local expert: Staging the Back Yard for Emotional Appeal: Garden Sculpture in Tucson, AZ - 06/15/08 09:52 PM
You don't notice him right away; he's quiet and unassuming. He blends in with the granite boulders that define my goldfish pond. The artist who created him as "outdoor art" lives and works in Colorado.
When I first met his gaze, he was looking out of a glass case in a … (21 comments)
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local expert: Looking Back at the Good Old Days? Better Keep an Eye On the Road Ahead. - 05/20/08 11:44 PM
Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear.
No, they're not.
Despite what you see in the rear view mirror, the good old days are not coming back.
I don't have the NAR statistics on the average age of REALTORS, but I'm betting that my generation comprises more than … (21 comments)
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local expert: Unique Chalet Graces Madera Canyon Near Green Valley, Arizona - 05/17/08 11:37 PM
Everything this man builds, from the tiniest birdhouse to an exquisite B&B in the Coronado National Forest, speaks to his love of wood and craftsmanship.
Take Exit 63 on Interstate 19, and go east. Follow the signs for Madera Canyon, and you'll find this little gift shop and chalet nestled against … (13 comments)
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local expert: News Flash: Chase Dumps Home Equity Line of Credit Business - 05/15/08 06:50 PM
I just received an email from my Chase Account Executive regarding Home Equity Lines of Credit. Chase is getting out of that business. Here's what the email announced:
Unfortunately, given the market conditions Chase Home Finance has made the decision toeliminate the Home Equity Channel. Effective end of day Friday May … (12 comments)
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local expert: I-10 Expansion Half Finished in Tucson - 05/11/08 11:28 PM
We call it "the Tunnel." It's a section of Interstate 10 through Tucson's downtown, from Prince Road to the Interstate 19 interchange.
The tunnel funnels traffic past the construction area where our interstate is being widened to accomodate our growth as a city.
The lanes through the Tunnel have been narrowed … (13 comments)
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local expert: Tucson's Version of the Hot Dog: Sonoran! - 05/10/08 11:55 PM
"So," I asked little Galilea at my favorite roadside hot dog stand here in the Tucson Mountains, "Do you run the business while your Daddy makes the hot dogs?"
"No," she grinned. "Actually, I pretty much don't do anything." Not true. She's the salesperson. Galilea claps her hands and smiles when … (16 comments)
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local expert: Local Expresso Entrepreneurs Battle Starbucks and Thrive - 05/10/08 11:37 PM
Starbucks Coffee is getting gray around the temples. It's beginning to show its age, so to speak.
Once the local Starbucks stores reached the saturation point, we began to see Starbucks kiosks in the local grocery chains.
How big can you get before you've saturated your market?
New competitors with great … (9 comments)
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local expert: Long Skinny House Update 1. Spec Home in Tucson 170' Long, 9' Wide - 05/10/08 10:01 AM
Motorhomes (with their slide-out rooms and awnings) are wider than this Tucson, AZ spec house!
Back in January 2008, I wrote a post about this unique home when it was first under construction. Here's the link: Long Skinny House. 170' long. 9' wide.
What you see here on the left of … (19 comments)
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local expert: Jazz at the China Rose, Tucson, Arizona - 05/04/08 12:15 AM
I love Chinese food. I love good jazz. Until coming to Tucson ten years ago, the two never shared the same file space in my brain.
That was before I visited the China Rose on Speedway in Tucson, AZ.
Frank Hartline invited me to join him and his wife Cheryl for dinner … (5 comments)
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local expert: False Advertising and the Bathroom Break - 04/27/08 06:54 AM
Any port in a storm... We were driving through New Mexico last week, and saw the Necessary as we pulled off Interstate 10.
No Key Needed was painted in five inch high letters, but as I got closer, it was apparent that this was indeed, false advertising. LOL
I'm Mike in Tucson, … (23 comments)
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local expert: The Home Inspector Told the Bank I Needed A New Roof - 04/24/08 12:24 AM
This is why we'll always have a job. The buyer in the FSBO transaction paid for a home inspection.
The home inspector told him that the roof was not economically repairable because of the age of the house, and that he shouldn't put much money into something so old.
I guess the … (18 comments)
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local expert: Photograpy on the Fly: West Texas on the Way to Tucson - 04/21/08 10:23 PM
West Texas, driving home to Tucson.
Keep the shiny side up. That's the main thing on my mind.
West Texas is flat, monotonous, and the Interstate runs a straight line to the horizon.
Except for the rumble strips to keep you awake, what do you do to relieve the boredom?
