Prescott Arizona. ?????

[Hatchdog]

I’m just “gee whizzing” here but I get the bug every year about now to look south for a relocation. I like Prescott AZ due to fact that there are four seasons like I’ve experienced all my life. But, the winters are very mild and the summers are tolerable. Elevation is above 5000’ which would be different as I’ve spend my life around 2000’. This year in addition to the weather I’m also not liking the direction Washington State is going. In order to keep this post non-political that’s enough said about that. Only brought up as this might be the straw…

So, understanding that this site is not hugely populated (love that) and folks are spread out all over does anybody have any experience with this area? I have several concerns about Arizona itself that are political so won’t comment but I sure like the climate that Prescott offers.

Would love to hear your thoughts. Please tread lightly in order to not take this to politics.

654C2AD5-EE4A-4D5D-AC66-6F710D9DCB94.jpeg (1.17 MiB) Viewed 841 times

[Rifletom]

runnin'-n- gunnin' will probably jump in here soon. Been looking at Payson lately. Good luck with your endeaver.

[clovishound]

Well, your profile says "retired" so I assume you aren't in your 20s or 30s. I am of the opinion that having relatively quick access to goo medical care is important as we get older. Something to consider with the area, if you have not, already.

Unfortunately, living the rural life, and having rapid access to medical care are often mutually exclusive. Health situations can change rapidly.

[Shakey Jake]

My wife has visited Prescott with her friends several times and as recently as last month. She loves the town and has joked about moving there. I think she might actually do it if I precede her in death.
Jake

[Oldbrass]

I was in Prescott last year as we Have friends that live in the area, lots of retirees with deep pockets. My brother has acreage around Seligman just north of there that we've RV camped also . Prescott has great weather It's very expensive for housing as it's growing like fire weed with lots of retirement communities . if you can get enough for the Washington house to pay cash in Arizona you'd have it made. I think you'd like it there. Water is highly regulated so you won't have that green lawn

[Sir Henry]

I moved from Washington for political reasons also and found this website helpful. I found a place where the politics, religion and cost of living were to my liking. In exchange for those three things I gave up weather and healthcare.

I now live in a rural area in frozen Wisconsin and travel. The summers are wonderful and with the cost of homes here I can afford to snowbird in the winter. I’m currently vacationing in Florida for 16 days and will return for a few weeks just to take a 30 day vacation in the south.

https://www.bestplaces.net/city/arizona/prescott

[Mags]

... if you can get enough for the Washington house to pay cash in Arizona you'd have it made. I think you'd like it there. Water is highly regulated so you won't have that green lawn

We were there with our Oregon house and then the bubble hit Arizona. We were days away from putting our house on the market. The furious bidding wars in Arizona caused selling prices to almost double over listing price. We got shut out before even trying. Then the water crisis hit. Many of the rural large lot subdivisions and larger rural properties don't have access to water. The water gets trucked in. Many water sources were starting to charge outrageously for trucked water with some not even renewing contracts at expiration.

[cooperhawk]

No matter where you go these days politics are getting bad. Hopefully the trend will end soon.
I think Sir Henry has the right idea. He found a rural community where the cost of living is reasonable, and now he
can travel and spend time in a warmer clime in Winter.
I've lived in Arizona but it was a long time ago. Now when we visit I am shocked by the traffic and congestion. We are
scheduled to go there again this Winter, but in fact I prefer Texas.
My problem is that Carol will not leave here and not have the Grand children close by. I guess that's OK with me, but I
do wish she'd agree to spend more time south in Winter. We only go for six or seven weeks and then only where we have
friends.
Minnesota is not a cheap place to live. High taxes and cost of living, but we can afford it I guess.

[Sir Henry]

As long as you can afford it Coop that is all that matters.

[Hatchdog]

Great responses, thanks everybody.

