Get your piece of Paradise (Valley or Scottsdale)!

[RealOG]

The big boys are starting to poke their head out... finally.

Scottsdale firm plans $94M real estate buying spree - Phoenix Business Journal:

 

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[hakrjak]

How are rents doing down in AZ? Easy to find renters? What's the average length of vacancy between renters?

Cheers,

-Hakrjak

 

[RealOG]

Rents are down in AZ as a whole.

Scottsdale rents are around $800-$1000 for a 2 bed / 2 bath condo depending on location and amenities.

Homes rent for $1100-$1500 for a 3/2 depending on location and amenities.

Time on market varies as well, but if you are aggressive, you could probably get it rented in a month.

... BTW - this is for Class A and Class B style rentals. Class C will be significantly lower rent and potentially longer leasing time.

 

[biophase]

I was actually thinking of going out on a limb and making the call that real estate seems to have bottomed here.

There are many sub $70,000 homes on the west side, but the ones in decent subdivisions seem to be bought quickly at those prices. Also, in one of my subdivisions the number of sold homes is increasing monthly and many that were sitting 6 months are now gone. I think that in some areas we are at the point where if prices drop any more, people swoop in and come buy. There are some nice 4200sf homes asking $220k in GOOD neighborhoods with mountain views, new schools, etc. They are not lasting long anymore.

 

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[andviv]

good to know... I will follow up this thread... thanks for sharing.

 

[Russ H]

Looks like RE may have bottomed in N Cal, for this year at least (until Dec/Jan).

We had a glut of foreclosed homes in Fairfield that sold for $350K+ in 2006/07 selling for as low as $55K (they needed about $15-20K in mostly cosmetic repairs, and the banks were just dumping them). Those homes are back up to $100K for the lowest priced ones.

-Russ H.

 

[hakrjak]

Hey Russ -- I was just looking at Stockton, CA. Real Estate, and I was finding all kinds of houses for $19k, $30k, etc... haha I'll say that is a bottom! Those are like Detroit prices! I never thought I'd see the day when prices there would be lower than prices in Colorado Springs.

Biophase -- Same thing was noticed here. We used to always have a bunch of houses in the $80k price range flooding inventory into this market, and now the $80k homes seem to have dried up, unless they are absolutely in the hood.

I think I need to go ahead and buy my retirement home in AZ now while the getting is good, if it would be able to be rented until I'm ready to retire... Can I get a good home in a decent area for $100k?

Cheers,

- Hakrjak

 

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[RealOG]

"Decent" is so subjective. Based on what I know about you, you need to live in Oldtown. That means buying a condo, which puts you somewhere in the mid 100's.

$100k homes will be farther out in Phoenix, Chandler, maybe Tempe but too far away from the city centers.

 

[Russ H]

Agreed, Hak.

Folks who have always dreamed of "retiring to CA" could actually do this, if they weren't scared out of their ever-lovin' minds right now.

-Russ H.

 

[hakrjak]

"Decent" is so subjective. Based on what I know about you, you need to live in Oldtown. That means buying a condo, which puts you somewhere in the mid 100's.

$100k homes will be farther out in Phoenix, Chandler, maybe Tempe but too far away from the city centers.

Ya but I don't know if a 50 or 60 year old version of myself would want to be in the city -- I might want to be outside of town where all the damn kids won't bother me. hehe..... I probably won't even have a stripper pole in my den by the time I'm that old!

Cheers,

- Hakrjak

 

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[hakrjak]

I just found a nice house I like for $100k, near a golf course:
Real Estate

I see that your property taxes are pretty high compared to what I'm used to though. This $100k house is showing up as having $2400 a yr in taxes.... Here in COS, I'm used to paying about $450-550/yr for an equivalent home. That just raised my costing projections a bit.

I'm also wondering about utilities when I'm between renters in Phoenix... I assume you need to run the AC in the summer time or risk having the inside of one of these houses turn into a furnace where all the glue melts on the cabinets and countertops and flooring, etc? Or can you just shut down the AC in the summertime on a vacant property? I'm hearing nightmarish estimates of $500 a month, etc -- When I'm used to double digits here in the summer, and maybe $100/mo in the winter for all utilities.

