Don’t miss out on this huge price drop on this beautiful 1928, 5br/3ba, 3,700sqft Spanish Mission style historical home.

You might have seen this home on our Listings Page. We are so proud to represent this listing. Have a look at the listing and photos that capture how beautifully this home has been maintained.

You can see the video tour that we put together for your viewing enjoyment on YouTube.

Check out the crafted woodwork, the coved ceilings, the luxurious grounds and the attention to detail and respect for this home’s origin. The current owners have added just the right touches, including a beautiful pool. You can have all this, as well as easy access to downtown, transportation corridors, shopping, entertainment and a peaceful urban neighborhood.

Source: Arizona Republic Archives

The home was built in 1928 by Harry Tritle, the son of former territorial governor F. A. Tritle. He was the Assistant Secretary of the Territory of Arizona starting in 1897.  He was also the editor of the Arizona Gazette. Many years later, in 1926, he was appointed to the Industrial Commission of Arizona.

This home has seen so much of Phoenix’s growth since then. We are still working on compiling the history of the home since that time. So, stay tuned!

If you have a historic home that you hope to sell with the help of a qualified and successful team that also respects the importance of the stories behind historic homes, please contact us at 602-456-9388.

Michelle Conley, the quieter and more dignified half of the Get Your PHX team, has a special new listing in North Central Phoenix, where the trees are tall and shady and the houses are roomy.

This family home has all the coolest updates, most of which has been installed by the current owners.

This is a 4br/4ba, 3,216sf home with a guest house and one of the coolest back yards we’ve ever seen, on an expansive 10,698sf lot.

Check out the beautiful, state-of -the art kitchen with breakfast bar, granite counter tops, high end appliances, pantry, and complete with wine cooler. All bathrooms have been updated to perfection.

The guest house is large and is perfect for your in-laws or college student.

The home and guest house has a security system with cameras and hard wired Ethernet.

The backyard is an entertainers delight complete with built in BBQ, outdoor speakers and fans. Full size washer and dryer in main home and guest house convey with the property. This property has been totally updated and is a fantastic family home! Schedule your private showing today!

You can see all of the photos and details for this new listing in North Central at Michelle’s special listing page.

New, just last week is this beautiful downtown town home –2br/2.5ba, 1,664sf with a 2-car garage. No parking headaches for you downtown if you live here!

This property represents downtown living in a rare and roomy town home, in the thick of all the fun. You can live about 200 yards from the Gold Spot Market, 1/8th mile from light rail, and a quick hop away from all of the entertainment, education and shopping downtown.

Have a look at our listings page for more information and lots of beautiful photos.

All this with a garage and quick access to the freeways. This town home was built in 2015 with added extras, chosen by the owner: upgraded floors and kitchen features.

So, if you love the historic neighborhoods and that front porch experience, but don’t want the historic home maintenance, this property is for you.

This home is priced competitively with the almost identical (but slightly smaller) MetroWest town homes nearing completion around the corner at 2nd Ave and McKinley. Have a look at this link for the story I did on that new development.

With everything happening downtown, you won’t want to miss this.

The history of 2032 N. Alvarado speaks to the early growth of Phoenix, before there was air conditioning, an airport or hipsters drinking organic, craft beer. In fact, it was built during the first Phoenix housing boom of the 1920s.

You might have seen this home on our Listings Page. We are so proud to represent this listing. Have a look at the listing and photos that capture how beautifully this home has been maintained.

Source: Arizona Republic Archives

The home is an example of Spanish Mission (which some will argue is Santa Barbara style). Dominant features of the time include an arched batten door,  corbelled imposts and a dominant balcony, which is quite rare and unique now.

Built in 1928 by Harry Tritle, the son of former territorial governor F. A. Tritle. He was the Assistant Secretary of the Territory of Arizona starting in 1897.  He was also the editor of the Arizona Gazette. Many years later, in 1926, he was appointed to the Industrial Commission of Arizona.

Unfortunately, he and his wife, Amy Tritle, divorced in 1932. She was able to maintain control of the property and rented it to Paul Hyde Davies for several years. Paul Davies was a locally-successful business executive, who came to Phoenix from Pittsburgh, where he was an early voice on radio.

The Hyde Davies home was the site of a wedding in 1936 —the maid of honor was the wife of the young Barry Goldwater, who was in attendance, and who had only 6 years earlier inherited his father’s well-known department store business.

The Arizona Republic went to great detail about the details of the wedding and the fashion choices of the many attendees. Unfortunately, the archives articles from the time are behind a pay wall at Newspapers.com.

Reading these old papers is a hoot. Did you know that, when this marriage happened, you could get a Westinghouse Electric Waffle Iron for $8.90 — 90c down and just $1/mo. on your electric bill. So, I guess people did pay for things on their electric bills back then.

