Affordability continues to be a huge challenge for homebuyers in 2025. But there’s a growing trend that’s cutting the cost of buying a home in half—especially in Phoenix.
So now I’m going to show you:
1. How buyers are using this trend to slash their monthly costs
2. What the best options are within the Phoenix metro
3. A change in state law that allows more people to take advantage of this
The Growing Trend
The cost of homeownership is at an all-time high, and first-time buyers only made up 24% of the market in 2024 - a record low.
So how can buyers on a limited budget combat this? Well a record number of them actually turned to a tactic that most of us used when we were college students or young professionals starting out in the workforce - splitting the cost with other people.
Just about all of us had roommates at one point in our lives, and it was the only way for a broke student to be able to afford the massive cost of rent and utilities.
But the problem is that if you have a partner or a family, taking on a roommate and renting out the bedroom at the end of the hall just isn’t a very appealing option anymore.
What Builders Are Offering
So how can you make this work?
Well here in Phoenix, builders are increasingly offering a type of house that will solve that problem - one that gives you the ability to rent out a portion of the house without having to share any space.
They all have different names for it, but these homes all take advantage of the concept of multigenerational living.
These are houses that have either an attached or detached casita (aka mother-in-law suite, guest quarters, etc), and some of these have their own garage, a completely separate entrance from the rest of the house, a full kitchen (with a full size refrigerator, range, dishwasher) and living area, a bedroom with a full bath, closet and even a stackable washer/dryer unit.
They’re completely self-contained, and almost like attaching a 1-bedroom apartment onto your house.
It’s the perfect setup for someone who would like to live with family (whether it’s elderly parents, adult children, or anyone in between), or take on a tenant to help share the cost of the mortgage.
Right now Lennar and Pulte Homes offer the two best multi-gen suites that I’ve seen, but more builders are coming to the table with options for this because the demand for it is surging.
I’ve worked with a ton of clients who have specifically been after a multi-gen suite, and in 2024 the number of buyers who bought one hit 17% - an all-time high.
Arizona’s New Law
But what if your dream neighborhood doesn’t have these kinds of homes?
This was an issue the Arizona legislature tackled recently, and it paved the way for more casitas to be built on existing properties.
HB 2720 went into effect earlier this year, and it makes it easier for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) or casitas to be built.
The law requires cities with populations over 75,000 to allow at least one attached or detached ADU to be built on a lot that has an existing single family home. It also eases rules around size, setbacks, and placement.
Rental restrictions on ADUs were also pulled back by HB 2720 - giving homeowners more freedom to earn income and lower their housing costs.
One Big Catch
But there’s still a big roadblock to all these newfound freedoms with ADUs.
Even though the state has opened up the possibility for more ADUs to be built, if you live in an HOA that doesn’t allow ADUs then you’ll still be out of luck because the HOA’s rules actually override those from the state.
Some cities also have rules against short-term rentals, which would still apply to ADUs.
In the right neighborhood, this could be the most affordable path to homeownership in 2025—if you know how to find it. And it will add a lot of value to your home, and help you score a big win for housing affordability.
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Things I’ve always wanted to do:
⬜️Stay in one of those over-water bungalows
⬜️Learn how to surf
âś…Go to a drive-in movie
My parents used to tell me how much fun it was to go to the drive-in, but finding a place to do it is next to impossible.
Lucky for us, one of the largest drive-in movie lots is located in Glendale, and I was finally able to check that box.
The West Wind offers nine different screens, a massive snackbar with restrooms, high quality digital picture and sound via your FM radio, and TONS of nostalgic fun.
Check out their website here: www.westwinddi.com/locations/glendale
It’s a great local business!
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Some homebuyers are hoping for lower interest rates—but if they get them, they could lose thousands.
This might sound like a wild claim, but let me give you an example of how this works.
Low rates aren’t always good
When you were a kid do you remember how frustrating it was when a much bigger kid jumped on the other end of the teeter-totter and kept you dangling in the air?
