All property searches begin in Scottsdale. Okay, not all of them. At least 5% of property searches, particularly among Canadian buyers, begin in communities other than Scottsdale, mostly because friends and family already have bought properties in other areas.

Outside of those situations, though, all property searches begin in Scottsdale. And why not? There are stores and restaurants galore, resort hotels, $10 margaritas and photo radar cameras … along with some of the higher real estate prices around.

Which is why only a small percentage of property searches that start in Scottsdale end in that fair city. Many buyers discover, as clients of mine put it last week, that they “have Scottsdale tasts on a Mesa/Gilbert budget.”

There’s nothing wrong with wanting mountain views in gated communities, world-class amenities and a Scottsdale ZIP code … as long as you’re ready for the price tag that comes along with those parcels.

Does your budget begin with a “1″? We’ll be moving along fairly quickly, unless you want a ground-floor apartment condo with a view of the parking lot.  Budgets starting with a “2″ have a bit more selection though view still will be hard to come by.

All of this is part of the ever-present give-and-take that comes when purchasing homes in the Phoenix real estate market, or any market for that matter.

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… and your wallet as well, actually, if you’re coming to the Phoenix area to purchase real estate.

While I agree with the couple last week who told me that Canadians “are friendly folk” - if not slightly NHL-free-agency-period obsessed - being friendly doesn’t carry much freight in the American banking system.

Checks and bank drafts written on Canadian bank accounts can’t be deposited by local escrow companies, even if they’re coming out of the US dollar accounts many Canadians have at their local banks.

For that matter, my escrow folks tell me that all bank drafts are channeled through one American bank and then re-wired to wherever the final destination may be. (There’s also a nominal charge added by the middleman, meaning your wire for $5,000 or $6,000 may arrive at escrow $10 to $15 short.)

About the only time you’ll need a check in hand is on a bank-owned home, where most lenders require that a copy of the earnest deposit check be included with the offer. Not that the check will be used if your offer is accepted - we’ll go back to the wire route.

Buying Arizona real estate when you’re Canadian isn’t particularly complicated but there are a number of quirks … this was just another such example.

Next up … what to do when your NHL team clears cap space for a free agent, say Marion Hossa, and then doesn’t sign him …

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Nothing says vacation has ended like coming home from San Diego to temps in the one-teens and a house without a working air conditioner with temps in the high 90s. Fortunately, both beagles were well watered and were fine and after jiggling a switch for a while (and waiting for a few hours as the air conditioner dropped the house temperature 25 degrees) we were fine as well.

So many ideas for posts came into my head during the past week and most disappeared nearly as quickly, receding on the retreating surf. Oh well …

While I was away, though, Inman News ran its series on attracting international buyers. Since I don’t have a subscription to Inman News I never saw the actual article for which I was interviewed (and couldn’t post it anyway) but I seem to sound brilliant in the brief summary on the site:

Part 2, Agents, brokers tap international buyers, features interviews with real estate professionals who market properties and services to foreign buyers. Phoenix-based Realtor Jonathan Dalton has developed a specialty in working with Canadian buyers, and Stan Ponte of Coldwell Banker International Previews describes the magnetism of the Manhattan market to buyers from around the planet.

I’m wishing I had come up with a cool word like magnetism but I think I settled for trying to explain what hooped meant and why I have shoes that remove easily.

What’s struck me as interesting is those on the outside view working with Canadian buyers as some sort of novelty, which really isn’t the case. You’ll need to learn some additional details about the transaction and you’ll need to figure out some of the different terms Canadians have for homes in the Phoenix market, but real estate essentially is real estate wherever you go.

The biggest question is how do you put yourself in front of Canadians looking for real estate here in Phoenix and this blog serves as an answer. I’m likely going to have to find a witty way to expound upon this when I’m speaking on Tapping the Global Real Estate Market at next month’s Inman Connect conference, but it’s about that simple.

Not easy, mind you. But relatively simple.

Speaking of which, I’ve got 12 houses in the wings waiting for a Canadian buyer to take a look in about 90 days … I’ve also got a Chrysler Town & Country which has traveled close to 900 miles with three kids the last few days. Time to do some quick cleaning.

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We briefly interrupt the regularly scheduled programming for this article in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix - Saskatoon Residents find Arizona Opportunity - in which I was quoted.

Fifteen minutes on the phone as the wife, kids and my mom walk down the beach to Belmont Park and I’m trapped on the patio … all for one quote.

And it wasn’t completely accurate - correct in substance if not in the actual words.

More unfortunate, though, is the almost predictable quote from the CEO of the locally-based Canada Arizona Business Council:

“You can get brand-new houses here for nothing. Nice three-, four-bedroom places for $200,000. There is a real opportunity,” said Glenn Williamson, CEO of the Phoenix-based Canada Arizona Business Council.

Much of my time is spent patiently explaining that this also is true in substance if not in the details. There are nice homes for $200,000 in certain areas of the Valley. But not everywhere. I know Glenn didn’t say that, but that’s the general impression that many Canadian buyers have.

The closer you want to be to the airport, the more expensive the house likely will be. The better view you desire, the more expensive the house will be. Gated community? Raise the price a bit. There are tradeoffs for everything.

It seems the notion that any house on the market can be had for 50 cents on the dollar has faded. There are opportunities to be had here. But giving possibly false impressions about what can be had isn’t particularly helpful.

Enough stalling … I’m off to Legoland.

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Canadians (and other foreign nationals) purchasing real estate have to deal with an additional variable that doesn’t confront most buyers - currency risk. Even seemingly small fluctuations in the exchange rate between the Canadian and American dollars can cost real dollars at the close of escrow.

The folks over at Globex have a solution for this - forward contracts that allow Canadians planning on buying real estate in the states to lock in current rates and mitigate the risk from currency fluctuations.

As Snow An at Globex explains it …

A 10% deposit secures the forward contract with the 90% balance due on the maturity of the contract. For example, if the client wishes to buy $150,000 CAD worth of USD but does not need them for 6 months, the rate can be locked in at the current rate. A deposit of $15,000 will be put down and the remaining balance would be paid in six months.

This protects the client from any exchange rate movements that occur in that 6-month period and reduces exchange rate risk.

Globex also has the ability to act intra-day if needed. According to the little widget on the left the U.S. dollar’s currently a little higher than the Canadian dollar but there have been swings of up to 4 cents (roughly .98 to 1.02) over the past several weeks. Four cents may not seem like much, but that 4 percent quickly adds up on a $200,000 purchase.

Want more information? Drop me a line and I’ll get you in touch with Snow An.

I’d provide the info here but I’m admittedly being selfish … this week I had to fire a third Canadian client who felt all agents were interchangeable and that we collectively should be happy for whatever scraps are thrown our way as they work with several of us at once.

Not so much. Not for me and not at $4.17 a gollon.

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