Best Value for a House: Arrowhead or North Gateway? (Phoenix: for sale, foreclosed)

[tdparmel]

I am looking to buy a house sometime soon and I was wondering where the best place to buy a newer house would be? We have a realtor and just started looking in the Arrowhead area (85308 zip, Peoria, Glendale, Phoenix all meet there) and I am also interested in the area near Happy Valley (85085 zip). I work in Phoenix and she works in Peoria, so Gilbert, Chandler, Mesa, etc are out of the question.

I read on the forum about Norterra, but those houses would probably have a hefty HOA. We are a younger couple without kids at this time. We currently live in North Scottsdale (relocated from the northeast in July) and we have looked around there, but for the price we can not find much to our liking. We only plan on living here five years, but it could be longer. We are looking at this as an investment. Hopefully, the prices do not decline too much more. There seems to be a lot of negativity about the Phoenix housing market (talk of double-dip and too much inventory).

I am looking for the following:
Price: Under $250,000 (we are already pre-approved for more than this)
SQ footage: 2,000 plus
House: Single story preferred.
Bedrooms: 3 Plus
Bathrooms: 2 Plus
Age of the House: Around 5 to 10 years old.
Pool: Yes, preferably pebbletec (I heard they last longer)
Roof: Tile

I appreciate the help in advance.

[Zippyman]

If by "investment" you mean future rental, you want smaller, cheaper and no pool.
If by "investment" you mean sell it for more than you paid... in five years or less... in that price range... personally - I don't like that gamble.

I haven't paid much attention to the most recent MLS data, but the last time I did, there was a large supply of $250k+ homes, and most of those were $300k+ six months ago.

[Ritchie_az]

In my opinion, the less expensive the home currently is, the better the "investment" will be. The top end of the market is still falling (at was the last to begin falling), but the middle is at or near the bottom, and the lower end of the market is either at the bottom or slightly up from the bottom.

[roundball]

Look at the schools. Arrowhead has better schools and the shopping is better than the Nortera area.

If I were a young couple with no kids I would look into central phoenix. If she is working in Peoria...maybe N.central Phoenix.

[AZJoeD]

Actually, you will have no trouble finding a home in either area. The Norterra area is a little newer so the homes will be newer. Also, closer proximity to I-17 for you.

2000+ sq ft. single story might be tough (not impossible) as most newer homes that size are 2 stories.

As for the investment aspect, no one has a crystal ball so projecting 5 years out is folly. But I can say for sure that if we don't see some job growth we will be in the same situation 5 years from now. This will not be unique to Phoenix.

You have to live somewhere, just do not make the same mistakes that were made 5 years ago.

[Ritchie_az]

Originally Posted by AZJoeD

But I can say for sure that if we don't see some job growth we will be in the same situation 5 years from now. This will not be unique to Phoenix.

I guess the good news is Phoenix has had more job growth over the last 18 months than almost anywhere in the U.S.

[MotleyCrew]

There are so many good buys in Vistancia, north Peoria right now I would not bypass looking here. The two elementary schools onsite have good reviews, there are 3 swimming pools down at the first phase and one new one up at the north end of the development up in the foothills. There are still a few builders building new homes here but the lots are still selling so if you want a new build I would come soon. The incentives are pretty decent with the new builds, but I would not hesitate to look at some of the foreclosed homes here either. Our home sold in the high $300,000 at the peak and there is one on the corner across the street for sale for $135,000. Ouch. Best of luck to you.