Amy (the formerly Mrs. Tritle) re-enters the story in 1938 to sell the house to Preston T. and Margaret Brown. Preston was a well-respected gynecologist and was elected to the Phoenix City Council in 1961. Preston, unfortunately, died at the age of 57.

This home has seen so much of Phoenix’s growth since then. We are still working on compiling the history of the home since that time. So, stay tuned!

If you have a historic home that you hope to sell with the help of a qualified and successful team that also respects the importance of the stories behind historic homes, please contact us at 602-456-9388.

2032 N Alvarado

We have four new listings coming up this month to kick off the new year.

So, this is just a teaser. We will get you the full new listings as soon as we go live on the MLS. Watch our Facebook page or our listings page on this website for announcements, as they happen.

First, we will present a 1928, 3,500 sqft estate in the Alvarado historic district. That’s between Central and 3rd St at about Monte Vista. This home has a deep history in Phoenix along with incredible details and beautiful features which we will be proud to present. It will list next week at $1,050,000.

You will definitely be hearing more about this one soon.

FQ Story Bungalow Coming Soon!

Second, we will present a 2br/2ba, 1,100 sqft charming bungalow in the FQ Story Historic Neighborhood. This 1931 home has all that you would hope from a property in FQ Story, including historic built-ins, wood floors and easy accessibility to all the fun downtown. Final list price is TBA. Watch for this listing at the end of the month.

Town Homes on 3rd for that downtown lifestyle.

Third, and also at the end of the month, we will present a beautiful 1,700 sqft, 2br/2.5ba property at Townhomes on 3rd. This development was the previous town home project completed by local developer Matt Seaman in 2015. These properties have their own garage parking, with beautiful appliances and views of downtown lights. This property is about 200 yards from the Gold Spot Market. Final list price TBA.

Last, but not least, I am listing my very own 3br/1ba, 1,362 sqft property in the Garfield neighborhood. I am specifically pricing this home for those who want to renovate their own space –rather than investors– because I believe in supporting creative, owner-occupying renovators in a neighborhood that I love.

I purchased this home in 2006 and I’ve put over $50,000 in to it since then. I updated the landscaping, paint, porch, kitchen, bedrooms and bathrooms –which could use a touch up. But, I also added a new roof, blown-in insulation, tankless water heater, a foam roof over the master bedroom, historic double-hung windows and other historic touches. This property is coming on the market this week at $265,000.

The market is hopping right now. So, if you need some help finding the right property, or help selling your home, please call us at 602-456-9388.

New to the Get Your PHX website is an instant CMA for your home, or Comparable Market Analysis.

It is simple. Just put in your address and we will do a real analysis for you (no automated, impersonal robots here). Then we can get together and refine that Comparable Market Analysis to account for specifics of your property and your neighborhood.

This is a good time to add a note about the estimates that you can get from those mega sites like Zillow, Realtor.com and Trulia.

They are wildly inaccurate in my experience. Let’s just put it on the table. Because these sites don’t have access to every Multi-Listing Service around the country, they depend on assessor records and property tax records. Property taxes are a reflection of assessors estimates of values, not of sales information.

In fact, there is an on-going debate about what impact these estimates are having on home owners. Here’s an article on the issue from a couple years ago.

Fun fact: Zillow calls them “zestimates” because they can’t legally call it an estimate. We agents can’t even call it an estimate. Unless I am an appraiser, I can only give you a comparative market analysis, or a “comp.” If you want more accurate analysis, let us do a Comparable Market Analysis for you, which is based on the actual Multi-listing Service in Phoenix –not some algorithm based on property tax records.

Another fun fact: Zillow, Realtor.com and Trulia are not in business to help you find a home or sell a home. They are in business to sell realtors like me ad space for folks like you to see while you are on their websites.

Call us at 602-456-9388 for quality analysis and more fun facts.

I toured Matt Seaman’s new development, McKinley Row on 4th Ave and McKinley (MetroWest Development).

First, I’m a big fan of Matt. He is one of the few developers in downtown who is focusing on owner occupied properties on in-fill, walkable parcels. While most other large developers can’t get their heads out of the 1,000+ unit mentality, Matt knows that the future of development will be in finding ways to fill in the many small spaces in Phoenix.

Did you know that 43% of Phoenix is made up of empty lots? Let’s use those for housing, rather than sprawling out in to our beautiful desert, thus causing longer commutes and more pollution.

Matt and I were talking about how the Phoenix push to build apartments over the last ten years crowded out those who want to build owner-occupied properties, but also made it difficult for moderate income folks to afford to live downtown. Part of the problem comes from the investors, who don’t like to back condo projects due to potential lawsuit liability issues.

But, I digress. In short, we have a problem in housing and we need more folks like Matt who can build owner-occupied homes and who can find lower cost ways to build homes for folks in dense urban areas.

I’m not one of those agents who believes that everybody should own a home. But, at last count, there was at least a 6 to 1 ratio of apartments to owner-occupied downtown. Where will all of those renters go in a few years when they want to buy a home and they are priced out? Who will have a stake in our downtown if they all move out?

