Verrado....gimme your pros and cons PLEASE (Phoenix, Scottsdale: fit in, transplants)

[jd433]

How about Fountain Hills then or even Queen Creek or Florence The 3 rules are Location, Location, Location.
Again I assert that the west side of Phoenix is not as desirable as the East side. Verrado is in Buckeye. No offense but Buckeye is not exactly the best part of the valley. In fact it is one of the worst. The poster has another even bigger problem as well. You see this is a terrible time to be buying a house. The poster should have bought a house 8 years ago. If the OP buys right now then the price of their house may go DOWN in the near future. YES you heard me the house that they buy today may be worth less in the future. this has happened several times in Phoenix when prices go up. They also go down. If you put 20% down payment on the house you might lose that down payment. Heck you might even lose the entire house. IMO the poster should rent for at least a year before buying. Maybe even 2 years. Believe me prices are not going to go up over the next 2 years in Buckeye. The prices are already too high. I say wait until the market cools off and then buy.

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

I thought the rule was to buy low, sell high. How did that work out for ya?

Of course, any person living in Tempe, Scottsdale, and central Phoenix would probably never consider living in Buckeye. Nor should they! They prefer what they prefer. And the weighted average of proximity to work of the airport or sporting events or ________ should be strongly considered. It's always about trade-offs.

The Op wants a smaller town feel. Their family hobby is boating. She has three children in HS that were use to small-town TX. She drove 30-40 minutes to get groceries and supplies. Are you saying folks like her should not consider Verrado?

[asufan]

Pro's: Some of the housing is nice, the design is a little better than what builders did when they started, but many builders have upped their game since then so you can find better tract home design all over the valley. The community is well designed, it gives you a good feeling when you are in it. Closer to So Cal (if you are driving, not flying). I understand the schools within Verrado itself are above average.

Con's: Buckeye and the SW valley as a whole are largely viewed to be the least desirable part of the valley, lots of big rigs and distribution centers nearby on I-10 with many more planned. It's kinda far out there if you want to go out for a quick dinner or food delivery, the options will be much smaller than other areas. There is a nearby prison which is unsightly and the drive from the prison to the Verrado exit is pretty junky, not many amenities in that corridor to serve you. Jet noise from Luke AFB. Not very much in the way of high quality employment within a short distance, most jobs are warehouse type jobs.

All in all it's a nice looking community. I think it's best suited for retirees that don't need to drive anywhere for work and are happy with home cooking 95% of the time.

[asufan]

Originally Posted by Sno0909

Another thing is that people make the assumption that Verrado is way, way out in the middle of nowhere. Simply not true. It's closer to downtown Phoenix than Queen Creek is (by about 10 miles). But I never hear of QC or SE Gilbert having a reputation of being "out there."

That's because the center of the valley is not downtown Phoenix, it's more like Tempe. Someone in Gilbert is much closer to the major employment (Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa) corridors than someone in Buckeye. Using downtown Phoenix as the measuring stick is wrong to do since much of the employment and development is centered East of downtown.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by jd433

How about Fountain Hills then or even Queen Creek or Florence The 3 rules are Location, Location, Location.

Florence ===Location, Location, Location? Also, PHX housing is going to drop by 20% in the next couple of years. Got it.

It sounds like you are in the know with real estate and AZ. How did that work out for you last go around?

re: Buckeye. I understand its history in the area. Realize it is one of the safest cities in AZ https://ktar.com/story/2227629/bucke...rizona-cities/ . Gilbert normally gets some top marks. But again, there is blight in Gilbert too.

I will say for an investment, Gilbert is a much better bet than Buckeye. If I could rewind back to 2011, I would have bought in Gilbert over Surprise. Morman stories from a friend in Utah spooked me.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by asufan

Using downtown Phoenix as the measuring stick is wrong to do since much of the employment and development is centered East of downtown.

That's a fair statement. Depending on where you live in Gilbert, it is definitely closer to more options including jobs.

