Ramblings From Phoenix

WordPress For Real Estate?

2007-09-20T17:53:39Z

When I had my first major redesign of one of my websites done, it was changed from .NET (Advanced Access) to a Drupal site. I wrote about that change in a post named Drupal For Real Estate within a month of making the new site live.

Well, it's happened again... only this time I moved a site from .NET (Point2Homes) to WordPress using PropertyTown (Greg Boser's newest project)! And, if I do say so myself, it is working out better than I could have ever expected! Sticking with tradition, I have waited just over a month to post about this move (mostly to make sure everything is working correctly before sharing the site here with everyone).

Now, you may be asking yourself how a blog can be a website... if so, I would read up here for those who are new to WordPress.

First off: I'd like to give a special thanks to Greg Boser (aka WebGuerrilla) for all of his help with this new project... I couldn't have done it without you!!! Thanks to the brilliant SEO work of Greg, Dax and Cesar this has been an easy move to make!

The site I moved this time is my Scottsdale real estate sales website. Below is a screenshot of how the new site looks...

Naturally, one of the coolest features about using WordPress for a real estate website is the fact that you have a blog already integrated into the site and design. For this application I chose to name the blog Scottsdale Community News, which makes the most sense to me since it is about nothing more or less than just that.

One of the other great features is being able to have my listings on their own city appropriate pages. On this site I offer homes for sale in Rio Verde, Pinnacle Peak, Fountain Hills and of course, Scottsdale.

Speaking of features, some of you may have noticed the similarities between my old Phoenix site and my new Scottsdale site... that's because my Director Of Marketing, Max Chirkov, took our old CSS and applied it to a standard WordPress Theme. But, you don't have to be a CSS pro in order to have a WordPress site. Take a minute to look at all the WordPress Themes available for free online. Amazing heh?

Any-who, back to the new site... I have taken an extensive amount of time traveling, shooting photos and lining up details and facts about each of the communities my team serves with this site. The communities are as follows: North Scottsdale, South Scottsdale, Pinnacle Peak, Rio Verde Foothills and Fountain Hills. Note that not only do I have extensive information about each area that we serve, I now also have an extensive photo album for each community so as I blog about each, I can add photos to the blog posts and refer to the info on each individual community page as needed.

Any questions, comments or other website stories to share? Then leave a comment, I check them all the time!

Posted in the Ramblings From Phoenix blog.

Real Estate Boom, Fog and Rainbows

2007-08-26T18:06:05Z

First off, what a ride! 2004 and 2005 were unlike any years I've ever seen before in the Phoenix Metro real estate market. Thank goodness it has slowed... but wait, before you get too upset with me - hear me out.

Fountain Hills Arizona
Real Estate Boom
While the boom was great, it had a lot of down sides like the "Growing Pains" that not a lot of people saw while it was happening. I for one quickly realized that my team would not possibly be able to handle each and every person that came to us. Well, at least not with the same care and diligence that we've always used. So, we had to make the choice to cut down big time on our new client load. It may sound crazy to you now since the market in most places has slowed dramatically. But, it was the only way to maintain our integrity at the Phoenix Homes Team and make sure each of our clients got 100% of our attention when we were with them.

Additionally, the run up in home prices across the nation meant that many would not be able to afford a home soon if it were to keep going the way it was.

Let me tell you, I do not miss those days...

Pinnacle Peak, Arizona
Real Estate Fog
Now it seems, many consumers and agents alike are in a sort of real estate fog. Simply waiting on the side lines for "the fog to clear". Consumer confidence drives our economy folks... nothing is going to happen until we do something ourselves. Waiting for the local news stations and news papers to write some positive news about the real estate market just isn't a viable plan.

We as agents need to take the time to educate the general public. Did you know that every source I've read says that 2007 will most likely go down in history in the top 5 best years of real estate sales?

We as consumers (yes I have bought, and do live, in a house) need to realize that real estate as a long term investment almost always does well. So why not buy now while some sellers are still in the "buyer's market" mode. Why wait for that to turn around, only to buy in a seller's market. Seems foolish when it is written, yet that is what many consumers are doing.

North Scottsdale, Arizona
McDowell Mountain Ranch
Real Estate Rainbows
Luckily I live, work and play in the Greater Phoenix area and people move in more than they move out. That being said, I am very bullish on our market. It continues to amaze me how many people are actually moving here, and it's not just people but major employers too! With our outstanding weather, great lifestyle, good job market and affordable housing, I see Central Arizona growing for many years to come.

I don't want to hear anyone saying that they wished they would've bought back when it was a buyer's market (these things don't last forever). Because... I told you so.

