Date Night in Tucson: How to Spend Your Valentine's Day in Arizona

This year, it’s likely that your Valentine’s Day plans are looking different than they usually do. However, just because not everything is open, doesn’t mean that you can’t have a romantic date night to celebrate the one you love. In fact, much of the Tucson area is ready for you and your sweetheart to come mingle!

Here in Tucson, there are plenty of opportunities for romance everywhere. Here are our top 5 recommendations for an incredible V-Day date, courtesy of our real estate development team. 

Board & Brush

This is a creative date night idea that lets you create decor for your luxury home in Tucson. With Board & Brush, you get to DIY your woodwork to create a unique sign. This Valentine’s Day, the shop is offering 2 for $100, a great deal for you and your artistic sweetheart. 

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum offers a gorgeous array of desert landscapes that are perfect for a romantic date. We love that this date gets you out into nature for a peaceful Valentine’s Day where you can stroll through the beauty with someone you love. Due to COVID-19, you must register tickets and advance and of course, wear a face mask at all times. 

Loews Ventana Canyon Resort

There’s nothing like a staycation to celebrate your love. The Loews Ventana Canyon Resort is a gorgeous luxury resort off the beaten path that would be lovely for a night away from it all. Features include two swimming pools, a jacuzzi, three tennis courts, two 18-hole golf courses, a fitness center, a 1/2-mile nature trail that leads to an 80-foot waterfall, a ping pong table, and access to the Ventana Canyon Trail.  

Tucson Bike Tours

If you and your sweetheart love biking, this is the perfect Valentine’s Day date for you. Tucson Bike Tours offers a historical city tour, a taco tour, or a mural tour. Personally, we think the mural tour is the most date option, but maybe you and your sweetie find tacos more romantic! Either way, this is an informative and fun date idea for Valentine’s. 

Tanque Verde Ranch

If you and your partner love spa days, you have to check out this gorgeous ranch in Tucson. Spend the day participating in one of their many fun activities, such as slingshot rentals, watercolor classes, yoga, and Jeep adventures, then wind down for the day with a couples massage. 

We hope that these ideas help you celebrate your love. If you’re looking for real estate development in Tucson, give us a call to learn more about our gated community.

Unexpected Benefits of Living in a Private Gated Community

Private gated communities like Saguaro Ranch offer a variety of benefits that attract many prospective home buyers to our real estate development in Tucson. There are many obvious advantages of living in a private gated community, such as greater security and more privacy. However, if you are still on the fence about joining a gated community, you may need to hear a few more benefits that are less apparent before you make your decision. 

What is a Gated Community?

A gated community is a neighborhood or subdivision with extra security. It typically has one entrance point that requires special access (such as a code or checking in with an attendant). Saguaro Ranch is a gated community, meaning that there is virtually no public access. This is one of the main appealing features of our community of luxury homes. 

Unexpected Benefits of Living in a Private Gated Community

Better Sleep

It may not be the first thing you think of, but generally speaking, you will sleep better when you live in a private gated community. A big part of this is because there is significantly less traffic — when the general public can’t access the roads, there are very few cars or trucks (beyond your neighbor’s occasional Amazon packages). Private gated communities in Tucson are simply quieter. Not only that, the increased security can leave you feeling safe, making it easier to catch some z’s. 

At Saguaro Ranch, our luxury real estate community is 1,100 acres, 80 percent of which will remain as undisturbed desert. This means that it is an especially quiet gated community. 

Better Neighbors

At the end of the day, gated communities aren’t about who you let out; it’s about who you let in. Saguaro Ranch offers a wonderful sense of community because there are many opportunities to connect with other residents in our Owners Club. 

It has a world-class lap pool and spa, fire pits, recreational areas (such as two pickleball courts, horseshoe pits, and bocce ball court), a workout facility and so much more. Not to mention we have miles of private biking and hiking trails — perfect for exploring with a neighbor or couple you met down by the pool. There are ample opportunities to meet your neighbors and build community here. 

Better Relationships

Private gated communities can be particularly impactful for families. This is because the peace of mind granted by the privacy and security of the community mean that your children can safely explore their home without you needing to worry. There are ample opportunities to connect with your family when you live in a gated community like Saguaro Ranch. This, in turn, improves your connection, leading to healthier and happier family relationships all around. 

Are you ready to take the leap? Take a tour of our luxury real estate development community to see if it’s right for you. If you’re in town, give us a call, or you can go on a self-guided tour and experience it for yourself. 

Tips for Holiday Home Decorating in the Desert

Holiday decorating looks a little different in the desert. We don’t have the white snow, we have to travel north to find some (natural) pine trees, and it’s usually a balmy 70 to 85 degrees out. But plenty of people want to get in the holiday spirit all the same! Read on for decorating tips from our real estate development.

How to Hang Christmas Lights on Stucco

Hanging lights in a house with wood framing and drywall is pretty simple: use adhesive hooks, or a hammer and a nail. However, many houses in Tucson and other regions in the Southwest are made with stucco.

Stucco is a very hard material made of cement and sand. There are a few strategies you can take when hanging Christmas lights on stucco.

Hot Glue

Whether hanging lights outside your stucco home or inside, you can use hot glue to adhere the cord to the wall. Make sure your hot glue gun is loaded and connected to an outlet (you’ll likely need an extension cord). Place the light string onto the wall, then put hot glue over it — hold it close to the cord, but don’t make direct contact. Hold in place for about 30 seconds or until the glue dries.

