Is Queen Creek the best value for Phoenix AZ real estate / housing? (Mesa: new home, luxury)

[asufan]

Originally Posted by TempeAZnative

You couldn't pay me to live in QC it's an exurb that boomed before the housing bust. It's cookie cutter Homes made with cheap materials out in the middle of nowhere. I guess if you don't commute and bang for your buck is important then go for it.

You're thinking of San Tan Valley. Queen Creek has a shtload of nicer large lot custom and semi custom properties and is basically a nicer extension of SE Gilbert. If you go a little SE of QC you start to see the low price point tract homes in STV. Being that it's probably within 15-25 minutes from their work in Chandler, it won't be a terrible location if they don't need to be near nightlife.

[TempeAZnative]

Originally Posted by asufan

You're thinking of San Tan Valley. Queen Creek has a shtload of nicer large lot custom and semi custom properties and is basically a nicer extension of SE Gilbert. If you go a little SE of QC you start to see the low price point tract homes in STV. Being that it's probably within 15-25 minutes from their work in Chandler, it won't be a terrible location if they don't need to be near nightlife.

Queen Creek /SanTan Valley same thing and zero desire to live in either one.

[asufan]

Originally Posted by TempeAZnative

Queen Creek /SanTan Valley same thing and zero desire to live in either one.

Me neither but they are far from the same thing. One is much more upscale than the other

[Sandduner]

Originally Posted by TempeAZnative

Queen Creek /SanTan Valley same thing and zero desire to live in either one.

To each their own....
I have to disagree with you on that statement. I live in the Pecans and you won't find anything like it in phx.
I moved here in 2000 and have built 3 homes in the same neighborhood, just keep moving down the street. Definitely not San tan valley.....
The pecans.com

[Sandduner]

Originally Posted by TempeAZnative

You couldn't pay me to live in QC it's an exurb that boomed before the housing bust. It's cookie cutter Homes made with cheap materials out in the middle of nowhere. I guess if you don't commute and bang for your buck is important then go for it.

Just curious, since I'm a homebuilder, but do you think tract homes are built with different materials in different parts of the valley?

[TempeAZnative]

Originally Posted by Sandduner

Just curious, since I'm a homebuilder, but do you think tract homes are built with different materials in different parts of the valley?

Nope pretty much all the houses built during the boom were built as cheap as possible with chicken wireless and Chinese drywall. They are built on top of each other with yards the size of a stamp.

[Jkgourmet]

Originally Posted by Jkgourmet

The magic question: where will you be working?

Originally Posted by bdarkness

In Chandler

Then ignore all the posts suggesting areas on the west side. Personally, that commute would be too much for me from Casa Grande, too.

I'd add Apache Junction to the possibilities.

[KurtAZ]

Living in QC...working in Chandler...and you "need" 4000 sqft? Have you considered upkeep, commute time, electricity costs? I understand the need for land but QC is way out there. Even the commute to Chandler is going to be upwards of 30-45 minutes, depending on traffic. If your budget is in the $500k range you can look closer in if you reduce your square footage needs and concentrate on the floorplan "flow". Depending on how the home is laid out a 2500 - 3000 sqft home can be more usable with the right configuration.

If you are dead set on QC...you could do worse but understand that you are about 40 miles out of Downtown if you ever want to go down there for any reason. They have their own hospital and shopping out there...it is not as bad as it was in say...2008 when there were NO amenities and "drive until you qualify" was the mantra. If you are satisfied with the amenities in QC, you do you. You could definitely do worse.

[ShampooBanana]

Originally Posted by Jkgourmet

Then ignore all the posts suggesting areas on the west side. Personally, that commute would be too much for me from Casa Grande, too.

I'd add Apache Junction to the possibilities.

Yeah, clearly a lot of people missed that the OP would be working in Chandler. Personally, you could do a lot worse than Queen Creek for the money. Queen Creek is pretty nice these days and growing fast, so there's a lot more to do there now than there was even 5 years ago. It's become almost an extension of south Gilbert, with schools ratings actually pretty similar and similar types of new developments. You have some quaint, unique places line Schnepf Farms and The Olive Mill, and some quality newer master plans.

To those comparing San Tan Valley to the QC - not even close. The further you go down Hunt Highway the cheaper and cheaper it gets - in both price and quality of construction. Many of the same builders/developers who built up Gilbert are now doing so in Queen Creek because land in Gilbert has gotten crazy expensive (and much more scarce).

To be honest, if you are looking for a larger house on a large lot then QC is about the only choice for someone working in Chandler because anything closer in is going to be above the price range while STV or AJ is too far and you will likely be sacrificing quality of schools and amenities/services nearby.

[asufan]

Originally Posted by KurtAZ

I understand the need for land but QC is way out there. Even the commute to Chandler is going to be upwards of 30-45 minutes, depending on traffic.

You do understand that Queen Creek starts about 5 miles East of the Chandler border, along Queen Creek Rd?

I think my estimate of 15-25 minutes is more accurate, I suppose more if work is in the far NW part of Chandler and the home is at the for SE part of Queen Creek. I think many forget that the far reaches of what was once called "Queen Creek" is now called San Tan Valley. QC is the relatively smaller community closer to Gilbert.