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Welcome To The Stage Tim McKenna
8 Plays18 days ago
🎧 Welcome to Thoughts For Rent — the podcast where real estate gets real (and local)!
Hosted by Jenni McKenna, a Las Vegas born and raised seasoned broker, and Owner of McKenna Property Management, this show is your inside look at what’s really happening in the Vegas property management and real estate world. With over 20 years of experience herself - Jenni brings not just knowledge, but heart to the conversation.
Whether we’re talking market trends, property tips, community happenings, or just the everyday quirks of Vegas living, this podcast is all about keeping you in the know.
💬 Real talk. Local stories. Professional insight – provided from a company who has their boots on the ground and hearts in the community.
In this episode, we meet the man who started it all, Tim McKenna! We hear just a ew of his many stories in his 45 years in the business..
McKenna Property Management, proudly managing Las Vegas homes since 2005 (and loving every minute of it).
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Background
00:00:20
Irelynn Zurflueh
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to Thoughts for Rent, Realtors Keeping It Real. I'm Max Urflu, and today I have the specialist of special guests for the podcast, the one and only Tim McKenna. The really old guy. i'm I've been in the real estate now.
00:00:38
Irelynn Zurflueh
ah In fact, I'm just renewing my license. And they said, I've been in this business for 46 years. Is that possible? 46. Is that possible? 46 years. Now, they let people of your age, they still let have license? I guess, yeah. they You know, they're very generous, though, because they say, instead of doing 30 hours of continuing education, I only have to do 15 hours of continuing education because I have so much old people intelligence.
00:01:05
Irelynn Zurflueh
Well, they don't want to also overwork you and make, well, they don't want to stress me out. having mean Having more than 15 hours might stress me out. When you get older, they're saying you have more information.
00:01:16
Irelynn Zurflueh
Yeah. They assume you retained it. Yeah. Evidently they think, they think my 75 year old brain is holding on to all that information I've had for 45 years. How about that? Well,
00:01:27
Irelynn Zurflueh
i'm sure it's I'm sure it's all there in the conversation. Not only is he my real estate guru, but he's also my father-in-law. That means he's married to my daughter, Jenny.
00:01:38
Irelynn Zurflueh
Yeah, I think that's what that means. But it also means that Tim is very grateful to me because he had a spoiled daughter named Jenny and now she's my problem. There you go. there When they got married, I said, her credit cards are now your credit cards. And I'm all the happier for it. But enough about me. Let's talk about you. Let's talk about real estate and you.
First Houses and Real Estate Evolution
00:01:58
Irelynn Zurflueh
You say 46 years. So that would be 79 got in real estate? Yep. 1979? Well, actually, I got it on 80. In 80? Yeah. Okay. And you when you got into real estate, things were probably a little different than they are now.
00:02:12
Irelynn Zurflueh
Oh, yeah. No, I mean, it was, you know, it's really funny. First house I ever bought, I paid $9,000 for it. It was a three-bedroom, two-bath ah in Parkdale.
00:02:22
Irelynn Zurflueh
Was that before you were a realtor? That was just before. Just before was a real estate agent. And then the second house I bought, I bought a house for $16,000. Yeah. i said ah luxury It was on a half acre and it was three bedrooms, two baths, two car garage.
00:02:40
Irelynn Zurflueh
And it was on Prince Lane here in Las Vegas. Where was your where about your first house? First house was in Parkdale. It on Springdale Court in Parkdale. Those are Las Vegas names? Las Vegas. i don't even know where that is. Yeah, it's Las Vegas. It's it's off of Boulder Highway and Lamb.
00:02:56
Irelynn Zurflueh
And Prince is off of Charleston. Yeah, and Prince was off of Charleston and Nellis. $9,000 you paid for your first house. $9,000. I sold it a year and a half later. We fixed it up.
00:03:07
Irelynn Zurflueh
And we sold it a year and a half later for $10,500. And I thought I really skinned the cap because I made $1,500. Now, I assume even then, way back then, you had to get a loan? Is that right?
00:03:21
Irelynn Zurflueh
Yes. Yeah. So do what do you remember what your monthly payment was on that $9,000? On the $9,000 house, it was $86 a month. How much did you put down? Gosh.
