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.
Special thanks to Anna Kuttner of Haven Boutique for hosting an incredible Get Your PHX event last month. Anna gave out over $200 worth of prizes and discounted her wares for our event. Thanks also to Bob Hodge of Hob Nobs for providing food for Get Your PHX and for hosting our after-party. We had about 100 people through to celebrate Haven Boutique.
We are very excited about the June Get Your PHX at monOrchid. For those of you not new to Get Your PHX, you will recall that we visited monOrchid back in 2009. We are returning because monOrchid is undergoing a renaissance of sorts.
We have a whole cast of great characters for this next event. First, you will get to learn about monOrchid’s new push to revitalize a hub for creative industries on Roosevelt, with new pricing structures for their co-lab spaces.
“Businesses can rent creative space for as little as $250 per month and offices for as little at $550 per month,” says owner Wayne Rainey.
Second, and crucial to creating a space that is full of activity and collaboration, monOrchid is introducing the Songbird Coffee and Tea House. This next Get Your PHX event will be an exclusive look at the new downtown addition, only weeks before it opens.
According to Wayne, “With the introduction of Songbird and the array of other creative businesses sharing this space, our customers have access to unparalleled creative collaborations.”
To add a berry on the top of this ice cream sunday of pure sunshine, our own Monika Woolsey has organized for MojoTree Farms, an exotic food importer, to host the event and showcase their new import, thePichuberry. This healthy fruit is a fair trade, nutritious fruit, which MojoTree is hoping to begin growing in Arizona as a local and unique alternative. Mojo will show us how the fruit can be used in foods and, yes, even cocktails. So, you don’t want to miss that part!
monOrchid played a central and historically important role in the development of First Fridays downtown. I’m so excited about this new creative hub that I am going to have office space there as well, where I will be helping monOrchid market the new creative co-lab efforts.
Keep an eye on our Facebook Fan Page for updates. As you know, there are always surprises.
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.
Phoenix homeowners have kept a close watch on the housing market with a certain air of disappointment. Chances are they had high hopes for their homes. For most people the idea behind home ownership is to buy a home, live there for as long as the location and characteristics of the home suit their lifestyles, and sell the home years down the line while pocketing a little extra built-up equity — or using it to buy a better home. Time is running out to short sale and avoid possible tax liability.
Prices on Downtown Phoenix homes have been steadily rising for the past year. When inventory goes down, prices go up (you probably learned that in your high school econ class) But, that’s not bound to last. Home builders are ramping up quickly. So, the rising prices will level out a little later this year. People are buying in the late spring and summer for job relocations and to close in time to get kids in to new schools, etc.
So if your looking to sell your home, now’s the time. I truly enjoy helping people make smart real estate decisions. Call today
Dog Lovers Unite!
If your and your pooch have been begging (pun intended) for an escape from your usual routin
e, The Hance Park Steering Committee has recently recommended that the redesign of Hance Park include an off-leash dog park facility. You may remember in early March when plans for a temporary dog park at Margaret T Hance Park were approved. There are currently two locations being scouted for a permanent dog park.
So as you and your pooch start to enjoy the dog days of summer (teehee), think about how dog parks provide a safe, friendly, positive community experience for their users. Not only would this neighborhood addition be a welcome fun spot for, you know, Spot!, but would be an asset to the community at large in the form of a safe, well lit park where neighbors can meet.
Community involvement is just as important as the park itself. So if you are licking your chops for a dog park (seriously, I can’t stop) you’re invited to attend the Parks Board hearing on Thursday, April 26th at 5:00p @ PHX City Council Chambers, 200 W. Jefferson.
We also encourage you to write an email of support to the following:
Our councilman: Councilman Nowakowski at (602) 262-7492 or council.district.7@phoenix.gov
The Chair of the Parks Subcommittee: Councilman Simplot at (602) 262-7447 or council.district.4@phoenix.gov
Phoenix Actiing Parks Director: Jim Burke at james.burke@phoenix.gov or (602) 262-4986
Chair of the Parks Board: Delia Ortega-Nowakowski at deliao-n@cox.net
SAMPLE copy for email:
I am a homeowner that resides in the downtown neighborhood (you can add your neighborhood here).
