tucson homes: A Look Into Our Neighborhoods – Rancho Sahuarita, Tucson Arizona - 03/09/11 12:30 PM
Approximately 20 minutes south of Tucson is the magical Community of Rancho Sahaurita. The only community in the Tucson area with a man made 10 acre lake where community members can go sailing and fishing. This area has grown over the past decade to become a leading community in the metro Tucson area. Well manicured and maintained, it is always a pleasure to drive through this community. Like Continental Ranch, it has something for everyone. The newer strip mall brought shopping to the community.
Imagine living in Arizona and being able to have lakeside property. The Water Park and Olympic size … (1 comments)

tucson homes: How To Prevent A Home Sale - 02/26/11 01:07 AM
There is a lot of advice on how to sell a home. Yet there are numerous ways that Sellers prevent the sale of their home. Four years ago I wrote a blog about how not to sell your. Here's a refreshed versions. Understanding what hurts the sale of a home will help in making a sale.
Who cares about curb appeal, that's for the weak hearted. The taller the weeds, the more fertile the ground, right? As bad as the market is there aren't any decent homes out there anyway, so why try? The weeds hide the old couch in the front … (0 comments)

tucson homes: Social Benefits of Home Ownership - Final Part - 02/17/11 12:42 AM
Health is an unforeseen benefit of home-ownership. Directly from the NAR Study...
"Homeowners are happier and healthier than non-owners. But again, it would be incorrect to simply look at the correlation between home-ownership and health outcomes to draw conclusions since home-ownership is also correlated with such factors as income and education levels. And surely, higher income and education are associated with better health. Nonetheless, there are a few academic studies that provide evidence of the positive impact of home-ownership on health even after controlling for factors like income and education. READ MORE
… (1 comments)

tucson homes: Tucson Real Estate Is Alive - 11/26/10 03:06 AM
Real estate in Tucson is very much alive. I am having my best year since 2006. I'm back to the problem I had then, oh such a problem, of not being able to keep all my listings on the market long enough to develop more buyers and sellers. Sold one in 2 days. DIdn't even get a chance for an Open House. Who said real estate in Tucson Arizona isn't good.
… (1 comments)

tucson homes: Tucson Home Sales September 2008 - 10/10/08 05:36 AM
Tucson home sales for September broke the mold for seasonal sales. Normally sales in September are less than August. Not in 2008. Go figure, the economy has tanked, credit has tanked, nobody fully trusts either candidate for President, nothing but negative-negative-negative in the economic news, yet Tucson home sales go up.
READ MORE
… (1 comments)

tucson homes: Tucson Real Estate - Should I Buy or Should I Wait - 05/10/08 01:26 PM
 
Almost daily someone asks me, “Should I buy a home now or should I wait for the market to change?” The answer is, “Now is a great time to buy a home.” Why?Home prices have remained stable in some areas and dropped below levels before the housing market frenzy in other areas. Especially in the south, extended south, and southwest parts of Tucson. The southwest has always been a “get more for your dollar” area. Comparative shopping by area can save thousands of dollars. With the new Spectrum Shopping Center coming in at Drexel and I-19, with Best Buy and … (0 comments)

tucson homes: What Makes A Luxury Home In Tucson - 05/06/08 03:06 AM
I’ve noticed a lot of inquiries for luxury homes lately. Which brings to mind. What is a luxury home? What are the different levels of luxury homes?It used to be that anything over $500,000 in Tucson was considered a luxury home. Is there a difference between granite counter tops in a $350,000 and a $900,000 home? What difference is there between an $850,000 home and a $2,500,000 home? What can you expect?  READ MORE
… (1 comments)

tucson homes: Tucson Real Estate Pool Safety - 05/03/08 01:04 PM
With the weather picking up it is time to start thinking about pool safety. Every year we hear about a parent, uncle, friend or whomever who for a short moment wasn’t paying close attention to a child who unfortunately drowned. Arizona has strict laws about pools and barriers. A law that both buyers and seller should be aware of. For safety the Red Cross says it best.Straight from the Red Cross website:
Home Pools Learn to swim. The best thing anyone can do to stay safe in and around the water is to learn to swim–this includes adults and children. … (0 comments)

tucson homes: Tucson Golf Property Sales - 01/20/08 03:16 AM
Tucson is a retreat for golfers who love to play year round. There is no question that my niche is golf properties and golfers. When writing monthly reports about home sales I’ve had a desire to focus more toward golf properties. I finally found the time to pull up statistics, which I’ll begin reporting in my monthly sales reports beginning in February.
For now, I’d like to look at available MLS information for properties that are directly adjacent to golf courses. This does not take into consideration sales of homes within subdivisions that embrace golf courses which do not back up … (1 comments)

tucson homes: December 2007 Tucson Home Sales - 01/18/08 05:28 AM
Tucson Association of Realtors December report is finally out. Residential home sales did decrease below that of November with 682 officially reported sales for December; the official number was 759 sales for November. The real number for December sales is higher at 762. So much for Realtors reporting on time.
Buyer confidence is still a major factor affecting sales. Interest rates in January dropped below 6%, yet there is no significant increase in buying. As I said last month, sales for the winter are traditionally lower. January generally sees a slight decrease from the lack of activity during December. Most … (0 comments)

