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I will be moving to Marley Park in May 2017. Does anyone currently live there who can give me the pros and cons of living there? I tried to search other forums but they were outdated and I just wanted current information about the community. I currently live in Verrado in Buckeye and though I love the community there is alot of crime happening lately. Any information is greatly appreciated.
If you live in Verrado, life in Marley Park will seem very familiar; we are also a DMB master planned community, though much, much smaller in scale. Like Verrado, we have signature community events sponsored by the HOA (over 500 people attended the Boo Bash party at the Heritage Club last month) and lots of volunteer driven opportunities to give back (this month there will be a blanket making event and an Angel Tree to provide holiday gifts for kids at the Sunshine Home for Boys). There are a ton of clubs, too, for every interest: whether you like beer, wine, gardening, water aerobics, walking, running, yoga, frisbee, bunco, tai chi or want to be part of neighbourhood watch, you will find people here who share your passion.
Each neighbourhood revolves around the park at its center (there are currently 15) and there are neighbourhood ambassadors for each one to welcome new residents with a welcome gift and send out a monthly email update with Marley Park news and events to keep people informed. There are also neighbourhood events and traditions, too. My neighbourhood has a big block party every March. In one neighbourhood, one of the residents gives out hot dogs (300+) and has a driveway party every Halloween. You should be sure to attend the welcome brunch (held quarterly) after you move in; it will tell you everything you need to know about Marley Park and give you a chance to meet your neighbours.
The only con I can think of is actually a pro if you own a home here. Homes here saw about 8% in appreciation last year and we were already priced much higher than the rest of Surprise. There is almost nothing here for sale under $200,000, even the 1300 sq ft homes on small lots. Like any affluent community, you do have to be careful about locking your cars if they aren't parked in the garage, not leaving bikes outside unlocked, etc.
Let me know if you have any specific questions. (I am the chairperson of the Marley Park Welcome Committee and write for the quarterly newsletter so I should know the answers!)
Thank you MrsMac for your reply! I do love the atmosphere here in Verrado and think DMB does a great job designing their communities. Verrado is just too far from everything including shopping so it is a little inconvenient in that respect. There seems to be more crime happening here lately including home burglaries as well as the usual car and bike thefts (I never understood why people would leave things laying around outside or not lock car doors but it happens all the time). It's great that MP has a community watch program! Marley Park is much closer to stores and has a nice full size Basha's right in the community which is great! The parks are beautiful and there are quite a few within walking distance which will be great for the kids.
A few other questions I have:
Does the HOA take care of the front yard landscaping? The woman at the builder's sales office said they do but I thought they only maintained the landscaping on the other side of the sidewalk.
How are the schools? Are they overcrowded? Do they have alot of sports and other recreational programs?
Do houses there have a bug problem? Alot of neighbors here in Verrado have scorpion and water roach problems so I was curious.
I will definitely be attending the welcome brunch to learn more about the community and am very excited to move there!
Does the HOA take care of the front yard landscaping? The woman at the builder's sales office said they do but I thought they only maintained the landscaping on the other side of the sidewalk.
For a single family home with the $104 HOA fee , the front landscaping is your responsibility. The majority of front yards here are xeriscaped by the builders and need minimal upkeep. (We have a xeriscaped backyard, too, with a fountain, rose garden and three fruit trees and we pay $50 a month for landscape maintenance front and back, which is more than worth it to me!) There are also townhouse style low maintenance homes on small (4,000 sq ft or so lots) that pay higher HOA fees (I think it's about $179 or so now) that do include all exterior maintenance. Which builder did you talk to? Bellago Homes is building some beautiful low maintenance homes in the older part of Marley Park that are going to be beautiful. They are a custom builder and include some great perks standard (custom cabinetry, executive height vanities, etc.) in their production homes and just build nice, solid homes.
How are the schools? Are they overcrowded? Do they have alot of sports and other recreational programs?
The public home school for the older part of Marley Park is Marley Park Elementary and for the newer, west of Bullard section (where Ashton Woods is building) it's Luke Elementary. Marley Park is an A+ rate school that isn't overcrowded but it is filled to capacity; it is an excellent school with lots of great programs and parent involvement so parents from outside the neighborhood try to choice their children into the school each spring. Luke Elementary would be a bus ride, is older and doesn't score as well overall but I don't really know that much about it other than that. Most of the people I have spoken to buying in that section already have children in/are on the waiting list for the other school in Marley Park, Legacy Traditional, which is a charter school. It is also top rated with lots of great programs and while not overcrowded, it is full and has a waiting list. (They are even talking about expanding and they have only been open a year and a half!)
Do houses there have a bug problem? Alot of neighbors here in Verrado have scorpion and water roach problems so I was curious.
