To move or not to move? (Tucson, Flagstaff: real estate, mobile home, neighborhoods)

[Mountain Sprite]

We are thinking of retiring in AZ. At first I hoped for Prescott but my wallet isn't that full. Needless to say I'm still looking.I'm wondering about Paulden. I'm not familiar with this area. Can anybody give me a rundown? I checked out the "cities" thread, and it wasn't even mentioned. That could be a bad sign.

What are the temperatures like out there? Do they get a lot of snow? I've lived in the mountains for 9 years now and it is getting old shoveling snow all winter long. I want to give my shovel and my back a break. A light dusting (8" or under) would be welcomed but not more than that.

What I've seen of real estate listings makes the place look pretty desolate. Do they have forested areas or do you have to bring your trees with you? I sure like the price of the homes and the ones I've seen are lovely, and the acreage that comes with them is very nice too. I don't mind rural as long as I don't need a bulldozer to plow the road every year. We do have 4x4's but I've had to dig out of the snow I don't want to have to dig out of the mud. I'm getting to old for that.

Where's the nearest grocery store? Gas station? Is Paulden an actual city with a downtown that has these things or is it like Little House on the Prairie where you have to trek into town to get your goods once a month.

I have health issues...Asthma and I need to get to a hospital fairly quickly. Also as I get older I don't want to be in so remote an area that if I need help an ambulance would take an hour to get to me. They might as well send the hearse.

We'd like to buy a manufactured home - one that's already on a lot. I've already built one home I don't care to repeat the experience. Oy Vey! Such a headache.

The problem I'm running into in the tri-city area is that I can find a beautiful home but the neighborhood is undesirable. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the zoning. It looks like you can put whatever you want wherever you want it. I've seen some mobile homes (not manufactured ones) that should be dragged out and burned but gas is too expensive to waste on them. I'm not uppity, I just don't want the value of my home to decrease because someone puts there 1950's falling apart trailer on the lot next to mine. I've seen some people living in campers and school buses. I kid you not! If Paulden has this problem perhaps I should keep looking.

I hope I haven't offended anyone. It's not my intention. I'd just like some honest impressions about the place.

[Grannysroost]

Originally Posted by Mountain Sprite

We are thinking of retiring in AZ. At first I hoped for Prescott but my wallet isn't that full. Needless to say I'm still looking.I'm wondering about Paulden. I'm not familiar with this area. Can anybody give me a rundown? I checked out the "cities" thread, and it wasn't even mentioned. That could be a bad sign.

What are the temperatures like out there? Do they get a lot of snow? I've lived in the mountains for 9 years now and it is getting old shoveling snow all winter long. I want to give my shovel and my back a break. A light dusting (8" or under) would be welcomed but not more than that.

What I've seen of real estate listings makes the place look pretty desolate. Do they have forested areas or do you have to bring your trees with you? I sure like the price of the homes and the ones I've seen are lovely, and the acreage that comes with them is very nice too. I don't mind rural as long as I don't need a bulldozer to plow the road every year. We do have 4x4's but I've had to dig out of the snow I don't want to have to dig out of the mud. I'm getting to old for that.

Where's the nearest grocery store? Gas station? Is Paulden an actual city with a downtown that has these things or is it like Little House on the Prairie where you have to trek into town to get your goods once a month.

I have health issues...Asthma and I need to get to a hospital fairly quickly. Also as I get older I don't want to be in so remote an area that if I need help an ambulance would take an hour to get to me. They might as well send the hearse.

We'd like to buy a manufactured home - one that's already on a lot. I've already built one home I don't care to repeat the experience. Oy Vey! Such a headache.

The problem I'm running into in the tri-city area is that I can find a beautiful home but the neighborhood is undesirable. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the zoning. It looks like you can put whatever you want wherever you want it. I've seen some mobile homes (not manufactured ones) that should be dragged out and burned but gas is too expensive to waste on them. I'm not uppity, I just don't want the value of my home to decrease because someone puts there 1950's falling apart trailer on the lot next to mine. I've seen some people living in campers and school buses. I kid you not! If Paulden has this problem perhaps I should keep looking.

I hope I haven't offended anyone. It's not my intention. I'd just like some honest impressions about the place.

Do you really want snow? Could you adjust to no snow and more heat in the summer...something to think about...

[Gandalara]

You chose another town in a valley - no green. More heat.

Check out Kachina Village, Mountainaire, Munds Park ... all below Flagstaff. Or Williams, west of Flagstaff. Not high price like Flagstaff, but very close for shopping.

