Advice needed - Master Planned Communities (Mesa, Scottsdale: for sale, credit, homes)

[MrsMac]

We live in Marley Park (Verrado's sister community in the middle of Surprise) and love it here. Yes, yard sizes are smaller (in your price range you are looking at 8,000 sq ft lot size at most) but there are 15 neighborhood parks and treelined streets (and community pools) to make up for it. I love the way each neighborhood centers around a park; there are always kids playing there, people walking their dogs, neighbors sitting under the ramadas and chatting...it's like living in a quiet, safe, small town five minutes from every amenity you can imagine. (The two neighborhood K-8 schools, one public, one charter, are A+ rated, too.) There are a ton of community events for families and kids here, too. You should see how we celebrate Halloween here! There's a pet costume parade, a Boo Bash, homes are decorated, there are parties everywhere...I really can't think of a better place for a child to grow up than Marley Park.

[AZ Tracy]

Have you explored the town of Maricopa? It is about a 25 minute drive from congested city life, and has several master planned communities. One of my favorites is The Villages at Rancho El Dorado.

Gold Canyon is a beautiful area. Superstition Foothills is a master planned community out there.

Power Ranch in Gilbert was an award winning community for many years. The area has really become built up now, so might be too congested for your liking.

Someone else mentioned Las Sendas in Mesa. It is a gorgeous area, and just on the edge of "civilization". There would only a couple of homes available in your price range....but, it only takes one!

[tkelly777]

Originally Posted by MrsMac

We live in Marley Park (Verrado's sister community in the middle of Surprise) and love it here. Yes, yard sizes are smaller (in your price range you are looking at 8,000 sq ft lot size at most) but there are 15 neighborhood parks and treelined streets (and community pools) to make up for it. I love the way each neighborhood centers around a park; there are always kids playing there, people walking their dogs, neighbors sitting under the ramadas and chatting...it's like living in a quiet, safe, small town five minutes from every amenity you can imagine. (The two neighborhood K-8 schools, one public, one charter, are A+ rated, too.) There are a ton of community events for families and kids here, too. You should see how we celebrate Halloween here! There's a pet costume parade, a Boo Bash, homes are decorated, there are parties everywhere...I really can't think of a better place for a child to grow up than Marley Park.

What would you say sets Marley Park apart from Verrado outside of location? It sounds like it might be closer to amenities than that of Verrado. My wife would like that...not my wallet though. I like the Halloween celebration ideas. My kids would love that kind of stuff!!

[tkelly777]

Originally Posted by AZ Tracy

Have you explored the town of Maricopa? It is about a 25 minute drive from congested city life, and has several master planned communities. One of my favorites is The Villages at Rancho El Dorado.

Gold Canyon is a beautiful area. Superstition Foothills is a master planned community out there.

Power Ranch in Gilbert was an award winning community for many years. The area has really become built up now, so might be too congested for your liking.

Someone else mentioned Las Sendas in Mesa. It is a gorgeous area, and just on the edge of "civilization". There would only a couple of homes available in your price range....but, it only takes one!

I looked a little into Maricopa and I'll definitely look at it again but something tells me that the schools weren't the greatest if memory serves me correct. I'll definitely look into Superstition Foothills and Las Sendas - thanks for the input.

[AZ Tracy]

Originally Posted by tkelly777

I looked a little into Maricopa and I'll definitely look at it again but something tells me that the schools weren't the greatest if memory serves me correct. I'll definitely look into Superstition Foothills and Las Sendas - thanks for the input.

That could be - I don't know. You can get more information from the AZ Department of Education and, GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community.

[BigEinAz]

Keep in mind the HOA fees can really impact your monthly budget, to the point where you could really afford a nicer house in a non-MPC community. Also, you may want to double check the tax bill if you go to Gold Canyon. I personally love some of the areas out there, but it is a very mixed bag housing-wise and the taxes - - ouch!! Pinal County . . .

[tkelly777]

Originally Posted by BigEinAz

Keep in mind the HOA fees can really impact your monthly budget, to the point where you could really afford a nicer house in a non-MPC community. Also, you may want to double check the tax bill if you go to Gold Canyon. I personally love some of the areas out there, but it is a very mixed bag housing-wise and the taxes - - ouch!! Pinal County . . .

We are prepared to pay HOA's. The money we save in paying Iowa property taxes would be pretty much offset by paying HOA's at a MPC in the Phoenix area. That said, thanks for the heads up on Pinal County.

[Jkgourmet]

Originally Posted by AZ Tracy

Have you explored the town of Maricopa? It is about a 25 minute drive from congested city life, and has several master planned communities. One of my favorites is The Villages at Rancho El Dorado.

Gold Canyon is a beautiful area. Superstition Foothills is a master planned community out there.

Power Ranch in Gilbert was an award winning community for many years. The area has really become built up now, so might be too congested for your liking.

Someone else mentioned Las Sendas in Mesa. It is a gorgeous area, and just on the edge of "civilization". There would only a couple of homes available in your price range....but, it only takes one!

