Issue Eighteen · The Feature
No More Rainouts
Born and raised in New York, Marco Villanueva moved to Las Vegas in 2003 after one too many rained-out golf weekends. More than two decades later, the realtor and tour guide knows the valley, and how much it has changed, as well as anyone.
By Benjamin Olivares
Marco Villanueva, Realtor, The George Kypreos Team at Signature Real Estate Group
Live the Goodlife in Las Vegas, Issue 18
In March of 2003, it rained on Marco Villanueva's weekends for 10 to 12 weeks straight.
Not all weekend, he says. Just enough to ruin his golf. Week after week, the New York native looked out the window and came to the same conclusion. "Yeah, I'm not going to play golf today."
That stretch of weather became one of the main reasons he left. A friend suggested Las Vegas, so Marco visited that July. Then he made the call: he sold his home and his business back east, and in September 2003 he moved west, to a city where the sun shows up far more often than the rain.
The first adjustment was an easy one.
"I did enjoy not having to shovel any snow, that's for sure."Marco Villanueva
The golf took longer. Desert courses play very differently from the ones he grew up on back east, and it took him a while to get used to them.
Knowing the Valley
Marco learned Las Vegas long before he started selling it. Before real estate, he worked as a customer development manager for a transportation company, a job that took him all over the valley.
He earned his real estate license in 2016, and the work has shown him even more. "Real estate has helped me a lot, because I got to see a lot of the city," he says. "Definitely a lot of parts of this city that I've grown to love."
Today he is a realtor with The George Kypreos Team at Signature Real Estate Group. He works the entire Las Vegas Valley and will go wherever his clients want to look. Right now, most of them are interested in the southwest part of town and in Henderson.
"Henderson seems to be a very family-oriented city, and I get a lot of people who ask about it," he says. "You're about 15 minutes from the airport and the Strip. You can't go wrong." He points to Cadence, a master-planned community near old Henderson, where new homes are still going up.
Advice From Someone Who Paid 11 Percent
Buyers ask Marco about interest rates all the time. His advice is simple. "If you can afford a house now, then buy," he says.
"Don't gamble with the interest rates. They'll always change."Marco Villanueva
He speaks from experience. Before he left New York, he was paying an 11 percent interest rate on his own home.
Timing matters, too. Toward the end of the year, he says, builders want to clear their inventory, and some are offering very good deals. "It all depends on what people can afford," he says.
The Side Gig: Showing Off Southern Nevada
When he is not showing homes, Marco works as a tour guide for a company that takes visitors to Hoover Dam, Valley of Fire, Zion, and the Grand Canyon. He calls it his side gig, and he can set his own schedule, so when clients come to town to look at homes, he makes sure he is free.
It also means newcomers get a realtor who can show them more than a neighborhood. He can show them why people fall for this part of the country in the first place.
The Marco File
Old School by Choice
Marco is not chasing likes. Most of his business comes from referrals. "I'm basically old school," he says. "The younger generation does everything over social media. I'll post something once in a while, but I'm not really big into it. When people are ready to buy a home and need an agent, they'll find me, or I'll find them."
He does keep a business Facebook page. Or clients just call or text. "I'm available 24/7, basically," he says.
Business is a little slow right now, he admits, but he is not worried. As the saying goes, tough times don't last.
What He'd Change About Las Vegas
Marco's answer is short: make Vegas affordable again.
"Vegas is no longer the bargain city."Marco Villanueva
He traces much of the change to the pandemic. In March 2020, he says, the median price for a three-bedroom, two-bath home was about $300,000. Then remote work let people from California, New York, and Chicago sell their homes, move to a state with no income tax, and arrive with money in the bank. Today, he says, that same house is around $470,000.
The Strip changed, too. After the casinos reopened, he says, came paid parking, resort fees, and fewer buffets. "The casinos don't take care of locals," he says. "You can't show your ID and get a staycation discount or have the resort fee waived."
He misses the way it used to feel, when the city went out of its way for every guest. "Back in the day, when people came in, they took care of them," he says. "That's the Vegas vibe."
Where He Eats
Marco loves Italian food. His go-to spots are Bootlegger Italian Bistro, on Las Vegas Boulevard just south of the Strip, and Capo's Restaurant and Speakeasy. "Italian food is definitely what I long for," he says.
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Marco Villanueva
Realtor, The George Kypreos Team at Signature Real Estate Group
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