Best area for a home under 1mil? (Phoenix, Glendale: appliances, house)

[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.

[pstratt]

With that budget you won't have a problem finding what you are looking for. Paradise Valley, Scottsdale, Fountain Hills, Litchfield Park, Cave Creek and Carefree are all great places to live with good schools IMO.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

I would also try Marley Park in Surprise. You could pick up a lot of home for that price range with there largest lot. They have some amazing homes. The schools are all newer and at Marley Park there is a community club house with a really cool childrens area with computers and home work help. To give you an example for $480 thousand you could pick up a 4,200 square foot home with a fairly remarkable interior. Something in that range would easily cost over $1 million in Ventura County.

[altus2006]

Scottsdale zip code 85262 is still appreciating and the homes would be within your price range and above. There are some really stunning areas with terrific views there.

altus2006

[sablebaby]

Scottsdale for sure. It's the only area that has stayed strong and actually appreciated 1% while other areas depreciated by 7-8%. I would look around Hayden and south of Shea, and also areas more north.

You won't find much in Paradise Valley for under a million. Pretty much everything starts at $1mil.

[pstratt]

You're probably right about PV sablebaby. I took it to mean around 1 million I guess. There are some areas that are in the PV school district that are under 1 mil, but they aren't in PV itself.

[Captain Bill]

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.

Jesse, you need to consider where you will be working, because the commute, while not like LA, can be challenging.

You also need to consider your life style. Do you want an area with horse properties, lake front, gated community, golf community, lush green landscape, desert landscape, etc.

You have a wide range to choose from. It's a matter of learning about some of the areas, the types of housing and activities in the area, and then consider the house.

In the Val Vista Lakes area where I live, for just under a million, you can have a ~4000 square ft home on the water in a gated community with lush green landscape. This is in Gilbert which is a family oriented city with great schools, and a great police department. There are lots of activities for children. This is in the east valley about 30 minutes (not commute hour) from central Phoenix.

In north Scottsdale, which is to the northeast of Phoenix, a 4000 sq ft home will run a little more than in Gilbert. Most all of the landscape in Scottsdale is desert landscape.

There are some really neat communities in north Scottsdale, in addition to the larger Troon North golf community.

Both the Scottsdale and Gilbert areas are great places to live. You just have to see them and some other areas in order to decide.

Below are web sites for two areas just to give you an idea.

Troon North Scottsdale

Val Vista Lakes - Your Community Gilbert

Some of the clients I work with are relocating here from states in the north and the north east. I send them information on areas and homes, and they find homes on Realtor.com. Then I check the homes and the areas out for them. It works out really well for them, and saves them a lot of time.

We relocated here from the San Francisco area 4 years ago, and while we do miss going into San Francisco, we would never consider moving back. We love it here.

[AngelfaceAZ]

I was going to type an answer...but Captain Bill pretty much said it all lol. Make sure you do your homework before you go out looking at homes

[hts]

In Anthem, you can get a nice 4200 sq ft, 5BR, 4.5BA, 4 car garage home in a gated country club community. Large, open kitchen/FR, granite, SS appliances, with or without private pool, nice mountain views. 2 private golf courses, each with its own country club.

[sablebaby]

My other thought would be Arrowhead Lakes up in North Glendale. You can find a very nice home on the lake. It would be about 4000sf for just under $1mil. It's a beautiful area!!