SW FLORIDIANS that moved to Prescott (Prescott Valley, Chino Valley: sales, buying a home, buying)

[marymouse]

Hi everyone,

My husband and I have decided to move to prescott eventually after alot of ends to tie up here in sw florida. I would like to know if anyone has arthritis or other ailments if they are better or worse moving there. Also how did your spouse or you handle the new COLDER weather. I grew up in chicago, but that was 25 years ago now that I am in my mid 40's I want to make sure the cold won't confine me inside or make me shiver all day. Also we are a huge pet family with 10 dogs and horses so looking for acreage. Is it better to buy an existing home in prescott or buy property and build,( we built our last 2 homes) kinda wondering after I heard about your permits going up quite a bit that buying a home would be better. One more questions anyone move away after a move to someplace because of?????? thanks for all the info

[esselcue]

You won't find acreage in Prescott, but, depending on your finances, you can look to Williamson Valley, Chino Valley, or out towards Coyote Springs or Dewey/Humboldt for acreage. Chino Valley probably has the most to offer for horse stuff...and Williamson Valley, which is a bit more pricey.

As for cold...well, Prescott has four seasons but the cold here is not like eastern or midwestern cold. Not even close. It was almost 60 degrees today, in January...but we do occasionally get snow, too. I think it depends on the individual...remember that it is a very "dry" cold here...not like wetter areas. Maybe some folks with arthritis can answer your questions about that better than I. Good luck to you!

[Arizona Bound]

Hi.. you will find acreage, horse property in Prescott Valley.
try using www.realtor.com and you can search for homes
with acreage by using the added features/checklist which
you will see on left side of website.. after you input the town
and state, then just narrow-down your search by using the
menu checklist. very easy to search and get an Idea of what
is out there.

[Gretchen B]

Originally Posted by marymouse

Hi everyone,

My husband and I have decided to move to prescott eventually after alot of ends to tie up here in sw florida. I would like to know if anyone has arthritis or other ailments if they are better or worse moving there. Also how did your spouse or you handle the new COLDER weather. I grew up in chicago, but that was 25 years ago now that I am in my mid 40's I want to make sure the cold won't confine me inside or make me shiver all day. Also we are a huge pet family with 10 dogs and horses so looking for acreage. Is it better to buy an existing home in prescott or buy property and build,( we built our last 2 homes) kinda wondering after I heard about your permits going up quite a bit that buying a home would be better. One more questions anyone move away after a move to someplace because of?????? thanks for all the info

What you think of the weather is going to depend on where you moved from. I live SE of Prescott Valley, and we have yet to see snow this year out my way; however Prescott (which is about 400 ft higher than where I live has had a couple of snow storms (about 3 inches which melted almost immediately). This past weekend was wonderful! Must have been close to 70, because it was so warm I had to lose the sweater I was wearing.

As far as acreage - as esselcue mentioned, you won't find that in Prescott proper. Williamson Valley (which is a Prescott address), Chino Valley, northern Prescott Valley, and Dewey are all areas with 2-acre horse property. Be aware, though, that some of the rural properties do have HOA's and CC&R's that might limit the number of pets you have. The county regulates the number of horses to 1 horse/acre depending on the zoning. Also HOA's can regulate NO horses, even though the county would normally allow horses.

When it comes to building vs resale, generally speaking the deals are still on the resale homes. Prices on land got sky high in '05, and are just now getting reasonable again. You can find a few bargain-priced parcels, but the bigger issue is just that there's not a lot of availability of really nice, buildable parcels out there in good locations. And, by the time you figure in well, septic, and electricity/propane, plus building costs - you're usually quite a bit higher than what you can buy resale. However, we do have a lot of good builders here that are really willing to work with owners on getting something built and staying within budget. If you build within city limits, then be aware that the impact fees are quite hefty around here.

Hope you love it here!

PS Health/arthritis, etc. The climate is very dry, so folks with arthritis do seem to feel better here. Some of my friends are allergic to the juniper trees around the area.

