Urban Life

A Few Home Maintaince Tips

On going maintenance is important in maintaining the value, comfort and safety of your home. As Realtors, we often see homes with deferred maintenance issues linger on the market much longer than well cared for homes.

We've found it is easier to keep up with the repairs in an ongoing manner. The truth is, people looking to buy a home in Phoenix, Scottsdale and other cities in Arizona don't want to inherit problems and if they do, they will significantly reduce the offer price to compensate.

Some of the home warranty companies offer lists of home maintenance ideas designed to keep your home in tip top shape. Below are links to some of these these pages. 

American Home Shield

First American Home Warranty

Old Republic Home Protection

Service One

Hope this helps make your home a better place to live.

The Urban Team At Realty Executives

Gene Urban and Ron Urban

PR Firms Jump into Developer Market

Did you read the article in the Arizona Republic titled "Pros Smooth Path for Developers?  Click here to read the article.

At first glance I was surprised to hear this is a new idea. One would think PR firms would have jumped on this bandwagon years ago.

The concept is to hire PR firms to disseminate project information to the community and work in a hands-on way to talk with neighborhood residents resolving conflicts and concerns. In a perfect world this would be a merit-able idea. In our world I am not sure.

The developer is footing the bill for the PR firms and has done so to ensure passage of their project. The question is simply... Is the PR firm hired to help get the project passed at any cost including spinning the truth, flat out lying and other less than honorable practices or is the PR firm hired to accurately educate the effected neighborhoods and bring back constructive feedback and concerns?

We've all know developers who had great social conscience and others who were purely in it for the bucks, this is true in any industry. Let's hope firms like Susan Bitter Smith's Technical Solutions have the courage to say no to the later type and work towards the betterment of our community through honest communication and the highest possible standards.

Gene Urban
The Urban Team At Realty Executives

Mortgage Rates In Flux

Just a quick thought from one of the lenders we like... Ben Bernanke’s wild ride has sent interest rates up and down the roller coaster this week causing rate changes 2 and 3 times a day! Rates started at 5.625% dropped to 5.25% and are back to 5.875%. Crazy!!

 
Lisa Shaughnessy
Desert Heritage Mortgage

So You Want To Be A Landlord

There was an important article in the Arizona Republic today regarding how to keep your rental property from being crime magnets. Click here to read the piece.

Some of you know Ron Urban, my brother and partner in the Urban Team at Realty Executives, used to be the designated broker for a local property management firm.  His experience gives him tremendous knowledge and insight.

Much of what was outlined in the Arizona Republic article sounds like what I hear Ron tell people. The first thing Ron says is to be meticulous when evaluating a potential tenant. Hire a professional to perform an extensive background search. The back ground check should provide the following: Is the person is credit worthy? Does the person have a good track record with prior landlords? What is their employment history? Does the person has a criminal record?

Another important element is clear verbal and written communication. Some tenants believe when the chips are down, they can turn to the landlord for help with rent. Ron says,  when interviewing a potential tenant be very clear that you, the landlord, are NEVER the one to ask for help paying rent. Family, friends, banks, credit sources and such are the tenants choices.

Next Ron suggests that you outline your expectations regarding the use and care of the home in a clear and direct manner. Take the prospect on a walk-through and point out how you expect the home to be returned at the end of the lease period. End the walk by having the person repeat what they understand your expectation to be.

After all this is said and done bring out the contract and go through it line by line. Make sure everyone understands the document prior to signing. Take your time and be clear and concise.

One other thing Ron tells people is to carefully study and understand the eviction process. Obtain a copy of the Tenant/Landlord Act and study it! In addition, contact an attorney who handles evictions and obtain all the necessary documents needed to execute an eviction should the need arise. The worst thing you can do is let a problem slide. Quick and decisive action will not only protect you, it will let the tenant know you are a professional.

Hope this helps those thinking about becoming or already are landlords.

Gene Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
www.urbanteamaz.com

What does the Fed Rate Cut Mean To Us

MSNBC had a pretty nice article about what the big FED rate cut mean to the average consumer. I've cut out part of the article for your reading pleasure and suggest you go here and read the whole thing. I've put my own comments in red.

