A Little bit City and a Little Bit Country (Phoenix: bank owned, short sale)

[designergrey]

Ok I need some help. My brother and I are looking to buy a house together. The problem is that he wants a house with at least an acre of land and I like the newer homes, which are on smaller lots, but the houses have a ton of rooms.

Coming from New Mexico, I don't know the Phoenix neighborhoods all that well.

So if we are looking for houses on paved roads but not too far the city, just a little country. Is it even possible in the $300,000 - $400,000 price range with somewhere around 3,500 sq ft. Phoenix is so spread out that I am having a hard time figuring out what neighborhoods to focus on. What part of the city should we be looking at?

Any help would be great. Save me from living in the middle of nowhere!

[sh9730]

Well, there are many newer homes on 1+ acre lots down here in Casa Grande. Not sure if the 40 mins into Pheonix is too far for you? Also, 300-400K might not get you that big of a house WITH the land. 3500 sf itself down here is no problem in that range (even lower) in this market, but most of the "horse property" (doesnt neccessarily mean with stables etc..) with a house that big seems a little more pricey. But I havent searched that hard.

Casa Grande is about 50K population with all the services, but still about half farmland though.

[twiggy]

You can try South Chandler/Gilbert area. Around Val Vista and Queen Creek Rd on up to Ocotillo Rd. there are some cute affordable mini farms. Lots of horses, cows, etc. The homes on the lots are newer. I've seen some at about 400,000. With our economy maybe even less. Good Luck!

[Bungle]

Look into the South Mountain & Laveen areas. Theres still a lot of farm land and open spaces in the area as well as being just a few minutes from downtown Phoenix. There are a lot of older large properties mixed in with new developments.

[asufan]

Originally Posted by twiggy

You can try South Chandler/Gilbert area. Around Val Vista and Queen Creek Rd on up to Ocotillo Rd. there are some cute affordable mini farms. Lots of horses, cows, etc. The homes on the lots are newer. I've seen some at about 400,000. With our economy maybe even less. Good Luck!

Right. And those are typically county islands, not necessarily in the cities of Gilbert and Phoenix. All the way from Queen Creek all the way to Tempe, those county islands are scattered. Have a realtor pull up all of the 35,000 square feet and above lots in Gilbert and Chandler with the livable area you want. and there may be a few matches. There's also areas like this scattered around Phoenix, and like another poster said, near South Mountain.

[sh9730]

To give you a little idea down here in Casa Grande, check out MLS #4264561 on one of the realtor sites. It just came on market today. Its a short sale, so the price could be a come on price, but its a starting point.

1+ acres, 3200 sf home built in 2006 with upgrades (former model). Listed at 210,000, but again, that is the short sale price...who knows what it will go for in the end, but I gotta think less than 400k!

[tarrachristensen]

I would suggest Queen Creek or Gilbert. You are about 30-50 minutes from Phoenix, you are just minutes from malls, restaurants, theaters, etc but still in the country. I have lived in Queen Creek since 1995 and I love it. I have a beautiful 2400sqft home on an irrigated acre in the orange groves with a horse setup. A similar property with a pool just went for $270,000. You are picking an awesome time to buy. Not only are the home prices incredible but there are also a lot of great loan programs out there. One of my favorites, you get 22% down of the purchase price from the state of Arizona and you never have to make a payment on it. Plus if you live in it for more then 5-15 years, depending on the loan amount, you don't have to pay it back when you sell. You do have to buy a bank owned home but there are a ton of great bank homes on the market right now. Good luck and keep us posted.