Phoenix Buyers Only Want Cheapest Homes (Scottsdale, Fountain Hills: foreclosures, for rent, HOA)

[Howard Roark]

Wow! Ruffled some feathers. For now Phoenix is just my tax-based address. I rent a very nice apartment with nice furnishings and am home every couple of weeks. I have to fly a lot and the airport is the best for me, since I work on the east coast a lot. But when I mothball my suitcases, I will be at a good decision point on whether I need to stay in Phoenix or go back to the west coast where I grew up.

Funny how people get insulted when you talk about leaving a city sometime in the future...

Originally Posted by momtogrif

Well, renting gives you the opportunity to leave and go to Portland or San Fran whenever you want! So, no need to sit around here and wait for our house prices to fall to zero, you can giddy up and head out.

[prowrench]

Wow! FWIW, I grew up on a farm, 3 miles from closest neighbor so when I bought a AZ home last November I wanted to be away from the city, just far enough to be inconvenient to the criminal element. It sold new in 2006 for 269K, was lived in for 6 months before the owner filed bankruptcy, it then sat empty until I bought it this past November for 69k cash. I'm very pleased with it and will be living here for the rest of my days as I'm now permanently disabled due to the actions of an illegal immigrant. So I wont be reselling it and screwing my neighbors as some think.

[shadow91]

Not all people that rent plan on giddying up out of here. I rent and I plan on staying here forever. This is my home. I rent because when the houses were astronomical, who could afford to buy a home here? Not every one that rents are immigrants or meth heads or criminals. We are just normal people trying to live like you. You have to admit, housing prices were ridiculous before the drop, that's what got us into this mess, people buying that couldn't afford, losing value on their home, going underwater, then losing it. I rented a home in Fountain Hills that was listed for $750,00 for sale in 2007, I checked the assessment on it the other day, $212,000, quite a drop wouldn't you say?

[Jukesgrrl]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

... landlords are held to the same standards in an HOA community as the resident owners. They must maintain the exterior just like everyone else.

So the neighborhood is actually improved by these landlords buying the homes and getting them rented; and the rehabbers who take trashed houses, fix them up and sell them to families who will occupy them.

I own several rental properties and they are in great shape outside. In my community, a gated community in Val Vista Lakes, there are a few homes rented, and the tenants are great people. Unless you were told, you would not know they are tenants.

I read so many negative (even downright hateful) comments about HOAs on C-D, I appreciate someone pointing out yet another reason they are a benefit to homeowners. I live in a development in Tucson that has an HOA. I understand there are quite a few renters here (most of the people who bought here earlier don't want to sell at today's prices but are often forced by job or family situations to relocate), yet you'd never know it.

I bought in an HOA neighborhood after having a bad experience in another city that was supposedly regulated by housing codes, but unfortunately they were rarely enforced. The street I owned on went from majority owner-populated to majority renter-populated in the dozen years I lived there. The deterioration was shocking. I was able to sell for a decent price, but only because my buyer was an investor who was loading my place up with college students.

Sometimes my HOA regulations ARE a pain, but all in all I believe my association is what's keeping my property value as good as it is in this difficult environment.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by Jukesgrrl

.....
Sometimes my HOA regulations ARE a pain, but all in all I believe my association is what's keeping my property value as good as it is in this difficult environment.

We agree. The thread says "Phoenix buyers only want the cheapest homes." IMHO, the HOA fees push away those "cheapest home buyers".

In Marley Park in Surprise for instance, the HOA fees are $127 per month and some people on C-D were are downright angry at that price. So either they cannot afford it or don't appreciate what things really cost. But I personally want neighbors that think $127 is a steal for what they receive in services. Therefore, a little more expensive HOA (assuming you are getting what you paid for) is a great deterrent for people that only want the "cheapest homes".

So what do I get for my $127 per month?? That HOA fee includes upkeep of 8 parks inside of the community with re-seeding during the winter months. Boulevard maintenance of plants, Cox high speed Internet (the HOA gets a bulk rate), common pool and club house, event planning, concerts in the park, web service updates and neighborhood forums, as well as the HOA "babysitters" that get on your case when you paint your home purple, leave your yard trashy, etc.

I'd love it if no one had to be babysat but the reality is some people don't get it. That's the trade-off I'm happy to put up with even if it includes that I have to get improvements signed off on that I know is within the rules or if I lose some freedoms that I personally really want to do (and I have a few examples but I can live with that).

[pgc323]

Years ago, I lived in a neighborhood with almost zero regulations. Never again! We had dogs chained outside barking for hours at a time, cats everywhere, roosters crowing at 4:30AM, back yard swimming pools with outdoor loud speakers playing music, trash burning in barrels in the yard, outdoor wood burners with only a 10' smoke stack, junk cars in the driveway, etc.

[dsmovingfromaustin]

I am going to rent when I move from the Austin area. I'm an engineer and not a meth-head. The price of homes in the areas we are interested in are still high and we are waiting for them to come down. We are not interested in homes in the 100K range so we have to wait.

[Stokes172]

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.

Meth Heads? I don't even smoke pot
Its a second home for me so why would I want another McMansion that needs to be cleaned?

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

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

We agree. The thread says "Phoenix buyers only want the cheapest homes." IMHO, the HOA fees push away those "cheapest home buyers".

In Marley Park in Surprise for instance, the HOA fees are $127 per month and some people on C-D were are downright angry at that price. So either they cannot afford it or don't appreciate what things really cost. But I personally want neighbors that think $127 is a steal for what they receive in services. Therefore, a little more expensive HOA (assuming you are getting what you paid for) is a great deterrent for people that only want the "cheapest homes".

So what do I get for my $127 per month?? That HOA fee includes upkeep of 8 parks inside of the community with re-seeding during the winter months. Boulevard maintenance of plants, Cox high speed Internet (the HOA gets a bulk rate), common pool and club house, event planning, concerts in the park, web service updates and neighborhood forums, as well as the HOA "babysitters" that get on your case when you paint your home purple, leave your yard trashy, etc.

I'd love it if no one had to be babysat but the reality is some people don't get it. That's the trade-off I'm happy to put up with even if it includes that I have to get improvements signed off on that I know is within the rules or if I lose some freedoms that I personally really want to do (and I have a few examples but I can live with that).

You may be fine with paying an extra $127/mo - but do you realize that's just like adding another $15k to your mortgage that you can never pay off? That $127 fee will never go down, and it will never go away.

$1524 per year will cover both my property taxes and a great homeowner's policy.

With an extra $1524 in after tax income, I could buy 152.4 pounds of prime ribeye steaks at Costco and enjoy a steak dinner about every other night. Or, I could buy 305 pounds of ground Kobe beef @ A.J's and have Kobe burgers every night, all year long. I know, I'd die young, but what a way to go!

If you're worried about bad neighbors, cats & roosters, you could use that $1500+ and buy yourself thirty really nice BB guns (with frickin' LASER BEAMS!)- enlist the help of a few neighbors who are also p.o'ed by the "lawlessness" & use your (well-equipped) "army" to take back the neighborhood...

http://cgi.ebay.com/M16-6mm-Single-s...item4aabe23c62

I guess it's just a matter of where your priorities lie...

[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.

Originally Posted by Stokes172

Meth Heads? I don't even smoke pot
Its a second home for me so why would I want another McMansion that needs to be cleaned?

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