Bristol Palin Buys (Second?) Home in Phoenix Bedroom Community

Pacific Coast News

Bristol Palin, the 20 year old daughter of former vice-presidential candidate and Alaska governor Sarah Palin, may have just bought a second home in Arizona. The Arizona Republic says she bought a 3900 square foot mini-mansion with five bedrooms, two and a half baths and a three car garage to seek sunshine. Bristol is the eldest daughter of the¬† Palins, and recently earned a wad of cash on Dancing With The Stars. Maybe she just wants to get as far away from Alaska as possible. Bristol got pregnant as a teenager and had a baby out of wedlock, had that tumultuous on-again, off-again relationship with the child’s father, and had to endure public opinion during the campaign as her tummy got bigger and bigger. Oh and she’s lived in frigid Alaska most of her life. Bristol is really doing her part to stem the Phoenix housing crisis: she bought a Phoenix-area foreclosure. According to filed reports, she paid $172,000 for the home in the northern part of a Phoenix bedroom community called Maricopa, snapping it up from a North Dakota investor couple for cash.

And guess where she earned that cash: Dancing With The Stars.

Bristol closed on the home in early December. According to the Arizona Republic, she bought it from a Michael and Cynthia Smith, who paid $137,300 for the home, which was once valued at $329,560 back in 2006, when it was built. (Good lesson for Bristol: the owners who paid that top dollar were foreclosed on last January.) The Smiths spruced the home up before putting it on the market. It is located in an area called Cobblestone Farms.¬† Cobblestone Farms is considered one of the best neighborhoods in Maricopa, at least according to the community’s vice mayor, Edward Farrell, who also lives there. Farrell, who is a fourth-generation Maricopa resident, gave Todd Palin, Ms. Palin’s father, a tour of Maricopa earlier in the year. He thought maybe Todd was looking for a home or like everybody else who goes out there, wanting to buy a foreclosure for investment purposes. After all, the Palins sent a lot of time in Arizona during the campaign.

“It’s not about glitz and glamour, but about quality of life,” Farrell said of his ‘hood. “I think she bought in the best neighborhood that Maricopa has to offer.”

Maricopa was featured on ABC Nightline’s “Reality Check” in 2008 as the poster child of the sub prime housing crisis. It’s about an hour’s drive from the tonier Phoenix ‘burbs of Scottsdale and Paradise Valley; the homes are definitely toned down from those places. But Maricopa may be more family friendly: Bristol will love the children’s playgrounds for her three year old son, Tripp, and being within walking distance of Ace Hardware will be most handy for a single homeowner. (Who knows, maybe she’ll even find a beau!)¬† HOA fees in Cobblestone run $85 monthly, so I hope she’s planning on working. Or will mom and dad foot the bill? Her new neighborhood has single and multilevel homes ranging from approximately 1,200 to 4,200 square feet. Big plus: it just a few minutes from Arizona State’s School of Broadcasting.

“I’m not sure why she wanted to buy that home, but we are real happy for her,” seller/investor Michael Smith told The Arizona Republic.

I’m happy for the Smiths, who made a tidy profit on the sale of this home. And who knows, maybe all the publicity surrounding Bristol’s move will help jazz up the Phoenix market, which could really use a holiday miracle or two.