On June 30th of this month, this coming Sunday, the sun will raise the temp over 115. (At precisely 2:47pm, on June 26, yesterday, in 1990, the temperature hit 122 degrees. That record is unbroken. We hope this weekend it will remain that way.) And yes, anything over 110 is plenty hot enough, but their are two golden reasons you should get exited about this coming Sunday:  “Indie Week” starts!

Here be ye Golden Coupon.

It’s the ticket to saving 20% off purchases from 282 local Arizona businesses being honored and recognize by Local First Arizona. This list of participating businesses will be continually added to through the month of June. Simply print the Golden Coupon from the LFA website or pull it up on your smartphone and use it at as many participating locations as you like (some restrictions may apply).

 Local businesses are the backbone of this country and we have a lot to thank them for.”  ~ Local First AZ news page

The official name is “National Independents Week”, but if you’re cool and hip “Indie Week” is the bee’s knees. (I may have lost some cool points on that last bit).

What better time to thank independent local businesses who are responsible for local job creation and so much community involvement?

Independents Week is especially important in Arizona during the slow summer months for many of our local business owners,” says Kimber Lanning, Director of Local First Arizona.

Our hope is that consumers will learn about the value of supporting local businesses during Indie Week, and then continue to support our independent businesses far beyond our week-long celebration.”

Step up and take the pledge to support Indie Week. Everyone who takes the pledge will automatically be entered into a contest to win a staycation: the package includes a one night stay at Globe’s Noftsger Hill Inn Bed and Breakfast and a meal at Safford’s A Step Back in Time Coffee & Deli.

When:   Sunday, June 30 through Sunday, July 7

Where:  All over Arizona in 282 independent businesses.

I chose to work with HomeSmart because it is locally-owned. I left my previous brokerage because it was bought out by an out-of-state company. I put my money where my mouth is and I will do that with the purchase or sale of your home. Please give me a call at 602-456-9388 or email me at ken@getyourphx.com.

The folks at Co+Hoots have been temporarily working out of monOrchid for a couple months while their new office digs are finished, further downtown.

We’ve had a great time together, but when they leave there will be a few coveted spaces open around here. This is a great place to work.

I should know, I work here. We have a coffee shop, inexpensive but urban-hip office space, access to specialists in all fields and other amenities.

Check out this PDF document with the expected upcoming vacancies and the prices.

Give me a call at 602-456-9388 for information.

Please spread the word. We have two open houses this weekend.

Saturday from noon until 3pm – 4729 N 76th Pl. in Scottsdale
This is a great single level home in Villa Monterey. Corner unit with rare side access gate to backyard. 2 bedrooms plus bonus den area. Updated kitchen with granite counter tops, built-in oven, smooth cook top, and eating area. Expansive living room huge window overlooking private yard. Huge master suite with updated bath. Private backyard with covered patio and mature citrus trees.

Drop by and say hello to Michelle Conley, the newest Get Your PHX team member.

Sunday from 11am to 2pm – 140 E Coronado Rd.

Villa del Coronado is one of the most sought after and unique co-op communities in Phoenix, steps away from museums, light rail, health clubs and restaurants. This 2 bedroom, 1.75 bath home has seen numerous improvements over recent years: opening up the living and dining rooms, UV protecting on the windows, renovating the kitchen a installing a beautiful master bathroom. Don’t miss the huge 5′ x 24′ living room balcony and the 5′ x 14′ off the master bedroom. Located in an elevator building, this unit is one of the few with a permitted full size washer and dryer and a detached garage! Cash buyers or seller may carry. All utilities and property taxes are included in the monthly HOA fee. This is perfect for refined downtown living.

Devour Phoenix and Waste Not are joining forces together with local restaurants to raise money for hungry Phoenix children, July 17th – 31^st.

Devour Phoenix members will use local food producers such as Scheriener’s Sausage, Crooked Sky Farms, Chili Acres, Schnepf Farms, MJ Bread, The Meat Shop, Seacat Farms, Desert Blossom Honey, Queen Creek Olive Mill, McClendon’s Select,High Spirits Gin to raise funds for Waste Not.

Devour Phoenix is a city-wide, non-profit coalition of selected, independent restaurants operating under the umbrella of Local First Arizona. Waste Not works behind-the-scenes to rescue cooked, perishable foods that would otherwise go to waste and through a logistical marvel they get nourishment to those who need it most.

Believe it or not, 1 in 4 Phoenix children go to bed hungry. “By teaming up, [Devour Phoenix and Waste Not] hope to feed 100,000 people in the Phoenix area,” said journalist Danielle Verbrigghe in a  recent Phoenix Business Journal article.

