Arizona Pro's & Con's

@Conrad's post is very well written.  I can't disagree with any of it.

I have lived in Orange County CA for 3 years (HB, La Habra and Garden Grove), and the Phoenix area all other adult years, besides 5 childhood years in St. Louis.

I still like CA very much, and I wouldn't mind living there (in outlying affordable areas), but my wife would not be happy away from family.

I have lived in North Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa, Glendale, Surprise and Peoria.  To me, present day northwest Peoria is the best.

Regarding the overall Phoenix area, the traffic has gotten much worse, but I'm assuming that LA/OC has also gotten much worse since I was last there in 2011.  In Phoenix you need to know your streets and good areas vs bad areas.

Since I love the heat, one thing to really enjoy in the Phoenix Metro area is all the mountain hiking trails.  A whole bunch of new trails have sprung up in the north all the way from east to west, but the older classics like Camelback and Pinnacle Peak are still good.

Outside of Phoenix, that's where I'm very different than the Californians who can afford the prime areas like Havasu, Prescott and Sedona.  Since I'm nearing retirement (maybe), the places I'm thinking about for either full or part-time living are Quartzsite, Superior, Globe, Cordes Lakes, and Kingman.  If anyone has pro/con comments on those 5 cities/towns, I'd like to read them.

 
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Bobalos said:
this is the research I did with respect to weather.  I also did an evaluation of $/SQ-FT for smaller houses, but cant find that.  it varied a lot with lot size.  I was kind of surprised @ how expensive some of the houses were in places like Prescott. with regards to temperature days, those are daytime highs. 

View attachment 68180

These are the general areas we were looking @.  we know that Phoenix is not in the running.  just too damn meany hot days.  we could not live like that. 

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Couple things

Payson has one road thru it. Every Friday morning to Sunday afternoon from May to September one way on that road is at a dead stop.  Last time I went to the rim it took longer to get from Mesa /Chandler to Payson and from the edge of Payson to Forest Lakes then to get thru town.

Sedona, Cottonwood & Camp Verde, get a lot hotter than you think, I can't remember how many times my buddies and I would think it's up in the mountains lets go mountain bike up there instead of dealing with the Phoenix heat and while  it may not be 115 it was 102.

Camp Verde & Cottonwood both get crowded during the summer months with people passing thru as well maybe not as bad as Payson but it can make it so on the weekends you don't want to go anyplace.

Chino Valley thru to Mayer isn't to bad at least the Prescott area is big enough that you can take back roads while the flatlander tourists roll thru.  

 
ChEFF said:
TX went crazy on the property tax this year. The houses are selling for that price. Thanks CALLIE Folks. Peace 
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Off topic for AZ so sorry. But , did you know Texas rates as absolute worst state in the country from a tax perspective for retirees? Yep! As pointed out, TX gets most of their taxes from property taxes. So even if income goes down when you retire you still pay those property taxes! Even California rates significantly better for taxes for retirees. Go figure. 

 
Cookie said:
Just curious, what is the Property Tax in LHC?  I tried looking but struggle to find the actual number.

Thanks
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I think it's like 0.9% of the assessed dwelling value ? 

It's LOW compared to Cali. Our Havasu house was purchased for $443K in Sept 2020 and taxes are $1650

In so cal that would be $4870+ all sorts of crazy add on's depending on the city you live in. 

 
badgas said:
I think it's like 0.9% of the assessed dwelling value ? 

It's LOW compared to Cali. Our Havasu house was purchased for $443K in Sept 2020 and taxes are $1650

In so cal that would be $4870+ all sorts of crazy add on's depending on the city you live in. 
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Where I am in CA tax is 1% BUT they assess "full value" and reassess yearly.

My place in Havasu had a very low dwelling and land assessment so the .85% I paid was on a lower, more "honest" base

Sales tax in Havasu is higher than most of AZ at I think 7.6%  some places in CA its cheaper than that of course in CA where I am  (LA county) its 10.25%

IMO that all matters

 
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Sales tax in Glendale Az is 10%

 
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Sales tax in TX is 8.25%. Peace

 
Phoenix7 said:
@Conrad's post is very well written.  I can't disagree with any of it.

I have lived in Orange County CA for 3 years (HB, La Habra and Garden Grove), and the Phoenix area all other adult years, besides 5 childhood years in St. Louis.

I still like CA very much, and I wouldn't mind living there (in outlying affordable areas), but my wife would not be happy away from family.

I have lived in North Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa, Glendale, Surprise and Peoria.  To me, present day northwest Peoria is the best.

Regarding the overall Phoenix area, the traffic has gotten much worse, but I'm assuming that LA/OC has also gotten much worse since I was last there in 2011.  In Phoenix you need to know your streets and good areas vs bad areas.

Since I love the heat, one thing to really enjoy in the Phoenix Metro area is all the mountain hiking trails.  A whole bunch of new trails have sprung up in the north all the way from east to west, but the older classics like Camelback and Pinnacle Peak are still good.

Outside of Phoenix, that's where I'm very different than the Californians who can afford the prime areas like Havasu, Prescott and Sedona.  Since I'm nearing retirement (maybe), the places I'm thinking about for either full or part-time living are Quartzsite, Superior, Globe, Cordes Lakes, and Kingman.  If anyone has pro/con comments on those 5 cities/towns, I'd like to read them.
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If you want to know about quartzite give me a call. My business has been there for 22 years

 
Fullthrottleguy said:
Where I am in CA tax is 1% BUT they assess "full value" and reassess yearly.