Check out Payson and surrounding area.

Check out Heber-Overgaard, Pinedale, Show Low, and Pinetop-Lakeside.

If you don't want high heat, you should be looking at Rim Country and the White Mountains. Yeah, they all got blasted by snow this year ... but so did we. It doesn't happen every year.

I visited all of these places last October. I'd move now. If they'd let me retire early, LOL

Rim Country Chamber
Payson Roundup Newspaper
White Mountains
White Mountain Independent Newspaper

[LordBalfor]

If you don't want snow - but don't want it too hot, look into SE Arizona (Sierra Vista, Benson, Willcox, Safford, etc). Though some of these places are warmer than others, none of them are super hot, and all of them have very mild winters. We own an acre at J-6 Ranchettes about 10 minutes west of Benson and 40 minutes from downtown Tucson and sit at 4,200 feet. All the other places I mention sit at around 3,500-4,500 feet and (as I said) will have very mild climates. In our particular case our average temps are as shown below:

Ave High Ave Low
Jan 60 38
Feb 64 40
Mar 68 44
Apr 77 50
May 84 59
June 93 68
July 91 71
Aug 86 68
Sep 85 63
Oct 78 57
Nov 69 51
Dec 60 37

The other places I mention will all have similar average temps (within a few degrees either way). In my opinion the area has the 2nd best climate in the continental US (second only SoCal).

Rather than the true rather barren desert of SW Arizona, SE Arizona is for the most part arid or semi-arid grassland with some trees in the higher elevations or along creek beds etc. With some luck we'll possibly moving down there this year and leave cool, gray, damp (though admittedly very beautiful) Seattle behind. We plan to put up a manufactured home and live a nice quiet life free of the rat race but still close to shopping and major services.

Ken

[MZBEA]

The only area of Arizona that i know of dor what you want is green Valley, Tubac, Patagonia. They at least have some character, a small lake, trees and moderate temps.

If I had money myself, I wouldn't move here. Now I am stuck I have to manage.

[Mountain Sprite]

Sorry guys, I can't handle the heat. I max out at 80-85 degrees. Where I'm from that's hot anything over that I need A/C. However, in the winter 40 is t-shirt weather. I'm just tired of putting up with pushy, crabby people in Southern California. I am looking for threads about Sierra Vista. Anybody know anything about Kingman? I've seen some pretty nice neighborhoods with manufactured home that are reasonably priced. Right up my alley since I'm on a fixed income.

Keep the information coming.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Mountain Sprite

Sorry guys, I can't handle the heat. I max out at 80-85 degrees. Where I'm from that's hot anything over that I need A/C. However, in the winter 40 is t-shirt weather. I'm just tired of putting up with pushy, crabby people in Southern California. I am looking for threads about Sierra Vista. Anybody know anything about Kingman? I've seen some pretty nice neighborhoods with manufactured home that are reasonably priced. Right up my alley since I'm on a fixed income.

Keep the information coming.

If 80-85 is it, then seriously, only Flagstaff is going to cut it for you here. Sierra Vista gets into the 90s with regularity. At least it did when I lived there. You might also consider Pinetop, Show Low, or Alpine (really small). There are not too many places in AZ that stay under 85 in the summer. Heck, there are not many places in the US that do.

I see someone already told you this. You should listen. The places you keep bringing up are too hot for you. Unfortunately, prices go up with the elevation.

[Mountain Sprite]

Thanks for your input guys. I appreciate it.

I probably didn't communicate effectively. I can handle the heat if I have A/C. I hope that clears things up a bit.

I'm thinking Kingman, but I may check out Sierra Vista too. I'd love to live in one of the sleepy little mountain (or cooler) towns, but unfortunately DH needs to be near a big city for work. No more than an hour one way. We are not retired...yet. Both of us still have a ways to go.

[kozycabin]

I would suggest Payson. Not too hot in summer & not too much snow in winter. Beautiful.

[jaada]

Originally Posted by Mountain Sprite

Sorry guys, I can't handle the heat. I max out at 80-85 degrees. Where I'm from that's hot anything over that I need A/C. However, in the winter 40 is t-shirt weather. I'm just tired of putting up with pushy, crabby people in Southern California. I am looking for threads about Sierra Vista. Anybody know anything about Kingman? I've seen some pretty nice neighborhoods with manufactured home that are reasonably priced. Right up my alley since I'm on a fixed income.

Keep the information coming.

have you checked out santa fe nm? or northern nevada