OT:Relocating to the Phoenix Area

Hi Everyone, My sister and niece are looking to relocate from California to the Phoenix area. Although this is going to be real hard on me, since my sister and I are so close, I understand that California is just too expensive for her. Who knows maybe my husband and I will follow them. We are coming to Arizona in a couple of weeks to look at new housing developments. Can any of you let me what the up and coming area's around Phoenix are? She works for a large company that has an office in Phoenix so her ideal situation would be to transfer to that office so she definitely wants to look in the area's that are commutable into Phoenix. We have been doing alot of looking on the internet but since we don't know the area I thought maybe we could get additional information from people who live & work in the area. Thank you in advance for all your help and replies. I hope everyone has a Happy New Year! Pam

Lets see... There is building going on every place you look. I have lived in the east valley for about 20yrs and love it. The town that has the lowest taxes is Mesa, Gilbert is a little higher, Higley and Queen creek are ok but the schools are not suppose to be as nice as gilbert. Scottsdale and Paradise Valley are both nice and in general the more expensive side of town. I am sure that others will be happy to give you more information. Happy House Hunting!

Although I dont' live in AZ anymore, the up and coming areas are Peoria, Surprise and pretty much most of the West Valley... The school district in Peoria is excellent and everything is just beautiful in the area that they are building the new homes! You might also look at Desert Hills which is near Anthem (GREAT outlet mall there) Good luck! Steph

Thank you for your reply. All the information we can gather before we arrive is very helpful. When we were looking at housing prices we found that Scottsdale & Paradise Valley were way out of my sisters price range. Thanks for the school information also. Since her daughter is still in elementary school that will be one of her deciding factors where she would like to buy a house. Pam

What area will your sister be working? That is a huge deciding factor on where to live. I moved here a little over a year ago. I didn't have a job when I moved here, but luckily I have a short commute over surface streets. Going East to West or vice versa across town can be a LONG trip during rush hour. From the west on I-10 is very heavy in the morning, traveling from Buckeye or Avondale to downtown. Surprise is a hard town to get out of in the rush hour... the roads leaving there are few and long waits at traffic lights. Peoria is a nice area of the west valley. North Phoenix is a good choice too (north of Cactus or farther). My husband works in SW Phoenix and we live in NW Glendale and are actually in the Peoria school district. He takes surface streets to work and it takes about half an hour to get to Buckeye and 54th Ave. I work near Metro Center (Peoria Ave and I-17 area) and it takes me about 15-20 minutes to get to work. Is your sister interested in a new home? There are lots of developments here, but sometimes the wait is long for a home to be built. There are quite a few existing homes on the market right now too. A lot of them are only 4-5 years old. Patsy

Hello, I am currently building a house in the South West valley with Maracay homes. I would definetly recommend them. They are in a great location and also operate on a first come first serve basis unike most builders who have their lottery drawings for lots. The development is called The Village at Sienna Vista www.maracayhomes.com

I just moved from the Phoenix area a few months ago. The Peoria School district is a good one. Living in Glendale or Peoria puts you in that district. You'll probably want to do resale in those areas rather than a new build....waiting a year or more for move in on new homes, and they are usually only available by a lottery system. The Litchfield Elementary district is AWESOME! That's where my kids went, and we did lots of research before we moved into the district, as that was our most important factor in the decision. There's lots of resale homes in pretty much all the price ranges. The area is very, very up and coming. I'd steer clear of the extreme southwest valley, such as Buckeye, as they are having BIG problems with their schools (which never were good to begin with, but are tremendously overcrowded now). Anthem is overpriced, and they're having problems with water quality and lots of damage to homes from expansive soils. This means the earth is shifting and causing the homes to literally crack apart. An awesome realtor in town is Russell Shaw. We've used them several times and recommend them to EVERYONE. They really are great. Website is www.nohasslelisting. Phone is 1-866-357-3604. They don't give out referral "bonuses", so I won't give you my name. I don't want you to think you're being "sold". They are really good. Good luck to you all in your new home search!

I forgot to mention one other thing about the west valley. The City of Surprise....and El Mirage too. Lots and lots of new building going on up that way. But the schools are TERRIBLE. Wouldn't send my worst enemy's kids there. I don't know really anything about the East Valley, except to stay away from Queen Creek and anything in Pinal County. Queen Creek is having problems with fissures in the ground causing sink holes as big as yards in new developments. Also happening in Pinal County, and there are no good schools in Pinal County. Although, the homes are really cheap compared to "in town".

Christine, Thank you very much for your helpful information. I will pass this along to my sister. Pam

We live in Maricopa AZ----- Its a fairly new city, growing very rapidly. We moved in a year ago, the population was about 7,000 and now it is nearing 25,000...... there are 900 or so new home permitts requested daily. Its growing like CRAZY and we love it here. All brand new affordable homes. I work in Phoenix, depending on what part of Phoenix its about a 45 minute commute to downtown Phnx. It's really nice out here. Your looking at brand new homes starting in the $200,000 and going into the $400-500k area if you want something big, or with a basement. Here are a few websites: Lennar is a big builder here (Owns US Homes. Greystone homes etc) http://www.lennar.com/corporate/homes/findhome.asp?menuOpen=0m00 http://www.internest.com/xyz/viewAZ.asp?City=Maricopa https://www.ryland.com/home_search/neighborhood.aspx/18,35332 https://www.ryland.com/home_search/neighborhood.aspx/18,34931 http://www.newhomesource.com/search/home_results.aspx?refer=DMD18&srchtype=qs&mid=18&st=AZ