s blaming us for increasing the project costs.”

A Sphere Entertainment spokesperson said, “This story has no merit.”

When completed, the MSG Sphere will be a 400,000-square-foot, 18,000-seat, 366-foot-tall, 516 foot wide, globe-shaped arena – the largest spherical structure on Earth, according to MSG – located on 63 acres of property located behind the behind the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

The exterior of the sphere will feature 36 miles of variable intensity LED lighting – the aforementioned exosphere – enabling the structure to allow outside spectators to peer through a transparent façade to watch the concert within; at higher lighting intensities, outside vision will be obscured.

The attendee capacity of the MSG Sphere will be scalable, MSG Entertainment said, ranging from approximately 17,500 seated to 20,000 with a mix of seated and standing. The venue will typically not feature sporting events, but rather cater to musical performances and concerts; however, the occasional boxing or MMA contest could be held there if needed.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – Clark County will be sending out notices to potential short-term rental applicants following the recent conclusion of a random lottery drawing, with anyone who submitted a pre-application slated to receive their results within eight weeks via certified mail and e-mail; an extended span of time that is causing frustration for many would-be renters.

Among those who pre-applied to run a short-term rental within the confines of Clark County, 1,169 of those applications were deemed as eligible, whereas 137 were declared ineligible.

Among the reasons for failing to qualify as a short-term operator that were cited by county officials included the property being located within 2,500 feet of a resort hotel; being located outside of unincorporated Clark County; being located in an ineligible township; and being located within a building that is classified as a timeshare or vacation home.

Despite the fact that county regulations mandate that all licensed short-term rentals maintain a minimum distance of 1,000 feet from one another, no distance requirements were mentioned after the lottery drawing.

The 1,169 pre-applicants who were successfully drawn in the lottery will be allowed to submit an official application to become licensed as a short-term rental owner operator upon receipt of their notice.

However, the eight-week delay in the notices going out is causing confusion among pre-applicants who are uncertain whether or not to begin making plans for the future, according to Greater Las Vegas Shorter Term Rental Association co-founder Louis Koorndyk.

“The host community is very frustrated with Clark County. They’re trying to make plans; they’re trying to plan their future. They’re trying to figure out, what do we do with this property?” he said. “Expedia has been reaching out to us and asked us questions. They’ve even emailed us saying, look, we’ve seen licensing process put in effect across the country. We haven’t seen anything take this long before.”

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – A new report released by Las Vegas Realtors (LVR) notes that while they still remain below the all-time record high level achieved one year prior in 2022, home prices in Southern Nevada are continuing to creep back up month to month. 

LVR notes that the median price of existing single-family homes sold in Las Vegas during the month of May was $442,120; this represents a 2.8 percent increase from April, when that price was $430,000. However, home prices nonetheless remain 8.3 percent lower from the period in which their all-time record was set, which was $482,000 in May 2022. 

The median price of condominiums and townhomes sold in Las Vegas in May was $275,000, which is a 1.9 percent increase from April but a 3.5 percent decrease year-over-year, when once again the all-time record price of $285,000 for sales of this type was achieved in May 2022. 

According to LVR President Lee Barrett, the steadily increasing prices of homes, condos, and townhomes suggests that the Las Vegas real estate market appears to be on the comeback trail following the recent downturn it had been experiencing. 

Prices have now increased for a couple of months in a row heading into what is usually our strongest selling season,” Barrett said. “It seems safe to say that we’re bouncing back from the bottom of this recent downturn.” 

LVR reported that 3,645 single family homes were listed for sale without any sort of offer at the end of May, which is an increase of 2.1 percent year-over-year. In addition, there were 925 condos and townhomes listed without offers in May, which is a 16.1 percent jump from the same period of time one year prior. 

Currently, Las Vegas has approximately a two-month supply of properties available for sale, which represents a slow and steady crawl towards a more balanced market, experts say, as one year ago the region only had a one-month supply.  

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – Numerous listings for rental properties in Las Vegas are showing that landlords and property managers in increasing numbers are offering various incentives to draw in tenants, a situation that until recently was not the norm. This situation is begging experts to question if Southern Nevada is slowly transitioning into a renter’s market after years of skyrocketing rents and low vacancy,

Kiara Ringgenberg and her boyfriend were moving in April from Helix on Alta Drive to Ely at Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas, and were surprised to discover that their new landlord was only too happy to go out of their way to accommodate their moving schedule.