I wanted to share with you Matt’s project. With 18 town home units at 4th Ave and McKinley, and a similar project coming next year at 2nd Ave and McKinley, Matt is creating homes for downtowners.

Matt tells me that McKinley Row is half sold now, with town homes selling as low as the $390s and as high as the $500s.

Have a look at the photos below. They are just my photos. If you want to see the snazzy photos with the CGI furniture in the rooms, have a look at their website.

The photos below illustrate a few features that I thought were unique.

If you are interested in town house living, please give us a call at 602-456-9388. We’ve represented clients on Matt’s projects before, so give us a call.

MetroWest did a good job of setting back the projects, as required by historic preservation. They’ve left green space and space to enjoy the neighborhood.

These are the massive windows in the corner unit, which you can see from the inside in the next photo. Great views of downtown!

Here are those windows from the inside. That’s a nice view to wake up to.

I did not get a shot from the outside, but this corner unit, in addition to having corner windows on the ground floor, has a separate entrance that you can make in to an office.

Usually, you see images of our listings in this section. However, we sold all of our listings!

Its a nice problem to have, but it sure does leave this section of the newsletter a little barren.

So, I would like to ask you to do one thing for us to bring back those nice photos.

Please support our Charity Referral Network.

You may have seen the following phrase on my email signature or in the Clark Report: “You refer, we donate. Call me today to find out how we can support your favorite charity. We appreciate your referrals!”

This is our attempt to focus positive attention on those charities that you care about, and which do so much good work here in Phoenix.

Here is how it works. If you send us a referral for a home sale or purchase, and that transaction closes, we will make a donation to the charity of your choice. We will post on our blog and on Facebook that your referral was instrumental in making that donation happen.

It is as simple as that. Thank you!

Please give us a call today at 602-456-9388 for more.

Listings are moving quickly now. Its that kind of market. Can you believe it?

Our beautiful listing in the FQ Story Neighborhood went under contract in just four days.

Its a beautiful home, priced right for this strong seller’s market. We worked with the sellers long before they listed to identify the projects to complete in order to get ready for sale.

If you’d like to see more photos of this listing, please have a look here.

The owners did a lot of work to prepare for sale and the home shows beautifully. Local photographer Alonso Parra does a beautiful job with listings, even though he is known more for individual portraits. It does illustrate, however, how important it is to put your best foot forward.

This is a good time to sell, if you’ve been thinking of doing it. If you need help getting ready to list and price your home, give us a call at 602-456-9388.

Last week, I noted that we are in a buyer’s market. I know this because of the The Cromford Report –outstanding data analysis group here in Phoenix. They’re kind of like the Case-Schiller Index –except for Maricopa County, and, you know, ACCURATE!

Today, I want to give a little refresher for those who may not be familiar with The Cromford Report and explain this index, which is specific for The Cromford Report. The Cromford Report was started by Michael Orr, who’s a mathematician from Oxford, and the director for Real Estate, Theory and Practice at ASU.

This index is an algorithm that Orr put together to let us know whether or not we are in a seller’s market or a buyer’s market compared to the last balanced market, which was in 2001-2002.

This slide shows that we are in a buyer’s market.

Anytime this yellow indicator is above 100, it’s a seller’s market or a seller’s advantage, where demand is outstripping supply. When it’s below 100, it’s a buyer’s market.

That means there are more properties than buyers out there to absorb them. When we’re right in this little yellow area, that’s what we consider balance.

The reason why this indicator is important is it’s the very first thing to move when there’s a shift. The very last thing to respond is sale price. So when this moves, you get about a three month advance notice of a shift in price.

See in 2005-2006 how that index dropped dramatically below that yellow line  –that was LONG BEFORE we saw prices start to drop. See the image below, for an example of that lag in prices and perception.

As long as this is above 100, pressure is on prices to go up. As long as it is below 100, pressure is on prices to go down. When it’s at balance, prices will stabilize.

When this indicator shifted, you had one to six months to get out of your property while the prices were still going up. When prices are trailing the indicator, it’s lagging. Once it crossed over the yellow line, it took six more months for our prices to peak.

So in Phoenix, our prices, our raw sale price, didn’t peak until 2006. We actually a year and a half advance notice.

That’s the power of The Cromford Report.

Next week: You’ve probably seen all of the price appreciation and all the fun that comes along with seller’s market all within the last two and a half years, but this shift is significant because it’s not a crash. That line dropping below the yellow line in 2005. That’s a crash. Where we are right now, is not a crash. It’s an adjustment to the market, and we might see this bounce around this line a little bit as we find our new normal. But next week, I’m going to show with the evidence in The Cromford Report where we are and why.

If you are buying or selling you need to pay attention to see where things will go. Got questions? Give me a call me at 602-456-9388.