Buying a holiday home in the USA
Aug 11th 2017, 10:31 pm
#76
in Northern California
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 284
Re: Buying a holiday home in the USA
When Cornelius Vanderbilt built Biltmore (in the Appalachian mountains in NC), he also bought up all the land between Biltmore and the horizon.
William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire and former owner of Chatsworth house, which has many similarities in size, layout and location (but not architectural style) to Biltmore, had the entire village of Edensor, except for one cottage, relocated over a ridge, out of site of the Chatsworth House.
William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire and former owner of Chatsworth house, which has many similarities in size, layout and location (but not architectural style) to Biltmore, had the entire village of Edensor, except for one cottage, relocated over a ridge, out of site of the Chatsworth House.
Not a guy you want living in your vicinity.
Aug 12th 2017, 5:39 pm
#77
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2007
Location: Bay Area, CA
Posts: 13,193
Re: Buying a holiday home in the USA
Nah!
If that's what you need, better be prepared to buy up all of the land you want protected.
A good friend of mine moved to Scottsdale and purchased a home. But he also purchased some additional land to protect his view. There were some shenanigans with the seller of the extra land but it worked out fine in the end.
If that's what you need, better be prepared to buy up all of the land you want protected.
A good friend of mine moved to Scottsdale and purchased a home. But he also purchased some additional land to protect his view. There were some shenanigans with the seller of the extra land but it worked out fine in the end.
The hiking in Scottsdale is the single biggest 'draw' for me; there are two great trailheads within 10 minutes of my current place. The big one - Gateway trailhead, just off Thompson Peak Parkway - serves dozens of trails, anything from an easy <1hr loop to a 15 mile, multi-thousand feet elevation hike. It rivals anything I found in the bay area in terms of hiking quality.
My favorite is the Gateway to Tom's Thumb trail (14 miles). Rises from about 1700 ft at the start to 3,800 ft at the top, and takes you through some amazing landscape.
Some of my pics from a Tom's Thumb trail hike below; one shows the (uniformly colored) houses on the flat land below the mountains.
Aug 12th 2017, 6:10 pm
#78
in Northern California
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 284
Re: Buying a holiday home in the USA
But one great thing about the Scottsdale area close to the mountains is that the city have locked up most if not all of the mountains using funds extorted from builders. So when they released all that flat land for development, a condition was that a ton of money was paid and set aside for land acquisition. The net result is, most of the hilly land in that area is set aside in perpetuity for trails, and the city have done a great job in developing those trails.
Aug 14th 2017, 10:08 am
#79
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 8
Re: Buying a holiday home in the USA
I'm getting some awesome information on here - thank you!!
So the idea of a condo in a gated community is not off the cards - surprisingly. I thought my husband would hate that idea. Maybe even the idea of a 55+ type community... we don't have young children nor does anyone in the family (at the moment) so it may be an option. Do they have many restrictions on residents being (a few years) under 55 does anyone know?
Our budget isn't huge at all - it's only around $150k, and I know that will limit us to certain areas, but honestly looking around at some of the websites that can buy something that looks reasonably decent (and yes I know - it's only when you get into it that problems appear - we live in a 1930's house in the UK and we know problems very well).
Keep the advice coming guys - I'm loving it!!
So the idea of a condo in a gated community is not off the cards - surprisingly. I thought my husband would hate that idea. Maybe even the idea of a 55+ type community... we don't have young children nor does anyone in the family (at the moment) so it may be an option. Do they have many restrictions on residents being (a few years) under 55 does anyone know?
Our budget isn't huge at all - it's only around $150k, and I know that will limit us to certain areas, but honestly looking around at some of the websites that can buy something that looks reasonably decent (and yes I know - it's only when you get into it that problems appear - we live in a 1930's house in the UK and we know problems very well).
Keep the advice coming guys - I'm loving it!!
Aug 14th 2017, 4:40 pm
#80
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2007
Location: Bay Area, CA
Posts: 13,193
Re: Buying a holiday home in the USA
I'm getting some awesome information on here - thank you!!
So the idea of a condo in a gated community is not off the cards - surprisingly. I thought my husband would hate that idea. Maybe even the idea of a 55+ type community... we don't have young children nor does anyone in the family (at the moment) so it may be an option. Do they have many restrictions on residents being (a few years) under 55 does anyone know?
Our budget isn't huge at all - it's only around $150k, and I know that will limit us to certain areas, but honestly looking around at some of the websites that can buy something that looks reasonably decent (and yes I know - it's only when you get into it that problems appear - we live in a 1930's house in the UK and we know problems very well).
Keep the advice coming guys - I'm loving it!!
So the idea of a condo in a gated community is not off the cards - surprisingly. I thought my husband would hate that idea. Maybe even the idea of a 55+ type community... we don't have young children nor does anyone in the family (at the moment) so it may be an option. Do they have many restrictions on residents being (a few years) under 55 does anyone know?
Our budget isn't huge at all - it's only around $150k, and I know that will limit us to certain areas, but honestly looking around at some of the websites that can buy something that looks reasonably decent (and yes I know - it's only when you get into it that problems appear - we live in a 1930's house in the UK and we know problems very well).
Keep the advice coming guys - I'm loving it!!
I can tell you what's available, roughly. I bought my current condo for $150k near the bottom of the market, and it's now supposedly worth about $200k. It's not in a gated community, but we do have 2 lovely pools and a tennis court. The units are older and spacious (for condos) at 1,400 sq ft. No garage, but covered parking. I immediately spent money on new windows (replacing original single-pane windows) and a new a/c unit. I think you'd be hard pressed to get something in Scottsdale now for $150k. Here's something in a section of Phoenix: https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sal...13_rect/11_zm/
and something in Glendale: https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sal...34_rect/11_zm/
This is closer to downtown Phoenix: https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sal...94_rect/11_zm/
And here's a small condo in a development in Mesa; may be an OK area (Mesa has some sketchy parts ...) https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sal...54_rect/11_zm/
I do know people from Canada who bought something in the way-out-of-town location of Maricopa (the city, not the county). It's way too far from everything for my liking, but they literally just wanted a pool, and a safe place to stay, so they could escape the horrid winters in Edmonton, Canada. This is representative of what they got: https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sal...09_rect/12_zm/ - 3 bed/2 bath/1436 sq ft for $158k.