We were going to move in May since that’s when our lease was ending, but we wanted to move sooner rather than later,” she said. “Ely offered us two weeks of no rent to get us moved in on the timeline we wanted.”

In addition to the free rent, Ringgenberg also noted that Ely now also offers tenants free passes each month to local events that provide food and entertainment, a growing situation in Las Vegas as of late.

Listings for multifamily developments in Las Vegas recently are offering more and more perks to lure in or retain tenants, reports say, such as a free month’s rent or parking, echoing trends that are occurring across the United States.

According to real estate listing company Zillow, approximately 27 percent of rentals who advertise via its platform are offering at least one concession or more, representing a 6 percent increase when compared to the same period of time in 2022.

In Las Vegas rents decreased by 2.2 percent year-over-year during the first quarter of 2023; the average rent in the valley is now $1,430 per month.

According to the Nevada State Apartment Association (NSAA), renters in Las Vegas are currently getting a bit of an edge in the housing market due to high interest rates that have resulted in a “decrease in rent prices with growth in available units.”

Reasons for this shift include upcoming inventory increases, current vacancies and changes in renter patterns,” the NSAA said. “It is not uncommon, when these trends exist in a market, for landlords to offer concessions to renters to incentivize them to renew their lease or to attract new tenants to a unit. These concessions could include a free month of rent, reduced security or rent deposits, upgraded parking or more.”

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – A loophole in Nevada’s tax laws governing real estate that has been typically and regularly utilized over the years by owners of large properties – such as casinos, hotels, and tourist resorts – is edging closer to being closed as state lawmakers recently voted to move a new bill out of committee on Tuesday.

Assembly Bill 448 – sponsored by Rep. Steve Yeager and Rep. Sandra Jauregui, both Democrats – was previously unanimously voted by the Senate Revenue and Economic Development Committee to advance to the Nevada State Assembly. The bill was again approved in that chamber by a unanimous vote, after which it is now to be sent to the floor of the State Senate for a final vote of approval.

The loophole in question has been used for years by large-scale property owners in Nevada – particularly in Las Vegas – to avoid paying real estate transfer taxes; since 2007, property owners have reportedly saved themselves a combined total of $27 million by utilizing this technicality.

“AN ACT relating to taxation; revising the exemption from the real property transfer tax applicable to certain transfers of real property between business entities; and providing other matters properly relating thereto,” reads the bill’s official summary.

If the bill is approved by the State Senate – which experts say is very likely to occur – it will then head to the desk of Governor Joe Lombardo, who is expected to sign the bill into law.

When and if Assembly Bill 448 is indeed passed and becomes the law of the land, it will mandate that the real estate transfer tax is to be paid if the property is transferred to a business entity that was created for the purpose of avoiding those taxes.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – A strikingly unique mansion on sale in the gated Las Vegas community known as The Ridges in Summerlin that features a cobblestone Italian street complete with faux storefronts has sold for nearly $6 million. 

Dubbed “Little Italy” and located at 15 Bright Hollow Court in The Ridges’ affluent gated Azure community, the home was originally listed for $6.5 million, with the eventual sale being finalized on May 30 for $5.9 million to a homeowner currently living in The Ridges. 

The owners of the six-bedroom mansion, Lara and David Stone, spared no expense to create a stunning replica of an Italian street in the backyard of their home, located on a 0.6-acre plot of land. 

Built by the Stones in 2011, the three-story, 9,771 square-foot home features six en suite bedrooms, formal living and dining, an executive office/library with built-ins, a craft room/office and an elevator. 

The backyard has a lightwell in its basement that is located under the backyard, and in an effort to spruce it up in an unusual way, the couple took a suggestion from Lara’s mother to build a European street scene around it. With the Stones having visited Italy multiple times, it seemed only natural to use it as inspiration, they said. 

The result is an ultra-realistic replica of an Italian street – “Via Di Pietra” which translates to “Stone Street” – complete with cobblestone floors, fake storefronts with windows and doors, and quaint little cafe tables. The storefronts, while fake, nonetheless contain rooms behind them, such as a wine cellar and a home theater. 

