San Tan Valley vs Queen Creek vs Gilbert ?? (Phoenix, Tucson: house, neighborhood)

[gtbguy]

Originally Posted by tnp

She advised me against buying anywhere in San Tan Valley that doesn't have an HOA.

Your agent is way off base on this one. I have several properties in San Tan Valley and I can tell you the HOAs are VERY strict, in fact almost to the point of ridiculous. You have one weed in your front yard or park out in the street and you will get a notice. These guys don't fool around with the residents not following the rules.

[Corso]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

This is highly unusual that a listing agent would "steer" a prospect away from one of her listings by violating the anti-discrimination laws.

Are you really that surprised? I'd say the realtor did his/her job and saved both their time and the time of their client by not showing a property that had a feature that they knew the client didn't want, i.e.: riff raff living next door.

It is really no different than a realtor talking me out of a house with no pool, after I had told them that a home with a pool was mandatory.

[themudpuppy]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

One cannot discriminate by race, color, national origin, etc. And I would argue that a Realtor using the words "white trash redneck" would be just as discriminatory as saying "black, blue, or green trash", and even libelous if the neighbor found out about the remark.

She didn't use those exact words. Like I said, she went about it in a roundabout way, but obvious enough that I would know what she meant.

[themudpuppy]

Originally Posted by gtbguy

Your agent is way off base on this one. I have several properties in San Tan Valley and I can tell you the HOAs are VERY strict, in fact almost to the point of ridiculous.

I think you misunderstood. She didn't say these type of neighbors are in HOA neighborhoods. She advised against buying anything that doesn't have an HOA. She did tell me that the HOAs there are very good about enforcing the rules, which is why she said if I want to buy there, to make sure they have an HOA. The homes I was looking at didn't have an HOA.

[themudpuppy]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

The other thing is that she apparently violated her fiduciary duties to her client, by steering a prospect away from her listing by using these discriminatory and irresponsible remarks about her clients neighbor.

I think what probably had a lot to do with it was that it was one of those "too good to be true" prices and I was very tempted to try to round up enough to pay cash for it even before I get my house sold. This would have been a risk, but I was just about ready to take that risk and fly out there and jump on this house before it got snatched up by an investor. She was just being honest with me to keep me from making a bad decision.

She said the house was absolutely fantastic, but that the reason it was priced so low was because they couldn't get it sold at a higher price due to the neighbors. She had shown the house many times and people were excited about the house, but soon as they saw the neighbors, they said no way. Obviously she's not steering local buyers away from the house and is letting them see for themselves. With me, flying all the way across country, it was a whole different situation.

[gtbguy]

Originally Posted by tnp

I think you misunderstood. She didn't say these type of neighbors are in HOA neighborhoods. She advised against buying anything that doesn't have an HOA. She did tell me that the HOAs there are very good about enforcing the rules, which is why she said if I want to buy there, to make sure they have an HOA. The homes I was looking at didn't have an HOA.

I didn't know there were neighborhoods without HOAs in San Tan Valley.

I would agree, then don't buy unless there is an HOA. They are VERY strict about enforcing rules. If you've got 7 years to wait, investing in San Tan Valley will pay off nicely after that amount of time. There is alot of momentum in the valley and will get better year after year. Would you like to be living in Mississippi now? There are no natural disasters in Arizona.

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by Corso

Are you really that surprised? I'd say the realtor did his/her job and saved both their time and the time of their client by not showing a property that had a feature that they knew the client didn't want, i.e.: riff raff living next door.

It is really no different than a realtor talking me out of a house with no pool, after I had told them that a home with a pool was mandatory.

It is no difference to you because you can choose to live where you wish. You can cruise the neighborhood and determine if you will fit there, and if you see someone you don't want to live in the neighborhood with, you can choose to go elsewhere.

But it is a huge difference to Realtors because we're talking about racial discrimination, which is illegal, and a Realtor can be fined and lose their license.

It is a big difference in discussing a pool, and making what could be interpreted as racially discriminating remarks; or using words that can be interpreted as being racist, such as "white trash redneck", "black trash", "green trash", etc.

If a Realtor knows of complaints about a neighbor being very loud, that is a matter of disclosure, and she could disclose that.

But words that a person would interpret and use on City-Data as "white trash redneck" are certainly racist, and the agent was in the wrong because that is illegal discrimination, and steering.

