AZ Newbies Moving to Arrowhead Ranch in 2 weeks (Phoenix, Glendale: rental, daycare)

[Lulubelle6805]

Hi all,

We're moving to Glendale in about two weeks and I've been madly reading these forums to get a feel for life in the Phoenix area and to start thinking about new expenses associated with living in the desert because we've never even visited Arizona before. My husband will be employed at Thunderbird and we've lined up a rental home in Arrowhead Ranch, which seems to be a good proximity to the school (right? we don't want to deal with a long commute anymore!), but like I said, we don't know anything about the area and I have lots of questions.

Here are a few that I was hoping you kind folks might be able to address:

1. First, this is probably a silly question, but on Google Maps I can see that our neighborhood has a lake that some of the homes back up to (not ours). Is this a private-use kind of thing only for the homeowners who have backyards with docks and boats, or is there access for other people living in the neighborhood?

2. Our home has a pool and we're total pool newbies-- our lease says we're responsible for upkeep. Does that usually mean weekly or monthly maintenance, and how much on average should we expect to pay for such a service?

3. Our lease mentions something about being responsible for pest control. This is very new to us, and honestly, it's kind of scary to think that it's such a problem that it's included in the lease. Do people generally hire pest control companies or do their own termite treatments?

4. We have a 3-year old and would like to enroll him in daycare-- in New England, daycare is VERY expensive and also very competitive. Is that the case in Glendale? In other words, should we expect to have to put our son's name on a waiting list for a limited number of spots? Any estimates on how much it costs for a preschooler attending full-time?

That's all I can think of for now. Thanks so much for any responses!

[HX_Guy]

Welcome! I've lived in the general Arrowhead area for the last 20 years so I'm very familiar with the area.

To answer your questions...

1. I'm not completely sure here but I think they are for residents whose house backs up to the lakes. I don't there here are any docks to bring your own boat (unless you have a private dock off your backyard). Someone else may know better.

2. You could either do you own weekly service, it's not very hard...you can buy testing strips that you dip in the water and it tells you the condition of the water or you can take a water sample to a pool store and they will tell you exactly what you want. Of course you can get weekly service where someone comes out and takes care of it for you, that is what we have, and then you're pool is always in optimal shape. Price wise it's around $70/month for weekly service in the summer and cheaper in the winter since they don't come out as often. I can give you a referral if you want.

3. At my parents old house, they never did preventive stuff either and did end up having a problem with termites where someone had to come out and drill holes in the ground around the house to take care of it. We have someone come out twice per year and spray inside and out and that seems to be fine, never see bugs inside or out.

4. Don't have kids so I'm not 100% sure on this but being in advertising sales, I know there are a lot of pre-schools in the area. One of them in my client and close to the Arrowhead area. They advertise $155/week full time Mon - Fri including breakfast, lunch & snacks. Not sure if that's considered expensive or not.

[Finger Laker]

$155/wk is pretty good .... many places will run you a grand a month if it's full time

how that compares to other spots ... i have no idea

don't know about the lake or pool stuff

commute to thunderbird wont be bad at all .... should be mainly surface streets

pest control isn't bad or that expensive .... termites aren't something that you need to have done frequently ... not sure of a good contractor in that area, but shouldn't be daunting

[Fountainhillsorbust]

pool is about 80 a month for weekly service
we just arranged this last week for our pool

[roundball]

4. We pay $192 as a base and another $20 for phonics. The kindergarten program might have been more. Can't remember. There is one on 75th, 2 on 67th, and one on 59th all bisecting Beardsley. If you want Montessori you're going to have to drive a bit. I don't think they are very competitive because there are so many. We've used both the ones on 67th and they each had openings.

1. I walk our dog by a section of the lakes everyday and drive by it a few times as well. I've only ever seen people on it 3-4 times in the past 5yrs...and two of those times was the lady that maintains it. (Sierra Verde area) I think it smells like duck poop and I cringe every time I see someone sitting on the grass.