This was a terrible place to get stuck because you were completely at the mercy of the chunky kid on the other side because he had all the leverage, and the only way you were getting down was to sweet talk him or give up your lunch money for the day.
Well back in 2021 when the interest rates were low, anyone who was buying a new construction home was stuck on the high side of the teeter-totter.
The builders called all the shots. You paid what they said you were going to pay on every house, received almost no incentives, and you even had to be on a waitlist before they’d even consider selling you a home.
It was awful!
The big shift
When mortgage rates spiked in late 2022, everything changed. It was like a group of your friends came climbing up to your side of the teeter-totter to even the scales, and over the last few years rates have gotten so high that now you actually have all the leverage, and the builders are the ones dangling in the air.
This isn’t a position they like to be in, and they’ve been itching for rates to come back to normal so they can yank all the incentives and take control again.
So how do you know when it’s time to get off the teeter-totter?
Well if all your friends who had come to your rescue told you their parents had arrived and it was time to go home, then you knew it was your time to get off too, otherwise you’d be stuck in the air again.
If you happened to pay attention to mortgage rates this past week, you saw that they came tumbling down along with the stock market. That’s a sign that it might be time to get off the teeter-totter.
If rates keep moving lower, the builders are going to have all the power again. That means the return of monthly price hikes on their homes, no incentives, and lengthy waitlists.
So if you’re somebody who has been wanting a new construction home but has been waiting for rates to fall - the time to act is now.
Many builders are still spending tens of thousands of dollars to buy mortgage rates down. I actually just helped a client get $50K from the builder for that.
They’re also giving discounts on lot premiums, thousands of dollars in credits towards the design center or closing costs - all things that will vanish the minute they get their leverage back.
Is the window closing?
Waiting much longer could mean paying way more for the same house.
And if you’d like me to help you save thousands on a new construction home, you can schedule a free consultation with me here: calendly.com/arizonadreamin/30min
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The stock market just tanked… and somehow, that might be the best news homebuyers have heard in months. So now I’m going to share with you:
1. How this bad news could actually be helpful
2. What we can expect if this continues
3. And how the good news from all this could also end up being….bad.
The upside of the market’s downturn
The historic losses have hammered investment accounts for millions of people - including a buddy of mine who was telling me about how hard he’d been hit while we were waiting for a pickleball court.
He was rightfully upset about his account losing so much value, but me being the eternal optimist (and also knowing that he had a 7.2% interest rate on the house he’d bought last year), I tried to cheer him up by telling him, “Hey…mortgage rates also took a huge dive.”
When I said that, three other people quickly came up to me and asked, “How MUCH did they go down by?”
That’s when it hit me—people have been waiting for this.
Last fall the Fed seemed on track to finally ease rates.
But then a bunch of reports came in showing that the economy was very strong, and the Fed scrapped its plans for more cuts.
That’s when something really odd became clear - anyone who wants to see lower interest rates needs to root for bad news on the economy.
The gloom showed up in full force last week, and rates responded with a sharp drop to 6.6% on average for a 30-year fixed mortgage - the lowest level in nearly six months.
Whether rates keep falling depends entirely on how the market performs over the next few weeks.
Where do we go from here?
If stocks continue their freefall, the Fed will likely pivot back to its plan for more rate cuts to jolt the economy.
The one piece of data that could wreck all that - even if the market continues to plummet - is what started the massive rate spike to begin with…inflation.
If it starts to climb again, then rates will remain high.
If inflation keeps steady, and if more downbeat news on the economy flows in, we could be seeing the start of a huge shift.
But rates going down isn’t great for everybody
There’s a very specific group of homebuyer’s who could actually be harmed by lower interest rates, and I’ll break it down tomorrow.
See you then!
