Sometimes a head-on shot of the exterior front of a house isn’t the best way to showcase what the home has to offer.

Sometimes you should take a picture from an angle you’d never normally use.

That’s the same house and the two pictures were taken within about 60 seconds of each other. You’d hardly even know it. While it’s a very unusual angle for a real estate “front” photo, I’d argue that picture number 2 is the better way to showcase this home.

thoughts?

Photographing the front of your house is a post written by The Phoenix Agents at Thompson's Realty. If you're reading this anywhere other than a feedreader (rss subscription) of ThePhoenixAgents.com, the site you're reading this on is guilty of copyright infringement.

Heather Barr is a Realtor and a happy workaholic. She eats more than someone her size ought to be able, and is a runner as a consequence. Her TiVo's full of spy thrillers, police procedurals and Whedonesque sci-fi.

Other posts you might like:

1. Don’t leave your house naked
2. Do Mounted Flat Screen TV’s Stay With The House?
3. New house, same old lot

Professional sports ain’t what they used to be, what with free agency and all..

You want to get behind the home teams, and you want to love the home players, but those players seem to come & go every year.  So I root for the teams, and when I have to buy something player-specific (like a #11 Fitz jersey for a 6-year old at Christmas), I gravitate towards players who are “good guys” and who I think will be in Phoenix for a long time.

The guy in front of me yesterday had to be disappointed this summer, since he’s now supporting the New York Knicks’ top player…

Your has never gotten all the way behind free agency Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

“Amare” for the home team is a post written by The Phoenix Agents at Thompson's Realty. If you're reading this anywhere other than a feedreader (rss subscription) of ThePhoenixAgents.com, the site you're reading this on is guilty of copyright infringement.

Chris Butterworth is: Realtor. Analyst. Husband. Father. Writer. Amateur Photographer. Triathlete. Soccer Dad. Big fan of technology, efficiency, and the Arizona Wildcats.

Other posts you might like:

1. Own a pro sports team: West Valley Blades for sale
2. It’s nice to have a good team
3. Glendale now home to soccer academy

The Fry’s grocery store at Tatum & Shea installed shade covers in their parking lot last week – a great solution to the Parking Lot Shade Tree question I posed last summer.  It still leaves me with 3 unanswered questions:

1. Is this a competitive advantage?  In other words, would you drive a little further to shop at a store with covered parking?  (at least until the next store down the street offers the same thing!)

2. If more stores did this, would you be willing to put a quarter in a meter in exchange for having more covered parking around town?  (I would.)

3. Why aren’t these shades covered with solar panels, and then why aren’t there more solar-panel-covered-parking structures scattered across town?!

You can read the rules for a Moving Stills post and learn how the series came to be by reading my initial post in the series – Moving Stills 1.

Your likes the shade but is disappointed by not adding solar Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

Moving Stills 97 – Summer Shade is a post written by The Phoenix Agents at Thompson's Realty. If you're reading this anywhere other than a feedreader (rss subscription) of ThePhoenixAgents.com, the site you're reading this on is guilty of copyright infringement.

Chris Butterworth is: Realtor. Analyst. Husband. Father. Writer. Amateur Photographer. Triathlete. Soccer Dad. Big fan of technology, efficiency, and the Arizona Wildcats.

Other posts you might like:

1. Moving Stills 64 – Parking Lot Shade Trees
2. Moving Stills 74 – Shopping Cart Stampede
3. Moving Stills 96 – Remodeling at Arizona Biltmore

This is a reprint of a post from summer 2009.

When I was a kid and we moved here in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the knee-jerk reaction answer to “When’s the monsoon?” was “August”.

With the heat island effect, it seems like the monsoon arrives earlier and lasts longer each year. In 2008, the National Weather Service announced they would date the monsoon season in Arizona from June 15 to September 30 each year. In prior years, the weather services had dated the beginning and ending of the monsoon season based on meteorological readings of the barometric pressure, temperature, humidity, etc.

According to Wikipedia:

The North American Monsoon (NAM) occurs from late June or early July into September, originating over Mexico and spreading into the southwest United States by mid-July. It affects Mexico along the Sierra Madre Occidental as well as Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah,Colorado, West Texas, and California.

Monsoon With a Dust Storm Chaser

originally posted on Kathy Anderson’s AZ Active Retirement Living blog

Monsoon Clouds Over Phoenix Skyline

image courtesy of The Downtown Phoenix Journal

Monsoon near Quartzite Arizona, 1976

photo courtesy of, and copyright by Douglas Stockdale

Video of Monsoon Storms

Here’s a really exciting video about Phoenix monsoons created by the local CBS news affiliate, channel 10 (hat tip to Kathy Anderson for linking me to it). The video clip is undated but it appears to be a retrospective of the 2008 monsoon season, which was one of the Valley’s 10 worst.

In the video, CBS reporters talk to a hi-rise condo owner in downtown Phoenix who shot video of the August 28 (2008?) storm as it swept across town, blew out the windows in his condo, and then proceeded to dump cherry-sized hailstones into his living room!

