Phoenecian moving to Prescott area: where's YOUR ideal location? (Phoenix: for sale, lease)

[kiitah]

It is with utter giddiness and sincerity that my family and I are able to say we will be Prescottonians. We are leaving Phoenix and moving "up north". We travel to Prescott and PV every other weekend because we love it so, and have for 2-3 years. We've gotten to know the businnesses well, as consumers, but have no idea where is the place we want to call home. I've dreamed of this for years and don't want to ever have to move again, so I want to do this right. Are you happy where you live? If you could wave a magic wand and move within Prescott, would you? Where and why?

Can you give us location advice?

This is our ideal living situation. A single family home, no more than $325k. As Phoenix has taught us, tract homes crammed together are a no go. I need some greenery within my neighborhood, and would love some trees in my yard. We have dogs. We like solitude, but would be ok in a subdivision as long as we can't see into our neighbor's windows from ours like we can here in Phoenix. I'm ok with Prescott or PV if it's the right feel. Our daughter is a teen, so family social gathering for young families isn't a necessity- she's antisocial at times, like teens can be. We are very flexible about housing style and age of the community. We're more concerned with having space to breathe. Keep in mind my version of space to breathe is a lot of 10,000 sq ft. :-)

We enjoy downtown but also love nature. Close to trails and outdoorsy stuff (walking the dog things) are ideal.

Can you suggest an area? A portion of a zip code? While I've been to Prescott many times, I've never dreamed we would be able to actually live there. I will say this, we love the areas around Watson and Willow Lakes. Nature soothes our souls.

Thanks!

[infocyde]

Diamond Valley is cool to LIVE in. 5 minutes to PV for shopping and 15 minutes to Prescott for additional shopping and events. There is a mix of families with kids in smaller more affordable houses and big custom home builds for the retirees. There is wildlife around (deer, javelina, coyotes, rabbits mainly but others critters too). The area is on rolling hills not quite into the pines but you get some pretty epic views down into Prescott Valley and the surrounding mountains of Prescott. I have two giant dogs that I take walking in the area sometimes and I see lots of other people out walking dogs as well. You do have to watch out for the wildlife as I've come up on Javelina and coyotes a few times. The coyotes darted off and the Javelina I saw far enough off so I just turned around and had no issues. The other drawback is most if not all the houses are on septic systems which isn't a big deal but it freaks people out who come from more "civilized" areas

Overall the location where is is pretty quick to pop into PV to hit a grocery store or Prescott for say an event in the park or a non chain restaurant make Diamond Valley a very convenient place to live. Also it is in an unincorporated gap between Prescott and Prescott Valley so there are less building restrictions so there isn't really any cookie cutter places...a lot of uniqueness which is both good and bad. You can have one neighbor on one side with four junker cars in the front yard and one neighbor on the other side with an immaculate kept yard. I dig the diversity.

As far as big lot's goes at least on the North side of 69 most of the lots are fairly modest. Big enough for the house and a spacious yard but you don't have 100's of feet of privacy. Might be one draw back.

[agorski]

I live a mile east of downtown Prescott up in the hills. Access to hiking in Acker Park is easy without getting into a car. It takes me 17 minutes to hike to the library and downtown. You can probably find a home on a decent sized lot and not be right next to your neighbor.

[AZMtns]

Pinon Oaks.

[BriansPerspective]

Congratulations on your decision! How exciting.

Your location will be driven mostly by your price point. $325K is on the lower side of what is available in Prescott. There are 43 site-built homes for sale under $325K with at lease 1200 sqft, 2+ car garage, and 0.15+ ac. You would get a lot more house for your money in Prescott Valley. In any case, you might consider Yavapai Hills, which is next to Diamond Valley and is an area of rolling hills with a pool in the subdivision. You might also consider Hidden Valley Ranch, which is in the pines and also has a subdivision pool. The other properties are spread north of downtown. Cliff Rose is an option, but there is no pool. Pinon Oaks is very nice with large lots, but this subdivision is above your price point.

[keninaz]

We lived in Prescott renting when we first moved up to the hills in 2008. We rented for 4 years. Prescott gets busy on weekends in the Spring and Summer with tourists so be aware of that.
We like it quiet and we bought a home in the View Point North area of Prescott Valley. Two years ago we gave $180K for a 1700 sq. ft. 3/2 with a 3 car garage that was only 10 years old. It has a very mild HOA with few restrictions and the dues are only $79 a year. There are lots and lots of retirees here and the streets and very quiet most of the time. about the only noise we hear are the school buses and the garbage trucks when they collect.
We are only some 4 miles down 89 from the back door into Prescott. It's about 4 miles from our home to downtown PV.
I think you will find that homes in PV are cheaper than Prescott for the most part.

[BriansPerspective]

Originally Posted by keninaz

Two years ago we gave $180K for a 1700 sq. ft. 3/2 with a 3 car garage that was only 10 years old.

You bought at a great time. That house would probably sell in the neighborhood of $250K today.

[keninaz]

Originally Posted by BriansPerspective

You bought at a great time. That house would probably sell in the neighborhood of $250K today.

Yes, I know I did. I was renting and could not turn down a 3.25% loan. The payment with insurance and taxes was the same price as my 1200 sq. ft. duplex cost us to rent that we were in for the first 4 years we were in Prescott.
A 4 bedroom 3 car garage just sold two doors from us for $255K but it is some 200+ sq. ft. bigger than our home is.
It does not matter, we are retired and have no plans to relocate again.