00:03:32
Irelynn Zurflueh
You know, I honestly don't remember what we put down. already established that you have a lot of knowledge. I know it. I know it and i'm trying to Well, I bought so many houses, so I'm trying to figure out that first one. I believe we put $1,100 down. That was our down payment.
00:03:45
Irelynn Zurflueh
And then on the second one, on the one on Prince Lane, that's the one I liked. that was that was I always liked Prince Lane. And i we put down... um $1,500, and my payment was $125 a month.
00:04:00
Irelynn Zurflueh
My interest rate was 3.5%. And I remember it was a conventional loan, which I had no idea what the difference between the conventional loan, an FHA loan, and a VA loan was. Was this the 60s or 70s?
00:04:14
Irelynn Zurflueh
No, this is in the 60s. Well, yeah, it'd be late 60s. How about
Loans and HOA Origins
00:04:19
Irelynn Zurflueh
HOA? No HOAs? No, no HOA. When did that come about in Las What, HOAs? HOAs started not so much. they were they were there for condominiums, but there really weren't a lot of condominiums until we got to the eighty s Oh, Yeah. condominiums were the first HOAs?
00:04:35
Irelynn Zurflueh
Yeah, condominiums were definitely the first HOAs. There were no HOAs as far as his houses, except for Rancho Circle. Rancho Circle, of course, had some. Off of the freeway and over the Rancho and Sierra. Yeah, and that was like the premium.
00:04:50
Irelynn Zurflueh
If you lived in Rancho Circle, you were you're doing well. you You were a movie star. That's where go. But so eventually someone said, well, we should have HOAs for single-family homes too. and We should do that.
00:05:01
Irelynn Zurflueh
Yeah, they it started to become ah more popular when people started painting their houses pink and green and orange. And everybody said, whoa, wait a second. We want to control this. We want everything to look nice and normal.
00:05:17
Irelynn Zurflueh
And I think it came out. Well, I know. I don't think. I know. It came out of California. California started the HOAs back in the early seventies.
Restrictive Covenants and Cultural Shifts
00:05:27
Irelynn Zurflueh
and Well, actually I think they started them in the middle sixties, but, but I know of in the early seventies, they started the HOAs and they started telling people what they could paint their house, what they could park in the front yard. You couldn't park six cars, you know, that kind of stuff. Now here we are four years later and people, people are out there looking for homes that aren't in an HOA. They love that. They want, they want that, but it's hard to find a lot of Yeah, it's getting harder and harder because, well, you know, actually, it's really funny. There was a HOA on the properties that was called Desert and Estates.
00:05:57
Irelynn Zurflueh
And they were off of Maryland Parkway and Russell Road. And Del Webb, who was the owner and operator of the Desert Inn Hotel, um they say he was part of the mob and that he really was nobody. He was a a bellman in Los Angeles, and they made him Del Webb.
00:06:20
Irelynn Zurflueh
They made him out to be this. They made him out to be Del Webb, the hotel, right. And he, so he went... the same sun city guy? same guy that no No, different. different give her And so he started to make this area and make this this area And he came actually came from Phoenix when it was all over and done with.
00:06:40
Irelynn Zurflueh
But anyway, he made this area and it was called Desert Inn Estates. And Desert Inn Estates had CC&Rs. For instance, you had to mow your lawn at least once every 10 days.
00:06:53
Irelynn Zurflueh
You had to um um paint, but get your paint. Of your house? like Yeah, whatever you, well, you had to paint it every five years, but you had to have the pink color approved.
00:07:07
Irelynn Zurflueh
by the HOA, and there were no coloreds allowed to purchase the property. Now, this is the 60s. That cannot be. you True. In in America? in True.
00:07:21
Irelynn Zurflueh
True. And it's in the sea it's actually in the CCNRs today. It's still registered. It's still... Of course, you can't you can't do it anymore, but yeah. If you go back to the original CCNRs of that community. Yeah, if you go back to the regular CCNRs, it's terrible. Yeah, yeah.
00:07:35
Irelynn Zurflueh
It's just a terrible thing. I'm glad we're getting, we're progressing. We are. Did you, when you said desert in, I was thinking of, I saw some news today. There's a, now a part of Las Vegas is going to be called Filipino town.
00:07:47
Irelynn Zurflueh
Did you see that? No. So it's about a mile of a Maryland parkway from desert in to sand Hill. That area has been designated Filipino town. Wow.
