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DaveNV: Making a Home in the Desert

DaveNV

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You picked a good spot in Mesquite. For years we would spend a week or two in Mesquite while attending the NASCAR races a Las Vegas Motor Speedway which is Northeast of Las Vegas and only a few miles West of Mesquite. We loved the drive to St George but had to time it to avoid the sunlight in our eyes. Beautiful drive. We always stayed at the CasaBlanca in Mesquite which some may not know is a Casino/Hotel but with part of the hotel being TimeShare Weeks of which I owned one...

George

I didn't know the CasaBlanca had timeshares. They sell studio units there as condos, though, so I can see that.

Yes, for us, Mesquite is the right place to be. :D

Dave
 

VacationForever

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We love the weather here in Southern Nevada and we play golf several times a week even in this summer heat. We haven't found something to not love where we live. Oh BTW, we love our 2800 sq ft single level condo with breathtaking views but we are heading out right now to look at a single family home within the same greater community where we live. It will cost us an arm and a leg so a part of me wish that we won't like this home. ;)
 

DaveNV

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Thinking if you in the desert as I just received a used book in the mail, ordered from Amazon. called Pay Dirt. Erle Stanley Gardner, known for Perry Mason, also wrote a bunch of short stories about the desert. The underlying coda in each story: The desert is a harsh mistress, cruel yet kind.

Hope this inspires you! Lol

I have to agree. The desert can be amazing, but it must be respected. I'm enjoying learning how to live here.

Dave
 

DaveNV

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We love the weather here in Southern Nevada and we play golf several times a week even in this summer heat. We haven't found something to not love where we live. Oh BTW, we love our 2800 sq ft single level condo with breathtaking views but we are heading out right now to look at a single family home within the same greater community where we live. It will cost us an arm and a leg so a part of me wish that we won't like this home. ;)

I hear you. When I first started to look into retiring to this area, I wanted a cheap little house or condo I could fix up. By the time things got serious and I got here, my want list had grown. I needed that 2 car garage. I needed privacy and space. I wanted conveniences in the neighborhood. I ended up spending more for the house than I had originally planned, but I got a lot more house that I thought I could afford. It's all good. :D

Dave
 

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I hear you. When I first started to look into retiring to this area, I wanted a cheap little house or condo I could fix up. By the time things got serious and I got here, my want list had grown. I needed that 2 car garage. I needed privacy and space. I wanted conveniences in the neighborhood. I ended up spending more for the house than I had originally planned, but I got a lot more house that I thought I could afford. It's all good. :D

Dave
And don't forget, you needed a swimming pool. :p
 

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Passepartout

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Hey Dave, You are in (or going to be in) a Del Webb community, right? I am envisioning monthly newsletters with a calendar of events, y'know, water exercise at 7:00 daily, Walking the trails at 8, Cooking with Nancy at 11, Puzzle time in the Activity Center at 2, and crafts at 3. Or something similar. Am I missing something, or is it totally different, and independent?
I remember when Paula's dad was in a retirement community in Texas. He was a golfer and if he wanted to play, he put his clubs out by the mailbox on the street and someone who needed a fourth (or third) would stop and pick him up. But that was a different time and place.

Jim
 

Luanne

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Hey Dave, You are in (or going to be in) a Del Webb community, right? I am envisioning monthly newsletters with a calendar of events, y'know, water exercise at 7:00 daily, Walking the trails at 8, Cooking with Nancy at 11, Puzzle time in the Activity Center at 2, and crafts at 3. Or something similar. Am I missing something, or is it totally different, and independent?
I remember when Paula's dad was in a retirement community in Texas. He was a golfer and if he wanted to play, he put his clubs out by the mailbox on the street and someone who needed a fourth (or third) would stop and pick him up. But that was a different time and place.

Jim
My dad was a golfer as well. My parents retired to a condo on a golf course in Upland, CA (to be closer to my sister and her family). I "think" I remember Dad telling me there were times he'd just take his clubs out and play the course starting at their house.
 

rickandcindy23

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I love watching this thread. Your house looks great, and I am sure you will enjoy it for many years to come.

We bought our plantation shutters at Steve's Blinds and Wallpaper. It's online, we measured, they came in about four weeks, and Rick installed them. We are so happy, and we saved so much over the Costco vendor prices. I mean 75% savings. We are going to buy a lot more of them from Steve's. Our theater room has some dark wood ones, and they keep the room nice and dark and cooler on that south side of the house.
 

DaveNV

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Hey Dave, You are in (or going to be in) a Del Webb community, right? I am envisioning monthly newsletters with a calendar of events, y'know, water exercise at 7:00 daily, Walking the trails at 8, Cooking with Nancy at 11, Puzzle time in the Activity Center at 2, and crafts at 3. Or something similar. Am I missing something, or is it totally different, and independent?
I remember when Paula's dad was in a retirement community in Texas. He was a golfer and if he wanted to play, he put his clubs out by the mailbox on the street and someone who needed a fourth (or third) would stop and pick him up. But that was a different time and place.