tucson homes: What Do Tucson Homes and Foreign Dollars Have In Common? - 12/27/07 09:44 AM
Since my earlier article Everything Canadian Home Buyers Want To Know About Tucson Real Estate I have been seeing more about foreign investment in American real estate. It goes beyond Canadian buyers. It makes perfect sense for Foreign Investors as well as second home and vacation home buyers to look into the sun belt for another home. When the American dollar is weaker than currency in other parts of the world, why not invest in American soil?
Roberta Murphy wrote an excellent article in her Luxury Home Digest about foreign investors. Canadian and other foreign investors are looking at San Diego, … (0 comments)

tucson homes: Fans Getting Ready For Accenture Match Play Championship 2008 - 12/15/07 12:07 AM
If you were in Tucson for the 2007 Accenture Match Play Championship you had the pleasure of seeing some great play. Like sitting next to the green on the 360+ uphill 12th green and watching the pros land golf balls on and around the green. For my first PGA event with Tiger Woods, Phil Mikelson, Ernie Els and the like, it was interesting to see the massive crowds that would follow their favorite.
I remember during practice rounds standing behind the tee in what I thought was a safe spot to the side of where I felt the pros would … (2 comments)

tucson homes: Bank Repossessed Properties, Are They a Good Deal? - 12/08/07 12:29 AM
It’s no wonder that some bank repossessed properties are hard to sell. Lenders whose future are in question and who need to get rid of the inventory of homes they possess. Guaranteed, the chance of buying some bank owned properties for much less money than their value can be high. So is the risk. Read the contract thoroughly. The bank has a lot of clauses that can be very one sided. Having an attorney read the contract can save a lot of headaches.
In Arizona a buyer makes and offer, signs it and it’s proposed to the Seller. If the Seller … (1 comments)

tucson homes: Everything Canadian Home Buyers Want To Know About Tucson Real Estate - 11/25/07 03:06 AM
With a name like Trudeau would you be surprised if I told you I am the grandson of a Canadian immigrant who spoke only French when he and his brother arrived in America? As a youth I bore the Canadian flag on nearly everything. Trips from Seattle to Vancouver, British Columbia were routine. I still carry $5 bill in my wallet for good luck, and cherish the lapel pin of the Canadian flag given to me as I crossed the border into BC on my last trip.
I am seeing and hearing about more and more Canadian buyers looking to … (0 comments)

tucson homes: What is a homebuyers initial greatest fear? - 11/06/07 08:05 AM
As a REALTOR® who works a lot with buyers (who while in between sits site sales) I get a good feeling for buyer fears. The biggest initial fear isn’t whether the home they choose to buy is worth the value. It isn’t whether they can afford the payments. It isn’t whether the home is big enough to meet their needs. All those fears will come in good time if they don’t pick the right REALTOR®. I would imagine that Tucson real estate is no different than real estate anywhere else when it comes to buyer’s initial fear. Home buyers feel it on the Internet, … (4 comments)

tucson homes: Preliminary Tucson Home Sales For October 2007 - 11/05/07 11:34 PM
Tucson real estate sales for the month of October increased over that of September. There were 795 MLS reported sales for October compared to the 683 of September. Looking at the traditional seasonal chart Tucson’s October real estate sales exceeded the anticipated and predictable pattern with this increase. In fact the increase is significantly more than the average 3.5% seen between the two months with a 16% increase in real estate sales for October. Is this a good sign or what?
The number of homes on the market without an offer remains high with 9,256. An increase from the 9,148 … (0 comments)

tucson homes: Tucson Real Estate and Eco-Friendly Green Homes - 11/05/07 09:01 AM
USA Today ran an article on eco-friendly homes in a variety of areas throughout the United States. “Growing awareness among builders and home buyers of environmentally friendly building materials and methods - plus government efforts to address climate change - are fueling the focus on eco-friendly single family homes, environmental advocates say.” Eco friendly and green homes make sense. “When you think about the idea that 40% of our carbon emissions in the U.S. comes from buildings, and about half of that is residential, we’ve got to address all our building types.”
Bud Foster ran a special on a homeowner in … (0 comments)

tucson homes: DUI Laws In Arizona Are Tough - 11/01/07 03:11 AM
The thresholds and punishments for first time DUI offenses are as follows (second time offenses are drastically worse):   Standard DUI:  BAC over 0.08 (three drinks for most men and two drinks for most women) Mandatory jail time of 10 days - No plea bargaining (second offense - 30 to 90 days) Mandatory suspension of driver’s license for 90 days  (second offense - one year) Mandatory installation of ignition interlock device in car for one year (Cost:  $1,000 plus $100 per month) Court fees - $1,500 (second offense - $3,000), points, increased insurance, attorney fees, etc. Read the rest of this entry »
… (3 comments)

tucson homes: Tucson Real Estate October 2007 Mid Month Home Sales Report - 10/26/07 02:01 AM
Looking at the Tucson real estate sales from the first of October to the 20th gives a healthier picture than September’s mid month report. Positive news for the market. Closed real estate sales rose from the 385 in this time frame in September to 403 for October. A step in the right direction. READ MORE … (0 comments)

tucson homes: What Do Home Buyers Expect In The Real Estate Market Today? - 10/14/07 10:26 AM
Ask any Realtor in the Tucson real estate market what buyers expect and you will likely hear one common answer, “Satisfaction.” Satisfaction is a fairly general term. What does satisfaction mean.
Two years ago satisfaction meant getting the home that buyers were bidding for without someone else out bidding them. It was not uncommon in the Tucson real estate market at that time to have multiple offers on a home within hours after it went on the market. What it inevitably lead to was some buyers paying more than their home is worth today. The tide as turned and buyers have redefined … (1 comments)