HOA alone is not the comparison. The full picture is HOA + property tax by county + insurance + utilities. Here's every major community in this market ranked by true all-in monthly carrying cost — including the Pinal County tax advantage nobody else quantifies.
The most common mistake East Valley 55+ buyers make: comparing HOA fees across communities and stopping there. The second most common mistake: not accounting for the Pinal County tax advantage at Encanterra and Solera. The third: not recognizing how dramatically lower Arizona insurance is versus Florida. This page corrects all three errors in one table.
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Talk to a Specialist →All calculations use a standardized $475,000 purchase price for cross-community comparability. Costs scale with home value for tax and insurance; HOA is fixed regardless of purchase price. Property tax uses effective rate by county after standard exemptions. Insurance uses CBS construction, desert location, no coastal risk. Electric uses average 1,900 sq ft Arizona home annual average. Golf cart fees not included — see golfer note below table.
| Community | County | HOA/mo | Tax/mo | Insurance/mo | Electric/mo | Water/mo | TOTAL/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunland Springs Village Lowest | Maricopa | $225 | $249 | $158 | $183 | $100 | $915 |
| Solera at Johnson Ranch Pinal Co. | Pinal | $288 | $238 | $150 | $180 | $105 | $961 |
| Sun Lakes Oakwood Golf Incl. | Maricopa | $275 | $249 | $158 | $183 | $100 | $965 |
| Scottsdale Heights | Maricopa | $313 | $249 | $167 | $183 | $108 | $1,020 |
| Encore at Eastmark | Maricopa | $338 | $249 | $158 | $183 | $108 | $1,036 |
| Trilogy at Encanterra Pinal Co. Golf Incl. | Pinal | $475 | $238 | $158 | $188 | $110 | $1,169 |
| Tonto Verde Golf Incl. | Maricopa | $425 | $249 | $167 | $183 | $110 | $1,134 |
| Trilogy at Verde River Golf Incl. | Maricopa | $540 | $249 | $175 | $188 | $115 | $1,267 |
All figures on $475K home, non-golfer (no cart fees). Golf-included communities show HOA with golf bundled. Verify all figures for any specific property — electric varies significantly by home size and summer usage. Pinal County badge indicates lower effective property tax rate.
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Communities marked "Golf Incl." bundle course access in the HOA — no separate green fees. Cart fees run $20–$35/round depending on community and time of year. Add to the totals above:
1 round/week: +$87–$152/month. 2 rounds/week: +$173–$304/month. 3 rounds/week: +$260–$456/month. For avid golfers, the effective premium of golf-included communities over non-golf communities narrows dramatically once external course membership costs are factored into the non-golf community total.
Every community in this table carries homeowners insurance of approximately $1,900–$2,500/year ($158–$208/month). The equivalent community in the Sarasota or Tampa market carries $4,000–$7,500/year ($333–$625/month) for comparable coverage. The Arizona insurance advantage is $150–$400/month versus Florida Gulf Coast markets.
Over 20 years, this insurance efficiency advantage is worth $36,000–$96,000 in cumulative savings — before any consideration of HOA, tax, or purchase price differences. For buyers comparing the Arizona and Florida markets, this number needs to be explicitly in your comparison.
Comparing Trilogy at Encanterra (Pinal) to Tonto Verde (Maricopa) at the same $475K home value: Encanterra pays approximately $238/month in property tax; Tonto Verde pays $249/month — a $11/month difference at this price point. The gap widens as home values increase. At $700K: Encanterra approximately $350/month; Tonto Verde approximately $367/month — $17/month difference. At $900K: approximately $22/month difference.
The Pinal County advantage is meaningful at higher home values over long time horizons ($5,000–$15,000 cumulative at $700K over 20 years) but not the primary driver of the Encanterra vs Tonto Verde decision at typical price points. It is a real benefit that compounds — just not the dominant factor in isolation.
The single most important insight from this table: Sunland Springs Village's $915/month all-in cost makes it the most financially efficient gated 55+ community in the East Valley market. No golf overhead, lower HOA, mature Mesa location, Banner Gateway medical proximity, and Sky Harbor Airport 20 minutes away. For buyers whose priority is maximizing financial security in retirement with a manageable carrying cost, Sunland Springs delivers a cost structure that resort communities can't match. The trade-off is community age, lack of resort amenities, and no golf. The question is whether those trade-offs matter for your specific retirement vision.
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