We have four great listings on the market right now. One of them went under contract last month, just after the newsletter came out. All sellers are realistic about the market and they’ve dropped their prices in the last week.

But don’t wait too long. The interest rate increases in September erased most of the savings buyers could have seen had they made offers in early September. Don’t let that happen again. See our listings page directly for more information.

Price Drop. Stunning Historic Building. 387 N. 2nd Ave, #2G, NOW $599,000

You can enjoy a roomy condominium in a cozy HOA in this beautiful historic building, which was renovated from its original state about 20 years ago. In that renovation, the developer added many modern conveniences, including gated, covered and garage parking for all owners.

While everybody else drives around looking for a space to park, you can pull right in to your own secure garage downtown. You are steps away from live music, the weekly farmer’s market, shows, restaurants and all the things anyone is looking for in downtown living.

Plus, you get a beautiful full kitchen, 2.5 bathrooms and the kind of open living space you’ve been looking for.

Price Drop. Rare find! 1107 W. Osborn Rd., #101. 1br/1ba, 849sf, NOW $199,000

This is a rare condo in Central Phoenix for under $230,000 from a motivated seller.

Since it was last purchased, the owner has completely remodeled the bathroom and has updated the kitchen to complement the historic features.

Walk around the grounds and you will see why people love living here. The trees are big and offer plenty of shade.

This particular condo is in the center of a beautiful breezeway, which feels like a green jungle, even in summer.

The pool is sparkling and just around the corner from your front door. See it before it’s gone!

Price Drop. Lush Trees. 1107 W. Osborn Rd., #219. 2br/1.75ba, 1,108sf, NOW $274,000.

This affordable gem has a balcony that over-looks the beautiful acreage at Nonpareil Condos, with a massive tree shading from the west.

Sit out on the balcony and enjoy your morning coffee or read the paper, er, kindle, er, smart phone.

Aw, you get the picture!

You’ll love the original 1950’s kitchen. Still functional and cut.

Shopping at Sprouts and Safeway is just around the corner, with easy access to all of the fun of Central Phoenix.

You will be hard-pressed to find a value like this so close to everything, including Phoenix College, which is directly to the south of this property.

Price Drop. 18427 N 36th Ln, Glendale 85308. 2br/2ba, 1,283sf. NOW $352,000

Our sellers on this property updated the flooring and paint.

It boasts a large master suite with sliding doors leading to the large covered patio. The patio will make a shady space for relaxing or gardening.

The yard is landscaped, irrigated, and includes a sliding RV gate for your fun toys. The two-car attached garage includes a plethora of additional storage cabinets, and a workbench to fix the aforementioned toys.

The home includes a newer roof and security shutters. It is close enough to the I-17 and the loop 101 to be convenient, but far enough away so that you can enjoy a quiet neighborhood.

Donna Reiner has written many articles over the years for the Arizona Republic and others about Phoenix history and memorials.  She is a regular contributor to our newsletter. This month, Donna shares about the history of drive-ins in the Valley

In the 1950s and 60s, parents bundled up their children, put them in the back of the family station wagon or family sedan and headed to the movies. No, not the walk-in type of movie theatre, the drive-in type. This arrangement was ideal for families with small children or babies and when you might not be able to afford a baby-sitter for a night out.

When we became teens, many of us double-dated at the drive-in. This was especially important to many parents as they thought their sweet young daughters would have less of a chance of “getting into trouble.” However, as it often happened, once the lights went down and the movie began, that might have been the last thing you remembered other than what you told your parents you were going to see.

Fast forward to college days. Then you might try to sneak as many of your friends into the car and only pay for one or two people. When trying this method, you needed to be careful when getting out of the car so no employee “caught” you and made all of you leave.

Adventures could abound at the drive-in. I had the dubious experience when out with my older sister of trying to watch Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds” while it rained. When we seemed to be concentrating on the water bubbles, it was time to turn on the car and start up the wipers; repeated as necessary. I finally watched “The Birds” sans rain last year.

The marquees of drive-ins were spectacular and because of being perpendicular to the road, it was impossible to miss them. One time my precocious 4-year old asked what the letters “X” and “R” after the movies meant. So, I told her they had to do with the amount of sex and violence in the movie. She thought about that for a moment and replied, “I know all about sex, but what is violence?” Ah yes, those drive-in theatre memories. By the way, we did not see those two movies.

If you grew up near a drive-in theatre, you probably tried to watch the movie from a distance and without the sound. That could be a futile effort or at least one where you would have to guess what was coming. Still, it was a creative method.

Today, drive-ins are a thing of the past. The way of the 8-track tapes, beta videos, and home milk delivery. For those of us who were able to enjoy them, wasn’t it great to sit in your car under the stars and watch a movie?

Some of these notable items have come across my virtual desk over the last month and I thought I’d share them with you. These relate to issues that could affect your home health, but which hold the promise for huge economic growth (and the value of your home) in the near future.

AZ is an EV Manufacturing State. And that means jobs, economic growth and the potential for many more people moving to AZ soon. This has an effect on the long-term value of your home, folks. Plus it also has an effect on air quality (assuming we get more of those clean cars on the road here.) Not only are we adding manufacturers of cars, but also battery manufacturers. The best news is that there is increased interest in battery recycling.

You may have heard that only 5% of all lithium-ion batteries sold are recycled. That is a huge mine of precious metal right here in our trash cans. Companies will come in to find better ways to complete that circular economy and get that lithium from your trash to the recycling facilities. One thing you can do to help is participate in the new Phoenix hazardous waste home pickup program. You can recycle those batteries effortlessly.

More on Gas Stoves. My apologies for beating this one to death, but I feel like realtors (myself included) have a duty to correct this believe that gas stoves are better. They are certainly not healthy. Many groups, including the American Lung Association, report that indoor air quality is significantly worse in homes with methane gas stoves. Learn more about that at GasLeaks.org. See this article from the Daily Sun for an AZ-specific perspective.

While We Are On The Subject. Southwest Gas is proposing an 11.4% rate hike. You might guess this is normal, given conflicts overseas and tight gas supplies. But the more you look in to you it, the more you see that Southwest Gas is spending rate payer money on lobbying (that should be shareholder money), as well as free gas hookups for developers (the money for which comes out of rate payers’ pockets. This, at a time when we should be moving people away from climate change-causing methane gas –not expanding the system. There are some customers who are organizing to oppose the $90M rate increase.

Ranked Choice Voting Fall Event. It bears repeating. If we want better policy outcomes, we need better inputs. That means ranked Choice Voting. Join me for the official kick-off of our effort to bring ranked choice voting to Arizona. Join us on October 19th to learn how we are going to do this and celebrate with others who share your desire to make our political system work for everyone. Entertainment by Steve McCalister – currently on his “Get The Bunk Out” tour.