I was asked about desert landscaping this week, so I thought I’d do a little post on it.

I believe that lush desert landscaping can help your property values. Look at this image to see how the presentation improves.

Plus, Arizona does have a legitimate issue with where it will meet its long-term water resource needs. It feels good to do good by saving water in the desert. Plus, there is that little thing about saving money every month –which, of course, varies depending on how much grass you had before switching to desert.

The important part is to plan it all out. Many people fill their front yard full of rock (they may or may not kill off all of the grass) and it just looks like a parking lot.

The key is in the word “lush.” You can make a plan that reduces or eliminates grass, which is dense, lush and which has flowers all year around.

(I have to insert my apologies to my neighbors right now. My transition from grass to lush desert is taking longer than I thought it was. I’m a perfectionist.)

However, don’t expect that you will be able to have plants that only survive when it rains. Even desert plants need watering, especially when you first get them.

To do this right, I suggest the following:

Vision: a  yard with a number of lush desert plants that each bloom at different times of the year, thus bringing bird, hummingbirds and butterflies, but which don’t require much water.  

I got rid of my grass and saved so much water, that I put in two fruit trees, and I’m still using less water than before.

1) Study and reflect on what you like.
— Go to the Phoenix Botanical Gardens and just look around at what you like.
— Check out the very handy SRP landscaping guide.

2) Draw a plan for yourself about what you would like.

3) Contract with a landscaper to lay out the irrigation system that you will need, if you don’t feel comfortable doing yourself.

These systems are relatively easy to put in, so you will be able to do some work yourself to save money if you want. Talk with the landscaper to see what you can do. For instance, you can choose the rock you like and have it delivered. You can spread that out yourself in a day or two.

Personally, I try to do this part myself. It usually entails about 50 trips to Ace Hardware. In my most recent yard, the disaster of an irrigation system left by the previous owners necessitated that I get a professional landscaper.

Here’s a great resource to find a landscaper who understands desert landscaping.

4) Don’t worry about putting every plant in right away. Just lay out the system to where you want plants to be and know that you can add plants as time goes on, if you can’t afford them all at once. You can also build in an area dedicated to wildflowers if you want.

Expect the cost to include pulling up old sod (it goes deep in to the soil), laying down irrigation pipe and drip hoses and laying in new rock (maybe build a decorative mound).

I do believe that a lush desert landscaping job will make your house stand out and it will give you plenty of beautiful things to look at every day.

If you have more questions, or if you need help planing out a purchase or a sale, please contact me at 602-456-9388 or at ken@getyourphx.com

Last week, we saw how understanding relevant data is vital to how I inform my gut instincts as an agent.

This week, let’s look at how data on historic neighborhoods informs my gut and how what I’m seeing in several “overflow areas” plays into it. Homes in historic neighborhoods are getting more and more expensive, and they will continue to do so as people who value those homes will continue to buy just outside the historic areas. Why? Simply because there is a finite number of them and more people want homes with that character.

So, over-time more people have renovated historic neighborhoods that neighbor the original historic neighborhoods. The supply increases.

This “spillover” dynamic has given us our 35 historic neighborhoods. Specifically, neighborhoods that were seen as “not ready for prime time” are improving right next to the current neighborhoods.

The first historic neighborhood in Phoenix was Roosevelt. Garfield, FQ Story, Willow, Encanto, Palmcroft, and others followed. People around them started saying:

Wait, we have older homes. We either don’t want to or we can’t afford to buy in the historic districts. Or, we believe our neighborhood is unique historically. Let’s apply for historic designation here.

The number of neighborhoods with historic designation has been increasing over the last 30 years, and very dramatically over the last 10 years. Because of my expertise, immersion in the data, and instincts, I know where the spillover is going to happen next. I’m seeing a lot of renovation in areas which you should not pass over for consideration when looking for a home.

Another thing to look for are the “historic-adjacent” neighborhoods. These may never get historic designation, but they benefit from their proximity to historic neighborhoods.

Example: the Woodlea and Melrose districts at 7^th avenue.

The northern of Woodlea is Glenrosa Ave. Technically, north of Glenrosa is not historic because not enough people maintained the original condition of their homes there and not enough people wanted it to be historic.  Homes in the non-historic neighborhood, are much more expensive and enjoy greater stability than they woiuld if they weren’t right next to the historic neighborhood of Woodlea.

