3 days for house hunting- What areas are must see?? (Tucson: short sale, real estate) - City-Data Forum

Rcarbaugh · 01-15-2012, 08:27 AM

We're open to look anywhere at the moment. My husband will be working near the Tucson Mall but is willing to drive a little further for a nice area (travels at off hours). Oro Valley, Casas Adobes, Catalina Foothills have all been suggested to us. Can anyone add a few areas to the list. We'll only be there for three days so having a plan of where to go would definately maximize our hunting time!!

Thanks for the help!

tumamoc · 01-15-2012, 09:36 AM

Areas northeast, like in the vicinity of Tanque Verde Road, might be worth checking out. The only problem is that if there is a traffic acccident, the area can become a real bottleneck.

azdr0710 · 01-15-2012, 12:19 PM

comfortable saying what house budget is?....do you want newer areas, older areas, pool, big yard?....what square footage are you hoping for?....

no, not a realtor!

Jukesgrrl · 01-15-2012, 04:53 PM

I bought a house in Tucson in two days but I had my area picked out and had an excellent Realtor driving me around. You'd need to give us some parameters (price, size of house and property, age of property, style, are schools/recreation important, etc.) to get a good answer to your question.

Before I came here to search I used this website extensively. Gives you a good idea what houses in different neighborhoods look like and cost.
Create Your own Tucson Home Search

coatimundi · 01-15-2012, 05:36 PM

I think the areas you're looking at, particularly Casas Adobes, are all good ideas. Nice neighborhoods and close to the Tucson Mall. But it's pricier than the rest of the area. In Casas Adobes, you'll find beautiful houses on relatively large tracts of unadulterated desert, but you'll be paying $250-400k for it.

The Catalina Foothills tend to have the stereotype of being a little snobby. There are some ratty apartments up there, but most of it is very desirable. They have what is considered the best school district in the area and have lots of upscale shopping. For instance, Tucson's sole Tiffany & Company, Container Store, Williams-Sonoma and Anthropologie locations are all located in the same shopping center in the Foothills, if that tells you something.

Oro Valley is very suburban and mostly very tract housing. A lot of extremely small lots and not much shopping around (relative to the rest of the city). The traffic up there can also be horrendous, partially because that oppressive traffic and tight development pushed people further out, and they all now drive in to work.

But I've always really liked Casas Adobes: lots of character and very "Tucson." Just a little expensive.

Rcarbaugh · 01-15-2012, 08:31 PM

We actually plan on renting until we sell our house back east and there seems to be a variety of prices in all the areas according to zillow.com. We'd like 3 bdrm, between 1500 and 2400 square feet and rent around $1100-$1500

New or old does not matter much, but a backyard would be nice since we do have a little guy who needs room to play.

The most important factor would be the safety. We want an area that is safe and we're willing to pay higher rent if need be.

Mike_ · 01-15-2012, 11:17 PM

We love it here in Oro Valley. Helena works down by the mall (well, further away actually (Fort Lowell and Campbell). It is only a 35 minute ride during rush times. Ofcourse we are used to the longer drives (we used to live in the sticks back in NH).

The mountains are great out here, the people are friendly, the area is beautiful. We are in a 3 bdrm 1500 sq ft home (although I do miss my 3500 sq ft home...). The only thing we don't like about the area are the HOAs.....and the people that think they are somehow empowered by them......

RickTucsonHomes · 01-17-2012, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rcarbaugh

We actually plan on renting until we sell our house back east and there seems to be a variety of prices in all the areas according to zillow.com. We'd like 3 bdrm, between 1500 and 2400 square feet and rent around $1100-$1500

New or old does not matter much, but a backyard would be nice since we do have a little guy who needs room to play.

The most important factor would be the safety. We want an area that is safe and we're willing to pay higher rent if need be.

One word of caution when using Zillow, Real Estae.com and other 3rd party sites. They are not updated on a daily basis so you can end up inquiring and investing time with properties that are already rented. Here is the link to the Tucson MLS site, it is updated throughout the day immediately as data gets entered. The other sites can take days and sometimes a week or so to update from the TAR site. The TAR site is not the most user friendly but it is the most accurate with updated information. Click on the Public Search link, then at the top left, click on drop down box for "rental". Then just enter your data for your particular search. I did some quick searches based on the rental home parameters you mentioned and areas discussed. In Oro Valley is shows 10 homes,(Zillow shows 17) Foothills shows 5 homes, NE Tucson (Sabino Canyon & Tanque Verde area) 6 homes, Casas Adobe area only 2, then out NW in Continental Ranch/Gladden Farms area 6 homes for rent. Nice rental homes tend to move fast, all the short sale and foreclsoure homeowners are now renters. Don't forget Craigs List too. A good resource for rentals. My sister listed her rental there last week, had 3 calls and 3 people wanting it the first weekend. Hope you enjoy your visit. Weather is fabulous right now.

Rcarbaugh · 01-17-2012, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickTucsonHomes

One word of caution when using Zillow, Real Estae.com and other 3rd party sites. They are not updated on a daily basis so you can end up inquiring and investing time with properties that are already rented. Here is the link to the Tucson MLS site, it is updated throughout the day immediately as data gets entered. The other sites can take days and sometimes a week or so to update from the TAR site. The TAR site is not the most user friendly but it is the most accurate with updated information. Click on the Public Search link, then at the top left, click on drop down box for "rental". Then just enter your data for your particular search. I did some quick searches based on the rental home parameters you mentioned and areas discussed. In Oro Valley is shows 10 homes,(Zillow shows 17) Foothills shows 5 homes, NE Tucson (Sabino Canyon & Tanque Verde area) 6 homes, Casas Adobe area only 2, then out NW in Continental Ranch/Gladden Farms area 6 homes for rent. Nice rental homes tend to move fast, all the short sale and foreclsoure homeowners are now renters. Don't forget Craigs List too. A good resource for rentals. My sister listed her rental there last week, had 3 calls and 3 people wanting it the first weekend. Hope you enjoy your visit. Weather is fabulous right now.

Thanks for that tip! We're trying to figure out the best way to do this and see as many properties as possible. We've thought about contacting two management companies/ real estate companies that seem to have a lot of properties that meet our criteria and then do a day of craigslist and drive-bys. The MLS list is great! It's definately going to help us a great deal!

RickTucsonHomes · 01-18-2012, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rcarbaugh

Thanks for that tip! We're trying to figure out the best way to do this and see as many properties as possible. We've thought about contacting two management companies/ real estate companies that seem to have a lot of properties that meet our criteria and then do a day of craigslist and drive-bys. The MLS list is great! It's definately going to help us a great deal!

A couple of the more popular Property Management companies here are EMS Property Mgt. and The Nordstroms Group. If you read the online reviews it seems people either love them or hate them, it's 1 star or 5 stars! Your realtor can show you the homes with the propety managemnt companies as well as anything else shown in the Tucson MLS.