Looking to move to the Phoenix area (Glendale, Scottsdale: real estate, HOA)

[socalchef00]

Hello all,

Family and I are planning to leave SoCal. It is just becoming to unbearably expensive out here.

Our main concern is finding a large enough house to accommodate a family of 6 yet lower priced to our income. I am self employed and wont be losing any clients in the move , however due to the income cap we are limited in price of home we can afford.

After we sell our house, we would be able to get something in the $250k or below range.

Looking on zillow, we have seen some homes that are priced between 200 and 250k and look fairly nice. Mainly south side and west side from the looks.

Does this seem right? Or am I just used to our expense real estate in CA?

With my kids between 4 and 12 , we need a nice neighborhood preferred family friendly. I'd generally like to stay away from hoa if possible.

Thanks in advance

[DetroitN8V]

How are you surviving in SoCal if you can only afford a $250k house? That’s pretty low, even for Phoenix.

[socalchef00]

We live in the mtn community. Bought for under 100k. Have decent equity, but to match cost of living, we cant purchase higher than 250-260k

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by socalchef00

We live in the mtn community. Bought for under 100k. Have decent equity, but to match cost of living, we cant purchase higher than 250-260k

Understood. May be doable here but your options will be limited and your quality of life may not increase if you’re having to commute to/from some far flung cheap area.

[socalchef00]

Originally Posted by DetroitN8V

Understood. May be doable here but your options will be limited and your quality of life may not increase if you’re having to commute to/from some far flung cheap area.

No communting necessary. Self employed, will work from home.
I'll have my current CA clients and once I'm established there, I would plan on growing my practice to include clients in AZ.

[socalchef00]

I've been looking on Realtor.com and Zillow and the following areas seem to have decent homes for my price range.

Cities and areas:
Estrella Village
South Mountain Village
Maricopa , though it is futher south than I initially planned.
Goodyear
Buckeye
El Mirage
Surprise
Peoria
Glendale

It seems like all of the south and west sides of Phoenix area are within price range.

Are these areas nice? Good for familys?


Wife and I plan on making a trip this summer out to Pheonix and we'll drive around, but I wanted to get a heads up from locals to help weed out areas.

[ScottsdaleMark]

My personal opinion of that list, given you do not need to commute, would be Surprise or further to the north and west. It'll be a safer, more suburban vibe, lots of retirees and working families, and it's all pretty new so it'll stay nice for a little while.


With cheap newbuild houses, where the location is not an asset, as communities age, they often go from being perceived as "it looks nice / it looks new" to "it looks old / it looks run down" over the course of several decades ... that is true in most communities across the country of course but certainly true here. Sometimes those communities are gradually refreshed/revitalized, other times they are not, a lot of that depends on the value of their location.



Therefore, since you don't have to commute and your price needs to be low, I'd look toward the newer cheap areas than the older cheap areas. The newer cheaper areas are much farther away from economic centers, hence you get a nicer house for your money than closer in to the city, where more of your money is paying for location. Since proximity to jobs is not a factor for you, farther out might be your best bet.

[socalchef00]

Originally Posted by ScottsdaleMark

My personal opinion of that list, given you do not need to commute, would be Surprise or further to the north and west. It'll be a safer, more suburban vibe, lots of retirees and working families, and it's all pretty new so it'll stay nice for a little while.


With cheap newbuild houses, where the location is not an asset, as communities age, they often go from being perceived as "it looks nice / it looks new" to "it looks old / it looks run down" over the course of several decades ... that is true in most communities across the country of course but certainly true here. Sometimes those communities are gradually refreshed/revitalized, other times they are not, a lot of that depends on the value of their location.



Therefore, since you don't have to commute and your price needs to be low, I'd look toward the newer cheap areas than the older cheap areas. The newer cheaper areas are much farther away from economic centers, hence you get a nicer house for your money than closer in to the city, where more of your money is paying for location. Since proximity to jobs is not a factor for you, farther out might be your best bet.

Thank you. I"ll check out that area some more.

How long is the typical drive to say downtown should we need to go? I see on the maps its only about 30 miles, but here in CA, 30 miles can mean and hour and half depending on time of day.

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by socalchef00

Thank you. I"ll check out that area some more.

How long is the typical drive to say downtown should we need to go? I see on the maps its only about 30 miles, but here in CA, 30 miles can mean and hour and half depending on time of day.

Just as long if you’re coming from the west. There are two main arteries to get downtown from the west side, I10 and I17 and each is clogged all times of day but especially during rush hours. The east side of town has a more thorough freeway network but is more expensive.

Frankly, while downtown Phoenix has come a long way, you’ll probably never “have” to go. Phoenix is similar to LA in that the burbs are so built up that necessities are nearby and redundant

In your position, I’d look at Surprise the hardest, especially near the 303

[socalchef00]

Originally Posted by JGMotorsport64

Just as long if you’re coming from the west. There are two main arteries to get downtown from the west side, I10 and I17 and each is clogged all times of day but especially during rush hours. The east side of town has a more thorough freeway network but is more expensive.

Frankly, while downtown Phoenix has come a long way, you’ll probably never “have” to go. Phoenix is similar to LA in that the burbs are so built up that necessities are nearby and redundant

In your position, I’d look at Surprise the hardest, especially near the 303

Thank you. I apreciate your help. I'm sure I wont go all that often and more to the surrounding outskirts.
Wife and I like to take the family out to new places for the kids to do.