Lakewood · Second Homes
Buying a Second Home in Lakewood
Buying a winter place in the Valley, usually from somewhere much colder.
You are buying a season, and a house that sits empty the rest of the year
A second home in Lakewood gets judged on different criteria from a primary one, and applying primary-home logic to the decision is where people go wrong.
You are not weighing a daily commute. You are weighing sun, low maintenance, and what happens to the place during the months you are not in it. In this community that pushes two questions to the front. First, whether a waterfront home suits you, given that homes directly on the water carry their own association rules that inland homes do not, including watercraft registration. Second, what the association permits on rentals, which varies and which people routinely assume rather than check.
What you get from me is both of those answered in writing before you write an offer, along with a candid figure for what the property costs to hold across a year rather than the four months you are here. If that changes whether the purchase makes sense, better now.
Lakewood is a strong answer to this brief. It is not the only one.
Questions about your move? I'm glad to help.
Buying it from somewhere cold
Savvy Realty Group is my practice at HomeSmart, and a good share of this work happens with the client two thousand miles away and three time zones out of step.
That means the value is not in opening doors. It is in being the person on the ground who tells you the truth: I walk the home on video, describe what the listing photographs are flattering, and tell you plainly when a property is not worth a flight. I would rather lose a weekend of showings than have you buy something on a good camera angle.
The record behind that: licensed since 2017, more than 80 transaction sides and over $52 million in career volume. Every Google review I have is five stars across more than 35 of them, and I have earned HomeSmart's Diamond Club in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
And eighteen years living in Ahwatukee, which is how I know what an August actually does to a house that nobody has been inside since April. Irrigation fails quietly. Pool equipment fails expensively. Neither shows up in a listing photograph taken in February.
The other half of this work is honesty about fit. Not everybody who wants a winter place should buy one, and for some people the holding cost across a full year makes renting the better arithmetic. I will show you that comparison rather than avoid it, because a client who buys the wrong thing does not come back and should not.
How a remote second-home purchase runs
Fewer steps than a primary purchase, with more weight on the ones that protect you when you are not here.
- Define the brief honestly. How many months, how much house, how much maintenance you are willing to own, and whether you want water in front of you or would rather not think about it.
- Rules before romance. Rental restrictions, minimum lease terms and waterfront provisions checked for any property you are seriously considering, not after the inspection period opens.
- Video first, flights second. I walk the home and the community, then we decide together whether a visit is warranted.
- Inspection weighted differently. Irrigation, pool equipment and roof condition get more attention than they would on a primary purchase, because a small failure found in October is a different event when the house has been closed since spring.
- The cost to hold, written down. Association dues, utilities that do not stop, pool service, landscaping, insurance and property tax through the months you are elsewhere.
- Closing remotely. Arizona runs through escrow and title, and my transaction coordinator and I manage the dates with a weekly update either way.
- Handover for a house you will not be in. Who holds a key, who checks on it, and which trades to call. I hand over the list rather than leaving you to build one from search results.
The full buying process is here, and more on second homes here. If you would rather start with a call, get in touch.
What suits a place you leave for half the year
Lakewood's appeal for this is easy to see. A man-made lake at the center, greenbelt and walking paths through the community, and flat enough ground that the paths get used rather than admired. Common areas maintained by the association rather than by you, which is exactly what you want when you are not here.
Be deliberate about the waterfront question though. Water in front of the house is the reason many people buy here, and it comes with rules an inland lot does not carry.
If lower maintenance matters more to you than the water does, look at Mountain Park Ranch before deciding. It spans condominiums and townhomes through to estate parcels across nine sub-associations, and the condominium and townhome parcels are a more natural lock-and-leave answer than most detached housing in Ahwatukee. Foothills Reserve is the opposite direction: elevation, privacy and hilly terrain, with less flat ground and more house to look after.
Whichever way you go, the rules follow the specific property rather than the community name, which is why I read them for the address you are actually buying.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I rent out a second home in Lakewood when I am not there?
That depends on the specific community rules, and they vary. Restrictions on rentals and minimum lease terms are association matters, so I check the current provisions for any property you are seriously considering before you write an offer rather than after.
Is a waterfront home a good choice for a place I leave empty?
It can be, and it needs a clear head. Homes directly on the water carry their own association rules that inland homes do not, including watercraft registration. Read those provisions against how you actually intend to use the place for four months a year.
What does a second home here cost to hold?
Association dues, utilities that do not stop, pool service, landscaping, insurance and property tax all continue while you are elsewhere. I will lay the specific numbers out for a property before you buy rather than after, because for some people it changes which community makes sense.
Can I buy without flying out?
Yes, and many second-home clients effectively do. I walk the home and the community on video and I will tell you when a property is not worth the trip.
Lakewood
What second homes looks like in Lakewood
Built around its lake, with greenbelt and walking paths through it.
One of the Ahwatukee communities I work most often.
- The homes
- A lake-centred community with man-made water at its heart. Homes directly on the water carry their own set of association rules, including watercraft registration, that inland homes in the same community do not.
- Why people choose it
- Buyers who want water and green space as part of daily life rather than a drive away.
- Schools people ask about
- The community association has long named Kyrene de los Lagos Elementary, Akimel Middle School and Desert Vista High School. Kyrene de los Lagos is now a dual-language open-enrollment school rather than the assigned neighborhood school, and the Kyrene district is redrawing its boundaries for 2026-27 and again for 2027-28, so check the district's current maps for any specific address.
- Getting around
- Chandler Boulevard is the northern edge and the Loop 202 the southern one. Lakewood Parkway runs as a loop through the community, with 40th Street on its east side and 32nd Street on its west, and either street gets you to the 202 in two to five minutes.
- Nearby
- The lake itself, the greenbelt and the walking paths running through the community.
- The trade-off
- You are choosing water and greenbelt over the elevation and mountain proximity you would get in the Foothills communities. A lakefront lot also comes with rules an inland lot does not.
Lakewood
The associations in Lakewood
The association that applies here, linked to its own site so you can read the documents rather than take my word for it.
- Master association
- Lakewood Community Association Governs the two lakes and their four boat docks, the ramadas, tot lots and the path network.
Dues and rules change, and which documents apply can depend on the parcel. Confirm both against the association before you write an offer.
Second Homes: keep exploring
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