My place in Havasu had a very low dwelling and land assessment so the .85% I paid was on a lower, more "honest" base

Sales tax in Havasu is higher than most of AZ at I think 7.6%  some places in CA its cheaper than that of course in CA where I am  (LA county) its 10.25%

IMO that all matters
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new jersey is 2% reassessed every few years only if values are going up 

 
First off, comparing Santa Ana to Havasu is a no brainer. In fact, most of LA Country to anything in Az is a no brainer.  There are great places in Ca.  My City tax rate is 1%.  Our prices are not that much higher than Havasu.  I am on the water with a dock.  Drive my golf cart everywhere.  One hour from the beach, 1.5 hours to go snow boarding, 3.5 hours to glamis, 4.5 hours to Havasu (was there this weekend).  California Real Estate tax is a bargain (thanks prop 13), fuel tax and income not so much.  My point, compare apples to apples.  

I am mostly likely in my retirement house, we went to Havasu this weekend, it is ok, but I can't see any reason I want to live there.  And now that all the Ca retirees are moving there, in 15 years all you will have are 75 year olds and meth heads praying on them.  You need a constant balance of younger people moving in to keep the community thriving.

I go to AZ all of the time, it is actually part of my job territory, the one thing I can't stand is the three months of summer, mostly because every house is pretty much boarded up (ok blinds drawn) trying to keep the cool in and the heat out.  Nobody even looks out their windows for three months............personally I would get claustrophobic, I like space and seeing the outside.  My current office view.

patio.jpg

 
Dunelover said:
[SIZE=12pt]At the recommendation of a couple of my Glamis friends who moved from CA to Havasu; we drove out from Seal Beach to check it out.  [/SIZE] It just felt like we were back in the OC in the 70’s. 

[SIZE=12pt]Our friend drove us all around looking at housing and properties.  [/SIZE]None of the homes were what we wanted but we found a piece of land that day and bought it. 

[SIZE=12pt]That was 5 years ago.  [/SIZE]For all the reasons listed already, we love it here.  We got a pontoon boat,  Of course we have the Tatum and we ordered a “to be seen to believe” RG.  BTW Robbie says Havasu will be the west coast headquarters.

[SIZE=12pt]We love the small-town feel. There are no streetlights or sidewalks, and the speed limit is 35mph everywhere.  [/SIZE]Lots of good food except Sushi.  Miles and miles of trails,  some rock crawling, and plenty of open shooting.  I swear there is chit going on every weekend. Car gatherings Thursday nights on main street. Run to the Sun, Desert storm, Super Cats. UTV championships, Jet ski worlds and just down in Parker drag boats and circle/ ski races.

[SIZE=12pt] [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]So from the land purchase,  [/SIZE]2 ½ years of design and plan check we finally got started on the build.  I am doing it as Owner Builder.

[SIZE=12pt] As stated already, everyone including contractors work on Havasu time.  [/SIZE]After site prep and retaining walls built, I had my first column footing poured.  That took 6 months to complete the 5X5X13 footing with a well-known and very reputable contractor.  We were still in CA and discovered you could never count on a firm commitment to weekly work plan.  So, we sold the CA home (for stupid money) and bought a home in Havasu to live in while building our dream home.  Shortly after we got here, from another group of Glamis peeps we find out my buddies’ wife had an uncle who was a contractor in Kingman.  He turned me on to a guy (Sal) from CA who had a civil crew.  Wow did they come in and chit and git-it.  In the first month they did 2 more 5X5X13 footings and all the lower garage column footings. Next Sal got me some steel erectors out of CA.  They put up 62 tons of steel in 30 days with 3 guys.  All these guys are cash only and I provided the hotel rooms.

[SIZE=12pt]Today I’m 95% done with framing and now I’m ready to start the easy stuff.  [/SIZE]Electricians, Plumbing, Stucco, Roofing, Cabinets & Counters, Drywall, flooring, and xxxx and xxxx and xxxx.  All local guys. 

[SIZE=12pt]I hope I live long enough to see it done.[/SIZE]

DL
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are you the one that bought that lot on colt? was apartially built house that burned during construction years ago.

 
Cookie said:
First off, comparing Santa Ana to Havasu is a no brainer. In fact, most of LA Country to anything in Az is a no brainer.  There are great places in Ca.  My City tax rate is 1%.  Our prices are not that much higher than Havasu.  I am on the water with a dock.  Drive my golf cart everywhere.  One hour from the beach, 1.5 hours to go snow boarding, 3.5 hours to glamis, 4.5 hours to Havasu (was there this weekend).  California Real Estate tax is a bargain (thanks prop 13), fuel tax and income not so much.  My point, compare apples to apples.  

I am mostly likely in my retirement house, we went to Havasu this weekend, it is ok, but I can't see any reason I want to live there.  And now that all the Ca retirees are moving there, in 15 years all you will have are 75 year olds and meth heads praying on them.  You need a constant balance of younger people moving in to keep the community thriving.

I go to AZ all of the time, it is actually part of my job territory, the one thing I can't stand is the three months of summer, mostly because every house is pretty much boarded up (ok blinds drawn) trying to keep the cool in and the heat out.  Nobody even looks out their windows for three months............personally I would get claustrophobic, I like space and seeing the outside.  My current office view.

View attachment 68451
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You're in Canyon Lake on the water...it isn't going to get much better than that!

 
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