There are no issues in the area I live in but I know a few people have had occasional scorpion issues in some of the other neighborhoods, though I think that was mostly an issue during the height of construction. I have a great company that comes out quarterly to treat for pests (getting rid of their food source helps discourage scorpions) and comes out in between to treat again if we see a single bug. (I have teenage girls...believe me I hear about it if there is the tiniest bug seen!) If you buy a home near the Marley Park signature red brick walls it's a good idea to make sure that there are no gaps in the mortar they can nest in, and check the block walls in your backyard if it is older, too.
We actually looked at Verrado last year when we were house hunting but went with Marley Park to be closer to amenities, too. We love having Marley Park Plaza so close (it's within walking distance to much of the neighborhood and bike riding distance for all). In addition to Basha's (which has a Starbuck's) it has a great dentist, eye doctor, salon, karate studio, Great Clips, bank, shipping center, and a ton of fast food places (Little Caesar's, Jack in the Box, Subway, Baskin Robbins) and a great "nice" locally owned restaurant, Vogue Bistro. We love being literally 10 minutes from everything here in Surprise - the Northwest Regional Library is right down on Bullard, along with the Surprise Aquatic center and the Stadium, and the park with a lake. There is a pro level city Tennis & Racquet complex, too. A quick trip down to Bell Rd. takes you to all the shopping you could ever ask for. I am really impressed with the local restaurants that are opening in Surprise lately. Yes, we have the chains (Oregano's, Longhorn, Chili's, Panera et al) but we also have great locally owned places. The Irish Wolfhound pub (fish & chips and seafood chowder to die for), Uni Steak & Sushi (great tempura, too), two new mediterranean places (featuring gyros, swarm, hummus, dolmades, etc.), State 48 (a brew pub that brews their own and serves local beers as well as fresh, made from scratch food, including incredible grass fed beef burgers), Mom's Fixin's (delicious southern food - I love the fried chicken, greens and mac and cheese and some people would kill for their banana pudding), VNam Pho, Star Donuts (literally the best donuts in the world)...the list goes on and on.
Let me know if you have any other questions or need info on particular Marley Park builders, neighborhoods, etc.
Thank you MrsMac for your reply! I do love the atmosphere here in Verrado and think DMB does a great job designing their communities. Verrado is just too far from everything including shopping so it is a little inconvenient in that respect. There seems to be more crime happening here lately including home burglaries as well as the usual car and bike thefts (I never understood why people would leave things laying around outside or not lock car doors but it happens all the time). It's great that MP has a community watch program! Marley Park is much closer to stores and has a nice full size Basha's right in the community which is great! The parks are beautiful and there are quite a few within walking distance which will be great for the kids.
A few other questions I have:
Does the HOA take care of the front yard landscaping? The woman at the builder's sales office said they do but I thought they only maintained the landscaping on the other side of the sidewalk.
How are the schools? Are they overcrowded? Do they have alot of sports and other recreational programs?
Do houses there have a bug problem? Alot of neighbors here in Verrado have scorpion and water roach problems so I was curious.
I will definitely be attending the welcome brunch to learn more about the community and am very excited to move there!
I too live in Marley Park. The HOA originally took care of the other side of the sidewalk (shrub and tree re-planting) but I have heard mixed answers on that. I wish they would make it clear and enforce a planting policy if they are no longer responsible.
I did not kill bugs over the summer which is the scorpion food source (we only live here 6 months a year). In October, we looked for and killed about 30 scorpions in our yard (about 5 hunts).
When we came to Marley Park back in 2011, the HOA maintenance company did a spectacular job. As in how do they do it?? Over the past few years, the quality has slipped a lot. Therefore in my opinion, the HOA isn't holding the landscapers accountable or something. If you go in the original sections around the parks (Rheems and Waddell), you will see a lot of missing rocks (rock pebbles at best), plants that have died and capped off water lines, etc. Even up Sweetwater (the showcase road) is looking less than ideal. I suspect the HOA doesn't want to raise the monthly fee out of fear of pricing people out so it continues to erode.
The other reality is the HOA hasn't been up to snuff on mandating people to re-paint. Some are becoming downright shoddy. I'm more than a little concerned and I am not alone. That said, it's still one of the nicer neighborhoods. But to me at least, Verrado is better maintained. The developers has a lot more homes to sell and seems to be motivated to do a better job maintaining everything there.
I know painting notices went out to many residents this summer and the HOA maintained townhouse style homes started the repainting process. They are being repainted a group at a time and a schedule has been set. The older section of Marley Park is just hitting the ten year mark and a lot of notices went out from the HOA this summer regarding how the community looks in an effort to keep it looking nice - paint notifications, landscape notices, requests for removal of basketball hoops, etc. (and there was the usual grumbling from homeowners that got them!). There is also a swap out of bushes being done on Sweetwater in phases.
