A lot of people who call us are not calling from Phoenix. They are calling from Minnesota. Or Wisconsin. Or a kitchen in Ontario after another gray week. They already know Mesa has a milder winter. What they want is a sequence that does not make them buy a house they have never slept near.
We are Palm Gardens. Family-owned 55+ community at 2929 E. Main St., Mesa, AZ 85213. Same family since 1985. We rent RV sites. We sell park models. We sell manufactured homes — Champion and Cavco, set up on site by Arizona Park Homes. All of that sits on one street in East Mesa.
Office is (480) 832-0290 if you want a site. Sales is (480) 687-1261 if you want a home. You can use both numbers before you ever leave the driveway up north.
The end point is one address
Write it down: 2929 E. Main St., Mesa, AZ 85213. That is East Mesa, on the Main Street corridor. If a clinic, a store, or a family flight matters, map that pin from your own chair.
The park is 55+. On the RV rates page, travelers must be 55 or older. That is the rule we can stand behind.
You do not have to pick a forever plan on the first call. You do have to know which door you are walking through first.
Two on-ramps
A season first. Book an RV site. Spend January here. Go home in the spring if that is still the plan. Call (480) 832-0290.
A home first. Tour what is actually listed. Buy if it fits. Call (480) 687-1261.
A third path sits between them: stay in the coach this season, buy on the same street next year. That is the whole point of RV This Season, Buy Next Year. You do not have to winter in one park and shop in another.
If you are still sorting park model versus manufactured home versus another year in the rig, read Park model vs manufactured home vs RV in Mesa. That post is the decision. This one is the calendar.
Summer and fall: lock the Mesa side before you drive
The house you still own — Minnesota, Illinois, Ontario, wherever — is work for people who already know that house. Your hometown agent. Your tax person. We are not those people.
What we can do before you pack:
- Read the current RV rates page. A $250 deposit holds a reservation. Pets have a posted size rule on that page. Daily, weekly, monthly, and annual numbers live there. They can change. Use the sheet, not a forum.
- Look at homes for sale. Inventory moves. A park model that is there in August may be gone in November. A manufactured home that is not listed yet may show up in March. The page is a snapshot.
- Call. Tell the office you are coming from out of state, or from Canada, and whether you want a site, a tour, or both. Office hours are Monday through Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Sunday by appointment. If you are flying in for two days, say so. We would rather set a morning than have you wander hoping someone is free.
Do not buy a house from a thousand miles away if you have never spent a February on this street. Some people do. We will tell you that a season is cheaper than a mistake.
Winter: use the park
You are not here to fill a cruise-ship calendar. You are here to see whether this street is one you want to own a house on — or one you want to book again.
Walk after supper. Sit by a pool in February. We have two pools. Play pickleball if that is your game. Use the fitness center or the library if it is not. Go to what is on the clubhouse calendar and skip what is not.
Look at homes while you are here if you want to. If a home is in front of you, ask what lot rent is today, what it covers, and what it does not. A number said on the tour is the one that matters.
Ask about occupancy, guests, pets, and vehicles. Write the answers down. Take them home to whoever helps you with money.
Spring: decide in daylight
April is a better month for a decision than October, when you are still imagining the winter.
You can book another RV season. You can buy a park model and treat it as the place you sleep and cook. You can buy a manufactured home if you want a guest room or more than one season in the same floor plan. You can go home and stay home. All of those are open.
Joe left a review on our homepage. He and his household stayed about 11 years as snowbirds. In September 2020 they moved here for good. He plays pickleball most days and golf in the Monday and Wednesday leagues. He wrote that the streets are large and the park is clean, and that they have met people they are glad to know. That is one timeline. You do not have to take 11 years. You do have to spend a winter if you want the winter to teach you something.
Tax, the house up north, and immigration questions belong to your own people and the governments involved. We are not those people.
One state fact people ask about: Arizona subtracts Social Security benefits from state taxable income. That is Arizona law, not a Palm Gardens promise, and it is not advice about your return. The statute is A.R.S. § 43-1022. We also note it on Reasons to Retire in Arizona. Ask the person who already does your taxes whether it applies to you.
Our job is the park: a site, a home, neighbors, and a straight answer about how we operate.
Call before you pack
If you want a site this season, call (480) 832-0290.
If you want a park model or a manufactured home, call (480) 687-1261.
Email: info@palmGardensOnline.com
Office hours are Monday through Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Sunday by appointment.
Palm Gardens
2929 E. Main St., Mesa, AZ 85213
RV rates
Homes for sale
Park model vs manufactured home vs RV
RV this season, buy next year
Lock a site or a tour. Drive when you are ready. Decide after you have spent a January here, not before.