Sunland Village East Arizona 55+ Community

When is Best Time to Buy Arizona Home?

When is the best time of year to buy a Arizona home in a 55 plus Retirement Community? The quick political answer: As soon you find a home that fits the majority of your needs: budget, community/location,  life style, upgrades, etc… To get the best value when buying a 2nd home — please read on….

Arizona Snow Birds

Where do our snow birds come from? Most of the home buyers that I work with, are seasonal residents. These buyers are typically from Canada, Midwest, North East or North West. They are buying second homes and living in them 3-6 months out of the year.

In my personal experience, Minnesota seems to represent the largest number of seasonal residents. Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, North & South Dakota, Wisconsin also, make up a large part of our seasonal population.

In recent years we have seen a growing trend of senior buyers making Arizona their primary residence. I call this “reverse living”. With the increasing number of retiring Baby Boomers, home prices are once again rising. In an effort to forgo the expense of two homes, buyers buy their primary home in Arizona and then take the motor home up north during our hot months (June, July, August, September). Many are downsizing to smaller homes  or condos in their original home states.

Our winter residents start migrating south by the middle of October. Several of these early arrivals, will fly home for ThanksGiving and/or Christmas and return again around the first of the year. The colder and more miserable the weather is up north, the longer these seasonal residents will stay. Around easter or the week before, they start returning home, by May 1st just about all of them are gone.

Buy Arizona Home – Spring / Summer / Fall

Planning a summer home buying trip to Arizona (3-5 days), can save you thousands($$$) on your second / year around home in an AZ 55 plus community. In my opinion May 1st through November 1st, is the best time to buy a home in a Retirement Community. In the winter time, the increased number of buyers tend to create a buying frenzy, driving prices above asking price. The homes with the most updates, tend to sell the first day on the market.

Once the temps reach 1oo+ degrees — the home buying market is wide open! If buying an estate home, by mid summer the families in charge of selling the home, are usually getting tired of paying the on going expenses (HOA fees, property taxes, utilities, yard up keep etc..) and are ready to negotiate a quick sale.

The only negative with buying a home in the summer months, there are fewer homes to choose from.

Bank Owned Homes

Bank owned homes for the most part, are a thing of the past. Pre 2008, retirement communities saw very few fore-closures. Since November 2013 (lowest point) the Arizona Real estate market has returned to normal. Most communities continue to see 3-5% annual price increase.

Probate / Estate Homes

If finding a Arizona home is more about finding a great deal(potential investment)… Probate / Estate homes in my opinion, are some of the lowest priced homes on the market. Other homes to consider are; court ordered sale, and seller relocated sale. These types of listings tend to have the most motivated sellers. Not all of the homes in the link below are in 55+ communities.

Probate / Estate  / Court Ordered / Relocating

Fixer Upper Homes

Are you handy or good at facilitating home remodeling? If so, finding a home that needs updating can be some of the lowest priced homes on the market. Most seasonal buyers want to buy homes that are move in ready.

Note: All of the 55+ Retirement Communities in the Phoenix metro area, can be found to the left side of your page.