What about the east side of 7^th AVe where the houses are very similar to the ones on 7^th Avenue? Unfortunately, they don’t have that historic designation to benefit from.

I’m seeing neighborhoods that were formerly avoided to some degree by agents, but we’re starting to see some good renovations.

Specifically, I’m seeing a lot of renovations in the listings west of 19^th avenue, south of Indian School, and as far south as Encanto. These have a lot of navy brick homes, which are hard to find and very sturdy. New home construction is too expensive and almost never brick. Brick is more stable, better for deterring termites. These were homes built in the 1940’s and 1950’s for the most parts.

I’m also seeing some nice renovations in the area of 24^th street and Thomas; also brick homes. In some areas it’s street by street, where one street is great—with a lot of renovations—and the next street isn’t so good. Another area where I’m seeing a lot of renovation is east of 16^th street, west of the 51 freeway, and south of Indian School. Even compared to a year ago, it’s improved noticeably. It’s happening in that area because it’s spilling over from the Coronado historic neighborhood (which is getting oversold: too many buyers, not enough houses), so people that aren’t finding things under $200,000 are pushing over to the 16^th street areas.

That area has been a little rough in past years, but you’re going to start seeing more and more renovations just outside of the traditional historic neighborhoods, because the historic neighborhoods are pricing higher. Classic supply and demand. You might consider looking into these 16^th street areas because of the action that’s going on there.

There are other neighborhoods further to the east that are going up in price as well, on the other side of the 51, going all the way over to Scottsdale. Give me a call if you’re curious about that.

Shoot, give me a call if you’re curious about other historic spillover areas you’ve got on your mind as well.

I look forward to talking with you. I can be reached at 602-456-9388

While some of you will understand instantly what this post’s subject title means, others will get lost along the way if we don’t clarify some road signs.

That ‘FHA Anti-Flipping Rule Waiver’ stop sign is good through ‘Dec 31, 2012’. No California-stops, please. Thank you.

Before moving forward, let’s make sure we all understand the legal definition of “Property Flipping”:

A practice whereby a property recently acquired is resold for a considerable profit with an artificially inflated value.” ~ Housing and Urban Development / Fair Housing Administration (HUD/FSA)

(And for those who think flipping requires anything less than deep pockets and lots of hard work, the creator and star of A&E’s reality show, “Flip This House” has some great insight into the inevitable question: Is house-flipping as easy as it looks on TV?)

The stop sign was put in on February 1, 2010 by HUD/FHA. Before that, there was one of these:

What that meant was that prior to the February 1, 2010, HUD/FHA didn’t allow a home buyer to use an FHA loan when purchasing a home from an investor who bought the home, did repairs and renovations, then listed it for sale within ninety days of the original acquisition date. If you were a buyer with an FHA loan, you had to wait until the 91st day to make an offer on a flipped home sold by an investor.

This prompted investors to stay away from HUD owned homes, which had the kind of negative effects we’ve all seen with REO’s (bank owned homes) being abandoned for long periods of time, leading to vandalism, squatters, and reflecting poorly on the surrounding community. The rule was originally supposed to expire in Feb 2010, but with so many houses distressed and foreclosed the FHA waived the rule (video) to encourage home buying until Dec 31, 2012.

Because of the FHA 90-day flip waiver extension (full PDF guidelines), investors can now accept offers from FHA buyers within the first 90 days.

This has been an important extension because the goal of ‘house flipping’ is (of course) to sell the home as fast as possible and for as much as possible. This helps to stabilize home prices by allowing home investors to purchase HUD or bank-owned houses and sell them quicker, raise housing prices faster, removing all the negative effects of abandoned homes, and therefore turn the housing market around sooner.

Since the original waiver went into effect on February 1, 2010, FHA has insured nearly 42,000 mortgages worth more than $7 billion on properties resold within 90 days of acquisition.” ~ HUD.gov

Come Jan 1, 2013…

What lies ahead for the U.S. Housing Market…?

What about closer to home, say Central Phoenix? I’ve been writing about that very thing over the last couple months in my series ‘Get Your PHX Market Briefing’ based on my expertise in this area and with invaluable input from Mike Orr at The Cromford Report.

If you would like to be part of a future ‘Get Your PHX Market Briefing’, please contact me at 602-456-9388 or feel free to email me.

