prescott or sedona (Phoenix, Flagstaff, Prescott Valley: real estate, to rent, how much)

[bskippystephens]

i know it's been done before but i'm wondering if anyone has a different take on whether to buy in prescott or sedona i am looking to move there in a couple years but want to buy now will prescott's real estate values go up the same as sedona's or is the rate faster in sedona? just want opinions i know it's hard to predict i'm very confused sedona is beautiful but distant from the airport... very confusing b.

[BriansPerspective]

Hi B, Sedona is a little warmer than Prescott, more expensive, more breath-taking scenery, more touristy, and has more restaurants and touristy shopping. Prescott has more regular type shopping (e.g., grocery, hardware, everyday clothing, furniture, medical, etc.). Neither location has significant industrial/commercial/business employment. In both locations, most of the jobs are in the service arena: restaurants, retail, banks, etc. Sedona is primarily a tourist spot, so there are 11,000 residents and 100,000 tourists. This can be aggrivating to the residents, because they have to deal with the traffic and congestion brought by the tourists. Then again, Sedona would not have any of the services that it has without the tourists paying for it. As far as future rate of housing cost/value increase, there is probably not a significant difference. If I had to pick, I would say that Prescott has a better chance for a higher percentage increase in value, but that's a shot in the dark. So it really comes down to how much do you love and are you willing to pay for the Sedona scenery?

[roxiemack]

i agree w/ the previous post...sedona is spectaular in its beauty...but coming from a small tourist town, knowing how limited the employment is, can be frustrating in a small town

prescott area is not a whole lot better in finding employment, and also not as spectacular in scenery, oh but the history and the pronghorn and beautiful weather.....i love the prescott area

so, as the previous person said, it all depends on how much those beautiful red rocks draw you in.....but prescott also has the dells, the history, so much going on at the court house......and social security office/dmv (or mvd), walmart(good/bad)...all of these i didn't have at my previous home and kind of am very grateful for all of them

have fun in your choice, i don't think you'll go wrong with either

[bskippystephens]

i went out and visited both places and didn't really like prescott, sorry! other than the few blocks downtown that are kind of quaint (but still congested and loud with traffic) i was dismayed by the looks of the rest of the town some houses had nice views but were close together (we were looking in a low price range) i had found some houses i liked in the trees outside the town but the real estate agent said they would be hard to rent and we have to rent the property for a couple of years so.... sedona is beautiful and we found something for 300,000 that has a great view out the living room window we'll see how it is when the tourists come to town! b.

[NewyToPV]

We also visited Sedona and other towns around it. I found out that it was too expensive to live in Sedona. We finally decided to buy in Prescott Valley. It is less expensive and is close to Sedona, Flagstaff and Phoenix.

[Jaggy001]

Because it is surrounded by National Forest, Sedona has very limited ability to expand. As a result, there will be less property available which should protect house prices in a down market and get better increases in a good market.