REAL ESTATE INVESTOR SEES DEALS

Michel Maalouf remembers when homes in the Las Vegas Valley were going for $50,000 to $60,000.

It was about 16 years ago, and he and his wife, Mirna, started snapping them up. Today, they own more than 40 residential properties -- many of them fully paid for, all of them rentals.

The current housing slump hasn't altered their investment strategy, says Maalouf, a 46-year-old ATA Airlines captain. They buy to hold.

"I don't care if it makes money on a daily basis. My concern is the long term," he says. "We buy only good deals."

Good deals aren't limited to distressed properties facing foreclosure, which applies to a handful of homes the Maaloufs have purchased over the years. Some sellers just want or need to liquidate their assets.

The couple often pays in cash, which appeals to sellers and hastens closings.

Maalouf believes the mortgage meltdown won't destabilize the local economy, partly because thousands of people move to Las Vegas each month. He also takes his cue from resort properties.

"Casinos do their homework before they start building," he says. "As long as casinos are building, the future is looking good. As long as they are going to keep building, I'm going to keep buying."

The approximately $600,000 the Maaloufs earn annually in rental income funded their segue into commercial real estate. In April, they bought their second such property, the Lucky Stop gasoline station and convenience store on South Eastern Avenue.

Good deals are to be had, Maalouf says, because many commercial land owners either never built, never finished building, or couldn't lease out what they had built.

When it comes to the residential market, the couple stays below $400,000 per home. The rent-to-mortgage ratio is poor at higher prices, Maalouf says, and larger homes are harder to rent.

Their latest buy is a two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo near South Eastern Avenue and East Flamingo Road. They own two other properties in the same complex.

"The guy needed to sell, we offered him cash," Maalouf says. "We got it for $30,000 or $40,000 less than it was appraised."