Posted in the Ramblings From Phoenix blog.

Drupal For Real Estate?

2007-07-11T16:30:03Z

I am proud to announce that www.PhoenixHomes.com is now a fully custom site using the Drupal platform.

A special thank you to my Director of Marketing, Max Chirkov, for helping to make all of this possible!

We went live with the new version back on 6/20/07. I was a bit nervous about the move and possible loss of leads (revenue) since the domain has been hosted with Advanced Access for a lot of years. But using 301 re-directs we were able to maintain our positioning in all the major search engines and even gain a few spots! So, our transition from Advanced Access to our own custom site went very well.

Here's a snapshot of how the site looked when it was with AA (keep in mind that this was also semi-custom):

Now, here's a snapshot of the current custom design on our own server:

Not only did we switch from left to right hand navigation, but now our IDX is fully integrated on a sub-domain http://Search.PhoenixHomes.com provided by Killer IDX. This enables our visitors to search the entire Arizona Multiple Listing Service without ever leaving our site, or giving up any personal information.

My favorite sections of the new site are our homes for sale and the Phoenix Monsoon. They are my favorites because of the images and the way they load. Go to one of the above links and navigate to the listing details if viewing our homes for sale and click on any picture, or click on any picture if viewing the Monsoon pictures. Well... what do you think? I think it is sweet how the image appears and you can move to the next one, or back, etc. yet you never lose the exact place you were at on the site. In fact you can still see the site under the transparent black background.

My next favorite part is the ability to search for homes the way YOU want to. We offer the ability to search homes for sale by school district, or find homes for sale by maps of city boundaries, or by using one of our preset searches by price range in each of the following city's we serve: Carefree, Cave Creek, Central Corridor, North Phoenix, Paradise Valley, Pinnacle Peak, Rio Verde or Scottsdale. Not to mention the basic search on http://Search.PhoenixHomes.com!

So, what do you think about the new vs. the old? What's your favorite part or page of the new site?

Posted in the Ramblings From Phoenix blog.

Custom Home w/Horse Privledges - To Be Built

2007-07-08T15:27:45Z

Details

Photo Gallery

View Rooms

85262-Rio Verde Real Estate

FOR SALE
$979,000 Pre-Construction Pricing

	Scottsdale Realty Executives

	Realty Executives Email Matthew Work: 602-404-9700 Fax: 602-404-9701

Photos Are For Illustration Purposes Only

Quick Links
Quick Links
Virtual Tour	Request More Info	Email Listing	More Photos

	Details


Address: 14219 E. Dove Valley Road Type: Residential Style: Single Story Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 4 Suite: No Living Area: 4,039 square feet Year Built: 2007

	Description


Pre-construction value priced! Ready to be built on contract, with loads of standard features you won`t find in the other homes around here. 2 lots from Tonto National Forest Preserve. Solid Notty Alder interior doors & custom cabinets, travertine floors, granite slab kit counters, stainless appliances & 1 custom ceiling treatment in room of your choice. Highest attention to detail during construction. On contract, I can walk you through the last finished home to show the quality of this builder! Permits ready, appx 7-8 months build time. *Pictures are of same floorplan, but sold, this one is "to be built". Photos for illustration purposes only** Take a $10,000 discount from List Price for using M&I Bank & Arizona Title, call me for details. Rio Verde area appreciating rapidly! More information on our homes for sale at PhoenixHomes.com

Brokered and Advertised by Realty Executives LID 989541

Information is deemed to be correct but not guaranteed.

Posted in the Ramblings From Phoenix blog.

Like New Hillside Home w/Guest House

2007-07-03T17:02:00Z

$650,000, 4br, Homes for Sale in Phoenix, North Phoenix, Arizona $650,000

Posted: July 3, 2007, 03:07 PM

Details

Photo Gallery

View Rooms

85022-North Phoenix (Phoenix)

FOR SALE
$650,000

	Realty Executives

	Realty Executives Email Matthew Work: 602-404-9700 Fax: 602-404-9701
More Photos(18)
Front Of Home

Quick Links
Quick Links
Virtual Tour	Request More Info	Email Listing	More Photos(18)

	Details


Address: 15236 N. 19th Place Type: Residential Style: Single Story Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 3 Suite: Yes Living Area: 2,607 square feet Year Built: 2007 More Details

	Description


Number of bedrooms, bathrooms and square footage all based on including guest house and age is based on the renovation (orig built in 1979). Charming hillside retreat in a quiet, established neighborhood w/great views! Diving pool and spa set in a large cul-de-sac lot which was a $24,000 premium in 1979. Gourmet kitchen all GE Monogram stainless steel appliances w/double convection ovens - 4' X 7' built in fridge - dual blower hood and more, maple, granite, travertine, solid core doors, dual pane windows, complete new ducts and A/C systems now on ground, new tile roof. Offering a $7000 allowance to enhance the lighting, shower doors and landscaping. Call today for more information or to set up a private showing of this beautiful home. (Owner/Agent) More Description

Brokered and Advertised by Realty Executives LID 993919

Information is deemed to be correct but not guaranteed.