Jim

Hey Jim,

Yes, Sun City Mesquite is a Del Webb community. And yes, there is such a weekly newsletter. Due to Covid-19, a lot of those activities are restricted or cancelled right now. But in normal times, they'd happen. It's one of the things I found very appealing about living here.

I can't speak to the golf clubs by the mailbox thing. I'm not a golfer, and mailboxes here are those clustered boxes on every block. But I'm sure there must be a way for someone to signal to others that they're interested. There is no golf course as part of the development, but the development is adjacent to one of the six(?) courses here. As I recall, owners here get a discount on greens fees at that course.

Dave
 

DaveNV

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I love watching this thread. Your house looks great, and I am sure you will enjoy it for many years to come.

We bought our plantation shutters at Steve's Blinds and Wallpaper. It's online, we measured, they came in about four weeks, and Rick installed them. We are so happy, and we saved so much over the Costco vendor prices. I mean 75% savings. We are going to buy a lot more of them from Steve's. Our theater room has some dark wood ones, and they keep the room nice and dark and cooler on that south side of the house.

Thanks, Cindy! Glad you like it. It really is a nice house, hopefully to be even nicer when we're done with it. :D

I'll look into Steve's Blinds. I have measurements one of the estimators took. Might be a good way to go. I'm balking a bit at the prices I'm being quoted. One is substantially higher than the other, but neither is what I'd consider a "good" price. And we haven't even asked Costco for their vendor's price. :shrug:

Dave
 

WinniWoman

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Thanks! I'm enjoying the process. Now that I've retired, I have time to focus on getting things done, rather than trying to coordinate things around my work schedule. The hardest part of life here is waiting till the workmen can get to us. They're all pretty slammed with work. if anybody is job hunting, there is no shortage of opportunity here.

Lightning Grease is something I'll have to find. I'm always looking for an e easier way to do something. Won't need it in the oven for awhile (getting a new stove) but if it works on other things, I'm shopping. :D

Dave

I hope you have a self cleaning oven!
 

geist1223

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After a while you will somewhat adjust to the heat as long as you do not shelter in AC all the time. Patti's sister and BIL live in Melbourne Beach Florida and have for 10 or so years. For them if it gets down into the 70's they put on sweaters. If it gets down into the 60's they are putting on puffy jackets or vests.
 

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Thanks! I'm enjoying the process. Now that I've retired, I have time to focus on getting things done, rather than trying to coordinate things around my work schedule. The hardest part of life here is waiting till the workmen can get to us. They're all pretty slammed with work. if anybody is job hunting, there is no shortage of opportunity here.

Lightning Grease is something I'll have to find. I'm always looking for an e easier way to do something. Won't need it in the oven for awhile (getting a new stove) but if it works on other things, I'm shopping. :D

Dave

As far as workmen, same here. You would think many people lost their jobs - but yes, many working from home. We take long walks most of the mornings at the beach/park but many walks in our neighborhood too. We see it driving too - work in homes has been non-stop. My son, back in April/May - looked for contractors. One to build a deck around his new above ground pool and one to completely gut out his kitchen/new kitchen/open concept. He finally settled on two - one contractors started a month ago with the deck and has yet to finish. A 3-4 day job is taking 5-6 weeks. Very frustrating. They have jobs lined up/busy. Seems like they are going one day a week to each job. Won't get into it. Almost done now. The other contractor was finally able to start this past Tuesday (had said Monday first/my son took off but a no go). They have been working non-stop. I guess that is a good thing.

We don't normally use Lightning grease in the oven. I tried the fume less (whatever it's called) Off and it does not work well. If you find it - maybe Home Depot? Need to ask hubby. Works great on many things/spray/soak/scrub. I was going to post a picture, but you can google :) - faster :sneaky:
 

WinniWoman

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We don't normally use Lightning grease in the oven. I tried the fume less (whatever it's called) Off and it does not work well. If you find it - maybe Home Depot? Need to ask hubby. Works great on many things/spray/soak/scrub. I was going to post a picture, but you can google :) - faster :sneaky:

I know not of this cleaning of ovens people speak of. I have had self cleaning ovens since age 21 when I bought my first house!





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Sugarcubesea

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Dave, everthing looks great and I love the style of home you picked, I love that it has a little patio right off the entry of the home, that is such a nice feature. Thanks for posting this, I'm still working on getting my house finalized so that I can put it up for sale... I work a ton of hours so we only have the weekends to get the home ready. After losing out on 8 bids, we have decided not to purchase a new home until we have put our house up for sale. If we can not find what we like we will rent and take out time.
 

DaveNV

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As far as workmen, same here. You would think many people lost their jobs - but yes, many working from home. We take long walks most of the mornings at the beach/park but many walks in our neighborhood too. We see it driving too - work in homes has been non-stop. My son, back in April/May - looked for contractors. One to build a deck around his new above ground pool and one to completely gut out his kitchen/new kitchen/open concept. He finally settled on two - one contractors started a month ago with the deck and has yet to finish. A 3-4 day job is taking 5-6 weeks. Very frustrating. They have jobs lined up/busy. Seems like they are going one day a week to each job. Won't get into it. Almost done now. The other contractor was finally able to start this past Tuesday (had said Monday first/my son took off but a no go). They have been working non-stop. I guess that is a good thing.

