Archive for June, 2008
Where is your Magical Space?
June 29th, 2008 categories: Phoenix real estate
Doesn’t it happen to you sometimes? Driving, deep in thoughts, suddenly you see a door of your garage and you don’t know how you’ve got here! That is how I found myself in Singapore. Not driving though, but surfing. I was looking for info on Singapore’s architecture, when I opened an intriguing page that immediately pulled me in. In this case I didn’t see the door of my garage but a cover of a Moleskine journal; one of many that in 2007 were passed around to people of different walks of life, who completed it with their drawings, writings, photographs… all related to their understanding of a Magical Space, as a “place that holds memories and emotional treasures”
Selected pages can be seen here:
http://magicalspaces.fivefootway.com/
For some, the magical space is an airport, that always brings them a feeling of happiness.
Another one, lists several places either in Thailand, India, or China.
Someone else jotted “it is a place which exist in my mind only”
It took me a while to recall my magical spaces. Some of them are left far behind me. Spontaneous travels, hitchhiking. Moleskine journals. A Map and Music.
Pacific Coast at Big Sur. Sometimes these are weather conditions that inspire me to write or paint, think of a story.
As someone said- these are not the events alone, but what meaning we give them- this is what reveals who we are.
Where is Your Magical Space? Can you tell me about it?
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Orpheum Lofts in Downtown Phoenix
June 29th, 2008 categories: Phoenix Downtown, Phoenix Lofts
The Orpheum Lofts is one of the few buildings which features true loft living in Central Phoenix. In the midst of downtown Phoenix at 114 
West Adams, just steps away from a light rail station, this building is truly in the urban core.
Orpheum Lofts is 90 upscale lofts in an existing historical landmark.
In its former life the building was know as the Phoenix Title and Trust Building; the iconic building continues to exert its influences; it is one of the few remaining Art Deco high rises in Phoenix.
The restoration to the building can be called exquisite, authentic, elegant and pleasing with style and architecture all around; from the spectacular lobby, the decorative metal elements, opulent marble and terrazzo, this 11 story brick building has go it.
The brick brings out so much character and authenticity.
This building now offers all the modern amenities you’ll need or want like a game room, conference room exercise area and a pool. Other features include an amazing green and inviting court yard and 24th security.
What we like about the Orpheum Lofts.
- Style-this place is packed with it.
- Art Deco architecture and design elements.
- Beautiful -for the most part-interiors
- Great location in Downtown Phoenix
- The landscaped courtyard-some of the units have direct access to.
The Orpheum Lofts in Downtown provides residential living at the core of central Phoenix, amongst the sports venues, theaters, and office buildings in the immediate area, like the Phoenix Art Museum, AZ Science Center, Civic Center, Herberger Theater, the Orpheum Theater and many more.
Current Active Orpheum Lofts for Sale or Lease.
There are some issues with the building but noting what word or cant be resolved. There is a lack of parking.
There are quite a few vacant units and foreclosed due to the investor shopping flip spreed in the last few year.
None the less this is a wonderful building and some of the units are simply spectacular. Take a look at the interior of this unit in the Orpheum Lofts. The view is amazing and the there is a really good feeling inside with lots of bright natural light, open space and great layout.
Search for other real estate in Phoenix.
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Lofty Art in Downtown Phoenix
June 29th, 2008 categories: Architecture, Phoenix Downtown
This is the ceiling in the hallways of Orpheum Lofts, one of few true lofts in Phoenix. To some this is unsightly and just a bundle of pipes and signs.
I see it as craftsmanship; almost as art. Perfectly formed and aligned, the pipes, concrete and ties add visual appeal and value to the experience in the buildings. Its not a contrast but more a complement to the Art Deco pedigree of the building. This is much better looking then those horrific truly outdated and simply unattractive square ceiling tiles you see in many buildings, one of which was Tapestry on Central a newer, very nice building also on the Light rail. These pipes extend from the hallways to the interior units and sometimes run down bedroom wall and all perfectly in place. I love this building, not all the units, of course but most of them and i love to see craftsmanship which this building has plenty of.
Take a look at lofts for sale or lease in Orpheum Lofts in Downtown Phoenix
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Roosevelt Historic Neighborhood in Downtown Phoenix
June 29th, 2008 categories: Historic Neighborhoods, Phoenix Downtown
The Roosevelt Historic Neighborhood grew from the 1890’s to the mid 1930’s, as the valley extended and grew with the influx of new residents. Unlike previous homes the homes in this subdivision resembled those of other homes around the country, not adobe.
Homes in Roosevelt had mostly narrow and deep lots. This is common for a street car neighborhood, remains of the street cars can be 
seen on the West side of Central ave. across from the Phoenix library.
The most common architecture you’ll find here is California Bungalow with some samples of Craftsman Bungalow and Period Revival. Each is unique and many have been carefully restored. Some of the common characteristics include wood shingles, porch columns, stone chimneys and textures exterior finished.