I wouldn’t move anywhere if I could not live rural. I looked on Realtor.com and first used 5 acres for a filter and didn’t find anything affordable. Changing the filter to 2 acres helped and I found a couple of places but still the price is out of touch. The example I’m attaching has come down 50k since the original listing so the prices are coming down. But of course the same applies to the value of my place. I took a look at my place on Zillow yesterday and the estimated value is down more than I expected.

I appreciate the medical facilities comment. Living near Spokane really is wonderful as we have top notch hospitals. The water situation in Arizona is much worse than I expected. The property I linked below has two 2600 gallon water tanks and has to have water delivered. That alone will probably make my give up on Arizona. While here in Washington we do have droughts for the most part water is plentiful. Probably best for me to just move 30 miles east to Idaho (still inflated home prices like AZ) and deal with the climate and enjoy better “living conditions politically”.

The place in AZ I like(d). This place is located in an area of pine trees which I find much more appealing than desert.



https://www.realtor.com/realestateandho ... 0243-61874

[Sir Henry]

That’s a nice place. I sold and bought at the peak but the selling peak was a lot higher than the buying. I paid 18% of my selling price. The two really can’t be compared because what I sold was a far bigger and more deluxe home. I bought a small modest home with a million dollar view.

The nearest VA Hospital is two hours away so my biggest loss is healthcare.

[cooperhawk]

The nearest VA Hospital is two hours away so my biggest loss is healthcare.

But I can tell you that the Minneapolis VA Hospital is one of the best.

[John E Davies]

I really like some of the smaller towns in Montana, NOT Missoula and NOT !! Boseman, have you checked out the Helena area? Sir Henry can tell you about properties, but those bubbles have popped. It's the state capital, so the town is beautifully maintained and there are lots of things to do. It still very much has a small town feel, the population is just 33.000.

https://helenamt.com/stay-safe-stay-connected/

If I move out, I would head east, not south.

John Davies
Spokane WA

[Hatchdog]

I really like some of the smaller towns in Montana, NOT Missoula and NOT !! Boseman, have you checked out the Helena area? Sir Henry can tell you about properties, but those bubbles have popped. It's the state capital, so the town is beautifully maintained and there are lots of things to do. It still very much has a small town feel, the population is just 33.000.

https://helenamt.com/stay-safe-stay-connected/

If I move out, I would head east, not south.

John Davies
Spokane WA

Over the many years I have spent on this planet I have visited Montana probably several dozen times. But until two years ago I had never been to Helena. I agree with John, Helena is a beautiful place. Another area of Montana I love is the Plains (a town) area. I love the combination of open hillsides and heavy evergreen forests. Montana was one of the first areas here in the northwest that got stupid expensive for homes due to a large influx of wealthy folks from the big cities south and west of here. I’ll have to take another look if the prices are coming down.

[John E Davies]

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https://www.movoto.com/helena-mt/market-trends/

John Davies
Spokane WA

[Redthies]

I’ve been to more places in Az than most other western states. Prescott is a fantastic place. I love the topography around there. It’s also really nice close to Flag as well, if you need access to a bit bigger town, but likely more expensive these days too. Northern New Mexico is really nice too, and possibly cheaper. I would love to move somewhere with better winter weather, and a better political climate, but unfortunately our options for both are far more limited north of the border.

Take a look at Ruidoso NM. It was highly recommended to me, and fits what you might want Hatch. I will link a thread I started on Expedition Portal when we were shopping for a new town. Lots of great insights in it from members all over the USA.

I am lucky (?) to not have any kids tying us to a certain area. I also don’t have to worry about what sort of world they will inherit. We will likely wind up somewhere far away from BC for retirement, but that is likely 10 years away, so have to suffer through for the time being.


https://expeditionportal.com/forum/thre ... sa.229764/

[BrokenolMarine]

When we started searching we had about ten states on the list. We looked at all aspects of the areas including real estate costs, crime, population, treatment of Veterans, medical, recreation. 2A was high on the list. Weather was a factor. We ended up in OK, we insisted on Rural property, in the mountains, AWAY from the plains. I wanted trees, grass, and water. We discovered that OK has more shoreline than any other state. As Carson used to say, "I did not know that."