Best area for a home under 1mil? (Gilbert, Peoria: homes, buy)

[lola8822]

I love Vistancia......if it were me, I might also consider a custom home in carefree

[dgs92]

Scottsdale Zip 85255

Grayhawk master planned community. GRayhawk Elem. in Paradise Valley school distict. Great School.net rates it a 10. I can verify that! Check out DC Ranch too, also in the same zipcode. Very family friendly (Grayhawk). Kids knock on the doors to play outside. Kids ride bikes and walk to school. Heavy parent involvement in school. Check it out. I have homes in my gated neighborhood in the range from $775,000 to $1395,000.

[londonbarcelona]

Originally Posted by jessemh431

Hey everyone. I live in LA now, but it's getting pretty expensive out here for everything and I would like to slow down my life a bit. I don't want any realtor pressure because I'm justing curious as to what is out there in the rest of the country.

Schools and safety are the most important aspect of where I live. We could afford a 3bed home or more for under 1 million, preferably with a pool. Any ideas on areas and zip codes we should check out? I've hear good things about Scottsdale.

You realize that MOST of the people who post on here are either real estate professionals or builders/contractors.....
However, that being said, I'd go for Scottsdale and ONLY Scottsdale.

[sablebaby]

Originally Posted by londonbarcelona

You realize that MOST of the people who post on here are either real estate professionals or builders/contractors.....
However, that being said, I'd go for Scottsdale and ONLY Scottsdale.

I totally do not agree with you. MOST of the regular posters are NOT RE agents. Sure, we do have a few, but not most.

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by londonbarcelona

You realize that MOST of the people who post on here are either real estate professionals or builders/contractors.....
However, that being said, I'd go for Scottsdale and ONLY Scottsdale.

London, I've found that most of the people on the forum are from other professions. I haven't heard of any builders/contractors on the two areas that I post in, the Real Estate Professional area and this Phoenix area.

A survey showed that there were 38 realtors and they are from different states. All of the realtors whose posts I read are here to provide information about the industry, their local areas, and they also learn from the other posters.

Most of the posters on this Phoenix section of the forum appear to be people who live in various parts of the valley and provide a wealth of local information. Most will promote their own area very strongly, just as you are promoting Scottsdale. Others promote Surprise. That's good, because people who are looking for areas will hear from those who live there.

My suggestion to relocaters is to always consider where they will work, and look at all the areas within a given commute distance, and then decide on the area based on their lifestyle.

Every realtor is identified under their name, as a real estate agent, and they offer information in response to posters questions without advertising. Occasionally a realtor who is new to the forum will show up and without knowing the rules, will advertise. They are quickly informed that is a no-no.

If they are serious about sharing information with others, they will learn the rules and stay to be a productive members of the forum. If they are only here to advertise, they will quickly leave.

[jessemh431]

To answer captain bill, i hate hate farms and houses with horse areas. I don't want acres and acres of land as it would be a hard transition when in LA, we have only 3 feet of land on either side of our home. A large backyard with a pool would be nice. Living on a lake would be nice. I may sound ignorant for this, but I didn't even know there are lakes in Phoenix.

So it sounds like Scottsdale and PV are the best. By looking at a map, I see they are both in E Phoenix. Is the whole E area good or are there parts I should avoid. Are there part of Scottsdale I should avoid?

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by jessemh431

To answer captain bill, i hate hate farms and houses with horse areas. I don't want acres and acres of land as it would be a hard transition when in LA, we have only 3 feet of land on either side of our home. A large backyard with a pool would be nice. Living on a lake would be nice. I may sound ignorant for this, but I didn't even know there are lakes in Phoenix.

So it sounds like Scottsdale and PV are the best. By looking at a map, I see they are both in E Phoenix. Is the whole E area good or are there parts I should avoid. Are there part of Scottsdale I should avoid?

Jesse, Paradise Valley is very expensive. North Scottsdale as opposed to the old town area of Scottsdale is better, and you can find really nice homes for around a million. An agent called me recently regarding a home I had looked at in a great gated family area just off of Dynamite. I had previewed it for a client, and she called to tell me the price had been reduced to just under one million.

There are quite a few lake communities in the valley. They are man made, maintained by the planned community and stocked with fish. They use electric pontoon boats, (party boats) to leisurely cruise around the lake with friends and family.

There is one such lake that's a ski lake.

There are also large natural lakes within a few hours driving distance.

Areas that would not work for you would be Mesa, parts of Tempe, and some parts of Chandler.

In Gilbert, south Chandler, south Tempe, Ahwatukee, and North Scottsdale, you'll find an area that will suit your needs. The area you choose will be determined partly by your commute distance to work, and the lifestyle you desire.

If you have Google Earth (you can download it free) you can type in this address: 1833 E Cypress Tree Dr Gilbert, AZ 85234. That is a $1.2 million dollar home that I sold recently on the lake. By panning around you can see how the Val Vista Lakes community is layed out. It is probably the best of the lake communities. Anyway that will give you a good idea of what a man made lake community looks like in Arizona. As you pan around you'll see the party boats. That community is all lush green landscape, which makes one forget they're in the desert.

[londonbarcelona]

Originally Posted by sablebaby

I totally do not agree with you. MOST of the regular posters are NOT RE agents. Sure, we do have a few, but not most.

OK - Whatever, but we all know the truth...

[jessemh431]

Thanks Bill. I really like that Val Vista Lake, but is there anywhere to go swimming in it? Can you jump off your party boat and go swimming?

I found this one on realtor.com that I like.
Single Family Home - Gilbert, AZ, 85234 - Realtor.com
Single Family Home - 1842 E WILLOW TREE CT, Gilbert, AZ, 85234 - Realtor.com
Single Family Home - Gilbert, AZ, 85234 - Realtor.com
Single Family Home - 1501 E CATAMARAN DR, Gilbert, AZ, 85234 - Realtor.com

[pstratt]

I'm not in RE or construction or anything related to the industry. I found this forum recently and was just trying to give an unbiased opinion. In an effort at full disclosure... I do however live in "Old" Litchfield Park, which was one of the places I mentioned, so I guess I wasn't totally unbiased.