Would you let your client purchase this house?

Caution: Items on your screen are closer than they appear. 

These were taken with a wide angle lens. 

A little to the left…

A little to the right…

That is my car, parked in front of the subject property to get a little perspective on where the house is in relation to the scenery.

Would you like to see this in your rearview mirror every time you leave your home? 

How about every time you come home, you get to see it until you pull inside the garage?

Or every time you step out your front door? 

Your friends get to see it every time they visit?

What was the builder thinking????  

Photographs copyright © 2009 Doreen McPherson may not be used or reproduced, in any format, without the express written permission of:

Doreen McPherson, REALTOR^®  CNE^™

Keller Williams Arizona Realty, Tempe / Scottsdale Arizona

3920 S. Rural Rd., Suite 110

Tempe, AZ 85282

Serving the Metro Phoenix and Southeast Valley

Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated

(If you would like to use any of my photos, please ask.  I usually give permission for use on family friendly sites, with credit and link back.  Thank you.)  

Reverse Mortgage Short Sale

What will happen, when a home owner has a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) (aka Reverse Mortgage) and their home is no longer worth what they borrowed?   

This client needs to sell their home and they will owe around $200,000.00. 

The home will probably sell for about $70,000. 

Has anyone had experience with this? 

What do our mortgage folks know about this? 

Thanks for your input. 

Same Sunset Different View 

Photograph copyright © 2009 Doreen McPherson may not be used or reproduced, in any format, without the express written permission of:

Doreen McPherson, REALTOR^®  CNE^™

Keller Williams Arizona Realty, Tempe / Scottsdale Arizona

3920 S. Rural Rd., Suite 110

Tempe, AZ 85282

Serving the Metro Phoenix and Southeast Valley

Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated

(If you would like to use any of my photos, please ask.  I usually give permission for use on family friendly sites, with credit and link back.  Thank you.)  

Tech Conference Coming to East Valley

I wanted to make sure you know about the SEVRAR / BlueRoof360.com Technology Conference taking place

January 27, 2009! 

THERE IS NO CHARGE TO ATTEND!

The Conference is being held at the Mesa Convention Center in Building B and there are some FANTASTIC people lined up to speak!

I was asked by one of the organizers to pass this information on to as many as possible, so no one will miss this great opportunity!  Take a look at the schedule to be thinking about what sessions you’d like to attend.  There are a number of great choices.    

(Click For Full Schedule with Times and Rooms)

Jack Peckham

Keynote Speaker

Founder and CEO of the Real Estate Cyberspace Society (www.RECyber.com)  

Greg Tracy

REALTOR and Founder of www.BlueRoof360.com 

Joeann Fossland

GRI Technology Instructor and Business and Life Coach - www.Joeann.com 

Chip Lambert

LinkedIn Master Instructor from www.IntegratedAlliance.com 

Bill Austin

Social Media Guru & the third most linked person in Phoenix on LinkedIn www.azhttp.com 

Jay Thompson

Blogger Extraordinaire - www.PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com 

Chris McKeever

NAR Center for REALTOR Technology - http://www.realtor.org/technology

Jeff Raskin

Microsoft Expert - http://technologyforrealestate.net/

Kathy Lunak

AAR Transaction Management - http://www.aaronline.com/TM/

In addition, ARMLS will be doing training all day long on the following topics

Custom Views and Q & A
Business Cards, Flyers and Q & A     
Personal Preferences and Q & A
Wireless flexmls and Q & A

If that was not enough you will get the opportunity for one on one time with experts in:

Blogging
Twitter
LinkedIn & Other Social Media
Search Engine Optimization
Tablet Computers
Technology Tools
Transaction Management

PLUS - Bring your Laptop to the FREE Laptop Checkup Station where there will be technicians running FREE diagnostics!

(Click For Full Schedule with Times and Rooms)

SEVRAR Members and Non-Members planning on attending the Keynote Address should Sign up with this form so you can order lunch (the address is over the lunch hour 12:00-1:00).

As always, SEVRAR Members who don't feel they need lunch can sign up at www.SEVRAR.com 

Our Keynote Address by Jack Peckham is over the Lunch Break so please DON'T FORGET TO ORDER A LUNCH when registering!

(Click For Full Schedule with Times and Rooms)

Thanks to our sponsors for keeping this event FREE to EVERYONE!

www.BlueRoof360.com
www.SendOutCards.Com
www.REALTOR.org
www.ORHP.com
www.magnustitle.com
www.DiverseSolutions.com
www.Zillow.com
www.hwahomewarranty.com
www.VisitMyLuxuryHome.com
www.mycomputerworks.com
www.ARMLS.com
www.Superlative.com
www.DynamicPageSolutions.com
American Title Agency

South Mountain Sunset

Photographs copyright © 2009 Doreen McPherson may not be used or reproduced, in any format, without the express written permission of:

Doreen McPherson, REALTOR^®  CNE^™

Keller Williams Arizona Realty, Tempe / Scottsdale Arizona

3920 S. Rural Rd., Suite 110

Tempe, AZ 85282

Serving the Metro Phoenix and Southeast Valley

Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated

(If you would like to use any of my photos, please ask.  I usually give permission for use on family friendly sites, with credit and link back.  Thank you.)  

December Blooms in Arizona

Photograph copyright © 2008 Doreen McPherson may not be used or reproduced, in any format, without the express written permission of:

Doreen McPherson, REALTOR^®  CNE^™

Keller Williams Arizona Realty, Tempe / Scottsdale Arizona

3920 S. Rural Rd., Suite 110

Tempe, AZ 85282

Serving the Metro Phoenix and Southeast Valley

Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated

(If you would like to use any of my photos, please ask.  I usually give permission for use on family friendly sites, with credit and link back.  Thank you.)  

