[raindroplotus]

Originally Posted by WorldKlas

I am a Landlord (properties are in another state) and I reside in Anthem but have a suggestion. Look on www.zillow.com for rentals posted by private landlords. Zillow is a website that allows private owners to post their properties not on the MLS so many Landlords use it. And if you are interested in a property you can use the website to send a message. If you do send a message, be sure to indicate your info regarding your rental history and employment status. I think, as a user, you have to register so the more information you complete the more attractive a prospective landlord will find your inquiry. I solely use Zillow, Trulia and Hotpads to recruit tenants and have for about 10 years. I never use real estate agents because I can find good tenants without paying commission. Good luck.

Thank you for this. I have been sending messages through Zillow, but my mistake is that I may not be logged in and I’m not giving any details about my employment or rental history. I’ll start doing that!

[JonathanLB]

I'm always confused what "family friendly" is supposed to mean. My GF and I don't ever want kids, so we clearly have no interest in "family friendly" anything, but it seems to be basically some polite way of saying "low crime, not ghetto," I guess? I mean wouldn't everyone no matter whether they're single, married without kids, or married with kids or whatever want a place that's "family friendly" under that definition?

Like I guess what I want to know is could there be a place that is affluent, nice, full of luxury homes, but is extremely family unfriendly? If that's not possible, then the term family friendly doesn't really have any meaning, to be honest.

I admit I shudder when I hear "family friendly," it makes me question whether that's somewhere I want to live. I've heard Henderson is the most family friendly part of Las Vegas Metro Area and that is enough for me to think it wouldn't be a good fit. :P

[beachhead]

Originally Posted by JonathanLB

I'm always confused what "family friendly" is supposed to mean.

You're right, I think "family friendly" is one of those undefined terms that means what you interpret it to mean. Since almost every family is different, with different priorities, almost everyone will have a different expectation as to what is "family friendly". Although to be honest, my interpretation is a positive one, as I would interpret it as a neighborhood where people look out for each other (and the kids), understand kids will leave their bikes out on the front lawn at times, parties include bounce houses, and are finished around 3 pm, not loud thumping music at 3 am, etc. This is not easy to find, and is certainly a special place when you do find it. But, like I said, someone else may have a completely different definition of the term, like screaming kids, running around, playing football in the street, blocking traffic, terrible parties with bounce houses, and street filled with soccer mommy mini-vans, toys stewn all over, etc.

Just a good marketing tool I guess...

[JonathanLB]

LOL oh my god you scared me with your nightmare definition, yeah you're right, if a place is TOO family friendly I worry that's not somewhere I'd want to be. I'm more of the "get off my lawn" type and I'm 35. I would be at home in a 55+ community I think, because despite staying up until 4 a.m. most days I don't ever blast loud music, I barely play music at all, and we aren't party people. My "social night" plans are usually having a good friend over and playing video games all night. So it's pretty quiet and peaceful around here. Our next door neighbors are the worst, the lady is really sweet, they're a great couple actually, but their kids are little terrorists. It's constant screaming and trampoline time all summer long, and since we have borderline no backyard whatsoever, that tiny backyard with the trampoline means them yelling not far from my office. I have soundproof windows (a dual pane outer window with a much thicker dual pane inner window) and I can still hear them screaming some days. If that's family friendly, it's certainly Jonathan-unfriendly. :P

[raindroplotus]

I'd be pretty frustrated living next to a family like that too! My kids are the indoor type...they'd rather be playing video games quietly in their rooms.

I am quickly finding out that I can't really be too picky. I need to move on June 1st and what I want just isn't available where I want to live(Green Valley or Anthem). The biggest hang up I have is that I'll find a great place, 5 bedrooms, under $2400, but they don't accept cats. My kids would be crushed to have to give him up.
I found a decent place in Southern Highlands that would work great for my family, but again, very concerned about the crime. Anyone have knowledge of that area? It's near S Jones Blvd and Shinnecock Hills.

[JonathanLB]

Yeah I have no problem with their kids outdoor playing, laughing, having a good time. I mean seriously, I'm not that harsh, but they don't laugh and just play, they SCREAM. I mean literally screaming at the top of their lungs, and I cannot understand how that doesn't drive the mom completely insane too, let alone the rest of the neighborhood. Them just chuckling outside, I can't hear that, it's no problem. The screaming is a bit grating.

That would stink having to give up your cat, I hope not, our cats are part of our family! I'd never give them up.

I sometimes wonder how other people are when looking at houses, I think it took us a minimum of 1,000 houses on Zillow to find one place we really liked and it has worked great. Looking in Las Vegas, it's also about the same. I want to be nice and say it's 1 in 100 but I'd just be lying lol. It may take a long time to find anything suitable.

[raindroplotus]

I bet it does drive that mom crazy! She just probably gave up lol.

We've looked through hundreds of houses on Zillow and the MLS over the past couple of months. We've finally got a real estate agent working with us and it's helping a lot. It looks like we'll have to settle on a few things temporarily until we have been in the area for a bit and decide to buy a house. Totally fine by me! That will give us time to really discover where we want to be. Not getting that 5th bedroom or having a small backyard is better than living in Utah any day, so I can't complain!

[JonathanLB]

Haha I can imagine that! Yeah short of having about $5-10M for a house you always have to settle on something, and frankly even then, unless you're a billionaire, you're still "settling" on a ridiculous property tax bill annually :P So it's just about finding what's most important for your needs really and what works. My current house, I wasn't happy that we have basically zero backyard and that the back of the house faces a busy road (luckily a wetland is between us and it, but it blocks zero noise), but I made the best of it with a hot tub and soundproof windows throughout the upper bedroom floor. No traffic sounds can penetrate the house besides sirens or maybe an extremely loud engine. Plus, I'm in Portland at present, so it rains 9 months of the year. We sacrifice a back yard in this climate for more indoors lol.