Need to quickly find a house for a young family AND a senior (Phoenix: apartment)

[themngoodlife]

Hi all,
I've only spent brief amounts of time in Phoenix and could really use some guidance. I'll spare you the long, boring details...but I need to find a nice, small home that will suit my mother-in-law and my brother-in-law's family. They have young girls and the oldest goes to kindergarten next year. It's a unique situation where my husband and I are buying the house without much knowledge of the area. My mother-in-law will move there in the next month or so and my brother-in-law and his family live in an apartment in a suburb north of Phoenix that is too far from everything.

Here's what I know -- location doesn't matter to my MIL (she is retired) as long as she has a walking path nearby and a few grocery stores in the area that she likes. My BIL works in Tempe and his wife works in Avondale. Good schools are definitely a priority.

Since we already have a home and a mortgage, we can't spend more than $250K on the Arizona house. Can anyone suggest some neighborhoods with good schools and decent homes that we should consider? 3 BR/3 BA would be ideal.

Thank you for any help you can provide!

[AZ Manager]

$250k near Tempe doesn't get you much. Also, 3/3 is hard to find through most of the valley with 3/2 and 3/2.5 being much more common. Even a 4/3 can be harder to find.

You should find a rental in an area and see if that area works/the living situation works (that's the big one) before buying. And you can have your MIL go in on the loan to boost the purchase price and your options will open up quite a bit.

[Tokinouta]

Originally Posted by themngoodlife

Hi all,
I've only spent brief amounts of time in Phoenix and could really use some guidance. I'll spare you the long, boring details...but I need to find a nice, small home that will suit my mother-in-law and my brother-in-law's family. They have young girls and the oldest goes to kindergarten next year. It's a unique situation where my husband and I are buying the house without much knowledge of the area. My mother-in-law will move there in the next month or so and my brother-in-law and his family live in an apartment in a suburb north of Phoenix that is too far from everything.

Here's what I know -- location doesn't matter to my MIL (she is retired) as long as she has a walking path nearby and a few grocery stores in the area that she likes. My BIL works in Tempe and his wife works in Avondale. Good schools are definitely a priority.

Since we already have a home and a mortgage, we can't spend more than $250K on the Arizona house. Can anyone suggest some neighborhoods with good schools and decent homes that we should consider? 3 BR/3 BA would be ideal.

Thank you for any help you can provide!

So, are they all living together? In the house you purchase? If so, then for that much space I would look in Maricopa city, San Tan Valley, Laveen, East Mesa. There are some areas like these in North Phoenix also but I'm not familiar with them. There will be a commute to work of about 30 or 40 min. depending on hours worked. No way to help that at the price you can afford.

Given the locations, I'd go for Maricopa City (better commute for husband) and Lavenn(better commute for the wife).

[Tokinouta]

https://www.niche.com/places-to-live...ix-metro-area/

Here, this will help. The best affordable nice suburbs around the valley. Click on each city and it will give you the details about each city. You can also use CD's city feature to learn more about any you're interested in.

[KurtAZ]

Well...problem with Maricopa is you are going to spend 20 minutes just getting to I-10 in the morning...depending on work schedules. If she works in Avondale and he works in Tempe...and they want good schools...and the limit is $250k...until the Ahwautukee extension of the 202 is done the SE Valley is kind of a hike for both of them. Last I looked the schools in Maricopa weren't the greatest either.

Best bet may just be renting somewhere.

[thinkalot]

Originally Posted by Tokinouta

https://www.niche.com/places-to-live...ix-metro-area/

Here, this will help. The best affordable nice suburbs around the valley. Click on each city and it will give you the details about each city. You can also use CD's city feature to learn more about any you're interested in.

I don't really agree with their rankings. Not that the OP would buy in Sun City but 25% of the score is based on schools, people 20 to 44 that moved in last year and people 25 to 40 that live there.


I also doubt that someone wouldn't be able to decide between Fountain Hills and El Mirage and then pick El Mirage because of it's ranking on that site.

[themngoodlife]

Thank you all for the feedback. To answer a previous question -- yes, they will all live together in the same house. Though this situation will change in a few years when my brother-in-law and his family get a bit more financially stable. At that point, it would just be for my MIL. No one else is in a position to help financially right now, so that's why we are capping this at $250K. It would be nice to spend more, but again, we have our own house and mortgage here in MN.

I will explore the options mentioned. We're looking at smaller homes in Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale and Mesa to see if there are some viable options that are 3/2.5. It seems possible. Also, keep in mind that it will eventually only be needed for my MIL, so 1400-1500 sq. feet will be plenty. Thanks again!

[yukon]

East Mesa will be a LONG drive to Avondale. If you want Mesa, look at the northwest area near the Mesa/Tempe border or close to the north intersection of the 101/202. Chandler and Gilbert may be long drives to Avondale as well, depending on where you are.