I would advise buying the smallest home you feel comfortable living in. I came from Southern California 20 years ago and could not believe how cheap the homes were then in comparison to California. So I bought a 5000 square foot house. Now I regret it because of the cooling and heating costs for a lot of space I don't need. You are going to pay for every square foot in cooling and heating (yes, in the winters for a few weeks there will be days when a little heat is nice).
Groceries are about 20% higher in phoenix than most places i visit, even higher than California. Gasoline runs about a dollar a gallon higher too compared to most states going from Texas to Florida. Even fast food cost about $2 more here for your basic value meal. Also, car registration is expensive in Arizona at close to $400 a year for mine, some are higher. Its not just housing cost that are high here. Its becoming California fast.
Thanks. You ou have approached living in Arizona from a logical point of view. Very open about what future homeowners can expect. If I had children to educate here, my decisions would be the same as they were in my home state. We bought a fixer upper but it was more important that the kids attended one of the best school districts in our home state. The same could apply here in AZ. You pay for what is most important to you. We couldn't afford the medium price home, so we lived frugally and over 27 years we improved our home. We moved here as retirees and bout what we could comfortably afford. Over 8 years we have finally made it the house we wanted. In real estate I'm sure you come in contact with a lot of dreamers, I hope that you can advise them to be patient.
I currently live in Phoenix. I don’t know what roads you drive on but the traffic is awful no matter what time of day you drive. It goes from awful to really really awful depending on the time of day you drive. And yes, there are a lot of aggressive drivers. It’s very common for drivers to use the suicide lane as just another permanent lane to drive on and not just for passing. You had also better look both ways once the traffic light turns green or you’ll quite possibly get broadsided. Traffic in Phoenix is a white knuckle experience. I’m used to it but don’t let anyone try and tell you it’s not.
I'm a Phoenix snowbird and first it's not "eight and a half month's of incredible weather." I stay October-April. Last year October was hot, and April was hot. Subtract those and it's 5 months of incredible weather. But that's still not true as it rains often and has periods of multi-cloudy days during winter. Unlike Florida where it rains and then the Sun comes out an hour later, in Phoenix it will remain cloudy for days. Frankly I'm disappointed with the Phoenix winters as I came here to see the Sun shine, everyday!!☀️
Phoenix over Florida any day! Muggy, bugs, crocodiles /alligators, hurricanes and only one way in and out of the state! Nope! Sunshine everyday is a wee bit delusional….anywhere!
We bought in Ahwatukee 6 years ago coming from the Chicago area. We are very happy here and have no regrets. One thing I did notice here is that when there is an accident on the highways, the road can be entirely shut down and you are forced to exit and detour around the accident. In the Midwest, the roads are not shut down. If necessary, a lane, or even just the shoulder, is left open so that traffic can get by.
I'm from Southern California, where an accident is cleared in 10 to 15 minutes. Here in Phoenix, an accident seems to be a major enigma that the police have never encountered before (sarcasm). It can take HOURS to clear an accident. Just appalling. In many ways, Phoenix is just an overgrown small town, and a lot of those attitudes remain.
With Taiwan building one of the world's largest semi-conductor factories in North Phoenix just off Highway 17, North Phoenix is going to boom in a year or two when the factory goes live. Anthem AZ, a planned community established in 1999, is nice for the average family. The ambiance is desert style, so no palm trees if you are seeking that look.
I would advise buying the smallest home you feel comfortable living in. I came from Southern California 20 years ago and could not believe how cheap the homes were then in comparison to California. So I bought a 5000 square foot house. Now I regret it because of the cooling and heating costs for a lot of space I don't need. You are going to pay for every square foot in cooling and heating (yes, in the winters for a few weeks there will be days when a little heat is nice).
Groceries are about 20% higher in phoenix than most places i visit, even higher than California. Gasoline runs about a dollar a gallon higher too compared to most states going from Texas to Florida. Even fast food cost about $2 more here for your basic value meal. Also, car registration is expensive in Arizona at close to $400 a year for mine, some are higher. Its not just housing cost that are high here. Its becoming California fast.
Thanks. You ou have approached living in Arizona from a logical point of view. Very open about what future homeowners can expect. If I had children to educate here, my decisions would be the same as they were in my home state. We bought a fixer upper but it was more important that the kids attended one of the best school districts in our home state. The same could apply here in AZ. You pay for what is most important to you. We couldn't afford the medium price home, so we lived frugally and over 27 years we
improved our home. We moved here as retirees and bout what we could comfortably afford. Over 8 years we have finally made it the house we wanted. In real estate I'm sure you come in contact with a lot of dreamers, I hope that you can advise them to be patient.
I currently live in Phoenix. I don’t know what roads you drive on but the traffic is awful no matter what time of day you drive. It goes from awful to really really awful depending on the time of day you drive. And yes, there are a lot of aggressive drivers. It’s very common for drivers to use the suicide lane as just another permanent lane to drive on and not just for passing. You had also better look both ways once the traffic light turns green or you’ll quite possibly get broadsided. Traffic in Phoenix is a white knuckle experience. I’m used to it but don’t let anyone try and tell you it’s not.
I'm a Phoenix snowbird and first it's not "eight and a half month's of incredible weather." I stay October-April. Last year October was hot, and April was hot. Subtract those and it's 5 months of incredible weather. But that's still not true as it rains often and has periods of multi-cloudy days during winter. Unlike Florida where it rains and then the Sun comes out an hour later, in Phoenix it will remain cloudy for days. Frankly I'm disappointed with the Phoenix winters as I came here to see the Sun shine, everyday!!☀️
Can’t have everything, it’s pretty much sunny ☀️ everyday here.
Phoenix over Florida any day! Muggy, bugs, crocodiles /alligators, hurricanes and only one way in and out of the state! Nope! Sunshine everyday is a wee bit delusional….anywhere!
I commented "4 months of incredible weather", but I am spoiled & picky.
Considering moving to the Phoenix area from the Nashville area. This has been so helpful, thank you.
We bought in Ahwatukee 6 years ago coming from the Chicago area. We are very happy here and have no regrets. One thing I did notice here is that when there is an accident on the highways, the road can be entirely shut down and you are forced to exit and detour around the accident. In the Midwest, the roads are not shut down. If necessary, a lane, or even just the shoulder, is left open so that traffic can get by.
I'm from Southern California, where an accident is cleared in 10 to 15 minutes. Here in Phoenix, an accident seems to be a major enigma that the police have never encountered before (sarcasm). It can take HOURS to clear an accident. Just appalling. In many ways, Phoenix is just an overgrown small town, and a lot of those attitudes remain.
@@willchristie2650 "overgrown small town", I like that description
With Taiwan building one of the world's largest semi-conductor factories in North Phoenix just off Highway 17, North Phoenix is going to boom in a year or two when the factory goes live. Anthem AZ, a planned community established in 1999, is nice for the average family. The ambiance is desert style, so no palm trees if you are seeking that look.
No. Don’t move here. Stay away. Please.
Especially if you're fleeing a blue state in which you voted for said blue politicians. You're just going to bring the problems here.
Especially if you bring your left leaning politics with you.
Dont move to Az way hotter than you can imagine