I take photos. Set the … (22 comments)
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local expert: Just For (Lenn &) Lenders: Reduced Doc Loans Follow Dodo Bird to Extinction - 04/10/08 08:04 AM
For years, my favorite loan for high FICO borrowers with substantial assets and large down payments has been Suntrust's "Eligible" through Desktop Originator. Fannie Mae gives me its Approve/Eligible, and Suntrust says "regardless of what Fannie says, you do not need to document..."
Before I learned to use DO, Countrywide's Fast and … (13 comments)
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local expert: Greenspan on Home Price Stabilization: 2008! - 04/08/08 06:52 AM
Alan Greenspan has taken a lot of heat for believing (and acting on his belief) that bubbles are okay, and that they will sort themselves out. No matter. He's retired.
He still has one of the most acutely perceptive minds in the business, however, and when Alan Greenspan talks, I'll listen. At … (16 comments)
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local expert: Two New Active Rain Referrals in One Weekend! - 04/07/08 03:55 PM
If you're young enough to ask the question "What is a broken record?" you'll have to forgive me.
I'm starting to sound like a broken record when I tell you that Active Rain relationships result in real business!
The most recent referral came this weekend, from Kent Simpson. Kent wrote about it yesterday … (84 comments)
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local expert: In This Real Estate Market, You Need Deep Roots - 04/05/08 10:22 PM
"Bloom where you're planted." I saw this Barrel Cactus high up on a rock outcropping in the Tortillita mountains.
Not all success comes from being planted in fertile, cultivated soil. The tiny seed that is now this hundred pound giant fell between the rocks.
It found enough wind-blown soil, moisture and shade to … (21 comments)
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local expert: Local Expert: Look What You Can Find Under the Bridge! - 04/05/08 09:54 PM
Tucson (rather, greater Tucson) has passed the million mark in terms of human habitation. With that number of people comes a greater requirement for infrastructure. Things like this concrete bridge spanning one of our many arroyos.
Thousands of cars pass over this bridge each day, commuting to work, going to the grocery … (15 comments)
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local expert: Belt and Suspenders: Pima County, AZ Road Signs - 03/26/08 07:26 AM
I had to stop and take a photo. The irony of this is downright funny!
I doubt that ice has formed on the roadway known in Tucson, AZ as Gates Pass Road, at least not since the Jurassic era. Maybe not even then.
But there it is. A sign (not one that folds … (15 comments)
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local expert: Local Expert: Gates Pass at Sunset in Tucson, Arizona - 03/26/08 07:07 AM
People from all over the world converge each evening at sunset to watch the lovely approach of night.
Drive west on Speedway, cross under Interstate 10, and within a few short miles you'll be surrounded by a forest of saguaro cacti, the predominant trees of the Arizona-Sonoran Desert.
Wend your way past ancient … (8 comments)
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local expert: Commercial Real Estate Redo in Tucson: The Drawing Studio Takes Over Johnny Gibson Gym Equipment store - 03/12/08 10:58 PM
January, 2008. The Tucson Citizen ran the following headline: Craving for art classes drives studio's expansion. The article, by TEYA VITU, highlights the growth of a unique art community and school founded by Andy Rush. Vitu's article will give you the particulars of the past and present growth of The Drawing Studio. I … (4 comments)
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local expert: Got Grammar? A RE/MAX Blogging Kind of Day - 03/11/08 08:30 PM
7:30 yesterday morning, and I was pulling into the parking lot at my office. The window was down (the temperature was a balmy 64 degrees, Jesse in Fairbanks) and I heard the unmistakable WHOOSHH! of a hot air balloon passing overhead. There it was, passing over my office, and moving down the … (19 comments)
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local expert: Local Rag: Tucson Wildflowers Best in 30 Years! - 03/08/08 08:51 PM
The Arizona Daily Star headline sent my Darlin' and me down 86, west of Tucson, looking for the poppies, bluebells and other wildflowers that blanket stretches of our Arizona-Sonoran desert after the December rains. The morning was cloudy, but by lunchtime, the sun pushed the clouds south. It was beautiful, and we want … (26 comments)
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local expert: Annual Tucson Folk Festival in May: Two Days of Music and Fun! - 01/31/08 11:40 PM
Active Rain is home to some fine musicians. Real Estate and the professions that support it seem to attract some very creative people.
In my humble opinion, any group worth its salt needs a fiddle player. Larry Morris is ours, and he can make that electric fiddle talk! The four of us were practicing in my … (25 comments)
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local expert: Tagged For A Meme! Jungle Boy--Mike in Tucson - 10/05/07 02:09 AM
I got Memed! Mike Mueller, a lender in California, notified me with a single word: "Sorry." He's a great lender. Go check him out.
That smiling fellow on the left is not Mike Mueller. It's a Three Toed Sloth from the jungles of Suriname, South America. Top speed: .15 mph But I digress...
If … (31 comments)
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