Where to Buy Second Home in Phoenix Area- Avid Cyclists
 

We love to cycle and want to buy a condo near Phoenix. Don't need the Scottsdale address or high prices. Need a starting point. I was thinking about Cave Creek because it still is relatively undeveloped and I love to hike Pinnacle Peak but I don't know the area well.

the valley is exploding with developement- in order to have a little space you need to think cave creek, or scottsdale at this point! i have been visitin friends there for 15 years and have watched it fill in. Also carefree, which is right next door to cave creek

Everyody else is thinking about Cave Creek too, "because it's still relatively undeveloped."

I like the Chandler/South Mountain Park area. I have only hiked in the South Mountain area, but I have seen cyclists there. Lots of great trails. The burb there is developed but I work with someone who lives close to South Mountain and when I work at his home office w/him it is peaceful, quiet, and there are hawks and other critters that appear in the backyard.

Cave Creek is going to cost you as much as Scottsdale so if you are not looking for high prices, look elsewhere.

So where to if not Cave Creek that mite be less developed? We're in our early 40s and want to by "out a ways" knowing it will all fill in eventually...by the time we are spending more time there. Anything within 30-40 minutes of the airport...

I would consider Ftn Hills. It's far enough out yet isn't too far now that the freeway is in NOrth Scottsdale. It is convenient to McDowell Mtn Park if you are a mtn biker or to the Rio verde/ Pinnacle Peak road if you are a roadie.

if i were you i'd buy in Tucson - prices are better, scenery is prettier, and the cycling community is great.

I've spent the past couple of days "house hunting" online. So far, I've found that there are quite a number of properties available in every conceivable price range in Scottsdale but little in Cave Creek or Fountain Hills. I found a market analysis on Fountain Hills that shows home prices have risen 50% in the last 18 months and while there were over 700 properties available at this time last year there are currently less than 150 available thanks to investment minded people who are snapping everything up.

Found out today that a h.s. friend's parents live in Fountain Hills after originally retiring in Florida- hated the bugs and humidity. She said that people contact her about selling her house regularly.

We're making a trip to the area the first week of June so I've contacted a Fountain Hills realtor. Not much reason to shop seriously now as homes are on the market just over two months right now.

My neighbor formerly lived in Tuscon and suggested I look there as well so I'm starting that research. I started with Phoenix because it is a cheap direct flight from Indy whereas Tuscon will mean another flight or a drive, something that doesn't mean much now but might as we get older.

So you are thinking you'll buy the house now and sell it later when you retire and buy something else? Or are you thinking you are looking for a home to use now but retire in later? We (me 50, DH 43) are going through the same prcoess right now in a different area of AZ. It makes a difference in what kind of place we are looking to buy now...

oh, I see you said condo, but same questions for that...

emd- Not sure which we'll plan to do, buy for use now (vacations) or spend more and consider using it as a main residence later. Prices are sky rocketing and we need to decide if spending an extra $100K now to get a place more suitable for long term stays is a good idea.

My long term plan is to sell "the big house" and have two small places to move back and forth from in AZ and CO for hiking, biking, skiing during the various seasons.

amwosu, I am with you. This is what we plan to do too when the kids (middle and high school next yr) are gone, and like you we are looking to get in now (in Village of Oak creek, on Phoenix side of Sedona). I love love love it there. Don't know about the 2nd place yet, maybe closer to the beach for the summers, but CO mountains are also a good cooler option.
I am leaning towards just buying something smaller now in AZ and reselling for what we want to live in later, but of course the other way has financial advantages, not having to buy again later when prices are so much higher.
Good luck. Let us know where you end up- I'd be very interested in hearing.

emd- How did you decide on Village of Oak Creek? I am considering Fountain Hills due to the outdoor possibilities and the fact that it is still a short drive (under and hour) from the airport.

I did do some checking into Tucson but a residence there requires layovers and plane changes for us. DH travels for business and hates anything that is not direct. The extra flight adds to the "getting there" time which factors into our short term plans to take long weekend trips.

We love the Sedona area, biking, hiking, but I don't want to be in Sedona proper, too many tourists and too much traffic on weekends, and too many developments are popping up. Village is on the Phoenix side and is full of locals, a real neighborhood feel, but w/Bell Rock there and Cathedral Rock close for the views. And it shaves off a half hour or more in getting to the airport, just a short hop on 179 to get onto 17. Very easy w/those high speed limits, but of course not as easy as being in Phoneix. I do not like to drive on 17 at night either.
I have been thinking of checking out Tuscon as it gets such great reviews on here. But I love the red rocks and the creek and canyons, proximity to Flag, etc.

UPDATE- Just returned from nice days of hiking, biking, and house hunting. We started our hunt in Gold Canyon and East Mesa because they were both less expensive than Fountain Hills (a newer house in either of those areas was less than an older condo in Fountain Hills). Unfortunately, the road biking in both areas involve heavy traffic- too stressful for me.

We ended up putting an offer on a condo in Fountain Hills (thanks for pointing me in that direction bigtyke)and it was accepted. It is on the northside of town just 4 miles from the entry of McDowell Mtn Park where there are road and mtn biking possibilities. Inspection went great and we close early next month. I think a condo is the way to go as we will only be there a handful of times a year.

emd- DH loved Sedona and wants to get a lot in the general area in a couple of years so we will have residences in both the desert and at cooler elevations.

amwosu! I've wondered where you have been :) Congratulations on your purchase!!

How exciting!! Congratulations on the decision. Next time I am in Phoenix for work I will try to drive over the McDowell and check it out, since the only places I have hiked in Phoenix are Camelback and South Mountain.

Also exciting about Sedona. Property is just soaring there. We will look while we are there the wk. btwn. Christmas and New Years, both in village of Oak Creek and in west Sedona (not close to uptown, but alot further west). Maybe we will end up being neighbors in a few years. There are others on this board who live in Sedona and I know a few people who I have worked with who live there.
I am not sure if I would have a place in Phoneix and a place in Sedona. Sedona has great cool/warm weather, except June through Sept., it is unbearably (for us) hot then. Most likely we would have a second place on the west coast or CO, or rent for a few months in different places in those areas during those months.

This board has alot of good impact. Bigtyke's post here is a good example. Pointing someone in a direction can make a difference.

Hey emd! Good hearing from you. I'm thrilled with the outcome. I agree with you about having a place in CO. Thats next on the list. That was actually first on the list but the real estate market in AZ went a little nuts and I wanted to get in while I still can afford it. Of course, its thousands of others thinking the same thing that drove up the market...vicious cycle.

Funny story... we were getting groceries late at night at the store behind the Desert Quail Inn in Sedona while two junior high aged boys carried twelve dozen eggs to the check out. Pretty much every adult around jumped their shit including me as my house got egged two weeks before because some girl stopped at my house to talk to my son and her boyfriend found out. Whatever.

Anyway, the manager asked them what they were going to do with the eggs and they said, "Make a big omelette." He said, "If you can't come up with a better excuse than that forget it." and he didn't sell them the eggs. The boys looked at all the adults increduously and one said, "Why do you all think we're going to do something bad with them?" Everyone laughed and I pointed out that we'd all been their age and suddenly all the adults started trading stories of their own "egging" incidents. One older women described dropping eggs off a bridge until she got caught.

How is the house/condo market in the Fountain Hills and Cave Creek area? What are we talking re: price range? A friend's parents were talking about their desire to investigage this area for retirement but were unsure about cost factor -- i.e., $600k gets you X size house. Any thoughts?