Family Relocating to Scottsdale Area from Mississippi (Phoenix, Mesa: 2013, crime)

[beemw]

Hello!!

My husband will be accepting a job in the next year in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area, and I was hoping to get some insight on a few different areas to look for homes. We were there visiting this past week to check out different areas to live, and we absolutely fell in love with the Arcadia area. We love that it is in the middle of everything with all the restaurants, near Old Town, and the shopping of fashion square. I also loved that as we drove through the streets of Arcadia, there were families out and about in their yards and walking the streets.

While Arcadia is our favorite, I'm not convinced on the pricing of the houses. We have a budget capping at 800-900,000, but for me, I'd like to spend a little less and use more of the budget on furniture or even putting money into the house to make it how we would like. It's discouraging that a house in Arcadia that is at 600-700,000 price point is a "fixer upper" for the most part. Is Arcadia THE place to be?

So my question for you is, what are some other areas, either in Arcadia, near Arcadia, or somewhere else that would satisfy these things:

-family friendly in the sense of outgoing, nice neighbors with kids that you will see out and will become friends with
-sense of community
-safe since I have a young daughter and my husband will be traveling a lot during the week
-not huge but considerable backyard because we have two larger dogs
-proximity to the airport or ease to get to the airport due to husband traveling regularly

Thank you for ANY input you can give me!

[DetroitN8V]

I live in Scottsdale but Arcadia is my favorite area in the valley. You're certainly paying a significant premium to live there due to the larger lots, greenery and central location. It's in high demand so prices are high.

I'd be curious to hear your feedback on DC Ranch (85255). While certainly not nearly as centrally located as Arcadia, it's very pretty, safe and upscale with lots of young (well off) families. You'd be close to Kierland and the Scottsdale Quarter for shopping. It's an expensive area but your money will go a bit further than Arcadia and for $700k or so you can have a nice family home with a lot more community amenities than Arcadia.

I realize I just skipped over all of central Scottsdale but it doesn't strike me as quite as family friendly as I think you're looking for. It's certainly a great place to raise children (and to live in general) but I just find it to have more empty-nesters and DINKs (and yes, that is a sweeping over-generalization that is certainly not true to all of central Scottsdale).

[43north87west]

To some extent, you're comparing Mississippi apples to Phoenix oranges. There are plenty of nice homes in Arcadia that are under your budget, and aren't fixer uppers, but if you're shopping for a lot of square footage using a Mississippi cost of living calculator, you have to adjust the expectations. Arcadia is a great choice, but if you are shopping for cost per square foot above the other requirements, Arcadia is not going to make the final cut. Arcadia has a lot of highly desirable attributes that drive up the cost.

If you are looking for other areas that fit most of your requirements, with large lot and home size being a big factor, some areas of Mesa (which is huge) would fit your needs, although airport travel times would be more. Ahwatukee is very close to the airport, and has family friendly neighborhoods galore, combined with home and lot sizes to fit your needs. Tempe and Chandler may also offer options. Scottsdale is huge, and has a variety of areas, one of which would almost definitely fit your needs. It's more expensive on the whole, but your budget is permissive, so you have plenty of options.

[beemw]

Thanks for the insight. We have looked into DC Ranch. I love the idea of all the amenities and everything that is going on there, but I don't prefer that typical style of house and it's further away from the airport.

I definitely get that the cost of living is a big difference compared to that of Mississippi. I'll check out Ahwatukee- haven't looked there.

Thanks so much!

[PhxMan500]

I think you may find more for your money outside of Arcadia. Here are some of my favorite homes/areas I think would fit your requirements:

Scottsdale between 56th Street and the 101 / Via de Ventura to Cactus
South Tempe - Warner Estates, Buena Vista, Circle G neighborhoods
Phoenix Central Corridor - Bethany Home Rd to Northern, 7th Ave to 7th Street

All of these areas have homes below your budget and well above also. There are some adjacent areas to these also with great homes I think you would compare to Arcadia, but with bigger homes and larger yards.

Best hopes to you!

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by beemw

Thanks for the insight. We have looked into DC Ranch. I love the idea of all the amenities and everything that is going on there, but I don't prefer that typical style of house and it's further away from the airport.

