Homeowners insurance briefing.

It's a topic that is often overlooked here in Las Vegas. If so and a disaster strikes, the consequences can be financially ruinous. The insurance industry highly recommends that homeowners go ahead and review annually their existing policies with an agent to make sure it meets the current conditions. There really are three main areas to focus on.

First, of course, comes the home itself. The structure. It's important to assure that the policy covers the cost of rebuilding. Bear in mind that the cost of rebuilding and today's real estate market value can be far apart. Also, flood insurance is often not included in a standard policy, so it has to be bought separately. Flood insurance can become handy even in Southern Nevada.

Then we have your possessions. Standard package, again, may not meet all your needs. The available options beyond that are the cash-value policy that will cover the replacement of your belongings, minus depreciation. The other one is the replacement-cost policy that takes care of everything. Yes, the latter will cost more.

Thirdly, is there enough liability coverage on the policy? If you end up losing a lawsuit over an injury on your property, is your coverage enough to protect your assets? Consider this carefully and then make certain that the numbers make you feel comfortable.

The key is to keep the policy updated.

More Strip condominiums?

AREP, controlled by Carl Icahn, agrees to sell its gaming operations in Southern Nevada, including the Stratosphere here in Las Vegas. What caught my eye on the deal was the 17 acres of undeveloped land that surrounds the Stratosphere. And that's potentially significant. Click here for more.

Vegas real estate in the middle of the pack.

When we compare the MLS listings from March 2007 to the same month in 2006, we'll find that the number for Las Vegas is an increase of 30%. That earns us a spot in the middle of the list. So the housing glut here isn't as bad as it is in many other places. Nationally, several Florida cities, namely Orlando, Miami, Tampa and Jacksonville, crowd out the top of the rankings. Portland also experienced a major escalation.

Is a turnaround imminent? Not likely, say many analysts. Mortgage lenders across the board have been stung by a jump in defaults and as a result have overhauled their underwriting guidelines. There aren't too many no-money-down loans available on the market today. Stricter lending standards are said to dampen housing activity by about 10% this year.

Condominiums at ManhattanWest.

ManhattanWest is a mixed-use development in the southwest valley that just opened its sales office. It'll offer 700 units on a 20-acre site and quite a bit of office and retail space, including shops and restaurants. The project is carefully designed to emulate the classic New York streetscapes.

Condos there will range in size from 550 to 1,900 square feet, while a buyer can choose from several different floor plans; studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom and a loft. Stainless steel Whirlpool appliances, Kohler fixtures and granite counter tops are standard. Prices start from the low $200,000s. It appears well-positioned for the mixed-use market. It's first phase is expected to complete in 2008.

New high-rise condo player in Las Vegas.

While the overall Southern Nevada real estate market is definitely limping along these days, the one segment that is largely holding its own is the luxury end of it. Single-family home sales, new and resales, are down and many condo projects have withered away. Several luxury high-rise developments, though, are being built on schedule and others are given the green light to proceed.

Las Vegas Sands, the parent company of the Venetian, just joined the high-rise club by announcing its own condo undertaking. And without the blink of an eye it's reaching for the top. Let me explain. Not with the number of units or the number of floors. It'll consist of only 300 condominiums. But with the price per square foot. That's their aim. Become the Strip's most exclusive high-rise address.

The Sands believes they can sell these residences for between $1,500 and $2,000 a sq. ft. A lot of money. A comparison is in order now. Before that, however, one thing has to be clarified. There can be a large difference when we compare pure condos, which are residential only, with condo-hotels, which double as residences and hotel rooms.

Condos at the Veer Towers at the MGM's CityCenter, a pure product, are expected to go for $880 to $1,500 per sq. ft. Trump International, a condo-hotel product, is accepting reservations for its second tower at $1,400 to $1,500 per sq. ft. One more. Units at non-casino locations like Turnberry Towers and Panorama attract prices between $500 and $700.

Based on the above, if Sands gets its estimated price, it'll be the most expensive place in town. Until another developer comes along with a little bit more to offer.

City Tower in Henderson.

Downtown Henderson's famed Water Street District is taking shape. Planned City Tower mixed-used development is about to break ground. It'll consist of two towers, 12 and 15 stories high, with 137 condominiums, 9 penthouse suites and plenty of office and retail space. The developer emphasizes that the Water Street District is a location where you'll truly feel the sense of community. The first phase is projected for completion in early 2008.

Las Vegas real estate stats mixed.

There are some good news and some bad news in the housing report from March. The overall tone is that if there ever were a bubble here, it isn't about to burst. Some air is leaking out of the real estate market, that's true. It's ailing. But not bursting.

