Phoenix Buyers Only Want Cheapest Homes (Scottsdale: crime, house prices, neighborhoods)

[pgc323]

LOL...I did shoot the rooster.

[unit731]

Originally Posted by Howard Roark

Cheap homes make me think of meth heads. I will wait awhile. For now my budget is $200,000 for a home/condo/loft. And it will be the least expensive of the places for sale (and in recently sold) in that neighborhood. But I can see $250,000 houses today selling for $200,000 in a couple of years. I can wait.

Well I think it depends on neighborhood or HOA.

In some instances the further out from Phoenix the less expensive homes.

[Stokes172]

Originally Posted by Howard Roark

Hold on guys, I'm a renter (of an apartment) myself. I was making a general statement of buyers of cheap homes. You may not be a meth head yourself, but your neighbors are less likely to be meth heads if they are owners of houses where comp prices are in the $200s rather than under $100s.

I lived in drug infested areas before. Shootings, stabbings, gang fights right on the property. And we certainly did not want that.

I intend to continue renting for quite awhile. I consider it freedom. I take full advantage of mobility as I normally work outside of Arizona and get a major tax break for having my work more than 50 miles from my residence. A big thing that could sour me is if I get burglarized again. But I will just move to another rental.

Hint..buy the cheapest house in the neighborhood...everything around me was 145 and up. The neighbors are happy that no "meth head" moved in next to them.

[mistygrl092]

Originally Posted by Howard Roark

Cheap homes make me think of meth heads. I will wait awhile. For now my budget is $200,000 for a home/condo/loft. And it will be the least expensive of the places for sale (and in recently sold) in that neighborhood. But I can see $250,000 houses today selling for $200,000 in a couple of years. I can wait.

I can see it happening way before then. As of right now, one of the comps in my neighborhood (which must be distressed or foreclosed) fetched the whopping price of $233K in Feb. While I am no RE expert, I take it this means I am going to walk away from my house with a huge loss. The only thing I keep telling myself is I made $150K on the sale of my last house, so even if I lose $100K, at least it could be worse.

I hadn't planned on having to sell so soon, but due to what's going on next door, I just want out. Great news is no one will buy my house (I think) until that remodel is done along with landscaping. For each month that goes by (and it was purchased in Oct of last year), I just wince at the prices going down, down, down.

[gtbguy]

Originally Posted by Stokes172

I can't understand why some people are paying more for renting when they can get a house for 100 grand.

Simple, they can't qualify for a loan.

[SloCoChef]

I want to buy by the end of July and have been looking for a month. I am older & live alone with one well behaved indoor cat. I have looked in Fountain Hills, Scottsdale and Phoenix. My last contract ended up having 18 offers on it.......my last list of 8 homes given to my agent to investigate - only one had no offer on it. Is buying an affordable home always this difficult? I will look at a couple more tomorrow - as that's all that's left - if they are under 150K - they are bought up in an instant. I've never lived in a place with an HOA before ... it kind of rubs me the wrong way - makes me feel like I have a condo rather than a home in a regular neighborhood. I really don't want a condo. At this rate I may have to open up my search to include those. My list is short of needs/desires--- and I can get these - but just because I find a house - doesn't mean my realty agent can drop everything to zoom me over there - and today a day or two makes all the difference it seems. I'm tired of renting & can afford a home for up to 150K - if I recover from an illness and can get back to my old career - then I can afford probably 3 times that......but I don't want to waste money at my age any longer - I want pride in ownership - even with my dreaded 100K house. I was so happy to be doing this - but reading this negative thread is so disheartening - wondering if I should re-think and move myself right back to California - It's sucky to read how trashy the view is of people in 100K homes - I can't help the fact that homes in the 270's are now barely over a 100k - and I certainly would never judge anyone for buying a home at anytime in history - before during nor after the bubble burst - Suddenly I am very uncomfortable about my decision to live here..... yuck.

[vjsoto]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

Howard, I hope you have to pay $400,000 for that home in a couple years.

I'm not wishing you bad luck, but since I own properties today, I obviously hope to see my properties appreciate during the next few years.

