March 9th, 2010 by Michael Oliver

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Eagle Crest Ranch developed by DR Horton for the past several years offers one of the best values for buyers looking to live on the far north side of the Tucson metro region. Eagle Crest Ranch is in Catalina Arizona, Catalina is a small but fast growing city within Pinal County. Catalina is growing with all of its recent new

Eagle Crest Ranch Offers A Great Value For Today's Home Buyers

home neighborhoods that have been developed recently (most notably Black Horse Ranch) Catalina offers buyers who may not want to be in Oro Valley affordable new home options.

Tucson new homes

February 23rd, 2010 by Michael Oliver

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Buyers have many of new home options available to them within Rancho Sahuarita in Sahuarita Arizona. Over the past 2 years most of all of the new homes in Rancho Sahuarita have been re-tooled by there respective builders to allow them to build more home for the money. Richmond American, KB Home, and DR Horton rolled out brand new floor plans to compete in the ultr affordable segment of the Rancho Sahuarita market.

New Homes Rancho Sahuarita, Rancho Sahaurita

January 31st, 2010 by Michael Oliver

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One Of The Floorplans Meritage Is Now Building In Sky Ranch

Meritage Homes is now pre-selling their new homes at Sky Ranch just off Thornydale and south of Tangerine. These homes start in the high $180’s with a 1652sf home. From there the homes range in size all the way up to a 3118sf 2 story floor plan named the Cathedral Rock. Between these two smallest and largest homes in the neighborhood Meritage builds six other plans. Plans range in both 1 and 2 story options as well as 3 to 5 bedrooms with additional options for more beds and baths combos as well as 3 car garages and other upgrades.

Meritage Homes Tucson, NW Tucson Neighborhoods, Sky Ranch, Tucson new homes

January 22nd, 2009 by Michael Oliver

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Here is a video of The Rancho Sahuarita Neighborhood. This is my first video and to be honest this one could have been a lot better but at least for those out of town that want to get a good idea what Rancho Sahuarita is all about this video should be beneficial. Believe it or not (those that live in Tucson know it to be true) I shot all this video in early March ( 2008) and YES PEOPLE ARE SWIMMING IN THE POOL! That’s how great the weather is here in Tucson that people actually swim 10 months a year. The splash park you see in the video (kids area with slides and very shallow pool) only operates during the summer when all the kids are out of school but during the summer this entire pool area is packed with people. Some of the other footage shows the many “satellite ” pools and parks. Those are also closed during most of the year as there is only demand for the large main pool during the non-summer months.

January 21st, 2009 by Michael Oliver

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I have been trying to come up with where I think the best values are for individual neighborhoods so it made me think of doing a post since I can’t be the only one wondering. For this “value” I’m considering more then just price in effect I’m objectively looking at the overall value a neighborhood brings to the residents who live there on the whole. Since it’s not realistic or simple to configure one individual neighborhood for “Best Neighborhood Value In Tucson” I thought I would name a few dependent upon price range and what the neighborhood offers residents. I would like to get some feedback on what others think represents good value in the Tucson area so your comments will be much appreciated.

December 17th, 2008 by Michael Oliver

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Red Rock AZ was supposed to be the next extension of the satellite cities that ring the Tucson region. If you have never ever been to Red Rock it’s essentially a blank canvass from which a new city could be easily built from. In time I am sure Red Rock will be a viable option for those that want to be north of Tucson and south of Phoenix. Established smaller towns/ cities such as Casa Grande, Marana, Oro Valley, Queen Creek, Gilbert, and Chandler all fit into this description as towns just off of I-10 and between the two large metro regions. Red Rock currently I think is still quite a ways from being a real option for Arizona residents. Presently Pulte homes is a large landholder and has plans to build out a major 10-15 year mega-development called Red Rock Village. Red Rock Village is built in the “Anthem” inspired community that Pulte discovered was a huge success in “Anthem Arizona”, that community offers residents who purchase within the Pulte master planned community access to water parks, fitness centers, large neighborhood parks, tennis, baseball, etc. Tucson’s version of this same mega community would be Rancho Sahuarita, in my opinion Rancho Sahuarita beats out Pulte’s “Anthem” by a long ways however they both have raised the bar dramatically for what a new home development can become.