Mounting Clips

You can also hang lights by attaching clips to your exterior stucco wall. These clips will stay up year-round, even after the lights come down, but will make for easier hanging in the future.

1. Figure out where each clip will go (where you’re going to hang the lights).

2. Using a caulk gun with construction adhesive, put a little bit of adhesive onto the correct spot.

3. Place the mounting clip onto the adhesive and stick to the wall until it’s firmly in place.

4. Hang your lights up once the adhesive is dry and can bear weight.

Hanging Other Holiday Decorations

For interior decorating, you might not want (or even need) to put clips up, especially since they’ll stay on the walls. Screws and anchors might be your best bet — particularly if you can hang another decoration in the same spot after the holidays.

1. Use a pencil to trace on the wall where your screw(s) will go.

2. Attach a masonry bit to a drill and go into the stucco, just a little longer than the length of the anchor.

3. Fill the hole with silicone caulk and put the anchor into the hole. Hammer it gently until it’s flush with the wall.

4. Put corrosion-resistant screws into the anchor(s).

5. Hang your decoration.

Keep in mind, you might have to do more work for larger and heavier objects. If your home has synthetic stucco, talk to a professional for anchor installation tips.

Cactus Light Decorations

Driving around in southern Arizona cities and real estate developments and you’ll see plenty of cacti strung up with lights. Here are a few tips for doing the same thing at your home:

• Get gloves: Find gloves that will protect you from spines and needles.

• Use the right tools: With its many arms, a ladder is sometimes hard to set up next to a towering saguaro. Order a reaching tool that will make setting lights up easier.

• Consider light alternatives: Net lights are easier to set up than stringing lights around a cactus. You can also set up a holiday spotlight, which is probably your easiest and safest option.

One thing to remember (especially for anyone who’s new to Arizona): while many people elsewhere in the country go out and cut down their trees, it’s a felony to cut down a saguaro. Go to a tree farm or get a fake tree instead.

HOA Restrictions

Real estate developments often have a homeowners association (HOA), and these HOAs typically have rules on what your home’s exterior can look like. Before doing a holiday decorating overall, it’s best to first consult your HOA guidelines.

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Make no mistake — we may lack the snow and the cold in Tucson, but we still have the holiday spirit! Interested to see what decorations are going on at Saguaro Ranch? Contact us to set up a driving tour to visit our real estate development. With houses going up in Moonlight Canyon and estate lots being bought, it won’t be long until Saguaro Ranch turns into a (desert) winter wonderland.

What to Look for in a Real Estate Development

Finding a new home is kind of like putting together a puzzle. It’s exciting, it takes time, and ultimately, you need all the pieces to fit together. You need to make sure your next home fits you (and your family) as perfectly as possible.

It’s pretty easy to find a luxury home you adore and fall in love with the idea of living there. It’s sometimes more challenging to look at the bigger picture. Saguaro Ranch is here to help you take a step back and think about the real estate development itself. Consider each of these real estate development factors while you’re looking for your next home.

Location

Location practically goes without saying in terms of looking for a house. You want the real estate development itself to be in a spot that best suits your needs and lifestyle. 

But one of the more overlooked considerations is location within the development. Is the house or lot positioned in a way that’s conducive to heating and cooling (i.e. south-facing vs. west-facing)? Will those gorgeous views still be there five years from now? Or are a bunch of other new home builds going to block those perfect vistas? Is there a lot with existing partial shade that you know your garden will love?

These are just some of the questions to ask yourself (and the real estate development) as you’re searching for a new home. While Saguaro Ranch prides itself on leaving 80 percent of the land untouched — ensuring those breathtaking views remain intact for every homeowner — that’s not usually the case for other developments.

Age Demographic

The age demographic of a real estate development is another important factor to consider. Families with young kids typically want a real estate development where there are other kids of similar ages in the neighborhood. Adults whose kids are out of the house might want to downsize (or upgrade to a luxury home — you deserve it!). Grandparents might want a spot to host the grandkids (like the Owners Club at Saguaro Ranch), but otherwise are looking for some peace and quiet.

Figure out what it is that you’re looking for in a real estate development, and take time looking for one that can truly meet your needs. Again, don’t be afraid to ask your agent or tour the area to get a sense of what the community is like.

Security

For some homebuyers, security doesn’t pose much of an issue past locking their doors at night and maybe installing a home security system. Others want an added sense of security and safety. If you fall into the latter category, you probably want to look into a development that’s also a private gated community.

Real estate developments should have no issue answering your questions about security. In fact, they should be fully transparent. At Saguaro Ranch, we have 24-hour front desk staff and security, not to mention you can only access our real estate development by driving through a 600-foot long tunnel! We don’t let unexpected visitors pop in — everyone is welcomed first at the entrance gate. Very few (if any) real estate developments can compete with the levels of security we offer.

Amenities & Add-Ons

Who doesn’t love some perks? Average real estate developments or subdivisions don’t typically offer a ton of amenities, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. Things like a pool, fitness center, or even proximity to hiking trails are all a bonus — they can even help your resale value later. 

It’s also good to check if you’ll be part of an HOA before buying, and to get a sense for what those fees will look like.

We’ve mentioned it several times now, but only because it’s so important: keep on asking questions when you’re looking to buy or build in a real estate development! You want the best possible place and it never hurts to ask. If a real estate development is reluctant or even refuses to answer any of your questions, that could very well be a sign of underlying issues.

Surprises are great for birthday parties or your boss telling everyone they can go home early on a Friday. They’re not nearly as fun when purchasing your next home. For as much research you take on for building or buying a house itself, give real estate developments the same amount of attention.