Moving to Arizona? Visit this Thread!

Me and the fam are relocating to the Phoenix area in June 2021. Looking at Scottsdale and North Mesa. Need current intel.

 

Need an agent? Ive got one for you! Even if you're looking to rent sometimes its nice to have one, especially coming from out of state. As far as hoods, I don't really have much experience with Mesa and Scottsdale is a huge place so what you are looking for can change drastically depending on area. As for Scottsdale, south scottsdale is the "affordable" part of town, if you catch my drift. Old Town has some cool pockets and has some annoying trust fund/go out at night partying pockets. Most parts north of Old Town turn into golf courses and gated/resorty type communities. Im guessing North Scottsdale isn't really on your radar since your other option is North Mesa. Other people on here will have better intel on Mesa.

 

Howdy Arizona peeps. I'm headed your way in about three weeks. My new job is located in the heart of downtown so we got a two bedroom unit at The Link, the new high rise building on Pierce St. As soon as we get there we'll be scouting for neighborhoods. Any thoughts on the neighborhood at the border of South Mountain? There's a development by Maracay homes there that looks promising for what we want.

 

Not quite yet. Wife and I are thinking $500k - $700k price range. She makes well over 6 figs and I don't do too bad as a pilot. I only know what I've seen when I've been out there and North West Mesa where it borders Scottsdale didn't seem bad at all. However, my say so doesn't matter in this situation. What the wife wants, the wife gets. As long as she's happy, I get taken care of. She likes Scottsdale so that's likely where we will end up.

 

It might require a trip out to visit different parts of the area. Most people don't realize how huge Scottsdale is. It stretches all the way from the North side of Tempe to South side of Cave Creek, its like 30 miles North to South. Saying "Scottsdale" means very different things to different people.

 

That’s what I explained to my wife. She thinks every town is small because she’s from NYC.

 

Well if you guys want to talk to someone let me know. My agent is my buddies wife, she works on a team of all female agents. The main lady is the top selling Keller Williams agent in Arizona and top 40 under 40 in the country. They are very good at what they do and women seem to work very well with another group of women. My parents bought a house from them, other tacomaworld people I've recommended have bought houses with them etc. I don't even get any kickbacks! Its cool to hook people up though.

 

Right on! I’ll definitely reach out once we are ready to start checking out houses. Got to nail down a geographic area first.

 

I used the agent he is recommending when I moved to the area last fall. It was the smoothest and least-stressful part of the entire relocation process. Call and talk to her a couple weeks before you come out. She'll listen to what you want in terms of house and neighborhood and set up an on-line portal for you to view all the listings that meet your criteria. From there you can fine-tune your search and rate properties. A few days before you arrive, she'll set up a schedule for a day's viewings of the properties you've listed as your favorites, and have the tours organized geographically so you don't spend all day in the car criss-crossing the valley.

If your wife is dead set on Scottsdale, that's great, just look in Scottsdale. But if it's because she's only been there and isn't familiar with other parts of the valley, you really should look at other options. There are neighborhoods in other cities around the valley just as nice as anywhere in Scottsdale but without the premium you pay for a prestige zip code. Obviously, you also need to consider your commute, schools, or whatever else.

 

Is that the development at the bottom of 7th St. below Dobbins? My wife has a friend in the older neighborhood right across 7th. She says traffic is already a mess down there (and having been there a few times at rush hour, I'll agree with that) and it's going to become a total nightmare with all those new houses.

Other than that, I personally like the area. The views are great, and traffic aside, it's convenient to pretty much everything. There are some not-so-nice areas between there and downtown, but nothing I'd consider "scary." Everyone has their own likes and dislikes, though, so you'll have to check it out when you get here.

As mentioned in the previous few posts, we can recommend an agent to help you find a place.

 

Awesome. Thanks!

 

Yes, that is the development. They have a home plan that literally hits everything we want and sticks below the budget.

And is traffic bad, or "bad comparatively" to how it used to be? I spent five years in Chicago and people have described phoenix traffic as absolute hell but having purposefully spent time on the busiest routes during rush hour, it's not as bad as I had thought. And my job will let me telecommute one day per week, work 6a-2p on the days I have to go in, and I have rotating weekends with comp days off during the week so traffic isn't the biggest concern. I want a one level house, new(newish) build, at least four garage spaces and not super far out (30 minute commute to downtown) for $750k or less.

 

I only saw standard 2-level cookie-cutter houses in there, but that's just looking from the street. If there's some variation to what they're building, that will make the development even nicer. I'll have to check out their website to see what they've got available in there.

Phoenix bad - nowhere near Chicago, LA, DC, Boston, or NYC bad. The early start may not be as big an advantage here as it is other places, with people starting early to beat the heat and some finance types timing their hours to sync with the markets back East. Same in the afternoon - rush hour starts early. There are other nice areas with easier rides into downtown, but if the house you want is down there, you'll probably be OK for your 30 minute commute.

 

Hey Guys, moving back to Chandler area from GA in couple of weeks. Just renting for the first year. Hear it’s changed a lot in the 7 years I’ve been gone. I’m looking forward to the off-roading I did throughout college.

This will be towing my 7x12TA. Wish me luck!



EDIT: Truck couldn’t handle the loaded trailer. Now I’m towing the truck behind a UHaul

 

Scottsdale, if you're making good money, is definitely where it's at and where I'd live in a heartbeat. But damn it's expensive for me. Sounds like you'll do just fine.

Here's a good Metric to help your wife understand how big Scottsdale is: Total land is 184.4 Square Miles. Philadelphia is 141.7 Square Miles. Manhatten Island is 22.82 Square Miles.

I grew up in Scottsdale and to me, there's five sections:

• South Scottsdale (aka Old Town Scottsdale and friends) Everything south of Chaparral Road until you're suddenly in Tempe.
• Central Scottsdale (aka Paradise Valley's acceptable neighbor) Chapparral to Shea Blvd
• East Scottsdale (aka I thought this was Indian Reservation?) Everything North of Shea on the East Side of the 101
• North Scottsdale (aka that place you don't wanna work when PGA Tour comes to town) Everything North of Shea on the West Side and South Side of the 101.
• North North Scottsdale (aka The True North. Wait, this is Desert. This is all Desert.) Everything North of the 101.

Keep this information to yourself lest you get a quizzical look from your realtor.

Also, the East Phoenix neighborhood of Arcadia is pretty nice but hoooo those houses get expensive quick. The North East part of Phoenix, north of Paradise Valley, is also very nice. EDIT: And then, of course, there's Paradise Valley, which is just money on money living there.

 

Hello! I hope to be going off to college At Embry Riddle about an hour north of Prescot. Are there any MUST DO activities or trails to take? Also anything I should know?

 

Prescott is a beautiful town and region. Just up the road is Sedona and there's a few reputable trails and even more beautiful scenery up there.

 

Thanks for the great/tons of info. We just moved here last July, looking for BLM (beauru of land management) outdoor shooting areas. We live in Goodyear.

 

I'm moving to Tucson next fall. Prior to my current overseas assignment, I lived in the Phoenix area and loved it. I still own a house in Surprise. Please give me the latest info on Tucson. I'll be working at Davis-Monthan. Thanks

 

What a great post!! Being relatively new to the area, this is very informative!