Elizabeth Newlin - Arizona Real Estate Agent

So I was cleaning my office today (let’s just start this out with a small confession: I have not been accused of being ‘organized’ any time recently) and going through paperwork to decide what to keep and what to pitch and found this:

This was a sheet of paper that I took notes on during a phone call with a client. Just one phone call. Just one client.

I picked this sheet of notes up and had to sit in wonder a little bit about what a psycologist who didn’t know me would say about my mental health.

And then I realized that this sheet of notes kind of represents my life right now. My dad tells me on a regular basis that if I just put into place my systems (Quicken!) and get things organized, everything will run more smoothly.

Yet, I have to admit that this circular and chaotic set of notes mirrors my way of thinking. Jason (the supportive, webmaster, husband and father man in my life) and I regularly disagree about how to get things done because his thought process goes from A….. to B, and mine goes from A….. around to G, M, C, Z and then back around to B.

So I guess it make sense that my notes and my life are a little bit crazy. I have this feeling that if I forced myself to take straight notes that made sense to everyone I wouldn’t be who I am.

I took out two sets of buyers yesterday (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) to look at urban Phoenix properties. I’m really starting to like these condos and lofts. Some are incredibly cleverly put together.

My two sets of clients were in very different price ranges, and with both, we visited a very diverse set of listings, so in general, I got a pretty comprehensive tour of urban life in Phoenix.

We saw one bedroom lofts in the $400K price range (gorgeous and modern) and a 2 bed/2 bath for $109K. One spacious condo had an entire wall of windows next to the master bathroom shower, which only had a frosted glass wall through to the living room (my clients were not thrilled about this and the idea of their grandchildren visiting them there).

My favorite part of these properties is the rooftop patios. I actually think I could really get into the idea of living in a high-rise condo (if I didn’t have kids) if I knew that I could head up to the rooftop at night and look at the lights over the city; or even take a swim in the pool that looks out over the city in the afternoon. What an amazing luxury.

I took a few videos of rooftops we visited yesterday. Bear with me on the sound, it was super windy and I was obviously without a script. I also really need to work on panning more slowly. A twitter buddy (@tdhurst) pointed this out to me on one of my other video attempts and I obviously did not take that critique into account when I was doing these. I will remember for next time.

Now that buyers have started to get the message that now really is a fabulous time to buy (tax credits, low prices and low interest rates, oh my!), we’ve begun to encounter a new problem with getting people into homes.

There is still so much inventory out there (about 10 times as many houses on the market in metro-Phoenix right now as when I started in the business four years ago) that buyers are a little overwhelmed about how to start.

With so many houses on the market to choose from, and new houses coming on the market that fit the criteria they are looking for every day, buyers have gotten a little paralyzed by the idea that the ‘perfect’ house is out there.

I’m here to tell you now: No house is perfect. It’s the honest truth. Every house will have a flaw, whether it is a little bit farther than you want to drive, a tad more expensive than you wanted to spend, with an outrageous HOA, or without that fifth bedroom you always wanted, something about it will be less than ideal, I promise.

Case in point:

I have a client who I’ve been showing property to for about 6 months. We’d seen probably 250 houses. We’d made offers on 10ish that had not worked out for various reasons. We finally found THE HOUSE. A house in the neighborhood they really wanted to be in. A house priced how they needed it to be priced. A house with the same layout as one we had previously made an offer on (and not gotten) but in better condition, with new paint and carpet and on a cul-de-sac. It was plumbed for a gas stove like the husband wanted, and backed to a golf course. It was PERFECT.

We made a decent offer on this house and actually had our offer accepted. The home inspector pronounced it in nearly perfect condition and the termite inspector left me a voicemail that if I ran across another like it, he might be interested personally. Everything was going as smooth as ice.

Then the week before we were set to close escrow, the husband drove by the house and stopped to talk to one of the neighbors…. who mentioned the ’scorpion problem’ in the neighborhood. And, you know, that’s when all hell broke loose.

The husband (on my suggestion) took a black light over to the house that night after dark to the back yard to attempt to dispel this rumor about scorpions that the neighbor was peddling. Instead, he found 12 (that’s right, TWELVE) scorpions on the walls of the block fence and sides of the house.

SIGH.

(Sorry, just needed a moment.)

Don’t worry, folks, we went back the next night and I let him in to the house with the black light. We didn’t find any scorpions inside the house. So the buyers are still buying (set to close tomorrow) and are going to have the house professionally sealed the day after close of escrow (the husband has been out to the house every night since killing every scorpion he finds in the back yard).

But the point is: No house is perfect. Each house is beautifully different and flawed, just like people.

Speaking of which, no scorpions in our new, fabulous, newly build house (WITH a fifth bedroom), but it IS a bit on the far side AND we found a field mouse in the garage today. SIGH.

This post is in response to the person who visited my website today using the search term “terrified to call mortgage company about my foreclosure.”

My heart goes out to this googler. Not only is she losing a home, but she is additionally paralyzed by fear (and probably guilt) over the situation and unable to act. There are way too many people in this situation right now. And unfortunately, avoidance is only making things worse.

