Sun City Anthem at Merrill Ranch

[Kathy]

Hi, Jerry and Janet:

Thanks so much for your response. We are definitely interested in the Sun City section. We visited on the VIP program last year -- had sort of sandwiched Sun City Anthem MR in between stays at Robson Ranch and Sun City Festival, not expecting much from Anthem and we just fell in love with the place!(And were surprised to find ourselves disappointed with the other two for a variety of reasons.) We're planning to come back for most of the month of July to get a better feel for the community and its surroundings and maybe start the buying process. We were so impressed with how friendly everyone was, with the ASU Learning Center, the gym, the pools, everything -- not to mention the very good deals on the houses. Our families -- not happy to see us leave California -- suggested we come back for a longer look. It is a big step: we've lived in the same house in Southern California for 29 years and will be leaving family and friends behind -- so it's very encouraging to hear that you've been so pleased with your experience there. We would be full-time residents so we're taking care to be very, very sure before making the move. But we're excited and hopeful that by this time next year, we could be enjoying the lifestyle that so agrees with you! Thanks so much for your comments!

[rita saskatchewan]

Hi all, We are looking for feedback on Sun City Anthem at Merrill Ranch as we are thinking of purchasing a vacation/eventual retirement home later this summer: costs of maintaining a 1500 sq foot home over the summer months versus winter months? financial stability of the community and Del Webb in the face of the ongoing recession? cost of landscaping both front and rear? cost of fencing yard? Comparison with Sun City Grand homes? Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

[Fernand]

Hi,

We live in St.Brieux, Sask and have purchased 2 homes at MR..One we rent out fully furnished by the day, week or month, and the other we live in for the 6 mths we go down Nov to end of April....We were so impressed with the place it was hard to describe...our rental home is 1462 st ft and the power is $40 per mth which includes having the A/C on as it has to stay at 85F so that the drywall does not crack etc while we are away...this is for warranty purposes.....Pulte Purchased another large builder this past winter which now makes it the Largest builder in the USA so I am not worried...the front yard is landscaped as part of the price of the home and the rear yard, cost us around $2000 that included all the plants but we did not do anything too fancy...just the minimum requirement which I think is 15 plants....no cost to fensing as in Parkside we all have a very private backyard with 6 ft cinderblock fence painted the same beige or mocha while in Sun City they are not allowed any fencing for privacy..Homes are way more reasonably priced in Parkside as compared to Parkside.....check it out you will see......hope this helps...

[rita saskatchewan]

Thanks so much for the comments. We will look at both sides when we are down there later this summer. Do you know what hazard insurance is? A few people from Sun City Anthem have told us that we need to purchase this insurance. Is this in addition to regular house insurance? Do you find the cost of living there similar to Saskatchewan in terms of utilities, etc although I would guess that living in St. Brieux is probably less expensive than Saskatoon or Regina?
Were you satisfied with the quality of the build? Did you have many problems getting things fixed up before final inspection? Thanks again for the help.

Fernand wrote:

Hi,
We live in St.Brieux, Sask and have purchased 2 homes at MR..One we rent out fully furnished by the day, week or month, and the other we live in for the 6 mths we go down Nov to end of April....We were so impressed with the place it was hard to describe...our rental home is 1462 st ft and the power is $40 per mth which includes having the A/C on as it has to stay at 85F so that the drywall does not crack etc while we are away...this is for warranty purposes.....Pulte Purchased another large builder this past winter which now makes it the Largest builder in the USA so I am not worried...the front yard is landscaped as part of the price of the home and the rear yard, cost us around $2000 that included all the plants but we did not do anything too fancy...just the minimum requirement which I think is 15 plants....no cost to fensing as in Parkside we all have a very private backyard with 6 ft cinderblock fence painted the same beige or mocha while in Sun City they are not allowed any fencing for privacy..Homes are way more reasonably priced in Parkside as compared to Parkside.....check it out you will see......hope this helps...

