Busy Roads and Bad Floor plans in the Foothills

There’s a home just off of Sunrise in North Tucson, up in the Catalina Foothills that I remember showing to clients a couple of years ago when it was on the market for $479,000. It’s back on the market, post foreclosure auction, in the $400k range. All in all, it’s not a bad home. Sits on a good sized lot, has been updated.

Back there today with a different client, we were talking about the property. After all, North of Sunrise on nearly an acre and a half, it’s a rare property for $400k. So why is this property in that price range? Because it backs to Sunrise Road, which you can hear clearly from the backyard. We investigated a lot of neighborhoods today on an individual level, and while that particular area generally does okay, houses on the busy roads will never see the same kind of returns as one just a street or two into the neighborhood.

Also on today’s showing agenda was a home advertised as a 3 bed, 3 bath home. That’s one full, one 3/4ths bath, and a half bath. Gorgeous views, absolutely spectacular. It seemed like an interesting house until we started talking about lifestyle. There were two master suites, and then a third bedroom adjacent to a powder room. So you can never put guests in that third bedroom because there’s nowhere for them to shower. It works great if there’s only a couple living there, but as soon as you toss some guests or children or an ageing parent in the mix, then someone is out of luck when it comes to bathing. Not so great for resale.

So much to consider when buying a home. There are always trade-offs. Just be sure you understand what they are before making decisions.