Cheers,

- Hakrjak

 

[hakrjak]

This one looks like it would make a nice little rental for $85k and onl $1k a yr in taxes: Real Estate

 

[biophase]

I just found a nice house I like for $100k, near a golf course:
Real Estate

I see that your property taxes are pretty high compared to what I'm used to though. This $100k house is showing up as having $2400 a yr in taxes.... Here in COS, I'm used to paying about $450-550/yr for an equivalent home. That just raised my costing projections a bit.

I'm also wondering about utilities when I'm between renters in Phoenix... I assume you need to run the AC in the summer time or risk having the inside of one of these houses turn into a furnace where all the glue melts on the cabinets and countertops and flooring, etc? Or can you just shut down the AC in the summertime on a vacant property? I'm hearing nightmarish estimates of $500 a month, etc -- When I'm used to double digits here in the summer, and maybe $100/mo in the winter for all utilities.

Cheers,

- Hakrjak

I think if you are looking over there on the west side. Stick to Avondale, north of the I-10 highway. Look for $75,000 and under with no pool. The taxes are probably still high due to last year's prices. They should be around $700-$1200 for a $75,000 home.

In the summertime you'll need to keep electric and water for your minimal landscaping plants. You don't need to keep the AC on, your home will get up to about 95-98 degrees. This really isn't enough to warp anything IMO, there's no humidity inside the homes. My houses when empty were left like this.

 

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[Jonleehacker]

This one looks like it would make a nice little rental for $85k and onl $1k a yr in taxes: Real Estate

This is in Surprise, it's about an hour drive (non rush hour) from Scottsdale.

Before I left I looked at a couple places.

Walking distance to Old Town, I saw a 2br/2bath condo, 1200 sq, nice gated complex with great amenities, for $104k. Taxes were about $900 as I recall, and fees $200/month.

 

[Russ H]

Condo advice:

If you live in a cold climate, live in the upper unit, w/a unit below.

I never had to heat my place-- downstairs neighbor (older gal) had her heat up so high I had "warm floors"!

I wonder if living in a lower unit would work for hotter climates? (cool air settling, plus upper unit is an insulating layer). You'd still hear footfalls-- but worth a thought . . .

(BTW, I'll never choose to live in a condo again, unless it's for a vacation rental-- too many restrictions and nosy neighbors).

-Russ H.

 

[Bilgefisher]

The Phoenix market and Denver markets seem to be on a similar trend. We started our downswing about 18 months before the nation and appear to be coming out about now. Prices skipped on the bottom for about 6-9 months but I am seeing signs of the upward trend.

 

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[hakrjak]

The Phoenix market and Denver markets seem to be on a similar trend. We started our downswing about 18 months before the nation and appear to be coming out about now. Prices skipped on the bottom for about 6-9 months but I am seeing signs of the upward trend.

That's what a lot of guys are saying about COS... "First in, first out..." -- Denver was in even before COS right, so you guys are way overdue for a rally in housing?

With interest rates at 4.7% today, a part of me can't believe prices haven't begun to shoot up... Nobody has jobs though, so demand is still low... When the jobs return, so will the real estate bull market!

- Hakrjak

 

[hatterasguy]

In my little corner of CT I'll go out on a limb and say if we are not at the bottom were damn close.



On the new construction side this might turn out to be a busy year, its to early to say though. Ask me in August.

 

[andviv]

I'll stop trying to predict bottoms, I suck at it. I keep getting surprised.

To the Scottsdale folks, how's the unemployment in the area these days? (not the official numbers, the feeling on the streets)

 

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[RealOG]

Unemployment sucks, lots of folks looking for jobs. But if you have good and in demand skills, there are still jobs out there.

Intel is hiring for certain positions and so are other large companies. Biggest demand stuff that I have seen is medical-related, specialty marketing, specific engineering.

 

[venom]

Not sure about a bottom, but you can find some really good deals in sunny florida .
They just had an auction with 1000's of homes. My coworker looked at a couple of homes but didnt like the area they were in.
I would be really careful about buying into condo's. They arent always rental friendly .