Cottonwood Arizona Observations (so far)

[jswordy]

I was thinking of retirement in Williamsburg ,at one-time I even put a down payment on a house in New Kent.
Oh well I'm stuck here in NJ and having a hard time closing down my business. I really want to ⁿ

I loved my seven years there, but that was 29 years ago. I am sure it has changed a lot!

 

[Kraffty]

@ joeswine - Exposing my ignorance once again but is NJ also a place many people want to escape from once they retire? Never occurred to me to be that way.
Mike

 

[jswordy]

These have changed some but not a lot. I know Illinois is #7 now, for example. Still high!

 

[jswordy]

Here we go, a link to 2019 figures.

https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-highest-lowest-tax-burden/20494/

 

[joeswine]

Very much so, I've watch my customers move South over the past 20 years , anywhere south or southwest. Tax's here are the highest in the country ( real a state ) that is.gasoline not that far behind.. and yet housing values in the southern part of this state are stagnant.

 

[Kraffty]

Never say never..... Plans to build may have come to a screeching halt! Our agent just showed us a house that meets pretty much every Check on our list and at a really nice price. We're going to make an offer tomorrow A.M. A couple of pics from the zillow web site. It has a walk out below that has approx 150 sq. feet already enclosed and air-conditioned and then another 3 or 4 hundred sq. ft. that can be set up however I Like. Patio/Deck is around 300 square feet, completely covered and an awesome view of the red rocks. Wish us luck, I'm guessing this will have many offers. (it's the house with the tan roof)
Mike

 

[mainshipfred]

Never say never..... Plans to build may have come to a screeching halt! Our agent just showed us a house that meets pretty much every Check on our list and at a really nice price. We're going to make an offer tomorrow A.M. A couple of pics from the zillow web site. It has a walk out below that has approx 150 sq. feet already enclosed and air-conditioned and then another 3 or 4 hundred sq. ft. that can be set up however I Like. Patio/Deck is around 300 square feet, completely covered and an awesome view of the red rocks. Wish us luck, I'm guessing this will have many offers. (it's the house with the tan roof)
Mike
View attachment 56089 View attachment 56090

Good Luck!

 

[ibglowin]

Good luck Mike! Is that in Cottonwood still or closer to Sedona? Corner lot to boot!

Never say never..... Plans to build may have come to a screeching halt! Our agent just showed us a house that meets pretty much every Check on our list and at a really nice price.

 

[Kraffty]

Still in Cottonwood but Northern section closer to where we rent now. Much greener and a little higher than our original lot.
Tossed and turned all night, excited and anxious at the same time. Guess we wait now.

 

[joeswine]

Outstanding view, love Arizona . Especially Sedona.

 

[Kraffty]

Looks like we're not homeless anymore! Multiple offers but ours was selected at list price (slightly less than other offers) because we were so well qualified. Actually put all the equity from the CA house as the down and only had to borrow a small amount to avoid touching savings. Scheduled to close mid September but might be a lot sooner, hope hope hope. Anyone want to buy a lot, I'll throw in testing reports and custom designed house prints and materials quotes.
Mike

 

[ibglowin]

Congrats! Looks like there is room for a few rows of grapes on the east side of the property. You still thinking about planting any vines at this point?

 

[sour_grapes]

Congrats, Mike!

 

[Boatboy24]

Congrats, Mike!!

 

[Johnd]

Nice work!! Nothing wrong with getting out of the house building effort, looks like you guys have a great place!!!!!

 

[jswordy]

Congratulations! You won't have to mow that yard, either!

 

[Kraffty]

Thanks all, I appreciate all the support and I'm honestly not feeling let down about not building in the least. We are planning on tearing out all the carpet and putting down hardwood and also replacing all the kitchen cabinets so we can install our new appliances before moving in. Look forward to showing that part off once we get there in a few weeks. Mike

 

[mainshipfred]

Way to go, building new is exciting but always more work than expected.

Can I have your sign

 

[Chuck E]

Congratulations. Nothing like putting down roots.

 

[Kraffty]

Well it's official, we got the keys monday and promptly set out to demolish the kitchen and possibly the master bath before we move in. While the house is in great shape, it was built in the mid 90's and looks it. Monday afternoon I tore out the upper cabinets, Tuesday the countertops, lower cabinets and removed the appliances. Today I just about finished taking all the baseboards up in the entire house in preparation for the flooring people to come in to tear up all the vinyl and carpet. This time I plan on paying for most of the work versus mostly DIY as I've done in the past but I can prep a lot of the stuff in order to save time down the road. New cabinets are on order, 2 slabs of a marble/granite hybrid sort of stone called fantasy brown satin granite picked out and setting at the fabricators and flooring contract signed today so that the material will be on the installers floor once the cabinets get installed. I am doing that part myself to get it done quickly because everything else is on hold until they get installed. I should have about 2 weeks before the cabinets arrive so I can add a fresh coat of paint, re-install/recycle all the old cabinets in the garage and winery and start moving stuff from our rental to the garage and basement so once the flooring gets installed we can move in. Also have to move gas lines, electrical and vents for new appliances and buy all the sinks, appliances, stuff and things and whatchamacallits that we don't already have or don't know that we don't have yet. Scheduled move in is end of October, should be about the fastest 4 weeks of our lives. Winemaking looks to be back on the horizon for me very soon. Pics of when we bought, now and future (roughly) plans.