Relocating. What is San Tan Valley Like? (Phoenix, Scottsdale: real estate market, rent)

[emrosefab]

We are moving to AZ from NJ. And from doing research, we are interested in the San Tan Valley and Florence area. Most school districts seem to be rated 6 and higher on realtor.com and zillow.com. Those are houses we are looking at. Are there certain communities to avoid? What is crime like in those areas?

[azdr0710]

tell us if you will be working here and, if so, do you know where within the valley?....the answer may very well affect how we help you.....do you have a housing budget?....have you been here before at all?....what stores (types), recreation, practical things, etc. are important to you?

[emrosefab]

Our max budget is $175K. We do not have a mortgage on our house in NJ, so we figure with closing costs, moving expenses and $ left over to fix the house up, that is the most we can do since we are paying cash. I have my own business and work from home. It's undetermined at this point if my husband will have to find a job or just work for me. We have been to Phoenix before but not STV. Stores, just big box stores like Lowes, Petsmart. We buy our breakfasts and dinners from Dream Dinners so we need to be an hour or less to Phoenix to pick them up once a month. We plan to homeschool our daughter if the school systems aren't good, but from what I saw most are 5-6+ rating on realtor.com. We would like at least a 6 or higher rating.

[JTW2013]

Originally Posted by emrosefab

Our max budget is $175K. We do not have a mortgage on our house in NJ, so we figure with closing costs, moving expenses and $ left over to fix the house up, that is the most we can do since we are paying cash. I have my own business and work from home. It's undetermined at this point if my husband will have to find a job or just work for me. We have been to Phoenix before but not STV. Stores, just big box stores like Lowes, Petsmart. We buy our breakfasts and dinners from Dream Dinners so we need to be an hour or less to Phoenix to pick them up once a month. We plan to homeschool our daughter if the school systems aren't good, but from what I saw most are 5-6+ rating on realtor.com. We would like at least a 6 or higher rating.

You really have to be careful about school ratings. A 6 doesn't mean a little bit better than average. It means that half of the kids that your kids will be in school with didn't met the standards. It suggests that a significant minority of the kids are ESL. How much learning do you think goes on a classroom where half the kids don't meet minimum standards and 30% of the kids don't speak much English? Also I think the ratings compare to the state so that means a 6 in AZ is probably a 2 or 3 in another state.

Even though you might homeschool, school ratings still matter because it will affect the value of your house. Houses in good school districts hold their value better.

You could take that $175K in cash and buy a $250K house with a small mortgage in the Kyrene, Chandler or Gilbert school districts. You wouldn't need to homeschool and your home probably won't lose value and might even appreciate a little bit.

Lower middle class areas with second rate schools are the most at risk of losing value.

[arancampas]

The school ratings are most certainly not an accurate depiction of the reality out here. We moved last September from PA and wish we would have spoke to more locals before choosing an area. We are happy where we are, but found there were other areas that would have made more sense not only financially, but socially as well. Of course, entering the Real Estate market REALLY opened my eyes to some awesome areas that are extremely affordable that I had no idea about!!!!

[Jkgourmet]

Originally Posted by emrosefab

Our max budget is $175K. We do not have a mortgage on our house in NJ, so we figure with closing costs, moving expenses and $ left over to fix the house up, that is the most we can do since we are paying cash. I have my own business and work from home. It's undetermined at this point if my husband will have to find a job or just work for me. We have been to Phoenix before but not STV. Stores, just big box stores like Lowes, Petsmart. We buy our breakfasts and dinners from Dream Dinners so we need to be an hour or less to Phoenix to pick them up once a month. We plan to homeschool our daughter if the school systems aren't good, but from what I saw most are 5-6+ rating on realtor.com. We would like at least a 6 or higher rating.

Re: Dream Dinners - Only 3 locations - Scottsdale, Ahwahtukee and North Phoenix. The Ahwahtukee location might be withing one hour of Florence, but not the others. I can find no evidence that any of the AZ locations offer breakfast. You're spending over $600/month on this stuff if you eat it every night for dinner which is ridiculous, IMHO.

[infocyde]

Rent for six months to a year, explore the area, live through a summer, then buy.

[arancampas]

If you are really set on San Tan Valley, you can most certainly get into a nice home well within your budget!

[Cr1t1calm4ss]

San tan is a great area. I've been here for 8 years. The area is amazing. Message me to chat about it.

[emrosefab]

Originally Posted by Jkgourmet

Re: Dream Dinners - Only 3 locations - Scottsdale, Ahwahtukee and North Phoenix. The Ahwahtukee location might be withing one hour of Florence, but not the others. I can find no evidence that any of the AZ locations offer breakfast. You're spending over $600/month on this stuff if you eat it every night for dinner which is ridiculous, IMHO.

How is what we spend on our grocery budget any of your concern? If that is what we want to spend money on that is our concern. No one is forcing you to buy it. We like it and it's much easier for me to cook since I run a business from home. We were spending the same amount of $ on groceries before. Just because you cannot afford it doesn't mean that other people shouldn't buy it.