[asufan]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

That's a fair statement. Depending on where you live in Gilbert, it is definitely closer to more options including jobs.

Even someone in Seville (which is SE Gilbert) who works at the massive Wells Fargo Corporate Campus in Chandler for example, only has about an 11-mile commute to work with no freeways needed, not much traffic. And there are many other high quality employers with thousands of employees within the same radius. This is why people don't typically consider Gilbert that far "out there", unless they work downtown.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by asufan

Even someone in Seville (which is SE Gilbert) who works at the massive Wells Fargo Corporate Campus in Chandler for example, only has about an 11-mile commute to work with no freeways needed, not much traffic. And there are many other high quality employers with thousands of employees within the same radius. This is why people don't typically consider Gilbert that far "out there", unless they work downtown.

One of the things that is a little controversial but here it goes.... The average patron in Gilbert is more educated than say Surprise or Buckeye or Pieora. Sorry, it's in the stats. I notice how people carry themselves. We live in a nicer neighborhood in Surprise. But when I go to Tailgaters or Bootie's or some other spots, you get some questionable clientele. Shall we say "weathered"?

I'm a beer and brats kind of guy. But I predict there might be a few more hopped up 4x4's in our neck of the woods. A little less in the newer areas of Pieora and portions of Goodyear. It's one reason why I'm looking at the East side of town. I will say, economically speaking, it doesn't make sense for me to move until I know where my kids eventually live. So my research is for a few more years out. If my wife had her way, we would have bought three homes already. We (she) thought hard in Val Vista Lakes as well as Scottsdale Ranch. If I said yes to either, she would move in a heartbeat. As I mentioned earlier, older homes bug me. She just doesn't care and is willing to take the trade-offs. I guess we will see what happens. The topic of moving comes up a few times a week in our house.

[Sno0909]

Originally Posted by asufan

That's because the center of the valley is not downtown Phoenix, it's more like Tempe. Someone in Gilbert is much closer to the major employment (Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa) corridors than someone in Buckeye. Using downtown Phoenix as the measuring stick is wrong to do since much of the employment and development is centered East of downtown.

Valid point. But in reference to the OP, it doesn't matter because they work from home. I was using downtown Phoenix as a reference point, because there is more than enough to do down there if they want a night out or something.

So, all in all, if you work in Tempe or Chandler...sure, it's far out there. But for someone who works from home, Verrado is close enough to everything they could need or want. No different than working from home in Queen Creek.

[Sno0909]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

One of the things that is a little controversial but here it goes.... The average patron in Gilbert is more educated than say Surprise or Buckeye or Pieora. Sorry, it's in the stats. I notice how people carry themselves. We live in a nicer neighborhood in Surprise. But when I go to Tailgaters or Bootie's or some other spots, you get some questionable clientele. Shall we say "weathered"?

I'm a beer and brats kind of guy. But I predict there might be a few more hopped up 4x4's in our neck of the woods. A little less in the newer areas of Pieora and portions of Goodyear. It's one reason why I'm looking at the East side of town. I will say, economically speaking, it doesn't make sense for me to move until I know where my kids eventually live. So my research is for a few more years out. If my wife had her way, we would have bought three homes already. We (she) thought hard in Val Vista Lakes as well as Scottsdale Ranch. If I said yes to either, she would move in a heartbeat. As I mentioned earlier, older homes bug me. She just doesn't care and is willing to take the trade-offs. I guess we will see what happens. The topic of moving comes up a few times a week in our house.

I would 100% agree with that statement. But again, most people in Verrado are not venturing out to other bars/restaurants in random spots in Buckeye. They will be staying within their bubble, and I don't see too many 4x4s and weathered residents in Verrado. It's basically it's own self-sustaining island. Some people like that...others don't.

[Bates419]

Key point here. If you want a unique experience out it's a lot further to Roman's Oasis from Scottsdale than Verrado