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View Full Version : Anyone know much about Needles?



Mandelon
10-09-2002, 03:21 PM
I'm looking at selling a triplex in San Diego and doing a 1031 into some rental properties in Needles, Parker or Havasu. Needles seems to have some really cheap multi-family properties, but I wondered if the town is growing fast enough to make the investments appreciate with a reasonable time horizon. Is anyone on the boards familiar enough with those areas to let me know??

missboatnam1
10-09-2002, 04:50 PM
i know all the river places are growing fast....we bought in parker in feb, and its already been a great investment. needles seems to be moving at a slower rate and may take little longer for results...i personally like needles better, more open space, and i think its prettier there.....but it will grow and im sure will be well worth the wait....good luck!!! :cool:

stix818
10-09-2002, 09:05 PM
I would be a little skeptical about Speedles (Needles). I've lived in Mohave Valley for 17 years and it's next door to Speedles. It's basically the same size as when I first moved there. Mohave Valley is a little nicer and you can buy a lot of land cheap. If you buy in a certain area you even have private marina rights from the homes owner assoiciation. I'm not a very big fan of Needles. You have to buy on the river and that's not very cheap. It still reminds me of the ghetto.

sandblasted
10-09-2002, 09:20 PM
what are you buying the property for? Just rental income or do you want access to the river? The biggest industry in needles is tourism, I.E. river rats...Not much going on there in the winter..Also the largest employers in the area are the casinos in laughlin..Why live 30 miles away in needles when you can live in Laughlin or Bullhead as most of the casino employees do?
Seems to me there is a lot of transient renters in needles...Can you keep your units rented?
On the other hand, if you are looking for a property to enjoy the river for yourself go for it, if you can get a property with river or launch ramp access...needles is centrally located..Topock is 15 minutes downriver and the sandbar is another 10-15 minutes..You can go upriver to the Avi or all the way to laughlin and float back down or trailer your boat to havasu and Lake Mojave on the same weekend..
Good luck.

jm2drvr
10-09-2002, 10:01 PM
talk to charlie, he's got a castle in needles

Hermosa
10-10-2002, 11:07 AM
I used to go to Needles all the time before moving to Northern California, I liked the Needles location and that part of the river. I think the town of Needles is a little iffy, but the surrounding river properties are great, never had a problem with anyone there. I have heard that there are a lot of speed freaks and crack heads who live there, but since I didn't hang around the town or with the locals, I never did see that side of it. I wouldn't doubt it, I would be boared as hell living there all year with nothing to do but be hot, sweaty and dusty. We usually got our gas and eating out on the Arizona side, didn't spend much time on the California side of the river there. There is a lot of building going on North and South of the bridge, some really nice houses. I really miss boating there, close to a lot of neat spots.

Charley
10-10-2002, 12:42 PM
jm2drvr:
talk to charlie, he's got a castle in needlesYo tall guy, lighten up!....My house is across the River in Mohave Valley... Needles is a railroad town....lotsa choo choo action all night long...but if it's just an investment and the deal is right...who knows?

TCHB
10-10-2002, 12:53 PM
Needles is a good area for boating. My advice is to buy in Lake Havasu. The city is growing very fast and the infrastructure is also. New stores, movie houses, city services houses and two new major golf country clubs going in now. Half of all the homes in Lake Havasu have been built in the past ten years. For property value upside my bet is Havasu. Parker is ok but is limited by the town of Parker and most of the houses on the water are on Indian or BLM land. Stand back and look at where the growth is and continues and I think you will see Havasu as the best investment.

stix818
10-10-2002, 12:56 PM
Charley, I'm not sure if your talking to me but I agree with ya. I live in Mohave Valley also. Where do you think this picture was taken? I was just saying that 85% of Speedles is crack heads. It's just an old rail road town. Just pick and choose your investments carefully.
[ October 10, 2002, 01:57 PM: Message edited by: Stix818 ]

riverracerx
10-11-2002, 11:30 AM
It's F'ing HOT there!

