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??
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!!!
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.
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.
talk to charlie, he's got a castle in needles
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.
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?
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.
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 ]
It's F'ing HOT there!
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