First, the good news: If you need to borrow money, it might get cheaper. Rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages already have fallen to about 5.4 percent from 6.3 percent six months ago. Gene here..I got an email today from one of our lenders and they have a fixed rate 30 year loan at 5%)

ou are thinking of buying a new home or refinancing a mortgage, consider waiting two or three weeks to see what mortgage rates do. There’s not much risk they’ll go up significantly, and there’s some chance they’ll drift down. Some analysts think the Fed may cut rates again Jan. 30 after next week's two-day meeting. Give us a call and we can find out where the rate are and get the opinion of a couple of our good lenders on where they believe rates are going.

Adjustable-rate relief?
Homeowners with adjustable-rate mortgages also may benefit from the Fed rate cut, which could lower the indexes used to reset adjustable loans. The one-year Treasury bill, for example, now yields about 3 percent, down from 3.2 percent a month ago and 5 percent a year ago.

In other words, if your loan resets every 12 months and used the one-year Treasury for a reset today, the interest rate could drop by two full percentage points, perhaps saving you hundreds of dollars a month.

Still, you might consider using this opportunity to refinance to a 30-year, fixed-rate loan. You could lock in that unusually good, below-6 percent rate and avoid rate hikes you might face in the future with an adjustable loan. The key here is your credit score. Lenders are being tougher these days but it may be worth a shot converting to a fixed rate loan if you can get one while the getting is good.

The general decline in interest rates could influence rates on car loans, credit cards and home-equity loans, but so many factors affect those rates that it’s too soon to know for sure. With interest rates in flux, keep an eye out for good deals. Keep an eye on this. You may be able to get your credit card company to reduce your rate... it generally takes a phone call and some haggling to do this though.

Of course, lower rates are not so great for people trying to earn interest. But don’t despair — some institutions are still offering healthy rates of 4 to 5 percent on savings accounts and certificates of deposit. That’s because they’re hungry for cash to make loans.

Hope this helps...

Gene Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
http://www.urbanteamaz.com

The Safari Resort Condos are open

So, have you been wondering what's going in at what used-to-be the Safari Resort? It's a condo, loft mixed use project called Safari Drive.

The first phase is done with 90 lofts, condos and townhouses.  The developers, Vanguard City Home and the Wolff Co., say they are moving forward with phase two of the project that will add 210 more residential units as well as restaurants, shops, office space and a small hotel.

You have to ask yourself... are these guys inspired or insane. My sense is a little of both. Many would call them crazed to consider moving forward during a down market cycle. However, one must take into account the location of the project and what is happening in downtown Scottsdale.  That is where the term inspired may come into place.

I am pretty bullish on the downtown Scottsdale area. It is currently the most vital urban area in Maricopa County and has the base elements needed to support continued growth and stability... strong residential development mixed with job opportunity, a variety of shopping, fine restaurants and culture.  Wow... you mean people want to live somewhere where they can work, play, shop and generally have fun. What a concept.

By the way, this lifestyle can come at quite a price. The units at Safari drive are starting at $600,000 and go well into the millions. give us a call at the Urban Team and we'll make an appointment to take a look at this bold project.

Counting the Cranes

In the Chinese culture cranes are considered very auspicious--a sign of longevity and prosperity. And as someone who has an affinity for anything Asian, it is promising to have so many cranes hovering over downtown Phoenix. Surely, there must be something good happening down there …especially when they are building cranes.

The maturing of Phoenix into a “21^st Century City” is the confluence of many factors—mass transit, dense urban housing, educational facilities, new high rise mixed use projects—all happening at the same time. This multi-headed hydra will ultimately result, once the dust settles, into a downtown that will offer a true 24/7 environment of live, work, play and learn.

In downtown Phoenix, light rail construction is moving along with expected completion around December 2008. It has been a messy, disruptive process leaving several downtown businesses hanging on by a thread. But in the long run it ought to bring new vitality and possibility to the downtown core. Already there is evidence of new transit-oriented development underfoot—new restaurants, shops, pedestrian friendly sidewalks etc. Tom Simplot, City Councilman credits light rail as the stimulus for much of the revitalization taking place downtown. In it’s wake it has created a domino affect.

The education piece is critical to the evolution of downtown Phoenix and attracting the knowledge worker that will create a solid foundation for economic vitality. The Phoenix Biomedical campus that started with TGEN over 5 years ago was the catalyst that sparked new interest to the downtown core. Following that was the commitment of our major universities, in particular Arizona State University, to a downtown campus that promises to bring around 15,000 students by 2015.

There are other mega size mixed use developments planned such as CityScape that will take up 3 city blocks and One Central Park East, the first high rise office building in downtown in 8 years. Some of the big projects like the $200 million Sarver deal have dried up, but many of the others will happen completely transforming the city as we know it. AJ’s has agreed to come downtown now that there is critical housing mass—something long overdue.

