Small community w/ inexpensive horse property? (Tucson, Scottsdale: real estate, rent, mobile home)

[EmmyScammahorn]

Hello everyone,
I plan to relocate to the Southwest to retire. I have about 8 days to scout out locations.

I'm 56, female, and looking for a small-moderate size town that supports the arts, has little traffic, not too many triple-digit days, with property for two horses for $200K or less. I hail from the Washington, D.C., area, so most places will have "less traffic." I worked in publishing for 32 years, and will need to find part-time work. I hope to find singles where I land, for friendship and more, as they say in the personals. I want to feel safe. And my political leanings are liberal.

I've never owned horses, so I hope to find horse people who won't laugh their asses--I'm talking about their donkeys--off at this middle-aged woman following a childhood dream.

I like Williamson Valley, in Prescott, and Sedona, where I can afford, maybe, the driveway of a horse estate.

Tucson Forum suggested Route 77 (thanks, Bummer). I also plan to look into Bisbee, Tubac, Patagonia, and Tombstone. But . . . you guys are the experts. I need all the help I can get.

Thank you so much!
Emmy

[NW Crow]

I am not local or an expert on the area but have visited and looked into it a fair amount. Williamson valley sounds like a good prospect to check out or perhaps further out to Chino Valley if need be for pricing reasons.

You might also check into Kirkland / Yarnell. Warmer in summer than some parts of the Prescott area but might be tolerable to you and it is probably also warmer in winter. You can get into Wickenburg for work or socializing or Prescott too (though there probably will be some days of challenging winter driving).

That area and down to Wickenburg have a good number of ranches. Horse activities are a very big part of life and the economy. You could have good prospects for finding riding partners or join clubs for organized rides. Owning horses on your own land is your stated goal but you could, if you wanted, also have the the option to maybe buy or rent housing first without owned horses and ride at dude ranches or people you meet with more than one horse until you are ready and find the right place to buy or even just keep your owned horse at a paid stable for a time.

You might also check out Camp Verde- from there you could get into Prescott, Sedona or Jerome with a moderate length drive or even Flagstaff for part-time work if the schedule was arranged for it or just for activities.

Or you could look at Williams. Payson works for some on its own merits and for being able to get into Scottsdale in maybe an hour and half on the weekends or perhaps part-time work if say you were able to make it all on 2-3 days and you were willing to do that kind of commute.

The places you mentioned in the south are at 3-5,000 feet in elevation so you might find their summers ok. If you try Route 77, above Catalina might work.

[khuntrevor]

Rio Rico, zipcode 85648. Patagonia is much more expensive.

[mohawkx]

Cornville right next to Cottonwood, Az. 86326. Land is cheap and lots to do for your age group. John McCain has a ranch there. It's 25 minutes from Sedona. Lots of horse people live there. Read my post on the whole Verde Valley on pg. 13 of the "Arizona city by city" thread on this page. Good luck in your search.

[beekay21]

Check Verde Valley--Camp Verde, Cottonwood, Cornville. Check the classifieds on this site, as well as zillow and landsofamerica.com. We lived in Camp Verde with horses for a long time. There is plenty of forest service access for riding, and if you look into irrigated land, pasture is a possiibility. PM for more specific information if you'd like.

[adventuregurl]

I saw a post somehwere on here that said you could get a horse property in Cochise County with a late model mobile home on it for $60,000 to $80,000. If you use the search function I'm sure you will find it and you could DM him if interested.

[OurNextAdventure]

Also, check out Peoples Valley. It is still invisible to the world.
//www.city-data.com/city/Peeple...y-Arizona.html

[adventuregurl]

Originally Posted by AzDesertRat86

Also, check out Peoples Valley. It is still invisible to the world.
//www.city-data.com/city/Peeple...y-Arizona.html

Is it a more affordable place to live with horses Desert Rat? This is the first I've heard of it.

[AZDesertBrat]

Originally Posted by adventuregurl

Is it a more affordable place to live with horses Desert Rat? This is the first I've heard of it.

Peeple's Valley is ranch country located between Prescott and Wickenburg. It's a really nice area but I have no idea what real estate prices would run. The nice thing about it is that it has a very low population and loads of open country. People who don't work on their ranch probably have to commute to Yarnell, Wickenburg or Prescott for jobs. Time consuming commutes.

Just for grins, I really quick, checked the Trulia real estate website for Peeple's Valley. All prices for land/lots but not ONE listing said what size the land/lots are! Prices ranged from $50,000 (lot) to $528,000 (land). Don't know why they didn't list the size you pay for. There were four pages of real estate though which kinda surprised me. Didn't know Peeple's Valley had grown that much!

[OurNextAdventure]

Originally Posted by AZDesertBrat

Peeple's Valley is ranch country located between Prescott and Wickenburg. It's a really nice area but I have no idea what real estate prices would run. The nice thing about it is that it has a very low population and loads of open country. People who don't work on their ranch probably have to commute to Yarnell, Wickenburg or Prescott for jobs. Time consuming commutes.

Just for grins, I really quick, checked the Trulia real estate website for Peeple's Valley. All prices for land/lots but not ONE listing said what size the land/lots are! Prices ranged from $50,000 (lot) to $528,000 (land). Don't know why they didn't list the size you pay for. There were four pages of real estate though which kinda surprised me. Didn't know Peeple's Valley had grown that much!

Sounds like the pricing is the same as it is here in the Valley. The land shouldn't be that expensive, as it is out in the middle nowhere, taxes have got to be low.