15236 N. 19th Place Phoenix, AZ., 85022 google map | yahoo map

Location: Lookout Mountain
Bedrooms: 4

More information and pictures at our homes for sale on PhoenixHomes.com

Posted in the Ramblings From Phoenix blog.

What's Wrong With The Rain Today?

2007-06-11T14:45:38Z

So, I come to ActiveRain today and notice that the home page is much wider than usual, in fact, my scroll bar is showing on the bottom of the page. I think, "hummmmm, that's strange".

I proceed to log in anyways, thinking nothing of it.

Once logged in though I begin to notice other issues. For one, the section I have named as "Friends Of Ours" has been completely re-ordered. It used to be in the order that they signed on as an associate of mine. Wonder what happened there...

Next, I click on the link next to "Friends Of Ours" which usually takes me to all of their blog posts so I can read what's new in my friend's lives. That takes me to a page with over 10,000 blog posts (well, page one of a lot of pages with a total blog count of over 10,000). So, I guess I can't read my friend's blogs today either.

Please don't tell me this site is starting to tank the way my Advanced Access site, www.PhoenixHomes.com, did for over two weeks.

Anyone else having issues with the Rain today? On the public side or private side?

Posted in the Ramblings From Phoenix blog.

PageRank Update Today

2006-09-29T14:32:17Z

Google is shaking things up today.

Did anyone notice that there is a PR (PageRank) update going on today? Of course, we all know it's simply a "FoolBar" (Google ToolBar) update. The actual PageRank didn't change today, just the public tool for veiwing it did.

Note that the ActiveRain.com home page went from a PR 2/10 to a 5/10. Congratulations everyone!

My main website PhoenixHomes.com went from a PR 6/10 to a PR 5/10 though, boo FoolBar. LOL It really makes no matter though. It's our position in the SERP's that really counts because that's what drives the search engine traffic to our sites and we all know that traffic equals leads which equals more opportunities to meet new potential clients.

Did anyone else notice the ToolBar update today?

Google Announces Fall Update

2006-09-28T16:23:34Z

Normally, Google implements an update and then everyone is talking about it.

This time it's different.

Google plans to make Google Base an integral part of their search algorithm this fall. This is huge folks!

Surprised? I'm not. Google has a long history of implementing major changes before "the holidays". Many think it is planned this way to increase their revenue via PPC. You see, they make algo changes, your site's position slips in the SERP's (search engine results pages) right before the holidays, you can not afford to have this dramatic decrease in traffic to your website right before the holidays (which is the busiest time of the year for both online and offline retailers), so you Pay Per Click (PPC) to guarantee your traffic numbers. Ahhh, but this is mere conspiracy theory and could turn into a book.

Mostly, I am writing this today to inform you of the planned changes and to open up a healthy discussion about Google Base and how you think it will impact the real estate industry (if you don't already know, Google Base incorporates homes for sale much like a Craig's List into their search results above all naturally occurring results, YUCK!).

Okay, okay... some of you are already saying Google Base isn't news. It's been in the search results for months now. To that I say - yes, but they haven't given it a push yet and now they are going for a full shove. Pushing it into our lives right before our eyes.

So, what are your thoughts, concerns or questions about this bold move?

Interesting stats on AR

2006-09-23T19:13:59Z

Was bored today so I decided to see how many times the words Active Rain were mentioned on the web, according to Google. Actually, now that I've typed it, I can not believe that it is not Google's own catch phrase by now, "The Web According to Google". LOL

Here is what I found...

When searching to the words:
"Active Rain" Results 1 - 10 of about 26,300 for "active rain"

"ActiveRain" Results 1 - 10 of about 111,000 for "activerain"

For fun, I also looked up "Google" WOW! Results 1 - 10 of about 1,630,000,000 for "google"

Can you believe how many references there are on the web in such a short amount of time? Congrats to the founding fathers on this brainSTORM (excuse my pun) of an idea called the ActiveRain Network!

On a side note, did you notice that there are nearly 2 Billion references to Google on the web! Yikes!

THE hardest to please clients of my career

2006-09-17T15:01:30Z

My parents.

