Why not invest in your own country? Again, investors are driving up the prices and ruining it for us first time home buyers. Greed. pure greed.

Philip,
I am the owner of a Realty Executives franchise in downtown Phoenix but live in Chandler, the town next door to Ahwatukee. I own many investment properties; both residential and commercial throughout the Valley as well as invest for investment groups.
My question is: Why Ahwatukee, do you have family and/or friends living in the area? If it is for pure investment, there are other areas that would provide positive cashflow and more return on your investment dollar. What kind of return are you looking for and in what time frame?
Let me know.
Catherine

There are great investments all over the valley in metro Phoenix area.

I am relocated from Canada and hope to meet you in the future!

I have sold all over the area and can show you some great areas to purchase homes!

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

Hi Philip in Edmonton. What made you choose Ahwatukee as your choice for an investment? I'll have to agree with most of the posts that you need to be careful going too far out of town for rental. We're running about a 4% vacancy rate in the valley. Remember that rents have decreased over the past year because of the amount of houses now up for rent are putting pressure on rental prices. I'm a Canadian that was actually born and raised in Edmonton and love it down here. But, I also know that there are huge cross border issues you'll need to be aware of regarding income from a foreign investment property. Doug Kingston out of Scottsdale is a fantastic cross border CPA and has a great website that can answer many of your questions. I used him for a couple of years to handle all my cross border finances and he was amazing. Many of the monthly/yearly expenses down here are quite different than up north and you need to be aware of different costs associated with owning a home here vrs Canada, so you can plug it into your formula to determine your roi. Let me know if I can answer any questions or if you need me to locate a good Realtor in Ahwatukee for you. (I don't service Awhwatukee, sorry...).

Ahwatukee is a very desirable and popular area and I think would do very well in the rental market, I would stay as close to the 1-10 for an easy commute. As far a potential growth, Ahwatukee has pretty much been built out, most of the new construction in Ahwatukee are custom homes. If you go Southwest, to Maricopa, there has been tremendous growth, however this is considered an "outlying" area and has a very high number of foreclosures. Currently there are 103 rentals, 8 which are in the 55+ community. The average rental "asking" price is about $1650/mo. In the last 6 months 241 homes have been rented out with the average lease price being $1482. These numbers are for single family homes. Hope that helps

Jamie

I would strongly advice against buying investment properties on the fringes. The number one thing to look for in an investment property after cashflow is location. You want to attract as many possible renters as possible and the fringes just does not do that. There is a reason for why the prices are dropping by the largest amounts on the fringes and that is because it is least desirable. The rental vacancies in outlaying suburbs are extremely high and finding a renter could prove to be a challenge.

You should be looking for properties located close to work places, freeways, good schools and infrastructure. Scottsdale would not be my choice, as you will not have even close to positive cash flow. I would suggest north Phoenix, Glendale or Tempe, where it is possible to find properties that makes sense in terms of cashflow with 20% down.

Hi Phillip,

My company has a property management division that I can put you in touch with once you decide on your investment. There are several areas that provide a good cashflow/rentability option. While Scottsdale is going to be a great place to invest in property for it's potential resale value later. There are other areas that will provide you with good rentability now and should show a good increase in value as well. Some of these areas are North Central Phoenix around the Desert Ridge area and West of there. These are good places due to the number of large businesses in the area. I have relocated several families recently to this area and know that there are some great opportunities for rentals there.

Please contact me if I can be of any help in finding you an investment.

Todd Lee

Hi,
My personal preference for investment properties would be in Scottsdale. Due to the current economy and market conditions, there are some very good buys. When the market turns around, I believe you will realize greater gains on your investment.

Contact me if I can be of any help.