Our Retirement Community Visit, Phoenix-Phase III (Tucson, Mesa: to rent, homes, closing)

[Jkgourmet]

Originally Posted by cmw0829

Hmm...the move was to take place in mid-June, so Gene and his wife should have been here for two months. I would love to hear an update too.

After two years in the Valley of the Sun (three summers), we New Englanders are seriously considering a move back East - somewhere between MA and NC. Oh my, the heat is just too much for us. We will start our own version of Gene's search next month and hope to employ the same careful search techniques that Gene described for us.

Drop NC from that list unless you're looking at western NC in the mountains. The humidity here in the summer is worse than the Phoenix heat ever was. It's actually one of our few complaints.

[jimj]

And may I suggest going to level billing for APS? We've lived here for about 7 years now and for the first few our bills were about what yours are for a 2139 sqft house built by the same builder as did Festival. That's one thing I can say about Pulte is they tend to build a tight house.
Anyway, we switched over to level billing so our bills per month are the same year round. As for Solar, we've looked into it in depth several times and while the sales pitches sound great there are some long term "issues" they don't talk about, especially if one ever wants to sell the home one has to be very,very careful.
If I were to do solar today, and I just might on our next "house for the rest of our life" I will get a system that includes power management (power banking) as the power company(s) here are fighting back against solar by raising fees and killing power buy back rates.

The new power management system(s) store power in a fairly small battery bank about the size of a small generator (not the Tesla power wall but better) to be used during the evening and if power goes out.
We will size our system to provide 95-100% of our power needs banking what we don't use since APS doesn't pay much for it anymore.
To be clear, I'm not talking about going off grid or being a "prepper" but darn close to not needing APS as possible. I can provide you a link if you or anyone else would like.
We've got to tolerate the sun here so might as well get some financial use out of it.

[goolsbyjazz]

Originally Posted by jimj

And may I suggest going to level billing for APS? We've lived here for about 7 years now and for the first few our bills were about what yours are for a 2139 sqft house built by the same builder as did Festival. That's one thing I can say about Pulte is they tend to build a tight house.
Anyway, we switched over to level billing so our bills per month are the same year round. As for Solar, we've looked into it in depth several times and while the sales pitches sound great there are some long term "issues" they don't talk about, especially if one ever wants to sell the home one has to be very,very careful.
If I were to do solar today, and I just might on our next "house for the rest of our life" I will get a system that includes power management (power banking) as the power company(s) here are fighting back against solar by raising fees and killing power buy back rates.

The new power management system(s) store power in a fairly small battery bank about the size of a small generator (not the Tesla power wall but better) to be used during the evening and if power goes out.
We will size our system to provide 95-100% of our power needs banking what we don't use since APS doesn't pay much for it anymore.
To be clear, I'm not talking about going off grid or being a "prepper" but darn close to not needing APS as possible. I can provide you a link if you or anyone else would like.
We've got to tolerate the sun here so might as well get some financial use out of it.

Thanks JimJ, there is some good information in here I was not aware of. Been looking into solar energy and they don't talk about how it may affect resale of the home and power management.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by goolsbyjazz

Thanks JimJ, there is some good information in here I was not aware of. Been looking into solar energy and they don't talk about how it may affect resale of the home and power management.

Here are just a few options available now that APS is reducing or trying to totally eliminate paying for your excess power production.

https://enphase.com/en-us/residential-solutions

Solar + Residential Energy Storage System Launched By JLM Energy

Sonnen Launches a Home Battery for Self-Consumption at a 40% Reduced Cost | Greentech Media

https://sonnen-batterie.com/en-us/so...enbatterie-eco

[GeneR]

We checked with APS and have been told eligibility for the level billing program depends on a history of 12 months. We’ll revisit that issue next year.

Also, very good info on Solar. It’s all in the numbers and I concur with your attention to the resale of a home (lord, please grant me the ability to STAY PUT so I never have to move again). I know as we looked at existing houses we were somewhat shy in approaching a home with a solar lease commitment. Whether warranted or not, I suspect it does impact the market value of a property.

P.S. I apologize for some incorrect verbiage in my update post. I am apparently cursed with auto correct and some of corrected spelling and resulting misuse of language was not caught in the limited editing period.

Originally Posted by jimj

And may I suggest going to level billing for APS? We've lived here for about 7 years now and for the first few our bills were about what yours are for a 2139 sqft house built by the same builder as did Festival. That's one thing I can say about Pulte is they tend to build a tight house.
Anyway, we switched over to level billing so our bills per month are the same year round. As for Solar, we've looked into it in depth several times and while the sales pitches sound great there are some long term "issues" they don't talk about, especially if one ever wants to sell the home one has to be very,very careful.
If I were to do solar today, and I just might on our next "house for the rest of our life" I will get a system that includes power management (power banking) as the power company(s) here are fighting back against solar by raising fees and killing power buy back rates.

