queen creek , az (Phoenix, Chandler: homes, living in, price)

[AZQueen]

I rent in QC and I LOVE LOVE it. Unfortunately I have to move I live in the Pinal County part off Ironwood & Ocotillo in Wayne's Ranch. There is a SuperWalmart about 15/20 min. away. A Fry's is being built and will be about 10 min away. When I first moved here (July 2006) there was not much around, not even a pizza delivery, however there is a new shopping center that went in at Ocotillo and Ellsworth with a Papa John's Pizza that now delivers here. There are other stores and more being built everyday. There are great schools, a new Elementary opening Aug. 2008 and Middle and HS in 2009. Everything is growing!!!! Traffic can be troublesome, but really is not that bad. Ironwood to the 60 freeway is under contruction and should be complete by Dec. 2008 (probably sooner- I work for the company building this). I work in Phoenix, I-10 and Baseline, my drive is only 30/40 minutes, you can cut about 20 minutes off that if you carpool.

[Leaving AZ]

Well Queen Creek is Beautiful if you like that small town feel it is about 20 min to Chandler and they are getting alot more things up and running out here there is a retirement community called Salero if you are interested in that there is another retirement community called Trilogy on Power Rd. I live in Johnson Ranch in Queen Creek it is actually in the un incorporated part Moderator cut: no advertising here, please

[azjack]

The "bust" has happened!

The housing bust is ongoing. If you think that prices have bottomed in QC or elsewhere in Arizona, you are in for some surprises over the next few years. The prices will be going lower.

[jhcdon]

Well, the majority it seems say to rent house first, as pricing of most homes in the QC and Chandler area seems to be going to the downside....But, putting aside the home price's, I would like to ask all who live there, do you really like living in area??? July thru Sept. are brutal hot days, which means most of time is spent indoors, I guess you can equate it to December to February in Northeast, as living inside more than outside....If you all had a choice for a final living location of your life, would Az., Phoenix area be that location ??? thanks, New Jersey---Don

[Leaving AZ]

Well as you can tell by my name my perfect place is definately not AZ Iam trying to go to Illinois if my home would sell and its mainly because the culture and traditions and seasons I have 2 kids and they are always bored from May - Oct and sometimes even April it is to Hot to go outside I understand over there you guys have your winters but at least the kids are in school here it makes it hard cause when the kids are off school in the summer thats when you want to be outside but its way to hot to be here. The people you will find are different the food is different and you just dont get that neighborhood feel Iam a native here for 26yrs but because my family is from Chicago I grew up seeing the 2 different ways of life.

As for living in Queen Creek it is really really far I think the housing market has stabilized hopefully cause then my home will never sell and Ill be stuck here even longer. But its a good place lots of family's out here the biggest down fall is it is really far but little by little they are improving the roads and getting more things out here, If its more house you want Queen Creek is the place if its location I love Gilbert.

[Nice Nice Baby!]

The bust has done most of it's work. Houses aren't stocks, but you can use the behavior of speculation as an analogy. In 2003 we saw the bottom of the stock market, and it was oversold at that time. We've seen a nice run up since then. Average yearly returns since have been 12%(S&P), 15%(Broad Market), and 22%(International) all on an index. Stocks average 7-9% over a 20 year period. The recent years' performance have come off speculation in the late 90's when you could throw a dart at a ticker sheet and make money. Then the bust came and things got OVERSOLD!! Due to human behavior in the housing market, I believe the ceiling has been set at the end of 2005, and now people have been frightened out of the market and panic creates dumping. This is normal market activity and the largest resets in subprime will take place over the next two months. After that gets worked through then it will be like Enron and all the corporate scandals that had to be cleaned up five years ago. Market guessing is not an exact science, it's based on theory or education. I agree we have some more work ahead especially in areas like Queen Creek, but the outlook is positive if you want to buy a house! Always buy in a downturn like we are experiencing, because you may wait too long and miss the boat. Right now, CASH is KING. So save up for the down payment if you don't have it.

[81bluewater]

Originally Posted by AZQueen

There are great schools, a new Elementary opening Aug. 2008 and Middle and HS in 2009. Everything is growing!!!!

I read on greatschools.net that the schools were not rated well

[Nice Nice Baby!]

That depends which school district. Queen Creek which handles majority of Maricopa County residents rates high. Coolidge and Florence rate much lower due to poverty stricken areas, and these districts have their boundaries in Queen Creek addresses. You have to make sure you are looking at the right school district, not just the address.

[81bluewater]

It was the Pinal County address. I need to fly over there and see what the difference is. Hope to be there next month

[Nice Nice Baby!]

Yeah, that district is either the Coolidge or Florence district, and they have less funding than Queen Creek's. They are much more rural, too! Look on a map and see where the towns of Florence and Coolidge are at and it will give you a better perspective.