if you use finance, your return may be better since the mortgage rate is < 5.9%. but it will make your annual cash flow more sensitive to repair/...
just based on the numbers, I do not think it is a good deal. But I am not sure if the house price can be appreciated in the future. In that case, the cash flow is less critical now. you probably need study more for the local economics....
my houses are small, just 1350 sqft. no HOA. Not sure Laveen rent trend, my friends (used to rent and just bought a house few months ago) told me the rent at least in Tempe/chandler went up a lot for the past two years. right now, I think the rent is too high comparing with the price, So I guess the rent will go down and the house price will go up to make rent/house price balanced at certain point.
if las vegas have 70K/1K rent case, CA has 160K/1.7K rent cases, probably you do not need think of phoenix any more:-)