I wouldn't recommend Gold Canyon/Superstition Foothills to anyone with kids. Also, you need to accept that it's quite a distance from everything else. The community has a handful of restaurants, two large grocery stores and little else.

It's a lovely looking place, but I agree that the real estate taxes are awful. Also note that health insurance premiums are generally higher (due to Pinal vs. Maricopa County).

Las Sendas will have very little inventory in the OP's price range.

[MrsMac]

Originally Posted by tkelly777

What would you say sets Marley Park apart from Verrado outside of location? It sounds like it might be closer to amenities than that of Verrado. My wife would like that...not my wallet though. I like the Halloween celebration ideas. My kids would love that kind of stuff!!

Verrado is just a much bigger (at build out it will be about 5 times the size of Marley Park), more spread out (because land is cheaper out there) version of Marley Park. They share the same architectural diversity (they mix up the elevations so you see distinctive craftsman, bungalow, Spanish, territorial and desert modern homes to keep it from looking cookie cutter), the same emphasis on front porches so people can socialize, tree lined streets (ours are closer together and the trees are more mature so we have more shade here) and both have lots of community involvement and active volunteers.

Each neighbourhood centers around a neighbourhood park and there is a volunteer ambassador for each neighbourhood; I am the ambassador for mine and I write a personal note to everyone who moves in here, bring by a welcome gift and info on Marley Park and Surprise, send out monthly email updates with upcoming events, run the neighbourhood Facebook page...Marley Park is a community in the old fashioned sense! We even have an annual Block Party that brings out the majority of the neighbourhood to meet and mingle. When we were home shopping a year ago only other place I found that sort of throwback charm was Verrado. We loved it but I wanted to be closer to shopping and restaurants and my husband commutes to north Phoenix so we decided to buy in Marley Park. (Thanks to the 303 Loop expansion his commute is only about 35 minutes long now.)

Yes, Marley Park comes at a price; our average home sales price is higher than that of Surprise overall and we pay a little more in taxes since we are in a CFD but we also see more home appreciation (over 8% last year) and homes here hold their value better. (Homes in Marley Park lost less value in the downturn than in other developments here and recovered quicker.) We decided the extra cost was worth it for the home quality, the location and the perfect environment for our family. It really is an idyllic place for kids to grow up - great schools, parks everywhere, pools to splash in, kids on every block to play with and lots of fun community events. (We just had the July 4th parade with decorated wagons, bikes, trikes and golf carts followed by the pool party and barbecue at the community pool.)

Come see Marley Park for yourself. Let me know if you would like the name of a resident realtor; we loved ours!

[tkelly777]

Originally Posted by MrsMac

Verrado is just a much bigger (at build out it will be about 5 times the size of Marley Park), more spread out (because land is cheaper out there) version of Marley Park. They share the same architectural diversity (they mix up the elevations so you see distinctive craftsman, bungalow, Spanish, territorial and desert modern homes to keep it from looking cookie cutter), the same emphasis on front porches so people can socialize, tree lined streets (ours are closer together and the trees are more mature so we have more shade here) and both have lots of community involvement and active volunteers.

Each neighbourhood centers around a neighbourhood park and there is a volunteer ambassador for each neighbourhood; I am the ambassador for mine and I write a personal note to everyone who moves in here, bring by a welcome gift and info on Marley Park and Surprise, send out monthly email updates with upcoming events, run the neighbourhood Facebook page...Marley Park is a community in the old fashioned sense! We even have an annual Block Party that brings out the majority of the neighbourhood to meet and mingle. When we were home shopping a year ago only other place I found that sort of throwback charm was Verrado. We loved it but I wanted to be closer to shopping and restaurants and my husband commutes to north Phoenix so we decided to buy in Marley Park. (Thanks to the 303 Loop expansion his commute is only about 35 minutes long now.)

Yes, Marley Park comes at a price; our average home sales price is higher than that of Surprise overall and we pay a little more in taxes since we are in a CFD but we also see more home appreciation (over 8% last year) and homes here hold their value better. (Homes in Marley Park lost less value in the downturn than in other developments here and recovered quicker.) We decided the extra cost was worth it for the home quality, the location and the perfect environment for our family. It really is an idyllic place for kids to grow up - great schools, parks everywhere, pools to splash in, kids on every block to play with and lots of fun community events. (We just had the July 4th parade with decorated wagons, bikes, trikes and golf carts followed by the pool party and barbecue at the community pool.)

Come see Marley Park for yourself. Let me know if you would like the name of a resident realtor; we loved ours!

I really like some of the things that Marley Park appears to offer. We love the thought of being in a strong community atmosphere. It's what we're used to here in Iowa. One question regarding the schools though - the K-8 schools look like they rated out well but the local high school (Dysart High School) got a pretty poor rating from Great Schools. Do you know why that is the case? This is something a realtor would not be able to weigh in on. Thanks!