SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Out past where the blacktop ends in unincorporated Maricopa County, many of the secluded homes in the Rio Verde Foothills have attractive desert views on sprawling spaces that secure serenity.
Nearly all the homes sit underneath the snowcapped Four Peaks, but there’s a major caveat with all these homes - there’s no guaranteed water supply.
“Imagine camping in your home,” said Cody Reim.
Reim says since they lost water at the start of the new year, laundry is done at his parents' house. He says they’ve been running the dishwasher once a week and using paper plates only these days.
He said his reserves are starting to run dry.
“If the tank gets to a certain level, we’re just going to shut the valve off to the home and let the water go to the animals."
Securing water is the urgent top priority for folks like Reim, but he can’t help but notice his home value start to slide.
He estimates it’s anywhere from $50,000 to $60,000 less than when he bought it a few years ago.
“It doesn’t affect me, I love the area. I don’t care if my home was worth nothing. I would continue to live there and fight this battle,” said Reim.
At least 1,000 residents were cut off from Scottsdale Water at the start of the year.
The city warned residents for years, but short- and long-term plans were never secured.
Lawmakers are now working with EPCOR on a long-term plan, all while residents hold onto hope that Scottsdale can facilitate a short-term deal with a supplier.
The cost of hauling the water to the remote area of far north Scottsdale is costing some residents a “second mortgage.”
We asked a realtor who lives in the Rio Verde Foothills and who sells 80% of her homes in the area about her recent open house.
“Oh, I had one last week. I had one person come through,” said realtor Rebecca Schwegler.
Schwegler says in the past six months, about 75 homes that were listed in the Rio Verde Foothills have either canceled their listing or let them expire.
She says homes in the area range anywhere from $400,000 to over $1 million.
Some of those homes are reducing their prices by tens of thousands of dollars after the area made national headlines for their lack of guaranteed water.
If the water crisis doesn’t find a solution quickly, this home value trend could continue to dip, especially as temperatures rise.
