Scottsdale Gated Communities and HOAs: What Varies by Neighborhood

No. Whether a Scottsdale home has an HOA, or sits in a gated community, depends on the community, and sometimes on the section of the community. Scottsdale runs about thirty-one miles from its south end to its north end. Some communities have one association, some stack more than one on a single home, and some homes have none. A gate and an HOA are two different things, and a community can have one without the other.

I'm Jen Keene, a REALTOR® with eXp Realty Luxury in Scottsdale, AZ, and I'm the agent people call at every stage of their life. Below is how it breaks down by part of the city, and how to check a real address before you write an offer.

A gate is a physical entrance, guarded or coded, that controls who drives in. An HOA is an association that collects dues and maintains common ground. Having an HOA doesn't require a gate.

McCormick Ranch is an example. It was Scottsdale's first master-planned community, sold in 1970, and it has dozens of individual subdivision associations rather than one gate and one fee. Camelot Ranch, a 153-home neighborhood in ZIP code 85260, has its own homeowners association that maintains the common areas, and it has no gate.

Grayhawk shows the other side. The Park doesn't have the guard gate that The Retreat has, and The Retreat is guard-gated around Grayhawk's two golf courses. Everyone in Grayhawk pays the master assessment. Homes inside The Retreat pay an additional Retreat Village assessment for the gated side. Here is what each Grayhawk assessment covers if you're looking at a specific address.

South Scottsdale, close to Tempe, is mostly mid-century homes built after World War II on generous lots, some original and some rebuilt inside. Check the listing for any HOA or gate on a specific home.

Central Scottsdale was master-planned one decade at a time. It includes McCormick Ranch, Scottsdale Ranch and Gainey Ranch, which has eighteen gated communities under one master association. McCormick Ranch has no single gate. In 2026 the McCormick Ranch Property Owners' Association's residential assessment is $265 a year, according to MRPOA's website, and a subdivision's own association, where it has one, bills separately. Ask for the current figure for the address you're considering.

North of Shea Boulevard, the communities were built later. McDowell Mountain Ranch, in 85255, mixes gated communities, non-gated communities and condominiums under one name, with lots from about eight thousand square feet to over an acre. Cimarron Hills is one of its guard-gated sections, and it climbs the mountain, which is why so many of its homes look out rather than at each other. Grayhawk is also north Scottsdale, with The Park and The Retreat as described above.

Here is the order I use.

First, check the listing. The MLS listing usually shows whether there's an HOA and what the dues are, though the number can be out of date by the time you see it.

Second, ask for the governing documents and the most recent reserve study, if the association has one, before you write an offer. Arizona law lists the most recent reserve study, if there is one, among the documents the association gives a buyer. The reserve study shows how much the association has set aside for large repairs, which the monthly or quarterly figure doesn't show. Here are the two Arizona laws that govern HOAs, in general terms. I'm not an attorney and this isn't legal advice.

Third, find out whether the home sits under one association or more than one. Some Scottsdale communities layer a second or third assessment on a single home, the way Grayhawk does with its master assessment and the Retreat Village assessment.

Fourth, read the documents during your inspection period, while you still have time to act on what you find.

Send me the address or the community name and I'll tell you which associations apply before you make an offer.

The first is treating Scottsdale as one HOA market. The rules change by community and sometimes by section of a community.

The second is assuming no gate means no HOA. McCormick Ranch has no single gate and still has dozens of subdivision associations.

The third is assuming the gate is the whole cost. In Grayhawk, the Retreat Village assessment pays for the gate, the private streets and other items on that side. It is in addition to the master assessment every Grayhawk owner pays.

The fourth is waiting until late to read the reserve study. It's the document that shows whether the association has money set aside for what's coming.

Send me the address, or tell me what you want a gate and an HOA to do for you, and I'll tell you which Scottsdale communities fit before you spend a Saturday touring the wrong ones. Call me at (480) 203-6605 or get in touch.