November 17th, 2008 by Michael Oliver

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In Marana there is a new upcoming area located at the intersection of Tangerine and Thornydale a lot of new construction and development is going on. Within a couple minutes of this intersection is the master-planned development of Dove Mountain. Dove Mountain offers an assortment of mid to high end housing options and as many know it is also home to The Gallery Golf Course the current home of the World Match Play Championship. This area is exploding with high end growth at a rate a lot of people do not perceive or comprehend. At the intersection of Tangerine and Thornydale within a couple minutes north is the extreme high end property/ development named Saguaro Ranch which will be home to properties all in excess of $2M and beyond. This high end development is not alone within Dove Mountain along The Gallery’s courses are neighborhoods also featuring many multi-million dollar homes street after street. Neighborhoods like Dos Lagos at Dove Mountain, Gallery Parcel 1 ”Cottages” (The), Canyon Pass At Dove Mountain, Saguaro Ranch, Sonoran Preserve, Hidden Springs, Gallery Parcel 4A, Dove Mountain Resort, Gallery (The) Parcel 2, Butterfly Mountain, and The Residences At Ritz Carlton. All of these multi-million dollar relatively new neighborhoods are within minutes of this (what will become)”prestigious” Tangerine/Thornydale intersection.

November 13th, 2008 by Michael Oliver

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Madera Highlands is a new home master planned development in which several national homebuilders have decided to each offer affordable homes set in a unique setting of a Pecan Grove. Prior to Madera Highlands being a large new home development it was home to a grove of Pecan Trees which grow extremely well in Southern AZ. (as long as they get water!) When the land developers were developing the land for home building, part of the plan was to leave some of the large mature Pecan Trees and incorporate them into the neighborhood. This allows for residents in a way to have a distinctive and unique neighborhood that you can bet no other neighborhood has in the Tucson area. Large mature Pecan trees dot the 16 acre park area where there are also several large grassed parks. A large community pool with a small children area, and spa surrounded by reclining chairs and patio tables make for a very nice community pool area for all residents. Also within in the centrally located recreation area there is an enclosed tennis court and basketball court for residents. The actual neighborhood of Madera Highlands is well laid out and obviously had great designers to make for a large neighborhood that has each individual neighborhood feel separate and close-nit.

November 11th, 2008 by Michael Oliver

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If your looking for an urban neighborhood (that’s what the builder Miramonte Homes markets this community as.) with homes that feature flair, and a rare design found in Tucson. Miramonte At The River is most likely for you. Miramonte At the River is an upscale new home community/development located on Tucson’s NW side just south of River on the east side of Stone and abuts the Rillito River. The actual new neighborhood sits in a high demand location across the street to the west is the Tucson Mall, just north of this new home community is The Tucson Heart Hospital, to the east sits “The Foothills”, and to the south sits a large office building and the Rillito River with its very popular “River Walk”. The “River Walk” is essentially a running/biking path that runs along the Rillito River and is always populated by dozens of people and is very popular here in Tucson. The pricing of Miramonte At The River in my opinion is somewhat high for that exact area, however once you are in the neighborhood you do feel like the “what you get for the money” is maybe a good deal. It’s tough in my mind to see these prices on new homes here, but after seriously going through the neighborhood and seeing all the custom “intimate” touches that Miramonte has done it maybe very close to making the price paid= the value of purchasing here. If this neighborhood was located just (and I mean “just”) a mile east and ½ mile north (essentially North of River Rd not south where it is) this neighborhood could command starting prices of in excess of $400k all day long. Currently the prices start in the low 300’s so on a value basis they are close and the overall neighborhood has touches I personally have not seen in neighborhoods under $500k. So let’s see what you get for your money in Miramonte At The River. Click here for full brochure including plat map, floor plans, and entire list of included features, and pricing.

November 6th, 2008 by Michael Oliver

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Located just off of La Cholla and River Rd on Tucson’s NW side is AF Sterling’s Riverside Pointe new home subdivision. I recently went to this community to get a better understanding of this new home community and what AF Sterling is building here. As previously mentioned (in other blog posts) AF Sterling is a premium homebuilder within the Tucson AZ area. AF Sterling builds homes in all price ranges by they typically specialize in the 500k+ high end new home market. AF Sterling homes offers 2×6”(most homebuilders try to cut costs by using smaller 2×4” studs vs. the wider 2×6”) construction studs for framing meaning that the walls are a couple inches thicker then most other builders giving the homeowner better insulation of the entire home and ultimately lower utility bills. Also on the whole you will find AF Sterling communities (neighborhoods) have a much higher end feel even years after the homes have all been built due to AF Sterling’s commitment to build not “just” great homes but also great neighborhoods residents can use and enjoy. Of course all of this translates into a small premium buyers must pay to enjoy the comforts of an AF Sterling home. In my opinion just from a resale factor AF Sterling neighborhoods are generally in much higher demand then the neighborhoods surrounding it due to the time, effort, and expense this builder puts into every neighborhood.