Elliman’s John “JD” Diaz Is Ready for You to Move to Las Vegas

By Grace Cassidy In the five years since becoming a real estate agent in the Las Vegas market, John Diaz has welcomed the steady influx of new residents relocating to the city from around the U.S. According data from Nevada’s Department of Motor Vehicles , as much as 43 percent of arrivals to the Silver State in 2020 came from the Golden State to the west. “Relocations are very popular here, especially from California,” said Diaz, who goes by JD. “There are still a lot of new construction opportunities for buyers, whereas in California it’s a lot of buying, flipping, and renovating. Here, you can get something brand new for less.” John “JD” Diaz Having relocated to Las Vegas in 2007 from his native San Diego to attend UNLV, JD knows whereof he speaks. What’s more, he adds, the Las Vegas Valley area offers a better work-life balance, wide-open space and a general vibe of all-around happiness. “One of the most common things I hear from people who relocate is, ‘I wish I moved here sooner,’” he said. Before becoming a licensed agent, JD worked in the real estate industry as a regional marketing manager focusing on Southern Nevada, California and Arizona for a home builder located in the Las Vegas Valley. The experience was an immersion course that he credits with enabling him to stand out, rise quickly and join the top one percent of agents in the market. “I put my head down and went face-first into everything that I could think of, and marketing helped me do that,” he said. “It helped me build a skill set at the early part of my career that set me apart from a lot of new agents that were starting out with no experience.” It also gave JD an appreciation for all that Las Vegas had to offer beyond the casinos and tourist attractions on the iconic strip. He credits former mayor Oscar Goodman for launching several initiatives in the wake of the Great Recession to diversify the city’s economy beyond hospitality, such as luring companies with tax benefits, spacious land, and affordable housing for employees. With new sports teams and an international airport, Las Vegas has grown into a vibrant—and resilient—economic and cultural center. “If it weren’t for that effort to build Las Vegas into what it is now, the city wouldn’t have survived during the pandemic,” he said. “We were able to not just survive but thrive.” Meanwhile, JD has been diversifying his own business. The Diaz Luxe Group , the team he formed in 2020, has begun to expand beyond Las Vegas to JD’s native Southern California. With higher interest rates and economic uncertainty currently at play, he knows that “people are more likely to pull back, stand their ground, and see what happens”—and he’s ready to give them the guidance they need. “It’s important to have a really good agent that can paint the picture of what is happening right now in the market—and if and how you can still benefit from buying a home.”