I'm going home!

[Brewdude]

All

I just flew back from Phoenix, AZ and boy are my arms tired! :joker:

But seriously I am going home to where I was born. All to say the greater Phoenix area where I just bought a house to retire to in a few months!

The location is Sun City, AZ which is a little west of Phoenix in an age-restricted community designed for retirees, which I'll be shortly. I flew there early this past week and spent several days viewing properties and found the house of my dreams.

It's a terrific little 2-bed/1 bath ranch in a quiet cul-de-sac, about 1200 sq ft with a carport. It's been completely remodelled with all new appliances, carpet, and flooring. The front and back yard is "desert" meaning no grass to mow and has flowers, shrubs, and trees, one of which is a small orange tree all on metered watering. I'm not much of a gardener but these will be easy to maintain.

Sun City is a master planned development designed by a guy named Del Webb who created this with retirees in mind. So I'm moving in with the geezers since I guess I'm one of them now! Already met several of the neighbours and they seem like nice folks.

I have a potential buyer for my house here in WA state, and if things go as planned he'll be moving in just as I move out in late August.

Closing on the Sun City property is in a few weeks so it'll have to stay vacant for a month or so. My real estate agent will keep an eye on it until I can do the big move. I'm fine with all that.

My plans for many years involved relocating to somewhere warm and sunny and this certainly qualifies as it was over 100F the entire time I was there. I love the hot and dry climate and will look forward to that. Heat doesn't bother me at all as long as its not high humidity.

I also checked out the area for shopping, music stores, breweries, entertainment and such and found everything I'll ever need.

I'll see if there's a way to post some pics of the property from the MLS listing as I don't have a digital camera.

So good-bye to cold, rain, snow, damaging windstorms, earthquakes, exploding mountains, good-bye to all of that for good. I'm going home!

:heart:


Cheers,

RR

 

[Hiram-2011]

Congratulations on the next chapter in your life Rande. Sounds like you have it all planned out.

 

[Ozark Wizard]

:cheers:

 

[Brewdude]

Forgot to mention that the house has full solar which will certainly aid in keeping the electric costs down since the air conditioner will be running a lot. The system is only 2 yrs old and looks to be in perfect shape.

I have a home/pest inspector coming in Monday, as well as a sewer inspection. Termites are a real concern down there, even though this house is block construction rather than framed.

Another concern is scorpions and rattlesnakes, although the agent did say they are not commonly found in this area.

The air conditioner/heating unit is a newer one with the modern refrigerant. The home inspector will report on all that plus much more. I don't expect any discouraging news.


Cheers,

RR

 

[daveinlax]

Forgot to mention that the house has full solar which will certainly aid in keeping the electric costs down since the air conditioner will be running a lot. The system is only 2 yrs old and looks to be in perfect shape.

I have a home/pest inspector coming in Monday, as well as a sewer inspection. Termites are a real concern down there, even though this house is block construction rather than framed.

Another concern is scorpions and rattlesnakes, although the agent did say they are not commonly found in this area.

The air conditioner/heating unit is a newer one with the modern refrigerant. The home inspector will report on all that plus much more. I don't expect any discouraging news.


Cheers,

RR

Congratulations! The outside walls are block but the interior walls are roof joists are bone dry wood. Packs Rats are another pest that can be a real pain. A new AC is nice but they don't last like the older units. We had always planed to go solar but they have dropped the intensives on new installations to next to nothing so I hope your system is grandfathered.    

We bought a retirement home in Green Valley south of Tucson years ago and my blood pressure drops whenever I'm there. I love not having a lawn but I'll tell you living in a retirement community with self centered old folks with nothing to do but be pissed off can be interesting. PHX has some great pipe and cigar shops. I've gone to a few of the two pipe club meetings, one group meets every Thursday night at Ye Olde and the other meets once a month at Big Sticks. I can't wait to get back to my happy place ASAP. Hopefully I'll dive down via The WCPS in early November.  :shock:

 

[Brewdude]

Congratulations. We bought a retirement home in Green Valley south of Tucson years ago and my blood pressure drops whenever I'm there. I love not having a lawn but I'll tell you living in a retirement community with self centered old folks with nothing to do but be pissed off can be interesting. PHX has some great pipe and cigar shops. I've gone to a few of the two pipe club meetings, one group meets every Thursday night at Ye Olde and the other meets once a month at Big Sticks. I can't wait to get back to my happy place ASAP. Hopefully I'll dive down via The WCPS in early November.  :shock:

Green Valley was one of the 2 locations I was interested in, and initially I did plan to scope that out along with Sun City. However, once I checked out Sun I figured what more could a guy ask for. And I'm happy with that decision. Time will tell.

