arizona small town for semi-retirement? (Phoenix, Flagstaff: lease, medical, house)

[dak]

what would be a nice affordable small town area,would like to buy some acreage,to build small cabin ,mountain area ,not too cold ,not much snow,reasonable taxes,and land prices,would like rural area,with electric ,well is ok,,at least a paved road,,am i asking too much,LOL

[hughesgirl]

Prescott, Prescott Valley or Camp Verde are a few. They are nice, affordable and friendly.

Valerie

[Nice Nice Baby!]

Sounds like the northern half of the state. You're asking too much at once but will only know for yourself once your here.

[HollyhockGarden]

Hello -- Arizona has some beautiful areas, many with nice climates. "Affordable" is a term that needs more defining. Keep in mind that private land in Arizona is limited to about 15% of the state's total land area. The other 85% of the land is either Indian Reservation, National Forest, BLM, State, or some other type of publically owned land. Some of the public lands are leased back by ranchers. Due to laws of supply and demand, buying acreage in Arizona is quite expensive. Not only is there little land available, but much of it is desert and it may not have water available. Your best bet in the "affordable" range would be to concentrate on a manufactured home with a couple of acres. Plan on the price being much higher than something in the midwest or southern US. Good luck!

[spoole1]

I hate to break it to you...but...I think you're looking for a fairy tale land.
Everybody has taxes - big or little. Weather story: in Northern AZ it can get downright cold an miserable in the winter. Lotsa snow, etc. In Southern AZ it's OK in the winter, but it can and does get hot in the summer. Best overall advice, look on the I-17 corridor north of Phoenix. Some beautiful country!
You might also want to look around Kingman. Prices have doubled for land in the past 3 years as folks figure out that this is a pretty nice area. Rural, at reasonable prices - maybe Golden Valley. Close to Kingman, Bullhead City, Las Vegas and Lauglin, NV. And as mentioned before, take a look at manufactured homes. I did, and I bought. They are not the sterotypical "doublewides" that we tend to think of. Incredible value for the money.

[oregon_mom7]

captain and tennille are moving to sedona and having a house built there right now

[saguarodave]

If you are mainly concerned with affordable land in an attractive, wild area, you want small-town life, and you don't mind roughing it (and it sounds like you don't since you're willing to build your own cabin), you should look at Ash Fork-Seligman. Total less than 1,000 people. It seems like the land is pretty cheap there and of course there's a reason, it's very rural, but if that's what you're looking for, check it out...

[heatg22]

Camp Verde Or Chino Valley are small towns...Mind you the medical facilities in Camp Verde are very poor. If you needed them, you would prob. have to use Flagstaff Medical Center 50 miles North on I 17. But these two areas are very affordable. People are friendly and although there is not much in way of things to do, the weather is nice in winter months with beauitiful scenery. Camp Verde only a few minutes from Sedona. Good Luck.