We will see completion of several major projects sometime in 2008 that will include the new Sheraton Hotel. The Sheraton will feature over 80,000 sf of meeting space and rooms. These were necessary expansions for us to just stay competitive in the hospitality market. The convention center has seen three times more bookings than five years ago. But supply of hotel rooms is not keeping up with the demand and the city is looking for the private sector to come up with another 1,000 rooms in the next year.

About 1.5 M people currently live in Phoenix. Also next year we will see the completion of numerous residential towers such as 44 Monroe, The Summit and W Developments. Some of the projects on the boards are just talk, some of them are happening. Estimates say that there will be over 10,000 more people living in the redevelopment area over the next decade. Currently there is a boom around luxury downtown living, but there is a real need housing for every demographic. There is a call for affordable housing in the downtown core.

And yes, the dust will eventually settle. But we did not do all this to settle, we are on a trajectory of going to the next level. According to traditional lore, the crane mediates between heaven and earth—navigating between what is real and what is possible. In order to achieve greatness we must balance between our aspirations and reality. I am excited to see how 2008 unfolds.

Claudia Bullmore

Chief Strategist

SkymarketingAZ.com

Claudia Bullmore is a guest author on UrbanLifeBlog.com and a bright light for Phoenix. She is the inspiration behind Ignite Phoenix a group dedicated to making Phoenix a powerful, exciting, nurturing city.

Monti's Is Saved by Tempe Coucil Vote

Dianna Naez of the AZ Republic writes... Generations of Monti's Las Casa Vieja goes wearing yellow "Save Monti's" stickers on their chests flooded Thursday's Tempe City Council meeting.

The group of about 50 supporters packed council chambers and erupted in emotion when the council unanimously approved redevelopment of the property that includes the historic stucco building that houses the restaurant, making way for three high rise towers restricted to a maximum height of 257 feet each. (Click here to read the entire article.)

The gist of the story is that the council is making the developer move the project away from the existing Monti's structure, thus preserving it.

I was surprised by many of the comments posted to this story. Several suggested Monti's should be torn down because the food is not as good as it used to be. I find this to be a sad social commentary.

Poor food is a correctable item. (Correctable items are something we talk about a lot in real estate; Bad carpet and paint are correctable when buying  a home.) However, the loss of an historic building constructed by Tempe's forefathers is a non-correctable mistake. Once gone it is forever lost and so would be the stories, memories and legacy.

I am delighted the Tempe council members had the wisdom to see into the future and balance legacy with vision. Way to go!!

Gene Urban
an optimist and partner at The Urban Team

Pallatte -- A Restaurant Review by Claudia B

Recently, a friend and I were craving the leisurely pace of Europe and decided to have breakfast at Palatte, 606 N Fourth Avenue in downtown Phoenix.

 

After we ordered our meal in the quaint historic bungalow, we opted to sit outside under the trees and heat lamps to ward off the December chill.

Palatte has been open a little over a year and has gained a reputation as a romantic spot for breakfast, lunch or a glass of wine. Much of the outdoor furniture is arranged in intimate groupings perfect for conversation.

Our food soon arrives—a fresh hot bowl of steel cut oats and a special egg dish the cook Dominic just whipped together. Both selections were excellent. In the distance, a singer starts playing guitar sounding a bit like Sting in the Caribbean bringing even more warmth to the setting.

I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed such a delightful morning that could have been anywhere in Europe, except even better. The service was friendly and attentive and it was in our own backyard, where the sun always shines.

Claudia B.

Claudia is a good friend and UrbanLife guest author who is passionate about downtown Phoenix. We like her for that as we too love this city!!! For more about Claudia check out her web site... www.skymarketingaz.com

McDowell Sonoran Land Trust Gets a Big Gift

An anonymous person has given the McDowell Sonoran Land Trust the gift of land... about 10 acres valued at 1.6 million dollars.

As a long time resident and lover of open spaces, the desert and hiking trails, this news is delightful. 

Although most of us can not make such big donations, we can still have an impact. Think about buying donations in small amounts and give them as gifts. It's much better than a bottle of wine as a hostess gift or an unneeded birthday tie.

Simply go to the land trust's web site... http://mslt.org/index.asp and make your donation. It's fun, it's good and every time you look off to the McDowells you'll know you did something special to keep it pristine.

Gene Urban