Articles from Phoenix Area Real Estate Blog

Phoenix Area Real Estate Blog changes URLs
2007-11-01 20:12:02
The 3 month anniversary of the Phoenix Area Real Estate blog is just a few days away, and to celebrate, I’ve given the blog a new URL: http://www.RealPhoenixLiving.com. If you are reading this and thought you had clicked on http://blog.101bell.com, then you’ve arrived at the right place, it’s just some magic that’s automatically redirected you here. If you have me linked on a blogroll, and you get a chance, you might update your blogroll. When I started the Phoenix Area Real Estate blog, I did so knowing very, very little about what I was getting myself in to. I attempted to find some other real estate blogs I liked to roll model, was generally discouraged by what I found, but just decided to give it a go anyway. For a few days, I gave blogger.com a shot, but that didn’t go well. I already owned the domain name 101bell.com, as the identity for my Realty Executives satellite office, which I self-hosted on a Linux box. So the cheap and easy th ...

The folks from Trulia are listening
2007-11-01 15:48:04
The response from yesterday’s post regarding my decision to go on strike against Trulia Voices has been amazing to say the least. Within hours, both Jonathan Dalton and Jay Thompson had joined the picket lines. At that point, I decided Trulia deserved fair notice, so I sent an email to the PR department at Trulia, advising them of our decision, with links to all 3 posts. Just a few hours later, Pete Flint, Founder and CEO of Trulia himself, was found commenting on all of our blogs. This is one of the great things about the Web 2.0 world we now live in. We can have an absolutely fantastic discussion, with all of the right players, right out in the open for everyone to see. Transparency indeed. With such a captive audience, I want to discuss how I think Trulia can make Voices better, along with the various methods I’ve already seen discussed. OPTION 1 Jay suggests simply doing away completely with any type of ranking system for a Voice. He contends it isn&rsqu ...

Opting out of Trulia Voices
2007-10-31 13:48:04
On Monday I wrote about a radio ad that offered bad advice for people that live in Phoenix. The ad was most likely created as part of a national advertising campaign, which was sold to affiliates across the US. Apparently no one bothered to check whether the ad was truly appropriate to the entire national listening audience. In a similar, but professionally more damning trend, Real Estate Professionals are doing the exact same thing over on Trulia Voices. In my opinion, the popularity contest that is Trulia Voices has agents working desperately to increase their stats so they will appear to be the Voice that should be heard. The trend I am seeing is that some professionals are so overzealous in their desire to answer every question they possibly can, that they answer many questions they definitely should not. And I’m not the only one seeing this trend. Jay Thompson has pointed it out often enough, as has Jonathan Dalton. Last week, I asked the Trulia Voices community ...

Just Listed for Rent in Laveen
2007-10-30 17:56:59
We’ve just listed a large 4 bedroom/3 bath home that includes a loft for rent at only $1275/month in Laveen. Located near Baseline & 51st Ave, it’s a very convenient location for many people. Check out all of the details at: 5226 West Maldonado Drive. Copyright ©2007 Phoenix Area Real Estate Blog by Steve Belt. This feed is intended for personal, non-commercial use only. Share This ...

Mountain Standard Time: Year-round in Arizona
2007-10-29 17:51:44
Today, I had a bit of driving to do and was busy listening to sports talk radio in the car, as is my typical custom when driving alone. A Radio Shack commercial came on, and reminded every listener on November 4th to move their clocks back by an hour, as daylight saving time is coming to an end. The commercial also reminded folks to change the batteries in their smoke detectors. Apparently, this public service ad will help Radio Shack sell more batteries. Unfortunately, the good suggestion of changing your smoke alarm batteries is grossly overshadowed by the very bad suggestion of moving your clocks on November 4th, since the vast majority of Arizonans do not adjust their clocks for daylight saving time. We’re on Mountain Standard Time year round. A person that recently moved into Arizona might not be aware of that, and could inadvertently move their clock back this Sunday. I sure hope that doesn’t happen often, but I bet it happens to someone. Probably few ...

Dynamite Mountain Ranch Market Update - October 2007
2007-10-27 21:22:24
There are currently 65 active properties for sale in the Phoenix subdivision of Dynamite Mountain Ranch, equal to the 65 properties one month ago. The average asking price per square foot over all 65 properties is $155/sq foot, which is down from $161/sq foot one month ago. The price per square foot reduction is the result of a few sellers making significant price reductions. Size Range Price/Square Foot Number of Homes under 2000 sq ft $168/sq ft 27 2000-2500 sq ft $148/sq ft 24 2500+ sq ft $151/sq ft 14 *data as of 10/27/2007, via ARMLS As of today, 5 properties are in a sale pending status: Address Size Model Price Price/sq foot 2329 W Gambit Trl 1550 Sedona $279,900 $181/sq foot 2407 W Oberlin Way 1782 Pinetop $294,200 $165/sq foot 2401 W Silver Sage Ln 2232 Cape Cod $314,000 $141/sq foot 2431 W White Feather Ln 2232 Cape Cod $315,900 $142/sq foot 2405 W Bent Tree Dr 3006 Cunningham $449,000 ...

APS is now charging for power line extensions
2007-10-24 12:35:44
Until July 1, if your property was within 1000 feet of an existing transmission line, APS would extend that line to your property at no cost to you. Land owners in rural locations have counted on this free service for years, as a means to build a more affordable home, due to the low cost of the land itself. Land buyers often measured the distance to the existing power lines, and used that as part of the valuation for the land. If the land was more than 1000 feet from existing power lines, the land had lower value than land that was within 1000 feet of existing power lines, all else being equal. Land speculators watched with great interest any time power lines were extending, as they knew the existence of power lines closer to their land would increase the value. The distance to existing power lines will still be a factor in the valuation of raw land, but now parcels that are within 1000 feet will have the additional cost of the power line extension to consider. APS is quotin ...

Losing Blogger Series Part 2 is published
2007-10-24 02:23:12
In my continuing effort to attone for my allegiance to the DBacks, my second installment in my blogging wager is up over on Steve Scheer’s Denver real estate blog. Per the bet, I was obligated to discuss how great the city of Denver is. I’ll state here and now that I doubt I will ever live in another city than Phoenix. At least, not as long as I’m married to a woman who thinks 65 is cold, which to date has lasted over 13 years, and shows no signs of ending soon. So Denver will probably never be a place I call home. But I really do think Denver is a great city to live. I just wanted to clarify that, for any of my readers that may get confused by how I can gloat all over Denver. Now for the third topic, I have quite a bit of liberty. I’m certainly willing to entertain suggestions. Wednesday, I was hoping Heather Barr would have a suggestion or two over lunch, but that lunch had to be rescheduled for Friday, and I’ve promised to complete my obliga ...

Southern California is Ablaze
2007-10-23 11:16:01
Being away on vacation definitely got me out of touch with the “real world” for a few days. Monday, my first day back in the office, a colleague asked, “How about those fires in San Diego?” I had no idea what he was talking about. Do I feel out of touch now, or what? Already, hundreds of homes have burned down in southern California. This trend appears to be continuing today. With warm temperatures, high winds, and dry landscape conditions creating the perfect setting for a massive firestorm, the fires are anticipated to spread fast and strong for several days yet to come. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency in 7 counties. President George Bush has called in for support, which will take a few days to arrive. Here in Arizona we have already sent 12 fire trucks to help out, and we are scrambling to free up more that can be sent. Somehow, only 1 person has been reported to be killed by the wildfires. Though tragic ...

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