My folks used to have a home here and one on a big lake in Texas w/175 feet of water frontage and their own pier all located in a cove. Well, they sold their home here and went on a 3 year "vacation" to the lake house. Now, they are back and our market has changed dramatically since then.

So, we've been out looking almost every day now for about three weeks and they still haven't bought anything.

The first home that they loved went under contract over the weekend that we saw it. Which happened to be the first weekend out for us, and the first home they saw. Sad. If it wasn't the first home of their shopping experience, we would've wrote on it. Oh well...

The next home they loved was owner agent and on the market for 177 days (should've been my first clue) at the time that we wrote on it. It's listed for $245,000 w/$5000 back to buyer for closing costs. It needs nothing inside, absolutely turn-key, but needs a lot of work yard-wise and on the carport. So we write our first official offer! Exciting, right! Extra long COE because the owner mentioned they needed it, NO CLOSING costs help, in fact no costs to the seller except a home warranty... super clean offer, right? Wrong. She (owner/agent) counters us back at $240,000!!!!!!!!!!!! OY! So being polite, I figure there was a mistake (she is heading to a retirement community) and call to ask if she really meant to counter offer us at FULL PRICE. She stated "Yes". Needless to say, we walked away. Talk about offending my clients (my mom and dad), she didn't even give an inch on her price and after we made so many concessions in the offer. Can you guys/gals believe that!

Well, life goes on... and, I am going out again today at 2 to show them five more. But hey, at least it's only five, right? I have been showing them 10-14 a day. I've never seen so many houses with one client(s). We are well over 70 so far... but, when it comes to love and family I'd do anything.

Anyone else ever work for their parents or someone else in their family that was a slight bit demanding? LOL Just Kidding - mom and dad, if you ever find this and read it. :-)

My First Fix Up

2006-09-15T18:30:02Z

My wife and I decided to buy the home below us earlier this year. Mostly because it was always rented out and we were sick and tired of the noise from the renters and the fact that the owner/landlord was out of country all the time and therefore the home was the worst in appearances in our entire neighborhood. Plus, it had about seven mature palms, some over 30 feet high that were blocking my skyline view of the McDowell Mountain Range... LOL (expensive way to get trees removed).

Now, our market is slowing a bit and the home is almost complete and we may not be able to get every penny back if I include my time/labor, etc. We WAY overspent on it, but, it is for the overall good of our neighborhood so we decided it was allright along the way. It is a hillside home, cul-de-sac lot, 2100-SF main home and 500-SF guest house, 2 car garage, pool and awesome city light and mountain views.

My question to anyone who has "been there, done that" is: Should my wife and I move in and rent out our current home? We have plans to demolish our home and rebuild our dream home on this lot, so renting it out wouldn't bother me. But, of course moving would. Our other option is to stay put and get this other home on the market ASAP. But I have two concerns, other than moving (which is a HUGE one).

First off, the remodel was extensive. We altered the floorplan, and gutted the entire interior. Put all new tubs, toilets, undermount sinks, cabinets, granite tops, stainless faucets, fancy closet dividers, solid core interior doors, custom exterior doors, dual pane low e windows, new garage door and opener, all top of the link GE Monogram appliances, new fireplace box & chimeny(sp?), in both the guest house-bath-kitchen and the main house baths, kitchen, etc. Plus, we spent $37,000 having travertine stone flooring put in both homes and the entire pool deck and covered patio area and around both fireplaces, all three bathroom tubs/showers... you get the idea even though I could ramble on and on... we spared no expense.

Back to my two concerns:
1) Sell a "new" home now.
2) Move in and maybe get more money later, but sell a "used" home later.

Oy! I've said I wouldn't do this again, but I think I still will if any other neighbors want to sell to me. Only this time I'll mow the house down and start from scratch like we intend to do with our house.

What are your thoughts?

Thank you in advance for reading this and giving me your input.

Sincerely,

Matt Pellerin
PhoenixHomes.com

Thoughts, memories and more on 9/11/2001

2006-09-10T16:24:03Z

So, tomorrow is 9/11/2006. Hard to believe that five years have past already. It seems like only yesterday we as a nation came under attack and many of us had our way of life changed forever. Not only the direct victims, but everyday people like you and me who weren't even there now have a different way of looking at our short stay on this planet. Gone are the days of feeling invincable because we now KNOW that we are vounerable here in the United States of America.

Who would've thought such a large scale attack could be carried out on OUR soil?

In memory of everyone that lost their life, a loved one, a friend or an aquaintence, my prayers are with you on this anniversary which we must never forget.

