Buying a second home in Scottsdale or Phoenix: loans, property tax, rentals and owning from a distance

How buying one here works

The purchase itself follows the same steps as any Arizona resale: the contract, the inspection period, the disclosures, title and escrow. The buying guide walks through them. If you’re buying from somewhere else, Relocating explains how Aaron works with people buying from a distance, with video tours and electronic signatures. Before any wire, follow the guide’s wire fraud steps, and see closing costs for the cash side.

What changes is how you plan to use the home, because the lender, the County Assessor and the local rental rules each ask about that separately. Decide your plan first, because your answers need to match.

Financing: what counts as a second home

A lender needs to know how you’ll occupy the home, and for a loan Fannie Mae buys, a second home has to meet each of these (Selling Guide B2-1.1-01):

• you occupy it for some portion of the year;
• it’s a one-unit dwelling, suitable for year-round occupancy;
• you have exclusive control over it;
• it isn’t a rental property or a timeshare arrangement;
• no agreement gives a management firm control over its occupancy;
• the loan goes through Fannie Mae’s automated underwriting and is approved as eligible.

Rental income. If the lender identifies rental income from the property, Fannie Mae says the loan can still be delivered as a second home as long as that income isn’t used to qualify and every other requirement is met, including your occupancy.

Price and down payment. Fannie Mae sets separate limits by occupancy type in its Eligibility Matrix, and it applies a loan-level price adjustment to certain second home loans. Ask your lender for both as they apply to you.

Other loans. These are Fannie Mae’s rules. A loan it doesn’t buy can have different ones, so ask the lender for its own definition in writing. Be truthful about your plans: knowingly making a false statement to influence a mortgage lender’s action is a federal offense under 18 U.S.C. § 1014.

Property tax: Class 3 or Class 4

A home that isn’t your primary residence is generally Class 4 for Arizona property tax, and you can have only one primary residence. This section covers property tax only, not income tax on rent or a move between states, so ask a tax professional about those. These are the County Assessor’s residential classes:

Legal class	What it is	State aid on the school tax
3.1	Your main home, where you live more than 7 months of the year	Available to an owner-occupied primary residence
3.2	A home you own where a qualified family member lives as their main and only home	Check with the Assessor
3.3	Your main home, where you rent out part of the property	Check with the Assessor
4.1	Not rented and not a primary residence: a vacation home, secondary residence or unoccupied home	No
4.2	Rented to someone other than a qualified family member	No

A.R.S. § 15-972 ties the aid to owner-occupied property that’s the owner’s primary residence and classified as class three. The property tax guide covers the two values on your notice, the 5% limit, the $600 cap on the aid, and the due dates.

Expect a letter if your records don’t match. The Assessor reviews primary residence status, and an owner’s mailing address outside the county or different from the property is one of the reasons it writes. If a home is classed as a primary residence and you don’t respond in time, it can be reclassified as 4.1, and the Treasurer may apply a civil penalty up to the amount of the state aid.

The seller’s bill may not be yours. If the seller lived there and you won’t, the class can change. Budget from your own class, not the seller’s.

Renting it out: the summary

Check the HOA first, then the government. This is a summary, not the full rules. An owner may rent unless the declaration prohibits it, and must follow the declaration’s rental time period rules (A.R.S. §§ 33-1806.01 and 33-1260.01). Read the HOA documents during the inspection period.

Any rental. An owner of residential rental property must keep their details on file with the County Assessor, and update them within 10 days of a change. An owner who lives outside Arizona must also designate and record a statutory agent who lives in Arizona to accept legal service (A.R.S. § 33-1902). Class 4.2 is the Assessor’s class for a home that’s solely rented or intended to be rented.

Short-term rentals. A city or town can’t ban them, but it can require a permit or license, with a fee of no more than its actual cost or $250, whichever is less (A.R.S. § 9-500.39). Each government runs its own process:

Government	What it requires, as checked on November 2, 2026
City of Scottsdale	An annual license for each property, $250, for rentals under 30 days. Also a state TPT license, neighbor notice, liability coverage of at least $500,000, and County registration before it’s occupied.
City of Phoenix	A permit, $250 initial and renewal, non-refundable. Also a state TPT license. The owner must live on site to use an accessory dwelling unit as a short-term rental.
Town of Paradise Valley	Registration and a Town permit before offering it for rent, and a state TPT license.

TPT is Arizona’s transaction privilege tax. The Department of Revenue says owners using a property manager for short-term lodging need a TPT license, and that owners of long-term residential rentals haven’t needed one since January 1, 2025. Confirm the parcel’s government first, since a mailing address doesn’t settle it. Ask each government about current rules before you rely on rental income.

Check the loan too. Regular renting can conflict with a second home loan, as the Fannie Mae rules above show, so ask the lender before you sign.

Owning it from a distance

Plan who has authority, who gets notices and who answers the phone before you close. These are the parts that sources settle:

• Who can manage a rental for pay? Someone who rents or leases real estate for another person for compensation falls under Arizona’s definition of a real estate broker (A.R.S. § 32-2101), and A.R.S. § 32-2121 lists the exceptions. Ask for the manager’s license and check it with the Arizona Department of Real Estate.
• What goes in the management agreement? It must state the services and compensation, a beginning and ending date, cancellation terms, how money is handled, and the type and frequency of reports to you (A.R.S. § 32-2173). Read it against that list, and against your loan’s occupancy rules.
• Can someone else deal with the HOA? An owner may name a third party in writing as agent on association matters for a rental, other than voting and serving on the board (A.R.S. §§ 33-1806.01 and 33-1260.01). Give the association the signed designation.
• Who answers an emergency? A city or town may require a short-term rental owner to give contact details for someone who responds to complaints or emergencies at any time of day (A.R.S. § 9-500.39). Name someone who can actually get there.
• What if the home sits empty? Your own policy’s wording controls, so ask your licensed agent, in writing, how it treats an empty home. Arizona’s fire policy law follows the 1943 New York standard policy (A.R.S. § 20-1503), and the state’s 2019 checklist for insurers’ homeowners forms says a building is “only considered vacant or unoccupied beyond a period of sixty consecutive days”.
• Does a homeowners policy cover short-term guests? It may not. The Town of Paradise Valley warns that standard homeowners insurance may exclude claims related to short-term rentals, so ask before the first booking.
• How would you hear about a recording against your name? The County Recorder’s free Maricopa Title Alert emails you when a document is recorded with a name you enter. Sign up with the name on your deed.
• Where do tax notices go? The Assessor writes to the owner’s mailing address, and the Treasurer issues tax bills. Keep your mailing address current, and note the due dates.

Before you make an offer

• Tell your lender exactly how you’ll use the home, and ask whether that fits the loan.
• Read the declaration for rental limits and for what the association maintains. Each area page covers its HOAs in general, and the documents decide for a specific home.
• Look up the parcel’s class and bill with the Assessor and Treasurer.
• Ask a licensed insurance agent for a written answer on vacancy and rental use during the inspection period.
• To talk it through, book a consultation.