Another 'moving - what to expect' thread (Tucson, Tanque Verde: truck rental, rental)

[JillBoBill]

I have a bunch of questions ...


1: I visited Tucson in July and loved it. It was hot, sure but, the myth about 'dry heat' is true. I got a wicked sunburn/tan and it was great. I think it was 103 degrees when we were there - REALISTICALLY, from someone who actually lives there, how much hotter than that does it get consistently? I don't mean a day or two at 110 and none of this 'national average' junk 'cause that's all scewed. I just want to know what to expect from a real person.

2: Okay, so there's this big thread on here about how hard Tucson sucks and it's overrun with gangs and hoodrats and oh, no! I lived in NYC and LA - How much worse can it be? When we were there, it looked like an old, partially worn out city that was doing it's best to keep it all going. I don't remember seeing any grafitti and I saw loads of people walking around at night. Note, I didn't read but two pages of the gang thread - Cliff notes, anyone?

3: The foothills. I love, love, love, love the architecture a lot of those big, fancy-pants houses have. And they build them right into the foothills like that. So cool. We want to buy a house after we move to Tucson - I'm banking a lot on loving it as much when I've moved there as I did when I visited. Does anyone know if there's cheaper-ish, tract/development/manufactured housing up there? Here on the East Coast, it's all townhomes, condos and cheap, parts-are-parts houses that they throw up in a few weeks and sell for decent-ish prices. For example, here in NC, you can buy a 4 bed, 3 bath, two story on an acre or so, built in the 70's house for about $450 thousand. But, you can get a much smaller 'community' house for about $180 - $250, in more or less the same area. You sacrifice yard space/character/privacy, but that's a huge difference, which is why I'm asking. I don't RECALL seeing these types of houses when we drove through the hills on our way out of Tucson, so I figured I'd ask.

4: Last one, any suggestions on moving our stuff? When my brother moved from NY back to CA, he had a truck company drop off a 53' trailer in his yard. He loaded it, boarded it off and then it was shipped. NO, NOT THOSE POD THINGS. Pods and stuff similar are stupid expensive. I got a quote from a moving company saying they'd pack, move and unpack the truck for $3,500 to $4000, dependning on how much we really ended up having. Does that sound all right? It sounds like a LOT to me.


Thanks!

[mdtoaz]

Okay, I'll do my best to answer what I can.

#1: We moved here in July of last year. Yeah, it was hot, but I didn't think it was hateful. I didn't try to do a lot of hiking or anything in the middle of the day, but it wasn't really a big deal. I think the month that was the worst was June of this year. It got to the point where it was oppressive a few times. There was a stretch where every day was 105+. Yeah, it's a dry heat, but once you get that hot it doesn't seem to matter as much.

#2: You'll learn quickly where the bulk of that activity seems to happen. I've never been to LA, so I can't compare and I've only spent limited time in NYC. My comparison is to Baltimore, MD - and Tucson is far less scary than Baltimore. But, like Baltimore, you learn the areas and know where to avoid. Simple as that.

#3: I'm not really sure of Foothills prices... It's probably cheaper than NYC (or many places back East), but I live on the complete opposite end of town. I'm sure one of the agents would be able to chime in on this one.

#4: We looked into one of those moving services. That quote actually sounds about right. We decided to do it ourselves, just so we didn't have to worry about our stuff getting lost/damaged, etc. We used Penske for a truck rental and towed our Jeep behind the moving truck. We found this website helpful when trying to decide how to get our stuff from there to here: Moving: How to avoid Moving Company Scams

Good luck!

[michael krotchie]

I'm sitting on my couch watching football so I figured I may as well answer some questions while I'm at it!

Originally Posted by JillBoBill

I have a bunch of questions ...


1: I visited Tucson in July and loved it. It was hot, sure but, the myth about 'dry heat' is true. I got a wicked sunburn/tan and it was great. I think it was 103 degrees when we were there - REALISTICALLY, from someone who actually lives there, how much hotter than that does it get consistently? I don't mean a day or two at 110 and none of this 'national average' junk 'cause that's all scewed. I just want to know what to expect from a real person.

If you've been here in July and felt 103 degrees you probably won't be surprised by much else. There are time when we hit 105-110 for several days in a row but it doesn't typically stick around for too long.

Originally Posted by JillBoBill

2: Okay, so there's this big thread on here about how hard Tucson sucks and it's overrun with gangs and hoodrats and oh, no! I lived in NYC and LA - How much worse can it be? When we were there, it looked like an old, partially worn out city that was doing it's best to keep it all going. I don't remember seeing any grafitti and I saw loads of people walking around at night. Note, I didn't read but two pages of the gang thread - Cliff notes, anyone?

Cliff's notes - There are pockets of bad neighborhoods all over Tucson just like in any city. I'd say your assessment of 'partially worn out' is pretty accurate, there are definitely some parts of town that are more 'seasoned' than others.

