Northwest Valley

Hiking tips for Phoenix, Scottsdale visitors

Lifestyle

It’s gonna be a hot one today, folks! The metro Phoenix area is slated to see 98 degrees Farenheit today. If you’re visiting the metro Phoenix-Scottsdale area and you’re considering hiking some of our beautiful mountain trails today, take note…  it’s hotter than you think, and the trails are steeper than you think. Remember that [...]

1 April 2011 Read the full article →

Fabulous, but too far out. . .

Phoenix By Area

Recently a client and I exchanged emails about her housing options that reminded me of one of most enduring metro Phoenix’s real estate truisms:  fabulous is often also too far out (geographically speaking). Since metro Phoenix has always had room to grow, geographically, it generally follows that the newer, fancier, nicer houses that many 20-something, [...]

26 July 2010 Read the full article →

Recommended blog and handyman

Homeowner Help

Psst…  I found a really outstanding blog and an excellent craftsman who does home remodeling projects in the Greater Phoenix area: The RemodGeek. I can’t say enough good stuff about him, but his resume actually speaks for itself: …spent years in construction, residential and commercial, and remodeling from foundation to punch list. I have been [...]

10 June 2010 Read the full article →

Housing Starts and screaming headlines

In The News

Chris often writes about how the media causes confusion among consumers by shouting over-generalized headlines. No surprise, it happened again this week. On Tuesday The Atlantic reported “Housing Starts Rise as New Permits Fall”, sowing confusion and possibly fear in the minds of consumers. If housing starts are up, that’s good, right? But if new [...]

20 May 2010 Read the full article →

New Master Planned Community in North Peoria

In The News

North Peoria. Mountains, desert, Lake Pleasant, rapid population growth, infrastructure development…  And a new master planned community? AZCentral.com reported on Friday that developer Community Southwest is in talks with Peoria to work out the details of the costs involved with building out the infrastructure for a 695-acre development at the northeast corner of Deer Valley [...]

17 May 2010 Read the full article →

The Highs and the Lows #4

Foreclosures

Wherein I periodically post about the highest and lowest priced homes in the local MLS. Properties must be: single family, detached homes bank owned currently Active in the ARMLS (AZ Regional Multiple Listing Service) located in the general metro Phoenix region (Wickenburg, Florence, Coolidge, etc are excluded but Surprise, Buckeye, Queen Creek, etc are included) [...]

21 March 2010 Read the full article →

New Listing, Golf Course Getaway

Investors

27617 N Makena Place Peoria AZ 85382 Located in the Active Adult Community of Trilogy at Vistancia Offered At $449,000 Specification, Features and Finishes 2 beds, 2 baths, plus den 2,193 square feet on a golf course lot Sits at the top of the 16th tee: beautiful course views, no golf balls in the yard [...]

12 October 2009 Read the full article →

REOs Rule, But Not Everywhere

Foreclosures

Image courtesy of Stock Exchange user svilen001 Just a little blurb from one of our favorite title/escrow officers, Maggie Clark of Equity Title. This gives a good picture of just how much the REO (“real estate owned”, i.e. bank owned foreclosure) properties are driving the market lately. Southwest Valley – REO active listings represent 16% [...]

21 September 2009 Read the full article →

Builders Resurface

Buyer Help

Builders are back! New home builders in the metro Phoenix area can arguably be blamed for some of the mess we’re all in. Many people do argue that, in fact: builders overbuilt, didn’t stop building spec homes quickly enough when buyer demand flagged in 2006 and allowed investor owners whose tenants dragged down property values. Blame [...]

10 September 2009 Read the full article →

Real Estate Glossary, Starter Home

First Time Buyers

This isn’t an official definition. I’m not sure there is one. It’s just what I use as shorthand for a certain type of property. 3-4 bedrooms 2 bathrooms about 1200 to 1600 square feet small yard usually no pool usually located about 20-30 miles from anything you can reasonably call ‘downtown’ almost always in a [...]

17 July 2009 Read the full article →

Phoenix is a Big Grid

Phoenix By Area

Here’s a bit of handy introduction-to-the-Valley sort of info about Phoenix’s street system. (click to enlarge/”back” to return) Thoughtfully, our Phoenician forebears laid out our fair city on a big grid. Nearly every street is straight and major streets are 1 mile apart. Numbered streets go north & south, named streets go east-west. lost already? [...]

19 June 2009 Read the full article →