CNN Money launched its 2008 list of the top 100 best places to live and start a business in the US. This year, the city of Henderson managed to make the list, squeaking in at number 98 (Henderson was in the top 20 in 2006). Several reasons were cited, among these were the accessibility of parks (per capita more parks than any other city in Nevada), good urban planning and city funded business coaching.

With tourism increasing every year, Las Vegas has become a mecca for golfers. Las Vegas boasts some of the most gorgeous and rewarding courses in the world, designed by some of the top legends of the game. Las Vegas saw a boom in golf course communities, starting off with the Las Vegas country club. Here are my choices for the best country club communities in Las Vegas:

1. Spanish Trail - an older community in Las Vegas, Spanish Trail set the standard for country club living in Las Vegas. The community is guard gated with a gorgeous golf course, clubhouse and other amenities. There are several neighborhoods of custom and semi-custom homes along with four neighborhoods of townhomes.
2. Southern Highlands - this new community revolves around the award-winning, members-only golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr. and Robert Trent Jones, Jr. The community has all of the amenities you would expect and housing choices include custom and semi-custom homes from 2,100 to more than 3,300 square feet.
3. Queensridge - this European styled community is home to the Badland golf course designed by 1973 U.S. Open Champion Johnny Miller. The community is unique because it offers luxury homes, luxury condos in the Village and high rise condos at One Queensridge Place.
4. Los Prados - another older community with a unique twist. Approximately half of the neighborhoods in Los Prados are age restricted. Those neighborhoods also have their own amenities like an adult only swimming pool. The community is located just 12 miles from the center strip and is guard gated.
5. Rhodes Ranch - This is probably the most family oriented country club community in the valley. The community boasts a huge water park for residents plus a 35,000 square foot recreation center, tennis courts, basketball courts and a championship links-style golf course.

There are several more gorgeous golf course communities in Las Vegas to choose from. If you are thinking about moving to a country club community in the Las Vegas, there are several communities to choose from all over the valley. Feel free to contact me with your thoughts of what a top community entails and I'll send you listings of the current homes for sale that match your criteria.

It seems that the spotlight on Las Vegas isn't going away any time soon. 21 (currently in theaters) is the story of the MIT students who "broke the bank" at local casinos and next month, the movie "What Happens in Vegas" will be in theaters as well.

On the small screen CSI remains one of the most popular shows on television. Starting April 24th, HGTV's show House Hunters will have a Las Vegas episode featuring Loft 5!  The show will be a kind of behind the scenes look at what people look for when deciding if a home is right for them. The episode will be at 10:30 pm on the 24th with another run at 2:30 am on the 25th and 7:30 pm on May 18th. HGTV is channel 55 on Cox cable.

Loft 5 is located just off of Las Vegas boulevard (south end) near Pebble Road. Construction on the first phases should be completed in the next few weeks.

When you think of the Las Vegas strip with its miles of neon lights and huge television screens you wouldn't associate it with being green. However things on the strip are changing. The Palazzo resort opened at the end of 2007 without a lot of fanfare. That changed last week as the US Green Building Council presented the developer Las Vegas Sands Corp. with a Silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certificate at an award ceremony, making the Palazzo resort the largest “green” building in the world. The $1.9-billion resort is more than four times bigger than any other LEED certified building to date.

The Las Vegas Sands Corp. also received "The Energy Innovator's Award" which recognizes energy-efficient and/or renewable energy technologies, services, or policies pertaining to new construction at the same ceremony.

by Loan Officer Chris Goulart 

Yes, no money down financing is still alive in these days of tightening lending standards!  The Nehemiah program, in conjunction with an FHA loan can help a potential homebuyer obtain a home loan with no money out of pocket.  FHA guidelines state that you must have 3% of your own money into the deal through down payment and closing cost funds, but FHA also allows you to receive a gift that can be used for both your down payment and closing costs. This gift can come from either a family member or a non-profit organization (such as Nehemiah).

Nehemiah is a program that allows the seller to contribute up to 6% of the purchase price.  This contribution can be applied towards the buyer's down payment and closing costs. They charge a small processing fee for this service. This fee can be paid by the seller, buyer, or even the lender. You can also combine that 6% gift with the seller contributing up to another 6% as seller contribution.

Under this program, the seller agrees to pay Nehemiah the amount of the gift at closing.  Nehemiah brings the funds in as a gift, and that money never has to be repaid by the buyer.  There are no income limitations to this program, a buyer only needs to be approved for the FHA mortgage and be working with a seller willing to participate in the program.