Police Protecting Foreclosed Tempe Homes

I am thankful that the Tempe police are taking a proactive approach toward protecting vacant homes in our area.  Making a priority of keeping squatters, party crews and illegal drug labs out of them, by conducting security checks, will help decrease vandalism and other crimes.

Sgt. Ken Harmon, who heads the Tempe Police Department's Crime Prevention Unit, said he passed out the list about a month ago to the beat cops so they could familiarize themselves with the homes so they will know when something is out of place. 

Police recently arrested a man during one of these security checks.  Tempe police found the man sleeping in the home.  He had crawled in through the doggy door. 

Harmon said transients have a reliable network and once one finds a vacant home, others will follow. 

With the number of foreclosed homes in Tempe and the Phoenix area, I’d say the short stops to check these homes will be time well spent and have positive results for all residents of Tempe Arizona. 

Of course, if you observe any suspicious activity taking place at a vacant home contact the police right away. 

Thank you to the Tempe Arizona Police Department.

Read the complete East Valley Tribune article here. 

Photographs copyright © 2009 Doreen McPherson may not be used or reproduced, in any format, without the express written permission of:

Doreen McPherson, REALTOR^®  CNE^™

Keller Williams Arizona Realty, Tempe / Scottsdale Arizona

3920 S. Rural Rd., Suite 110

Tempe, AZ 85282

Serving the Metro Phoenix and Southeast Valley

Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated

(If you would like to use any of my photos, please ask.  I usually give permission for use on family friendly sites, with credit and link back.  Thank you.)  

Arizona License Plate Law Takes effect Today

If you have a holder or a frame on your license plate, you may want to check and make sure it complies with a new state law going into effect today.  This does not affect out of state license plates. 

I’ve made it a point to look at plates this week and have found there are still many who have not changed or removed the frame.    

I personally would expect a grace period, but have found no mention of one in anything I’ve read.  So, expect to be ticketed if you are stopped. 

Suggested reading.

The fine averages about $136 here in the valley.  That’s not small change, at least in my book it’s not. 

Judging by the comments made on the articles appearing in the EV Tribune and the Arizona Republic, this is definitely not a popular law. 

I finally removed mine this evening.  Now I'm wondering if it would have been OK to keep it since the Arizona on the plate was covered by the Arizona on the frame. 

Remind your friends and neighbors.

Have a very Blessed and Prosperous New Year! 

I had to scrape a few years worth of tags from the plate.

This license plate has seen better days.  It's almost 12 years old and has been through a couple accidents.  Next car gets a new plate.

MVD

Photographs copyright © 2009 Doreen McPherson may not be used or reproduced, in any format, without the express written permission of:

Doreen McPherson, REALTOR^®  CNE^™

Keller Williams Arizona Realty, Tempe / Scottsdale Arizona

3920 S. Rural Rd., Suite 110

Tempe, AZ 85282

Serving the Metro Phoenix and Southeast Valley

Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated

(If you would like to use any of my photos, please ask.  I usually give permission for use on family friendly sites, with credit and link back.  Thank you.)  

Tempe Arizona Does Get Cold

At least for those of us who have lived here most of our lives, when the temperature drops to the 30’s, it gets our attention. 

Some of us don’t even own ‘appropriate’ clothing!! 

I’m not going to get into the statistics, but, I will say that it does not freeze here every winter.  When we do have a freeze, it usually happens more in the outer parts of the valley. 

Every now and then it creeps right into the middle of town. 

There are a number of plants that do not withstand the low temperatures and that is how I know where it really froze. 

When you drive through neighborhoods and the rubber trees and the bougainvillea are dead, it was cold. 

It was freezing cold. 

This photo was taken early this morning.  The weather service said it was 35°. 

My body said, ‘why are you standing out here?’ 

Photographs copyright © 2008 Doreen McPherson may not be used or reproduced, in any format, without the express written permission of:

Doreen McPherson, REALTOR^®  CNE^™

Keller Williams Arizona Realty, Tempe / Scottsdale Arizona

3920 S. Rural Rd., Suite 110

Tempe, AZ 85282

Serving the Metro Phoenix and Southeast Valley

Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated

(If you would like to use any of my photos, please ask.  I usually give permission for use on family friendly sites, with credit and link back.  Thank you.)  

Christmas Dinner

Before

For several years now my brother-in-law, Stan, has been frying the turkey for both Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner.  (one of my brothers actually introduced us to this method a while ago) 

If you haven’t had turkey cooked this way, I recommend you try it.  (looks kind of like he's protesting his fate, doesn't it?)      

See below for after. 

After

Frying keeps the juices and moisture in the turkey.  I don’t really care for turkey, but this is different.  About all I can say is try it, you’ll like it. 

(memo to self: always check contents of the large yellow bowl.)

Photographs copyright © 2008 Doreen McPherson may not be used or reproduced, in any format, without the express written permission of:

Doreen McPherson, REALTOR^®  CNE^™

Keller Williams Arizona Realty, Tempe / Scottsdale Arizona

3920 S. Rural Rd., Suite 110

Tempe, AZ 85282

Serving the Metro Phoenix and Southeast Valley

Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated

(If you would like to use any of my photos, please ask.  I usually give permission for use on family friendly sites, with credit and link back.  Thank you.)