Las Vegas - A Family Vacation? Yes!

I have to share with you my trip to Las Vegas with my husband of 23 years, Joe and our 12 year old daughter, Erika. Bring a 12 year old to Vegas you ask?! YES! There is so much for families to do in Las Vegas that even Erika stated, on day 2, that there was more to do then Disney World and I have to agree.

In a nutshell our 3 nights and 4 days went like this: We arrived Tuesday around noon and we bought round trip shuttle service at the airport to the Luxor Las Vegas - Luxor ...that way we didn't have to worry about the ride back on Friday. We made it to the Luxor and our spa suite was ready...on the 19th floor we had a great room with a whirlpool tub and a smaller room off the bed room that Erika promptly claimed. It had a fridge, TV, Sofa and a couple of tables. The entire room (and hotel) is Egypt themed which was right up Erika's alley. From there we walked to a couple of hotels and finally ate at one of Wolfgang Puck's places for lunch..in the MGM I think...then we went down to this 1/2 price tickets tonight place and bought some 4 PM magic show tickets for the Tropicana. Xtreme Magic Dirk Arthur Las Vegas The show was good...and we had great seats...it featured tigers and other big and rare cats so we all really liked that...we went back to the hotel where Joe and Erika spent some time at the pool...I rested (well it IS my vacation too!)..and then bought some dinner for in the room at the food court. (Quiznos) Erika stayed in the room and watched TV while Joe and I played some slots...No I didn't win...but Joe entered into a couple of poker tournaments through out our trip and came in 2nd in one and 1st in another so he was happy!

Day 2 I sent Joe and Erika down the strip to Dennys while I waited in line to get tickets for Mama Mia, Hoover Dam and the Titanic artifacts exhibit at the Trop. Its a long wait at times but you can get great deals at this 1/2 price tickets place. It opens at 11 am and all the left over tickets go on sale for that day. For example the Mama Mia tickets were just $55 when we would have had to pay $110 each...and we had great seats! Anyway...after I got the tickets I met up with J and E and we walked through some of the larger hotels together including the Bellagio where they have this beautiful conservatory Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Garden - Las Vegas with spring flowers blooming and butterflies etc. It was really nice. (and did I mention, FREE) We went back to the hotel as it was mid afternoon and we had reservations for dinner in the Mandalay Bay at 5:30 and then the Mama Mia show at 7:30pm. We loved it! Mamma Mia Las Vegas We had a call from our neighbors who happened to be in town for a wedding and so we made plans to talk to them when we returned from the Hoover Dam tour on the next day. We put Erika to bed and Joe played some poker and I did poorly on the slots but made my money last....still its fun with all the glitz and glamour!

Day 3 Thursday we woke up early because I had a phone call from some reporter...SCF still is listed out there so I get these calls once in a while...anyway..it helped us get a move on because we had to be at our meeting place at 8 am for the Hoover Dam VIP Tour. We were on time and really it was a great thing for Erika to see...Bureau of Reclamation: Lower Colorado Region - Hoover Dam Very educational. We also stopped at a small museum and had lunch (included) and went to Ethel M's chocolate factory tour...with free samples...always a good thing..we bought some ice cream there too....needless to say it was a great way to spend a day in Vegas...plus you got to see how the people really lived there...and how much things cost etc. When we got back to the hotel we made plans for our Seattle neighbors to pick us all up and bring us to their time share. Erika babysat their little 3 year old while the 4 adults went out to the Hard Rock Casino for dinner....we all had the $10 special of prime rib dinner at the Lucky 7's which was just OK and then we went back and Erika went out with our neighbors while Joe and I gambled at the Luxor. (Boy, it sounds like we did a lot of gambling!! LOL) Erika came back around 12:30 AM after showing the 3 J's the conservatory at the Bellagio and having dessert out ($9.00 Cheese Cake anyone?!?!) Anyway...Erika made money on HER vacation! LOL

Day 4 and the final day our huge breakfast at the hotel was comp'ed which was nice and we didn't have to check out until noon...so around that time we dropped our luggage off with the Bell service and went over to the Tropicana to see the Titanic exhibit. It was really cool and I highly recommend it! They give you a card with the name and some background of a passenger and at the end of the tour you see if your person survived or not...we all did...They even had a huge "ice burg" to touch...lots of artifacts...very educational.Titanic Image Gallery Erika liked it...and then we headed back to our hotel to get ready to meet the shuttle. I had some free casino money I needed to use up so Joe took Erika to buy some final souvenirs and I played about 1/2 hour of Roulette...and won...which is nice to walk away from there with SOME money back in your pocket. Then it was back to the airport and an uneventful flight back to Seattle! (rude awakening!!)

That's the trip!!...I am sure I left out some things...the weather was GREAT the entire time we were there...the smoking was pretty heavy...one of the things I hate about casinos...and Erika was miffed that she couldn't "push a button" or watch people playing slots because she was under 21...And that's just the tip of the ice burg. If you are thinking of a family vacation a few days in Vegas maybe your best bet...I don't recommend it for the very young...maybe 8 and up for some of the cool shows...Blue Man Group is there and there are plenty of magic and variety shows...not to mention secret gardens and food galore!

Finding the Right Las Vegas Casino

Many people are planning a trip to Las Vegas this year. They plan on staying at a Las Vegas casino but have no idea which one to pick. There are an awful lot of Las Vas Vegas casinos to choose from. It is hard to decide what the perfect Las Vegas casino is. With careful thought, you should be able to decide which one is right for you.

There are many factors you should consider before choosing a Las Vegas casino. The first one is location. If you are coming from an airport, you may want to choose a Las Vegas casino that has a free shuttle. If you plan on touring the Las Vegas strip, you should choose a Las Vegas casino that is located directly on the strip. The Las Vegas strip is very long so be sure to choose a Las Vegas casino that is near the locations on the strip you wish to visit.

