Is living in Phoenix expensive? How much does it cost to live in Phoenix?

At least once a week I get an email from someone who lives out of state who wants to know how much it costs to live in Phoenix, and should they move here. I really don’t get people who ask me if they should move here. That is a harder question to answer than the where should I live in Phoenix question.

Is Phoenix expensive? Well if you live in Chicago or Seattle and are planning on moving to Phoenix, then no you probably won’t find Phoenix expensive at all. If you are coming from Camp Hill Pennsylvania or Manchester NH, then you may find Phoenix much more expensive than you are used to.

But I have good news. There is a tool that can help you determine if Phoenix may or may not be to expensive for you. There is a cost of living calculator that I send to everyone who asks the question.

So go ahead on over there, enter your current income, where you live now and where you want to move to and they can help you compare the cost of living and then you can decide if living in Phoenix is expensive or not for you and your family.

 

I get 1-2 emails a week that look like this “I’m thinking about moving to Phoenix from South Dakota. Where is the best place to live in Phoenix metro area?”

If you are asking that question, I am guessing you have not spent much time in the Phoenix metro area. Because if you had, you would realize there is no way myself, or anyone else, can answer that question for you. Phoenix metro is a huge area.

If you ask me what my favorite city in the Phoenix area is, I would say without a doubt Chandler is the best. But my partners on the site would have different answers. Nick Bastian would say Tempe, Shar Rundio would say North East Mesa and if you asked Jay Thompson, the former owner of this site, he would probably say Gilbert.

So as you can see, there is no right or wrong answer. If you are moving here from out of state there would be a series of questions that I would ask you such as:

1. Have you ever been to the Phoenix area
2. Do you have a job lined up
3. Do you have any friends or family members that live here now
4. Where are you coming from
5. What do you and/or your family like to do for recreation
6. What do you love and not love about where you live now

Questions like these would help narrow things down, but until you get here and really start getting a sense of what the Phoenix metro area is like, it is probably better to rent for a while. I know the places I liked the most when I first moved here 8 years ago are not the same as my favorite places today.

If you need help relocating from out of state to Phoenix please let us know. We have help dozens of families moving from other states or from Canada find a place here. We offer live walkthroughs of houses that you can do sitting in the comfort of your living room.

So is Phoenix really that hot?

I have a video about moving to Phoenix for out of state people which generates a lot of traffic, and a lot of questions. There are three question I get on there almost weekly. In the next three #AskTpreg episodes I will answer those three questions.

The first one is about our weather. Is Phoenix really that hot? The answer is no, or yes, or maybe or depends… Maybe all of the above.

Sure, if you come to Phoenix on the 4th of July, it is very likely to be a high of 105 during the afternoon, but don’t worry, as we say around here, it is a dry heat.

For three months of the year, June, July and August, the average high temperature in the afternoon will hover between 100 and 105 degrees. So we do have three months where it is pretty dang hot. During those months I highly recommend you spend a lot of time in the pool, Phoenix area homes with pools here.

But for so much of the year the weather is so nice here, that a few months of 100 degree heat are not that bad. Just check out the charts below created by Jay Thompson a few years back. In December and January when the rest of the country is salting their roads our average high is in the low 60’s. For half the year the average high in the Phoenix area is between 65 and 82 degrees.

So to answer the question does it get hot in Phoenix, well of course you are in the desert. But when you look at the overall picture, Phoenix weather is just awesome. Besides, you can always hire experts from www.onehourheatandair.com/lees-summit to install an air conditioning system in your home.

Phoenix Temperature Charts

And for our Canadian Friends

Let me paint the picture, you are out shopping for houses for two weeks. This new one comes on the market yesterday, you rush out there with your agent to look at it. Finally, you have found the house you have been dreaming of, but of course your wise uncle told you to sleep on it, if it is meant to be it will still be there.

Can I sleep on it?

This is one that we agents hear all the time. And the answer is always the same, sure you can sleep on it, but just be aware, you may never sleep in it.

Skeptics will say, this is a ploy that agents use to get someone to buy a house. No… do you think I want to just stick someone in a house? With any good agent, most of their business comes from referrals. If we  “sell” people on a home, they will never refer us business, nor should they.

The average days on the market will almost always range from 75-120 days on the market. So if the house you looked at today goes quickly, why worry right? Wrong. The good houses go quick. By good we mean ones that are good value for their condition.

So yea, when you are out hunting in Chandler or Phoenix or anywhere else in the valley and you finally find that perfect house you can sleep on it. But remember, someone else could have easily slept on it last night and is acting today.

Yes indeed, there are waterfront properties in Phoenix

I have a doctor client who is moving here from Oklahoma. After just a few minutes in the Phoenix area he instantly did not like the houses. He disliked the closed back yards and wanted something a little more open. He asked about golf course properties in the Chandler area and I told him that would be one option, the other would be waterfront properties. His reaction, there are waterfront properties in Phoenix?

Yes, yes there are plenty of waterfront properties in the Phoenix area. As a matter of fact, Nick Bastian, one of my business partners on this blog recently wrote a blog about waterfront properties.

There are currently 38 active waterfront properties in Chandler alone that are for sale. And there are over 2 dozen waterfront communities in Chandler. Then there is Tempe, Scottsdale, Gilbert, Mesa, and more. In the whole Phoenix MLS there are 280 active single family homes for sale on the water and another 105 condo or townhomes.

You have a question you would like answered? Ask us in the comments or on social media using the hashtag #AskTPREG for Ask The Phoenix Real Estate Guys.