The new power management system(s) store power in a fairly small battery bank about the size of a small generator (not the Tesla power wall but better) to be used during the evening and if power goes out.
We will size our system to provide 95-100% of our power needs banking what we don't use since APS doesn't pay much for it anymore.
To be clear, I'm not talking about going off grid or being a "prepper" but darn close to not needing APS as possible. I can provide you a link if you or anyone else would like.
We've got to tolerate the sun here so might as well get some financial use out of it.

[cmw0829]

Originally Posted by dirtydan57

I get the impression this happens frequently. I'm curious, did you guys try it out before moving, thought it was great, then after a few years changed your minds? Or did you just pack up and move?

Thanks.

Bet you can guess my answer. 😋. We visited for 8 days in early May and decided to have an adventure. Our plan was to rent furnished, which we did, so if we didn't like it, we could move on. The next thing I knew, we owned a house and had our things shipped out.

We're retired so it's not as bad as if we'd had jobs to consider. Either way, I fulfilled something on my bucket list - to move someplace where I knew no one and had no familiarity with the area. And was wonderfully successful at making friends and getting involved. No regrets no matter how it works out.

[cmw0829]

Originally Posted by Jkgourmet

Drop NC from that list unless you're looking at western NC in the mountains. The humidity here in the summer is worse than the Phoenix heat ever was. It's actually one of our few complaints.

Hi, we're also considering the duration of the discomfort - it just seems to go on forever here. We find we really miss opening windows - without getting a house full of dust as we do here when the temps allow for open windows. We also miss varied weather. Unlike many of our neighbors, we LOVE monsoon season.

Thoughts? Thanks.

[Jkgourmet]

Originally Posted by cmw0829

Hi, we're also considering the duration of the discomfort - it just seems to go on forever here. We find we really miss opening windows - without getting a house full of dust as we do here when the temps allow for open windows. We also miss varied weather. Unlike many of our neighbors, we LOVE monsoon season.

Thoughts? Thanks.

Again, drop central and eastern NC off your list. We have bigger dust problems here than we EVER did in Phoenix because of tge ckay dirt, pollen and lack of cement block walls around the houses. We open windows irregularly (most new buikds don't even come with screens). Patios - screened in to lock out the bugs.

And there's the every year yellow rain. http://www.city-data.com/forum/ralei...sually-26.html

I love it here. But what you are describing is western NC. Look at the Asheville area.

[GeneR]

fyi...my investigation into Phoenix area 55+ communities continues but this time as a resident/realtor. I expect to publish in the future. Decision making from afar is a challenge and those looking deserve more than the fluff pieces provided by glossy magazines (and web sites) that seem to prefer selling over more objective examinations.

[shoppingjeanie]

I just signed on today to make this Reply. We have been searching long and hard as many here and especially a shout out to Gene. Congrats on your move. We did a AZ visit 2 years ago and have another in 2 weeks. We hope to get it done this trip or for sure this year to finally get out of this frozen tundra!. We didn't even realize how long the venture has been until a rep at Robson (checking it out) went to put us in her data base and told hubby he was in it from 2012! haha.

We are staying at SCF Villas I loved your information on EVERYTHING! Also Maltese Jane. Thanks. We are also re-looking at Sunlakes as well and a couple others. Hubby is a huge with a capital H golfer. He has always loved Sunlakes from the get go. Looking at Johnson Ranch and Sundance as well. I believe he might have one or two more on his list too. We never got a good vibe at all from the SC/SCW. We may do a drive through SCW again.

Festival has two big concerns however. One is the isolation but that may be a good thing. Like you said, I as well drive 15 minutes to a grocery store now. No Biggy, we were told they will get one when population can sustain it, but I hope that is sooner than later. We are also not worried about urban things as the arts, theaters and museums so on. (Another restaurant or two would be nice but that as well is not a big deal. I love to cook and was excited when I saw a gourmet club at SFC). Number 2 is that I read many resident comments on overcrowding in facilities. Our rep said they will be adding to accommodate more residents, but hope it doesn't take too long.

I do love what I have seen on line so far. It feels quite right. I never felt this about any other before seeing and we have looked at tons from FL to TN, Virginia, Carolina's and more. Time will tell. Florida was always the first contender until we visited 4 years ago and easily ruled that out with the bugs and gators in the yards lol.

Again Congrats and thank you all for all the info. Wish us luck two ways... we're starting at ak-chin

(Go Pack! There is always next year)