Like it or not - I'm coming to the Phoenix area (Tucson: for sale, real estate)

[DR2012]

Actually I more like than not like it. My DH's job is bringing him out that way, big changes with it (military-related) and I'm nervous about such a huge turn of events but I think it'll work out fairly well. I found this forum a week ago and have been reading it.

Where we currrently live is so awful, we are here due to a military obligation which thankfully will soon change because staying here sucks the life out of us. Everywhere else we've lived has been fine and we adapt; but here... ugh. Anyway we have some family in PHX and have visited before, the area seems nice and has so much more of what we like. I'm feeling fairly positive about it but a little nervous nonetheless.

My biggest problem is heat LOL so I'm in trouble. Where we live now though it's been up to 118 a lot of the summer - 3 months worth of 100 plus temps, but, we have mega humidity. I ended up barely leaving my house for almost 4 months, so if it's the same in PHX it's not like it's anything new for me, I've been there before.

I have no idea even where to start looking for houses. Our family is in Surprise, so I feel like that area would be OK however I'd like a bit of distance there. I don't want it to be so easy to just pop in our house all hours of the day. We prefer to rent at least at first. I found a ton of rentals, don't know where to start. Our housing where we currenly live is horrible. I can't believe how much better it looks out here. I keep wondering what is wrong with the houses, are they murder houses or something. Here you can't even get a run down piece of junk house in the ghetto for under $800 per month. I'm already impressed.

Thanks for reading if you got this far. This seems like a nice forum. I hope it's OK I'm here and blabbing.

[YAZ]

Welcome!

While it's a tad warm today, we'll be back in the 80's in a couple of weeks.

Great deals on rental properties 'round here, so don't worry about the neighborhoods.

We'll tell ya where to go......

[observer53]

It's absolutely OK! As far as housing, where to look, etc., people can help you more if you give us a little more info, particularly work location(s), what you'd like to have nearby in the way of amenities, entertainment, etc. You can get a lot of info by reading here, the search function will help you narrow things down to the topic you are looking for. If you can't find the answer to a question, ask!

[DR2012]

thanks guys, I've been reading quite a bit. I have no idea about work - I have done work in the past with one of the temp agencies and they love me and they have plenty to keep me busy, they just said I may not have 40 hours each week. My husband's job is on the base but he'll be going to school as well, then they'll place him in a job (he does military reserves and civilian work but is returning to school) so I have no clue, at this point I like the idea of living somewhere that is near some sort of mountains (or even hills) a place to walk or bike. We love that sort of thing and I'd love to live somewhere not so flat. My husband has no problems commuting and kind of likes it... me not so much, but since I won't know where my exact location of a permanent job will be until I've been there awhile, who knows.

I appreciate any advice. I see from this forum not to ask about scorpions My sister in law got stung by one. I don't think I'm worried except my husband has allergic reactions to being stung. But seems like most people here do not ever see them, at least not inside, so I have decided it's not worth a lot of though. As long as my dogs don't get into one I'll be happy.

OH yes I have 2 dogs, from what I also see there are plenty of pet-sitters in the area?

This is probably going to sound stupid, but I've seen some rentals with a bit of grass and plants. I know it's desert so I'm thinking there's not a lot for green grass and such, but I see some posts mention areas that have more parks in the area and greenery? Not a big deal but I'm thinking for dog walks, if there's dog parks anywhere, good places for strolls, things like that.

We hope that the Phoenix Coyotes stick around. We love NHL. We'd go all the time. We are visiting again at Christmas so we can also check out the area just to get an idea. Seems like there is so much for shopping and malls there. I'm not huge on shopping but it's always nice.

Is getting up to Sedona and Flagstaff quick and easy? I been eyeing the weather differences seems like when it's awful hot we could take a break and go up there for a weekend or so and it would be nice. I went to Sedona once sort of through it, not doing much, and I loved it and have always wanted to go back.

Thanks again to everyone for being so nice. I don't wanna ask anything stupid... we lived overseas for 4 years and have been only back for 1, I was very acclimated (sp?) to living in another country that returning to the US has been a bit rough for me. Reverse culture shock I guess....

[slackjaw]

Welcome.

Originally Posted by DR2012

This is probably going to sound stupid, but I've seen some rentals with a bit of grass and plants. I know it's desert so I'm thinking there's not a lot for green grass and such, but I see some posts mention areas that have more parks in the area and greenery? Not a big deal but I'm thinking for dog walks, if there's dog parks anywhere, good places for strolls, things like that.

