Living in Metro Phoenix, announcements from companies establishing or expanding their operations here seem as constant as the Arizona sunshine. These are just a few of the headlines from local and national media outlets:
-Microsoft brings 3 data centers, 1,100 jobs to West Valley
-Nike Chooses Goodyear, Arizona, for Air Manufacturing Hub
-Hawaiian Airlines to Open IT Center in Arizona
These positive economic indicators, along with the fact that Metro Phoenix welcomes an enviable 200 new residents daily, have caught the attention of individual investors both locally and out of state.
While Metro Phoenix is a hotbed of commercial investing and institutional real estate investing, individuals looking to build wealth by generating passive or active income are flocking to Phoenix. One of the places they go to research our market and ask for advice is BiggerPockets.com, a burgeoning online community for individual investors, with close to 1.5 million members.
Whether they are discussing investing in single-family homes, multi-family properties or short-term rentals, BiggerPockets members have posted questions and comments more than 4,395,000 times on the site (to date) making it the premier real estate community and resource portal.
And what’s one of the hottest keywords in the BiggerPockets forums?
Phoenix! Investors from coast to coast continually inquire about investing in Arizona, asking for recommendations on ideal neighborhoods and the best types of properties to pursue for cash flow.
For real estate investors, appreciation is supposed to be the cherry on top of the cash-flow sundae, something they are cautioned not to expect or factor into their property buying decision. But the fact remains that in the last five years, Metro Phoenix home sales experienced appreciation ranging from 4.2% in 2015 to 8.1% in 2018, statistics that definitely attract investors’ attention.
Another popular search term on BiggerPockets is Scottsdale. The city received a wave of attention when Realtor.com ranked Scottsdale No. 1 on its “Most Profitable Places to Own an Airbnb Rental” in 2019. As an honorable mention, ranking an impressive #10 on that list was Tucson, proving its allure as a vacation destination is growing.
According to Realtor.com, “Just outside of Phoenix, Scottsdale is a hotbed for American corporate elites looking for a weekend getaway full of mountain biking, golf, and hiking. And while cities across the country are creating tighter rules and outlawing Airbnb rentals altogether, Arizona has gone in the other direction—it signed a law in 2016 that prevents cities in the state from banning short-term rentals. That legal protection combined with vacation rental demand makes Scottsdale the perfect place for investors.”
And proving that Phoenix is one of the strongest rental markets in the country, the latest HotPads® Rent Report shined the spotlight on our market: “Phoenix has the fastest-rising rents out of the 50 largest metro areas. The median rent in Phoenix is $1,545 a month, up 6.9% compared to this time last year.”
What’s another way to measure individual-investor interest in our market?
The plethora of events and meetings focused on real estate investing that fills up the calendar every month. Facebook and Meetup.com are just a few places to locate events for like-minded investors.
With a median home price in Phoenix of approximately $242,000, compared with $618,000 for a home in Los Angeles, local investors are among out-of-state investors looking to Metro Phoenix as a land of opportunity to stretch their investment dollars.
At Tru Realty, many of our agents are real estate investors themselves, giving us the advantage of speaking the same language as our investor clients. Our agents continue to be active in digital and in-person investment worlds so that we can share our expertise, educate buyers on the many opportunities available to them and stay at the forefront of our fast-paced market.
Melanie Johnston is a real estate professional with a unique background that includes experience in journalism, public relations, and marketing. These skills allow her to create effective marketing campaigns that help her clients achieve their real estate goals. She can help you analyze your home or investment property in order to formulate a maximum return drawing from her own success with fix-and-flips and short-term rentals. From first-timers to investors looking for the right return on their money, Melanie can help you find the perfect fit for your lifestyle! Contact her at melanie@trurealty.com.
