Yong Choi has closed more homes in The Boulders than in any other community. Here is what buyers ask him there, and what he tells them.
By Yong Choi — Global Real Estate Advisor, Russ Lyon Sotheby's International Realty
Why The Boulders first
When we asked Yong Choi which community this Journal should cover first, he did not hesitate. “The Boulders,” he said, “since I’ve sold more homes in the Boulders than any other community.” The closings recorded on this site bear that out: no other community appears in them as often.
The community takes its name from the granite formations it was built around. Homes sit low among the rock rather than above it, and lots vary widely in privacy and exposure — two homes at the same price can live very differently here.
I’ve sold more homes in the Boulders than any other community.
One community, two towns
The Boulders is unusual in straddling a municipal line: part of it is in the Town of Carefree and part in the City of Scottsdale. The resort itself lists a Scottsdale official address and a Carefree driving address.
That is more than trivia. The two municipalities have their own zoning and their own rules for how much of a lot can be disturbed, so the town a particular home sits in is worth confirming early — it shapes what you can build or change.
The communities I work in
The communities I work in
The golf, and who gets to play it
The Boulders has two 18-hole courses designed by Jay Morrish, the North and the South. The question Yong is asked most often about the community follows directly: does the HOA cover club membership?
It does not. Membership is purchased separately through The Boulders Club, which offers several membership categories. “I tell them that it’s separate,” Yong says, “and have the Boulders membership packet available at my open houses.”
What to look at in a Boulders home
Yong describes The Boulders as a custom-home community, and an established one. That means character, but also variation: orientation to the rock formations, how much natural desert surrounds the house, and whether the lot faces the courses or away from them all change how a home lives day to day.
Walk the lot, not just the house, and visit at more than one time of day. In a community built around boulders, morning and evening light — and shade — are part of what you are buying.
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