Mandelon
10-14-2002, 12:56 PM
Thanks for the feedback. I just saw how frigging cheap some of the units in Neddles were. A Two-on-One for $24,000???? I don't think I could build it for that. I agree that Havasu is likely to have better appreciation so will concentrate my search there.
I think the point in buying units anywhere is for appreciation, the faster the better, and to have someone else make your mortgage payments. Plus it gives me a good excuse to go back!!
Plus I understand you can write off part of your river trips to take care of "maintenance and management" issues. So your gas and hotel stays are apparently deductible!

Charley
10-14-2002, 01:18 PM
Stix818:
Charley, I'm not sure if your talking to me but I agree with ya. I live in Mohave Valley also. Where do you think this picture was taken? I was just saying that 85% of Speedles is crack heads. It's just an old rail road town. Just pick and choose your investments carefully.I was directing my comment to Bryan(aka jm2drvr)he was calling my house a castle and it's the smallest one on the block...typical smartass comment from the likes of him.... 6'5" bastard hehehe :D

Charley
10-14-2002, 01:18 PM
stix where are you in MV anyway?
[ October 14, 2002, 04:30 PM: Message edited by: Charley ]

Back To Havasu
10-15-2002, 10:34 AM
One more thought...do you want to be an absentee landlord of cheap property in an iffy old railroad town far away? Possible time consuming logistical problems repairing and mainting investment property there?

stix818
10-15-2002, 11:13 AM
My old man lives off of Cotton Wood (across from Spit Casino). I grew up there but moved when I joined the service. Now I go up and play with my boat at my dad's shop at least once a month. Where abouts are you?

nodigg
10-15-2002, 06:25 PM
Mandelon,
I just started investing in Havasu a coupla' years ago and it has been good to me already. :D $15,000. lots two years ago are $30k now. Bought a large parcel at $17500 per acre 2 years ago is $50k/per acre now. This last year has been crazy and it remains to be seen if the upward trend continues but so far so good. As always I wish I had more money when I first started. Now the deals are harder to find but they are there if you look. LHC rentals are good year round. Snow birds in the winter months will just about pay your mortgage and if you rent in the summer to boaters you can show a good profit. The town is serious about growth and image and sewer is on the way as well. Take a day or two and drive down from Bullhead to LHC and Parker and stop in at a few Realtors and check it all out.
I'm banking on LHC already. let me know what you think as you go along. I'm 40 days from closing escrow on a 1031 exchange myself and part of the money is going into LHC property. :)
[ October 15, 2002, 07:29 PM: Message edited by: nodigg ]

Stokerdave
10-15-2002, 06:42 PM
I wouldnt buy any rental property at all in needles, there is already sooooo many apartment complexes there that have hardly any people in them. The most commmon places to live are the "I dont want to work, so I'm too poor to pay for rent on my own" government assisted complexes

nodigg
10-15-2002, 06:48 PM
Stokerdave:
I wouldnt buy any rental property at all in needles, there is already sooooo many apartment complexes there that have hardly any people in them. The most commmon places to live are the "I dont want to work, so I'm too poor to pay for rent on my own" government assisted complexesDITTO! You have to be careful about year-round rentals out here! There is a very different attitude about paying your bills and work ethics in general.
[ October 15, 2002, 07:49 PM: Message edited by: nodigg ]

Mandelon
10-17-2002, 07:37 AM
I've had experience with Section-8 properties here in SD and other low end units as well. The tenants pretty much have no respect for themselves or for the properties they live in. When they move out, pretty much everything is trashed. The higher end places tend to be treated better by the tenants. Lake Havasu City is obviously pretty well kept up, clean streets, lots of new houses and a more upscale type of resident. I read that there is some opposition to the sewer system upgrades, but didn't pay that much attention to it.

HavasuDreamin'
10-17-2002, 08:03 AM
Being in the business........I can tell you that the three most important aspects of real estate investment are:
1. Location
2. Location
3. Location
I don't think Needles is the investment place of choice. Nuff Said.