Buying in Eagle Mountain (Salt Lake City, Draper: for sale by owner, real estate, house prices)

[tishypat]

I've looked at several different areas to buy a home and I keep coming back to Eagle Mountain. Can someone shed light on the area, the schools, cost of Real Estate, etc....what is in the area as far as shopping, etc.

My husband was just hired for a job in Lehi and will be going to UT next month, and we will be selling our home in VA and the girls and I will then move to UT.

Thanks!!!

[Agoraphobic]

I live in Saratoga Springs, which is right next to Eagle Mountain. The community is relatively new, but quickly expanding. The price of real estate out that way is probably the best in the state for what you're getting, but there's always a catch... The access in and out of Eagle Mountain is very congested during the morning and evening commute. The problem being that there are only two lane roads in and out of the area. In other words, stay off the roads during the commute if you can!

A 2000 sq foot home starts at about 185,000 and can go up from there. You could go to www.utahrealestate.com and check out a few houses for yourself. (P.S. Eagle Mountain is in Utah County)

Lehi is only about 15-20 minutes away (at times other than the commute times) and has all the shopping places you could want (Wal-Mart, Costco, Best Buy, Target, Lowes, etc.). Saratoga Springs (between Eagle Mountain and Lehi) has a shopping complex being built right now, and the rumors are that Wal-Mart is going to be there, as well as other retails stores. Right now there is just a grocery store in Saratoga with some smaller businesses.

I personally like the area because it's quiet and very family oriented. There are a bunch of new elementary schools that have been built and they are looking at building a high school out that way too. I believe a middle school is on the west side of Lehi, but they may have one out at Eagle Mountain as well.

Hopefully that helps,

Agoraphobic

[Enigma032]

I live in Eagle Mountain and with careful planning it can be very pleasant. Commute hours are awful. It's quiet, and unless you're in the Ranches, it's about 20-25 minutes to the closest....well, anything! Did I mention that it's absolutely gorgeous out here with minimal effects from inversion? There's a 3 bdrm 2.5 bath 3 doors down from me, backyard not fenced yet, corner lot that's going for $314,000. There's about 6 other houses within walking distance of here for sale by owner, I'd be glad to grab flyers and mail and/or take pix for ya. I'm assuming your husband is from IMFlash as well? PM me if I can help in any way!

[mikesmullin]

There's some good info on these sites:

Eagle Mountain::Utah's New Frontier (http://www.emcity.org/business.php - broken link)
Eagle Mountain::Utah's New Frontier (http://www.emcity.org/schools.php - broken link)
Eagle Mountain Living | Eagle Mountain Voice (http://www.eaglemountainvoice.com/groups/eagle-mountain-living - broken link)
Eagle Mountain, Utah - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Personally the neighbors, house prices, wildlife--all great! I love it out here.

[sp2007]

But if you were commuting to downtown SLC, Eagle Mtn and Saratoga Sprgs is a bad idea, right?

[BuhByeCalifornia]

It would be a trek to downtown SLC from Eagle Mtn especially during rush hour because you'll not only get traffic getting TO the fwy, but you'll also get traffic on the I-15 going north.

[darkindigo]

If your husbands job is east of I-15, I would only recommend Eagle Mountain if it's all you can afford. Here's the skinny. I live in Saratoga Springs and really like it, but I commute up north to Salt Lake City. This isn't bad, because the road moves 60 miles/hour (unless it's like last night with the HORRIBLE weather!) It took me 2 1/5 hours to drive 5 miles southbound. That's because of road closures due to weather conditions. However, this is an anomoly; nothing to be afraid of. People haven't seen weather conditions like this for a very long time. The power was out for hours. But typically, the power only goes out once every few months for a very short time. It is a developing city. If your husband is working in West Lehi, I'd recommend Saratoga Springs or Eagle Mountain. Saratoga Springs has a great view of Utah Lake that's just breathtaking, but don't get close to the lake. It's shallow and kind of filthy. But it's beautiful for watching the sunsets reflecting off the mountain; nothing like it.

IF YOU HAVE TEENAGERS, DON'T MOVE TO EAGLE MOUNTAIN. Everyone is newlywed/young. If you have young children, it's a great place to live. But we know people who come to church here in Saratoga Springs from Eagle Mountain for their teenager(s) to have some friends their age.

So, in conclusion, if your husband is working west of I-15, buy in Saratoga Springs or Eagle Mountain, or Lehi. But not Eagle Mountain if you have teenagers. Personally, I like Saratoga Springs and there's a lot of great deals right now from builders or people selling their home. The homes are small on the far north-side of the city and the far south-side of the city. If you can buy in-between, then go for it. It's a little pricey. Look on utahrealestate . com (MLS) or ksl . com under the classifides or maybe even Craigs list. A lot of people have boughten property all over the valley for approx. $300k+ as investments and need to sell them, so there are a lot of good deals.

If your husband is working east of I-15, I wouldn't live in Eagle Mountain, because it's too far. You'd end up hating the traffic. The closest grocery store to Eagle Mountain is in Saratoga Springs, Smith's, though there is more development in Saratoga Springs going on. A little stripmall and Wal-Mart is coming in (sometime...). Lehi is a great place to live, though the Mountain View corridor likely will come in to meet I-15 at 2100 North, which has Lehi residents all upset. It's not like your city wasn't cut in half anyway!

By the way, some builders in Lehi (due to the water table), don't have basements in their homes. The homes look big and beautiful, but without a basement, it's not going to have as good resale value as a home, even with an unfinished basement. East of Lehi is $$$ (Highland Alpine and is wooded and close to the American Fork Canyon). Big, beautiful homes and some older ones that have nice surroundings. American Fork is nice. If you have a 4x4 and love living up in the clouds, Draper city has a development called Suncrest. It's very cold, but you can feel those negative ions. It's lovely, but very cold and treaterous and it's really just build on a big sand pile.

Eagle Mountain has some really great priced homes. If you buy in the city center (far away from civilization), there's no street lights and some horses. I personally like the view of the lake Saratoga Springs offers, but keep a little distance from the lake itself. Pretty, but don't touch.. (mosquitos). Best of luck deciding!

You might want to get a good realtor. If I knew one, I'd recommend them to you. Sorry.