They do have some really nice smaller local parks here, at least out in East Valley where I am I assume other areas as well. Grass fields, big trees, grills, benches, playgrounds, some have volleyball and basketball courts, some of the bigger ones even have man-made lakes that are stocked for fishing.

Also for strolling many areas have fairly extensive greenbelts between housing areas and paths along the canal systems.

Is getting up to Sedona and Flagstaff quick and easy?

Yes, depending on where you are in Phoenix 2-3 hours for the most of the popular higher elevation destinations Sedona/Flag/Payson/Prescott/etc.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Welcome to the forum. Is your hubby going to work at Luke Air Force base? Where will he be going to school??

The Litchfield Park area or Goodyear (north of 10) would be close enough to Luke and about 20 minutes from your relatives in Surprise. It's also a lot closer to Tempe that Surprise (assuming he will attending school at the University of AZ).

I found that it is rare for AZ neighborhoods to re-seed in October with winter rye. Therefore the grass is brown from November to April. It is more responsible not to re-seed and water. But I'm a big fan of "green" and re-seeding was mandatory for my wife. So finding a winter green neighborhood will be very challenging and it will limit your possibilities.

So if GREEN is important, then checkout http://www.estrella.com/ (Goodyear South of 10) or Verrado Homes For Sale in Buckeye, Arizona | West Phoenix Real Estate (Buckeye) or Home Page (Surprise). We chose Marley Park but my commute is zero miles a day. Even without commuting, being more central has it's advantages because as you will learn, the Valley is absolutely massive. Just looking at a map is deceiving.

All three of the options that I mentioned will have close proximity to mountains and hiking. If I was working at Luke, I'd stay on the West Valley yet more central to where he is going to attend school.

So I have to ask... What town were you in (111 degrees and humid)??

[observer53]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

Welcome to the forum. Is your hubby going to work at Luke Air Force base? Where will he be going to school??

The Litchfield Park area or Goodyear (north of 10) would be close enough to Luke and about 20 minutes from your relatives in Surprise. It's also a lot closer to Tempe that Surprise (assuming he will attending school at the University of AZ).

I found that most AZ neighborhoods don't re-seed in October with winter rye so the grass is brown from November to April. I'm a big fan of green (that was mandatory option for my wife). So finding a winter green neighborhood will be challenging.

If GREEN is important, then checkout http://www.estrella.com/ (Goodyear South of 10) or Verrado Homes For Sale in Buckeye, Arizona | West Phoenix Real Estate (Buckeye) or Home Page (Surprise). We chose Marley Park but my commute is zero miles a day. Even WITH a zero commute, being more central has it's advantages because as you will learn, the Valley is absolutely massive. It looks much smaller by looking at a map.

All three of those options will have a close proximity to mountains and hiking. If I was working at Luke, I'd stay in the West Valley.

So I have to ask... What town were you in (111 and humid)??

I think you mean Arizona State University.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by observer53

I think you mean Arizona State University.

I suppose Tuscon to Luke would be a long commute.

[DR2012]

Well there is a tech/specialty school he is looking into. He is reserves so if he does go to Tucson, it wouldn't be much so he'd probably do it and they would pay to have him stay for the weekend that he goes. But our family is by Luke. He'll take either one, right now he's waiting to see which one they tell him he can do. If they want him in Tucson we'd still like to stay near the Phoenix area, since he only goes one weekend a month he'd be OK with it. If his reservist job has him there A LOT then we'd consider something else I guess.

I don't mind too much if I have green in the backyard - dirt wouldn't be too bad, some dead brown would be fine. Just something a bit softer and easier for my dogs, and maybe a little more camoflaguing for their waste, until I get back there to scoop it.

Thanks for the info once again. We love biking. Seems like there's some biking there? Where we are now there is just a flat trail in the city. Oh I live in Shreveport/Bossier. We had days with the heat index up to 118. Over 3 months worth of days over 100. Humidity wasn't near as bad as it usually is I guess, but some days when it was high, you feel like you just hit this thick wall of air.

Here it doesn't reach the high until 3-6-pm. Is it like that there, since it's desert aren't early mornings, like 5-6am, a little cooler? I'm not worried about it much for me (I hope I'm working the days away) but I like to walk my dogs when I can. Even if I could get them out for 15 minutes it's helpful. They are older and more laid-back so that is very convenient and easy to deal with at least, rather than hyper puppies and breeds required hours of activity or they tear things up.

[slackjaw]

Generally the coolest part of the day in Phoenix is before dawn right when you can see the first hints of lighter sky of the sun about to rise. Heat island effect is at it's lowest.

We've been camping in late November at White Tank where it was a relatively warm sunny day shorts/tshirt but waking up at dawn could see our breath.