What is considered a "middle income" neighborhood - price range? (Phoenix: short sales)

[suncitynative]

We are looking into the possibility of relocating to the Phoenix area. I live in far West TX now and I'm sure what we consider middle income is not the same as Phoenix.
Can anyone give me a price range on what to expect for a middle income neighborhood vs. an upper middle?
Also, after reading through several threads, I get the feeling that real estate is still in a rut there. Is there a particular price range area that is seeing the biggest deals?
We would be looking for a 4 bedroom, 3 car garage with pool. Preferable single level. I see most neighborhoods have 2 story homes. Is this just the norm there?
Thanks!

[keninaz]

I thought there were more single levels with pools personally,
Both of my kids families lived there for some time, now one is up here with us.Then again you could be correct in that in a standard tract home going two stories traditionally gives you more lot space for the pool.

I think you will find that employees starting out are now getting less money than they were. With many people looking for work it's an employers market right now.
This is due mainly to the crash, the availability of homes on the market in Phoenix and their greatly reduced costs.
My daughter and husband sold their typical tract home of 1600 ft sq in East Mesa in 2008 just before the crash to a couple for $268K. They defaulted on the home and it's on the market as a foreclosure and estimated value is now $118K. That is quite a loss in value.
I think depending on your tastes that you can get a home like you are looking for in the area of around $225K and up right now.
I did a simple search on Craig's List in Phoenix and told it to look for 4 bedroom homes and this is what I came up with~
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/search...sk=&bedrooms=4

[AZRon]

Redfin is a great resource for home searches!
Real Estate Search | Redfin

[hart4july]

Based only upon the RE searches I have done over the last 2 years, Mainly for Gilbert/Chandler for a 4 bd+/3 car garage with a pool I would agree starting at $225, with $325-275 being a home with most of the amnenities one would want and a good neighborhood/schools. I would say $399-350 is the price for a really tricked out ( but not exactly luxury per say)home with all the bells and whistles, nice size lot, extra space.

All the short sales make the MLS more diverse in price, as they may appear to be a better price for the type home but may or may not be attainable at said price from what I have heard.

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by hart4july

Based only upon the RE searches I have done over the last 2 years, Mainly for Gilbert/Chandler for a 4 bd+/3 car garage with a pool I would agree starting at $225, with $325-275 being a home with most of the amnenities one would want and a good neighborhood/schools. I would say $399-350 is the price for a really tricked out ( but not exactly luxury per say)home with all the bells and whistles, nice size lot, extra space.

All the short sales make the MLS more diverse in price, as they may appear to be a better price for the type home but may or may not be attainable at said price from what I have heard.

Hart4july has done a lot of research in these markets and I believe her assessment to be right on.

On the short sales, some agents will list below market to get an offer, and usually the banks will not accept them. The better strategy is to list it in line with the Sold distressed comps, and just slightly below the Active competition. Then the agent can justify the price when it comes time to negotiate with the bank.

Recently I offered on a short sale condo in a nice complex in Mesa to use as a rental. Rents there go for $700/mo. This one is occupied by the owner and is in great condition. It's current market value is around $40k.

The agent listed it at $30k. I got there the day it went on the market and offered $25k. After 35 days the bank countered with $34k. The short sale negotiator for the listing agent told me if I countered that I should support my counter offer with comps.

I told him I would counter at full list price of $30k minus $2k for cash and a "15-day or sooner" close; And since the listing agent set the comps, that she should support the list price with her comps. That is her responsibility.

That put the onus back on the listing agent and her short sale negotiator.

The strategy may work, and it may not. I'll be happy with $34k, but happier with $28.

Anyway, if anyone encounters that type situation, remember this strategy. While it may not work fully, it's better to require the listing agent to justify his/her list price than you justifying your offer price when offering full list.

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by AZRon

Redfin is a great resource for home searches!
Real Estate Search | Redfin

If one wants to search the Phoenix area MLS directly, they can use my website.

This is the same flexidx search that all the Realtors in the valley use. Instead of being a 3rd party search system that isn't updated frequently, this goes directly to the MLS which is updated every 4 hours around the clock.

Part of the search is intuitive, plus there are 4 short videos that explain some of the more complex type searches. While this search is the same search that Realtors use, it does not show the public the Pending and Sold homes.

However, one of the videos show how to use the "Nosy Neighbor" tool to find what a home Sold for.

[suncitynative]

Thank you for the responses. Its nice to see that there really isn't that big a difference in what we are used to here vs. in Phoenix. Definitely a doable situation.