“This is one pick up in my ride along. We picked up another 48 gallons of milk, 160 pounds of meat and about 300 pounds of bread, pastries and dry food,” said  Devour Phoenix Coordinator, Margaree Bigler.

“It was incredible. They are an amazing organization and the restaurants are happy to collaborate for such a great cause. I went on a ride along with one of the trucks and the sheer quantity of food rescued was incredible. It’s a very efficient operation– food is picked up and distributed the same day. The effects are immediate. ”

Check out this 3-minute video and see how every $1 of Devour Phoenix and Waste Not fundraiser will go to feed hungry Phoenix children.

My clients are renting a 1,500 square foot townhouse at Portland 38, downtown. It is a great opportunity to live in the heart of the city and still have comforts such as a personal garage, modern appliances and new construction. Check this out!

These townhouses were built in 2007 with a great industrial style and centered around modern living. The spaces are open, fresh and clean. Check out this link to look at the listing. And, of course, give me a call at 602-456-9388 if you have questions.

The Arizona Corporation Commission last week voted on proposals to reduce the solar rebates that utilities offer you when you install solar panels on your home. There is some debate within the solar industry about whether this is good or bad for the market, as a whole. But we  can say that your personal incentives will go down while incentives for central station power plant will remain the same. Three of these are the same Corporation Commissioners who voted to call a trash burning power plan “clean”.

There is a lot packed in to what I just wrote. So, let me explain. Stay with me because this is a crucial change in direction from the days when the Corporation Commission first started pushing the use of renewable energy.

First, some definitions:

Distributed Power Generation means people generating power from their homes. Good ol’ solar panels which increase your freedom, generate power where it is used and save you money.

Central Station Power Generation means big, remote power plants that actually waste energy as they send energy hundreds of miles to where you use it.

Corporation Commission is the constitutionally-empowered, elected body in Arizona which sets rates for power as well as how much renewable energy we use.

Rebates: we all pay a small amount of money on our bills, which goes in to a pot of funds. Some of that money can be used by people when they install solar on their homes, to bring down the cost. It is available to anybody who wants to use it …..until the money runs out. The current Corporation Commission is shrinking these rebates for regular folks and businesses in favor of big utility companies.

Second, some history:

When the Arizona Corporation Commission created the “Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff”, they divided money between central station (70%) and distributed power (30%). So, the money goes to paying down the higher cost of installing these technologies (which end up being cheaper in the long run). They gave more money to central station than to distributed because those projects are just bigger.

There is a traditional battle in the world of energy between distributed power and central station power. Utility companies like central station power because they have more control and, more importantly, they don’t lose customers (and money) when you decide you want to generate your own electricity. Freedom-loving, true patriots who want to throw off the shackles of Big Brother support distributed generation. (Am I showing bias here?)

OK, that was a little tongue-in-cheek. In reality, we need both distributed and central station. However, the current Corporation Commission is showing favoritism toward the wishes of the big power companies and they are ignoring the needs of regular home owners who want to save money and install solar.

Three of the five current Corporation Commissioners have shown that they don’t care about the overwhelming wishes of home owners to install solar energy and build our new energy economy.

Please take the time to learn about the three candidates for this year’s election who have a proven track record of supporting renewable energy. These three are all Clean Elections candidates.

– Paul Newman  www.paulnewmanaz.com

– Sandra Kennedy  www.kennedyacc2012.com

First, a quote from our resident expert, Sr. Loan Officer of Nova Home Loans, Jeannie Bolger:

Effective June 11, 2012–for  any FHA note that was endorsed by HUD on or before May 31^st, 2009–qualifies for reduced MIP on a Streamline Refinance (No Appraisal).  Upfront MIP goes to .01% and Annual MIP will be .55%. Current upfront MIP is 1.75% and the Annual is 1.25%. HUGE SAVINGS.

What? You don’t speak Klingon or Mortgagease?

This may help.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is a branch of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The FHA was developed during the Great Depression as as an effort to stimulate the real estate housing market. The main purpose of the FHA is to encourage home ownership in the United States. To accomplish this, the FHA insures mortgages against the default of borrowers. 

Do you have a current FHA loan (note) that was endorsed (or closed) by HUD prior to May 31, 2009? If so, your FHA loan qualifies for a significant reduction in your upfront Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP; an insurance policy that compensates lenders/investors for losses in the event of a defaulted mortgage loan) on a Streamline Refinance (No Appraisal).