“Phoenix’s Innovation and Efficiency efforts are leading the way nationally,” said Mayor Greg Stanton. “As a leader of the city, I get my best ideas from listening to people. We want to put as many of the city’s best ideas forward as possible.”

This deserves a huge round of applause!

The Innovation and Efficiency Task Force went to work January 2010, with private sector members and city executives serving together. Ideas flow through the Task Force to a subcommittee and then to the full City Council. In this excellent 10-minute video the City Celebrates $59 million in Innovation and Efficiency Savings (with numerous specific examples) and announces a $100 million Goal.

“The leadership from Mayor Stanton and Councilman Gates, the full City Council, our Task Force members and hard work from city staff have created a culture of innovation,”said City Manager and Task Force creator, David Cavazos. “Innovative ideas and sound financial management are at the heart of what we do here at the city of Phoenix, and we will continue to find new ideas and solutions.”

Marty Schultz, Task Force Member, and Senior Policy Dir. Brownstein/Hyatt/Farber/Schrek had this to say about the people in the private sector who are involved:

“They are actually very smart people who have finance backgrounds, service backgrounds, and management backgrounds, and have been able to work closely with the city staff.”

This brings to mind a string of programs Mayor Stanton and the city have initiated: In June, I told you about the unveiling of “Go Green Like Your Grocer”, a community energy efficiency showcased at AJ’s Fine Foods; in August, the innovate community-engaging website ‘My Plan Phx’ opened an opportunity for residents to help shape the future of the city through participation in updating the city’s General Plan (Conserve Create ConnectPHX), and planning for the communities along the light rail line (ReinventPHX). This short 1:30 video gives a good idea of what My Plan PHX is all about.

As a former State Legislator and the former state Energy Office Director, I have a strong understanding of energy efficiency in homes. I participated in Energize Phoenix on my property in Garfield, as have many others. That’s a significant bonus when people work with me as their agent. Of the two homes I’ve renovated in Central Phoenix, I did the Energize Phoenix program on my 1925 Arts and Crafts Bungalow. (The other home is a 1948 “war baby” tract home). I understand the attractions and challenges of old homes, as well as how to identify quality new homes. So, please let me know if I can apply my experience to help you buy or sell an energy efficient home in Phoenix.

 [innovation image: seth1492][usa image: Kyle McDonald]

The next time you are around Copper Star Coffee or one of the other locally owned gems on 7th Ave, swing in to the Woodlea Historic Neighborhood and see the my listing at 1109 W. MacKenzie.

Or, you can touch on this link to see the listing right now.

This is truly great renovation. Check out the “before” picture, below. The owners made it their goal to retain and respect the historic qualities of this 1,445 square foot, 3br/1.75ba home on a double lot of land. When you make an offer on this house you actually have to write in the sale of two lots. This is a great big space in an established CenPho historic neighborhood. 

The owners kept the original marble honeycomb tile and flat subway tile in the kitchen and bathroom. They also completely renovated the wood floors and kept the original kitchen vent hood for a touch of historic charm. 

They made detached garage operable again by rebuilding much of the structure. They added fixtures and features throughout the house, but also added new touches like an expanded master bathroom, a 21-SEER air conditioner in the master addition, a patio sitting area. They also re-built the front porch over-hang. Other modern touches include the 6-burner stainless steel stove and recessed lighting.

I was hosting our first open house last week and the neighbors were thrilled with the work that had been done. You will be, too.

I used to live in this neighborhood and I can tell you it is a great place to live, with wonderful people and easy access around town.

Please give me a call at 602-456-9388 to see the home.

==========Pre-renovation Photo===========

 (Photo: Jaydec)

You’ve probably already heard about this Frank Lloyd Wright home, designed for his son, David, in 1950, that was scheduled for demolition. You likely know the current owner had plans to split the lot in half, effectively demolishing the house in the process. Odds are, you read about this at AZcentral.com last Thursday, June 14 or on the front page of the Arizona Republic on Friday, June 15th (Is Phoenix home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in peril?“).

It was the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy that came across an application to split the property and who immediately,

…sought landmark designation and historical-preservation status for the home with the Phoenix Planning Commission in an attempt to fend off any threat to the Gladys and David Wright House, which was originally sold in 2009 by Wright’s great-granddaughters,” reported the Republic’s Philip Haldiman.