00:07:58
Irelynn Zurflueh
that I didn't even know we were going that direction. I didn't either. Well, we got a little Chinatown. Yeah. I mean, that's good. I think that's great if they like it. think we have Chinatown South too. If you south of Rainbow from 215, there's lot of Asian restaurants there too.
00:08:12
Irelynn Zurflueh
Yeah. Anyway, wow, that's kind of big when you told me they had the CCRs. Well, i'm just I'm just grateful if they do Filipino Town or they do Chinatown or they do whatever town that anybody.
00:08:25
Irelynn Zurflueh
under this under the Constitution of the United States and the laws of the nation, anybody can buy in there. You don't have to be Filipino. You don't have to be Chinese. You don't have to be anything. You just you just like have money. Just like Walt Disney said when he opened the gates of Disneyland in 1955, to all who enter these gates, welcome.
00:08:45
Irelynn Zurflueh
Yes, exactly. 70 years ago. That's how we are in Las Vegas now. i We are much more welcoming today than we were 45 years ago.
00:08:56
Irelynn Zurflueh
That's good. i love I love that. You did mention, you know, Del Webb and you kind of threw out that word mafia. You've been in Vegas for a long time. ah You weren't born here, but you've been here. My parents came here in 1954. Do you have any brushes with the mafia?
Mafia Connections and Gaming Industry
00:09:11
Irelynn Zurflueh
My dad, my dad was. He was connected. He was connected, yes. He came he came in from Colorado, and he ran the Royal Nevada, which is where the Stardust, well, where the Stardust was, and now the Resorts International live. Okay.
00:09:27
Irelynn Zurflueh
And also ran the Nevada Club downtown, where now, don't even know what's where the Nevada Club is now. Everything's changed so much. When did you say he ran it? He was the general manager. Oh, really?
00:09:39
Irelynn Zurflueh
Yeah. So, yeah, we had... And he had brushes with the... Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We went out many a times. I remember as a little kid, maybe... seven, eight years old, going out to Benny Binion's place on Bonanza.
00:09:55
Irelynn Zurflueh
And ah my dad would show them how some kind of new mechanisms would work, how you could cut cards or gambling or a roulette wheel that would stop at the number you wanted to stop at. Ah,
00:10:11
Irelynn Zurflueh
which is all illegal now. I mean, none of that stuff exists in Las Vegas today, which I'm grateful for. that a legal nationalist thing? You think it doesn't exist at all? Oh, don't. You've got have all that stuff? Yeah. happened was 1958, I think it was 58 or 59, the Nevada Gaming Control Board was legalized. And I remember my mom and dad talking about how they kept trying to catch my dad cheating.
00:10:38
Irelynn Zurflueh
And cause he was very good and they couldn't find it. They couldn't catch him. They couldn't catch him. And so finally they just offered him a job and he went to work for George Ollum, who was the first gaming control board. and he went to work for him and he said he'd go catch cheaters, but he wouldn't catch me in Las Vegas because they were his friends.
00:10:59
Irelynn Zurflueh
He would go up to Reno and to Elko. and and he there yeah he'd catch him up saying and he really was upset and this is another thing that's changed in las vegas that's so dramatic is back in the day there were no women dealers uh really yeah oh yeah it was all male only men could be dealers and then reno started having women dealers in fact some of the hotels up there had topless women dealers and my old man would go up there and catch him cheating
00:11:30
Irelynn Zurflueh
Topless dealers. Topless and non-topless. Like at a regular casino? A regular casino. Oh, wow. How about that? I guess I was born in the wrong era. That was Nevada at its wildest. Reno was just trying to regain its popularity over Vegas. Vegas, in the 1960s and 70s, Las Vegas started to over-exceed Reno. Reno was the place to be in Nevada. Yeah. Got big?
00:11:57
Irelynn Zurflueh
Vegas was very small and Reno was the place to be. And, and Reno was the divorce capital of the world. That's where all you, you'd find out all the big movie stars and everything went to Reno because they could be there, get a residency for six weeks and get a divorce.
00:12:14
Irelynn Zurflueh
And in other States, it took forever. And then Nevada, Las Vegas started to surpass Reno.