The current upfront MIP is 1.75%. Let’s say your FHA Streamline Refinance of your home is for a new $100,000 mortgage. The FHA will charge you $1,750 upfront on the mortgage insurance premium (MIP). You pay this at closing and the $1,750 payment  automatically rolls  into your new loan balance.

On June 11, the new upfront MIP will be  .01%  This is a HUGE SAVINGS. Using the $100,000 new mortgage example above, you would only pay $1 !

Also beginning June 11, 2012, the FHA will reduce it’s 1.25% annual MIP ($1,250) to just .55 % for certain FHA borrowers (or $550)–more than a 50% savings!

This is one way that FHA can make a real difference to help homeowners who are doing the right thing, paying their bills on time and want to take advantage of today’s low interest rates. By significantly reducing costs for these borrowers, we can make certain they cut their monthly mortgage burden which will benefit the housing market and the broader economy in the process,” said Federal Housing (FHA) Commissioner, Carol Galante. Read the full HUD Press Release here.

Read Jeannie Bolger’s quote at the top of this post, again, and you’ll be amazed at how much Klingon Mortgagease you speak!

REMEMBER: For home loans endorsed by HUD before May 31, 2009

PLEASE NOTE: Loan application may be started prior to June 11^th, but FHA case # must be ordered after June 11^th, 2012 to qualify for program and reduced MIP.

Call Jeannie Bolger, Sr. Loan Officer Nova Home Loans, for more information:  (602) 550-8674

[Photo: Images_of_Money]

You may have seen my previous stories about the effort to put historic trollies on Grand Avenue as an economic development project. This low-cost project would help encourage new businesses along Grand Ave between Van Buren and Roosevelt –a trend that is already under way, but which could quicken and bring new income to Phoenix.

Since writing these stories, I joined the Grand Avenue Rail Project (GARP) board and we are working to get recognition of the great return on investment this represents.

It came to my attention this last week that the folks at the Trolley Museum, where they house the historic trollies which we hope to use on Grand Ave., have received a proposal from a neighboring city to take our trollies and add them to their local museum.

From what I am hearing, the Phoenix Trolley Museum folks, not getting a particularly warm feeling from City of Phoenix, are seriously considering taking this other museum up on their offer. From what I hear, some in the City really want to take back the trolley museum building at Margaret T. Hance Park so they can use it for other things. They have gone so far as to encourage the Trolly Museum to move, but they have not provided a viable place for them to go.

The sad part is that there is a very viable option, which the Museum folks and GARP founder Robert Graham have been advocating for: put the trolly museum on Grand Ave., along with an accompanying trolly line that will encourage new business on Grand.

Thus their frustration.

Here is my concern: if the Trolley Museum moves to some other city, it will be even more difficult to see the GARP idea through and it will represent yet another Phoenix stab at historic preservation. Even sadder is the fact that the city does not need to lay out much money to make this happen. They just need to partner on proposals to the federal government for transportation dollars, which can be used for this purpose.

The estimated cost to build the infrastructure, outfit a new museum on grand and operate the system: $10 million. I believe that the resulting new home sales, infill development and business starts along grand will be worth ten times that.

Please contact your city councilmen and let them know that you support the Grand Avenue Rail Project.

I’m very proud to announce a new listing that I have at the widely-coveted Villa del Coronado.

Please see this link for the listing information.

These condos, built in 1958 are one of the few quintessential examples of Mid-Century Modern design left in Phoenix. Did you know that one of our previous governors used to own a property here?

I use the word “coveted”, above because this community is absolutely pristine and sought-after by Mid-Century Modern buffs.

The owner of this property has renovated the bathrooms with beautiful modern features, opened up the great room. The Villa de Coronado community has two salt water pools, with one heated. It is also one of the few properties downtown with individual garage parking.

The community takes care of everything, even some maintenance for each unit. That way you can get out and explore, wether you are going across the street to the Phoenix Art Museum or to the light rail stop about 300 feet away.

These properties are co-operative condos, a rare breed in Phoenix. As such, the properties are kept in immaculate condition by people who are very particular about the type of property they own. It means that if you own one, you actually own a portion of a corporation. As such, all of your taxes, electricity, gas and other usual HOA fees are paid out of one monthly fee. It also means that these properties can only change hands by paying cash, with one exception –“seller carrybacks”. Financing is not an option.

To put it another way, because you are buying in to a corporation a lender is not likely to give you a loan.

What is a “seller carryback,” you ask? Check out this post from way back in 2010 about seller carrybacks and how they work. Basically, you can buy it directly from the owner through installments.

If you want more information about this unique opportunity, please give me a call at 602-456-9388.