Sun City Grand is a master planned, age-restricted community reserved for home buyers aged 55 and older. It is located in the city limits of Surprise, Arizona and stands out for offering active adult living at its finest. It is also well-known for being a community that is surrounded by elegant homes, upscale golf courses and top notch recreational amenities.

Sun City Grand is actually the third Del Webb age-restricted, active adult community to put down roots in the Greater Phoenix area. Construction on it began in 1996, just as building in nearby Sun City West came to a close. The Del Webb and Pulte homes in Sun City Grand continued to be built until as recently as 2005.

It now comprises of more than 9800 single family and attached homes, which include condominiums and townhouses. The homes in Sun City Grand come in a wide variety of styles and sizes and are meant to satisfy every expectation and need that an older homeowner could want in a new home. The current market in Sun City Grand consists of resale homes only, which are available through reputable and established local real estate professionals like West USA Realty and Carl Chapman REALTOR.

Sun City Grand is likewise designed to be a self-contained age-restricted community that can offer just about any service or convenience that homeowners here need to live comfortably. The community is so upscale, comfortable and desirable that it not only attract people who are newly arrived in the Phoenix area but also homeowners who lived previously in other Del Webb communities like Sun City and Sun City West.

Indeed, people who live in Sun City Grand enjoy a way of life that arguably is hard to find in other communities located in the Phoenix area. It encourages residents to not only life in peace and comfort but also engage with their neighbors and friends in Sun City Grand. People who move here often make lifelong friendships with their neighbors.

Further, they find it easy to get out of their homes and engage with the community thanks to the Sun City Grand Lifelong Learning Academy, which offers a plethora of continued learning classes. The classes revolve around subjects and interests like:

• Cooking
• Wine tasting
• Business
• Science
• Finances

This academy is open to all residents in Sun City Grand and often hosts speakers and group discussions that help residents in the community expand their knowledge and improve the quality of their lives.

Moreover, Sun City Grand makes available a wide scope of clubs and activities that are designed to pique the interest of even the finickiest of residents. These groups revolve around hobbies like sports, fitness, socializing, book reading, crafts and fine arts. They meet regularly and allow residents in Sun City Grand to indulge in pastimes that perhaps were not so accessible to them when they were younger and working or raising families.

Residents can also venture outside of Sun City Grand and head into Surprise or nearby Phoenix to find cultural attractions, shopping districts and other services and convenience. People who live here are just 12 minutes from the Arrowhead Mall, the Challenger Space Center and the West Valley Art Museum. They are also close to the Wildlife World Zoo and sporting venues used by professional national teams.

When they do spend time in their homes, residents of Sun City Grand can enjoy the finest of what modern home designs can offer. The homes for sale here range in price from the low $100,000s to the high $800,000s. However, the median price for a home in this upscale community sits at around $350,000, which breaks down to about $235 per square foot of living space.

The homes also vary in size and style and can be as intimate as 475 square feet to as large as 4000 square feet. Many of the single family homes found in Sun City Grand have attached two and three car garages, complete with epoxy flooring and built-in storage racks. Many homes also have two to four bedrooms, two to four bathrooms and terra cotta roofs.

Some of the other modern home features found in Sun City Grand homes include:

• Large open floor plans
• Open concept kitchens and living areas
• Chandeliers in the front hallways
• 12-foot ceilings
• Dual master bedrooms
• Large family rooms or studies
• Kitchen islands or breakfast bars
• Granite counters
• Ceiling fans
• Stainless steel appliances
• Solid oak cabinets
• Gas ranges
• Garden tubs
• Walk-in showers
• Dual bathroom sinks
• His and her master bedroom closets
• Utility rooms with cabinets and counters

Many homes here also have enclosed backyards with high fences for maximum privacy. The landscaping in both the front and back of the houses typically have succulents, rocks, palm trees and cacti that complement the surrounding desert scenery.

The everyday lifestyle outside of the homes in Sun City Grand falls to the community's homeowners association. The HOA is made up of a seven-member elected board of directors. All of the elected members live and own houses in Sun City Grand.

The board of directors members also serve on HOA committees that focus on topics, such as financing, safety and infrastructure within Sun City Grand. The committees meet regularly to discuss how to use funds that the HOA collects from dues and what measures should be taken to maintain or improve the quality of life within the community itself.

All homeowners in Sun City Grand are automatic members of the HOA once they close on and move into their homes. They are required to pay dues that average around $200 per quarter.

The dues that the HOA collects from homeowners finance the projects that the property manager undertakes on behalf of the residents that live there. These projects can range from patching potholes in the streets to painting community fences. The funds from HOA dues can also be used to maintain, put in new or repair shared community amenities.

The Sun City Grand HOA likewise hosts meetings every month to discuss general topics of concern within the community. These meetings are open to anyone who lives in Sun City Grand.

People who are unable to go to the meetings can find out what was discussed on the HOA website, which publishes minutes from its meetings. Homeowners can also use the HOA website to pay their dues and submit questions and concerns to the board of directors and property manager.

The HOA also maintains a host of amenities to which homeowners in Sun City Grand have access throughout the year. The premier amenities found in the community are Sun City Grand's four championship golf courses, which include the Cimarron, Desert Springs, Granite Falls North and Granite Falls South. Membership to the golf courses is open to all Sun City Grand residents.

Additionally, Sun City Grand residents have access to the community's Sonoran Plaza, which is located on North Remington Drive. This plaza offers amenities like:

• A clubhouse
• A lounge
• A puzzle room
• A 9100-square foot ballroom
• Rooms for meetings and crafts
• A community library

These amenities are in addition to the ones found at the Chaparral, Cimarron, Palm and Adobe Spa and Fitness Centers. These centers make available amenities that are open to all Sun City Grand residents and include:

• Clubhouses
• Classrooms
• Computer labs
• Cafes
• Billiards and game rooms
• Fitness centers
• Aerobic and dance studios
• Multipurpose rooms
• Indoor and outdoor swimming pools
• Cardrooms
• Day spas
• Woodworking shops

The recreation centers also offer outdoor facilities for sports like:

• Pickleball
• Tennis
• Bocce ball
• Horseshoes
• Softball
• Lawn bowling

There are miles of trails for walking, biking, and jogging. People who live in Sun City Grand also have access to several fishing lakes, as well as a dog park where they can take their dogs for socializing and playing. Sun City Grand likewise has an outdoor amphitheater that hosts concerts, live performances, and events.

Finally, Sun City Grand is part of the Dysart Unified School District, which is headquartered in Surprise. The schools most readily available to parents in the community include Cimarron Springs Elementary School, which serves preschool through eighth-grade students, and Willow Canyon High School, which houses students in grades nine through 12.

The Dysart Unified School District has an enrollment of just over 24,000 students, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at 21:1, which is slightly higher than the national ratio of 16 students per one teacher. It achieves an overall national grade of B-minus, getting an A for diversity, B for academics, college preparation, safety, and the quality of teachers. About 15 percent of its teachers are in their first or second year of teaching, with the remaining 85 percent having more than two years of experience.

Statewide, the Dysart Unified School District ranks as the 24th best school district, out of 115 total, in Arizona. It is the eighth-most diverse school district in the state.

Standardized state tests further show that about 43 percent of the district's students are proficient in reading. Forty-four percent of its students are proficient in mathematics.

Students who plan to go to college and take the ACT test in the Dysart Unified School District achieve an average test score of 23. This test score beats the national average ACT score of 20.6.

Likewise, close to 94 percent of all high school students in the Dysart Unified School District graduate successfully. This high percentage stands in stark contrast to the national high school graduation rate of 85 percent.