I definitely get that the cost of living is a big difference compared to that of Mississippi. I'll check out Ahwatukee- haven't looked there.

Thanks so much!

I don't live in DC Ranch nor do I have any vested interest in pushing it but it is not at all the typical style house that you'll find here in the valley. I think the uniqueness of the architecture is one thing it has going for it. It feels more Colorado in look than Arizona IMO.

[copyright]

[Iowastater]

I'm with you Beemw, I'm moving to the area and absolutely want to live in Arcadia proper and can't find anything that works for us below the 1.3-1.5 range. Need 4 beds, an office, a nice green yard with a pool and limited remodeling required. 4 beds plus an office will always put you around 3500 sq.ft. minimum. I'm looking to spend no more than 1.1 - and I simply am striking out. Every home I've looked at that might work either is in need of remodeling or is in shaky condition. Or even worse, has been cheaply remodeled so my wife is going to force me to undo what has been done.

I talked to my mortgage broker (who lives in Arcadia) and he is telling me that due to the run up in pricing in 2012 and 2013, the Arcadia sellers are trying to capitalize on the high pricing and therefore are asking too much money. Now that the prices are starting to dip, he encouraged me to go aggressively after some of the homes and see if I can get them to accept a reasonable price. I haven't tried yet. He also told me that the Arcadia realtors carry around pocket listings. Then he called a few and they didn't have any pocket listings.

[cacto]

If you have the money, go to Arcadia, all these brand new suburbs with McMansions trying to seem posh and/or outdoorsy-golf centered are isolated and boring. Arcadia/east Phoenix is great fine dining, established green neighborhoods with history, in the city without being in a trashy area (though AZ crime is a joke compared to back east). All these pricey housing developments on the outskirts of town are nice but they're brand new, cookie cutter, suburbia where everything is beige, no one walks anywhere meaning you have to walk miles to the nearest store (car culture). If you guys are going spend 8 or 9 hundred thousand go where it's really nice in the city, by Camelback, with grassy tree filled neighborhoods, full of families and close to all that's going on in PHX. Why move out to a nice house in North Scottsdale where you have to drive 45 minutes to an hour for all cultural, sporting, concert events, and return to your verge of the desert place where the only thing going on late at night is coyote howls?

[beemw]

Sorry, I kind of disappeared there. Cacto, I couldn't agree with you more. The more I look at places like DC Ranch, it just kind of seems like a bizarre community with their own committees and such. Don't get me wrong, it seems like great perks and great amenities, but just so different to me.

I really feel like Arcadia is where we want to be. Being somewhat centralized and close to everything is ideal. Otherwise, what's the point of moving there?! I will definitely check out the areas that PhxMan mentioned. Thanks for those tips!

Iowastater, have you had any luck? It's fun looking at houses right now on the internet, since we are further out from our move, but very discouraging still to see the prices and quality. I couldn't agree more about the poor finishings of the remodeled ones.

Can anyone tell me about the areas surrounding Arcadia? I know Arcadia proper is certain streets, but what about the areas surrounding? I've seen some houses that are much nicer and with a fair price, but do they hold their value? I realize not like arcadia proper, but would resale be harder down the road?

[azriverfan.]

There is no "place to be" in Phoenix. Phoenix is not like many cities where there is one exclusive town or neighborhood where everyone desires to be. Phoenix has a lot of upscale nice areas that are desirable in their own way. If I had to argue which area is the most exclusive and expensive, that would be Paradise Valley.

Arcadia is nice but it's not for everyone. While it's location, greenery and non-cookie cutter houses are desirable, it has it's downsides. I know many who prefer PV, Scottsdale and Chandler over Arcadia because Arcadia can be old. The homes can be old in a bad way. Also, the area isn't exactly safe. There are not a lot of gated communities there and it's adjacent to some seedy areas. And while people like green lawns, some of the homes can involve a lot of maintenance with regard to this. Many would prefer to live in Scottsdale which is upscale, contemporary, safe with many gated communities near golf courses.To get a modern/contemporary home in a safer/gated part of Arcadia can be expensive. I'm playing devils advocate because I love Arcadia but those are the criticisms I heard against it.