INFORMATION ABOUT SURROUNDING TOWNS

Whispering Ranch

About the Whispering Ranch area:

This is mostly level land with numerous small washes flowing from North to south.  It is a huge area I don’t actually know the size but I estimate it at 12 miles from East to West edge, and probably 5 miles from North to South. The area consists entirely of 5 acre parcels, and each parcel is surrounded by 20 ft easements for access. The roads are never maintained but are still mostly passable in a 2 wheel drive vehicle.  It can be a confusing area to navigate because even though it is a grid system, there are few road signs.  The only power comes in from the south and East along Patton Rd, which is paved into Whispering Ranch.  Water is hauled or by well, ground water is plentiful with wells drilled to an estimated 400ft.  I think the most scenic area is the Northern part where there is more vegetation and cactus.  You can access Whispering Ranch also from Vulture Mine Rd, if you go south from Wickenburg you come in on the northwest corner.  It is not a smooth ride across to Patton Rd, but that would be the access in the event the Hassayampa river is flowing.

This area has a colorful history having been sold off as investment property between the 50’s and 70’s, they claimed back then you were buying in the path of progress.  Most buyers never saw their land and were buying from all over the country.  To this day many of these properties have been held on too all these years, many of the people I talk to inherited the land, or are senior citizens at this point.  The significant growth of the Wittmann area along Patton road combined with the overall jump of land prices  in 2005 generate significant increases in property values in Whispering Ranch.  Property values increased approximately 300% from 2004 to the first part of 2006.  Since then the values have dropped off just slightly but the prices are still the lowest around. Since 2005 many of these long time owners have sold.  I have seen many investors aggressively pursuing land owners in this area in an attempt to buy properties below market, only to immediately sell them for a profit.

So that is the history as I see it, today Whispering Ranch is still among the least expensive land around and today it really is in the path of progress.  There are numerous parcels listed for sale, so it takes some time to sort out the good buys.  Here are the things to watch out for: 1. Properties entirely in a flood plain: Since the parcels can not be split it doesn’t matter much if ½ the lot is in a flood plain as long as it has build-able space. 2. Proximity to power: In my opinion this will determine how quickly the property will rise in value, since the power gets extended a little at a time as properties are developed.  3. The Neighbors: Although many places have been cleaned up there are some parcels with a lot old trailer homes, broken down cars and such. 4.Price: Since many of the sellers are in no rush to sell, and seemingly few people really understand the area: I have observed a rather large variation of asking and sale prices. I have seen for example parcels sell for 15K more in the same week, than others that would seemingly be more valuable.

Currently there are a number of homes in the southeast portion of Whispering ranch where there is power.  There are also homes scatted around the remainder of Whispering ranch, all these run on alternative power sources.