Freedom is not free, and that's another leason we must never forget as we venture into the future.

Labor Day Weekend - Slow For Real Estate In Your Area?

2006-09-01T13:02:30Z

So, what is everyone doing this Labor Day weekend? Vacationing? Picnic in the park? Pool party at your house or a friends? Just hanging out with family and/or friends? Hiding in your house all weekend to get some rest?

It seems like no matter what you are doing this weekend, you WILL be doing something, right?

So how does your real estate business typically hold up over a big holiday weekend like this? Aside from maybe having a buyer to show a few homes to, etc. Does anyone really hold open houses or have a lot of buyers that actually want to spend the weekend loking at homes? Here in Central Arizona it seems like everyone leaves for the weekend, so holding an open house is pretty much a waste of time around here.

I'll be spending the weekend with my family and my parents who just moved back here from Texas after a three year "vacation" there. They sold the lake house and have relocated "back home"!!! I just hope they don't want to go and see homes for sale this weekend! :-)

Hurricanes and real estate in New Orleans, LA

2006-08-31T17:43:31Z

I have been thinking since the floods of Katrina that it will be a huge waste of time, money, effort, blood, sweat and tears to re-build all of N.O. I am of the school of thinking that even if the sea levels do not rise N.O. will continue to sink because of the lack of foresight in trying to contain the Mississippi River. It is the very annual flooding of that area that kept it above sea level until they built "protection" and "controlled" the mighty river. Now there are no annual floods to deposit billions of cubic yards of sediment into the N.O. area and its marshes. Add that to the fact that they lose something like 21 square miles of marsh land between them and the Gulf each and every year due to their "control" of the mighty river. N.O. is losing the battle in many, many ways.

No marshes = no buffer against large storms and the surges they produce.
No redepositing of sediment in N.O. = drying sediment that is shrinking much like a kitchen sponge.
Shrinking soil = N.O. getting lower and lower below sea level every year.

If that city is to be here in 100 years (and not just in our history books), they're going to need to build a levee so high it that would almost be financially impossible.

Add to all of these things (that will happen to N.O. regardless) the possibility of the sea levels themselves rising as most scientists are predicting and it's a doomsday scenario waiting to happen, again.

BTW, I do believe in Global Warming, too much evidence to deny it. The unknown (yet almost 50% of scientists working on it think it will happen) is whether or not the melting glaciers will stop the ocean currents from flowing as they do today. This would produce a scenario much like that movie that was out a while ago "The Day After Tomorrow".

There are A LOT of unknowns right now because we've never been through something like this before since we've had all of this "knowledge", high tech measuring equipment and so on.

To top it all off, we ARE entering a "30 year period of increased hurricane activity and severeness" as stated by NOAA and many other respected sources. So, this means we will see more storms with the likes of Katrina and many more that will actually make landfall as a Cat 5 (not a Cat 4 like Katrina).

With that out of my mouth (so to speak), I live in a desert, on a mountain appx. 1750 feet above current sea level (and appx. 650 feet above downtown Phoenix) for more reasons than just the views. We get flooding here almost any time it rains more than an inch.

Please don't beat me up for my views/opinions... I know they are unpopular.

Anyone else dare to speak now in the midst of this tragic situation in New Orleans?

Uhmmm... hello...

2006-08-30T20:01:49Z

Is this thing on?

Well, this is my first post at ActiveRain and I just wanted to say a big hello to everyone I know out there and hello to those of you whom I have not had the pleasure of meeting yet.

So far I've mostly been reading others blogs and posts and profiles and so on. Very interesting stuff! In fact, some of you are QUITE interesting and I hope to make some new friends here in the very near future.

For fun, let's see how the image upload button thingy works...

Sweet! My first post and my first picture upload. Though it would be much nicer if I could upload images to AR instead of inserting a URL to the image because I change things constantly on my site and this image may be one of the changes one day so no one will be able to see it if that is the case, oy.
(Update, 8/26/07 - old site and images are dead, re-uploaded the image directly to AR. It's almost like someone at the AR Crew read this and took my advice to heart because now this photo lives on their server and not mine)

Of course, it's a picture of rain in Phoenix (since I am Phoenix here on the "rain" site) shot from my backyard. The image is hosted on my main website PhoenixHomes.com if you'd like to visit the link above and see the full sized picture. Look for the Monsoon Photos text link on the home page appx middle right hand side.
(Update, 8/26/07 - new site doesn't have the same nav, go to our Monsoon Pictures section to view all of my images)

That's all for now. Bye all.

Sincerely,

Matt Pellerin
Realty Executives
Phoenix Homes Team Leader