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Congratulations to ‪@00calvinlee00‬, ‪@elliotcod9725‬, and ‪@GlmrGrl98‬ who were the three winners of a $100 gift card from my last video. Appreciate your support of the channel, and thanks to all the viewers who played along!
Watch for more drawings and some fun videos coming soon!
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New video coming today at noon PDT!
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It's been 65 days since I posted my last video - a streak that was supposed to end today.
For the past two months I've been working to produce several videos in advance. Coming up with an idea for a video, writing, shooting and editing is a pretty lengthy process - and that's not even factoring in working with clients in my real estate business.
It's been a lot of work behind the scenes, and today I was ready to finally hit that post button....but there was a problem.
You see, my editing software and the video files take up a ton of room on the old hard drive, so I bought another computer with the intention of only using it for editing.
I finished editing the first video late Friday night, which was perfect timing because I was leaving for a vacation with my family the following day. But Saturday morning we woke up to a text message saying our flight had been cancelled, and I had to enter scramble mode.
I jumped on my laptop and frantically checked every possible travel route to make it back for our family reunion that's been scheduled for over a year, and eventually I was able to find a flight (and drive) that would work.
With no time to spare I threw my laptop in the suitcase and we made a mad dash to the airport to catch our new flight.
This morning I pulled out my laptop ready to upload the video, and then I realized my mistake - I grabbed the wrong computer. I brought my work laptop, and not the one that had the video file on it.
So unfortunately my streak will extend for one more week until we return to Arizona, but the good news is this should be the last time I have a long streak without posting.
Not only have I pre-produced several videos, I've also brought on a few people to help me with the production so that I can return to weekly posting.
So thanks for your patience Arizona Dreamers, and see you next week!
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Queen Creek’s downtown area has largely been like the town itself - full of potential, but still very early in its development.
But some news that I recently stumbled across makes me think that could be about to change.
So today I’m going to tell you:
What this news is
How it could be the first step in a major transformation for Queen Creek
And explain how it will impact you as a homeowner or potential home buyer in the area.
For the last decade Queen Creek has been one of the fastest growing towns in Arizona. That growth brought major developments like the Queen Creek Marketplace and the QC District Shopping centers, both of which have tons of major retailers, restaurants and a movie theater.
But the one thing Queen Creek has been lacking for years is a vibrant downtown area. Many clients I’ve worked with have even chosen to live in Gilbert simply because of the popular downtown that it offers.
Gilbert’s downtown is home to a massive, weekly farmer’s market, hosts numerous events, has some of the most popular bars and restaurants in the Phoenix metro, and offers a vast amount of entertainment for people in all walks of life.
But Queen Creek now seems determined to catch up.
The town recently announced a new development called The Switchyard will break ground soon. The $120-million project will occupy 10-acres on the NE corner of Ellsworth and Ocotillo roads, and seems to be the first big step towards a monumental shift in Queen Creek’s downtown.
Once completed, The Switchyard will house 54,000 square feet of restaurant, retail and office space. The project will also include apartments to provide much-needed residential space to the downtown area.
And even though the project isn’t expected to break ground until the fourth quarter of 2024, the first two tenants have already signed leases for their space - and anyone who’s been to downtown Gilbert will recognize these.
3,800 square feet of restaurant space will go to Postino - a popular wine cafe that boasts a relaxing atmosphere and a wide range of food choices.
The other lease will belong to The Porch - which will occupy 11,900 square feet and offer a large outdoor patio. This is another favorite in the Phoenix metro (they have three other locations) thanks to great food, a fun, retro-inspired atmosphere, quality cocktails, TVs for the sports fans, and even games you can play.
And this appears to only be the beginning.
For years the town of Queen Creek has had a PDF document laying out the vision for the downtown redevelopment buried on its website. It showed some renderings of what the town hoped to build and gave a quick description of the kinds of businesses it hoped to bring in.
But that document was put together in 2017, and not much had changed since that time. However, the town quietly released a revision in February of this year, outlining a commitment to begin taking major steps towards the project. And it appears this will be the first one.