At about the 6:28 minute mark of the video, there’s a mind-boggling shot of a huge dust storm surging across the Valley. It reminded me instantly of the videos of the 2004 Indonesian tsunami.

Just the Facts, Ma’am

Are you the type who likes detailed statistical information instead of shocking videos? Here’s the National Weather Service explaining the meteorological in’s and out’s of monsoons. Local news AzFamily Channel 3 has some more great statistics on wind speeds and dollars’ worth of damages during monsoon season.

Related Posts and Information on Other Sites

• Chris Butterworth’s Moving Stills shows Phoenix area storms on various dates
• Additional Google images of monsoons
• About.com’s Monsoon gallery

All about the Phoenix monsoon is a post written by The Phoenix Agents at Thompson's Realty. If you're reading this anywhere other than a feedreader (rss subscription) of ThePhoenixAgents.com, the site you're reading this on is guilty of copyright infringement.

Heather Barr is a Realtor and a happy workaholic. She eats more than someone her size ought to be able, and is a runner as a consequence. Her TiVo's full of spy thrillers, police procedurals and Whedonesque sci-fi.

Other posts you might like:

1. When Is It Monsoon Season in Phoenix?
2. A Monsoon Hangover – Blooms!
3. Did you know? We’re huge.

This morning was beautiful – absolutely beautiful.  I took advantage of the nice weather & grabbed a seat on the patio at Paradise Bakery this morning.  Did I mention it was 5:45 am?  That might have something to do with the almost cool temperature..

By 7:00 I noticed it was getting a little warm, but I was on the phone & wanted to finish what I was working on before I moved indoors.  Well, the phone call led to an email, which led to opening my internet browser, which led to my feedreader, etc. etc.  Next thing I know it was 8:00 and the desert sun was doing a number on me..  I suddenly realized I felt like it was 3:00 in the afternoon & I had been out showing houses all afternoon!

Thankfully there was an air conditioned table waiting for me inside.

New to the Valley of the Sun?  Be careful – the heat can sneak up on you quickly.

Your recovering nicely Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

the heat sneaks up on you is a post written by The Phoenix Agents at Thompson's Realty. If you're reading this anywhere other than a feedreader (rss subscription) of ThePhoenixAgents.com, the site you're reading this on is guilty of copyright infringement.

Chris Butterworth is: Realtor. Analyst. Husband. Father. Writer. Amateur Photographer. Triathlete. Soccer Dad. Big fan of technology, efficiency, and the Arizona Wildcats.

Other posts you might like:

1. But It’s A Dry Heat
2. Effective use of technology
3. I’m Sorry, I Thought You Actually Wanted To Sell Your Listing

We stumbled across this beauty the other day – it’s a bank-owned REO listing, built in the early 1970s, and it doesn’t look like the prior owners had updated anything since the first few years they were there!

But here’s the catch:  most buyers (almost all buyers) in this price range are going to either pay cash (investors) or use an FHA mortgage (low income &/or first-time buyers).

This house is priced way too high to interest an investor, yet the peeling paint and other deferred maintenance items are going to stop any FHA loan from getting approved.

And so it sits there…

Your feels bad for the neighbors Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

Did You Know? Federal law regarding lead based paint has changed. As of April 2010, the laws about working on older homes that might have lead based paint have gotten much more restrictive. See this article for a rundown of the law changes and how it affects you.

Got Lead Based Paint? is a post written by The Phoenix Agents at Thompson's Realty. If you're reading this anywhere other than a feedreader (rss subscription) of ThePhoenixAgents.com, the site you're reading this on is guilty of copyright infringement.

Chris Butterworth is: Realtor. Analyst. Husband. Father. Writer. Amateur Photographer. Triathlete. Soccer Dad. Big fan of technology, efficiency, and the Arizona Wildcats.

Other posts you might like:

1. Changes to lead paint rules
2. What to do with extra paint around your house
3. Paint Your Pool Electric Blue

I drove through the Biltmore parking lot this week and had to do a double-take (and then a triple-take!)  You don’t usually see Piestawa Peak nestled between Sam’s Cafe and Steamers!

You can read the rules for a Moving Stills post and learn how the series came to be by reading my initial post in the series – Moving Stills 1.

Your wondering what it’ll look like when they’re finished Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

Moving Stills 96 – Remodeling at Arizona Biltmore is a post written by The Phoenix Agents at Thompson's Realty. If you're reading this anywhere other than a feedreader (rss subscription) of ThePhoenixAgents.com, the site you're reading this on is guilty of copyright infringement.

Chris Butterworth is: Realtor. Analyst. Husband. Father. Writer. Amateur Photographer. Triathlete. Soccer Dad. Big fan of technology, efficiency, and the Arizona Wildcats.

