Checking out Apache Junction, AZ
 

I've made a lot of friends on the board in different places - Austin TX and Yakima, WA in particular, and now we're looking at a place in Apache Junction to spend our winters. We're looking at a mobile home at the Ironwood Mobile Home Park this weekend, we'll be in AZ from Friday through Monday.

If you are familiar with that area, I would love to hear from you. We do have friends and family there, which makes it all the more attractive to us (they will all be out of town while we are there).

And if you know anything about the park or the area that you would like to share, that would be great!

Sounds like a good idea. Good luck on your winter place.

Love that area but any help I could gave you would be very dated I moved from there 20yrs ago been back a few times but always a million changes

I'm closer to Tucson but Apache Junction is very nice. If you get a place here you'll find tons of shops both in the Phoenix area and down here!! Good luck with your search

We have spent the last four winters in AJ, and bought last year in a park there. There are a lot of great parks, some reasonable and some quite expensive. One thing to be aware of if you buy in a park where you don't own the land your rent can be quite high ( over $500 per month for 12 months of the year), tho the trailers are ususally much more reasonable.
Other parks ( and there aren't very many in the Phoenix area) you do own your own land. This is the type we bought in last year, it had been our 3rd winter in this park, just renting. Our total fees, insurance, taxes etc for the year are around $2800, tho we did probably pay a bit more for the trailer. Also we like the fact that the park is owned and run by the people who own the land/trailers, so you have a say in what is going on. Everyone has been wonderfull in the park, so many activities, and looked after very well. Of course, when we started looking, a quilting group was a must!!
If you want any more info on the area, parks etc. just e-mail me.
Laurie

AJ's not bad as far as big cities go, but I hate big cities. The whole Phoenix area, AJ included, is getting more and more like LA. Too much traffic and too much smog. There are lots of places in AZ where the winters are nice and everything else is way nicer than around Phoenix.

Mobile homes are not a great investment. We had one on our own property and really had trouble selling it. It was a nice home in a great area and we had lots of potential buyers, but banks won't loan money on them any more. When you get ready to sell you will have to find a buyer with cash.

The Phoenix housing market is recovering faster than any place in the nation. If you are only renting a space in a mobile home park you may find the rent going up quickly with property values and taxes increasing. And rent is something you can't control. DH and I were renting a very nice apt in Prescott AZ and decided to buy when interest rates went so low that the payment on a bigger house was the same as our rent. And our payment is fixed.

Don't limit your looking to AJ only. There are lots of areas in AZ just as nice or nicer.

Wow some people aren't very fond of AJ.... We live in Chandler, year round, and would like to move a bit closer to our church and have been thinking AJ might suit us just fine. I love the views of the superstitions, easy drive, not over crowded like other places in the valley. Enjoy your beautiful winter here, and some great quilt shops!

My brother in law used to be a chef at the Resort right on the lake .. He loved it there, he moved onto NV then moved about 2 blocks from us (JOY ! JOY! LOL )

You should check out 3guys quilt shop, in phx. Not far from apache junction. Can always come down to Tucson,we have lots of cool places to visit also

I have been keeping an eye on AJ and other Arizona places. What would you advise for a retired professional woman as a good place to live, probably to buy a home? Tell me about the other places you like in AZ, please.