Phoenix Arizona Vacation Home Acquisition Project Steps to Success July 2, 2008

Easy steps to owning an executive luxury vacation home in the Phoenix Metro Area.

1. Sit down and review your vacation home needs and wants with your partner or spouse.
2. Determine how much time you want to spend down south? This will assist the determination of how many partner/owners you might want to add. One to six families/owners are manageable.
3. Build a list of potential vacation home ownership partners.
4. Review your vacation home needs and wants with your possible partners.
5. Assess the level of comfort, trust and financial viability of the pool of owners you have invited to participate.
6. Determine what level of investment each partner would like to make. Make it simple as to split the ownership evenly.
7. Determine what price range of home the group would be interested in. Metro Phoenix has nice properties ranging from $100,000 and up for condos and $200,000 and up for detached homes.
8. There are 3 main variables that effect the value of property; 1. Location, 2. Features and 3. Local Amenities. A $200,000 home in the deep suburbs will cost you over 1 million+ in the center of a high profile area.
9. Decide what locations, features and amenities you are looking for? Make a list that has both needs or must haves and another list of wants or nice to haves.
10. Here is an example of some of the features and amenities you will have to consider:

       Detached or attached home, patio home, condo, or apartment

       2, 3, 4 or 5 bedrooms

       2, 2.5, 3, 3.5 or 4 bathrooms

       Tile, hardwood or carpet

       Traditional or executive kitchen (stainless, granite and island)

       Condition and age of appliances

       Small or large yard, grass or wash (desert), covered or open patio

       Automatic watering system

       Pool, Spa/Hot Tub on property or in community

       Water features on property

       Carport or 1, 2, 3 car garage

       Fireplace(s)

       Vaulted ceilings

       Security system

       Golf course, city or mountain community

       Gated community or open neighborhood,

       Scottsdale or adjacent municipalities (Phoenix proper, Paradise Valley, North Scottsdale, Peoria, Mesa, Tempe, Fountain Hills, Chandler, Queen Creek….)

       Tennis, Exercise area, Recreation Facilities, Clubhouse

       Outsourced gardening service (or no garden, i.e. desert landscape only)

       Outsourced maintenance/repairs, regular inspection

1. Once you have collectively decided that you would like to take the next step in joint ownership of a vacation home in The Valley of the Sun, or anywhere else for that matter, the next steps apply.
2. Have everyone do some web searches for properties to familiarize themselves on locations, what is available at what price ranges in what areas, amenities, etc.
3. Set up a group website so that the potential owners can collaborate easily. This will relieve you from a lot of email pain and redundancy through the exploration process.
4. Once geographic areas of interest and a general idea of price range, features and amenities are agreed to (in theory in any case) then engage a local real estate professional. This is a very important step! Discount realty services can be very expensive in the end, typically you get what you pay for. A professional realtor will assist you in the search, negotiations, escrow (closing and it is much different process than in Canada), conditional period, closing and inspection.
5. Once you have a feel for the property and locations you are interested in then…..
6. Book some time off for a vacation to look at properties.
7. Make the offer and own your new executive vacation home!
8. Other issues to be prepared for:
   1. The need for and building the Joint Ownership Agreements
   2. The need for a Owner Occupancy Schedule
   3. Arranging for transfer of funds into a US account for closing of Escrow

                                                               i.      Getting the best exchange rate

                                                             ii.      Making the transfer as painless as possible, what types of wires are accepted and what might be held for clearing.

1.  
   1. How are the Joint Owners going to take title?
   2. Furnishing the new home, prices for everything can be affordable but you need to be prepared and well armed before you venture out on your buying spree. What is your budget and how do you make sure to pay only .50 cents on the retail dollar for everything. Typically to outfit a new home it takes a 5 page spreadsheet of hundreds of purchase items and a budget of $20,000 to $100,000+.
   3. The need for and building the Joint Ownership Usage Rules

                                                               i.      Pets?

                                                             ii.      Guests?

                                                            iii.      Damages?

                                                           iv.      Assigning a property manager, accountant, schedule coordinator (all internal owner positions) 

1. Maintenance schedules
2. Upgrades and repairs to the home after closing (paint, flooring, appliances, yard….)
3. Establishing accounts and payment vehicles for monthly expenses (HOA, utilities, cable, phone, internet, taxes….)
4. Determine cleaning policy’s (see Usage and Ownership Agreement or hiring a third party service)
5. Hire a cleaner
6. Put together a maintenance contractor list including; plumbers, construction contractors, rubbish removal, yard maintenance, pool maintenance, air conditioner servicing, electricians, etc.

Points to Ponder

Remote east and west valley areas can be too distant for some people and up to a 2 hour drive from central high profile amenities and the Sky Harbor Airport during rush hour.

The further out you look from Scottsdale proper the more bang for the buck you can purchase.

There are over 55,000 properties listed and up to a total of 95,000 if you include unlisted properties also that are available in the Metro Phoenix area so there are lots of options.

The market continues to soften in outlying areas due to more sub-prime foreclosures and builders that were over extended. The closer in you get to the Scottsdale the less the price is dropping but there are still deals to be had.

For detailed information on how to put together a Joint Ownership opportunity contact me at azjointownership@gmail.com

Cheers,

Michael