Advice on Laveen Please

[Sunshinegirl7]

Thank you Ponderosa, I just really like the looks of Laveen, and last summer we were at South Mountain and drove around the area by it so I think we may have been in Laveen or close to it, we loved the area! One thing someone told me to do is drive around at night in Laveen to see what is going on.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Sunshinegirl7

Thank you Ponderosa, I just really like the looks of Laveen, and last summer we were at South Mountain and drove around the area by it so I think we may have been in Laveen or close to it, we loved the area! One thing someone told me to do is drive around at night in Laveen to see what is going on.

I do too. I have always liked the south Phoenix area for the mountain views and the convenient location. It was the first place I lived when I came here many years ago, though it was mostly orange groves and flower gardens back then. Unfortunately, the whole area has a bad reputation which works against it in terms of attracting people that can change the area for the better. I have family members who live in that area (maybe Avondale actually, but "Laveen" is hard to define exactly) and they are happy enough there. Their children are doing well in the elementary schools. They rent their home and have been there for several years now. They have never had any crime or other negative happenings. When we visit we kid them that we have to leave before sunset. It's not really the case, but if you choose to live there you will always be fighting that image in the minds of many who live in the Phoenix metro.

[Sunshinegirl7]

My cousin has lived there for almost 4 years and never had crime either. Do you think it's not a wise choice to invest and buy a house there that is around $210,000? There is another home on Mountain View in Avondale that we love that is a little more of a commute though.

[kell490]

Originally Posted by Sunshinegirl7

The advice on here has been excellent and I know next week when I tour these areas, I will hopefully have weaned out most areas that I have in my portal. I still have a lot of houses in Surprise to tour but I want to just to know I did and also to try the commute out for myself by driving from there to his work and school during the rush hour. It makes complete sense about the gas and wear and tear on the car, that's' why I am leaning towards something closer to Phoenix. Goodyear does have a few houses in my portal to view it still seems to be a commute though for my son if he chooses not to stay on campus. I have a gated community house in my portal for Laveen, this would make it a lot more safe right? One worry I have though is that the house value will drop if Laveen gets worse then we will be stuck with a house say in 10 years that we might want to sell. The houses we are looking at in Laveen are SO much more than they sold for, one was bought in an auction last month and now is almost double the price! Another one is about $60,000 more than they bought it for a few years ago, it does look to have some updates though, but it seems like a lot of the houses asking prices are very high compared t what they sold for within the last 4 years. Is that a good sign or just someone flipping a house?

Just watch out in the new looking neighborhoods. An example a friend bought a new home in 06 south I-10 in Avondale the neighborhood was nice at first until 08 the homes dropped in price all the good people moved out. The foreclosure's brought in investors many from out of the country they rented to anyone. It's very deceiving but once you move in you see the real problems. He had to get out of there after a shootout from a home a few doors up bullets went flying over his kids heads in his driveway. I would stay north of I-10 going west. Neighborhoods with high investor ownership is usually bad news. If you go to maps.www.Maricopa.gov you can look up who owns the homes in a area on their GIS website lot of investors will have it under an LLC or something if they rent the home. When you see a lot of rentals stay clear of that area.

[mikejjones1234]

Originally Posted by Sunshinegirl7

I have a gated community house in my portal for Laveen, this would make it a lot more safe right?

No, unless it's a "manned gate" it's virtually useless. Anybody can drive through the gate and homeowners always give out the pass code.

You might as well set up some pylons, it would have the same effect as an unmanned gate.

[nightgirl151]

I lived in Laveen from 2008-until mid 2010. My house was located 43rd ave and Dobbins...everyone used to say as long as you lives south of Baseline it was safer. The builder stopped building in our neighborhood, and I was in the area last week and there are still empty lots in the subdivision. I volunteered for our HOA to help clean up graffiti....as soon as we fixed it, the next week there was more damage. The end point for me was when my neighbors house was vandalized and spray painted all over in bright orange paint. I could not live in a place I no longer felt safe. We moved to Goodyear, and I could not be happier with my decision. I love my neighborhood, it is very safe, I can sleep at night with the windows open in my house and not worry.

That being said, I loved the look of Laveen with the mountains behind my old house, I loved all the big mature trees and green everywhere. Laveen was convenient to town and the airport. However, other than fast food there weren't many restaurant choices, also it was a hike to go to major shopping malls.

You have to look at the area and see what fits your family, I agree drive around at nighttime. Go to the plaza at 51st and Baseline and you will see. A few months ago, there was a shooting at the Taco Bell right there. You must ultimately decide what is the right fit for you, and for me, Laveen was no longer that fit.

[SMG]

Honestly, I have lived here since 1980, spent time all over the Valley. Laveen does not appeal to me at all. The last few years, I have spent a lot of time there valuing properties for various lenders. There is not much for restaurants, shopping, nightlife,etc. The area has a high tenant occupancy rate, some of the neighborhoods have declined in quality in recent years. Just has little appeal to me. Lots of properties available there, pretty good prices too. But, there is a reason why. Personally, I prefer the East Valley. Chandler, Gilbert, Tempe and Ahwatukee are great areas.

[AZM]

Laveen has not gotten any better over the time that this thread has started. I moved here 20 years ago after living in Apache Junction for 18 years. Laveen was at one time a nice place to live but the school system has never had anything to offer the students that attend. Laveen has turned into a rental pool for the low life's of the valley. You will have some post here that have thousands of posts but do not know of Laveen's past or present. I looked forward to the building when Laveen started building so we would no longer would have to go to south Phoenix for grocery shopping. Now it is safer to go back to South Phoenix rather then Laveen. The Fry's store will always have a security person at the front door,( no longer a Phoenix PD officer, something went bad for them ) Even the laundry detergent has anti theft electronic devices on them. Many bad element in the parking lot just walking between the cars. I also have rental property here and unless I am willing to rent to section 8 it is very difficult to rent. I look forward to someday selling and moving out of the area. Now this if from someone currently here that has been here for a long time and has a vested interest here. Who's advice do you value? This? or someone that doesn't live in the area that has over 14k or 17k posts? You may know a little about a lot but you obviously know very little about the current Laveen. The flack jacket was only an example of how one might feel the protection level they might be stressed at, better realistic option is a CCW permit and carryt!

[alliecatw]

Laveen is a desert in a desert. Crime is definitely higher here than in Surprise, but not entirely unsafe. My neighborhood is nice and upkept but there are a lot of suspicious characters that I've seen the year I've lived here, my sister-in-law's house has been broken into twice (she lives in an even nicer Laveen neighborhood than mine), I've had multiple packages stolen off my front porch and the copper from my water pipes stolen, and I absolutely don't feel safe going out at night/leaving my windows open at night. But that is just my personal experience - I'd rather be safe than sorry!

That being said, I was totally drawn to S. Mountain and the hiking and scenery that it offered. It is a really pretty area but it is seriously lacking in things to do. There are no movie theaters, no bowling alleys, and no restaurants apart from fast food. The further west from the I-10 you get, the nicer it is, but you are forced to drive on Baseline anytime you want to go out and have a bite to eat or do anything fun - Baseline gets very congested during rush hours and tends to flood quite severely during the monsoon.

Hopefully this helps a little bit. I lived in Litchfield Park, Avondale, and Chandler as well and I'm really really regretting my move to Laveen