 The day the story was published, hundreds of people left comments below the article, protesting the demo plans. On Friday, June 15th, azcentral.com ran a brief story, “Outcry saves Frank Lloyd Wright house“:

[Frank Lloyd] Wright fans feared new owners planned to demolish the home. They packed a Phoenix Planning Commission meeting to protest. Hundreds more mailed or e-mailed their objections.

The new owners heard. Developers Steve Sells and John Hoffman had indeed planned to demolish the home, not realizing its significance. They told Arizona Republic reporter Philip Haldiman that they’ve since learned more about the house, including that its spiral design would later be used in one of Wright’s most famous works, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

After the loud community protest, the demolition plans were dropped.

And on Friday, June 15, the Republic declared, “Frank Lloyd Wright home buyers will work to preserve it“.

This is good news.
Great news.
Of course, it is.

But there’s a Frank Lloyd Wright-like attention to detail at work here. Something I don’t want you to miss. Before the press revealed it. Before Wright fans promoted it. Before emails and voices protested it. It’s the reason this home was even capable of being saved.

Recall that the new owners of the two-acre lot had filed an application to split the property in two. And it was the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy that came across that application. Before they sprung into action and made a move to stop it, they had to discover it.

Unless I’ve got my facts wrong, looking through applications isn’t very sexy. Who knows how many applications this person looks through on any given day? Day after day after week after week, nothing to report. And then, one day, someone noticed. And it’s because of that one person that what followed, followed.

On March 6th, 2012 the Facebook page of the Evans Churchhill Neighborhood featured a photograph of Mayor Stanton cutting the tape for groundbreaking of the new Concord Eastridge in-fill project (located on the two immediate blocks south of Roosevelt, between  3^rd and 4^th street) and wrote, “It promises to be a rewarding addition to our neighborhood and the Roosevelt Row CDC area.”

What you’d expect here is a photo of the glorious $52 million dollar housing project. And though you can follow the link anytime you want, I hope you’ll take a minute or two to be reminded of the history of this plot of land. A big part of the reason Phoenix is accused (by residents and non, alike) of not having any history is because when something new starts to rise, there is scarcely a memorial of what’s gone before.

According to historical imagery from Google Earth (left), the real estate of this block has been empty and barren since at least 1992.  (Note monOrchid, top left of the photo, the location of our next Get Your PHX event).

As long as I, or anyone I’ve asked, can remember, this was what it always looked like. The foundations of buildings are all that remain.

In May 2010, playwright and screenwriter, Dan Frey, captured the essence of this very block when he described it in his contribution to the Phoenix art exhibit, ‘26 Blocks’:

“Mostly just space now. Space for Terry to fill shopping carts with recyclables until there’s enough to sell. Space for those kids to smoke and see anyone coming before they get in trouble. Space for an Asian-fusion-smelling breeze to cool you off. A space everyone looks through and walks around. Which makes it the perfect place to stop and look up.”

It also made it the perfect place to stop and look down, as ’26 Blocks’ photographer Chris Loomis showed us in this helicopter shot of the same location.

For two years, the crop circle has been there. Like a target, waiting for something new to set its sights on the future of that block.

March 16th, 2012, two years later,  the Phoenix New Times publishes an article and updates our collective memories with photographs of the work-in-progress: “Construction on Concord Eastridge’s Roosevelt Row Apartment Complex in Full Swing”.

 “$52 million dollar housing project…[to be] completed June 2013… two buildings, one seven stories, one eight stories…325 apartments will be located in each building, as well as 7,500 square-feet of retail and restaurant space on the ground level…500 square-foot studios to four-bedroom apartments…high-speed Internet, private gyms, and swimming pools”.

The New Times article also mentioned that Greg Esser (long time partner of Cindy Dach, who we wrote about in a post last week about Changing Hands) was in attendance at the groundbreaking. If it feels like this blog post is cross-referencing itself more than usual, do read the excellent Downtown Phoenix Journal post from this Feb., “Creating Downtown“, where you’ll see just how interconnected Greg Esser, Cindy Dach, Wayne Rainey (owner of monOrchid), are…and why.

Writer Susan Copeland has a paragraph in the article which she uses to make a great point. One worth clipping here:

Wayne Rainey, Kimber Lanning and Dach/Esser all bought buildings and created art spaces within six months of each other. The prices were low enough at the time to make the spaces affordable. Dach says that artists are natural problem solvers. “We looked at the closed up buildings and dark spaces and said, ‘Yeah, this sucks. How can we fix it?’”

