North Side for Incoming Tech Worker (Phoenix, Glendale: rental, houses, neighborhoods)

[EEngineer]

Relocation to a warm area has been a thought for a few years. My comfort with my current client base created an inertia.


However, I am now working a 100% off-site contract for this year, and I have made contact with a trusted person who is a Phoenix defense/aerospace software engineering contractor and who gave positive details about the workloads that are available.



He suggested a rectangle that encloses the north part of the 101 that is east-west, from bend to bend, within a mile north or south of that road. I have Zillowed that region and found plenty of candidate houses in the mid-200K range that are of the size we want (say 1100-1400 sf) and meet other criteria we have (2-car garage, no pool, copious block fence, and such). Some of the region is in Glendale and most is in Phoenix. Our plan would be to sell here (Northern Iilinois) and move to a rental abode and then investigate houses in person over a period of time. Are there any neighborhoods in this rectangle that deserve special mention to investigate or avoid, in terms of either a final house purchase or the temporary rental abode?

[AZJoeD]

The area you are talking about is quite large. In that area, you will find pockets of less desirable homes and pockets of high-end homes, along with a lot of mid-priced homes. So, in general, I would say that you should have no problem finding a property, although mid-200s will be on the lower end of the price point.

Your plan to rent for a while makes sense because it will take you a little while to familiarize yourself with Phoenix and make an informed decision.

[EEngineer]

Thank you, AZJoeD. I noticed in that region that when the houses started to approach 300K, they were mostly getting too big and/or having pools. It seemed like this on a Zillow Tour for houses of small size:


180K Minimal abode
220K Humble abode
260K Nice abode
300K Complete abode

[wase4711]

Zillow is not the place to find out about the housing situation in that area; you need to actually come here and see for yourself..
The area you are asking about has million dollar houses, as well as 180k rat holes, so an in person visit will help you decide EXACTLY what area to concentrate on..
and yes, 250k probably wont buy you anything nice in the good parts of the area you had mentioned; better move that budget closer to 300k..