Is Fountain Hills Housing Still overpriced? (Phoenix, Scottsdale: appointed, for sale, condos)

[skcskc2]

Been offered a position in AZ and heard that Fountain Hills "is" the place to live.

Open to all suggestions

Haven't had a chance to research schools yet, any help will be appreciated.

[JeepGirl118]

So you want to become a Fountain Mountaineer? Have been in Fountain Hills for over 25 years and I am in my mid-30's. . . being that you are searching out schools, I take it that you are my age or younger with kids too. Is it "the" place to live? Yeah, it's "the" place to live if you are over 50. Recently, it's been strongly geared (once again) toward the Retirees. Fountain Hills has grown and changed a lot over the years. It is certainly not a great place to raise pre-teens or teens - FH provides absolutely nothing for them to do. Now if you mean "the" place to live in regard to housing - yes, the homes here are both very nice and relatively expensive. Overpriced? Absolutely. Don't expect your neighbors to be as nice as the homes. FH is not the most friendly of places in the east valley - warning you on this now. If you have any specific questions about FH, feel free to message me. Have been in this town since Lot #2 on Desert Sage broke ground - far too long. If you want the *real* nitty gritty on FH, er, "Twin Peaks," (as in the old TV show)... let me know. FH is its very own strange universe.

[SpaceNeedle]

For the second year in a row, all Fountain Hills schools were labeled "excelling" which is the highest ranking available under AZ Learns, the state's accountability measure for schools. You can see the full list here AZ LEARNS Achievement Profiles.

We have been here for 3-4 years and we love it here. However, our children are still in elementary grade. In terms of "overpriced", it depends on what you are looking for in a house. Both my husband and I wanted to live in a safe, clean and peaceful place with nice views of mountains. We also wanted a place which was close to hiking places. Fountain Hills had what we were looking for at a price we could afford.

[JeepGirl118]

3-4 years - ah, you are still in the "Honeymoon Period."

Wait until your kids hit High School - I am one of the 46% of parent's in FH who have their child(ren) home schooled with a Tutor. Withdrew him twice from the HS per his own request (we tried, were hopeful - the HS just does not get any better...) Many of the teens here in FH request to be taken out of it. Don't rely on stats for this town - I'm serious. In a few years, you'll understand. The HS home school and HS public school ratio in FH almost evens out. And it's not exactly for religious purposes either.

[SpaceNeedle]

Originally Posted by JeepGirl118

3-4 years - ah, you are still in the "Honeymoon Period."

Yeh... sometimes I wonder that myself

We don't plan to stay here in AZ for long. Our next move could be either back to Seattle or Colorado.

[JeepGirl118]

OooOOH, go to Colorado. It's so beau-ti-ful there - and the people are very, very cool!!! I'd love to go to Denver if Mr Jeep could handle cold weather and snow (ok, ok, it's me to! lol). But! - We're FL bound.

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by skcskc2

Been offered a position in AZ and heard that Fountain Hills "is" the place to live.

Open to all suggestions

Haven't had a chance to research schools yet, any help will be appreciated.

If you're moving to the Phoenix area, an excellent way to do is come down several times and physically look at the areas. Determine how far you want to drive to work, and what the traffic situation is for your commute.

After you look around it's easier to choose an area, whether it be in Scottsdale, Fountain Hills, Gilbert, etc. Check to see if the homes in your chosen area are within your price range. Then it's time to begin looking at individual homes.

[SpeedyAZ]

Fountain Hills is a GORGEOUS place to live, no doubt about it. Affordable? Not exactly but still better than some areas of the Valley. You can get condos from $200K's and homes from about $400K and up to the multi-million dollar hillside homes that dot the area.

The one thing about Fountain Hills, it maintains a very small-town atmosphere while only miles away from the thriving city of Scottsdale. I somewhat prefer Fountain Hills just because it has a bit of understated elegance to it while Scottsdale is more over-the-top. It does seem that FH caters to the middle-age and retiree crowd than to the younger ones. Top notch schools, parks, and shopping.

IMO, if you can afford it, FH is a great place to live.

[JeepGirl118]

Originally Posted by SpeedyAZ

Fountain Hills is a GORGEOUS place to live, no doubt about it. Affordable? Not exactly but still better than some areas of the Valley. You can get condos from $200K's and homes from about $400K and up to the multi-million dollar hillside homes that dot the area.

The one thing about Fountain Hills, it maintains a very small-town atmosphere while only miles away from the thriving city of Scottsdale. I somewhat prefer Fountain Hills just because it has a bit of understated elegance to it while Scottsdale is more over-the-top. It does seem that FH caters to the middle-age and retiree crowd than to the younger ones. Top notch schools, parks, and shopping.

IMO, if you can afford it, FH is a great place to live.

Off of Saguaro right around the bend from Big O - there are a couple condos (could be mistaken, they could be town homes - couldn't tell exactly as I was driving by today and glanced) for $173K I think it was - the other one was 3K higher right next to it. So there are some good deals right now. In fact, our house is for sale -if you want Firerock CC, keep us in mind!

For a while, FH was gearing toward the younger crowd - and in this past year I have noticed a huge turnaround again gearing more for the older crowd. Bob McCulloch would be very disappointed with FH today if he knew what FH has become. After he passed on - FH went downhill. He intended FH to be a nice single family community - not the retirement community that it's become. He wanted very minimal commercial ventures/interests here. He wanted FH to cater to families and their kids - for this to be a fun place to live for the young - and for a while way back when growing up here, it really was! That's when it was great to live here though - now just another age-group thinks it's great. And that's OK too, I guess. It's just too "age-specific" now. I'm sure Bob is rolling around in his grave. FH was his "Baby."

[sirwinston73]

I haven't read the replies here as I'm pressed for time, but Fountain Hills is primarily a retirement community with little to do and a brutal commute to anywhere in the Valley where people go to work. And it's horribly overpriced to be way out in the exurbs detached from the city.