Anybody familiar with SE Arizona?

stevieray

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Mrs stevieray & I are actively looking for some retirement property - neighborhood of Pearce, Portal, Tombstone.

Pics of the lots on the web look real nice - very isolated, larger (6 - 10 acre) parcels, mtn views, which is what we are interested in. Won't be ready to build or relocate for around 18 -20 yrs (I'm not THAT old) :p but want to get the bare lot purchased now.

Anybody know any secrets or caveats about that general area?
 

Gary H NC

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Re: Anybody familiar with SE Arizona?

I think i would actually go out there and look at it in person.
I have been in that area many times and all i remember is dust,heat and a whole lot of nothing.
How far would you have to go to put the boat in?:%
 

stevieray

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Re: Anybody familiar with SE Arizona?

Gary - we are actually going out there in mid-Jan to see for ourselves. The "whole lot of nothing" part is what got us looking there - after living in the Balt/DC metroplex our whole lives, we've about had it with crowds. Land we've pulled info on is about 2500 ft elevation, so the temperatures tend to moderate there a bit (statistically, at least). I'm thinking that in that stage of my life, I may have "grown out" of the boat thing, so it is not a high priority in the location.
 

Haut Medoc

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Re: Anybody familiar with SE Arizona?

I may have "grown out" of the boat thing
Blasphemy! :%
 

stevieray

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Re: Anybody familiar with SE Arizona?

LOL @ JK

Man - priorities do change. I'm speculating 20 yrs down the road, here. Heck, with global warming & all, we may have palm trees here on the Chesapeake by then 8)
 

Gary H NC

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Re: Anybody familiar with SE Arizona?

LOL@Haut!!

Thats understandable stevieray,Just remember that 100+ degree heat is 10 months of the year out there.

I was in a town called Benson AZ a few weeks ago,Phoenix and Tuscon. It was so dusty i sneezed myself silly....
It is a laid back area....have fun on your trip!!
 

QC

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Re: Anybody familiar with SE Arizona?

On this, Haut and I totally agree. Check out Meadview. Middle of nowhere, sorta Mountain views, and if they are wrong about Global Warming, boating into the Grand Canyon . . .

http://www.meadviewrealty.com/photos.html
 

stevieray

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Re: Anybody familiar with SE Arizona?

We're not "dead set" on anything just yet, so we have the option of looking around a bit.

In order of importance, considerations are:
Affordability of largest practical lot (want around 10 acres)
Least number of people around
Nicest (warm) weather for longest part of year
Scenery/wildlife
Proximity to golf course (my OTHER vice)
Access to lake/river

5 out of 6 things point us to SE AZ. Other areas most conducive to retirement lifestyle seem either too crowded, too expensive, or too prone to natural disaster to be top choice.

Input/ideas on any other areas would be appreciated.
 

treedancer

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Re: Anybody familiar with SE Arizona?

Twenty-year window is to long in my opinion, never know what the area will be like that far in advance, maybe ten.
 

Drowned Rat

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Re: Anybody familiar with SE Arizona?

There are much more desireable places to live in the beautiful state of Arizona. I'd be happy to name a few unless you have your mind set on SE.
 

stevieray

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Re: Anybody familiar with SE Arizona?

Drowned said:
There are much more desireable places to live in the beautiful state of Arizona. I'd be happy to name a few unless you have your mind set on SE.

DR - any suggestions are welcome. On first glance, other AZ areas seem out of our price range for the size lot we want, but if you know of anyplace reasonable, please pass it on.
 

aspeck

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Re: Anybody familiar with SE Arizona?

Just got back from visiting my Uncle in Rio Rico, AZ (South of Tuscon and North of Nogales). Very nice place. If interested in a real estate agent you can trust, let me know - my uncle and niece are in the business there.
 

Drowned Rat

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Re: Anybody familiar with SE Arizona?

