Category Archive : Property Management

LAS VEGAS, NV – According to a new report released by industry group Construction Coverage, the median apartment rent – that is, the number smack dab in the middle of the average – in the Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas metro area is just over $2,100 per month, making it the 20th-highest in the United States currently. 

The median apartment rent in Vegas is presently $2,107, which illustrates the steady increase in cost-of-living expenses in Southern Nevada recently. However, the region remains far more affordable than many other major metros in the nation.

In particular, the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro area in California came in at the very top of Construction Coverage’s report, with the median apartment rent there hitting an astonishing $3,811.

Construction Coverage pulled the data used in their report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau, and the following is a rundown of the median rental rates for a variety of apartment types in Las Vegas, from the cheapest to the most expensive.

• Median rent among all apartment types: $2,107
• Median rent for a studio apartment: $1,424
• Median rent for a 1-bedroom apartment: $1,598
• Median rent for a 2-bedroom apartment: $1,894
• Median rent for a 3-bedroom apartment: $2,654
• Median rent for a 4-bedroom apartment: $3,075

In addition, the state of Nevada overall placed 11th in the country with a median rent price of $2,031; this is in contrast to the national median rental rate of $1,865. Meanwhile, the top five states with the highest median rental rates are Hawaii at $2,909, followed by California at $2,803, Massachusetts at $2,461, New York at $2,335, and Washington at $2,295.

According to the report, the number of states whose median monthly rent exceeded $2,000 last year was nine; in 2024, that number increase to 12.

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 – Recently, the Chair of Nevada Democrats’ senior caucus, Donna West, along with Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui (D-Las Vegas), jointly announced that they will be drafting a new rent control bill that they will attempt to make into state law, despite the fact that Republican Governor Joe Lombardo vetoed an identical measure after it landed on his desk during last year’s legislative session.

The proposed legislation – titled AB298 – would limit the amount rent can be increased for senior citizens and individuals with disabilities to 10 percent. In addition, it would also require landlords to reimburse prospective tenants for any unused fees they are charged during the housing application process, such as those charged for conducting background checks if said checks are not, in fact, carried out.

The bill would also mandate landlords to list all charges and fees up-front in lease agreements.

The proposed bill is exactly the same as the one Lombardo gave the ax to in 2023 – then titled SB275 – after it had been approved by both the Nevada Senate and Assembly. The governor defended his veto at the time, claiming that rent control could result in housing shortages, less property maintenance, and lowered government property tax revenue.

Jauregui, however, said that the rising rents in Southern Nevada are causing financial hardship for many residents, and that rent control is one way to combat affordability concerns.

Over the past few years, housing costs in Nevada have skyrocketed, pushing too many people to the brink,” she said. “Every Nevadan is being priced out. One of the things that I heard when I was going door to door was, ‘Hey, I’m applying for a place and I’ve applied for 10 places, which is $100 per application, which is $1,000 that just ate into my security deposit.”

According to Rent.com, the current average apartment rent in Las Vegas is $1,288 per month, which represents a 0.6 percent decrease year-over-year; this number is 17 percent lower than the national average of $1,558.

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 – While still generally far more affordable than most other areas of the country, the cost of living in Las Vegas has come under scrutiny recently amid surges in both house prices and rent, but a new survey released by real estate company Redfin indicates that a recent increase in the number of housing units available on the market has led to a corresponding decrease in the amount of money that tenants are paying their landlords each month.

While not all renters are experiencing a drop in what they pay, many reportedly are; when Las Vegas Valley resident Erin Bernot was queried in a local media report, she noted that while her monthly payment had recently risen by nearly 20 percent – prompting her to move to a more affordable place – some friends of hers had experienced a significant drop.

I have been pretty much priced out. If I wanted to do another year lease, they wanted to raise it over 19 percent,” Bernot said, then relating the good deal her friend was offered in contrast to her own.

When he renewed his lease over on Flamingo (Road) here, they dropped his rent like $150,” she said.

Real Estate Advisor Ana Jaramillo, when asked for her assessment of the current situation in Southern Nevada, said that the entire region is an intricately intertwined financial ecosystem, with all aspects of it feeding into and influencing one another.