[esselcue]

In Chino, where I live, it is zoned for three horses per acre and no goats, pigs, sheep, cattle etc...but nothing is enforced. There are all sorts of critters around here

[BriansPerspective]

Originally Posted by esselcue

In Chino, where I live, it is zoned for three horses per acre and no goats, pigs, sheep, cattle etc...but nothing is enforced. There are all sorts of critters around here

I thought Yavapai County was 2 horses per acre. Does Chino have special zoning within its city limits? I think the general Yavapai County zoning per acre is 2 large animals (e.g., horse), 5 medium animals (e.g., goat) and 10 small animals (e.g., chicken). By the way, swine are illegal anywhere in Yavapai County.

[esselcue]

Hmmm...I think the 3-horse rule where I live is a sort of CC&R thing...I am in Chino Heights. All I know is what is written in my sales contract from 23 years ago, which states 3 equine, no farm critters (not those exact words). Maybe things have changed. I did have 3 pygmy goats at one time...I still have a donkey...no one has ever said anything but I know it says in my initial contract that there are no goats, pigs, fowl, etc...I looked it up. But, as I mentioned, I don;t believe it has ever been enforced by anyone

By the way, it also says in my sales thingy that if the railroad ever wants my land, they can buy it at "fair market value". I never did figure that one out.

[BriansPerspective]

Originally Posted by esselcue

Hmmm...I think the 3-horse rule where I live is a sort of CC&R thing...I am in Chino Heights. All I know is what is written in my sales contract from 23 years ago, which states 3 equine, no farm critters (not those exact words). Maybe things have changed. I did have 3 pygmy goats at one time...I still have a donkey...no one has ever said anything but I know it says in my initial contract that there are no goats, pigs, fowl, etc...I looked it up. But, as I mentioned, I don;t believe it has ever been enforced by anyone

By the way, it also says in my sales thingy that if the railroad ever wants my land, they can buy it at "fair market value". I never did figure that one out.

In general, if CC&Rs are not enforeced, they become unenforceable. That's pretty cool about the railroad. I've seen a lot of sales thingies , but I have never seen that before. I doubt the railroad will be buying your land anytime soon though - unless they want to build a bullet train from Prescott to the Grand Canyon

[marymouse]

thanks everyone for you input. I am not sure if I will bring the horses or sell them, they are hard to keep here in florida with rain, bugs etc. not enough pasture here on our 5 acres and I am sure on 2 acres it would be a dust bowl fast. Even if we did not bring horses husband wants to have space so 2 acres is fine so not to be ontop of neighbors, besides we have 6 little dogs as we are dog people too. We were out there in sept on vacation looking and love the williamson valley area so that probably will be our choice. Do have another question if you do have horses on acreage do you have agricultural exemptions for that. We have to have 5 acres here with 4 breeding horses including a stallion to qualify. but our taxes are cut in half with that here in florida which is nice. Are their other smaller towns further from williamson valley with acreage? I don't want to be further then 40 minute drive from town were we will open a business there. thanks again mary

[BriansPerspective]

Originally Posted by marymouse

thanks everyone for you input. I am not sure if I will bring the horses or sell them, they are hard to keep here in florida with rain, bugs etc. not enough pasture here on our 5 acres and I am sure on 2 acres it would be a dust bowl fast. Even if we did not bring horses husband wants to have space so 2 acres is fine so not to be ontop of neighbors, besides we have 6 little dogs as we are dog people too. We were out there in sept on vacation looking and love the williamson valley area so that probably will be our choice. Do have another question if you do have horses on acreage do you have agricultural exemptions for that. We have to have 5 acres here with 4 breeding horses including a stallion to qualify. but our taxes are cut in half with that here in florida which is nice. Are their other smaller towns further from williamson valley with acreage? I don't want to be further then 40 minute drive from town were we will open a business there. thanks again mary

Not sure what you mean by agricultural exemptions. The best thing for you to do is to call Yavapai County Development Services at 928-771-3214. They can tell you everything you want to know as far as county restrictions are concerned. If you buy within a subdivision that has CC&Rs, the CC&Rs might be more restrictive than the county.