Your better off in snow country. The desert is way to hot way to long.
My daughter got the house she wanted at the auction. Only one other person bid against her. It is a nice little 3 bedroom with a fireplace in a good neighborhood. The starting bid was 39 thou. She got it for 85 thou.
It has a pool and jacuzzi. 2 car garage. It needs some fixing up and it has popcorn ceilings, only one bath and very small bedrooms. She wanted it for a retirement home.
The really bad houses in not so good areas were going for 50 to 100 thou. She would not pay over 20 so did not get one of those major fixer uppers.
She was surprized she got the one she wanted so reasonable when the ones that were awful sold for so much.