I'll check out the pipe and cigar shops you mentioned and maybe we can hook up in the future. And I might just attend the LV pipe show since it'll be relatively nearby.


Cheers,

RR

 

[Ozark Wizard]

Full solar is the way to go, particularly in your area. Well done sir!

 

[Corncobcon]

Congrats on the move. We have friends in AZ. They have a condo here in the Ozarks, and when the weather turns cold, they go back to AZ. They are in Sun Lakes, and the other couple is in Huachuca, AZ!

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

Hey, Congrats Rande. Sounds like a great set up for you.

For what it's worth, Del Webb built one of those Sun City communities up here in the Sacramento area, Lincoln CA I think. I have heard nothing but good things about it.

All the best,

Chris

 

[huffelpuff]

Rande, sounds like the perfect set up for you. I used to go through Sun City all the time to get to Wickenburg. From there it was on to the back roads to explore the old abandoned mines in the area. As I recall Sun City was very much a golf cart residential area. You'll have to let us know if a set of new wheels are in your future.

Jim

 

[Brewdude]

Rande, sounds like the perfect set up for you. I used to go through Sun City all the time to get to Wickenburg. From there it was on to the back roads to explore the old abandoned mines in the area. As I recall Sun City was very much a golf cart residential area. You'll have to let us know if a set of new wheels are in your future.

Jim

Yes, golf carts are common down there on the streets. I might look into getting an electric one for local errands.


Cheers,

RR

 

[ontariopiper]

Congrats on the move and on your retirement, Rande! Sounds like you'll be happy as a clam back in your home state. All the best for the move and beyond!

 

[idbowman]

Congrats, Rande!

I'm not one for the heat, but if that's your thing I can't imagine a better spot! Just watch out for those scorpions!

 

[Brewdude]

Thanks all.

Pest/termite inspection came through clear today. However, the general inspection/sewer inspection turned up some issues. Some are not significant afaic, but several are a concern.

I'll be talking with my agent tomorrow about those and see what we need to do in order to address them. And I do have the right of backing out of this purchase and earnest monies returned if the seller and I don't come to an agreement.

I hope it doesn't come to that as that would mean another flight down to AZ and going through this all over again, perhaps with similar issues in the end.

All to say that I want to make this work one way or another. And frankly, there's no issue or area of concern that can't be corrected. But it will depend on what the seller is willing to pay for, or perhaps myself as well. I don't see anything as a deal breaker. At least at this point!

More later as events unfold.....

Congrats, Rande! I'm not one for the heat, but if that's your thing I can't imagine a better spot! Just watch out for those scorpions!

Well, they are somewhat common in this area. And I'll be careful not to go barefoot!



Cheers,

RR

 

[Stick]

Well now Rande, I wasn't expecting that! I knew you were considering such a move, but now you've gone and done it (barring the move). Very excited for you mate. Sounds like you've done your homework too, right down to the solar panels. Bet you end up missing the snow though

 

[Brewdude]

Well now Rande, I wasn't expecting that! I knew you were considering such a move, but now you've gone and done it (barring the move).  Very excited for you mate.  Sounds like you've done your homework too, right down to the solar panels.  Bet you end up missing thesnow though  

Snow is a four letter word tha knows Squire (if you get the Yank vernacular).


Cheers,

RR

 

[Brewdude]

This just in -

I was on the phone with my agent in AZ today  about the home inspection/sewer reports and determined a course of action since they turned up some areas of concern.

Just now got an acceptance from the seller to credit me with $4K which is what I asked for. So we're going forward!

None of these were deal breakers or dire, but it does give me the ability of correcting them as I see fit in the future.

:cheers:


Cheers,

RR

 

[Ozark Wizard]

Nice! Sounds like you're on track!

 

[Brewdude]

Looks like I'm moving up my departure date from late Aug to the middle of Aug. My last day at the brewery will probably be Aug 1, after which I'll do the final packing and get moved. No sense in staying around for no reason, and it'll get my house here in WA state on the market sooner.

I have a guy who is interested in my house here in WA, and he's having a home inspection today. That'll be an adventure!


Cheers,

RR

 

[daveinlax]

Looks like I'm moving up my departure date from late Aug to the middle of Aug. My last day at the brewery will probably be Aug 1, after which I'll do the final packing and get moved. No sense in staying around for no reason, and it'll get my house here in WA state on the market sooner.

I have a guy who is interested in my house here in WA, and he's having a home inspection today. That'll be an adventure!


Cheers,

RR

Do Not Sell Your Home until you have spent a summer in AZ. Most of the retirement communities are ghost towns in the summer for a good reason. AZ is a great spot to spend the winter but you don't want to live in 100 degree heat from March to November. :shock: