House Bill 2701 (state parks; lottery; heritage fund) has made it out of two committees and is ready to go to the floor of the House.

HB 2701 would restore the Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund through the Arizona Lottery at $10 million per year as originally approved by Arizona voters in 1990.

Here’s what you should know. This is a “money bill.” That means that it appropriates money. Well, since the leadership of the House and Senate want all appropriations to be passed in the budget bills themselves, rather than in individual bills, they often let bills like this die. However, if the bills pass one chamber with lots of support, it increases the chances that the appropriations represented in the bill will make it in to the budget.

Got it?

The Arizona Preservation Foundation asks you to please continue your support of the Heritage Fund by submitting your position through the Legislature’s Request to Speak system or by contacting your legislator.

Over in the Arizona Senate, can voice your support for, Senate Bill 1241, the sister bill to the house version. It helps if they get support in both chambers.

Background. From the time Arizona voters approved the creation of the Fund to the Great Recession when it was defunded and removed from statute, the Fund served our state well (project list and map) with its dedication to parks, outdoor recreation, open space, non-motorized trails, outdoor and environmental education, and historic preservation. It is our hope that this Legislature restores the Fund after satisfying all other current encumbrances, and to bring the Fund back to effect in a responsible and deliberate manner.

Why the Fund is important. Arizona’s local, regional, and state parks and recreation facilities are economic development generators that encourage the spending of tourist dollars, attract businesses whose workforce choose jobs in locations with quality of life benefits, strengthen community cohesion, and increase property values. Historic preservation initiatives in our rural communities and urban areas promote economic development by creating jobs, revitalizing historic areas, increasing property values, and promoting heritage tourism.

As a big-ol sustainability, gardening and composting nerd, I’m concerned about the decline of bee populations in the United States.

I think we are closing in on a solution to the problem. In the meantime, I wanted to share some thoughts that I learned from my friend and entomologist, Chelsea, who studies bees, specifically.

Before I tell you what I learned from her, I encourage you to have a look at 12 Reasons Not to Be Afraid of Honeybees. While you may not want a bee colony in your shed, there are two things to keep in mind: you have to work hard to annoy them enough that you get stung and there are companies out there that will take those bees without killing them.

So, on to what I learned. First, we could do ourselves a great service by supporting native desert bees. One third of what you eat relies on bees.

It’s a little-known fact that the bees we commonly think of are not native to Arizona. Chelsea calls them “the chicken of the insect world” in that we have cultivated them to help us produce the honey that we want.

However, there are desert bees that could help replace the declining population of bees that we are hearing about. There’s one really great thing about those: while they do have stingers, they are very unlikely to sting sting. But they do pollinate the many plants that we rely on.

Second, there are things that you can do to encourage these bees to create homes, or “hotels” and other things that you can do to give them the food that they need. For instance, you can plant wildflowers in your yard. I’m particularly proud of mine, and they are visited by various types of bees every day.

It is notable that native bee species don’t make hives. They are generally solitary or subsocial – so they make “nests” where they line a hole in wood or twigs with mud (mason bees), leaves (leaf cutter bees), or wax (carpenter bees), then they lay one egg and provision it with a pollen ball. Then they fly away. – not often caring for their babies.

With the “bee hotel”, you are providing them “nesting spots” – not quite hives. But you can set out or hang wood with little holes in which for them to nest.

Lloyd Hardrick, a contributor to Urban Farm U, gives great insight in to keeping urban bees in this podcast. He handles honeybees, but he has some great insight to share.

My flowers are providing pollen for bee hives, and thus supporting their populations.

You are welcome, bees.

So, Chelsea and I are hatching an idea of setting up a native bee population in my back yard. Stay tuned. We may get this together with a little video to explain.

Stay tuned. Bee cool. Bees are our friends…

I’ve been impressed for years with Read Better Be Better (RBBB), a local non-profit education organization that partners older students (“bigs”) with younger students (“littles”) to help improve reading skills for each.

I watched them do their work at a local elementary school last year and I’ve been tracking their progress as they’ve grown.

So, as we celebrate what is working in education, here’s RBBB’s announcement that they are expanding in to even more schools.

Phoenix, Ariz. – Read Better Be Better (RBBB), a Phoenix nonprofit that helps children improve literacy skills and become better learners, has expanded to serve students in thirty-six sites throughout the greater Phoenix metro area, an increase from 26 sites in Fall 2018.

RBBB after school programs inspire and equip at-risk middlegraders through service-learning to assist struggling third graders by helping them build literacy skills. Third and middle grade students work one-on-one, in an after-school setting, following a preset lesson plan focused on reading comprehension.

RBBB was founded to address a serious problem in Arizona’s youth. Students not reading at grade level by the end of third grade are four times less likely to graduate high school; yet 85 percent of Arizona third graders from low-income families are not reading on grade level.

“Read Better Be Better is built on the belief that all children deserve the chance to succeed and the knowledge that literacy is a stepping stone to academic and life-long success,” said Sophie Etchart, founder and CEO. “If a child can read proficiently by the end of third grade, there is an 89% chance that student will graduate high school, regardless of poverty.”

“Our program empowers students to recognize their own potential, and the opportunity for older kids in the community to be part of the solution,” said Etchart. “The youth leaders commit our curriculum to memory and implement it at home with younger siblings; younger students speak up in the classroom to convince their peers of the importance of reading. That is how we effect lasting, societal change.”

Kick off for Read Better Be Better’s Spring 2019 semester began the week of January 28, 2019 and finished the week of February 11, 2019. Each after school program runs for 10 weeks and accommodates each location’s individual schedule.

Read Better Be Better Spring 2019 Participating Schools (by order of program launch week):

ESTRELLA VISTA ELEMENTARY

COUNTRY PLACE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY

BUCKEYE ELEMENTARY

BALES ELEMENTARY

BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB, BOB & RENEE PARSONS BRANCH

CENTERRA MIRAGE STEM ACADEMY

BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB, WARNER A. GABEL BRANCH

WHITTIER ELEMENTARY

ENCANTO ELEMENTARY

CAROL G PECK ELEMENTARY

SUNDANCE ELEMENTARY

WESTPARK ELEMENTARY

MICHAEL ANDERSON ELEMENTARY

DESERT THUNDER SCHOOL

BARCELONA ELEMENTARY

SHEELY FARMS ELEMENTARY

COLLIER ELEMENTARY

WILDFLOWER SCHOOL

INCA ELEMENTARY

MARIONNEAUX ELEMENTARY

STEVEN R. JASKINSKI ELEMENTARY

TRES RIOS SERVICE ACADEMY

FINE ARTS ACADEMY

LITTLETON ELEMENTARY

QUENTIN ELEMENTARY

LONGVIEW ELEMENTARY

ARIZONA DESERT ELEMENTARY

BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB, HARRY & SANDY ROSENZWEIG BRANCH

COPPER TRAILS SCHOOL

DESERT STAR SCHOOL

ELISEO C. FELIX SCHOOL

SOLANO ELEMENTRY

BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB, I.G. HOLMES BRANCH

AUGUSTUS H SHAW JR. MONTESSORI

CORDOVA ELEMENTARY

P.H. GONZALES ELEMENTARY

For more information about Read Better Be Better, visit www.readbetterbebetter.org.

This is another insightful slide about the market from the Cromford Report. Notice the little yellow highlights. They show how the seller’s market has weakened at those two points since the great recession, but how they started back up again within a couple months. 

This means that when this market change happens, it will happen quickly. 

What does that mean for you?

BUYERS: Get your financing in order. As we will discover in tomorrow’s post,  a re-balanced market could happen within a month or so. You are in a great place to start looking. Choose only the best home for you and don’t be afraid to haggle.

SELLERS: This one is tough for you. If you wait, prices could come down. This reminds us of the old saying about investing, “you’ll never know where the highest and lowest points are, but if you are pretty close, you are doing well.” 

Real estate is not the stock market. You need a home and you need to respond to what life gives you. So, to be ready, do those improvements and make the house really shine. Stand out from the others!

For more analysis, call us at 602-456-9388.

You know those companies that claim they will sell (or buy) your house for about 1% commission, and that it’s all hassle free? Beware!

They come from those big companies that are just buying homes, left and right, then putting them back on the market with little or no renovation. I won’t mention names, because I’m hearing that agents like me are getting letters from attorneys if they mention them by name.

That is not only scary, but should tell you all about the caliber of people we are dealing with.

This video gives a real example of the fees that could wipe out everything you think you are saving, and more.

If you are not feeling like watching the video, here are the two most important things to watch for.

#1 – Watch for hidden fees –or whatever they are going to call them.

I looked at a settlement statement from a couple to sold their home. I won’t share their names, but here is what I found. The total sales price was listed as $330,000.

(Let’s assume for this example that the offer was actually FAIR for the market, which they usually are not.)

First, there was a buyer’s agent commission at just under 1 percent.

Sounds good, right? Only 1%!

What a savings!

Wait for it….

Then there was a thing called a “buyer deduction” at about $22,000!! What is a buyer deduction? I dunno, other than to say it is less money that the seller got to keep and more than what an agent would normally charge to do the work.

Next there was a “seller concession” of about $5,500. Now, seller concessions are normal. Maybe you pay the buyers’ closing costs. Or maybe there were repairs that you don’t feel like repairing. So, you give a credit.

Was there really that much that needed to be repaired? I have hardly ever seen a seller concession of this magnitude, and probably never on a house at this price point.

We know that the buyer was not a first time home buyer in need of closing cost support. The buyer is a big house flipping company!

If you add up the commission, the “deduction” and the concession, that’s over $30,000 — Or in this case about 9.4% commission.

Had we listed the home, we would have happily worked with them on the commission. Remember, you have the right to negotiate the commission. Nothing is standard.

#2 – Who is representing you?

I know some folks think that realtors just sell homes and then buy a new car. That may be true on TV, but not in the real world for the vast majority of us.

That aside, in this particular case the buyer got the seller to give up about $5,500 in a seller concession, on top of everything else. So, when the “1% buyer’s agent” tells the seller –whom the agent DOES NOT REPRESENT– that they need to pay a concession because the buyer found something in the inspection, who do you think they are representing there?

Right! The buyer!! They have no fiduciary responsibility to the seller.

This is why you get an agent. If you have a contract with an agent, he or she has a fiduciary responsibility to you and could face fines or the loss of license if they don’t keep your interests in first position.

Good agents will protect you. We advise you and we fight back on your behalf.

Period. End of story.

These folks were not represented and they left at least $10,000 on the table.

Now, I happen to know that they did this because they did not want to have to deal with showings or open houses.

First of all, if you don’t want to have an open house, you don’t have to! In fact, there are fewer and fewer open houses all the time. More buyers just want to look at images on line before they call an agent to get a live showing.

Second of all, let’s say you have 10 showings before somebody brings an offer. If you left $10,000 on the table, because you did not want to coordinate leaving the home for a showing, you just paid $1,000 for the privilege of not having a showing.

That’s a lot of money!

Hey, in the end a wholesale buyer may be the right choice for you. We get that. But we suggest two things:

1. It is the vast minority of situations where you would really be at an advantage to give up this kind of money.
2. Please, please, please please be sure to do your research about these hidden fees before you choose to act.

You don’t have to call us. Call any licensed, experienced agent. Ask them to do comps for you. Ask about what fees and other deductions are coming out.

We are more than happy to compare what we do and how we protect your interests to these guys. Call us at 602-456-9388.

Our friends at the Cromford Report are great at providing perspective in a market like this. 

First prerequisite for the slide is to know that the Cromford Index measures whether it is a seller’s market or a buyer’s market and, if so, by how much. The 100-line is the division. Seller’s market above. Got it?

Okay, so you can see here how the seller’s advantage started tanking back in 2005 (even while prices were going up!). You can see in other years that we have had a strong seller’s market, but not a bubble.

Now, we are inching toward balance. What does that mean for you?

BUYERS: You don’t have an advantage where you can knock 10% off the price. But you might be able to get a concession or two —especially out of flippers.

SELLERS: Make that house look great! If you don’t want to renovate, then really make it shine for what it is. You may not get extra dollars from your investment in renovations, but you will probably keep yourself from losing some Benjamins. 

Also, from now until early June is the high season. Sell now if you are going to sell this year!

Call us directly for more insights at 602-456-9388.

Our friends at the Cromford Report tell us that we are at the top end of what we would expect in terms of a normal appreciation growth in the price of homes in the market. See the last post for why that is. Yep! Wholesalers and flippers have been driving up prices.

So, do we need a drastic drop in prices?

Nope.

What we need is for a move toward balance, at which point there will be plenty of buyers for good looking properties. (more on that in the next post)

So, what does that mean for you?

BUYERS: get your financing in order. As we will discover in tomorrow’s post,  a re-balanced market could happen within a month or so. You are in a great place to start looking. Choose only the best home for you and don’t be afraid to haggle.

SELLERS: If you are on the market now, price accordingly. If you are coming on to the market, do those improvements and make the house really shine. Stand out from the others!

If you are thinking of selling, really polish up that property!

Also, from now until early June is the high season. Sell now if you are going to sell this year!

Call us directly for more insights at 602-456-9388.

Our friends at the Cromford Report are tracking supply and demand, as well as the many other indicators in the real estate market. 

Here’s an odd situation that you don’t see much in the market: both the supply and the demand are below “normal”, as defined as the Cromford Index at 100, otherwise known as a balance between seller and buyer advantage.

So, the bit question is whether demand will drop to meet supply or whether supply will rise to meet demand. 

We’ve already seen a drop in demand in the market, and we know that flippers are exiting the market right now, so history indicates that supply and demand will meet soon.

What does that market feature mean for you?

SELLERS: focus on making your property look great. Make it shine. Also, from now until early June is the high season. Sell now if you are going to sell this year!

BUYERS: don’t expect to get big discounts, but don’t be afraid to haggle.

Call us directly for more insights at 602-456-9388.

Our friends at the Cromford Report tell us that we are at the top end of what we would expect in terms of a normal appreciation growth in the market price of homes. See the last post for why that is. Yep! Wholesalers and flippers have been driving up prices.

So, do we need a drastic drop in prices? Nope. What we need is for a move toward balance, at which point there will be plenty of buyers for good looking properties. (more on that in the next post)

So, what does that mean for you?

BUYERS: get your financing in order. As we will discover in tomorrow’s post,  a re-balanced market could happen within a month or so. You are in a great place to start looking. Choose only the best home for you and don’t be afraid to haggle.

SELLERS: If you are on the market now, price accordingly. If you are coming on to the market, do those improvements and make the house really shine. Stand out from the others!

If you are thinking of selling, really polish up that property!

Also, from now until early June is the high season. Sell now if you are going to sell this year!

Call us directly for more insights at 602-456-9388.

If we had water cooler conversations much anymore, we would be hearing about how the market is shifting in Phoenix. We are seeing it in the data, and we are hearing about it anecdotally.

So, here’s a data-driven analysis of what we are seeing right now –why and how you can benefit. There are 11 topics in this series.

So, you know. Just skim until you see what makes your heart go “pitter-patter.”

In short — call us if you need more analysis for your specific situation at 602-456-9388

Active Supply

Our friends at the Cromford Report tell us that we are at the top end of what we would expect in terms of a normal appreciation growth in the price of homes. See the last post for why that is. Yep! Wholesalers and flippers have been driving up prices.

So, do we need a drastic drop in prices? Nope. What we need is for a move toward balance, at which point there will be plenty of buyers for good looking properties. (more on that in the next post)

So, what does that mean for you?

BUYERS: get your financing in order. As we will discover in tomorrow’s post,  a re-balanced market could happen within a month or so. You are in a great place to start looking. Choose only the best home for you and don’t be afraid to haggle.

SELLERS: If you are on the market now, price accordingly. If you are coming on to the market, do those improvements and make the house really shine. Stand out from the others!

If you are thinking of selling, really polish up that property!

Also, from now until early June is the high season. Sell now if you are going to sell this year!