Phoenix New Times says “[The Concord Eastridge Roosevelt Row Apartment Complex will] change the face of the Roosevelt Row arts district.”

It certainly will.

My hope is that it will also remind us of the crop circle target on the long empty lot, and that we should continue to work on Phoenix by setting our sights on the empty lots that remain.

This time of year means a lot of energy consumption. Between all of the electronic games you give your kids and Christmas decorations, there will be spikes in energy bills across the city. (Especially if I can get a hold of one of those Kinect things. I’m gonna dance my tushie off.)

But one organization is here to help. The City of Phoenix is offering huge cash incentives to make your home more energy efficient.

The Energize Phoenix Program is offering energy-efficient improvements to neighborhoods along the light rail downtown.  Energize Phoenix has been fortunate to call on an established base of private-sector contractors experienced in energy efficiency work and programs. Not only will the program will provide cost-effective energy upgrades, but when you choose to update old, energy sucking appliances, they will shell out the cash to match the rebate that comes with energy saving production, all in the name of reducing energy consumption.

In 2010 the program was awarded 25 Million from the Better Building Program. Energize Phoenix aimed to upgrade 2,000 homes and 30 million square feet of business space. That’s right. This money will go towards commercial, residential, and industrial space all along the 10 mile “Green Rail”. The program hopes to reduce energy use in homes by 30% and commercially by 18% by 2013. And their well on their way.

On Wednesday, Energize Phoenix announced new territories, expanding their effort from Central and Missouri Avenues to Washington and 44^th Streets. According to an Energize Phoenix representative, Phoenix is  “presented with a unique opportunity to become more green’ by making homes and businesses more energy efficient through the Energize Phoenix program. Downtown Phoenix is an ideal area for Energize Phoenix because the homes and businesses are among the oldest building stock in the city, which often translates to less efficient buildings.”

Of course this effort isn’t just in the name good doing and green living. It’s for research! Over the next few years, they hope to “evaluate energy savings of Energize Phoenix through macro statistical analysis of all projects and individual case studies of select projects.” That sounds science-y, right? It just means, they’re going to find out what works. Energize Phoenix is also, at its core, an effort to raise awareness and turn the green corridor into a mass energy saving community. 

You’ve probably noticed by now that I am a huge fan of reuse and re-purposing in Phoenix. With all the available space downtown, why not?

The Cathedral Town homes are a great example of adaptive reuse. This building, which used to be owned by the church across the street as rental property, has transformed in to elegant and (actually spacious) urban condos.

The developer, Metro West Development,  took an historic 1913 building and converted it into four modern townhouse-style condo’s ranging in size from 1,674 to 1,886 square feet. Located about 200 feet away from the Arts District light rail stop, the condos are just a short walk from dozens of local restaurants, markets, large entertainment venues, as well as Hance and the Downtown Civic Space Parks.  And though the neighborhood surrounding is great, it’s what’s inside that really gets me excited.

Metro West Development has a history of great work in downtown renovations. The Cathedral Townhomes have been stripped to the bone and rebuilt.  While these homes have been updated, the developer has gone the extra mile to maintaining a historical feel. Homes come with new Kohler fixtures, quartz kitchen countertops, double hung windows (many original that have been restored), and historically accurate high baseboards.

Through the years, I’ve seen many renovations and I’m genuinely impressed by this one. Three of the units are still available. The condos are currently priced in the $200s with a 140/mo HOA fee.

I don’t represent these homes, but I’m happy to show you. Please contact me at 602-456-9388

Continue reading

Well, it’s been a long time in the making, but I’ve got a new website.

Now you can:

1) Find more information about Get Your PHX events.

2) More blog posts, news and analysis.

3) Log on and instantly to search the real estate market in the entire valley. There is sooooo much more power in this website!

4) Access pre-made searches for everything from historic homes to those super-cheap condos around town.

Let me elaborate on #3.

On my previous site you could see some searches, but only the criteria that I create for you. Click on “Search the Entire Valley” and you will be able to define your own searches!

I’m even opening up the blog to contributors who want to share thoughts ideas and experiences about how they “Get Their PHX”. So, have a look. Poke around.

Send me your thoughts!

Cheers,

Ken