Ultimately, however, she said that increases in available housing supply have resulted in a recent downward trend in terms of rental prices.

The rental market affects the housing market as a whole. It’s all kind of intertwined,” Jaramillo said. “We have a lot of houses on the market right now to rent. So therefore, the prices of those rental properties have gone down.”

The median rent price for homes and apartments in the Las Vegas Valley in September was $1,475, which represents a 1.5 percent drop from August, according to a recently-published a study by Redfin; nationally, that drop was just 0.5 percent.

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 U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has stepped-up enforcement of a federal civil rights law known as the Fair Housing Act that prohibits housing discrimination based on race or color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status or disability.

In particular, the DOJ is focusing on an aspect of the Fair Housing Act that was added in 2016 by the Obama Admin’s U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that forbade landlords and property owners from utilizing background checks to screen prospective tenants to ensure they do not have criminal records before allowing them to rent their properties.

At the time that the ban on criminal background checks was instituted, the HUD General Counsel at the time, Helen R. Kanovsky, wrote that the new rule was needed – even if no discrimination whatsoever was intended on the part of a property owner – “because of widespread racial and ethnic disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system, criminal history-based restrictions on access to housing are likely disproportionately to burden African Americans and Hispanics.”

Recently, the feds have ramped-up their efforts to aggressively pursue landlords in the instances that this practice has been alleged to have occurred, filing lawsuits against them. One recent example involves legal action taken against Suburban Heights, an apartment complex in Kinloch, Missouri, with the DOJ claiming that management has been actively violating the Fair Housing Act since 2015 by actively and disproportionately discriminating against potential Black renters with criminal histories – including felony convictions – more than their White counterparts.

The DOJ further noted statistical Black-White racial disparities in conviction and incarceration rates in the United States, saying landlord background screenings unfairly hurt Black renters once they have served their time and are looking to re-enter society.

Incarceration data indicates that Black individuals are significantly more likely than White individuals to have the types of convictions covered by Suburban Heights’ Criminal History Ban,” the DOJ said in court documents. “This is true nationwide and, to an even greater extent, in St. Louis City and St. Louis County. Black individuals are at least four times, and often more than five times, more likely than White individuals to be incarcerated in prisons, both at any given point in time and over the course of their lifetimes.”

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 – Short Term Rentals are very much in demand in areas that feature popular tourist destinations, and with one of the most visited cities on Earth – that being Las Vegas, of course – Nevada is no exception. Coupled with the age-old adage that demand sets price – Nevada is home to some very costly STR listings, with two properties in particular ranked among the most expensive in the United States.

BestBrokers has published the results of a study that examined seven-night Airbnb stays throughout the country during July 2024 – which is considered to be the peak rental month – in order to determine the priciest ones in the nation. Variables in the study included the type of property, cost per night, maximum guest capacity, the number of bedrooms and baths, and what amenities were on offer.

Nevada had an Airbnb that came in third most expensive on the list: Zephyr Cove’s Sierra Sunset Estate, which is located on 24 acres of lakefront property with a private dock and a 150 square-foot beach. The residence itself comes in at 16,703 square-feet and has eight bedrooms, eight-and-a-half bathrooms, and a maximum guest capacity of 16 people. It also boasts numerous high-end amenities, such as a private theater, exercise room, wine cellar, game room with a bar, and a gourmet kitchen with a butler’s pantry.

The cost for all this? An eye-popping $39,563 per night; if filled to the maximum number of guests who all agree to split the cost evenly, they each would be shelling out $17,309 for each night for their stay.

The second Nevada-based STR on BestBrokers’ list was ranked 16th costliest in the country, and that entry is a waterfront estate in Glenbrook on Lake Tahoe called Villa Harrah. The property is a 20,000 square-foot residence with seven bedrooms and seven-and-a-half bathrooms, and can accommodate up to 10 guests at a time.

Amenities are plentiful, including a full cinema, wet bar, and pool table to a deluxe spa with a sauna, hot tub, salt room, and even a nail and hair salon. A large terrace leads to a pool, a beach and private pier.

The cost per night for this property is an incredible $23,171; contrast that with the average national cost of a nightly rental – $216 – and you clearly see these two Nevada listings are indeed for those with fat wallets only.

