It was never a question of “if” we get off the road. Just when. And when was now. Settled into an RV park west of Tucson it was time to put our plans into action.
Our focus was two-fold. Sell the RV and purchase a footprint in the Tucson area. A straight forward plan if ever there was one. But as most folks know, having a backup plan B or plan C is prudent because one should always expect the unexpected. In other words, when planning specifically, be prepared to implement flexibly.
Prior to leaving Wisconsin we placed an ad with a national organization well versed in selling RV’s. However, the ad had not yet produced any serious leads. Perplexing. But it didn’t make us nervous. Had the RV sold while we were still in Wisconsin? We planned for such a contingency but honestly, we were OK it didn't. Not selling while in Wisconsin made our plans going forward much simpler. Simpler? OK. Less complicated.
Now, parked in a section of the country soon to be rife with wintering RV’ers, we remained optimistic. Fortunately, buying a home was not contingent on first selling the RV. If the RV sold before purchasing a property, we had a standing invitation to stay with a friend in the Tucson area for “as long as it takes”. Time to implement plan A.
Prior to leaving Arizona in the spring, we had contracted with a Tucson realtor. At that time we laid out our wants/needs and budget. We had also met with a lender to tie down pre-approval for a home loan. Arizona realtors require pre-approvals before any showings of properties are allowed. With our ducks in a row, we were now ready to begin viewing properties.
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| SEAZ - Tucson, Green Valley, Sierra Vista |
Tucson is a wonderful city. Loads of culture. A university. Favorite grocery stores. An endless supply of culinary delights. These were some of the pros that brought us to decide to settle in Tucson. Well, truth be told, our initial search had been in the Sierra Vista area a few years back - but we’re getting ahead of our story.
We began September full of optimism. By the third week our optimism had waned considerably. On the upside, we learned a great deal about Arizona real estate ins and outs. Through multiple searches and showings, we fine tuned the type of property we were seeking.
A house? A condo? A townhome? A mountain view? An HOA? Tucson’s west side or east side? North or south? Further afield from Tucson? These were all decisions we grappled with while bouncing from one showing to the next. Exhausting, but not unexpected. Still within the realm of plan A.
We soon learned that we didn’t want the responsibility of owning a house. We wanted something we could walk away from without worrying about high maintenance issues. We also wanted a garage, something many condos didn’t offer. Or if they did, they came at a much higher cost. Mountain view? We soon learned they came at a very high premium. We also learned the wisdom of having a Home Owners Association (HOA). An added expense, yes, but it offered peace of mind that a property would more likely retain its value.
On the downside, we discovered that no matter where we chose to live, it seemed to take an hour or more to get anywhere. Tucson city planners had not been adept at designing traffic infrastructure. As a result, traffic in Tucson is very congested most of the time. Congestion, and not having much luck finding a place in Tucson, caused us to shift a bit to plan B: consider other locations away from Tucson. Places like Green Valley.
Green Valley is approximately 30 miles south of Tucson. It’s near Madera Canyon, a favorite birding spot. And there were some very attractive housing options in Green Valley. However, we found the HOA’s - like many in Tucson - too high. Many in the $300-$400/moth range and higher. This would be on top of any mortgage payment. Much of what these HOA’s offered we wouldn’t be using (a clubhouse for example). We’re not the shuffleboard, card playing retirees that inhabit clubhouses. But the nail in the coffin was Green Valley’s "Green Valley Recreation" fee (GVR), a fee required by residents of Green Valley owning property. A one time fee upon purchase of a property was $2500 (with an additional one time transfer fee of $350 if the property already had an existing GVR in effect). Then there was an annual mandatory annual $485 fee. We had also noticed that the annual GVR fee had grown quite a bit in the last ten years so it was likely to go higher. A mortgage payment plus a high monthly HOA fee and an annual GVR fee? No thank you.
We also spent time looking in Sahuarita, a growing community between Green Valley and Tucson. It lacked the GVR fee but it’s located near a very large open pit mine. Closer to Tucson but little to nothing to offer for birding, hiking or biking.
Parallel to our house hunting we had a few nibbles on our RV. A couple in Alaska offered to fly down to for a look-see. Sounded very promising. But after learning they would need a diesel truck to pull it (they had just purchased a new Ford gasoline powered truck) they backed away. A local called to make an appointment to see the RV but never showed. We later learned he was a shady wheeler-dealer who operated a very sketchy RV park. He would likely have low-balled us anyway so good riddance.
Clearly, the national ad, while garnering many looks, hadn’t come through. We started investigating possible consignment deals with a Tucson RV dealers. Freedom RV offered the best deal with a one time fee of $450. The fee included national and local advertising, handling of all showings, the ability to offer a buyer financing, and a limited dealer warranty. The one time fee allowed our RV to sit on their lot for however long it took to sell.