I have to say I found the HOA here to be more responsive than any other place I have ever lived. There is an online Community Concern Form to report any maintenance issues, possible CC&R violations, petty criminal activity, etc. The times I have sent one in the issue has been resolved quickly - and I have gotten an email letting me know action had been taken and a name and contact number for someone to contact if I had any questions or concerns.
I have been looking at see-through paint over the last 3 to 4 years which is an obvious eyesore. Plus parks with zero rocks, several dead trees on neighbors boulevards that have been there for months that need to be cut down. I've went to a couple of the quarterly meetings and expressed my concern. Answer: "It's a lot of money for some people to paint and we need to give them time." Yet the worse homes (often darker colors) have had 3-4 years to budget to paint. The boards response to missing xeriscaping/rocks: "The recession made it hard to keep up on the maintenance." Not so fast.... The HOA fees were collected 100% of the time (the bank has to pay the HOA fees before the sale of the foreclosed home can be complete). Also, every home that spins to a new owner means thousands of $$'s were paid by the new owner to boost the HOA kitty (that's the policy). So every foreclosure == more revenue to the HOA.
In my view, you need to get fined to motivate you to keep up the area. But there are no fines and the standards drop year by year. So that feel good note saying "please paint" is too little too late. Some of the worse are look like patchwork (people painting over the see through paint here-and-there). I walked by 4-5 just yesterday. They look like leopards and they have been that way for at least three years. To be clear, the newer areas are not a problem. One wonders if the fees collected by the more established areas are going to pay for those brand new parts which should be paid by the developer? If not, the HOA rates need to be raised. But the developer (who is the HOA) wants to sell new homes and even $20 more a month is a worry to them. IMHO, that's the real problem. The board is basically the developer and will be that way for many years. That's the reality.
Re: complaint form. The reason why owners don't fill out complaint forms is because the HOA continuously reminds people that if they do, they legally have to give your name to the person who you are complaining about. That will turn neighbors against neighbors so the online form barely gets used against a neighbor. My point is we have an employee that's job is to go out in the community to look for eyesores. We have a HOA landscape manager on staff too. Why is it the jobs of the owners to fill out a form that is incredibly obvious for the HOA employees to also see? If they get out of their chair and look, they will find the eyesores. At a birds eye view and as a whole, the area still looks great. But certainly not as good as it did (especially the homes in the 8 to 10 year old range). It's a matter of a few years before the 5-8 year old homes follow. Unless the HOA changes their approach, it's going to degrade and I am fearful this is what will happen.
To sum it up. I personally care 600 times more about upkeep than a boo-bash or Marley Barley Beer Club event. The HOA needs to take care of the basics 1st and foremost. Because of this, we are seriously contemplating an exit strategy before more properties degrade.
Last edited by MN-Born-n-Raised; 11-21-2016 at 04:41 AM..
I have been looking at see-through paint over the last 3 to 4 years which is an obvious eyesore. Plus parks with zero rocks, several dead trees on neighbors boulevards that have been there for months that need to be cut down. I've went to a couple of the quarterly meetings and expressed my concern. Answer: "It's a lot of money for some people to paint and we need to give them time." Yet the worse homes (often darker colors) have had 3-4 years to budget to paint. The boards response to missing xeriscaping/rocks: "The recession made it hard to keep up on the maintenance." Not so fast.... The HOA fees were collected 100% of the time (the bank has to pay the HOA fees before the sale of the foreclosed home can be complete). Also, every home that spins to a new owner means thousands of $$'s were paid by the new owner to boost the HOA kitty (that's the policy). So every foreclosure == more revenue to the HOA.
In my view, you need to get fined to motivate you to keep up the area. But there are no fines and the standards drop year by year. So that feel good note saying "please paint" is too little too late. Some of the worse are look like patchwork (people painting over the see through paint here-and-there). I walked by 4-5 just yesterday. They look like leopards and they have been that way for at least three years. To be clear, the newer areas are not a problem. One wonders if the fees collected by the more established areas are going to pay for those brand new parts which should be paid by the developer? If not, the HOA rates need to be raised. But the developer (who is the HOA) wants to sell new homes and even $20 more a month is a worry to them. IMHO, that's the real problem. The board is basically the developer and will be that way for many years. That's the reality.
Re: complaint form. The reason why owners don't fill out complaint forms is because the HOA continuously reminds people that if they do, they legally have to give your name to the person who you are complaining about. That will turn neighbors against neighbors so the online form barely gets used against a neighbor. My point is we have an employee that's job is to go out in the community to look for eyesores. We have a HOA landscape manager on staff too. Why is it the jobs of the owners to fill out a form that is incredibly obvious for the HOA employees to also see? If they get out of their chair and look, they will find the eyesores. At a birds eye view and as a whole, the area still looks great. But certainly not as good as it did (especially the homes in the 8 to 10 year old range). It's a matter of a few years before the 5-8 year old homes follow. Unless the HOA changes their approach, it's going to degrade and I am fearful this is what will happen.