Other amenities in the house include a pool, an outdoor fire pit, a basketball court. Crestron 4 Smart Home Technology, and a four-car garage and porte-cochere entry. 

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – The Las Vegas estate of National Hockey League (NHL) star Max Pacioretty, a left winger for the Carolina Hurricanes, has sold for an impressive $11 million.

The sale represented two significant milestones for the Southern Nevada region; it is the highest price ever paid for a home in The Ridges – a luxury master-planned community in Summerlin, where Pacioretty’s home was located – as well as the highest price paid for a home anywhere in the greater Las Vegas area so far this year.

Initially starting his career with the Montreal Canadiens, Pacioretty, 34, was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights before the 2018–19 NHL season; although the move reportedly revitalized his career, he was traded to the Hurricanes in July 2022 due to salary cap complications with the Golden Knights, thus necessitating the sale of his Vegas home.

The NHL player’s now-former home in The Ridges is indeed an impressive estate, consisting of a single-story mansion with 10,000 square-feet of living space, situated upon a half-acre plot of land.

The home offers a plethora of opulent amenities, including a Calacatta marble fireplace, wine cellar, personal gym, sauna, screening room, 55-foot pool, fire pit, sport court, an outdoor kitchen, and a built-in hockey practice surface.

The kitchen boasts double islands and a walk-in pantry, and the primary bedroom suite comes with sliding glass doors that allow access to the yard and pool. The bathroom features a soaking tub as well as double showers.

Over the course of his career, Pacioretty has scored 326 goals and accumulated 318 assists; however, Pacioretty is currently sitting out due to an injury he sustained to his Achilles tendon in January.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – Following a committee hearing on Monday for a bill for the proposed Las Vegas ballpark stadium of the Athletics – which recently announced they would be transplanting themselves from California to Nevada – the Southern Nevada Building Trades Union (SNBTU) has publicly shown their support for the project, saying that the construction of the famed MLB team’s new home would benefit the local economy by generating over 5,000 new jobs. 

The A’s recently reached an agreement with Bally’s Corp. to purchase a nine-acre plot of land currently occupied by the Tropicana Resort & Casino, where they will now construct their new stadium. Currently, the plan is to demolish the Tropicana to make way for the A’s stadium – which is slated to take the form of a 35,000-seat retractable roof venue – and to build a new 1,500-room hotel and casino on the remaining acreage.  

SNBTU has launched a new campaign to support the A’s move to Las Vegas, dubbed “A+ Jobs,” which will “educate the community about the positive impact building the stadium would have on Las Vegas.”  

The reason for SNBTU’s support of the A’s move, according to the organization’s Secretary-Treasurer, Vince Saavedra, is that the development of their stadium will allow “SNBTU to expand its roster to put the construction trades to work.” 

Vegas has proven itself as a major-league sports town, so it makes sense for us to add a Major League Baseball team,” he said. “Our roster of skilled construction workers have always built the biggest projects in Vegas and we’re ready to step up to the plate to build the stadium. By showcasing our members on baseball cards, we are highlighting the impact this project will have on jobs and working families in our community.” 

SNBTU noted that the development of the A’s new stadium will create over 5,000 “good-paying” jobs for individuals in numerous trades, including ironworkers, bricklayers, laborers, electricians and more; in addition, its construction would also spur new investment opportunities in Las Vegas, in addition to increasing tourism as well. 

The stadium is projected to spur billions in new investment and bring 400,000 additional visitors to the area each year – all without raising taxes,” Saavedra said. 

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – Currently, Asians and Polynesians are making up some of the fastest growing ethnic groups in Las Vegas, and according to experts they are starting to make a serious impact on the Southern Nevada real estate market. 

With May representing Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, realtor Shane Nguyen – who has worked in the local industry for the past 26 years – said that approximately 12,000 members of the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community are moving to Las Vegas on an annual basis; at the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, there were 335,000 individuals who identified as being AAPI living in Clark County alone. 

Nguyen noted that the reason Vegas is so appealing to AAPI people is because housing prices are more affordable compared to many other large metro areas in the country, with most of the members of the community that are moving here hailing from California. 

The real estate over there is almost three times more than over here so as you can see it is very affordable and it’s close to California,” he said. 

