I hear the request in the headline about twice a month. It’s a doable proposition, and it all really depends on price. Spend enough and you can have golf. Spend more and you can have gated golf. Spend way too much and you can have gated golf on the side of a mountain.

This house, in Ryland at Heritage Point in Tolleson, is the bargain-priced expression of that ideal. No gates, no golf, no mountains, but a nice-sized three-bedroom home with a pool in a near-in suburb of Phoenix.

For the record, I don’t love pools for rental homes. If you’re going to have one, then you simply must carry a liability rider while you’re housing tenants.

Beyond that, this house has a lot going for it. Bedroom number two has a closet, but it doubles as a den, a very practical configuration. The landscaping needs attention, but it was decent to begin with, so it should come back fairly easily. The pool was built by Paddock Pools, a reputable company.

We need appliances, along with flooring and paint, but the home is in pretty good shape overall.

The home is listed at $87,900, which is pretty aggressive. I might start at $80,000 and see who salutes. With $5,000 to whip it into shape, it could be rent-ready (or move-in-ready) for $85,000. It should be able to command $950 a month in rent, maybe even $1,000, very comfortably cash-flow positive.

And then, someday, you can lay on your back on your air mattress in your own backyard pool, watching the silent progress of the jets taking flight from Skyharbor Airport. There’s a beer or a margarita somewhere in this scene, but you’ll have to paddle over to the cool-deck to find it.

In the mean time, email me or phone me at 602-740-7531 and let’s go take a closer look at this property…