Among the good news is the fact that it's a buyer's market now. Plenty of opportunities to purchase a decently-priced home for living in or for investment. Click here for the full story.

Earthfaire in Summerlin.

The master-planned community on the western edge of the valley will hold its annual Earth Day celebration on Saturday, April 21, from 10 AM to 4 PM. It's a free outdoor event that features musical entertainment, lots of activities for children and of course environmental exhibits by more than 50 local and regional organizations. It has become so popular that is has doubled in size from its first event a few years ago, reminds us the marketing director for The Howard Hughes Corp., developer of Summerlin.

The earth-friendly exhibitors will offer information and tips on efficient recycling, energy savings around the house and interactive environmental education. Yes, the usual, but useful. Among the marquee names scheduled to be around are Friends of Red Rock Canyon, U.S. Green Building Council, The Sierra Club and Southern Nevada Water Authority.

What's in it for the kids? A lot. To begin with, there's a trick dog show, whatever that is. Then there are gardeners from UNLV showing them how to plant flowers in the desert, someone else will talk about how to create art from recycled materials, and so on. Plenty of stuff to keep them busy. Should be a fun day for everyone. And educational.

Coyote Springs on the Internet.

Coyote Springs is a master-planned community, a town really, about 60 miles north of Las Vegas. The infrastructure is being put into the ground as we speak, so it's still in its infancy. But it's already making waves in the valley, and elsewhere. The town is designed to model the architectural heritage of the American West and be environmentally responsible.

One of the builders there is Pardee Homes and they've adopted a new approach to marketing. It's all done on the Internet. They've created a collaborative relationship with home buyers by offering those who visit their website the chance to talk about the kind of community they want. "It's like a Web-wide focus group," says company Nevada division president.

Here's the webside address: http://www.villagesofcoyotesprings.com/.

Las Vegas residents are renting.

The residential real estate market is turning its back on many low- and moderate income people. First it was the surge in home values that pushed many out of range for home ownership. Even though the market is now softening, it's not enough. Not yet anyway. Then came the mortgage industry woes. The subprime banks that cater to them have run into some heavy turbulence and as a result are tightening their lending requirements. That's a double squeeze for a hopeful homeowner.

So, many are discovering that they're better off renting for now and when the market stabilizes, then go back to their trusted mortgage lender and apply. In the meantime, apartment owners are enjoying the favorable fundamentals. Isn't that the way it usually goes, that when one sector is hurting, another is riding on smoothly.

Las Vegas luxury homes sell.

We all know that Vegas residential real estate market is soft today. Well, most of it is. One segment is still doing quite well. That is the luxury end of it, homes that go for over $1 million each.

According to local Realtors, newer neighborhoods are doing better than old. Some of the former are The Ridges in Summerlin, Tuscan Hills in Southern Highlands and Canyon Edge in Henderson. Buyers in this category expect high-tech media rooms, wine cellars and resort-caliber backyards that can be included in the building plans. Activity is more tepid at recognized communities like Spanish Trails and the Fountains in Green Valley.

Luxury purchaser is much less affected by the prevailing mortgage lending conditions than the broad market is. Interest rates and loan terms mean zero when he can just whip out a virgin-leather checkbook, write one for a cool $2 million and pay for it. Wouldn't that be nice?

Real estate insider StreetAdvisor is here.

A new website is born called StreetAdvisor. So, what is it all about? It's a site where people can voice their views about the street they live on. Or did live there at one point or just paid a recent visit. It doesn't matter. Go there and rant about that street you know so much about.

I guess it can be helpful for someone planning to buy a home on a particular road. Give him a heads-up on possible traffic issues, maybe crime, neighborhood happenings, pet challenges etc. I bet there will be some juicy info coming out for everyone to dive into and digest. Hopefully it stays halfway serious instead of turning into an all-out gossip and rumor mill.

Monterey at Las Vegas Country Club.

Looking for affordable golf course living in the middle of the valley? Take a look at Monterey at the Las Vegas Country Club, a legendary Sin City address. It's an apartment-conversion condo community tucked into one corner of the golf course, right behind the Las Vegas Hilton resort, with guard-gated entrances.

You can choose either a one- or two-bedroom floor plan and on the first or second floor. That's all they offer. These are two-story condominium buildings, no high-rise here. Units range from 900 to 1,700 sq. ft. and prices start from the easy on the pocket $190,000s.

The Cosmopolitan moves up.

The high-rise project originally broke ground a year ago by starting to excavate down for a four-level parking garage. Now it's heading up out of the pit. The location at the corner of the Strip and Harmon is ideal, especially when later on everything else at the area gets finished. Planet Hollywood across the street is being reconfigured and Project CityCenter next door is under way.

The Cosmopolitan will include two towers with a total of 2,000 condominium units, 90% of which are sold. In addition it features a 1,000-room hotel, a large casino, plenty of convention space, a spa and the usual mix of restaurants and shops. It's projected to open in early 2009.

Trump International Tower marketing.

Donald Trump sure knows the real estate marketing game. When his vice president of sales and marketing here in Vegas played around with ideas and a time line to accept reservations for the second tower condominium units, his boss quickly came up with a solution.

Trump jetted the remaining contestants in the TV show " The Apprentice " to town and tasked them with crafting a marketing program for the new tower. With that done, the results were announced a few days later on the show. And the next day sales agents for the high-rise began taking reservations. By the way, it takes $10,000 per unit to get your name down. He's good.

Mountain's Edge ranks high.

Washington, D.C. real estate research shop RCLCO ranks the 3,500-acre master-planned community as second in home sales in the nation for 2006. RCLCO includes in its criteria large-scale developments offering a wide range of housing prices and styles, a host of amenities and several non-residential land uses, like commercial and educational facilities.

Even though the real estate market is soft, master-planned communities tend to weather the storm rather well in these conditions. They have solid fundamentals. Well-located areas together with product, project and amenity programs that are carefully positioned to satisfy the needs, pocket books and tastes of the consumer. When you can do all that right, I guess you can't lose.

Vegas housing woes continue.

The stats are in for March from GLVAR and they are heading in the wrong direction. Single-family house inventory rises to over 21,000 on the MLS, 8.4% increase from February. Sales of single-family homes tumble 36% from a year ago. Even the median price of a house declines, although only by 3.2%. All across the board the news are less than stellar. Not depressing, but could be better.

The real estate market is approaching its bottom, says one developer. He cautions that the buyer refuses to enter the market until he's certain that prices cannot go any lower and should start heading up. How can the seller make a difference now?

Allure condo tower in doubt.

Allure's first condominium tower is scheduled to open in September. The planned second tower next door is now in question. It's supposed to be 41 stories high and consist of 472 homes. According to the lead developer, it's under redesign and could turn into a condo-hotel and possibly have a gaming component.

The second tower's future is rather cloudy. The market conditions have changed drastically for the worse in the last year or two. Several recent high-rise development cancellations will likely force pre-sale hard money requirements much higher. The project's financing arrangement is quite complex as well that makes any lender considering involvement look at it really carefully. I still believe that over the long run the high-rise condo market is solid.

Vegas real estate market in a flux.

It's a buyer's market, they say. Or is it? It should be according to the statistics from GLVAR. There are over 20,000 homes in the MLS and they tend to sit unsold for a good stretch. Prices, though, haven't changed all that much over the last two years. They really vary from area to area.

Buyers out there are well aware of the soft residential real estate conditions and make offers below the asking price. As they should. Sellers often are reluctant to accept because of their house is that special property that will get the perceived true value. Human nature in play here. There are others whose mortgage balance is right up against the market value, or even higher. To sell they would have to bring money to the closing table. No way. So, the dance goes on.

Bottom line is that at the right price everything sells.

Sullivan Square site prep.

Dirt is moving at the West Village site where Sullivan Square mixed-use development will be built. Utilities are going in and underground parking is taking shape. All in all it'll have about 1,300 residences upon completion. Delivery of first homes is scheduled for late 2008.

The project offers high-rise towers, traditional brownstones, terraced condominiums, Chicago-style lofts and townhomes. Little bit of everything, as you can see. Pricing starts from the mid-$300,000s and unit sizes in the first phase are designed to 500 to 2,000 sq. ft.

Boulder City real estate dilemma.

Boulder City likes to do it its own way. As Southern Nevada has exploded with growth over the years, the city by Hoover Dam and Lake Mead has opted to remain on the slow track to housing development. It has been called sleepy and out-of-touch and small-townish. And other names, I'm sure. For its citizens the preference is just that.

But pressure from outside and some inside interests has been growing for a while for a change. And it's getting more intense this spring. The voters will decide in June what will happen. On the ballot will be a question whether the city should sell to Clark County land in Dutchman Pass and the money from that would go to buy 700 acres near Railroad Pass. That purchase would save the parcel from a potential development of 3,800 homes. Complicated, isn't it? Let's see what they decide to do. How long they can hold onto their sacred lifestyle. It'd be refreshing if they could go on like that forever.