Can someone tell me about Phoenix, AZ?

[Andrew Ikeda 0]

Hello Fellow Investors:

 

For the past month a friend of mine has been working hard to coax me into coming to the Phoenix area and doing investing and finding a job there.

What she says sounds really good but I do not have much knowledge about this area. She said that the snowbirds are leaving the area and that I should easily be able to pick up a good mobile for under $5,000. She thinks that the market in AZ is much better for newbies like me as opposed to the Pacific NW, where Washington, Oregon and Alaska are slugging it out for the dubious reputation of 'highest unemployment' rate in the US.

She called me today and read a large number of businesses for sale by owners that are open to financing and owner carries. She told me that they most likely want to retire and would be open to younger guys like me buying them out. She read a few like small restaurants, coffee shops, a boutique store, flower shop, pizza parlors - several, pool cleaning service, two Fed Ex routes, a medical supply distributorship, vending machine business etc. Her idea is that we could buy a business to support ourselves and then save the money for r.e. investing or to get started anyway.

The market here is pretty good despite all the bad stuff. I did a follow-up call last night on a nice 5/3/2 FSBO that I called on last weekend. The guy told me it sold!! He was asking $215,000. It was in a really nice neighborhood and if it was a little smaller, I would have considered it for my own personal residence. Two other rentals that I called on were already rented!

Anyways, I'm thinking of going there for a week or two and giving it a shot and see what happens.

What do you all think about this? Should I do it? What kind of environment is the greater Phoenix area in regards to r.e. investing? Any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated...as usual!!

 

Sincerely,

 

Andrew

[Mr Saint 0]

Hey Andrew,

 

I was in Phoenix about ten years ago so things may have changed quite a bit since then.

 

I found it a pretty nice city. At that time it was still growing at leaps and bounds so there was huge opportunity everywhere you looked; both in business and real estate. I'm not sure what the market is doing now, but I can guess that there are PLENTY of RE deals to be had. Of course, you have to deal with the heat in the summers, but the rest of the year it's quite nice. You probably could make a mint owning a pool service down there.

 

As far as moving away from home:

 

For what it's worth, my wife and I moved away from home and family just a couple years after we were married. It basically saved our marriage from certain death.

Sometimes it's good to get away from influences of family (good or bad) and make things happen for yourself. My wife and I both have fantastic relations with our families, but when we moved away, we were forced to rely on each other, and it made a huge difference.

 

Good Luck!

[Andrew Ikeda 0]

Mr. Saint:

 

Thanks for the info and comments. From what I gather, Phoenix is still growing but not as fast as it was 10 years ago. On the website, they said that there are 5,000 new homes going into that area this year. Phoenix is the sixth largest city in the U.S. and it is a haven for retirees. Based on this information there are two things that come to mind:

 

1) With snowbirds coming and going, the r.e. market is bound to be very active with good deals to be found for those who look.

 

2) My friend must be right about these senior citizens wanting to retire and that I could talk some of them into a deal where the cashflow pays off their asking price for the business.

 

Mr. Saint, I wholeheartedly agree with you about being away from family. I too agree with that. My wife and I were happy in Korea when her relatives didnt call. When they did, it was usually to bitch about me and try to destroy our relationship. My family is very supportive , on the other hand, and will be glad to help. But that too worries me. I think I have become too complacent knowing that I have their help and support. Perhaps it is time for me to step out into the cold also.

I decided to go down there this weekend but I will still continue to research more before I leave here. Thanks again for your input. Again, I agree it can and will save the marriage.

 

Sincerely,

 

Andrew