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| The Private Resort Home Market: An Investment Outlook |
What Happens in Vegas…
John Ferry
06/01/2005
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Fred Demarest knows a thing or two about making smart investments. The owner
of an online brokerage company, Demarest moved to Nevada from California 10
years ago to take advantage of the state’s more lenient tax code. Three years
ago, he had a house by the water built for him and his partner in Lake Las
Vegas, where he now lives. Demarest also owns two lots in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho,
where he plans to build a summer home.
 “Being a stockbroker, I think
everything is a short-term trend, but this has beguiled me because [the vacation
home properties] are just going up year after year,” Demarest says. He estimates
that his Lake Las Vegas property has doubled in value since he purchased it. “I
think we’re fairly safe.”
Demarest classifies himself as a relatively
risk-averse property investor. He waited to buy at Lake Las Vegas until an
international hotel, the Hyatt Regency, agreed to open there, at which point he
felt sure he was making a safe, long-term investment. “I personally don’t want
to buy first,” he explains. “I would rather see how it takes off, and I don’t
care if I have to pay up a bit. I bought in the second year at the Blackrock
Country Club up in Coeur D’Alene, and I paid more than I would have in the first
year.”
Demarest also believes he reduced the risk of his investment by buying
so close to Las Vegas, one of the most economically vibrant cities in the
country. “I just think if you’re near Las Vegas, you’ve got a much better chance
of success,” he says. “I now think Las Vegas is pretty much bulletproof as far
as there being any major downward revision of prices.” Back to Main Article: The
Private Resort Home Market: An Investment Outlook
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