[Fernand]

I have no idea what hazard insurance means...we certainly don't have it...our house insurance was way cheaper in the USA than here.....we figured it costs us less to live in the USA for the 6 mths then it does here as the cost of fuel, groceries are so cheap compared to here.....Cost of living is not cheap in Rural Sask anymore especially here as veryone has a job that wants a job at Bourgault Industries, makers of Air Seeders etc.....housing is quite expensive and all the properties are well taken care of...If a house goes for sale, it is sold pretty darned quick....the last 2 years the taxes @ Merrill Ranch have been around $267.00, yes $267 but now they have assessed it and is around $1100.00 I think.. We live at the lake in St.Brieux so we pay our taxes of $5000.00 to the RM so we are looking at joining the Town itself and the taxes would go down to $3200...Makes much more sense, We have had no problems with any of our properies at all..If something needs rectifying they are on it real quick..Customer Service in that Community means a lot to them.You fo to Safeway at MR and while you are shopping you'll have someone ask you at least 2 or 3 times HAVE YOU FOUND EVERYTHING YOU NEED....we don't see that kind of service in Canada....My wife brother also purchased 2 homes there and another brother of hers purchased one also so we enjoy it immensely...With the new Hospital going up there, those house prices are going to start going up quite a bit I feel.....We bought when the US$ and Canadian $ was on par so we hit it just right.....Once we made the final offer on our last home, we were in it 5 days later PAINTING THE WHOLE thing, my wife's idea nit mine but it sure looked nice and easier with no furniture in it...That is what we did last Christmas Day.....The golf course is the best we have ever golfed and we golf a lot....We buy a yearly pass as it is cheaper to do that even though we are only there 6 mths.....and the staff are just great.....our Sales girl at Pulte was Shannon and she is just the nicest, awesome person you can ever meet...NO PRESSURE from her...She was the TOP salesperson for Pulte last year....JUST THOUGHT OF IT....maybe those people in Sun City live ON the Golf Course so HAZARD could be flying golf balls cause some of those houses are just in the right spot for broken windows...I have seen some, even a broken glass patio door....anyway that is all for now......How long will you be in AZ???

[Marg Alberta Canada]

We were recently at Merrill Ranch and loved the community. The debate now is Parkside vs Sun City. We are several years from being fully retired so trips would be limited and the house might sit empty for most of the year. Is Parkside as secure and safe as the Sun City side? Are the HOA dues the same - Sun City is $92. Parkside gives us more sq footage for our dollar, and it sounds like backyard privacy is better. We would love to hear from those who have bought at Parkside and to share your comments. Thanks

[Kathy]

We just bought a home on the Sun City side that has a block wall in the back and a reasonable amount of privacy. We bought an Inventory home for a fantastic price -- much more house than we ever dreamed on our budget. We rented a home and spent three weeks at Anthem Merrill Ranch in July (after having done the VIP program last year). My impression is that both the Parkside and Sun City sections are wonderful! It just depends what you want when you are in residence there. My husband and I are very interested in the ASU Lifelong Learning Academy and also like lap swimming without dodging kids in the pool but would welcome the chance to go to the water park or pool on the all ages side at times just to enjoy the kids splashing around. We like having a choice that way. So we chose the Sun City side. But I agree that you can get a lot of square footage and a greater variety of home styles for your dollar at Parkside. You really can't go wrong whichever neighborhood you choose! I like the fact that this Sun City, unlike the others, is part of an all-ages community.

Hazard insurance, by the way, is just a term some people use for homeowners' insurance. Our homeowners insurance, which is quite comprehensive, is only $372 a year for our new home. Our house in California, on the other hand, costs close to $1300 a year with earthquake coverage.

[Fernand]

Yes Parkside is just as secure...our HOA's are $80 I think and by the way the LAP POOLS at the Parkside pool are roped off into 3 lanes so you don't have to "dodge" kids.....where does this stuff come from anyway???If there are kids hanging around the lap lane ropes, just ask them to move and they will.....no problem....and by the way we play real nice up to date music at Parkside not just Perry Como or Dean Martin stuff....

[Kathy]

That's good to know! About the lap lanes AND the music!

Actually, my husband and I were amused to hear some 80's hits playing in the gym at Sun City and laughed about being such old codgers that that sounded like new stuff to us!

Seriously, I think it's great that Merrill Ranch includes both Parkside and Sun City -- either is a great choice and amazing value! We can hardly wait to live there full time!

[Jerry and Janet]

I agree that both Parkside and Sun City are great. We do like the adult programs at Sun City and also that by living in Sun City we can enjoy both the Parkside and the Sun City amenities while living in Parkside you are not allowed to enjoy the Sun City amenities. Either way it would be a good choice, it just depends on the individual.

We love Sun City.

[rita saskatchewan]

Great discussion. We're going down at the end of August to look at both inventory and new builds at Sun City Anthem and Parkside as well as homes in Sun Lakes. Any comments about the relative merits or disadvantages of purchasing in a place like Sun Lakes as opposed to Sun City? Any idea about the cost of landscaping front and back and view fencing at Sun City or landscaping and block fencing in Parkside? Does anyone know of someone in Sun City or Parkside who will look after homes when owners are away?

