Upper Canyon · Trading Up
Trading Up into Upper Canyon
Moving into more house, with the buy-and-sell sequencing worked out before you list.
You are selling on a date somebody else controls
Trading up into new construction is a different sequencing problem from trading up into a resale, and it catches experienced sellers out.
In a resale you negotiate the closing date. Here, the completion date belongs to the builder, and it can move. Trading up in Upper Canyon therefore means selling a home you own against a target that is only approximately fixed, which is a genuine risk in both directions: sell too early and you are renting, sell too late and you are carrying two properties or losing your contract position.
What you get here is those two transactions run as one plan, with the uncertainty priced in rather than hoped away. Your equity and financing looked at before anything is listed. A contingency plan for a build that runs long, agreed while it is still hypothetical. And a listing on your current home that is prepared rather than rushed, because a rushed sale discounts the old house and that discount comes out of the new one.
The community detail is here if you are still deciding whether to go new at all.
Questions about your move? I'm glad to help.
Why move-up buyers use Savvy Realty Group
A trade-up is two jobs, and most agents are noticeably better at one of them. I am Amy Richardson, Savvy Realty Group at HomeSmart, and I run both sides of these regularly, which is the only way the dates line up.
Over my career it is more than 80 transaction sides and over $52 million in volume, across buying and selling, most of it inside Ahwatukee and the Southeast Valley.
The other half of it is that I spent twelve years in my family's financial advisory practice before real estate, and six years before that as a project manager at Wells Fargo. That sounds unrelated until you are at a kitchen table deciding whether to carry two mortgages through a build delay. Explaining consequential money decisions to people who did not want a lecture is the most useful thing I did before this.
One thing worth repeating on a new build: the builder's sales representative works for the builder. Most new-build communities pay the buyer's agent, as long as your agent is with you on your first visit. Negotiating my fee with the builder is part of my job, so bring me to that first visit and I'll handle it.
See how I handle move-up moves generally, or send me your numbers.
Two transactions, one calendar, one moving date
The listing half is at how I sell a home in Ahwatukee and the buying half at how I help you buy. Here is how they fit together when the purchase is a build.
- Numbers first. Your equity, your carrying capacity and what your current home is realistically worth. You talk to a lender about what you can hold and for how long, including the case where the build runs past its estimate.
- The sequencing call, with a delay built in. Selling first gives you certainty and a stronger position and risks a gap. Buying first removes the gap and risks carrying two properties. On a build, the honest version of that conversation assumes the date can move.
- Lot and plan chosen deliberately. D.R. Horton's homes run 1,314 to 2,392 square feet, three to five bedrooms, single and two-storey. Pulte and Blandford are separate products again. Position within a 373-acre development also decides how long you live beside active construction.
- Upgrades against your equity. Structural choices you cannot add later, finishes you could do afterwards for less, and things that will not come back to you. Spending your sale proceeds at a design center is a decision worth making with somebody who has no stake in it.
- Prepare the sale properly. The walkthrough, the trades, the complimentary staging consultation and the photography, all before you are under time pressure. Step one is here.
- Both sides, one coordinator. My transaction coordinator tracks the listing deadlines and the build milestones so nothing depends on you holding two calendars in your head.
What you gain and what you give up
The trade is the reason people hesitate, and it is worth stating plainly. You gain a warranty, current layouts and the planned amenity package: a resort pool, spa, fitness center, pickleball and basketball courts, a playground, a 3.5-acre central park with South Mountain views, a botanical garden and trails. You give up mature landscaping, a settled resale history and the larger lots the older custom communities offer.
You also live beside construction for a while. In a development of roughly 1,050 single-family homes plus townhomes and multifamily, around 1,500 units in total, the build-out is not short, and where your lot sits decides how much of it you experience.
The established alternatives are close enough to see on the same afternoon. Foothills Club West is immediately east, master-planned with a clubhouse, where each neighborhood carries its own tract declarations in addition to the master CC&Rs. Foothills Reserve offers hillside lots with elevation, views and privacy, at the cost of flat usable yard. The Foothills holds several distinct markets under one name.
If the step up is at the top of the market, luxury buyers in Upper Canyon goes further into lot and upgrade decisions.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I list my current home if I am building?
Later than instinct suggests and earlier than a delayed build allows, which is why we plan it against your actual carrying capacity rather than a rule of thumb. The important part is deciding in advance what you will do if the completion date moves, because that decision is much worse made under pressure.
What happens if the build runs late?
It is common enough that it belongs in the plan rather than in the surprises. Depending on your position that might mean a rent-back on your sale, short-term housing, or timing the listing later. Knowing which of those you would choose removes most of the difficulty.
Are upgrades worth the money?
Some are and some are not. I sort them into three piles: structural choices you cannot add later, finishes you could do afterwards for less, and things that will not come back to you. That conversation is worth having with somebody who has no stake in the design center.
Can I use my own lender rather than the builder's?
Usually, and builder lenders often come with an incentive attached. Sometimes the arithmetic favors it and sometimes it does not. The way to know is to compare it against an outside quote rather than assume the incentive settles it.
Upper Canyon
What trading up looks like in Upper Canyon
The largest new residential development Ahwatukee has seen in decades, opened in 2026.
New construction in Ahwatukee, which we have not had at this scale in a long time.
- The homes
- A 373-acre gated master-planned community on former State Trust Land, planned for roughly 1,050 single-family homes plus townhomes and multifamily, around 1,500 units in total, at an estimated $300 million. Three builders are involved: D.R. Horton, Pulte Homes and Blandford Homes. D.R. Horton's homes run 1,314 to 2,392 square feet with three to five bedrooms, single and two-storey.
- Why people choose it
- Buyers who want new construction without leaving Ahwatukee, which until now has meant leaving Ahwatukee. That covers move-up buyers, relocation buyers and right-sizers who would rather have a warranty than a remodel.
- Schools people ask about
- Kyrene de los Cerritos Leadership Academy, Kyrene Altadeña Middle School and Desert Vista High School.
- Getting around
- On Chandler Boulevard between 19th and 27th Avenues in the Ahwatukee Foothills, just west of Club West. Out via Chandler Boulevard to 17th Avenue, or Liberty Lane, and less than five minutes to the Loop 202. The new Fire Station 74 is being built on Chandler Boulevard near 19th Avenue.
- Nearby
- Planned amenities include a resort pool, spa, fitness center, pickleball and basketball courts, a playground, a 3.5-acre central park with South Mountain views, a botanical garden and trails.
- The trade-off
- New build against established Ahwatukee. You gain a warranty, current layouts and the amenity package; you give up mature landscaping, settled resale history and the larger lots the older custom communities offer.
The method
How we do it in Upper Canyon
Trading Up: keep exploring
Ready to make your move with Savvy Realty Group?