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 – Today, many are turning to the short-term rental field in order to either make a living or simply get a few bucks via a side hustle, and often these individuals are managing properties via short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo that they own at locations outside of the state in which they reside.

Obviously, this can cause some logistical issues, especially when it comes to monitoring the properties they are renting out; this is especially true when hosts want to ensure that their guests are not holding unruly parties in their residences, potentially causing damage and drawing the ire of local neighbors and authorities.

That being said, many short-term rental owners are now turning to technology to remotely “party proof” their properties as a means of protecting their investments; this article will give a brief breakdown of some effective systems for your consideration.

Often short-term rentals are located in residential neighborhoods, and with that being the case it’s important to remain on good terms with the local community. Because of that, you may want to put safeguards in place to ensure that your guests are not disturbing surrounding houses with loud music or partying late into the night. One way of doing so without invading your guest’s privacy is by installing a Minut noise monitor, which alerts you only if the noise exceeds a specified level, allowing you to immediately contact guests and get ahead of any potential complaints from neighbors.

A Ring doorbell camera is also an effective way to remotely monitor your property to ensure that a steady stream of rambunctious party guests aren’t filing in and out of your property at all hours of the night. Such a system can also provide valuable evidence in the event you need to file a claim with Airbnb or Vrbo over damages caused by party guests.

In addition, some guests can incur excessive utility bills if left unchecked, especially when partying; a Nest smart thermostat can effectively prevent that, allowing you to remotely control the temperature in your property, setting it on a schedule that still allows guests to adjust it within a predetermined range. Likewise, you can also control pool and hot tub temperatures via the Pentair app, but unlike the Nest thermostats, guests have no manual control and must contact the host for adjustments.

And finally, hosts can ensure they are properly regulating their rental pricing structure using revenue management platforms such as Beyond, which utilizes up-to-date algorithms to optimize nightly rates on all their vacation rental platforms, ensuring they are charging appropriate rates around busy holiday times to maximize profit.

Short-term rentals can be a significant source of revenue, but they can also be a significant headache if you’re not properly prepared. But utilizing some of these apps and systems can go a long way to streamlining the process of remote property management, allowing you to enjoy the extra income your rental is providing to you.

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 this week by Hotel News Resource (HNR) has placed Las Vegas, Nevada among the very top cities in the United States when it comes to the highest return on short-erm rental investments.

The U.S. has become one of the most sought-after vacation destinations in the world in recent years, and the growth of the short-term rental market can attest to that fact, having increased a whopping 53 percent between June 2022 and June 2024, HNR says.

HNR examined each of the 25 cities in their report based on numerous metrics, including both the possible income derived from rentals and how much it typically costs to purchase properties to, in turn, rent out. They selected only cities with a significant number of properties – in this case, 10,000 or above – potentially available for investment.

But while any investment comes with the risk of loss, HNR’s study narrowed down the top 25 cities where investors saw the highest Revenue Per Available Rental (RevPAR) levels, with Las Vegas coming in with an impressive showing at number 15 overall.

RevPAR is the revenue generated by a property, given its average degree of availability in a given period of time; for example, if you are renting a house out on a short-term basis and a tenant occupies it for half of a month for a price of $200, the RevPAR would be $100.

Ultimately, RevPAR is the most important metric when it comes to determining the return on investment (ROI) potential of any property or market, experts say, and Las Vegas has performed strongly in that regard for many years now; its RevPAR ranking in the HNR report – again, where it placed 15 out of 25 overall – was $149.81.

Seaside cities performed the strongest in HNR’s report, with Lahaina, Hawaii coming in first with a RevPAR of $419.15, whereas Sarasota, Florida ranked last at 25th with $129.69.

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 – For decades, the resort industry has dominated the Las Vegas economy, with glitzy and glamorous hotels providing convenient opportunities for visitors and tourists to enjoy the many casinos and entertainment options lining the famed Las Vegas Strip and its surrounding areas. However, the advent of short-term rentals – via services such as Airbnb and Vrbo – have had an impact on the Vegas resort industry, but has it been a positive or negative one?