The Roosevelt neighborhood was the first historic district in Phoenix.
Roosevelt now has two major arteries running north south through it, 7th ave and Central Ave with the new light rail.
The Roosevelt Historic Neighborhood now plays a major part in the revitalization of Phoenix as a catalyst and inspiration for the historic and urban lifestyle. This is simply a spectacular neighborhood where the old historic homes meld in well with the new lofts, condos and home filling in the gaps.
View homes, condos and lofts for sale in the Roosevelt Historic Neighborhood in Phoenix.
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Phoenix Real Estate Photo Sunday.
June 28th, 2008 categories: Local Color, Photography
No mater the size of the accomplishment , a publicly printed photo one made is a nice thing to see.
(Hoozdo #5)
This time Joanna had a photo she took of the Phoenix Symphony Building in Downtown Phoenix printed in Hoozdo. It’s the one on the right in the photo above.
Read more about the current issue of Hoozdo.
“If Phoenix is just about the hottest spot in the U.S. right now, does that make hoozdo the hottest small-format magazine in the country? We think so.
As the sidewalks melt under your shoes and you start sympathizing with those fast-food patties being carbonized under the grill, Hoozdo 5 is here to drop ice-cubes down your neck.
In this issue Sean Bonnette tells you why you should not move to Portland even if your mom is, Larry Jankens gets weirded-out by Pancake Bunnies, Sal Paradise hikes the Chris-town Mall, Steve Patton considers Phoenix when it rains and we generally mention Lux Coffee every chance we get for absolutely no reason.
Hoozdo 5 comes perfectly formed, so no need for trinkets in this issue, but look out for our ultra-limited edition tee shirts, arriving by covered wagon across the prairie any day now!”
You can pick it up in many of the fine establisments in Downtown and Midtown Phoenix.
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Paradise Valley Has No Sidewalks
June 25th, 2008 categories: Phoenix real estate
That’s not entirely true, there are lots of sidewalks in Paradise Valley, straight and curving. In fact, Lincoln has been getting a very long stretch of a very fancy sidewalk along the south side. But, there are many streets that still don’t have sidewalks and they should not get them. This is what makes Paradise Valley unique; in part, the rural feel in the middle of the Phoenix metropolitan area.
The photograph exemplifies a common street with natural desert landscaping, winding streets, no sidewalks and beautiful views, all the while the luxurious homes or the older ranch homes hide further back on the large lots. This street windes down the foot of Mummy Mountain with a view of the McDowell Mountains in the East.
- Read more about Paradise Valley at Phoenix Market Trends
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Phoenix Homes Misrepresented.
June 23rd, 2008 categories: Edits, Phoenix real estate
That will be important for buyers who are looking on their own, with or without Realtor’s representation. There are currently ads on Craigslist. com now, put up by agent advertising homes for sale, stating, that the address of the property will be released to you after the advertiser received from you a signed “loyalty agreement”. “No Buyer Realtors allowed!” Nice, isn’t it. So in order to get details about the property you have to first sign a “loyalty agreement” this is most likely buyer broker agreement. That’s fine to en extent, but even with this there are issues. These could be exclusive listings, but the are not. It all goes bad from here.
For any Realtor, it will take just a minute, maximum, to identify the property on MLS, who its listed by, is it exclusive or not and its entire history, but a buyer shopper does not have that luxury. So here is the deal with these listing. They are being advertised by agents who are not the listing agent of the properties being advertised. Not only that but the listing agent do not know about this and did not authorize it. It’s wrong to advertise someone’s else listing as yours especially if you are forcing a prospective buyer to sign away to see details readily available else where. This is not like other sites where you see lots of properties form multiple agents; these disclose who the broker is.
This argues with standard of practice 12-10 of NAR’s code of ethics.
What is a “nice” way to share listings? IDX search. You may find it on many Realtors websites and I see more and more people using i.e http://realestateconfluence.com/phoenix-home-search
The IDX Program permits MLS Participants to grant and receive permission to display each other’s active listings on certain public Internet websites. Unless they opt out.
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DIY TV series - not for everybody
June 22nd, 2008 categories: Edits, What Not To Do
A client was really excited to see the house close to Kierland Commons in North Scottsdale with a huge lot and a fabulous garden; it had an elegant interior as well, all looked spectacular on the pictures…
I looked at the pricing archives of the property and found out that the price was already reduced $150k since 2007 and the home has been on the market for more than 300 days. In such an attractive area, this was suspicious; even in this market.
A clarification to our question was revealed as soon as we opened the door…
The first thing you could see in the immense space filled with soft light filtered through a row of windows just under the ceiling, was the travertine floor where every other tile had high corners. In other words the person whom put down the tile did not keep them level. See the picture below.
