Scottsdale investment property: the rental rules and the market numbers right now

In October 2026, the Cromford Report counted 1,366 single-family homes for sale across the city of Scottsdale, down from 1,470 a year earlier. Months of supply stood at 3.9, meaning it would take about 3.9 months to sell everything currently listed at today's pace if nothing new came on the market. The median sale price over the past 12 months was $1,230,000, up 5.3 percent from a year earlier. These figures are from October 6, 2026.

I'm Jen Keene, a REALTOR® with eXp Realty Luxury in Scottsdale. I'm not the agent you call once. I'm the agent you call at every stage of your life. Those numbers describe the whole city. They don't tell you whether one property can be rented the way you plan, because that depends on the city and the HOA.

Two sets of rules decide it, and both have to allow it. Arizona sets the short-term rental rules at the state level, and cities can add only limited requirements, though registration and local rules still apply and they change. Separately, an HOA can restrict rentals no matter what the city allows, and many Scottsdale associations do, including minimum lease terms that rule out short stays.

So a home can be fine under the city's rules and still be off limits under the HOA's. Learning that after closing is an expensive surprise, and you can avoid it every time. I hold the Resort and Second-Home Property Specialist designation, which covers rental restrictions, HOA obligations and owning a home you won't live in full time. I check the current rules for a specific address instead of going from memory. Here's more on owning a second home or rental in Scottsdale.

Yes. A second home or investment property generally needs a larger down payment than the home you live in. Loans built around a small down payment, like FHA and VA, generally aren't made for a home you won't occupy. A conventional or jumbo loan is the more likely route, and the only way to know your real numbers is to apply and let a lender review your file. Here's how financing works, start to finish.

1. Decide whether renting matters to you before you tour. It changes which homes are worth seeing. Here's what I do with every buyer before they see a house.
2. Get pre-approved as an investment purchase. A pre-approval for a home you'd live in won't carry over.
3. Confirm the city's current rules and the HOA's rental rules for the address before you offer. In Arizona, the HOA documents arrive inside the inspection period, which the contract sets at ten days and you can negotiate. Read the governing documents yourself instead of going on what a listing agent or a neighbor told you.
4. Then run the market numbers against that property. The citywide figures cover Old Town to the far north in one number. What they mean for one address depends on the homes closest to it.

• Assuming that because the state limits cities, nothing else needs checking. The HOA's rules are separate.
• Financing it like a home they'll live in. The down payment and the loan options change.
• Checking the rental rules after closing. Check them before you offer.
• Reading the citywide number as if it applies to every neighborhood. In October 2026, Scottsdale's months of supply was 3.9 citywide, and that one number covers neighborhoods built over fifty years at very different prices.

Check what your HOA's documents say about rentals now, since the rules may have changed since you bought, and what the city currently requires. Then get a real number on what the home would sell for, so you have something to compare the rental decision against.

A comparative market analysis is free and comes with no obligation. Call me at (480) 203-6605 or get in touch, and we'll go over what your home could sell for and what your HOA and the city allow, before you decide anything. Scottsdale runs thirty-one miles north to south, and the rules and prices change block to block.