San Tan Valley utility costs? (Tucson, Gilbert: mortgage, house, neighborhood) - Phoenix area - Arizona (AZ) - City-Data Forum

Terrie59 · 08-29-2011, 12:57 PM

The hubby & I are considering moving from Tucson to San Tan Valley so we'll be closer to his job. He's working in Florence & since we're on the far east side of Tucson he drives almost 2 hours each way. Approximately what should we expect utilities to run in San Tan Valley? We're looking in the 1700 to 2000 sq. foot range, single story, hopefully with a pool...

jen1985 · 08-30-2011, 08:29 AM

My home is 1700sq ft, no pool, single story in San Tan Valley

Electric for July was $272 (I keep it at 80 degrees) in Winter months about $60-70
Johnson Sewer is about $35 monthly
H2O Water Bill is usually $25 (some areas have H2O others have Johnson for water)

aoeu00 · 08-30-2011, 09:37 AM

My bill probably makes people feel better about their energy bill.

We're near the edge of Queen Creek and Gilbert. 3,200 sq ft home. Our August bill was $482. We have a two story, double pane windows throughout, sun screens throughout. We keep the A/C setting between 78-81.

bolt32 · 08-30-2011, 10:28 AM

Just moved to San Tan Valley (Johnson Ranch) 2 months ago. Have a 1440 square foot home, keep it at 78 degrees and use ceiling fans. Electric bill is $299.00 (also have a teen and pre-teen). Water/sewer bill through Johnson Utilities is $135.00.

AZ Tracy · 08-30-2011, 10:34 AM

The electric company in that area is Salt River Project. You can call them and ask them what average high/low utility bills will run for a home that size, with a pool. Or, if there is a particular home you are interested in, give them the address.

Terrie59 · 08-30-2011, 10:47 AM

Thanks guys. Our house, built in '66, doesn't cool worth a darn - 2 'wonderful' swamp coolers - or heat decently even though we replaced the windows, doors & roof in the last two years. We need AC and that's going to be a chunk of change. Granted it's 2676 sq. feet & has a pool but we're ready to downsize. It was added onto poorly and is a fixer-upper which is going to run us more than it dawned on us (a big duh on our part) if we stay here but we could spend less to get it ready to sell. We don't have a garage or carport which my husband hates. It's in a declining subdivision so there's no telling what it'll be like in another 10 years.
July's electric bill was $196; water, sewer & trash were $139; and the gas was $43. In the winter they run a total of about $250. Anything smaller here that doesn't need a lot of repairs in an okay neighborhood would up our mortgage by a minimum of $30 grand. In a fairly new neighborhood (unless it's in an undesirable area) would up it by at least $100 grand - Yikes!
My husband works in Florence so drives 2 hours each way & works 10 hour days. He doesn't get enough sleep being gone 14 hours a day. We're figuring his gas alone would drop by $150 - $175 per month, it'd be less wear & tear on his truck, he could actually get a decent amount of sleep, and we wouldn't have to spend nearly as much time (and money) working on the house and pay one off faster. Besides, after 30 years we'd kind of like to spend more time together, lol.

AZ Tracy · 08-30-2011, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terrie59

Thanks guys. Our house, built in '66, doesn't cool worth a darn - 2 'wonderful' swamp coolers - or heat decently even though we replaced the windows, doors & roof in the last two years. We need AC and that's going to be a chunk of change. Granted it's 2676 sq. feet & has a pool but we're ready to downsize. It was added onto poorly and is a fixer-upper which is going to run us more than it dawned on us (a big duh on our part) if we stay here but we could spend less to get it ready to sell. We don't have a garage or carport which my husband hates. It's in a declining subdivision so there's no telling what it'll be like in another 10 years.
July's electric bill was $196; water, sewer & trash were $139; and the gas was $43. In the winter they run a total of about $250. Anything smaller here that doesn't need a lot of repairs in an okay neighborhood would up our mortgage by a minimum of $30 grand. In a fairly new neighborhood (unless it's in an undesirable area) would up it by at least $100 grand - Yikes!
My husband works in Florence so drives 2 hours each way & works 10 hour days. He doesn't get enough sleep being gone 14 hours a day. We're figuring his gas alone would drop by $150 - $175 per month, it'd be less wear & tear on his truck, he could actually get a decent amount of sleep, and we wouldn't have to spend nearly as much time (and money) working on the house and pay one off faster. Besides, after 30 years we'd kind of like to spend more time together, lol.

It sounds like San Tan Valley or Queen Creek is a no brainer for you! All of the homes are newer, as well as the restaurants and shopping. Regarding utilities, you can also get on an equalizer plan, so you pay the same amount year round. I pay $195 per month, and it hasn't changed in over 3 years.

Terrie59 · 08-30-2011, 01:40 PM

Hmmm... Sounds like the utilities would be higher, the mortgage would be quite a bit lower from what we're seeing online, and property taxes would be lower. The drive for my hubby could possibly be cut almost three hours a day.
We thought we'd be able to pay off our mortgage & remodel within 15 years watching our pennies. My husband was working at a company we thought he'd retire with about 20 minutes away. They went belly up, as did the next two companies. By the time he got the job in Florence our savings was gone. We didn't plan very well. This house was an emotional buy - It was the family home my hubby grew up in, much smaller then but new. It’s now overbuilt by almost 1,000 sq feet for the neighborhood and we still need to sink a bit more money into it just to sell, which we’ll never recoup. We misjudged what the remodeling was going to cost by a lot. I don't know why in the world we thought we could redo it & pay it off without working until we die, lol.
I guess the bottom line is that out there we’d save a minimum of $150 in gasoline per month, the mortgage payment would be about $600 less but we’d be able to pay it off in about 10 to 15 years vs. the 30 year one we’re stuck with now. We’d also have around $30,000 less in absolutely have to remodeling, be in a much newer neighborhood, have a garage finally and be able to get an emergency fund & savings back up. His truck would last longer. He works 10 hours a day - nights, so he’s sleeping while I’m awake - and has 14 hour days right now with the travel time. He’d get some sleep & I’d get to see the old fart a lot more, lol.
One way or another we're going to need to sell & move somewhere else before the neighborhood is really bad. It’s sure gone downhill big time in the last few years.