Benson and St.david (Phoenix, Tucson: real estate, home, schools)

[MARCSONGS]

What can anyone tell me about Benson AZ.I have looked at a realtor site about property value.It appears to be much less expensive than Northern AZ.(flagstaff,prescott).I have been told SE AZ.is cooler than Phoenix because of the elevation.We do not like the Phoenix area very much (heat,crime,illegals,etc.etc.) Is Benson safer and more reasonable property values?

[LordBalfor]

TTT.

Ken

[ws_sisu]

Marcsongs, you can go to the top of the page and click on 'search these forums', type in Benson and see previous posts. Maybe some of your questions can be answered there.

p.s. to Ken: What's TTT?

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by ws_sisu

Marcsongs, you can go to the top of the page and click on 'search these forums', type in Benson and see previous posts. Maybe some of your questions can be answered there.

p.s. to Ken: What's TTT?

To The Top.
Boosted it up so that it would have a better chance of getting a response (I'm curious myself what folks have to say (if anything) since I own some property in the area but do no live there (yet)).

Ken

[ws_sisu]

Thanks, Ken. Being a newbie, I have a lot to learn!
I'm also interested in Benson and that whole area.

[Lee1957]

The Benson area is definitely better than the Phoenix area climate-wise. It's cooler all year round, a mild climate, more rain, and 3,800 ft elevation. It's not quite like Flagstaff or Prescott in terms of scenery, but it's a nice place.

You can get nice housing for a very reasonable price. The schools are great, it's convinient to Sierra Vista and Tucson for shopping, and Benson has a Wal Mart. Cost of living and quality of life are big points.

[fullapoo]

Interested in knowing about the property taxes, heating costs, sewage and water, etc.. In PA the heating bills are killing us.

[LordBalfor]

I'm still not living down there yet, but I can add a little bit of info regarding property tax on our raw land. Last year it was about $180 on our roughly $30,000 lot. Not too, that you go to any Benson real estate agent's web site and look at the specific listings you can see what the property taxes were for that property. For example, I just pulled up a home priced at $261,250 (for example) and the property taxes were listed at $1580.

Obviously I can't tell you specifics on heating bills (yet) but you can be sure they will be a WHOLE LOT LESS than anywhere in PA. I know that online statistics will tell you that the average January high in Benson is around 62 or so. Our land nearby (slightly higher in elevation) has an average Jan high of just a fraction below 60.

Ken

[Subie]

Benson tends to be 5-10 degrees cooler than Tucson. They also tend to get a better wind going down there at any given time, so it cools it off and is more tolerable than Tucson. My parents live there and open there windows up in the evening and it's quite nice. It can get cool and very refreshing at night.

Very small town feel. They have a big WalMart and a Safeway, as well as some fast food places and small shops. Most big stores you'll want to go to Sierra Vista or even Tucson. The drive is about 45-50 miles to Tucson. All in all it's pretty laid back, with a hospital that has plans to remodel and new housing near it.

[esselcue]

I kind of like St David. It's got some pretty, green areas. Not much there or in Benson as far as a "town" goes, but the area around St David is pretty