Some other benefits of FHA loans include expanded credit requirements, higher loan to values than conventional loans on the market today (up to 97%), and excellent rates.  Additionally, if a borrower does not qualify for the loan with their income, you can add a non owner occupant borrower to the loan to help with the qualification.  This non owner occupant borrower can be a family member or another person whom the borrower can demonstrate a family type of relationship with.

Some recent changes made have opened FHA programs to many borrowers who may not have been able to access them only 6 months ago.  One of the biggest changes has been an increase in the loan limits.  These loan limits are now set county by county, making FHA loans a viable option in high cost areas (such as California).  Take a look at this article for the new loan limits by county for California.  These limits are only temporary for the time being, but there is legislation in the works right now that may extend or make these limits permanent.

FHA offers some great programs for both home buyers and existing homeowners looking to refinance.  FHA was a program created in the depression era to help bailout the housing issues of the 30's.  Once again FHA is poised to become the government's tool to help stabilize the mortgage and housing industry issues we are experiencing currently.

About the author

Chris Goulart is a direct hard money lender for transactions that fall outside of the conventional lending box. He authors a california mortgage blog full of insights into the loan and real estate industry.

One of the major contributors to the job market in Las Vegas is the construction industry. It looks like construction will not be slowing down any time soon. Time-share giant Wyndham Vacation Ownership plans to develop another property in Las Vegas near the Rio. Dubbed the Wyndham Desert Blue, this will be their fifth time-share property in town. Later this month their prior project the WorldMark Las Vegas Tropicana, is scheduled to open (Wyndham has been advertising heavily employment sites). The project will feature 280 units in phase one on a 14.75 acre parcel on West Twain at Dean Martin Drive.

The phase one of the project is slated to open in early 2010. The first phase will have one, two and three bedroom units and 50 suites. Amenities will be the standard fare, pool, computer library (no word yet on whether free internet access will be included), fitness center and recreation room. According to Clark county records, the site has been owned by Wyndham since 2005 and was purchased for $1 million dollars.

High Rise Condos

There is good news for some high rise condo buyers. Today One Las Vegas received its Certificate of Occupancy for tower I and residents can expect to take possession of their condos soon. Tower II is due to be completed in the next few weeks. At build out, One Las Vegas will have four residential towers and two hotel towers located on the front of the property, facing Las Vegas boulevard.

Other projects are coming along as well. Earlier this year, Metreon lofts had their ground breaking party. This is another mixed use project, located in the growing beltway area of West Flamingo being developed by Kennedy Commercial.

Housing Deals

Lennar has been consistantly sending me emails about special pricing, etc for the last month. Right now Lennar is offering special financing, with the first year interest rate of 2.88% fixed for the first, year, 3.88% fixed for the second and 4.88% (5.34% APR) for the life. Of course there are some requirements, including you must put 3% down and have a credit score of at least 580.

Old school Las Vegas more your style? Check out this page about vintage Las Vegas.

If you have been waiting for resale opportunities at Trump Towers, your wait is now over. Units in tower one at the Trump International Hotel and Tower Las Vegas are now popping up. Now is your chance to be able to live in a ultra-luxury condo at the Trump Tower without having to wait.

Despite a downward market, the Trump brand helped ensure near sell out status of tower I in 2006. In April of 2007, a second tower was announced. Sales for tower II are ongoing, so if you prefer to have a unit built to your tastes you still can. Call me at 702-493-8033 for the latest available Trump condos for sale.

The Ninth Annual Pet-a-Palooza is being held at the Star Nursery Fields at Sam Boyd Stadium, this Saturday April 12th, from 10 am to 5 pm. Great fun for the whole family, including your canine members. Admission is $5, kids under three are free and part of the proceeds will be donated to the rescue groups in attendance. There will be contests, children's games, live entertainment, great food and over 50 vendors.

Looking for a special addition to your family? Over 40 local rescue groups will be on hand with great dogs available for adoption.

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This weekend Pulte will be dropping the prices of homes at Flagstone Manor on all models. Some prices will be dropped by over $100,000! In addition, all home buyers will get $10,000 toward closing costs and an additional 10 to 20k in options. Home sizes range from 3,263 sf to 4,270 sf, prices will be lowered to the mid $400,000's.

Call me at 702-493-8033 to schedule a tour of Flagstone Manor. All homes are single story on a half acre lot. As a home buyer, my services to you are free.

The beautiful Boulder Creek golf club is having a demonstration day, Saturday April 12th, from 9am to 2pm. It's a great opportunity to try out some of the best golfing equipment available from the top manufacturers, including Callawy, Taylor Made, Bridgestone, Cleveland, Cobra and Titleist.

See something you like? Attendees are eligible for special discounts on ordering and purchases at the event. Take the short drive out to clean, green Boulder City. Boulder Creek is located at 1501 Veterans Highway, Boulder CIty, NV 89005,