[quote=spdrun]I don’t know about not flying. On the plane back from CA about a year ago, I had a stop in PHX. I sat next to a Chinese lady who had just bought a condo in AZ because she wanted a rental for her son, who had moved there after college.

Foreigners are buying up a lot of property as well (good thing in my book – I don’t consider myself very American).

Real problem with both Phoenix and LV is climate and lack of water. This won’t get better with global warming, and they’re borderline intolerable 5 months out of the year as it is![/quote]

spdrun, I don’t think a woman traveling alone would necessarily drive 2500 mi (from NY to PHX) by herself just to buy an investment condo and for no other reason. I agree about her reason for buying. I’ve talked to a lot of people whose kids (and grandkids) are constantly moving seeking a lower rent when their rents are raised. They don’t like to see their (out-of-state) grandkids living such a transient life so are searching for a property they can reasonably rent to their kids for the long term.

The road-traveling investors I saw last summer were mostly couples with a few individual men.

Are your sure your “Chinese” traveling companion wasn’t actually an American? My instincts tell me she probably was if she had a son going to college and now employed in the US.

Yes, PHX and LV ARE unbearably hot. But they appeal to winterbirds during their cooler, winter months and low-income families due to having an overall lower cost of housing than the more desirable, coastal cities.