I encourage the Parks Board to move forward with the identified temporary location for a dog park in Hance Park between 3rd & 5th Avenues.
I believe this dog park will bring a much needed new energy to Hance Park, attract park users, while giving property owners a new amenity to tout for the area. In addition, this new park use will attract responsible dog owners to Hance Park, giving more eyes on the park in deterring crime and the transient population, while building community. The dog park will also increase safety for dogs, and non-dog owners as well.
Please move forward on this ideal location for a new downtown dog park and thank you for supporting this new park amenity downtown.
—Thanks to Kate Kunberger for tipping us off to this little treat.
Whether you are short selling or just selling, you will do better if you stage the home. If you are short selling, the better price you bring in, the happier your lender and the sooner you can move on.
Home staging is about illusions. It’s like Houdini, but with selling a house. It’s beyond decorating and cleaning. It’s about perfecting the art of creating moods. Moods that say ‘Buy My House’
Staging makes your house look bigger, brighter, cleaner, warmer, more loving and, best of all, it makes home buyers want to buy it.
Contrary to what you might think, it’s about more than preparing the house for sale. Staging is what you do after you’ve cleaned, decluttered, painted, made minor repairs; it’s all about dressing the house for sale.
Yes, this seems obsessive but buyer love to snoop. You want your house to look like their dream home. And if you have any questions about selling your home, call us today at 602-456-9388 and we can make it happen for you!
Do you owe more than your home is worth?
Are you struggling to make payments?
Have you been thinking about short selling but don’t know where to start? 
Your chance to short sell and still seek tax relief is disappearing quickly. The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act allows you to avoid paying taxes on mortgage debt forgiven by your lender.
This relief will only last until the end of 2012.
Short selling is never ideal, but it is a lot easier than it has ever been. The average length of time to short sell has dropped and lenders are getting better about closing short sale transactions.
Here’s a little more background: Since 2007, the Mortgage Debt Relief Act has allowed owners selling their homes through a short sale to do so without having to pay tax on the amount their mortgage holders forgave them. In previous days the money that the bank forgave on the loan would have been considered by the IRS as some sort of income on which you must pay taxes!
That will end December 31, 2012, giving homeowners until the end of this year to get out from under their debt without facing tax consequences.
Real estate brokers and agents specializing in the listing and sale of short sales have become the busiest in the industry. The moral here is that if you are going to do a short sale, do it now. While most short sales take 3-4 months, some can take longer. You do not want to be sweating out a December 31st closing.
Call us today at 602-456-9388 and we can make it happen for you!
Many people think “I’ll make an offer on a home and figure out later how I’ll pay for it.” But if you want your offer to be taken seriously and if you want to avoid complications when you close on the home, you must get pre-qualified before you start looking.”
See the image below of the form, below.
Pre-qualification quick but very important as you get ready to make offers. And in this market, where houses are selling in days, you can’t NOT have that pre-qualification form ready.
Why? Because there are 3 people who will benefit from your preapproval: You, your Agent, and the seller from whom you eventually buy a home.
Prequalification serves two primary purposes:
But the benefits continue.
A mortgage loan prequalification is simply an estimate of how much house you can afford and how much money a lender would be willing to loan you. The best time to get a prequalification is right at the beginning of your home buying process, before you even start looking at houses. Realtors also prefer that you have a prequalification letter before they start showing houses so they know the price range you have qualified for.
And, in the event you’re competing with multiple offers on your dream home, most sellers will consider offers with prequalification letters before those without. In this market, that’s extra handy. Last year at this time there were about 6,000 active properties, today their are only about 2,000.
The Prequalification process involves either sitting down with a lender or talking with one on the phone, and providing information on your income, assets, debts, and a potential down payment amount. The lender would then provide you with a ballpark figure in writing of how much he thinks you could afford to pay for a monthly mortgage. There is no cost involved and there is no commitment on either side. This estimate is just helpful in helping you figure out if buying a home is a viable option, and if so, what your price range would probably be.
So if you’re thinking of buying a home in downtown phoenix, Call Jeannie! She’ll help you with the whole process.
