Anthem at Merrill Ranch (Phoenix, Tucson: sales, real estate, new home)

[gregandvicky]

Has anyone had any experience with Pulte Homes and Anthem at Merril Ranch?

How remote is it? Proximity to grocery, mall's etc.

Anxious to hear the pro's and cons.

We are thinking or relocating to the area and have researched Maricopa and Queen Creek. We are retired and do not have to worry about commuting.

It seems prices are falling in the entire valley and we can not afford to live there.

Thanks

[MotleyCrew]

Our daughter bought a Shea home down in Maricopa and she is very happy. We were concerned at first due to the lack of shopping, but that seems to be changing very fast. There is a new Home Depot center coming soon and a newer Basha's and Fry's in town. We visit often and went out to see a very unique nursery with aviaries full of exotic birds as well as plants. It is looking like it will shape into a very nice community. We did not love Queen Creek, but everyone has different wants. From Maricopa to Chandler, the drive seemed very short to me.
I have not heard any complaints regarding Pulte. Others may chime in on that. As far as distance, you can go to google maps or map quest and check to see how far out it is. There is another web site that might work and that is: Arizonaneighborhoods.com

[aj661]

Originally Posted by gregandvicky

Has anyone had any experience with Pulte Homes and Anthem at Merril Ranch?

How remote is it? Proximity to grocery, mall's etc.

Anxious to hear the pro's and cons.

We are thinking or relocating to the area and have researched Maricopa and Queen Creek. We are retired and do not have to worry about commuting.

It seems prices are falling in the entire valley and we can not afford to live there.

Thanks

Take a drive down and check it out. Nice houses on the Sun City side. There's a Fry's a few miles north and another grocery store was going in at the entrance off Hunt Hwy at Merrill Ranch Parkway.

[Nice Nice Baby!]

WHOA!! You said the two magical words, Retire and Pulte!! This is perfect for you. Pulte makes a great product, and Anthem's rural setting is ideal as many retirees like a slower pace away from all the traffic and rat races. The amenities are plentiful. Stores are being built for the convenience of shopping as we speak. In one year you will have a large grocery store(Safeway), Home Depot, PetSmart, Wal Mart, and many others to name a few to shop at. Of course there is no mall to speak of, but how many times a month do you need to go there, and if you do you can make that 45 minute drive to the closest mall. There are no chain restaurants yet, but in time that will come, but I've been around for some time and find many excellent Mom and Pop places to eat with in a 15 minute drive. Most young people hate it out here which bids well for retired people. The proximity to two metro areas is a plus. In a little over an hour you can be in Tucson or 45 minutes you're in the East Valley(Phoenix). Anthem is in it's infancy stage, so if you want to compare what it will be like, then check out the other Anthems on the north side of Phoenix to see what you'll get in the future. We have many retired people volunteer their time at the local public schools which always need help. Hope this helps!

[Great Joy]

Where is Merrill Ranch? From the posts, it sounds like it is in Maricopa?

I wish developers would stop using the same names that have already been used in other parts of the Phoenix valley. Like Anthem there and Anthem in north Phoenix. It confuses all of us!

Also, is there really a "Sun City" in Maricopa too? I only know the "Sun City" in NW Phoenix.

[gregandvicky]

Wow, thanks for all the great info. We have about made our decision to move to the area. We are looking at the Pulte Parkside as the housing prices are less than the Del webb and there are some great incentives right now.
Anything else you can think of would be appreciated.
Greg and Vicky

Originally Posted by Nice Nice Baby!

WHOA!! You said the two magical words, Retire and Pulte!! This is perfect for you. Pulte makes a great product, and Anthem's rural setting is ideal as many retirees like a slower pace away from all the traffic and rat races. The amenities are plentiful. Stores are being built for the convenience of shopping as we speak. In one year you will have a large grocery store(Safeway), Home Depot, PetSmart, Wal Mart, and many others to name a few to shop at. Of course there is no mall to speak of, but how many times a month do you need to go there, and if you do you can make that 45 minute drive to the closest mall. There are no chain restaurants yet, but in time that will come, but I've been around for some time and find many excellent Mom and Pop places to eat with in a 15 minute drive. Most young people hate it out here which bids well for retired people. The proximity to two metro areas is a plus. In a little over an hour you can be in Tucson or 45 minutes you're in the East Valley(Phoenix). Anthem is in it's infancy stage, so if you want to compare what it will be like, then check out the other Anthems on the north side of Phoenix to see what you'll get in the future. We have many retired people volunteer their time at the local public schools which always need help. Hope this helps!

[MotleyCrew]

Let us know when you arrive and get settled. You need to pop back in to the forum and let others know about your experiences. Welcome to AZ

[aj661]

Originally Posted by Great Joy

Where is Merrill Ranch? From the posts, it sounds like it is in Maricopa?

I wish developers would stop using the same names that have already been used in other parts of the Phoenix valley. Like Anthem there and Anthem in north Phoenix. It confuses all of us!

Also, is there really a "Sun City" in Maricopa too? I only know the "Sun City" in NW Phoenix.

No, technically it's in the town of Florence, (they annexed a lot of real estate) but it's at least five miles from downtown. A long, long way from Maricopa. The main entrance is at Hunt Hwy and Merrill Ranch Parkway. On the east side, you can come in off of Felix. If you look at a map, it's just north of SR287 and west of SR79. My wife and I went there a few months ago just out of curiosity. There were a couple floorplans we liked, but we'll never move there. The Sun City neighborhood doesn't have walled in backyards. With four dogs, that could never work for us.

The Florence PD is way behind the curve. I hope the city gets it's act together fast for all the growth that's coming. I had a sales rep there call the PD to find out what kind of coverage they'll have since it's still a tiny police department. He was told that one officer will be assigned to Anthem exclusively, which will be okay for maybe a year.

[nikorock28]

I will be buying in Anthem at Merrill Ranch very soon. I am keeping a very close eye on the prices... Pulte and Del Webb both lowered their prices $10K- $20K on all of their homes just last week. I can sense they are having a hard time finding buyers because when I went there to inspect, they were pushing very hard. I received emails from them in the next couple weeks even though I had already told them that I was waiting a couple months to buy.

I really like the community over there. The golf course is top notch (Troon design), the fitness center is very big and there are multiple swimming pools. The Safeway should be open soon I think.... the gas station is currently open. The closest mall, in fact, will be the new one opening in Casa Grande this fall, which is precisely about a 32 minute drive... give or take =) Some of the chain restaurants (Olive Garden, Applebee's) are planned for that mall. But, yeah, it is isolated, but I really don't mind because I am more interested in the golf, swimming and fitness center and I will not have to commute into Phx.

[crystalys]

Originally Posted by gregandvicky

Wow, thanks for all the great info. We have about made our decision to move to the area. We are looking at the Pulte Parkside as the housing prices are less than the Del webb and there are some great incentives right now.
Anything else you can think of would be appreciated.
Greg and Vicky

The only thing I would point out is that the H.O.A. fee that is listed for this Anthem Parkside is $81.00/month (that is for both Pulte and Del Webb). I would assume that you are also figuring this into the affordability equation for your mortgage. I think that is really steep for the price range of the houses. Of course I haven't had to pay an H.O.A. for a while and when I did it was less than half of that. I also guess it is based on what amenities are available in the community and this one seems to have quite a bit of nice amenities. Still.......