Family Legacy
00:12:22
Irelynn Zurflueh
And my old man always said it was the government up in Reno was just too stifling. well brother in reno now Oh, yeah. Yeah.
00:12:30
Irelynn Zurflueh
So now we fast forward here. you've yeah You've got, how many grandkids do you have? 25. 25 grandkids. How many great grandkids? I have, right now, i have five great-grandchildren, but I have two on the way.
00:12:45
Irelynn Zurflueh
My, your daughter, my China Fae, Zerflu, is having a little baby girl, and it'll be my first girl, great-grandchild.
00:12:56
Irelynn Zurflueh
And then my other granddaughter, Madison, Wanker Arnett is having a little baby girl also. So in October this month, I'll get China's baby girl. And in December, I'll get Madison Arnett's baby girl.
00:13:10
Irelynn Zurflueh
We are looking forward to that very much. So now you've had an illustrious real estate career, 46 years, we decided. Can you tell us one incident that happened that is sort of laughable and you look back on and go, I can't believe that happened to me while I was in real estate?
High Interest Rates and Real Estate Strategies
00:13:27
Irelynn Zurflueh
Well, if you look, if you look at the interest rates, you know, everybody talks about interest rates today and they're saying, oh man, six, 6.5, 6.2, 6.1. Well, that's terrible.
00:13:39
Irelynn Zurflueh
I came into real estate business and I think I'm the one that caused it because I got my real estate license. Uh, The first year was in real estate, interest rates were 12%.
00:13:51
Irelynn Zurflueh
ah Second year was in real estate, they went up to 14.5%. It was the early 1970s. And if you guys remember, ah it was just a turbulent time for interest rates. 1980s probably. No, early 70s. Early 70s.
00:14:10
Irelynn Zurflueh
And no, I take that. I'm sorry, Max. It was the early 80s. It was the early 80s. And the interest rates were at unreasonable, unbelievable prices. So 14, did it stop there? That's basically, there was 15s and 16s.
00:14:28
Irelynn Zurflueh
But you could get an interest rate of 14, 13 and half, 14%. And you know what? and you know what A lot of real estate agents got out of the business. I jumped into the business. I became the salesman of the month five months in a row working for Ed Post Realty because I had no idea that high interest rates were bad.
00:14:46
Irelynn Zurflueh
That's why I just kept selling real estate. i I just didn't let it bother me. And I explained to the people, hey, if you want a house, great time to buy it because prices were down.
00:14:57
Irelynn Zurflueh
I mean, you could buy a really, really nice house. I mean, ah ah 1,700 square feet, three bedrooms, two baths, sitting on a 100 by 100 lot, and you'd pay $27,000 for it.
00:15:13
Irelynn Zurflueh
So, I mean, these were nice houses. And I'd explain to them, hey, your interest rates are high. You're going to write it off on your income tax. And Eventually, they're going to come down. And if they do come down, then you can always refinance it.
00:15:28
Irelynn Zurflueh
And it's still going to be a great buy because it's going to appreciate and appreciate and appreciate. And you know what? Not one of them felt bad about buying their house. It's true.
00:15:40
Irelynn Zurflueh
Because years later, I listed them and they made a lot of money. It's funny because 14% on a $27,000 loan is not quite as bad as 14% would be on a $450,000 loan. It would change things dramatically. so but yeah I think what you're kind of saying is 6.2 or 6.5, not too bad. It's like free
Closing Remarks and Future Hopes
00:15:59
Irelynn Zurflueh
money. yeah Yeah. yeah well Tim, you are a cornucopia of information. We could sit here and talk we can talk for hours, but I think our time is up. but I hope that Jenny gets you back here again so we can have some more episodes with you.
00:16:13
Irelynn Zurflueh
And thanks for coming by today. We appreciate appreciate you being Well, you know, that my hardest part of the day is I have to get up and go to lunch. Are we doing that? And then go to lunch and then go to a movie and then come home and watch Dateline and see all the people that get murdered.
00:16:29
Irelynn Zurflueh
Jeez. Well, hey, I'm glad you were able to do that. and You're still only like, what, 29? So you're young? Yeah, yeah I'm too young. Well, thanks for being here. And we'll see you next time, hopefully with Tim again soon on Realtors Keeping it Real on Thoughts for Rent. Have a great day.