Chester the Molester Gets LIFE

Chester Stiles whom I've dubbed Chester the Molester, was convicted earlier this year on several counts of child molestation. In a rare instance of true justice, Chester was sentenced to 21 LIFE sentences. That's right, he is NEVER going to harm another child again.

Mr. Stiles appeared before the court and gave a statement, whining that the tape wasn't properly inspected or some such garbage and that he was being treated unfairly because of the media attention. Perhaps he has a point. Perhaps no one gives a **** because he was without a doubt guilty as charged and had gotten away with it for years. I know he handed a life sentence to his victims. I'm sure parents here in the Las Vegas valley will rest a little easier knowing that a child predator is behind bars permanently.

Also a tip of the hat for a job well done to the city of Henderson police department for nabbing Stiles originally.

I'm sure Mr. Stiles will appeal and appeal. But in the mean time, his victims and their families can rest easy knowing justice was served.

Related:

Chester the Molester Goes on Trial

It Only Happens Twice A Year

As of Tuesday, we have sold an 8-Unit apartment building, now twice in the past year and at an increased price!

The seller had bought this property last June, with a plan to renovate and keep the property as a long-term investment. However in December the owner unexpectedly relocated to Beijing. The renovation plan was only partially completed however some of the rents had increased and overall the property looked much better from the exterior. After determining the likely sales price we brought the property to market and secured a good buyer within about 6 weeks. The buyer decided to pay more money down and assume the existing loan rather than enter into the uncertain new debt market. After the dust settled, the sales price was nearly 12% higher than the price paid 10 months earlier.

The seller, VIP LLC, an entity controlled by Yimin Chen, says that without the determination of the broker this deal would have never happened and it needed to.

The price per unit of $174,375 was considered reasonable due to the higher yield/CAP of 6.68 attributable to the high rents paid by high demand student population seeking close proximity to the UW.

Out of Town Visitors

Today the city held a "tourism" rally to promote (and reaffirm) our tourist trade. Tourism has been down the last year and has hurt the local economy, but if you're a visitor it has worked out well for you (room prices are unbelievably cheap at the moment). A friend of mine was in town for a few days checking out the real estate market here after visiting some relatives in nearby St. George.

Larry is a Denver Realtor so naturally we ended up talking about the First Time Home Buyer tax credit and how it would effect the market once it expired. He was of the opinion that the market would suffer once its was no longer available. His daughter Liz Hotz has had only first time buyers as clients this year (and has closed more deals than Dad as a result) and most of them were motivated by the credit to buy a home now.

With the economy the way it is, steady home sales and a reduction in foreclosures is a necessity to getting things back on track. The April foreclosure numbers were released today and sadly, once again Nevada is leading the nation.

So my question to everyone out there is this: Do you think home sales will decline significantly once the First Time Home Buyer tax credit expires?

One (Unit) Size Does Not Fit All

By Noah Klika, McQuaid Agent

While every investor has their own personal objectives and criteria for acquiring apartments, one factor that seems to be very inconsistent among principals is the desired or best unit mix for a property. The majority of the principals I speak with are all looking for the same thing: well located, good condition apartments for sale below replacement cost, as close to neutral or positive leverage as possible, lowest GRM and highest cap rate possible, etc. However, introduce the unit mix variable into the equation and the answer varies dramatically. Like anything in life and not to sound vague but the best answer is “it really depends.” More specifically, it depends on the submarket of the property and the demand for specific unit types within that defined submarket. Every submarket arguably has a unit mix or unit type most conducive to that particular submarket and the demand of prospective and current residents within it. I remember when we were marketing a property recently in Pierce County with a very rare and unusual unit mix (all 4 bedroom/2.5 bath units). Despite the fact that the property was only a few years old, in great condition, performing strong financially and offering a new owner a great return on investment, some principals simply could not understand or believe that particular unit type was not only appropriate for that submarket but that there was a strong demand for it. Well, the eventual buyer of the property understood the unit mix and is earning an excellent return on his money especially compared to competing investment alternatives and returns available today.


This week we brought a new property to market on Capitol Hill. This particular property is in an excellent location, amazing condition, features tastefully renovated interiors and offers certain rare amenities such as parking and a pitched roof. It is being offered for below replacement cost, at nearly neutral leverage in light of current financing available, and at a price consistent with recently closed or pending properties on Capitol Hill currently. Some of the buyer feedback we have gotten is that there are no two bedroom(s) in the unit mix. For this particular submarket the unit mix most conducive for a building is studios and one bedrooms (both available in this particular property with a great distribution between the two). The Capitol Hill market, with its higher concentration of singles as opposed to families, should have investors preferring studios and one bedrooms over two bedrooms. As well, Seattle has one of the nation’s highest rates of single person households and with the trend of people preferring to live in the city over the suburbs for a multitude of reasons the demand for studios and one bedrooms is here to stay and will likely be greater moving forward. Long story short, the unit mix needs to fit the neighborhood. 4 bed/2.5 bath apartments may work well in Pierce County but would not fare well in close-in, urban neighborhoods where the demand is greater for studios and one-bedrooms.