One Las Vegas casino you may enjoy is The Luxor. This Las Vegas Casino is Egyptian themed. The Luxor is shaped like an Egyptian pyramid. The elevators that go up to the hotel rooms even go up in a diagonal angle!
There are also rides and attractions for children, all of which are Egyptian themed.

Another Las Vegas Casino you might enjoy is called The Excalibur. This Las Vegas Casino is medieval themed. The Excalibur has a show that portrays knights jousting, a midway with carnival games, and a whole menagerie of shops and restaurants. This Las Vegas casino is recommended if you have children.

There is another Las Vegas casino you may enjoy if you have children. It is called Circus Circus. Guess what the theme is for this casino?
Circus Circus has a midway with many carnival games and circus acts every hour.

For a more adult themed Las Vegas casino, you may enjoy the Bellagio. This is an Italian themed casino. The Bellagio has gondolas surrounding the hotel for a romantic evening. They also offer fine Italian cuisines and have a very exquisite shopping center. This is a very popular Las Vegas casino.

All of these Las Vegas casinos have one thing in common and that's lots of gambling! Las Vegas is located in Nevada and all forms of gambling are legal. Each one of the casinos offers a variety of gambling experience from: video slot machines, reel slots, video poker, poker, craps, roulette, keno, horse racing, black jack, and many more. You can also have alcoholic beverages while you are gambling and many are offered free by the casinos.

You will really enjoy your trip to Las Vegas. There is so much to do and so many different Las Vegas casinos to choose from. You may even want to visit more than one Las Vegas casino! Just don't lose all of your mone

1031 Property Exchange

Property Exchanges conforming to IRC section 1031 offer wonderful opportunities to defer tax liability and maximize profits while helping to continue with the investment of the capital.

The IRC clearly states the main qualifying parameter of the exchange as a like-kind exchange. “In a like-kind exchange, the property you give up and the property you receive must be held by you for investment or for productive use in trade or business.” Thus, 1031 Exchanges can involve only like-kind of properties.

In all, there are five types of 1031 Exchanges. In Simultaneous Exchange one property is sold and the next is bought exactly the same time.

In Delayed Exchange, property is sold and the replacement property is bought within 180 days. Reverse Exchange has the replacement property bought before the initial property is sold.

Improvement Exchange uses some of the capital to improve the property, as in building a road. Personal Property Exchange can also come under ‘like-kind’ exchanges other than real estate. That includes cattle, aircraft, mineral rights, etc.

Just as there are several types of 1031 Exchanges, the processes in each of them vary substantially. Delayed Exchange is the most common type, and also the most popular.

In Delayed Exchange, the first step is planning out the whole transaction by talking to a qualified intermediary, otherwise called a facilitator. The facilitator then ascertains the investment objectives of the seller or exchanger and suggests the right option after estimating the amount of potential capital gains and the resultant tax outgo involved.

Drafting a standard purchase and sale agreement is the second step, stating the exchanger's intent to exchange the property and obtaining the buyer’s consent to cooperate. The facilitator then suitably converts the sale transaction into an exchange deal through specialized documentation.

Having decided to perform an exchange, parties are then notified about the transaction and the intent to exchange. The parties involved are the real estate agent, closing agent, accountant and attorney.

The facilitator then collects the information required to prepare the exchange documents. The originals are then forwarded to the closing agent for execution during closing. All parties get the documents for review. After closing, the exchanger will transfer the relinquished property to the QI, who would then simultaneously sell the property to the buyer. The proceeds go to the QI and held by him until the acquisition of the replacement property is over.

In the Delayed Exchange, from the date of closing the relinquished property the exchanger gets 45 days to identify the replacement property and 180 days to complete the exchange. The identified replacement property is purchased by the QI and transferred to the exchanger in the stipulated time, making the exchange complete.

It is the facilitator, or QI, who answers all questions from the exchanger’s accountant or attorney. The exchanger's funds are deposited in separate and insured accounts to ensure security, sometimes in a $1,000,000 fidelity bond account.

The exchange has to be done diligently so that it survives the audit and scrutiny of the IRS.

1031 Residential Commercial Property in Pasadena

This article explores the viability of a repositioning strategy of a 1031 residential commercial property in Pasadena.

Real estate investors looking to get out of an existing property may have a new option to help them get into a more viable property via a exchange into a 1031 residential commercial property in Pasadena.

In some regards, Pasadena investors have been hitting the same generic problems of repositioning out of their current over-appreciated investment property class into commercial properties. While this will remain a difficult strategy, the strategy of an exchange into a 1031 into residential commercial property in Pasadena may have one unique advantage.

A sort of commercial renaissance has been occurring in Pasadena for the past few years. The city has been injecting money into revitalization plans which, trends show, is paying off in a big way. Development of commercial and retail properties has increased steadily in areas like Old Pasadena though it has not overshadowed the quaint, small town feel of the city. Unfortunately, this means that many investors have already laid claim to much of the traditional commercial market here.

However, an increase in capital circulating in Old Pasadena has birthed new economic development and has attracted many young people with more money to spend. These young couples and families weren't necessarily looking to rent homes in this area. However with rising gas prices, it appears they are now willing to pay higher rents to live in an environment that is close to work and has lots to offer in terms of entertainment while also hosting playgrounds and schools for children. Investors looking at this trend are seeing some increased viability in the greater cash-flow possibilities derived from this "live where you work" concept. While, many of the steals have been scooped up; if you are lucky and persistent, you still may be able to find a suitable replacement by exchanging