According to University of Nevada, Las Vegas College of Hospitality professor Amanda Belarmino, the relationship between the resort and short-term rental industries in Vegas is far from adversarial; in fact, she noted, the two actually compliment each other quite well, as they each attract very different customer bases.

“(Short-term rentals) serve underserved markets. Families are not well served by traditional hotels or by traditional hotel casinos in Las Vegas,” she said. “Many of [them] are people that are relocating here. That’s not a person that you necessarily want in a casino hotel because they’re trying to go to work and not going to be gambling, or eating every meal at your restaurant.”

In addition, Belarmino said that the Vegas economy strongly benefits from having short-term rentals operating within its borders, and while they typically are more expensive than a hotel stay, they normally more than make up for it in terms of privacy, accessibility, and the number of amenities on offer.

But if there is any one disadvantage that comes with short-term rentals, Belarmino said, it’s the high number of investors who are getting in on the action who are serving to drive up the prices of homes in the Southern Nevada region.

I think the bigger impact we see is the perceived impact on housing prices, because investors are purchasing the homes instead,” she said. “But we see that in every market that Airbnb goes into.”

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 cost of rent continues to be a hot button topic in Southern Nevada, with the dough tenants are handing over to their landlords each and every month increasing in some parts of the Las Vegas Valley while decreasing in others. But for renters looking to save a few bucks and find a slightly more affordable place to call home, a new study by digital marketplace Zumper sheds some light on where in Vegas they should be looking.

Out of the 100 cities in the nation that Zumper examined as a part of their report, Las Vegas came in at the 67th most expensive in terms of rent, solidifying its status as one of the more affordable places in the United States to live these days. In August, the median price of a one-bedroom apartment in Vegas was $1,210, a 0.8 percent month-over-month increase; in addition, the median price of a two-bedroom apartment in August was $1,500, remaining the same exact cost as the month before.

The Zumper report examined several areas in the Valley with very heavy rental activity – Henderson, Spring Valley, Winchester, Paradise, and the City of Las Vegas – with Paradise having the most expensive one-bedroom median rent at $1,640, followed by Henderson at $1,460, Winchester with 1,220 and the City of Las Vegas at $1,210.

In addition to having the highest median rent, Paradise also had the largest year-over-year rent increase at 9.3 percent, followed by Spring Valley with 7.5 percent. However, some other areas in the Valley examined in the report saw decreases in rent when compared to last year, with Winchester going down 10.9 percent and the City of Las Vegas dropping 3.2 percent.

In addition, the median rent in the City of Las Vegas is approximately $300 lower than the national average, according to the Zumper report.

In contrast, New York has the dubious distinction of having the highest rental prices in the entire United States, with the median price for a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan coming in at a whopping $4,500.

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 – According to a new study released by the Eviction Lab at Princeton University, Clark County, Nevada is among the municipalities with the highest rates of tenant eviction in the nation.

However, Princeton’s study should not be considered 100 percent definitive, said Eviction Lab research specialist Grace Hartley, as its parameters are narrower than more comprehensive efforts would be, with researchers having only tracked 34 major metro areas throughout the country.

But regardless, Clark County ranked among the highest in the areas tracked, although that ranking is not per capita, Hartley noted.

The population of (Clark County) has the seventh-highest rate in terms of pure filing counts,” she said. “And that’s more than a lot of the states we track.”

There have been 190,133 eviction filings in Clark County since March 2020, which represents a 21 percent jump from the amount seen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic; in 2024 alone, there have been 51,782 filings so far – an increase of 42 percent from pre-pandemic levels – and 4,041 filings in August, a 25 percent increase.

Currently, according to the Eviction Lab, there are approximately 370,204 households being rented in Clark County, with the average monthly rent coming in at about $1,325.

Among the circumstances that attribute to those higher degree of eviction numbers, according to Princeton, is the fact that the process of filing for evictions in Clark County tend to be cheaper and faster than it is in any of the other cities tracked in their study; tenants are only required to be given seven days’ notice by their landlord, and the filing fee with the court is only $71.

In addition, in June 2023, a bill that would have stopped evictions for up to 60 days for renters with pending applications for rental insistence – Senate Bill 335 – was vetoed by Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo, which has also served to increase eviction levels in the state, Princeton says.