Either the poster exaggerated what she said, or that agent was risking her job and a huge fine.

If someone came to me and said they were looking for a home, but did not want to live in a community where there are "white trash rednecks", I would refer them to my competition.

It would be the same as someone coming to me and saying they did not want to live in a community where there were African Americans, Whites, Hispanics, Mormons, Jews, Catholics or Gays. It's all illegal discrimination, and I do not practice any type of discrimination, and neither would I tolerate it with any of my agents.

[themudpuppy]

Originally Posted by gtbguy

I didn't know there were neighborhoods without HOAs in San Tan Valley.

The ones without HOAs are mostly the more rural neighborhoods with 1+ acres, according to the realtor. Rural is actually what I would like, but without the trashiness I'm finding in the rural areas that are in my price range. The rural areas that don't have junk yards or car repair shops all seem to be the very pricey ones that I can't afford.

If you've got 7 years to wait, investing in San Tan Valley will pay off nicely after that amount of time. There is alot of momentum in the valley and will get better year after year. Would you like to be living in Mississippi now? There are no natural disasters in Arizona.

I agree, I believe investing in the area will pay off. When I buy in Arizona, I plan on being in that house for many years. I just don't want to live next to what I'm living next to now in TN, and it was a huge disappointment to see that the gorgeous homes that I can afford in the rural areas of Arizona have those type of neighbors. By looking at just the homes themselves, it was a shocker to see how trashy the neighborhoods were. I wasn't expecting that. I figured well-kept homes equalled nice neighborhoods, without junk yards or car repair shops, but I was wrong. I asked the realtor about zoning laws and she said there are zoning laws but that they're rarely enforeced in the rural areas without HOAs. Much like the rural area I'm in now. My neighbor isn't allowed to have an auto paint and body shop, but he's friends with someone on the zoning board and they let him do whatever he wants. The other guy with the race track has a brother on the police force, plus he's related to the top dog on the force, so they ignore noise complaints about him. Know the right people and the law doesn't get enforced.

I'm still watching San Tan Valley, along with Arizona City, Kingman, and several other areas.

As for natural disasters, I've had my fill of them here in TN. Tornadoes week after week that started back when it was still winter, which followed week after week of bad winter storms, and the extreme heat and humidity we've been experiencing for the past couple of summers. I can handle dry heat, but a summer of 90 - 105 degrees with extremely high humidity is a whole 'nother story. The part of TN I live in is quickly becoming a 2-season state. We used to have 4 seasons. We hardly have a spring or fall anymore. We go straight from using heat one day to a/c the next. I'm so ready to get out of here! Just gotta find the right spot for me in Arizona.

[Border Scot]

tnp... I fully understand where you're coming from, both figuratively and literally. I'm currently living in West Virginia. My escrow closes next week and I'll be moving to... wait for it.... Yep, San Tan Valley. I flew out there about a month ago and spent not quite a week with my realtor looking at houses in the different developments in the area. Some were riddled with homes that weren't kept up. I suspect many of them were vacant rental properties or foreclosed homes. Others were occupied and just dumpy. I'm talking about ATVs on the front lawn, motorcycle on the porch etc. Like the post above one house I looked at was great. It had almost everything I was looking for but I had to pass because of the neighbor who turned out to be a renter.

One of the developments that impressed me the most, and where I bought, was the Villages at Copper Basin. We drove all over the area and rarely was there a home that wasn't well taken care of. The HOA fees are a bit higher there than some of the other developments but based on what I saw it might be worth it. Having the YMCA and a local fire station just a few blocks away was also a big plus.

The point of all this is that there are some really nice homes available in areas of San Tan Valley and I would never describe Copper Basin like I might some of my West Virginia Brethren.

Now, If you'd like to see something that might just tickle your "you might be a redneck if..." funny bone check out the West Virginia fire alarm at the link below... and NO that is not my WV house!

http://www.jbellphotography.com/foru...re%20alarm.jpg

[themudpuppy]

Thanks for the info on the Villages at Copper Basin.

Originally Posted by Border Scot

Now, If you'd like to see something that might just tickle your "you might be a redneck if..." funny bone check out the West Virginia fire alarm at the link below... and NO that is not my WV house!

http://www.jbellphotography.com/foru...re%20alarm.jpg

LOL! Well.... if it works...