Moving to Vegas

[brokenhourglass]

Hello 2+2ers.

This is not a “where should I move” thread but rather a “how should I move” post.

I will be moving to Las Vegas sometime in the general vicinity of late March / early April.

I feel that I am ready, I have:

- 500X the big bet of the level I play plus two months living expenses and moving costs
- No debt
- Plenty of credit available “just in case”
- Extra money in addition to what was just mentioned
- A very healthy win rate at more than 60,000 hands
- A relatively established hourly rate that I am very happy with

My question to the 2 + 2 community has to do with the best plan for actually enacting this move.

Here is the plan I am leaning towards:

I drive out to Vegas in my car and stay in what will probably be a pretty cruddy cheap motel the likes of which are advertised all over the classifieds such as:

CENT SPECIALS Near Stratosphere. $99/wk; Lg. studio, furn'd. Full kit, cable TV, util. pd.

I plan on getting such a room for two weeks or longer as needed while I find a suitable apartment. I take this time to seriously look for a place without the time pressure of having to find it in a couple of days. When I find it, I fly back to California one way and drive back in a U-Haul with all my stuff.

How does this plan strike you?

How long do you think it will take to find a decent apartment?

How long would you allot for apartment hunting if you were moving?

I don’t like the idea of getting something site unseen over the internet. I definitely want to look around and make the determination myself.

My concern here is that I heard a lot of places run credit checks. How long does that process take? How long does it generally take to get a studio lined up, from initial phone call to move in date?

Any thoughts on the best way to enact a move from California to Las Vegas?

Also, if any respected 2+2 people have any connections that might be useful, please let me know! I’m looking for a studio or one bedroom fairly close to the strip, though I don’t know the neighborhood and hence location preference is subject to change.

Speaking of which, when looking at classifieds, which area should I be looking for?

Any nice areas relatively close to the strip?

What would the little summary be for this area, “CENT” something else?

One more thing, I am shopping for cell phone service before I get there. Any input on which carriers are good / get good reception indoors in some of the big strip casinos?

Any recommendations or warnings on particular carriers?

Thanks in advance for all of your input!

[John Deere]

You're definitely right to find an apartment once you get there, rather than beforehand based on Internet photos. You will probably be able to find something you like within a week (first, narrow it down to an area or two that you like, then drive around and check with all of the apartment communities you can find). The length of your hotel stay will depend on when the place you want to live has something available.

Quite frankly, it's not a big deal, because at $99/week, I'm guessing that's cheaper than whatever apartment you end up living in. (I'd kill to pay that!)

The credit check is pretty instantaneous (1 or 2 days max). My only concern is that they are not going to give you an apartment without a job or an established income history. Of course, perhaps thing are different in Vegas. You might need to have a parent or friend co-sign for you.

Finally, take a look at some truck companies other than U-Haul (Budget, Ryder come to mind), considering the distance of your trip. U-Haul has a very poor quality record, and I'm not sure if I'd want to drive one through the desert. (Make sure you get that cell phone BEFORE going back to get the truck.)

[AllVegasPoker.com]

You can find a nice apartment in 2 or 3 days. I have found apartments in less time. I have a friend who just rented an apartment in Silverado Ranch, and he told me that the rentals were "on the market" for less than a week... so, the turn around time is quick. If you find a place you like, you can probably move in almost immediately. I don't think it would be a problem to find an apartment and have the keys within a week.

During your apartment search there are some pretty respectable weekly rental suites available at a few properties on the south end of the strip (1 or 2 miles south of Mandalay Bay). These places are only a few years old, and they haven't gone to hell yet. When you get to town, I would check these places out, unless you're really set on staying in a dump.

I live in the Green Valley / Silverado Ranch area, and I'm partial to this part of town. It's not super close to the action though, but the drive to the strip is just a few minutes (10 to 15), and the neighborhoods are nice.

[ QUOTE ]
One more thing, I am shopping for cell phone service before I get there. Any input on which carriers are good / get good reception indoors in some of the big strip casinos?

[/ QUOTE ]

I have Sprint. I get service in all the poker rooms I regularly play at, with the exception of the Luxor. Sprint also has pretty good coverage in the South part of the valley (where I live).

[Dynasty]

[ QUOTE ]
During your apartment search there are some pretty respectable weekly rental suites available at a few properties on the south end of the strip (1 or 2 miles south of Mandalay Bay).

[/ QUOTE ]

A red flag went up in my mind when I read this. This area sounds like you'd be right over where airplanes take off from at McCarran Airport.

[RacersEdge]

I'm going trough the same process - but moving to Memphis. I'm trying to decide if I should make the drive out there to choose an apartment even though I have it narrowed to a couple that look really good. This apartment locator I used has done a pretty good at giving me all the deals in the area I am looking. If you know the market rate and get something close to that, you should be pretty happy. I'm tempted to pull the trigger without making the trip. Plus, I haven't found a $99/week place to hang out while I look.

[brokenhourglass]

Hmmm . . .

If it is really so fast to find a place, I might go with moving plan B:

I haul all my bulky stuff to ABF U-Pack for a mobile container move (http://www.upack.com/equipment/container.asp). Cost is $400 to get my stuff to Vegas; this includes everything.

I then drive to Vegas. I will have approximately 6 days from when I leave to when I will have to unload my stuff from ABF U-Pack Las Vegas and move it to either my new apartment, or into storage. Othewise, the cost is $75 a day for storage.

This plan might work, but it’s stressful. Basically I’d HAVE to find a place in a couple of days. It is a bit cheaper though as I save on the plane flight and the truck rental (truck rental runs about $600 for this journey, plus gas, etc.).

So, Sprint is good.

Anyone have any experience with T-Mobile or Verizon? I’ve heard bad things about Cingular.

Thanks everyone!

[AngusThermopyle]

Get a room at one of the several BudgetSuites in Vegas when you first get there. Around $200 or so a wk for a nice one-bedroom, cable, phone (local), utils, and "efficiency kitchen". They have a site online.

[pokerswami]

[ QUOTE ]
I will have approximately 6 days from when I leave to when I will have to unload my stuff from ABF U-Pack Las Vegas and move it to either my new apartment, or into storage. Othewise, the cost is $75 a day for storage.

[/ QUOTE ]
You could inquire over the phone to local Las Vegas self-storage places (online Yellow Pages or Las Vegas phonebook at your local library) as to what minimum rental period / unit size/availabilities they offer. It might be calming to know that you had readily available large enough storage space for your stuff if you decide to wait a few weeks for that one particular unit your want to be vacated/readied for you to move in.

Btw, whenever I'm seriously interested in a town, I try to get hardcopies of the local yellow and business white pages. They're really handy to have. If you know anyone driving to LV ask them to bring you back copies. Most hotels don't mind you taking them. (I always ask the housekeeper first.) You can always get them from the publisher, also.

[TobDog]

Sprint sucks, JMHO. My mom has Sprint,and she is going to leave as soon as her contract expires. I have Tmobile, they share the network with Cingular, who I had before Tmobile(I get twice as many minutes per month for the same price). You do have some areas of limited connectivity, and every carrier does. I livein LA and was thinking about moving to Verizon, but to pay more per month for lett time doesnt seem to make much sense to me for slightly better coverage. If you shopping for service, find someone who has it, and see the reception in the places you will be (work and home are the most important) and go with that.

tobdog

[whiskeytown]

I have Verizon and upgraded to Nationwide so I could get calls in Vegas - I've had great luck with them in Minneapolis, no guarantees in Vegas - I did have a crackly call in the poker room at the IP, but that is sorta back there in the middle of millions of dollars of metal and electronic crap.

RB