To sum it up. I personally care 600 times more about upkeep than a boo-bash or Marley Barley Beer Club event. The HOA needs to take care of the basics 1st and foremost. Because of this, we are seriously contemplating an exit strategy before more properties degrade.
Hi MN. I was waiting for you to chime on this thread. I sure am sorry that things have not been going well over there for you.
I think it's an interesting case of an HOA that, unlike all the stories you usually hear about HOAs, is not being pushy enough versus the usual case of an HOA being too vigilant/micromanaging.
I wonder if there are a lot of retirees there and if HOAs that serve a lot of residents who may be on fixed incomes tend to be less demanding of their residents. I also think if an HOA had a lot of residents had owners who were upside-down in their homes, they might be a lot more relaxed, but I don't know how much of an issue that really is anymore.
It sounds like you feel the way about your HOA that I feel about code enforcement in some cities. I.e., what good are rules if they're never enforced? If people choose to buy into an HOA community, they are buying into a set of rules that they expect to be followed.
Ten years is pretty fast for a neighborhood to go downhill especially if it's not a starter-home community where value is the name of the game in initial build-out. Unfortunately, once you let a neighborhood decay, it's so much harder to restore it to higher standards than it is to try to maintain the existing standards.
If you do move, you might want to try looking at some existing communities wherein you can see the extent to which residents (and the HOA if there is one) actually spend on maintenance and upkeep over the course of years/decades.
If you do stay, maybe you could run for the HOA board and try to influence things. I'm sure you're not the only one with your concerns.
Hi MN. I was waiting for you to chime on this thread. I sure am sorry that things have not been going well over there for you.
I think it's an interesting case of an HOA that, unlike all the stories you usually hear about HOAs, is not being pushy enough versus the usual case of an HOA being too vigilant/micromanaging.
I wonder if there are a lot of retirees there and if HOAs that serve a lot of residents who may be on fixed incomes tend to be less demanding of their residents. I also think if an HOA had a lot of residents had owners who were upside-down in their homes, they might be a lot more relaxed, but I don't know how much of an issue that really is anymore.
It sounds like you feel the way about your HOA that I feel about code enforcement in some cities. I.e., what good are rules if they're never enforced? If people choose to buy into an HOA community, they are buying into a set of rules that they expect to be followed.
Ten years is pretty fast for a neighborhood to go downhill especially if it's not a starter-home community where value is the name of the game in initial build-out. Unfortunately, once you let a neighborhood decay, it's so much harder to restore it to higher standards than it is to try to maintain the existing standards.
If you do move, you might want to try looking at some existing communities wherein you can see the extent to which residents (and the HOA if there is one) actually spend on maintenance and upkeep over the course of years/decades.
If you do stay, maybe you could run for the HOA board and try to influence things. I'm sure you're not the only one with your concerns.
It's a little different than what you are thinking. The developer (DMB) has several hundred lots left so they ARE the board. Well, other than one slot. That one total spot (so far) could vote for whatever they want and nothing would get done. I don't begrudge the board from having majority voting rights. After all, they have millions that is still tied up in land and buildings.
I know they are extremely concerned about how much they charge for HOA's and they don't want to be viewed as a picky HOA (out of fear of not selling lots). So their point of view is don't rock the boat. About the only thing they clamp down on is garbage cans out too long or someone having the wrong color paint. You could have every single plant dead on the side of your house and it will look that way for a eternity. Neighbors don't want to complain on neighbors (because the HOA warns they have to tell who complained) so nothing gets fixed. Just permanent pockets of blight.
Saying all this, as an aggregate, our hood looks great. But there is spots of blight and complaints go nowhere. But it's pretty obvious that the 10 year "old" areas are sliding fast to my eyes. To a lesser degree, the 8 year old areas and so on. The new stuff looks great. But it's going to be years till the developer loses its grip. Hence if nothing changes, more areas are going to go partially maintained. I'm not the lone ranger. I asked my neighbor who had a nice yard if he maintained his one boulevard. He came unglued about how disappointed he was. It was pent-up inside of him and came out without me saying a word. So I'm not alone.
Verrado (also DMB) is different. It seems they are economically motivated because that is their main thrust and 5X bigger than Marley Park.
Last edited by MN-Born-n-Raised; 11-21-2016 at 10:49 AM..
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If not, the HOA rates need to be raised. But the developer (who is the HOA) wants to sell new homes and even $20 more a month is a worry to them. IMHO, that's the real problem. The board is basically the developer and will be that way for many years. That's the reality.