Originally Posted by JillBoBill

3: The foothills. I love, love, love, love the architecture a lot of those big, fancy-pants houses have. And they build them right into the foothills like that. So cool. We want to buy a house after we move to Tucson - I'm banking a lot on loving it as much when I've moved there as I did when I visited. Does anyone know if there's cheaper-ish, tract/development/manufactured housing up there? Here on the East Coast, it's all townhomes, condos and cheap, parts-are-parts houses that they throw up in a few weeks and sell for decent-ish prices. For example, here in NC, you can buy a 4 bed, 3 bath, two story on an acre or so, built in the 70's house for about $450 thousand. But, you can get a much smaller 'community' house for about $180 - $250, in more or less the same area. You sacrifice yard space/character/privacy, but that's a huge difference, which is why I'm asking. I don't RECALL seeing these types of houses when we drove through the hills on our way out of Tucson, so I figured I'd ask.

If you're talking about the foothills between say, Craycroft and 1st Ave, there aren't really tract homes; most everything has been built up and you can easily drop $500k for an older home with a bit of land. There are condos but not sure if you are considering those.

If you move further NE towards Sabino Canyon there are quite a few more options (tract/condos/townhomes) and also homes with land. Check out the Tucson MLS site.

Originally Posted by JillBoBill

4: Last one, any suggestions on moving our stuff? When my brother moved from NY back to CA, he had a truck company drop off a 53' trailer in his yard. He loaded it, boarded it off and then it was shipped. NO, NOT THOSE POD THINGS. Pods and stuff similar are stupid expensive. I got a quote from a moving company saying they'd pack, move and unpack the truck for $3,500 to $4000, dependning on how much we really ended up having. Does that sound all right? It sounds like a LOT to me.


Thanks!

From what I've heard that sounds about right, moving cross country isn't cheap!

[Bummer]

Good questions there, JillBoBill.

Not much help on #4 (the move question) because I've been here for ten plus years and all of my stuff was previously in storage so Allied Van Lines was my only option. Considering how much work was involved even with professionals doing the job, it's not very likely I would choose a more DIY option if another move was necessary.

As for #1 (weather) . . . July and August are the killer months so you have already experienced the worst possible. Granted, the temperature may spike pushing 110 degrees but that's not typical and/or normal. As an example, only in the mid 80's now with a whopping and dropping 17% humidity. Last night and early morning temperatures have been running in the mid to high 60's.

Question #3 (crime) . . . definitely NOT as bad as many have posted unless you choose to frequent the high crime (read: drugs) areas. Also, definitely NOT as bad and many cities around the country. This will probably stir some grief here but I am a firm believer most victims are, for the most part, partially responsible for their victim status.

Bottom line . . . there is no perfect place to live but, as far as I'm concerned, Tucson ranks #2, #3, #4 and #5.

Good Luck

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by JillBoBill

I have a bunch of questions ...

I'd second what Michael said. July is one of the worst months here and it's certainly not dry. If that time didn't bother you... nothing will. And yes, there are less expensive houses around Kolb/Sabino Canyon Rd & Sunrise. I believe they're not in 85750 zip code and District 16, but the area is nice enough and if I'm not mistaken children still can go to these schools, if school districts concern you at all.

[JillBoBill]

Yay, guys! 80 degrees - I wanna go NOW! I'm stuck in my house today - another wasted day of 95 degrees and 80 percent humidity in the stupid South. I can't even walk to my car without my undies turning into a swamp.


I don't have kids and, truthfully, don't like them. I know a lot of cheaper, newly built housing attracts young, fresh-faced families with all their kids, though. I'll just have to deal until we become millionaires, I guess. :P I'll check out the link -- thanks so much!


When we visited, we stayed with family on the East side of Tuscon (near Speedway/Tanque Verde - sounds familiar) and it was really kind of nice. We saw some music in a park and watched bats and DIDN'T get eaten by mosquitoes and it WASN'T hot or humid. It was so nice.

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by JillBoBill

I don't have kids and, truthfully, don't like them. I know a lot of cheaper, newly built housing attracts young, fresh-faced families with all their kids, though. I'll just have to deal until we become millionaires, I guess. :P I'll check out the link -- thanks so much!

Well, school districts tend to matter for resale value whether you have kids or not.

When we visited, we stayed with family on the East side of Tuscon (near Speedway/Tanque Verde - sounds familiar) and it was really kind of nice.

Nice it is; cheap it isn't. Then again, depends on everybody's definition. I like The Lakes at Castle Rock at Tanque Verde & Catalina Hwy. There are some smaller houses there you may want to look into if you like some water around as I do.

[JillBoBill]

omg - I wanna go NOW!



I was looking at that MLS and it looks like you can get a nice house on the East-ish side for around $150-200. And even if we have to rent, it'd still be cheaper for the same-ish place than we're paying here.

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by JillBoBill

omg - I wanna go NOW!

I was looking at that MLS and it looks like you can get a nice house on the East-ish side for around $150-200. And even if we have to rent, it'd still be cheaper for the same-ish place than we're paying here.

Oh, you can get those now in 85710, 85730, 85747, and even 85748. 85749 is a tougher cookie, though, as is 85748 East of Houghton. Some of the houses are not exactly something to write home about, but they're horse properties on a lot of land.

[Bummer]

Originally Posted by JillBoBill

omg - I wanna go NOW!



I was looking at that MLS and it looks like you can get a nice house on the East-ish side for around $150-200. And even if we have to rent, it'd still be cheaper for the same-ish place than we're paying here.

A $150k to $200k home is not an impossibility, JillBoBill.

Definitely not a View Estate in the Foothills but a nice home or patio home in a decent neighborhood. In spite of a double move, a short term lease may be wise in order to find the perfect home in the perfect location relative to your place of employment.