Other posts you might like:

1. Moving Stills 64 – Parking Lot Shade Trees
2. Moving Stills 65 – Arizona Museum of Natural History
3. Moving Stills 87 – Central United Methodist Church

Wide lanes, smooth asphalt, sparse traffic, and a 105-foot vertical gain make this four-tenths of a mile stretch of Tierra Del Rio Blvd a great place to train.  Located about a mile north of the intersection of 107th Ave and Happy Valley Rd, I biked and ran this hill about 100 times this spring while training for my triathlon – it helped me both physically and mentally, since I usually wanted to give up and get off my bike the 3rd or 4th time up it & had to mentally challenge myself not to quit.  (hence my name Quitter’s Hill.)

You can read the rules for a Moving Stills post and learn how the series came to be by reading my initial post in the series – Moving Stills 1.

Your dreading and looking forward to riding Quitter’s Hill again this fall Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

Moving Stills 95 – Quitter’s Hill is a post written by The Phoenix Agents at Thompson's Realty. If you're reading this anywhere other than a feedreader (rss subscription) of ThePhoenixAgents.com, the site you're reading this on is guilty of copyright infringement.

Chris Butterworth is: Realtor. Analyst. Husband. Father. Writer. Amateur Photographer. Triathlete. Soccer Dad. Big fan of technology, efficiency, and the Arizona Wildcats.

Other posts you might like:

1. Moving Stills 87 – Central United Methodist Church
2. Moving Stills 36 – Arrowhead fountain
3. Moving Stills 39 – What Progress?

Yesterday my family was driving across Northeastern Arizona towards Flagstaff.  We could see this plume of smoke from 75 miles east on I-40, and stopped at Little America for a chance to stretch our legs and take a couple pictures (and smell the charred forest…)

You can read the rules for a Moving Stills post and learn how the series came to be by reading my initial post in the series – Moving Stills 1.

Your bummed thinking think about how one idiot could cause such devastation Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

Moving Stills 94 – Flagstaff Wild Fire is a post written by The Phoenix Agents at Thompson's Realty. If you're reading this anywhere other than a feedreader (rss subscription) of ThePhoenixAgents.com, the site you're reading this on is guilty of copyright infringement.

Chris Butterworth is: Realtor. Analyst. Husband. Father. Writer. Amateur Photographer. Triathlete. Soccer Dad. Big fan of technology, efficiency, and the Arizona Wildcats.

Other posts you might like:

1. Moving Stills 53 – Wild Flowers
2. Moving Stills 87 – Central United Methodist Church
3. Moving Stills 80 – Dodge Theatre

A great reflection off the SCF Tower at 2nd Street & Earll Dr.

You can read the rules for a Moving Stills post and learn how the series came to be by reading my initial post in the series – Moving Stills 1.

You can see a map of all my Moving Stills photos here.

Your managed to stay out of the reflection’s picture Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

Moving Stills 93 – Reflection in SCF Tower is a post written by The Phoenix Agents at Thompson's Realty. If you're reading this anywhere other than a feedreader (rss subscription) of ThePhoenixAgents.com, the site you're reading this on is guilty of copyright infringement.

Chris Butterworth is: Realtor. Analyst. Husband. Father. Writer. Amateur Photographer. Triathlete. Soccer Dad. Big fan of technology, efficiency, and the Arizona Wildcats.

Other posts you might like:

1. Moving Stills 86 – 7233 E Butherus
2. Moving Stills 87 – Central United Methodist Church
3. Moving Stills 91 – Alvarado Historic District

There’s a lot of construction in Phoenix.  I guess this is probably true in most cities – maybe it’s just a fact of life, that they’re always building things, and then breaking them down to make them bigger.

Sometimes the construction is because the city is growing; other times it’s because they’re trying to make something better.  The new Beardsley Connector offramp is one of these.  No one can/will tell me why this wasn’t built as part of this section of Loop 101 when the freeway opened in the late 1990s, but at least now the City of Peoria is spending tens of millions of dollars to fix what seems like an oversight.

Most people in the NW Valley are excited about the new Beardsley Connector, as they’ll no longer have to drive 2 extra miles each time they enter and exit Loop 101.  But it’s bitter sweet to the people whose neighborhood used to back to a large desert wash and will soon back to a large offramp and thoroughfare instead.

Here’s what the desert wash used to look like:

In October the city posted a notice of what was coming:

Next they started clearing & grading the paths (which my kids thought was cool.)

Yesterday I stopped to watch the construction work and was amazed by how much activity is happening at once – it was like a swarm of ants (humongous ants, mind you) working together through what seems like chaos.  Pretty impressive, actually.

Here’s what’s going on now:

Ah, progress.

Your bitter sweet Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

Peoria’s new Beardsley Connector offramp is a post written by The Phoenix Agents at Thompson's Realty. If you're reading this anywhere other than a feedreader (rss subscription) of ThePhoenixAgents.com, the site you're reading this on is guilty of copyright infringement.

Chris Butterworth is: Realtor. Analyst. Husband. Father. Writer. Amateur Photographer. Triathlete. Soccer Dad. Big fan of technology, efficiency, and the Arizona Wildcats.

Other posts you might like:

1. Freeway construction in the NW Valley
2. ButterHomes blog welcomes North Of Beardsley Readers!
3. Moving Stills 2 – Construction Equipment