Moving to PHX area from Utah (Phoenix, Mesa: real estate, rentals, buying a house)

[MovinFromUT]

Hello,
We are relocating to the Phoenix area, and any help you can give would be highly appreciated.! I've been reading the different forums here, getting an idea of schools (we have one high schooler that is in his junior year, who does football and track), commute to Phoenix (that's where hubby will be working), and just in general, the areas surrounding PHX. Gilbert has been standing out to me. Even though the high school is HUGE (we come from a high school of 600), it gets good ratings through greatschools.net. The next one that comes to mind is Queen Creek. The only thing that I worry about is that it is primarly homes, so the taxes are going to be huge. We have a budget of around $300,000. (give or take $50,000). We've also thought about heading the other way to maybe Peoria, or that surrounding area. Commute time is important, but schooling is #1 on our list. Also, how long is the drive to Provo, Utah, and also to Orange County, CA.?
Thanks SO much in advance.!
Movin

[CodyW]

What part of Phoenix is he working in? If its central Phoenix, I'd go with the Gilbert area, very nice homes and neighborhoods.

If he's working in northwestern/northern Phoenix, I'd suggest some of the northwestern suburbs, Peoria maybe.

I can't give an estimate on the drive to Provo, but, on a good day, Orange County is about 5 hours.

[MovinFromUT]

We're not sure where exactly it is in Phoenix, he'll find out more when he flies in for his interview. I'll post where when I know more.
WOW, only 5 hours to OC.!! That is awesome. We left there over 14 years ago, and left a lot of our family, so that is good news. It's a 10 hour drive right now from where we are at.
Thanks for your help.!

[sablebaby]

5 hours to OC? How fast are you going? It takes us about 7 hours to LA. 4 hours to Vegas.

You will find that virtually all high schools here are big, at least 2000 students. I would not suggest Queen Creek, due to the commute. You should be able to find something nice in your price range, probably nothing too big though.

[a1m1700]

Originally Posted by MovinFromUT

Hello,
We are relocating to the Phoenix area, and any help you can give would be highly appreciated.! I've been reading the different forums here, getting an idea of schools (we have one high schooler that is in his junior year, who does football and track), commute to Phoenix (that's where hubby will be working), and just in general, the areas surrounding PHX. Gilbert has been standing out to me. Even though the high school is HUGE (we come from a high school of 600), it gets good ratings through greatschools.net. The next one that comes to mind is Queen Creek. The only thing that I worry about is that it is primarly homes, so the taxes are going to be huge. We have a budget of around $300,000. (give or take $50,000). We've also thought about heading the other way to maybe Peoria, or that surrounding area. Commute time is important, but schooling is #1 on our list. Also, how long is the drive to Provo, Utah, and also to Orange County, CA.?
Thanks SO much in advance.!
Movin

Don't move to Queen Creek. If you want a smaller Gilbert HS try Desert Ridge, it's only a few years old and it's not even close to being a capacity. My kids attend Highland and it's the same size as Desert Ridge but Highland is over capacity. If your son does sports he won't have any problem getting on the teams at Desert Ridge either, Highland is a 5A schools and competition is very stiff.

Look in the area of East Mesa for a home that will be in the district. The area is good and the taxes are a little cheaper than Gilbert.

E of Power to Crimson will be your boundries. South of Baseline to Warner.

[CodyW]

Originally Posted by sablebaby

5 hours to OC? How fast are you going? It takes us about 7 hours to LA. 4 hours to Vegas.

You will find that virtually all high schools here are big, at least 2000 students. I would not suggest Queen Creek, due to the commute. You should be able to find something nice in your price range, probably nothing too big though.

Mapquest agrees with me!

8: End at Los Angeles, CA US
Total Est. Time: 5 hours, 30 minutes Total Est. Distance: 372.85 miles

Traffic however, limits that.

[MovinFromUT]

Thank you for the thoughts about schools. As I said, that is our number one concern. Moving him at this point of his life will be hard (even though he has a good attitude), so any pointers are very useful. I did look up Desert Ridge on greatschools.net, and it also has good reviews. My husband will rent for a few months until we sell our house. Any ideas on good places to rent? I've noticed a lot of the subdivisions are rentals. If I were buying a house there, I don't think I would like that, but as a renter, it's nice to see if you like the area, without the cost of having to buy and be sorry later.
Just out of curiosity, why do you oppose Queen Creek? I've been looking at homes around the $300,000-350,000, and you do get a lot of home for that price. So I would like to hear oppositions to it too.
I do love the 5 hour drive to OC Cody, thanks.!

[sablebaby]

I think a couple of us already said that Queen Creek is so far out. On most maps of the valley it's not even on them because it is so far out. The traffic is horrendous. Tell us whereabouts your husband will be working in phoenix and we can tell you how long of a drive it will be. It's not just the drive, it's also the drivers out here that don't make it any better. Road rage is very real and when you are sitting in bumper to bumper traffic your nerves give up. My friend recently drove out to QC on a Saturday afternoon, which she was told from a friend who lives out there that it takes about an hour, one wrong turn and it took them 2 hours to find her house. I know several people who moved out there because they'd get their dream home, but now they all want to move back to phx because the drive is not worth it.

I live 20 miles from work (close to downtown) and it takes me 35-45 mins to drive and I don't touch the freeways. QC is another 30+ miles in a worse direction than where I live (N. Glendale).

Plus, from QC the drive to OC would be farther as well.

Hope that helps. It gets enticing to look at nice homes for cheap, but real estate is about location, location, location. Resale out in QC may be difficult down the road, who knows.

[sablebaby]

Originally Posted by CodyW

Mapquest agrees with me!

8: End at Los Angeles, CA US
Total Est. Time: 5 hours, 30 minutes Total Est. Distance: 372.85 miles

Traffic however, limits that.

So, that makes it driving at 70 MPH, with no stops. How do you go that fast in CA? A lot of the time that we spend is in traffic. I guess I'm thinking the time to actually getting to my destination, and not just in the county lines.

[a1m1700]

Originally Posted by MovinFromUT

Thank you for the thoughts about schools. As I said, that is our number one concern. Moving him at this point of his life will be hard (even though he has a good attitude), so any pointers are very useful. I did look up Desert Ridge on greatschools.net, and it also has good reviews. My husband will rent for a few months until we sell our house. Any ideas on good places to rent? I've noticed a lot of the subdivisions are rentals. If I were buying a house there, I don't think I would like that, but as a renter, it's nice to see if you like the area, without the cost of having to buy and be sorry later.
Just out of curiosity, why do you oppose Queen Creek? I've been looking at homes around the $300,000-350,000, and you do get a lot of home for that price. So I would like to hear oppositions to it too.
I do love the 5 hour drive to OC Cody, thanks.!

It's too far out and those schools are a mess over there, it's not worth it. Save yourself a headache.

Here are some subdivisions in the Desert Ridge school district.

Augusta Ranch
The Villages at Crimson Creek
Santa Rita Ranch
Mesquite Canyon
Eastridge
Boulder Creek
Lesuer Village
Sonoran Springs
Superstition Springs

Don't move to any of the subdivsions off of Elliot in between Signal butte and Ellsworth. They flood, we don't get much rain but when we do it floods. Plus the area is not great.