Hate to burst your bubble (pun intended), but it's not gonna happen until the next housing bubble (not in your life). Expect the deregulated loan practices earlier this decade to disappear forever. There will be an abundance of underwater mortgages for many many years to come, and people will have no choice but to walk away from those loans when they have to, leading to more foreclosures and a prolonging of the credit crisis. After the market settles, you can expect to see housing price increases similar to what you saw in the 80's... very slow and very gradual price increases.

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by vjsoto

Hate to burst your bubble (pun intended), but it's not gonna happen until the next housing bubble (not in your life). Expect the deregulated loan practices earlier this decade to disappear forever. There will be an abundance of underwater mortgages for many many years to come, and people will have no choice but to walk away from those loans when they have to, leading to more foreclosures and a prolonging of the credit crisis. After the market settles, you can expect to see housing price increases similar to what you saw in the 80's... very slow and very gradual price increases.

First you say that my properties won't appreciate until the next bubble.

Then you say that after the market settles we'll see very slow and gradual price increases.

A bubble means the prices will increase rapidly like in 2005.

Just for clarification purposes are you saying that the bubble will occur sometime in the future, and after that bubble bursts there will be a gradual price increase?

And when will that bubble occur?

I can't argue that you're wrong because there are so many factors that can change the market.

But my desire is to see the market begin to increase gradually at the rate of slightly higher than the inflation rate.

[Nanny Goat]

Originally Posted by SloCoChef

I want pride in ownership - even with my dreaded 100K house. I was so happy to be doing this - but reading this negative thread is so disheartening - wondering if I should re-think and move myself right back to California - It's sucky to read how trashy the view is of people in 100K homes

You can not make a decision based on these threads! Many of these threads are exaggerated opinions. People become emotional and talk more from that than logic. Find a good realtor to help you.

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by SloCoChef

I want to buy by the end of July and have been looking for a month. I am older & live alone with one well behaved indoor cat. I have looked in Fountain Hills, Scottsdale and Phoenix. My last contract ended up having 18 offers on it.......my last list of 8 homes given to my agent to investigate - only one had no offer on it. Is buying an affordable home always this difficult? I will look at a couple more tomorrow - as that's all that's left - if they are under 150K - they are bought up in an instant. I've never lived in a place with an HOA before ... it kind of rubs me the wrong way - makes me feel like I have a condo rather than a home in a regular neighborhood. I really don't want a condo. At this rate I may have to open up my search to include those. My list is short of needs/desires--- and I can get these - but just because I find a house - doesn't mean my realty agent can drop everything to zoom me over there - and today a day or two makes all the difference it seems. I'm tired of renting & can afford a home for up to 150K - if I recover from an illness and can get back to my old career - then I can afford probably 3 times that......but I don't want to waste money at my age any longer - I want pride in ownership - even with my dreaded 100K house. I was so happy to be doing this - but reading this negative thread is so disheartening - wondering if I should re-think and move myself right back to California - It's sucky to read how trashy the view is of people in 100K homes - I can't help the fact that homes in the 270's are now barely over a 100k - and I certainly would never judge anyone for buying a home at anytime in history - before during nor after the bubble burst - Suddenly I am very uncomfortable about my decision to live here..... yuck.

The best neighbors I ever had were in a "dicey" neighborhood in the suburbs of Detroit - we had no problems with crime, city services or hillbilly neighbors.

When we moved into N. Scottsdale - in a neighborhood of $400k+ homes, well, that was my first experience of watching from an upstairs bedroom as someone looted my car, waking up to see the neighbor's Escalade sitting on blocks instead of chrome rims, having grumpy neighbors who picked fights with each other and us...

We actually watched a fistfight in the street in front of our home when one of the neighbor's foo-foo dogs attacked another neighbor's foo-foo dog.

A few months earlier, another dog fight resulted in one neighbor pulling a gun on another neighbor. Not in Detroit... In N. Scottsdale.

Money can't buy class or manners or a "crime free" environment. If good neighbors are important to you, knock on the door next to any house you're thinking of bidding on, and say "Hi". You'll know from the reception you get if it's a neighborhood worth investing in.