Hello Pattycake.
My experience tells me that you should make at least one trip to AZ and spend an entire day with an agent, driving around the neighborhood and checking out the general area. Buying a car from across the country isn't much of a gamble compared to buying a home sight-unseen. A $300 plane ticket and one night hotel stay is certainly a small gamble compared to making a big mistake and purchasing the wrong home in the wrong area.
I think the area is almost as important as the home if you truly plan on leaving the home vacant for 3 years. You'll want to know that it's not being vandalized and that the landscaping is being maintained. It's also a good idea to turn on the A/C during the summer (I leave all of my vacant listings at around 86-88 degrees) due to the expansion of the carpet and the interior drywall. The toilets should be flushed periodically as well as the faucet's ran for a few seconds.
I don't know how well you're familiar with the Valley, but Casa Grande is about 30 minutes south of Phoenix on I-10. Depending on your price range, you can find very nice single-family homes in Gilbert and Mesa for around $150k. Maricopa is about 20 minutes off I-10, south of Phoenix, and there are some excellent properties available there too. Most have an HOA, however.
I've worked with several buyers (and sellers) from other states, and have coordinated the entire closing process from initial inspections right down to the signing. I've always recommended to them to take a day or so and fly into town, and let me take them around and look at as many homes as we can possible see in a 10-hour period. We can cover a LOT of ground in that time, and we can really determine exactly what you're looking for and where you would like to live.
I'm not comfortable making a decision on what type of home and the area without my buyer giving me the 'ok'. I believe that it is a very personal decision and everyone's tastes are different.
If you like, I could start by emailing you some listings and you can look through them and determine your likes and dislikes. Once we've determined the type of home you're looking for, we can start narrowing down the areas and get you into a specific city search. Then if you do decide to fly into town for a day, our time won't be wasted and we'll be able to find a home and put in an offer.
Right now, our inventory is being sold down considerably vs. this time last year. The amount of short sales and foreclosures are rapidly dwindling, and I'm finding multiple offers on almost every home I look at with a buyer. I deal with a lot of banks, including Fannie Mae, and they're telling us that they are supposed to release more foreclosures starting in September. While I don't expect a 'flood' of homes to come on the market, I do think that the amount of nice properties will increase thereby enhancing your chances of getting a home that you can afford in the right area.
Warm regards,
Jim Mitchell
Century 21 All Star, REALTORS
(480) 231.6769
jim.mitchell@century21.com

Patty,

This is truly the age of technology....and that applies to real estate transactions in a very BIG way. It is very easy to shop for RE via the internet as well as take care of the necessary paperwork by overnight mail, fax, and email capability.

"Sight unseen" is a big pill to swallow and can be modified if you have a reliable contact person in the vacintity in which you are considering buying. We are presently working with customers who's close friends have actually previeweed and reported on a nimber of listings that are being considered for purchase. The actual buyers will probably visit the area for a weekend to finalize the deal.

Being a long distance buyer can be done but it helps to have other people involved that you feel you can trust and who know you and understand your personal search criteria,

Best wishes,
The Eckler Team

We can work together to purchase you home in Arizona. I have sold several with remote Buyers. If you will
send me your email contact, I will email homes to you. You will be able to choose which homes you are
interested in and I will preview, take addtional pictures for you. Once you have choosen the home you wish to make an offer on, we will order an inspection to insure all units are working, structural and roofing are in
excellent shape. Our contract calls for a 10 day inspection period. If there are any problems, you then have a choice of accepting it , asking the owner to replace or repair, or rescind the contract at that time.

I used to spend summers in Carpenter, .IA and have been to Charles City many times. Do you know Ron Juenger. He owned the Trica Restaurant in Mason City.

Please respond with criteria of what size of home you are interested in. Location: Rural or City. I have many
that do not have Home Owners Associations so you would not have that monthly expense.

Please feel free to call me this weekend (520) 709-0253 and/or email to sunraisin60@hotmail.com.

Thank you,

Elizabeth Drew
Prudential One Realty
sunraisin60@hotmail.com
(520) 709-0253