We don't normally use Lightning grease in the oven. I tried the fume less (whatever it's called) Off and it does not work well. If you find it - maybe Home Depot? Need to ask hubby. Works great on many things/spray/soak/scrub. I was going to post a picture, but you can google :) - faster :sneaky:

We've had similar experiences with contractors we've talked to here. One company gave us a flooring bid, and it took nearly four days for the estimator to contact me to answer some questions about it. You'd think if they wanted my work, they'd have tried harder. I was in touch with the company's office each of those days, but they said he hadn't been into the office - he was working early until after-hours doing all the estimating on-site they had laid out for him. When he did finally call back, it was at nearly 8:00 at night. Busy outfit.

The paint contractor has been more reasonable. We talked about scheduling, and he said he doesn't want to to have to stop working on my house to go to another job. So we's arranging things so that when he starts work at my house, he'll stick with it till it's done. Only a few days to do it, but better to get it done all at once, rather than dragging it out. I agree.

Dave
 

DaveNV

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I know not of this cleaning of ovens people speak of. I have had self cleaning ovens since age 21 when I bought my first house!

Same here. Self-cleaning is the way to go. But sometimes you need a bit of extra help. I can see where a product like Lightning Grease would be helpful for that, or for cleaning other greasy messes. In the case of these cabinets, they're made of a high-end cherry wood. The fronts and frames just need a good scrubbing with a good cleaning agent. I've been told by another homeowner friend here who has the same cabinets that she used some Murphy's Oil Soap with a bit of ammonia mixed, followed by a wipe-down with Liquid Gold really did the trick. Her cabinets look great. We'll see.

Dave
 

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Have you talked to pool contractors, yet? I'm wondering if the wind would keep tossing dirt/sand into the pool? In spite of not being in a windy area, my yard, car, pool cover all get covered in dust quickly. I tend to think of my area as a dirty, dusty place. I'm imagining that living in the desert would be worse. I haven't seen those issues staying at timeshares in the desert, but people are always out cleaning up the common areas at those places.
 

Sugarcubesea

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I'm thinking if it's an issue, it'd only be on the rear fence, since that's a "common area" along the roadway. They have a long list of HOA rules here. Since there is already screening on the side fences, I may have an "in" with asking to put it on the rear fence, too, since they all connect. Raising the height on the one side from 18 inches to five feet is a natural idea. The Building Code here requires a five foot fence minimum around a swimming pool, so at least I won't need to change the fence height. These fences are iron - some sort of square tubing, not sure if they're wrought iron or not - but they weigh a ton, and are very expensive. All we need to add are two five-foot security gates at the end of the fencing along the sides of the house.

Here's a view of the back yard, over that rear fence.

View attachment 25871

Dave

I'm more in love with your new house everyday.... I love this backyard
 

DaveNV

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Dave, everthing looks great and I love the style of home you picked, I love that it has a little patio right off the entry of the home, that is such a nice feature. Thanks for posting this, I'm still working on getting my house finalized so that I can put it up for sale... I work a ton of hours so we only have the weekends to get the home ready. After losing out on 8 bids, we have decided not to purchase a new home until we have put our house up for sale. If we can not find what we like we will rent and take out time.

Thanks very much. The home layout is great, and that central courtyard entry really makes it worthwhile. There is a sliding door off the kitchen that makes it convenient for serving meals in the courtyard.

I hope you can find time to sell your home, and that you'll get top dollar for it. I was told by my realtor here that having your current home at least in escrow makes purchasing easier. She said Sellers don't want to hassle with contingent offers that require waiting for someone to list and sell their current home. Of the five offers I got when selling my Washington home, none had a contingency to sell a current home. So you selling first makes a lot of sense. Using that escalating offer clause technique will really make your offer stand out. Good luck!

Dave
 

DaveNV

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Have you talked to pool contractors, yet? I'm wondering if the wind would keep tossing dirt/sand into the pool? In spite of not being in a windy area, my yard, car, pool cover all get covered in dust quickly. I tend to think of my area as a dirty, dusty place. I'm imagining that living in the desert would be worse. I haven't seen those issues staying at timeshares in the desert, but people are always out cleaning up the common areas at those places.

We've only had one pool contractor out to the house so far, and we did have a discussion about landscaping plants that drop leaves, and reducing the general maintenance work for the pool. I'd planned to speak with a few neighbors who have pools, about their experience. Our pool won't be terribly big (12X20 is about all that we want), so I'm hoping it won't be difficult to maintain. Keeping it covered when not in use will also help.

Dave
 
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DaveNV

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It occurs to me that it might be helpful if everyone could see the layout of the house we got. This is the floorplan:

Floorplan.jpg


As I mentioned, they aren't building this plan here any longer, so the only way to get it is through the resale market. Of the dozen or so floorplans they started with, and the fifteen or so they're building now, this one is still our favorite. It's all about that enclosed courtyard. :D

Dave
 
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