Or call me for more information about the market: 602-456-9388.
We’ve reached a critical point as a city. Now in our hundredth year, the city of Phoenix has a terrible habit of demolishing it’s own history. Most of our historic properties are gone. As a city we need to constantly work to preserve historic properties in Phoenix.
The Lugo Bakery and W.L. Bobo House are two historic sites, built between 1910 and 1920 looking for investors to save the structures from disrepair. Written assessments have been done on both structures, but they need willing buyers to rescue them.
The Luis Lugo Bakery known originally as the La Pantellera was constructed in 1917. It’s a 2,000 square foot commercial structure, complete with a basement, 1,300 square foot addition, and vacant lot for possible parking. Overall, the Lugo Bakery is in poor condition.
Poor design, haphazard construction techniques,weathering, neglect, and unsympathetic renovations have not been kind to certain exterior building elements which require immediate attention to prevent further deterioration and/or lost of historic fabric. This building is in need 
of some serious TLC, ranging just under $400,000 according to the Building Condition Assessment Report.
The building has strong potential as an office, art gallery, sandwich/coffee shop, or bakery (duh). The bakery and grocery store was in continuous use for
nearly 50 years. The Luis Lugo Bakery is a rare example of an early Hispanic commercial
property in downtown Phoenix and should be saved
The property has a two story private residence attached, which is also in disrepair. This update is estimated around $170,000
The W.L. Bobo House is in the McKinley Park subdivision. The W. L. Bobo House, a charming Craftsman
bungalow at the southwest corner of 13th & Roosevelt Streets, is threatened with demolition. It’s on a double lot and has a porte cochere on the 13th Street side and a detached garage at the rear. The house has numerous architectural features that set it apart as an unique design. Character-defining features include:
It’s a true fixer upper, but the building is in pretty good shape considering it’s from 1912. The house needs new roofing, the foundation needs repair, and some window fixes and a fresh coat of paint would do it some good. The interior needs all new plumbing, heating, electric, and replacement woodwork. Most of the fixes are minor, and according to the Building Condition Assessment Report the total updates would cost approximately $143,240. This residence could have a future at a single family home or a business/art gallery depending on the buyer.
Despite the cost , rehabilitating the residence would undoubtedly broaden the historical setting of the Lugo Bakery and Bobo House and add charm to the street scape. Historic Properties like these are priceless to our community’s history and future.
You have to give it to them. Despite upcoming triple digit temperatures, the Phoenix Bike Community never stops peddling.
And why would they? All Valley Metro buses are equipped with bike racks and the city is finally expanding bike lanes to help support this very green form of travel.
And I have to say finally! I remember about 12 years ago I tried to ride my bike to work from the Willo neighborhood to downtown. I was certain every morning that I was going to die. The drivers would buzz me as if to say, “yeah, buddy, we’re gonna enforce this here no-ride zone.”
Anyway, in Celebration of the city’s growing bike scene, Twenty-five top local graphic designers will show their original bicycle-themed poster artwork for Third Friday festivities and through the month of April by appointment all leading up to Pedal Craft.
The one night event will feature lots of bikes, plenty of beer, and a bike themed poster show highlighting Phoenix bike culture. Throughout Phoenix, bicyclists, walkers, and pedicab riders will be visiting downtown Phoenix restaurants that have installed bike racks and are offering special menu discounts for PEDAL CRAFT PHX participants. Those bike racks were created in part by SideWalk Phoenix, a newly formed advocacy group for walkable, bikeable, and livable communities, will display a dozen one-of-a-kind bicycle racks designed by local artists and metal sculptors.
SideWalk Phoenix will be raising awareness and funds at Pedal Craft to create a temporary infill “pop-up” park at the quarter-acre Ro2 Lot at 1005 North Second Street. According to Pedal Craft Co-organizer, Jim McPherson, “Fun, community-minded events like PEDAL CRAFT PHX help to raise awareness and, knock on wood, support for much needed bicycle transportation initiatives in the Valley.”
These are great community organizations and members working together for the great phoenix area. I’m inspired every time I see a new project like this come together.
THIS, my friends, is why people are flocking to Phoenix.
