Spammed by a former apprentice

Every year there seems to be at least one former apprentice of the "Don's" that just won't fade back into obscurity. Probably the most famously ridiculous one was Amarosa who just couldn't accept that she was the greatest thing since sliced bread. For a while she had a website up where you could 'talk' to her for $6.95 a minute. Now there is another former apprentice trying to cash in on their brief brush with fame. Jennifer Wallen has some kind of deal cooking. Jennifer, here's a hint. If you want to appear more legitimate, don't use the same tactics as Nigerians do to collect money. I've been spammed by at least a dozen different email addresses with this message:

Hi! I'm Jennifer Wallen, a local real estate broker and former contestant on Donald Trump's hit television show, "The Apprentice"-- season 4. I have discovered an incredible money-making opportunity so powerful, that it has enabled myself and my husband to retire from our real estate careers! If you're like me, the downturn in the real estate market has affected you financially and you are probably looking for something else to supplement or even replace your income. This life-changing opportunity will do just that.

For more information, call the toll-free number below. We are holding local meetings weekly to explain all of the details. Just leave your contact information and I, or one of my partners, will call you back with the time and location of our next meeting. Don't delay as seating is by reservation only and it tends to fill up quickly... you won't be sorry!
Insane Income Please Call 1 - 888-99B-RICH

That's right, since tune in on weekly meetings and your income worries are over! I've always found that the real money is in holding making money seminars. There is an unsubscribe button included in the email from Insane Income LLC, which I have already used a week ago. What really steams me is that you haven't go through this crap when your email address has been harvested from your site. If there is anyone out there that has signed up, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts about it. Their marketing has put a bad taste in my mouth.

Win a REW website with IDX

The Greatest Real Estate Agent in the World contest has come to a close. Team Eric came out on top, beating some very tough competitors. As promised, the contest prize was donated to the Eco Preservation Society of Costa Rica to help raise money and awareness of the plight of the eco system in that area.

The website with core IDX and free lifetime hosting is being raffled off. You can get the full scoop here: http://www.ericonsearch.com/real-estate-webmasters-website-raffle-by-team-eric/

Related:

Who is the greatest real estate agent in the world
Real estate posts and comments

Construction worker found dead at CityCenter

This past Saturday a construction worker was found dead at the CityCenter project. The man was identified as Mark Wescoat, an electrician from New Jersey working for Fisk Electric. He reported in for work at 6 am and about a half hour later he had fallen to his death from the 27th floor down to the 25th. This is the fifth construction death at CityCenter (last year there were four fatalities). OSHA has been called in to investigate and there has been no comment from MGM Mirage. In the prior cases, OSHA found numerous safety violations. The project has work crews there working around the clock to meet their November 2009 opening date.

Perhaps its time for CityCenter to put the safety of its workers ahead of its time table. Unfortunately, its not uncommon for their to be a death at a large construction site. However, to give you some perspective, only one worker died working on the Eiffel Tower in the late 1800's but 114 workers died during construction of Hoover Dam.

Related:

Accident at CityCenter
Accident at Palms Place
Another Accident at Fontainebleau

More updates and additions

Trying to keep up several sites at once gets old---fast. If you are a regular subscriber to several blogs, you've noticed blog burnout on at least one of them at some time or another. A friend of mine lives in Spanish Trail (not Spanish Trails) and were talking about foreclosures. Even in his neighborhood he is seeing a few, plus there are quite a few Spanish Trail townhomes up for sale as well, although I didn't notice if there were any short sales mentioned. Not surprising really, since there are quite a few townhomes available for sale right now. Beacon Hill in Mountain's Edge is a perfect example. Normally most large master planned communities include a few townhomes in the mix.

Home sales are slowly creeping back up again. I think some of that has to do with some of the unheard of deals being offered. For example, Flagstone Manor by Pulte has half acre lots and had the price dropped by 100k in some cases. Other developers are taking it even farther. Manhattan West is offering a couple of very interesting programs. If you are already a home owner and are worried about selling your home in order to buy a condo, the community Guaranteed Sale program guarantees to buy your qualifying existing home if it doesn’t sell within 180 days (of course there are qualifications). Another interesting program is the Downside Price Protection™, which lets you lock in today’s prices and interest rates while reducing the risk that your condo will drop in price. With Downside Price Protection, if the market is lower two years from when you buy your Manhattan West residence, you get a cash refund of the percentage the market is down, up to 10%. There is also a program for investors to cover the mortgage difference if the rent doesn't. In all, there are a total of six programs. I have to admit, it's pretty slick.

Top Five Condo Communities in Las Vegas

More than 5,000 people a month move to the Las Vegas valley and they all ask some of the same questions. Where are the best schools? Best communities? Condos close to the strip? Homes near UNLV, etc. So I thought I would give my opinion on some of those questions, by putting together this list of what I think are the top five condominium communities in Las Vegas and the reasons why.

• Manhattan West - I gave this community top billing because of their innovative floor plan packages (no one else offers anything like them) and great community amenities. Manhattan West also offers unparalleled buyer protection programs. It's a truly unique community, a rarity in Las Vegas.
• Sedona Las Vegas - This is a condo conversion, located on Las Vegas Boulevard, just down the street from Mandalay Bay. The community has several pools, spas, racquetball court, tennis court and other resort style amenities.
• Sullivan Square - This is a completely green condominium community. It has its own unique architectural style, offering a variety of loft and condominium residences.
• Sky Las Vegas - This is the only residential high rise on the Las Vegas strip (at the moment). Sky Las Vegas offers all of the high end amenities you would expect in a luxury condo community.
• Desert Shores Villas - This one makes the list on location alone. Another condominium conversion, the condos themselves are the average fare. However, residents go enjoy all of the Desert Shores community amenities. The lakes attract all kinds of wildlife including migrant ducks and swans.

