moving to az

Hi, We are moving to az next year. My husband is going to pharmacy school in glendale. I have never been to az. We live in ga now and i hate it here. We used to live in fla. and i so much loved it. IS AZ LIKE FLA at all?? How the prices in homes at there. we are looking for some where close to glendale so he does not have to travel far to go to school, we are looking for at least 2300 sq feet. i am really excited about it and i dont mind the heat at alll, i hate cold weather. cant wait to hear some feedback. how much do you like it there?? thanks so much, susie

I grew up in New York and spent my summers in Tarpon Springs, Florida with my grandparents. Arizona is nothing like Florida... heat wise. In our summers we get up to 115 degrees around Noon-4pm. So when you go outside that initial feeling of heat is like opening the oven. That is the best comparision I can give you. I moved here in June, so I had to get used to the heat very quickly. It is constantly sunny... so get some good shades! As for houses... it is a buyers market right now. My friend is currently selling her house in Peoria which is a little bit north of Glendale, I think its about 2400 sq feet and it prices at $346,000 and it was built in 2001. There are also many houses developments are being built throughout the valley. When are you relocating to Arizona?

Hi Susie, I live in Tucson, which is about 100 miles south of Phoenix. I have been to Flordia many times and no, Arizona is nothing like that. It is very hot in the summer, but the air is much drier than in Florida so it is a bit more comfortable....still hot though. I think that you find the winters are a bit cooler here as well. The temps don't get all that low, but again the lack of humidity makes he feel cooler. Housing I think is still rather affordable, but has gone up in the past couple of years. All in all Arizona is a nice place to live. Maryellen

HI Susie, When you get closer to moving here, let me know as I have a realtor for you in the Glendale area. She has lived there a long time and knows where all the good stuff is. I usually handle all her clients financing as I'm a mortgage broker. I can give you my work email and when you get ready I can pass on some other information to you. It's [email protected] I moved here about 2 years ago from Southern California. It has good and bad qualities, pretty much like everywhere. THe worst time here is summer when it's hot, but the rest of the year is very moderate and compared to Florida (I had a sister live in Orlando) you'll be happy without the humidity. We do have those tropical storms a little in the summer to make you feel like your in Florida! Nicole is right, it's a buyer's market right now. We expect that to change though by Spring. The realtor I have in mind for you can email you listings in advance of coming here so you can see for yourself what the housing prices are like. I live in Gilbert in a private golf community. I think it's the only one in Gilbert. The homes where I live start in the 300K price range for about 1500 square feet. Glendale is priced better. Are you a bariatric patient? If your looking for a good doctor, this area has a lot of them. A lot of us on the east side of Phoenix are going to the Scottsdale Bariatric Center. It's a ways for me to go, about 35 to 40 minutes, but they have a real program to help you before, and after surgery, including support groups. We look forward to seeing you out here. My daughter-in-law has a master's degree in Pharmacology, it's such an interesting part of medicine. She works for a major clinical lab as a sr. clinical trials manager. She went to Davis in Northern CA for her Master's. She's been out of school now about 10 years and in the 6 figure income bracket. They live now in Austin, Texas where they just bought a beautiful 4,000 square ft. home under 300K from a builder, which is unusual, most of Austin is not that affordable, you have to go out of the city in general. Let us hear from you and please feel free to use my personal email address [email protected] CaroleM