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 the end of pandemic-era housing protections, the number of evictions soared nationally and many tenants who failed to pay their rent during COVID-19 – either because of financial issues brought about by the virus, or because they were simply taking advantage of the law for their own gain – found themselves out on the street.

In fact, in 2023, evictions in some U.S. cities increased to over 50 percent higher than they were prior to the pandemic, according to a recent study by the University of Michigan.

While this was a blessing for many cash-strapped landlords who suffered throughout the pandemic, it has led to a new series of issues that many are being forced to face: a growing number of states that are allowing tenants to seal their eviction records in some – and, at times, all – cases, making it difficult for the next individual they rent from to tell if they will be a reliable occupant or not.

The increasing number of states that are passing legislation in favor of allowing tenants to conceal their previous eviction status argue that – regardless of the reason – having an eviction on your record can have a negative impact on acquiring new housing and can contribute to homelessness.

However, many landlords – especially small mom-and-pop property owners with limited means – argue that it is unfair to conceal eviction records from them, given the fact that many were already forced to provide free shelter for an extended time during the pandemic, much to their financial detriment. Not knowing if a new tenant is reliable or not could potentially put them in additional jeopardy, they say.

That being said, can tenants have their eviction records sealed in the state of Nevada? To answer that question, we turn to Nevada Legal Services (NLS), which lays out the details.

Normally, evictions are considered public records, and in the case of Nevada, that is no different. However, there are instances where – due to the passage of Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) 40.2545 in 2022 – courts are allowed to seal a summary eviction case in certain circumstances; sometimes automatically, sometimes when petitioned by a tenant or landlord.

According to NLS, an eviction in the state of Nevada is sealed automatically:

• If the eviction is dismissed.
• 10 judicial days after eviction denied – tenant prevails at court hearing.
• The landlord seeks to rescind the eviction.
• 31 days after Tenant files the Tenant’s Affidavit if Landlord does not file.

In other instances, a tenant must take action to have an eviction sealed; a Stipulation to Seal can be filed if a landlord agrees to seal the eviction, and both parties must sign the form. But if the landlord does not agree to seal the eviction, the tenant must file a motion on their own, which may or may not be granted, depending on the circumstances of the eviction; essentially, they must prove to the court “the interest of justice in sealing the eviction is not outweighed by the public’s interest in access to court records.”

So, in closing, Nevada currently does not have a blanket seal on eviction records; they can be automatically sealed in certain instances, but otherwise tenants are required to petition the court to do so, and they must provide proof to back that petition up or it will not be granted.

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 – After an extended period of time that has left many Las Vegas landlords grumbling and downright angry over the prospects of missed income, unincorporated Clark County has finally begun to issue short-term rental licenses…well, three of them anyway, amid a massive backlog of applicants hundreds deep who have been waiting for over a year-and-a-half to begin legally renting their properties.

The road to this point in time began in 2021, when Nevada passed legislation mandating that cities and counties within the state create regulations and a process for granting licenses for short-term rentals; Clark County would create their own ordinance in Summer 2022, but from there, further progress has been slow.

Cities such as Las Vegas and Henderson have already been issuing licenses and regulating short-term rentals within their confines for some time now, but Clark County only truly got the ball rolling in March of 2023, at which time they held a lottery where the names of over 1,300 prospective applicants were drawn to be reviewed and, if they met the criteria, eventually granted licenses.

However, the process of reviewing and issuing said licenses has turned out to be a long and drawn-out affair, with Clark County officials extending deadlines several times while reviewing qualified applications and allowing them to move forward in the process.

Currently, the applications of over 700 homeowners are still mired somewhere in the licensing process, county officials say.

In the meantime, homeowners have expressed extreme frustration with what they view as the county dragging their feet in granting their licenses, and lament the missed profits they could have amassed if they were able to take advantage of recent large-scale sporting events, such as the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix that took place late last year, which attracted a great many tourists to the city.

One of the homeowners whose license was granted this week was originally drawn as “number 10” in the 2023 lottery, leaving those who drew hundreds higher wondering how much longer they may be forced to wait before they can begin legally renting out their properties.

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.