How does the agent interact and view the other agents, staff and administrators in his Brokerage? Is there an environment of teamwork and cooperation or an emphasis on individual accomplishment and competition? Is the staff friendly and outgoing or quietly doing their jobs? Do they seem to want to be there? Is there frequent staff turnover or do you see the same faces regularly? Do the Managers engage the agents and promote professional, social and educational advancement and shared experiences? Are the Managers encouraging or remote. Do they seem to enjoy their jobs and interact directly and often or do they mostly stay in their offices? Strong manager involvement leads to strong agent committment. Without it, the agent will be an island and much less effective in achieving his goals.

Probing an agent will lead to insight in answering these questions but a sure sign that a Brokerage is one that will help your property agent create a sale for you, is to pay attention to how your agent talks about his company. An agent who respects and holds his company in the highest regards will preach it’s greatness and strengths with no prompting from you. Thats the property agent I want working for me.

I found it interesting to read an article today in the Arizona Daily Star that July’s median home price of $125,000 was identical to the 2001 median price according to the Tucson Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service. This confirms my colleagues’ perceptions.

Although many Realtor’s will tell you today that there is heightened sales activity recently, they will also acknowledge this is coupled with continued falling prices. For Tucson homes and Southern Arizona land, it continues to be a buyer’s market that many people are taking advantage of.

Finally a little bit of good news!  Foreclosure filings nationally, as well as in Pima County, plunged to a near 4 year low. Nationally, 212,764 and in Pima County 666 property owners received default, auction or repossession notices in July 2011. Nationally, this represents a 35% decrease from the previous month, and in Pima the decrease was 40%. This bodes well for the Southern Arizona property market as well as the Tucson land market. Slowly, but steadily, we seem to be selling the distressed housing inventory, while the future number of foreclosures is coming down.

The other positive trend mentioned is the significant decrease in the number of late paying mortgage holders – those who were 60 days or more late. The spring of 2011 marked the sixth straight quarter where this rate declined nationally. No specifics were given for Pima County.

These trends, in combination, are very positive. I know our office is buzzing with business and I am currently working on 3 land transactions personally. The sale volume of Southern Arizona land and homes is definitely picking up. At the same time home prices are still depressed, creating some great buys for consumers. The market trajectory is finally starting to move upwards.

Southern Arizona land is being sold at unprecedented prices. In many cases, the land is sold by public or private lenders, and in some cases, by individuals who can no longer afford making payments on property taxes or loans they have been servicing for years. In most of these cases, properties are being sold well below the original development cost of many years ago!

I don’t know how long the economy will continue to support these types of deals but I know those who take advantage of this “arizona land giveaway” today will experience great benefits in a few short years. I’ve been involved in buying and selling Arizona property since the early 1980’s and at no time have the opportunities been so plentiful as they are now.

The prestigious Arizona REALTOR® Magazine has just published my latest article, “Shopping for Land on the Internet”.  It is a great honor to be able to share my expertise with Realtors all across the state.  I hope that Realtors and consumers alike will find the article enlightening.

To read the magazine in HTML Format, click here.
To read the magazine in PDF Format, click here.

Sons of Orpheus

Did you know that this real estate pro by day moonlights as a bass-baritone singer at night? Well, it’s true and the Tucson Weekly published a great article about the Sons of Orpheus and their performance tonight.

The Mixed Summer Chorus will perform at 7 p.m. tonight, Friday, July 29, at Ascension Lutheran Church, 1220 W. Magee Road. Admission is free.

In addition to the above, Lot 123 sold for $295,000; a 49% reduction from its 2005 sale price of $575,000. Lots 257 and 156 sold respectively for $235,000 and $265,000; almost the identical prices that each had sold for in 2002! Finally, Lot 292, an exceptionally nice lot bordering the Coronado National Forest that was listed for $1,150,000, just closed for $600,000. I can also say that I just listed a similar lot to this one (Lot 271) for $575,000, which had sold a couple of years ago for $1,045,000.

It’s pretty clear that although there has been quite a bit of market activity in Pima Canyon, it’s lot values have now tumbled along with other Tucson properties despite its attractive foothills location. So in this current market of high volume and low prices, price well located property aggressively and it will sell. Sound familiar? It should… It is true across all real estate market segments.

Tucson REALTOR® Magazine ~ July/August 2011

In this issue of the Tucson REALTOR® Magazine learn about an up and coming generation that represents roughly 51.5 million potential first-time homebuyers. Read about Shopping for Land on the Internet and 5 Real Estate Scams you should be aware of. Do you know what it takes to grab the attention of prospective buyers? Take this month’s quiz on property marketing to find out.

To read the Magazine in HTML Format, click here.
To read the Magazine in PDF Format, click here.

No one bid at the trustee sale that was held last week although at least one local and one national group are known to have an interest in the project.

New ownership can’t happen fast enough as this unique and beautiful neighborhood is badly in need of TLC and a major cash infusion. No subdivided lots that I’m aware of have lost so much value since the Developer’s troubles and the real estate recession converged a few years ago. The most recent sales have been under $300,000 on lots originally sold at $1.2 million and above. And despite the problems, this land is gorgeous and features amazing rock out-croppings, great views and privacy.

This subdivision will come back under new ownership, hopefully sooner rather than later. I’m confident there will be some happy (and astute) owners five years from now who buy these lots at today’s distressed prices.

If you know a subject property is currently in or near a flood prone or riparian area I would recommend contacting your local jurisdiction for more details. These include:

• the City of Tucson 791-5609
• Marana 382-2600
• Oro Valley 229-4818
• Pima County 243-1800
• Sahuarita 344-7100
• South Tucson 917-1563

If you’re not sure, I would begin a search on the website that covers all floodplain jurisdictions in Pima County, www.rfcd.pima.gov/dfirm. You will find a simplified search procedure by address or parcel number and a dual screen comparison showing old and revised maps.

Living in the desert, it’s hard for us to imagine that flooding is a problem. We hear about the “100 year flood” and think it won’t happen in our lifetime. Here’s an interesting fact: the statistical probability of a 100 year storm occurring during the life of a 30 year mortgage is 26%. Don’t be caught unprepared.