Health crisis in Las Vegas

Earlier this month, several clinics owned by Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada were shut down due to a hepatitis outbreak at their Shadow Lane location. Now it’s come to light that the clinic’s majority owner, Dr Depak Desai has political ties to Nevada governor Jim Gibbons. Dr. Desai served on the governor’s health care transition team before he officially took office in January of last year, which may explain the governor's defense of the clinics early on. Gibbons expressed his concern that Nevadans wouldn’t seek medical help over the media’s “buffoonery.” On the other hand, he asked that three members of the state board of medical examiners to step down that have ties to the hepatitis scare at Clark county endoscopy clinics. One of the three is also the Chief of the Bureau of Licensing and Certification. Gibbons also stated, ”more inspections by more state staffers may not have stopped clinic practices that led to a recent hepatitis outbreak in Las Vegas” last week, despite having fought for a plan for more medical surveyors in 2007. However, he had also stated about their actions "that does constitute a criminal act" and those responsible "must be held accountable." A flip flop of his other statements....

Another Hepatitis case confirmed

The latest case brings the total to 7 confirmed cases of the disease and the first death. James Cromwell passed away due to liver disease secondary to hepatitis C. His wife, Janice has filed a wrongful death suit against Endoscopy Center. As with the other cases, the victim’s blood work never showed hepatitis C before he visited the clinic. Mr. Cromwell had passed away in May of 2006. Mrs. Cromwell also intends to file a police report, hoping murder charges will be brought against the doctor involved.

More cases

Robert Cox may be the next person added to the list of victims. He underwent two procedures at the Desert Shadow Endoscopy Center on Burnham Avenue several years ago. Prior to those procedures, he had never tested positive for hepatitis. Mr. Cox was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2005 and sought additional testing after receiving a letter from his medical provider urging him to do so. Mr. Cox’s test came back positive for hepatitis B as well. The results have been forwarded to the health department for investigation. Mr. Cox said the doctor who performed the procedures was Dr. Vishvinder Sharma, who recently resigned from the State Medical Board on March 7 and was a partner of Dr. Depak Desai.

Nevada clinics not the first

This type of outbreak is nothing new. Back in October of 2002, the New York Times ran a piece about 10 cancer patients that may have contracted Hepatitis C from a Nebraska clinic. The clinic was reusing hypodermic needles. The clinic owner, Dr. Javed fled to Pakistan and was not heard from again. The next month, a survey by the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) in Illinois found that 1 in 100 healthcare providers were using the same needle on multiple patients. "There is no excuse for ever reusing a needle or syringe on different patients," said Rodney Lester, CRNA, PhD, president of the 30,000-member AANA. "It is most disturbing that even 1 percent of the healthcare providers surveyed do this, potentially exposing millions of patients each year to needles and/or syringes contaminated with Hepatitis, HIV, or other life-threatening infectious diseases."

So this has been a known issue, well documented and the consquences known. I have a feeling that if other states start inspecting clinics they might find the same practices.

Sources: lasvegasnow.com, msnbc.msn.com, aana.com & New York Times

Metreon Vertical Construction Party

Amidst all of the recent cancellation of loft and condo projects, several of the projects going forward tend to get overlooked. The Metreon Las Vegas, a mixed use project on the west side is celebrating the vertical construction of the project on March 27th. Sales for the community have already commenced.

The community will offer live/work residential lofts in twin five story towers and class A office space. Commercial tenants include Sammy's Wood Fired Pizza, Fedex Kinko's and Einstein's bagels. Call 702-493-8033 for more information.

Out of this world home up for sale

ET's retirement home?

This "spaceship" house went up for auction in Signal Mountain, Tennessee.

You would think that it would be a one of kind. Thanks to the popularity of Star Trek, Star Wars and other science fiction over the years, that isn't the only spaceship house out there.

Greetings Earthlings from Pensacola, Florida

Don't have enough cash to buy your own spaceship house? This one is available for rent in Pensacola Florida.

Certainly not in the same league as the Tennessee house, but if you have to live in a spaceship, at least you can start out with something small and work your way up. The top structure is actually a Futuro, set on top of a normal house. The Futuro was designed by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen back in the late 60's and represents the Utopian design of the era. There are still a few of them around the world (although this is first one that has been added to another structure that I've seen). There was even a film made about them in 1998, titled "Futuro - A New Stance for Tomorrow". For more pictures of Futuros around the country, visit futuro-house.net.

The Spaceship Housing Development

The city of El Paso almost had an entire housing development of spaceship homes. There was going to be a giant lake created behind the homes, but that never happened and the project folded.

Influence of Space Age Architecture

The influence of architects like Matt Suuronen can be see across the US in the most unlikely places. This former restaurant The Gobbler located in Madison,Wisconsin has a distinctly space age design. Sadly, the unique building design was not enough to keep the restaurant open.

The new University of Phoenix stadium in Glendale, Arizona also has a distinctive "spaceship" look.