Florence AZ (Phoenix, Tucson, Sun City: equity, motel, travel)

[june]

Can anyone describe the Florence area? I heard alot of communitys are going up there. And DEL WEBB all age family community also. Would it be a wise choice to live there if you wanted to travel to Phoenix and Tucson, heard that it is in the middle of both major citys. And as an investment do you think because of the new DEL WEBB Community will i loose on equity? Thank You for comments.

[CodyW]

The growth in Florence puzzles me. Yes, there are some extremely AMAZING values out there right now - But. Its in the middle of nowhere. Nowhere REMOTELY close to I-10, no jobs, so. I really wonder where a person would work. Its too far to drive into Phoenix for work, daily that is., Even further to Tucson. So, would a person have to work in Casa Grande?

[tucsondesertdweller]

correct me if I am wrong, but there is a prison in florence, perhaps a federal prison.

[silverbear]

Originally Posted by tucsondesertdweller

correct me if I am wrong, but there is a prison in florence, perhaps a federal prison.

It's a state prison, and it's one of the few major local employers in Florence. As suggested above, the commute to either Phoenix or Tucson would be pretty bad because Florence is not on the interstate and the local roads in Pinal County are badly overcrowded due to recent development. Sure, housing is inexpensive there, but unless you are employed in or near Florence, your reduced housing expense may be offset by high gas costs, mileage on your car, and aggravation due to long commutes.

If living between Phoenix and Tucson is a high priority, Casa Grande might be a better choice because it is situated along Interstate 10. Otherwise, I'd suggest choosing either Phoenix or Tucson and living closer to the core of whichever city you choose.

[aj661]

There's actually several detention centers in and around Florence. As silverbear said, ASP has several sites. There's also as a private prison run by CCA, and a federal INS detention center. Florence is the Pinal County seat, with a pretty good sized Superior Court complex and the main PSCO headquarters and county jail.

It's a 50+ mile drive down SR79 from Florence to Catalina and Oro Valley. A few miles further south is the north end of Tucson. I realize it may seem like a long drive to I-10 from Florence, but it's not. SR287/87 west out of town to SR387 or SR187, then hang a left, go a few more miles to I-10. Connects at the north end of Casa Grande. Living in Florence (or south Queen Creek for that matter) and commuting to Phoenix or Tucson would get expensive. Many of the CO's at the state prison use a shuttle service to save money, but it's just so far away.

Coolidge borders Florence to the southwest, and it is also beginning to go nuts. The building "boom" in Florence is simply a continuation of Queen Creek - Johnson Ranch, Del Webb, etc. Florence had the foresight to annex north to meet it.

Downtown Florence is still somewhat depressing from my point of view. Quite old, run down looking and not much there beyond a few basic services. Again this is just an opinion, but in the short term, I do not think it would be good as an investment, even with Del Webb.

[june]

Originally Posted by aj661

There's actually several detention centers in and around Florence. As silverbear said, ASP has several sites. There's also as a private prison run by CCA, and a federal INS detention center. Florence is the Pinal County seat, with a pretty good sized Superior Court complex and the main PSCO headquarters and county jail.

It's a 50+ mile drive down SR79 from Florence to Catalina and Oro Valley. A few miles further south is the north end of Tucson. I realize it may seem like a long drive to I-10 from Florence, but it's not. SR287/87 west out of town to SR387 or SR187, then hang a left, go a few more miles to I-10. Connects at the north end of Casa Grande. Living in Florence (or south Queen Creek for that matter) and commuting to Phoenix or Tucson would get expensive. Many of the CO's at the state prison use a shuttle service to save money, but it's just so far away.

Coolidge borders Florence to the southwest, and it is also beginning to go nuts. The building "boom" in Florence is simply a continuation of Queen Creek - Johnson Ranch, Del Webb, etc. Florence had the foresight to annex north to meet it.

Downtown Florence is still somewhat depressing from my point of view. Quite old, run down looking and not much there beyond a few basic services. Again this is just an opinion, but in the short term, I do not think it would be good as an investment, even with Del Webb.

I thought with Del Webb you couldnt loose. All his planned communitys are so beautiful and never decrease in value, I hope this isnt the first being where its located. Thank you for your information a big help to me.

[aj661]

You're welcome. You made a great point. Sun City was way, way out there in the beginning. If Webb creates another self-contained master community, it just might be gold! We'll see...

[Kat_7]

We looked at Anthem to buy a house in Sept and it was like a ghost town. So many people had continginsies that when their house sold they could buy in Anthem, and when the market crashed Anthem had to take them all back into possesion. Now they don't allow continginsies. Like they say it's a buyers market and there was a lot of good spec homes available with lots of upgrades way under market. It hasn't stopped them from building more houses. I don't know how they keep from going bankrupt. They do have lots of great ammenities that no other builder has, which is very appealing seeing as there aren't many ammenties to choose from out here in the boonies.

[AksarbeN]

Originally Posted by june

Can anyone describe the Florence area? I heard alot of communitys are going up there. And DEL WEBB all age family community also. Would it be a wise choice to live there if you wanted to travel to Phoenix and Tucson, heard that it is in the middle of both major citys. And as an investment do you think because of the new DEL WEBB Community will i loose on equity? Thank You for comments.

Del Webb now owned by Pulte Homes is having some trouble in the area. On 3-8-07 the lead story was this home building and problems that have gone unresolved for five years now. The battle is over structural cracks everywhere in the house to include floors.
Link:
http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news/articles/delwebbhome030807-CR.html (broken link)

I’ve heard from a difference source that the cities are no longer issuing building permits to this homebuilder. I think the problem has to be bad or the channel 12 TV news wouldn’t have run with this being the first story out of the box at 10pm on 3-8-07. Also I find it hard to believe that the cities would no longer issue permits unless they have had too many problems with this builder.

I personally have seen a new neighborhood development that is “standing still” with no work being performed at all. The entire development is like a ghost town.

[Boatdrinks]

Pulte had massive lay offs early this year b/c business has slowed, and construction has decreased dramatically in Merrill Ranch b/c the houses aren't selling. It's in the middle of nowhere, and Coolidge and Florence aren't really great areas, IMO - as cities, they don't have much to offer and they are a little depressing, I think.

Yes, Merrill Ranch is very pretty, and I imagine that 10 or 20 yrs from now, it'll no longer be the middle of nowhere. If you're willing to buy and stick it out for many years, you may make some money. But if you're looking for a quick turnaround, look elsewhere - it'll be tough to sell a resale there, competing with all the other resales and the builder incentives for new builds.