Phoenix Real Estate Market? Local feedback?

Question

Hi guys-

I am a Realtor, contractor, and invest in rentals and renovate properties in Wyoming.  My husband and I have considered moving to the Phoenix area for several years and I would continue or I guess, more or less start overt there with the same type of investments.  I am nervous about going from a small market that I know so well to a much larger market with several suburbs and niches.  I would appreciate any feedback or information from those of you active in the area or close suburbs.

What is the market there like as a Realtor? Property manager? Landlord? Flipper? Any feedback on neighborhoods?

I would like to take a trip there later this year to start exploring the area a little closer and more seriously and to see what areas we would potentially consider living for starters.  I am especially nervous to have to rebuild a reputation from scratch as a Realtor and to find a good brokerage to work with.  What have been your experiences? Thanks in advance!

Account Closed · Answer

@Emily Lopez What time frame are you thinking you will be making the move?

Grant Greene · Answer

Good morning, @Emily Lopez! If you like living inches from the face of the sun, Phoenix is the place - it's a dry heat. :) I'm a mortgage guy, so you can decide how that informs my opinion.

On the realtor side of things, everybody and their dog and their dog's uncle is a realtor here.  While that would seem to be a negative, it's actually a positive - let me explain.  Because of this overabundance of realtors here, there's almost a preconceived notion that ALL realtors are lazy - that they sit around eating bon bons after listing the house on MLS - and this plays in good and great realtors' favor all the time.  In other words, if you're good at what you do as a realtor, you will REALLY stand out and do VERY well as an agent.  With your experience as a realtor, contractor, and investor - regardless of where you gained and cultivated that experience - this will give you instant credibility with most clients.  Sure, you'll have some who will initially look down their nose at you, but once you start talking to them and they see you know your stuff, that will change quickly.

As you probably know (this is sort of like me telling you the sky is blue), there's a serious shortage of homes (both for purchase and rental) here in Arizona.  That presents you with some challenges as both a flipper and a landlord, but my experience in the REI world is that those who are able to find and rehab the properties that cash flow are doing very well and have no trouble finding long-term tenants.

I wish you all the best and hope this was helpful. If, while you're in town, you'd like to meet for coffee to discuss further, I'm open.

Doug McVinua · Answer

@Emily Lopez What are your social habits? Are you looking to be near a sports venue, high-end restaurants, music scene, suburbia, hiking, water etc?

Do you tend to like a more liberal area or a more conservative mixture?

$250,000 will provide some options in many/most parts of the valley. The valley is huge and takes 90-120 minutes to cross from one end to the other at times.

I live in suburbia conservative Gilbert with most things being pretty new and love it. Our daughter lives near downtown Phoenix and loves the liberal mix with lots of nightlife, music venues, and niche restaurants etc to explore while loving the historical homes etc.

Not a right or wrong choice, just different. We go to her neighborhood and see downtrodden neighborhoods nearby, lots more homeless, congestion and she visits us and calls it going to the farm. lol

Bob Okenwa · Answer

@Emily Lopez

For 250k, you can get a nice home in the NW Glendale area, central Peoria, and North Central Phoenix around Paradise Valley Village by the 51 Freeway. You'd also get a nice home in Tempe, Chandler, or Gilbert. Note I may be biased to these areas as I live in north Peoria and had my wedding in the Paradise Valley area, used to live in Tempe, and am very familiar with the East Valley. I feel the safest where I am at now as the population is much less dense than you'd find in the East Valley. It ultimately depends on how close you want to be to things. I live about 30 minutes/30 miles from the airport and downtown and being in central Phoenix or the East Valley will cut the time to downtown down dramatically. You're going to find the newer homes (early 90s or so and up) in northern Peoria and Gilbert and Chandler as these areas had a lot of construction during the housing boom and once again have a lot of new construction going. The northern part of the city between the 17 and 51 and just south of the 101 has homes built in the 70s and 80s with good bones that you can put some sweat equity into as well.

Bob Okenwa · Answer

@Emily Lopez

1. I am not a realtor, but have a solid understanding of the market here and it looks to be good as a realtor as home sales have been pretty consistent for a while now.

2. Not sure how PM's see the PHX market.

3. Landlording works if you can find a decent cash-flowing property. There are tons of rentals here, but finding good deals has gotten harder over the last few years.

4. For flippers, the answer is largely the same as #3. Lots of houses for sale, not a lot of houses that would make good flips for sale on MLS.

5. Feedback on neighborhoods depends on what you're looking for. Crime? Schools? Good for flips? Good for rentals? Things to do? Phoenix is a large city and I can name the good and bad places one by one, but that'd take forever.

6. I've been here for 13 years and I've enjoyed it here. Lots of people to network with here and lots of different kinds of real estate to get into. As a realtor, you should do well as there is still a strong interest from buyers for all sorts of properties from small and old homes in the heart of the city, to larger new constructions in the outskirts and suburbs.

Hope this gets you going in the right direction. Let me know if you have any more specific questions I can help with.

Emily Lopez · Answer

@Bob Okenwa Thanks for the feedback! I guess to get started I would need to find where we would live, as far as neighborhoods or suburbs, I'd ask, where would you feel safe living? What are convenient locations?  We have no kids and don't plan to, so I'm not concerned too much about schools other than if we eventually planned to sell the home or rent it.  I am fine with older homes as I can do the renovations/updating myself and actually don't really want to pay for someone else's renovations.  I would like to stay under $300,000 for sure and if possible would like to be around the $250,000 range.

Phoenix Real Estate Market? Local feedback?

Most Popular Reply