Though everybody sees what is wrong, the reaction is: “what is that??” asking one through another.
Next comes the kitchen… here a number of ‘onmygoshings’ did not indicate any feelings of desire toward this new and shinny kitchen.
The details of the do-it-yourself job stood out as would a polar bear on Phoenix. Really good quality cabinets were put in by someone who never saw a level in their life. These are not mistakes you have too look for; there are obvious gaps between cabinets. Who ever worked on this kitchen, did not have a possibility of noticing even 5 mm deficiency. The black granite counter top had rough cuts in the places where you would never expect to see roughness, like the joints. So lets call it a “misunderstanding”.
Next is the fireplace, made of faux rough stone. In this case the picture is truly all that is needed.
The result: the buyer, like most buyers, do not want to do a remodeling. They want a move in ready home.
The Reaction: thought this is a remodeled home with good materials like travertine floors and granite counter tops and wood kitchen cabinets it has the opposite effect that it should. The finish will leave a buyer in awe at the truly bad installation job. The cabinets can be corrected. That’s not a big cost. The granite counter top must go. Then the travertine floor must go as well. In total this will be very expensive to repair and it’s probably one of the main reason this home has been lingering on the market.
The other thing is, potential buyers will question themselves, “what else has been remodeled in such a shoddy way, maybe the electrical work, maybe plumbing?”
At a distance this is a wonderful home and it presents itself well, until you get closer, walk up the crooked pavers and enter the door and see the rest of the bad details inside.
This is still a great house to buy, for someone who wants to do some remodeling to a newly remodeled home but remember corrections are often more difficult and expensive then doing it right in the beginning.
Maybe, in some cases, the DIY TV series are not that helpful after all!
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Second Day of Summer or Is It.
June 22nd, 2008 categories: Edits, Local Color
Today (yesterday was the 1st day actually but I started to write yesterday) is the official start of the summer season but is sure started earlier for many people, school kids amongst them, for whom summer is the the end of school. Often it’s the warmer temperatures that signal the summer. This is how I remember the starts of summer when I lived in the higher latitudes; warm weather equals summer. But of course this was a long time and go.
I have been in Arizona for over 20 years and summer here starts when the temperatures go above 85. which is basically the bulk of the year. Then there are just greater and lesser summers. If you think about when were in the midst of the summer here its like the winters in many other places. Extreme weather, lack of mobility due to atmospheric condition, it’s bloody blazing hot when it’s 115 like it was yesterday and will be many more times this year.
It’s the kind of heat that hurts so it’s extreme and dangerous. Even the water in the pools is starting to get too warm for comfort. A splash in the pool should be a relief. Each year I try to prepare for the summer but its always difficult just as harsh winters are elsewhere. So when you see a photo of a young couple having a picnic under a lush green tree on a flower covered meadow, to represent summer days, this does not apply to Phoenix. Here is a list of things you can do during the Phoenix summer heat.
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Phoenix Metro May 2008 Home Resale Numbers Including Foreclosure Sales.
June 21st, 2008 categories: Market Trends, Phoenix real estate
ASU Polytechnic has put out their May 2008 Greater Phoenix data. This data is derived from different sources, then the Phoenix resale numbers we presented at Phoenix Market Trends for May, which come from the ARMLS (Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service).
ASU data separates regular sales from foreclosed sales.
In May 2008, 5,740 home sold, these are resale homes. A total of 1,475 homes out of the total were foreclosed transaction. This represents 25% of all home sold. Contrast this with 2007 when 5.8% of the homes sold were foreclosed sales in Maricopa County.
In Phoenix the total homes sold were 1,420 with a break down of 940 “traditional sales” and 480 foreclosed sales, or 34% were foreclosure sales. That’s quite a lot of homes.
(Graph is from ASU Realty Studies)
Compare the above numbers to 2007, when a total of 1,405 homes sold in May but only 6% were foreclosed sales (85). In most cities the amount of foreclosed sales increased with cities like Tempe, Scottsdale and Sun City with the lowest percentage of foreclosed sales to normal sales and cities like Avondale, Phoenix, Glendale and several others with the most.
While sales were about equal to those last year, Jay Butler states, “However, in a weak economy, many households now will not have the needed income to save their homes, even with a new mortgage payment plan.”
Indeed, the economy seems to be slowing down and inflation on the increase and the dollar is weak, not to mention the price of gasoline and food, all of which is having a direct effect on the turnover of money and the less money turns over the worse everyone will be off.
Despite the difficult road ahead there is no reason not to buy a home or invest in real estate, quite the contrary. If a buyer or investor has the resources and availability of financing this may be the period, which may be now and for the next few quarters, purchase properties that will provide a good return and possibly a very good return in the long run.
Look for homes on our advanced Phoenix MAP MLS Search
Learn more about investing in Phoenix real estate.
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