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Old 06-05-2014, 07:36 AM
 
9,676 posts, read 11,041,010 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LBTRS View Post
My in-laws always have to book a year in advance (or earlier) to get a house during snowbird season and even then things are picked over and hard to get for the entire time. They often have to switch places mid stay because they can't find anything for the whole period even a year in advance.
Agreed. I went onto VRBO and looked in the Scottsdale area. I had to work hard to find a calendar that was open the entire rental season. When they are, they are either a dump, over priced, or with a rental agency (they may or may not have rentals in your time frame).

Then I sorted on the cheapest Scottsdale rates. Most of the decent very small 2 BR condos want $1000+ a week during peak or $3000 a month. The better locations even more. Now if you go out to a outer burbs and select a vanilla looking tan home with less than ideal decorating and quality, then it is still $2000+ a month and there is plenty to chose from.

When I rented my home in AZ as well as MN, I would have many inquiries one full year in advance. The good news for the OP, most of those super early inquiries were bottom feeders. They spend time explaining to me what my house is really worth when I quote them $2000 a week. If they start with "what's your best price....". I would then hike up the rates even more because I don't want to rent to a bottom feeder or ignore the inquiry. But generally speaking, most of the inquiries came in early fall. The best spots always fill up 1st.

To the OP. Try renting a month in each interesting spot on your AZ short list and move around. You want to see what area best floats your boat. Staying in one spot all year without having a good handle on this massive Phoenix area will be a shot in the dark.
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Old 06-05-2014, 08:30 AM
 
Location: La Jolla, CA
7,284 posts, read 16,602,377 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ctr88 View Post
Will have to check Airbnb, Craigslist and VRBO.com come this late fall. I'll have to do a trial run down there this late fall/winter. I know I will like the outdoor stuff in Arizona (Prescott, Sedona, Flagstaff, local PHX stuff, Saguaro NP in Tucson, etc...) and the sunny warm weather...but I have to see if I like living in the PHX area Nov-April. I haven't really explored the PHX area in detail yet, but I know it's made up of a lot of suburban sprawl, tract homes and chain oriented strip centers. Not a lot of character or charm. That might be OK, I've just never lived in heavy new suburban cookie cutter tract areas, I will have to see how I like that.
Why would you pick a "heavy new suburban cookie cutter tract area" of Phoenix, if "character or charm" is one of your requirements?

Probably a better idea to pick an extended stay hotel and explore for a while before making any commitments.
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Old 06-05-2014, 09:43 AM
 
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Sounds like a business opportunity to buy a house/condo and rent furnished for super high prices to snowbirds. Demand exceeds supply.
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Old 06-05-2014, 09:55 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised View Post
To the OP. Try renting a month in each interesting spot on your AZ short list and move around. You want to see what area best floats your boat. Staying in one spot all year without having a good handle on this massive Phoenix area will be a shot in the dark.
Thank you for the excellent info. Yes this is what I plan to do.
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Old 06-05-2014, 10:05 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ctr88 View Post
Sounds like a business opportunity to buy a house/condo and rent furnished for super high prices to snowbirds. Demand exceeds supply.
Partially agreed. But there is more supply than demand. Though quality properties are in high demand.

I got $45K-$57K for my MN lake home (where I am living now). Renters trumped my usage but we no longer rent. All of the good dates were taken. That price included us renting out pontoon ($1000 a week) about 1/2 the time. We rented to folks wanting to snowmobile, people who wanted a bigger spot to bring their out of state families together during Christmas, guys weekends during the winter and hunting/fishing season, etc. But only by the week during peak unless they wanted to spend $12K for a month. I gave no breaks.

I brought in around $20K in rent for our AZ property (we used it for several weeks or I suppose we could have gotten as much as $28K). That's a lot better than renting it by the year and with a fraction of the wear-and-tear. People didn't vacation to AZ to stay inside. They basically slept there and had some breakfasts.

The secret to charging a lot more when you have a lot of bedrooms. More people, more money ($18 per person per day after 4 guests). Remember, $2K a week is nothing for three couples. A hotel room is $100 for a 8x16 foot hotel prison cell. So they pay $2100 for a hotel. Now they get 3500+ sq foot for $2000 in a great neighborhood. So in my example, three couples are paying $700 ea per week plus lodging tax. CHEAP!

The nicer the spot and the more you charge, the better quality people. But there is an art to all of it. I propose I will rent twice as much and for more money because I sell for a living. It's all about selling your neighborhood, selling your proximity to key areas, selling your internal features, selling why they can trust you, etc. Go on VRBO and inquire to 40 spots. I bet 25 out of the 40 won't email you back or give a one line answer. So the competition is terrible. You simply have to out maneuver others. Jazz things up internally to attract the people willing to spend the $$'s, pick the better neighborhoods, etc.
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Old 06-12-2014, 01:14 AM
 
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TX has ridiculously high property taxes to consider if you're thinking of owning.

I used to live in Seattle and much prefer the winters here.
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Old 06-12-2014, 11:03 PM
 
Location: Scottsdale, AZ
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ctr88 View Post
Thanks. Another area I may look at is Austin TX or the Hill Country close by. Not a big FL fan in general. HI is much higher cost of housing. I'm favoring PHX area though. It has a good combination of weather, outdoor activities and pro and college sports.
The Hill Country and Austin - especially Austin is way more fun than Phoenix. Austin, TX | Austin Hotels, Events, Attractions, Things To Do & More 200 miles to the coast - short hop to Dallas - Houston - New Orleans
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Old 06-13-2014, 04:31 PM
 
2,174 posts, read 4,377,959 times
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You don't have to pay property taxes if you rent in Austin vs. Buy. And even if you buy it's offset by no state income tax. I have not really been to Phx yet vs driving through once (plan to visit Phx in Nov), but my guess is Austin/Hill Country have more local flavor/culture. Austin has a really cool walkable downtown core with quaint tree line neighborhood s like South of Congress and Hyde Park. There are a lot of pretty rivers surrounding Austin and it's very green. And I'd be there from October to May so no summer heat for me (which is really the biggest downside to Austin). Phx has a ton to offer too with pro and college sports, outdoor recreation too, and slightly better temps in Dec/Jan. But Phx is mostly really a huge suburb. Austin really has a unique local culture, food, music, vibe. I will check out both this winter but favoring PHX for slightly warmer and sunnier Dec and Jan.
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Old 06-13-2014, 04:42 PM
 
2,174 posts, read 4,377,959 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tiredofraininwa View Post
I used to live in Seattle and much prefer the winters here.
Key word, you much prefer the WINTERS here. I would definitely take May through Sept in Seattle by a massive long shot. My plan is to live in Phx possibly late Oct to later April. I would probably prefer most everything else in Seattle over Phx 12 mos of the year except the weather 7 mos a year. I don't really like it much over 80 degrees. I have no idea how people can live in Phx May to Oct.
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Old 06-13-2014, 05:48 PM
 
2,174 posts, read 4,377,959 times
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In terms of winter weather, I think Florida has the best weather in the U.S. in Dec, Jan, Feb. It's in the mid 70's and warmer nights. Phoenix is in the mid 60's in Dec/Jan and drops to the 40's at night. Nov and March I would take Phx weather over FL.
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