Well, if you want desert at a reasonable price, that's a good a place as any, although like stated above, there's nowhere to boat down there. There's cheap land west of Flagstaff along the I40 that's high desert but it's a different feel. Closer to all kinds of cool stuff though. Cheap mountain property can be had in the White Mountains in Eastern AZ, but it can be fridged in the Winter. Skiing though. Funny QC would suggest Meadview. Not most people's cup of tea although I could live there. Just about as remote as you can get for land and sea in the Southwest. If you really want the "coup de gras" of remote, look at Arizona strip country. That narrow strip of land North of Grand Canyon, but south of Utah. Cheap, remote, absolutely beautiful country, high desert.

Those are for starters anyway.
 

stevieray

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Re: Anybody familiar with SE Arizona?

I certainly am grateful for all the input. We will be flying into Tucson on Jan 12 & will be in the neighborhood for 4 days, so we will get to see a good chunk of that area. Art - if we do see something interesting, I'll get back to you about dealing with your people.
 

aspeck

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Re: Anybody familiar with SE Arizona?

Good luck in your hunt!
 

QC

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Re: Anybody familiar with SE Arizona?

Yeah DR, I almost didn't mention Meadview as I don't think I could live there. Remote was the key and I'd hate to have a fellow boater give up because he was . . . err . . . uh . . . old :% That would be a hard place to stop boating . . .
 

imported_MikeK

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Re: Anybody familiar with SE Arizona?

I was a US Border Patrol Agent for 5 years in SE Arizona from 97-02. When you leave the actual border area, SE AZ is a beautiful state. I worked out of the Douglas BP station, which is the most southeastern station in AZ. Tombstone was one of the areas we were responsible for. Be prepared to have illegal aliens traveling through the area on a regular basis, especially the first 5-6 months of the year. A better area to live in SE AZ is near the Sierra Vista area, which is fairly close, but you will see less foot traffic of illegals. That's how it was then, so I'm sure it's about the same. I lived outside of Sierra Vista and we rarely saw any illegals near our home. BP could have increased the number of agents in the area to help slow down illegals and push them to other areas of AZ or NM.

That said, don't be discouraged about living there. I would live there again, just with the job I have now and with my wife's permission. I had a good time chasing illegal aliens through the desert, but 5 years was enough.

That part of AZ does get hot, but the lowest elevation in the area is approximately 4000 ft. above sea level, so the 100+ days in the summer are rare. The summer days average about 90-95, but without the east coast humidity. We had approximately 1" of snow during Christmas-New Years every year that I can remember, but it usually melted off within the next few days, so snow was not a hinderance. The mountains would hold the snow most of the winter. Spring and fall were nice and cool, but usually pretty windy through the day. We would ride atvs on the mountain roads all over. There are many trees and big mesquite bushes. It is not a desert that you would normally think of. It is very rugged and it does rain during the late summer months and fairly often during the spring (but not too much, it is a desert after all). The Phoenix and Tucson areas get in the 115's during the summer. Too hot for me. The boating areas I can think of are much further north. I bought my boat when we moved to Southern Miss. Hope I helped.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask, Mike
 

stevieray

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Re: Anybody familiar with SE Arizona?

Thanks for the info, Mike. Mrs stevieray & I are looking forward to our trip next month - we also plan on making at least a couple more trips to see the area during the different seasons before settling on a spot.
 

aspeck

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Re: Anybody familiar with SE Arizona?

stevieray, if you want my uncle's name and number, PM me. You may want to get in touch with him to answer some questions. He was born and raised in PA, joined the Navy out of HS, has moved about 15 times since the Navy, but finally settled on AZ - Phoenix and then Tucson area. Has lived in AZ for about 30 years and 4 of his 5 kids live there, with one living in Las Vegas. Anyway, he knows the area.
 

stevieray

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Re: Anybody familiar with SE Arizona?

aspeck said:
stevieray, if you want my uncle's name and number, PM me. You may want to get in touch with him to answer some questions. He was born and raised in PA, joined the Navy out of HS, has moved about 15 times since the Navy, but finally settled on AZ - Phoenix and then Tucson area. Has lived in AZ for about 30 years and 4 of his 5 kids live there, with one living in Las Vegas. Anyway, he knows the area.

Art - you have mail
 
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