Houses are turning into apartments

Dave Starr, Las Vegas

Sunday, March 10, 2013 | 3 a.m.

I haven’t lived in an apartment in a long time. I can still recall some of the memories, and they weren’t good.

Las Vegas has record foreclosures, leaving neighborhoods blighted and in disarray. A bad renter of yesterday is not the same as the bad renter of today. The big problem is that investors are buying homes, sometimes by the dozens, all over Las Vegas and renting to whomever they think will pay the rent. They’re doing the bare necessities to make the homes rentable.

The perfect storm is happening. What used to be neighborhoods of homeowners will be neighborhoods of renters, who do not care about the home or the neighborhood. I was a renter in Las Vegas many years ago in a cul-de-sac. Many months after moving in and after getting to know my neighbors, one by one they all told me of their fears about renters in the neighborhood.

A renter does not have an incentive to maintain or improve the property. Even if he has pride in himself, maybe he can’t afford to keep up the property. Investors are also not known for keeping up their rentals as they have no vested interest in the community.

Multiply that situation into neighborhoods where renters may make up 70 percent of the occupants. Therefore, any neighborhood, regardless of size or home value, has the real possibility of turning into an apartment building-like community. The homeowners in those neighborhoods will see the value of their homes plummet.