Maricopa County

Gilbert

New-build sprawl with an resale market nobody expects

Gilbert is new-build sprawl, mostly built in the last twenty-five years, and it has the resale market nobody expects: all those two-thousands houses are hitting the age where roofs and AC units start going at the same time. It's clean, safe, and family-heavy — great for a long-term tenant with kids — but you're competing with builders discounting a brand-new home a mile away, and that caps what a 2004 house can ask. Buy it right or don't buy it.

What will bite you

Between the HOA almost everywhere and the age of the big-ticket items, get the reserve study and the roof and AC ages on day one. In Gilbert those aren't details — they're the deal.