So what will this mean for homeowners in Queen Creek, as well as those interested in moving there?
Queen Creek had already surpassed Gilbert as the most expensive area in the East Valley, and this should only push those prices even higher.
That’s great news for anyone who owns a home in Queen Creek right now, but will also increase the barrier of entry for those who haven’t made the move there quite yet.
Now that’s not to say that home prices are going to shoot up overnight. The complete makeover of the downtown area will still take years to complete.
And even if you might still be a year or two away from buying property in Queen Creek, you still should be able to ride the wave of momentum that this project will bring to the town.
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People ask me all the time which community in Phoenix is going to take off next.
And the place is one I NEVER would have considered even two years ago.
But some recent news makes me think this community really could be about to blow up.
So today I want to share with you where this place is, why I think it’s one of the best cities to buy property in the state, and what piece of news made me feel this way.
Okay - so EVERYONE is trying to figure out where the next Queen Creek will be. In 2000 nobody would have ever thought Queen Creek would grow into what it is now. And tons of home buyers want to cash in on the next area to ride that wave.
So how do you find an up-and-coming place?
A crystal ball would help, but the more realistic method is to try to predict where the growth and demand will be highest.
The West Valley has lots of areas that fit that, but I think there’s one community in the East Valley that’s been greatly undervalued.
For a long time the East Valley has been in really high demand, and areas like Chandler, Gilbert and Queen Creek all exploded with growth over the last 20+ years.
Home prices also spiked in these places because the areas for expansion are starting to run out.
But the place I think is poised to take off isn’t somewhere new - it’s somewhere old.
For decades the city of Apache Junction has largely been ignored. If you take a tour of AJ now you’ll find a mix of mobile home parks, older shopping centers and plenty of inexpensive housing.
But I think that’s about to change.
Now some will roll their eyes at this because Apache Junction tried this once before - and it didn’t go well.
In 2007 there was a plan to redevelop a large area of “downtown” Apache Junction into an urban center. The idea was to build large scale office buildings mixed with dense residential, similar to what downtown Tempe looks like today.
That project was squashed by the recession a year later, and AJ has never been able to get much traction since.
So what’s changed?
One is the major population expansion. The huge master-planned community of Superstition Vistas is expected to double the city’s population over the next 10 years.
But the biggest development that gives me confidence that AJ has finally gotten serious about a transformation came with the news that the city just purchased a 10.64 acre lot in the heart of downtown for $2.9 million.
This is the first time ever that Apache Junction has purchased land with the goal of assisting in commercial development.
The property was once home to the Grand Hotel (which opened in 1960 as the Superstition Ho) that was a favorite place to stay for movie stars who were filming Westerns in the nearby Superstition Mountains.
Some of the notable guests were John Wayne, Elvis Presley and Ronald Reagan.
But as the golden age of Westerns came to an end, the hotel and Apache Junction both fell on hard times. The Grand Hotel closed for good in 2002, and was torn down (with the intention of being the center of the failed redevelopment project) in 2007.
But just as Westerns seem to be making a comeback (thanks Yellowstone), Apache Junction is looking to do the same.
The city has partnered with a Scottsdale based architectural and design firm to lay the groundwork for a major redevelopment of the downtown core.
City leaders are also holding public open house events (next one is July 10th) to gather input from residents, business owners, and community stakeholders to help shape the vision for what Apache Junction will become.
The city is hoping to have wrapped up this “information gathering” phase by September of this year, and then begin work on the infrastructure to make it all happen.
It’s a small step, but for the first time since the 1960s, Apache Junction looks ready to take off.
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I want to help you get a better deal (and a better built) new construction home in Arizona.
📱 Call or Text: 541-517-3238
📨 Email: brian@azdreamin.com
Brian Elder - Phoenix AZ Realtor (License SA702464000)
EXP Realty
10 May 2022