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| Carol got to finally tow - for at least 200 yards. |
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| The last unhook - Freedom RV for consignment |
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| amazing how much we had in the RV to put in storage |
The downside? We would have to vacate the RV. We’d have to move in with our friend in Tucson putting even more pressure on our search efforts. It would require short term rental of a storage unit for personal belongings (cooking utensils, bedding, unnecessary clothing, tools, etc.). Prior to leaving Wisconsin we had pretty much cleared out all non-essential items anyway. On September 23rd we rented a 5x5 storage unit in Tucson and started emptying our RV. On September 29, with much angst and a few tears, we towed our RV for the last time and left it in the hands of Freedom RV. The same day we moved in with our friend Nancy Novak in Oro Valley. Our plan A had definitely now morphed to plan B.
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| Nancy's digs while we house hunted |
Tucson searches became even more frustrating after learning what had been a buyer’s market a year ago, was now a seller’s market. Properties that fit our criteria were being snapped up before we could even visit, or, quickly had pending offers. Our realtor was very hard working but admitted her knowledge of some areas of Tucson were limited. In other words we were left searching on our own in some instances. The advent of seasonal snowbirds arriving meant the real estate market was only going to get tighter.
Feeling so much pressure at one point we made an offer on a property in east Tucson but within 24-hours rescinded it. The interior was fine. There was a single car garage (but not a lot of driveway or street parking for visitors). The neighborhood seemed nice enough. We even spoke with a few neighbors to get a feel for the surroundings. The HOA was doable which included a pool and spa short walk away. But a back patio was virtually nonexistent. A tall concrete block retaining wall fronted an even taller blank wall of the house behind. No mountain view - no view at all. It left us feeling imprisoned and claustrophobic. What were we thinking? In fact, was Tucson going to work for us at all?
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| Sierra Vista does a remarkable job promoting itself |
The realtor we initially worked with in Sierra Vista was pleasant enough. Whenever we asked to see a property he was always happy to accommodate. But over time our impression (specially when compared to our hard working our agent in Tucson) was that he wasn’t working very hard beating the bushes on our behalf. A meeting with our lender who happened to be located in Sierra Vista and who understood our dilemma, referred us to another a local realtor. The realtor just happened to have an office in the same building complex and after our meeting, he walked us to her office.
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| Avenida Palermo townhome |
Not only did Xennia ask all the right questions (called qualifying your client) but within a week she had a townhouse for us to look at in a complex built in the 1980’s. We were already familiar with the community due to visiting birding friends a few years earlier who live the in the same complex. Long story short, we liked the unit, put in an offer. It was accepted and we were off and running.
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| progress |
The process to purchase always generates a lot of fingernail biting and a flood of paperwork. Since we were staying in Tucson, an hour away, most of the paperwork could be handled online. The wonders of technology. By October 4 we had our first inspection. On October 27 we had our final inspection to insure all corrections had been made. The same day we completed closing paperwork and on November 7, with utilities switched over, we took possession. Yay!
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| with our realtor Xennia getting the keys to the kingdom |
Relieved to have finally found a footprint, there were still issues some first time buyers face. An absence of furniture for one. Sure, we had possessions in storage in Tucson and in Wisconsin. From the RV we had cooking utensils, some small appliances, and bedding (but no bed). In Wisconsin we had mostly personal items like photo albums, artwork, and Christmas ornaments. Also a few pieces of furniture like a dining room table, a chair-and-half, and area rugs. But since we had been living in an RV for years we didn’t have beds, mattresses, or even a vacuum cleaner (the RV had a built in system).
With an accepted offer and a viable contract, and following the initial home inspection, we put our time at Nancy’s to good use. We shopped for mattresses (Nancy had given us the name of a local dealer). We also shopped online for a bed frame and a vacuum cleaner which were delivered to Nancy’s. There were a few other minor household pieces to acquire. And Saturday garage sales with Nancy produced a few more items.
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| minimalist furniture - a start |
Thank goodness we still had our pickup truck! On the day we moved in we brought with us the bed frame and the majority of our possessions from the storage unit. The mattresses were delivered on the same day (we had also purchased two twin beds frames for the guest room). Just a matter of assembling the bed frame and plugging in the coffee pot. The townhouse came with all appliances including a washer/dryer. As for other large ticket items like a sofa, dining room chairs, etc. we would have to wait on the sale of the RV. While the interior was sparse (and way bigger than our RV!) it wouldn’t be long before we retrieved the rest of our belongings from Wisconsin and begin the process of making our footprint our home.
Suffice to say our pre-planning and ability to be flexible and compromise worked to our advantage. And a special thanks to Nancy Novak who opened her home to us after our RV sold. Without her we're not sure what we would have done!
Next: Fly back to Wisconsin, rent a truck, and finally, after almost nine years, wind up with all our possessions in one location!
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