[nightnurse613]

Pool service depends on several factors; i.e., swimming or diving pool, chemicals or chemicals plus. Figure $70 - $80. As a landlord I would want professional service, as a tenant, I might try to get by on less - some landlords include it in the rent for just that reason. There are pool places nearby that will test your chemicals for free (and sell you whatever you might need). Hopefully the pool has been drained in the last 4-5 years! There is a pretty good shopping area along Bell Road (from about 60th Avenue to 75th Avenue). I wouldn't think a tenant would be responsible for termite treatment. Usually you want regular pest control which can be had for $30-$40 per treatment - I usually go 2-3 months between treatment. Arrowhead and Arrowhead Ranch are relatively new areas and I think positively of them - should be able to find whatever services you need. Welcome to the area.

[dbrooks411]

Welcome to the jewel of the west valley, you will enjoy living in Arrowhead close to great shopping, restaurants and theaters. Arrowhead is beautiful area to live check out the Foothill library and rec center too.

[S. Chris Webb]

You've got some pretty good answers here. I just want to chime in about the pest control. As property managers, we always put pest control in the lease as being the tenant's responsibility. In our case, this simply means the tenant is to keep the property free of vermin, ants, cockroaches, spiders, etc. However, when it comes to an issue that may affect the actual structure of the home, including the control of pigeons, roof rats (you won't have those in Arrowhead), carpenter wasps, and termites (you will have those, all houses in the desert get them eventually), we as landlords would want to be in control of that. You may want to check with your landlord for more specific info on what you should be in charge of as far as pest control. You may also want to ask your landlord how to check for termites if you are unfamiliar. Termite treatments are very expensive and the owner needs to know ASAP if there is an infestation.

As far as pools go, some are easier to maintain than others. For example, if you have one with no vegetation close by, that is on an automatic chlorinator & vaccuum or popup system, all you will have to do is maybe check the chemical levels once a month. If it is under mature trees, close to flowery shrubs, with no automatic cleaning system, you will be brushing, vaccuuming, adding chemicals at least once or twice a week. You can take a sample to almost any pool supply store and they will test your chemicals for free, should you want to take care of it yourself.

[Lulubelle6805]

Wow, thanks so much for all these great responses, and for the nice welcome! I am new to city-data and this is just so helpful.

So the lake isn't really much of a boon to the neighborhood unless your home happens to back right up onto it, and ours doesn't. Not a big deal, I was just wondering if it was open to everyone or not.

Good to know about the monthly pool cost and that we definitely, definitely need to keep up with pest control! But someone mentioned we probably wouldn't be responsible for termite treatment, just "regular pest control"? Not sure about the difference here-- does that mean we should expect to see lots of scorpions or spiders if we don't pay for a pest control service? I'm woefully ignorant about desert critters (obviously).

$155/week would be very low for full-time daycare here. Seriously, we pay $1500 a month and that's considered a real bargain because prices closer to the city are around $2400. Even if it's $200 a week, that's such a savings for us.

We fly to Phoenix Oct. 1st and I'm getting so excited about the move. Even more so after hearing from all of you Thanks again!

[Lulubelle6805]

Originally Posted by S. Chris Webb

As property managers, we always put pest control in the lease as being the tenant's responsibility. In our case, this simply means the tenant is to keep the property free of vermin, ants, cockroaches, spiders, etc. However, when it comes to an issue that may affect the actual structure of the home, including the control of pigeons, roof rats (you won't have those in Arrowhead), carpenter wasps, and termites (you will have those, all houses in the desert get them eventually), we as landlords would want to be in control of that.

Oops, just saw this post from you, S. Chris Webb-- this answers my question about termites vs. other critters. But wait a second, ROOF RATS? What?! Good to know they're likely not in our area, but geez, I've never heard of roof rats before. Okay, I digress. I will definitely clarify with our landlord whether or not we're responsible for termite treatment as well.

From the pictures we've seen, our pool appears to be near a small patch of lawn with a mature tree, so we may have to clean the pool more regularly, as you mentioned. Lots to learn here!