About Darren Hildreth Expertise As Las Vegas real estate experts I am able to answer any questions you may have. I work on a team with hundreds of years of experience in the valley. Please direct all questions relating to Las Vegas Real Estate through me.
Experience My family has been involved in real estate development and sales for decades. I have personally bought, managed, and sold projects including rehab, duplex (rental), single family, etc.
Organizations Specialists Real Estate, Hildreth Barnhill Team
Education/Credentials BS Business Management from Brigham Young University.
Minor Spanish
Expert: Darren Hildreth Date: 1/26/2007 Subject: advice
Question Hello Darren
I am tired of living in this cold and snowy state for 16 years; especially after the deteriorated employment situation that I been through. I am very interested in leaving the state to a place where I can find better work opportunities. In this area 95% of available positions require several years of experience, but I have no experience to get the job; I need to look for other alternatives in other states. Over here education only will not get me a better job. If I have the education, and I don't have experience, no one will hire me.
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The text above is a follow-up to ...
-----Question-----
Hello and Happy New Year
I am 30 years old single male from Detroit, MI. I live with my 2 siblings and our mother. I make about $1000 only per month from my current job, my sister makes about $2000 per month, my brother used to make $2000 also, but he quit his job and he is unemployed now because he wants to finish his college education, and he expects to stay unemployed for the next one to 2 years until he graduates. My mother and sister own the present home that we are living in now; they bought this home 6 years ago for $144 K. I always used to pay my mother and sister $500 only every month to help for house mortgage and general house expenses. Every one of us used to pay a small portion, so we can cover all bills and mortgage payments and general house expenses; as a result, I was able to save $40,000 only so far for myself, I was able to take one vacation out of state every year, and I was able to buy a nice car for 6K. Notice that if I was living by myself, I would have no ability or I would had a little chance for doing what I did so far through living with my family, who have been helping me and each other all the past few years. Living with my 2 siblings and mother have helped me and gave me the opportunity to have lots of fun, and to save some money.
Now I am having a big dilemma because I need to get married and start a family, I need to start living my own life, but my income of $1000 per month will not allow me to buy a home and be independent because I will not be able to pay all house expenses by myself. The options that I have created for myself are:
--- Try selling our current house, buy a bigger house, and keep living with my siblings and mother while trying to start a new family with my wife in the same house. In this way I will have several people working and continue helping each other out, just like we were always doing together in the past, but the problem here is I might not be happy this way because if I start a new family, I will need to live separately by myself outside of my mother’s house. From my previous experience and other people experiences, I learned that when 2 families or more try to live in the same house, then problems and conflicts start to happen, and bad energy of one person tends to effect every member of the family in one home, so I want to avoid that by living independently which I am not able to do because of my low income level. You might say just work 2 jobs or get a better job that pays more money, but economy and job market is getting very bad in Michigan; we have a bad recession now going on that is effecting even college graduates who got bachelor degrees, and for me is worse because I have just high school diploma with no college degree.
--- My other option is to live alone with my wife through renting an apartment, but in this way I will burn and loose too much money, I will spend more money, I will pay more for bills, I will not be able to save anything, and an income of $1000 per month will not be able to support me and my wife unless she try to work and assist me too, and even if she work, can an income of $2000 per month pay all what have to be paid?
I have some married friends who tell me that if I need to live in my own house with my wife, I have to be making at least $4000 per month. Is there anyway I will be able to support a family of 2 or 3 with making an income of between $1000 and $2000 each month? Does the government provide any type of assistance for those low income families?
Sincerely;
-----Answer-----
Hello there Fars.
I will answer your question from the point of view of a Las Vegas resident.
How much you require to live on really depends on your lifestyle. However, your married friends are pretty much right on in their council. To live in the Las Vegas valley most people will spend pretty close to $4000/month to get the bills paid unless you rent. Figure $1000 minimum or so for rent. Consider $1800 as a minimum for a house payment. Condos may come a little less expensive. I can put you in touch with a highly qualified lender to knock out the details but these numbers will give you an idea. You also need pretty good credit.
If you put down the $40,000, sell your current house (if it has equity) and put the equity down, and if your wife works or if you live with roommates who are also on the loan then you have a better chance of living without the stress of a monthly payment that shackles you to the house.
I know a guy who owns a small condo. He is frugal, he makes $3,000/month and has a roommate pay $500. He is able to get by as an owner but if he has a bad month at work or if he gets sick he doesn't have much more to get him by.
There are some awesome opportunities here in the Las Vegas valley and the housing is great. However, I don't want to put you in a bind. Let me know if you want to talk this out.
Answer I can tell you that jobs here may be very similar. There are a lot of jobs. Many will require qualifications just like in any other state. I would suggest looking on monster.com or flipdog.com or some of the others to see if you can find positions. You can also go to the casino websites to see if they have any openings. If you decide to move out, let me know and I can get you started on your path to housing.