In addition to the more affordable housing, another reason why many AAPI people are moving to Southern Nevada is due to the extremely business friendly climate when compared to neighboring states such as California. This makes for a significant lure to Asians and Polynesians, whom Nguyen noted tend to be very hard-working and entrepreneurial. 

We invite small businesses, we don’t have a corporate tax, personal tax, involuntary tax, we don’t have franchise tax, gross receipt tax, so it makes it very attractive for business owners,” he said. 

As of late, Las Vegas’ Chinatown has been expanding rapidly and the AAPI community has, as a result, been spreading throughout the entire valley, providing significant contributions to the local economy as well as the real estate market. 

We help the real estate market in terms of buying homes, there are many investors out there that are not from Las Vegas or Nevada, and they come from other states to invest here because it is so affordable,” Nguyen said. “Las Vegas is an amazing city it is a melting pot and It welcomes all walks of life.” 

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – Celine Dion has sold her luxurious Las Vegas mansion, located in the affluent Summit Club community, in an off-market deal that netted the world-famous best-selling singer a whopping $30 million.

While the mansion in question has been confirmed to have been owned by Dion, it is currently unknown if the singer behind some of the bestselling English-language albums in history – such as “Beauty and the Beast” and “My Heart Will Go On” – had ever actually moved in to the sprawling estate, which reports say was regularly being worked on by construction companies.

The six-time Grammy Award winner originally purchased the Summit Club home in 2017 for $9.2 million, which makes the $30 million sale a significant return on her initial investment. The deal reportedly closed in late April, with the buyer being an LLC tied to San Francisco-based private equity head Chuck Esserman.

As the property was never actually listed on the open market and was sold as a private transaction, there are few details available about it beyond what is available in Clark County records. The 31,000 square-foot mansion is located upon a 1.4 acre plot of land and has four bedrooms and an incredible 12 bathrooms.

The residence also has a 3,300-square-foot subterranean parking garage and a pool and a spa that overlooks the 12th hole on the Summit Club’s Tom Fazio-designed golf course.

Dion has been regarded as one of the greatest singers in music; with record sales of estimated at 200 million worldwide, she is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, the best-selling French-language artist, and one of the best-selling recording artists of all time.

The guard-gated Summit Club is also home to many other wealthy and powerful individuals, such as Golden Knights owner Bill Foley, motivational speaker Tony Robbins, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, data center mogul Rob Roy, and Hollywood movie star Mark Wahlberg.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – The developer of a new master-planned community in Las Vegas evidently wants to “catch ‘em all,” as new residents are noticing that the streets in the neighborhood are named after characters from the popular Pokémon series of video games and cartoon television shows. 

Serenity Place, an upscale community in Henderson, surprisingly has streets named after numerous well-known “Generation 1” Pokémon critters such as Jigglypuff, Squirtle, Snorlax, Charmander, and Charizard.

Pokémon – an abbreviation of Pocket Monsters – is a Japanese media franchise about fictional creatures called “Pokémon” that are caught, trained, and cared for by humans who use them to battle with other Pokémon and their trainers. The English slogan for the franchise is “Gotta Catch ‘Em All!” 

Andrea Miller, a construction manager at Harmony Homes LLC – Serenity Place’s developer – noted to local media the difficulty of naming streets in Las Vegas. Developers are required to determine the number of streets in a community and then submit double the amount of potential names for those streets to the county in case any of them have already been used, among other concerns.

However, Miller’s sons, aged 11 and 14, are “obsessed with Pokémon” and gave her the idea to name  Serenity Place’s streets after the creatures. There are currently 1,015 Pokémon species, so Miller certainly had plenty of names to choose from. 

“When I hear Jigglypuff, I giggle,” Miller said. “When you’re coming home from work and you had a bad day and you have to turn on Jigglypuff Lane, that will make you smile.” 

Jigglypuff Lane is the main thoroughfare of Serenity Place, Miller said, mainly because it’s her sons’ favorite Pokémon; other street names in the community include Snorlax Lane and Squirtle Lane. 

However, there’s no word on if there’s a street named after the most famous Pokémon of all, Pikachu, which would seem the most obvious choice if you’re pulling names from the series’ vast bestiary.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.