Safe for a snowbird (Phoenix, Tucson: apartment complex, renter, HOA)

[snowboundAB]

I am looking at purchasing a winter home around the Phoenix area and would appreciate some input into which areas would be the safest for a property that would sit empty during the summer months. Very interested in areas as close to Jobing.com arena as possible. Gotta get my hockey fix.

[las vegas drunk]

Sun City would be PERFECT for you. It is nice, very safe, AND close to the Arena.

[LBTRS]

Pebble Creek in Goodyear or Sun City would be good choices.

[Howard Roark]

I have been wondering about this subject for many years, even as a teenager. I seem to like to follow cool and very dry weather.

One possible thing is to have very few material things and just rent furnished apartments six months of the year. This way you would not leave a place vacant and not fear returning home at the end of the season and seeing all your treasures gone. You will be paying season prices all year, but it's far less expensive than 52 one-week timeshares! Also, you travel light.

I also like the idea of owning one place, like a loft in a building with 24 hour guards at the main entrance and door swipe IDs at all the other entrances. Lofts are costly. A 1600 square foot loft in a modern loft building in Phoenix is usually $500,000. HOA about $500 or more per month! But what you get for the price - lower maintenance costs, usually easy walkable access to great restaurants, the light rail, sports facilities and upscale pubs and a modern jazzy exciting urban lifestyle.

Personally, I have had two addresses in different cities for more than nine years now. For the most part, fine except...

One of them was broken in. I won't go into details but it was not a gated community. Lessons learned. I changed my living conditions for my vacant place now to safeguard from identify theft. For instance, I removed all papers with my name, financial accounts, and so on from the vacant place. I have no firearms in my vacant place either. These days almost every large company-owned apartment complex requires renter insurance.

But I am used to two addresses since my early 40s and I can handle the same after I retire sometime in my late 60s or early 70s.

Phoenix is my number one choice of best places to live between late October and late April. It's like Palm Springs, but with lots more things to do and better choice of restaurants! So it's on my retirement destination list. Would be Las Vegas, but I have Roth IRAs anyway, so I would not really have to worry about AZ state income taxes when I retire.

I do like Phoenix in the summers because I like monsoons. But I would probably spend most of my time either in Flagstaff or the central Sierra Nevada mountains (above 7,000 feet) in the summers.

[snowboundAB]

I am leaning towards a gated property. House or condo. Which would be safer and does "gated" really mean safer?

[Howard Roark]

I read other people's comments on various blogs. They say "gated" is not safer. I say "gated" is a deterrant.

I used to have a Chevy CK1500 truck when I lived in Tucson. I had an alarm installed. I also had a truck club to lock the steering wheel. Trucks have been the number one stolen vehicles in Tucson for awhile. There are two places that are popular and close to I-10: The Tucson Mall near River Road and then the movie theators (I think on Grant or Prince). Well I would park my truck next to another truck that had no truck club. So that made my contraption a deterrant. The thief would choose the easiest target.

So the analogy is this: If your gated community is near a more upscale non-gated community, house burglars would naturally go for the more upscale non-gated community.

I think condo's are safer than houses: Fewer entrances, fewer hiding places outside of the unit too. More eyes looking out of neighboring windows.

[TomB90]

Scottsdale would be the best are for you it sounds like.

[grippit]

Sun City, Sun City West, or Sun City Grand are all 15-30 minutes from Jobing.com and safe. Gated or non-gated are available as well as house or condo. The Arrowhead area also offer the same selections in north Glendale and is closer (10-20 minutes).

[wit-nit]

Originally Posted by snowboundAB

I am leaning towards a gated property. House or condo. Which would be safer and does "gated" really mean safer?

Actually Desert Harbor in Peoria would probably be ideal for you. It's gated and has a variety of residences plus it also has waterfront properties. Extremely low crime rate. It's close to all shopping and the sports venues in Glendale. Everything is within 5-10 minutes from this area.
Just GOOGLE "Desert Harbor Peoria AZ".