All Forum Posts by: Melanie Johnston

A BiggerPockets member asked me what's happening in MF in Metro Phoenix. One of the best ways to know the state of the market is to capture the most recent sales, in this case for the last 30 days.

This can give you insight into the type of product available, the price per unit and the number of days on market. Also asking price vs. selling price.

I hope you find this helpful. If you need a more specific search for an area or a price point going further back in time, let me know.

Metro Phoenix MF sales in last 30 days: https://www.flexmls.com/share/...

I also ran a Scottsdale MF search for actives/pendings/closed for the last 6 months for that member: https://www.flexmls.com/share/...

Here to help,

Melanie

@KJ Kaya BiggerPockets is a great place to start for building your knowledge and meeting people. You can also stay connected to what's happening in Metro Phoenix when you attend the monthly online meetings of AZREIA and participate in their virtual subgroup meet-ups. Not sure how much longer they will be virtual as most members are itching to get back to rubbing elbows with each other, but you can take advantage of their current online approach to meetings a little longer.

Our MF market is very competitive, as other agents have told you. It's even more competitive than our single-family market, which remains on fire. We just dropped below 8,000 active listings (of all property types in Metro Phoenix) for the first time in who knows how long. To give you some perspective, a balanced market, where neither sellers nor buyers have the advantage, would have 25,000-30,000 active listings. 😳

Having said that, I recently helped two BP members buy SF rental properties. One was a new build and another was a 4-year-old home. These homes rented right away because there is also a shortage of quality rentals.

While there might be a lot of talk about the looming foreclosure crisis, few people in Arizona are expecting to see it in 2021. Because homes have appreciated over the last several years, many homeowners have a lot of equity. If they do need to sell because they've lost their jobs or their ability to pay their mortgage, they can sell on the open market and walk away with cash. I've heard these being called "preclosures."

By the time you are ready to buy in July, it's possible that our inventory might inch higher as people decide that selling is their best option. This would be great for you.

Congratulations on getting such an early start on building your real estate empire! With time on your side, you will do well.

Melanie

@Nick Gerli I can confirm that Phoenix and Tucson make a lot of sense. In Metro Phoenix, especially, we continue to attract economic expansion, which boosts our economy and draws new residents at the rate of 200 per day. With limited inventory on the market (8,400 active listings of all home types, where a balanced market would have 25,000-30,000 active listings) prices continue to rise and rentals are in fairly short supply.

All of this bodes well for the supply/demand dynamic. We have issues, like all major markets, of affordability, etc. But even these are on the positive side for investors.

I've recently helped BiggerPockets members from Texas and California buy single family homes. Our multi-family market is a little more complex. Extremely short supply, which is why my investor-friendly brokerage works to discover and generate new inventory.

All systems are go here for investment. As I track the local market analysts' assessments and predictions, it appears we have more runway for economic growth for the foreseeable future.

Here's an excerpt from the Nov. 3 summary from The Cromford Report, one of our most sophisticated market watchers: 

"Is there any sign of the upward surge in pricing losing pace. In a word - No.

At this time last year we had no idea of the impending pandemic, but unless something similarly surprising happens in the next few months, the housing market in Greater Phoenix is unlikely to stop rising."

Melanie

@Daniel Kil I highly recommend Barbara Habbeshaw of AZ Residential Management. https://www.azresidentialmgmt.... Last month I helped a BP member from California buy a single-family home to rent.

I recommended Barbara, who I know from AZREIA. She and her team quickly prepped the home and screened and placed a tenant at a higher rental rate than the owner planned on. When you call to check her out, tell her Melanie Johnston sent you.

Best of luck!

Melanie

If anyone wants to know more about moving to or investing in Arizona and Metro Phoenix (I live in Scottsdale), I would be happy to provide insight and advice.

Melanie

@Mindy Jensen just emailed you Arizona's Residential Purchase Contract. It is used throughout the state.

@Winfield E Aukamp If you want to DM me I can send it to you.

Melanie

Hi, @Samuel Peterson. If I can provide info, I would be happy to. Can you give a little more detail about what you are hoping to get feedback on? Are you talking about rules once you have tenants in your rental? As far as inspections, the Arizona Association of Realtors has a Move-In/Move-Out Checklist that landlords use so that a tenant can go through the house and point out any issues upon moving in. Then when they move out, the landlord goes through and sees if there has been any damage. I can share that here, if that's what you are looking for. Let me know!

Best,

Melanie

@Jeff Wong and @Christine Smith there is unfortunately, not much available that you would be proud to own under $300,000 in Metro Phoenix. You could find small MF in some surrounding cities, but those might be more cumbersome to self manage. You have more luck getting closer to $400,000, but even then the pickings are slim. Most of our MF stock was built from the '50s to the '70s, so it's going to reflect that age, unless it was recently renovated. And if so it would have a higher valuation.

Having said that, I recently helped 2 BiggerPockets members from out of state (California and Texas) buy single family homes to rent. The price points were $320,000 for a 3 bedroom new build in Goodyear and $347,000 for newer 4 bedroom home in Mesa. One did a 1031 exchange to fund his purchase, the other paid cash. Both immediately rented out their properties, with the 4 bedroom getting $2,000 a month in rent.

So that seems to be a more common play in our market, although the older MF I mentioned does get scooped up by investors.

I was going to insert an MLS search for you here, but there weren't very many results that fit your parameters. If either of you would like a particular auto MLS search set up to feed you new listings and show you what existing ones sell for, I can easily set it up.

And if you have any other questions, let me know.

Melanie

@Christina Kang Looking into surrounding areas is an excellent idea. For Grayhawk I would look just north of Deer Valley Rd to the communities on the left and right sides of Miller Rd. Also north of Pinnacle Peak Rd. and east of Scottsdale Rd (the neighborhoods behind my favorite Mexican restaurant, Jalapeno Inferno). For Desert Ridge, just north is Tatum Ranch, which has some good portfolio-building options. There are also smaller homes just west of Cave Creek and north of Deer Valley. They are Desert Ridge-adjacent, I would say.

Have fun and feel free to reach out if I can provide any information!

Melanie

@Christina Kang As someone who has lived in Grayhawk for 8 years and has helped people buy and sell in both Grayhawk and Desert Ridge, I am happy to add my 2 cents. One of my buyers is in escrow on a 3/2 in Desert Ridge, walking distance to Desert Ridge Marketplace, for under $400,000. That price point is quickly disappearing in DR and can't be found for a SFH in Grayhawk.

DR is a great location with so much shopping and dining (and sometimes traffic) close by. You know the dining, ease of access to the 101, lifestyle attributes of Grayhawk already. I hope you lived here pre-COVID so you got to see how many community events Grayhawk hosts for kids (and for adults, but mostly for kids). I know Desert Ridge and its individual communities do the same.

It truly is a question of your budget and how being in each community makes you feel. Both have schools that parents value. DR is closer to Pinnacle High School, which you might not need for a few years, but offers a shorter commute than from Grayhawk when you do.

Here are the current SFHs for sale in Desert Ridge: https://www.flexmls.com/share/...

Here are the current SFHs for sale in Grayhawk: https://www.flexmls.com/share/...

I don't think you can go wrong with either neighborhood. They are both highly desirable. There is an interesting site called Niche.com that lets you enter a zip code or neighborhood and get back "grades" on their schools, diversity, jobs, lifestyle. No surprise that both the DR and GH zip codes are rated by Niche.com as "A"s.

Best of luck in your search for a neighborhood where you can put down roots!

Melanie