Report (Part 1): Just returned from looking at lots around Tucson (Marana: real estate, houses)

[LordBalfor]

After quite a bit of online research we settled on the general Tucson area for our retirement destination and last month (Jan 07) we went on a trip to locate and purchase some land. We were not looking for an expensive piece of property, but rather for a reasonably priced one ($20,000 - $50,000 for an acre or s0) where we would have the option of going with a nice mobile, an even nicer modular or a site-built house. We wanted a lot that might be suitable for 2 homes since 2 of my wife's sisters were wanted to share the property with us - or 2 side by side lots suitable for 1 home each.

After much research into the costs etc (our real estate agent was absolutely terrific - going far above and beyond the call of duty for us) we decided to focus our search mainly in three areas - Marana and the Avra Valley, Three Points, and the Benson/Sunsites/Pearce area.

In general this is what I'd determined about the areas:

Marana - A rapidly growing area that is in the process of changing from a small farming community to a full-fledged suburb of Tucson. Marana has BIG plans. The area near I-10 (particularly at the North Cortaro Road exit) is in the process of substantial development with a number of big new shopping complexes going up - including a 16 screen movie house (the 1st in the area). All of this development in the immediate area looks to be fairly upscale with nice landscaping around the shopping complexes and fairly nice to very nice homes. As you move north and west, the area quickly becomes very rural, though signs of impending development are definitely present. Most of this area is pretty arid-looking with very sandy soil and scrubby vegitation. It's also mostly very flat and much of it is flood-plain (though I'm not sure how likely most areas are to actually flood). There are some decent views, though of the 3 areas we looked at the mountains here were generally more distant and the views a bit less impressive. There are a number of small developments scattered about as you move further west. Many of them are older and consist of mainly mobile homes. Many of the areas to the west are not that great (and some are pretty bad), but a few are newer and have site-built houses. In addition, there are some brand-new fairly nice developments going in at scattered locations. All in all, my gut feeling is that Marana is going to swallow up all these outlying areas in the Avra Valley - though it may take a while for it to occur.

The very southern area of the valley is known as Picture Rocks and borders on the mountains of Saguaro National Park. The vegitation in this area is GORGEOUS, with (relatively) lots of lush green foliage (suculents, trees and cactus) and soooooooo many birds. We stopped here to look a couple of lots and there were so many many bird calls going on that I felt like I was back in the tropics. We really loved this area - and it's really close to Tucson, but didn't find the lot we were looking for. There are also having a bit of a crime wave in that area right now and locals have complained bitterly to the police that there are not enough patrols (hopefully the patrols will increase and the crime will drop). Other than that, we LOVED Picture Rocks.

Continued in Part 2:

[june]

Originally Posted by LordBalfor

After quite a bit of online research we settled on the general Tucson area for our retirement destination and last month (Jan 07) we went on a trip to locate and purchase some land. We were not looking for an expensive piece of property, but rather for a reasonably priced one ($20,000 - $50,000 for an acre or s0) where we would have the option of going with a nice mobile, an even nicer modular or a site-built house. We wanted a lot that might be suitable for 2 homes since 2 of my wife's sisters were wanted to share the property with us - or 2 side by side lots suitable for 1 home each.

After much research into the costs etc (our real estate agent was absolutely terrific - going far above and beyond the call of duty for us) we decided to focus our search mainly in three areas - Marana and the Avra Valley, Three Points, and the Benson/Sunsites/Pearce area.

In general this is what I'd determined about the areas:

Marana - A rapidly growing area that is in the process of changing from a small farming community to a full-fledged suburb of Tucson. Marana has BIG plans. The area near I-10 (particularly at the North Cortaro Road exit) is in the process of substantial development with a number of big new shopping complexes going up - including a 16 screen movie house (the 1st in the area). All of this development in the immediate area looks to be fairly upscale with nice landscaping around the shopping complexes and fairly nice to very nice homes. As you move north and west, the area quickly becomes very rural, though signs of impending development are definitely present. Most of this area is pretty arid-looking with very sandy soil and scrubby vegitation. It's also mostly very flat and much of it is flood-plain (though I'm not sure how likely most areas are to actually flood). There are some decent views, though of the 3 areas we looked at the mountains here were generally more distant and the views a bit less impressive. There are a number of small developments scattered about as you move further west. Many of them are older and consist of mainly mobile homes. Many of the areas to the west are not that great (and some are pretty bad), but a few are newer and have site-built houses. In addition, there are some brand-new fairly nice developments going in at scattered locations. All in all, my gut feeling is that Marana is going to swallow up all these outlying areas in the Avra Valley - though it may take a while for it to occur.

The very southern area of the valley is known as Picture Rocks and borders on the mountains of Saguaro National Park. The vegitation in this area is GORGEOUS, with (relatively) lots of lush green foliage (suculents, trees and cactus) and soooooooo many birds. We stopped here to look a couple of lots and there were so many many bird calls going on that I felt like I was back in the tropics. We really loved this area - and it's really close to Tucson, but didn't find the lot we were looking for. There are also having a bit of a crime wave in that area right now and locals have complained bitterly to the police that there are not enough patrols (hopefully the patrols will increase and the crime will drop). Other than that, we LOVED Picture Rocks.

Continued in Part 2:

I also was to the Picture Rocks area last year I found it to be pretty with the mountains and wildlife, but the lots with the manufactured homes on them were very nasty. Mailboxes all scrunched together and very messy properties. Im kind of looking for the same as you A piece of property to either put a pre-fab or site build. I love the prices of the manufactured homes out there, but the areas they go in arent so nice. Maybe you have some information on such areas for manufactured homes in a not so rural area of tucson. Thank you. I read your part 2 first, didnt see part 1 sorry.

[LordBalfor]

Yeah, I know what you mean, but we did find some pretty nice homes (still mobiles but very nicely kept up) in the Picture Rocks area as well.

One of the things we really liked about J-6 (as mentioned in part 2 of this post) is that the area is very nice, with a good mixture of homes. There are a few nice mobiles and some very nice site-built homes (note the place diagonally across the street from our property). Also, the streets there are paved and in many cases with a median and the overall apparance of the area is very nice and clean (not at all rundown). All in all J-6 was the very best place we looked at.

Ken