[Jerry and Janet]

Rita,
My sister lives in Sun Lakes and we looked their first. We looked in the Cottonwood section and most of the homes were built in the 70s and 80s with low ceilings and closed floor plans. The Pale Verde section is a little newer and nicer, but more pricey. The average age was a lot older due to it being an older Active Adult Community and people living their longer. At Sun City we buy and age together.lol

Landscaping costs are all over the board but when you are at Anthem talk with Mike and Amanda at AZ Landscaping. They live in Anthem. I didn't use them but wish I had as I only hear good things about them. And yes,there are a number of good choices for someone to look after your home when you are not there. When you buy get on the "ouranthem" portal and you can get all kinds of information on such things. Your sales agent should be able to advise you on that. If you don't have a Sun City sales person, Lily Albright is awsome.

Have a fun and enjoyable time. It is a great community.

[Kathy]

Actually, you can use a part of the portal as a guest. You go to www.ouranthemmr.net and then click on the Guest option. Go to Sun City Activities and click on "Neighborhood Watch" site that is near the top. On the button bar of that site, there is one called -- I think it's Home Services -- and is a description of several home watching services that sound really good. They will not only keep an eye on things, remove advertising flyers and the like, but also go in the house, run water,flush toilets, etc. which is important if a house will be vacant for a while. We're planning to make use of such a service during the months between our closing (in about three weeks) and our moving in (probably next May or June).

I've heard prices all over the map with landscaping, too, and recently, have heard good things about AZ Landscaping. Our sales associate guessed that with desert scape plus some hardscape -- like a gate for the courtyard -- we might be looking at about $10,000, but we got a quote from a landscaper who didn't include any hardscape, but only the required landscaping and the quote was for $14,000 which kind of shocked us. We're still thinking about it all. Maybe it's time to call AZ Landscaping!

Re Sun Lakes: it's a great location, but I agree with Jerry and Janet that some of the older Active Adult communities have an older population. There's something to be said for all aging together more or less! We noticed, when we looked at Sun City West, which has great prices, very low taxes, etc., that many of the amenities are geared to the interests of an older generation -- e.g. bowling alleys and very small gyms. We are intrigued by the educational opportunities and great workout facilities at the newer active adult communities, especially the Sun Cities.

[Kent and Shari]

we are quite interested in the Parkside,are there any areas of the community that you would recommend or stay away from?What do you think about the "move in ready homes"?Can these homes be rented out?What are the HOA fees on the Parkside?Any other tips,suggestions would be appreciated!

[Fernand]

You know the area is so small all areas are good....It's not like in Phoenix where you have nice areas and bad areas and real bad areas..
The HOA's are $80 or $82...We bought 2 ready to move in homes and have had no problems at all with either of them..One we rent out fully furnished year round and one we live in for 6 mths while we are there.

[Kent and Shari]

Fernand wrote:

You know the area is so small all areas are good....It's not like in Phoenix where you have nice areas and bad areas and real bad areas..
The HOA's are $80 or $82...We bought 2 ready to move in homes and have had no problems at all with either of them..One we rent out fully furnished year round and one we live in for 6 mths while we are there.

What I meant by areas to avoid was,busy streets,Highways,etc.Do you have much luck renting your home?I have been told that it is "too far away from anything"to be sucessfully rented.I read somewhere that the HOA covers 2 adults & children under 18,is there an additional fee for others to use the facilities?
Thanks for your help!Any additional info. would be greatly appreciated.

[Kent and Shari]

Hi
We are interested in ParkSide,it would be greatly appreciated if any of you "regular" forum users would share any tips,info.,experiences with us.
For those of you that own homes that you rent out,could you let us know how you have made renting your homes.
Thanks!

[rita]

Just got back from Sun City Anthem at Merrill Ranch, and purchased on the adult side. Gorgeous community. Worked with Lorie from Del Webb. Excellent experience. Thanks for all the comments people provided. Hope to see you all there.

[kent]

rita wrote:

Just got back from Sun City Anthem at Merrill Ranch, and purchased on the adult side. Gorgeous community. Worked with Lorie from Del Webb. Excellent experience. Thanks for all the comments people provided. Hope to see you all there.

What made you choose the suncity side?

[rita]

We liked the amenities on the adult side. The indoor and outdoor pools look fabulous as well as the fitness facility. It's like you live on the grounds of a 5 star hotel/resort with all the amentities,but instead of a hotel room, you have a home. For us, it will be only a vacation home for a few years, but well worth the price as the homes are new energy technology. The homes on the all ages side are new technology as well, but the access to the amenities is limited to the all ages side in my understanding.