An investment property is a business plan with a roof, not a house with a better story.
You handle your capital carefully. You deserve numbers you can trust, risks named out loud, and a strategy that outlasts any single deal.
Investment Properties
This page is for investors evaluating Las Vegas real estate: rental properties, fix-and-flips, new construction, in long-term holds. My role is to put the numbers in front of you, honestly, before anyone asks you to commit: returns, risks, timelines, and how each property fits your wealth strategy, not just your tax bracket.
Brought to you by
Steve Lockhart, Las Vegas REALTOR. The Lockhart Method is his decision-first strategy for investors: understand the numbers, weigh the risks, and commit with a clear plan.
In Short
Las Vegas investment properties work when the numbers do. Steve helps investors underwrite deals decision-first so they compare real numbers, not hype, before committing.
01 · The evaluation
Four numbers every deal deserves
Cap rate
Net operating income divided by the property value. It compares income performance across properties and markets, independent of financing.
Cash on cash
Annual pre-tax cash flow divided by the cash you actually invested. It answers the question that matters most to you, per dollar out of pocket.
Cash flow
Rent minus mortgage, taxes, insurance, management, repairs, reserves,and vacancy. A deal that only works without vacancies is not a deal that works.
Total return
Cash flow plus principal paydown plus appreciation minus costs. Good investors model all four, because one number alone can lie about a deal.
A working definition: cap rate compares a property's net operating income to its value, cash on cash compares your annual cash flow to your invested cash, and cash flow is what remains each month after every cost, including vacancy and reserves. They measure different things; a full investment evaluation uses all of them against your specific financing, holding period, and exit strategy.
02 · Risk & strategy
The questions before the property
- What is the exit plan if rates rise, rents flatten, or the market slows?
- How much vacancy, turnover,and deferred maintenance did the underwriting model?
- Does the property serve your wealth stage: first rental, portfolio expansion, or diversification?
- Is management realistic for you, or will the property need professional property management?
03 · Buy, hold, or sell
The hold-versus-sell decision
Holding for cash flow, appreciation, and mortgage paydown works when the numbers run over your holding period. Selling makes sense when the equity is better deployed elsewhere, when the property has become an inefficient use of your capital, or when life stage demands the cash. I build both scenarios with current market data so the decision is arithmetic, not astrology.
Long-term wealth building through real estate is real, and it is not guaranteed by time alone. The discipline is in the acquisition, the underwriting,and the ongoing review. That is the part I am good at, and the part most investors do not have anyone to run with.
Rental property
Cash flow, tenant quality, management structure, reserves,and a five-to-ten-year hold plan,and modeled honestly against today's rents.
Fix-and-flip
Purchase, renovation, carrying,and exit costs versus conservatively-appraised after-repair value, with a timeline that protects your capital.
New construction
Builder pricing versus resale comparisons, incentive structures, timeline risk,and exit strategy, run before you pick a floor plan.
Let's evaluate before you commit.
Bring the property or the criteria, and I will help you run the four numbers with the right lens for your capital, your timeline,and your risk tolerance. No hype, no pressure, just math.
Start the evaluationCommon questions