So if this is ringing true to your life, here is my advice:

CALL YOUR MORTGAGE COMPANY IMMEDIATELY. They don’t want to take your house. In this economy, not only will it not make them any money, but it will cost them big bucks to get it turned around and back on the market. Mortgage companies don’t want to own houses. They will do anything they can to keep you in yours.

Try to keep in mind that although this is possibly a humiliating and unthinkable event for you, nothing you have to tell the bank will be something they haven’t heard before. You aren’t alone and the representative you speak to will be unlikely to admonish or scold you. The rep won’t be happy, but he most likely won’t mock you either.

Take the tactic that you want to work with the bank to make this have the best outcome for both of you. What do you need to get through the rough period? A deferment of payment for a few months until you find a new job? A reduced interest rate to lower your payments? An extended loan period to lower your payments?

Let them know what you are doing to make things better. Are you job searching daily? Cutting back on non-necessity spending? Convey all of this information to the bank to let them know you’re doing your part in all of this.

I’m not saying the bank will make this easy. You need to be diligent with paperwork they will request and you may have to call back several times (I took a class a few weeks back where the instructor told us that banks train their representatives to say no to any request three times). Don’t be deterred.

You have options in this situation, but it’s important to get out in front of it. Don’t let your fear drag you down further. Man up and call.

It’s been a wild weekend of houses and more houses. The title of this post says it all. I’ve been to South Chandler, North Mesa, Ahawatukee, Gilbert, the Historic Districts of Phoenix and the majority of the new builds in the South East Valley.

The buyers are out there and looking for deals. Of the things I’ve seen in the last few weeks, a few stand out to me:

1. Out in Maricopa, there’s a new build in The Lakes at Rancho El Dorado with 1200+ square foot houses starting at $95,900. Can’t rent for less than that!

2. One of my clients has been looking at historical homes in downtown Phoenix, which is super fun. I tend to show suburban cookie cutters in the East Valley, so an adorable 1950s bungalow with a milk door makse me squeal. This cutie:

That has been totally redone with granite in the kitchen and a fabulous detached garage in back at $159,900 made me want to live downtown. Sure, it only has one bathroom, but so well done and in such a great location, how can you beat that?

3. Well, and if I’m going to post about great houses I’ve seen lately, I would be remiss not to mention this amazing Fountain Hills home:

My client who was looking in this area and I called it ‘the bridge house’ because it sits up above a bit of a wash. If you stand in front and look down underneath you can see to the other side. It’s an incredibly modern and well thought out home. We looked at many houses in this price range and our breath was taken away by this beauty. It’s currently listed at $1,980,000. Let me assure you, if I had two million, that’s where I’d be living.

4. The last is another downtown historical home. This one wasn’t in amazing shape, and it definitely was the scariest on the block from the exterior (driving down the street with my client, we couldn’t figure out which house we were looking for; when I finally realized which house was our destination, I said, “Of course that one. The one we wouldn’t want to go into. Awesome.”), however, the layout was generally good and the house was totally livable. It has a garage with a laundry room and three bedrooms and two baths, plus a decent sized kitchen, not to mention a ginormous yard. Add to that a neighborhood close to the light rail and with mostly fabulous houses (with expensive cars parked out front) and I’m thinking that with a little bit of elbow grease and time to get the market back on track and the $132,900 price tag will be looking like money in some smarty’s pocket. Yeah, I know it doesn’t look like much:

But I think I could amount to something special in the long run (although someone should totally clean the 8 huge cockroaches out of the bottom cabinet in the kitchen ASAP).

And that’s my market take for the day. Call if you want to see anything!

I’m sure you’ve heard of it. That little airport over in East Mesa? The one that used to have a really cheap flight to Vegas, but apparently discontinued it? Yeah, that’s all I had ever heard about it too.

Two weeks ago we needed to get to Portland, Oregon on short notice (72 hours). I checked all the usual places first: orbitz.com, travelocity.com, Southwest, etc. The cheapest I could find was $420/each for a roundtrip with a layover in Salt Lake City. Then I checked our airline credit card that we put everything on to accrue miles and we had enough for one free roundtrip ticket. Unfortunately, it would have been $670 to add the second person on the same flight. So basically our options were $840 and no miles for a flight with a layover, $670 and all of our miles for a direct flight, or $420 and all of our miles for a direct flight and one with a layover (so two different drop off/pick up times at the airport and no moral support for me and my nail-biting flying fear). Not particularly attractive options.

Then I got a thought to check the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway airport… Because I’m the QUEEN of cheap travel. That’s right, bow down. The Mesa airport flies to a really limited amount of locations, but they do fly to Eugene, Oregon, which is about 100ish miles from Portland. Two roundtrip tickets from Mesa to Eugene was $215 (that’s including one roundtrip checked bag). Of course, being 100 miles from our destination meant that we had to rent a car, but that was only an additional $100 (and we got to keep it for the weekend). So for $315 we made the trip.

The other fabulousness of the Mesa airport is that it’s so small that parking, check-in, security and baggage claim is all super quick and easy.

Jason was worried that because it is a small airport, the plane would be super small (and my flying fear would be increased). But that was not a worry because it was a 5 seat wide, 35 seat deep jet; nice and big. The flight out of Phoenix was bumpy (as per usual), but the one in was smooth as silk.

So my vote is thumbs up! Fly Phoenix-Mesa Gateway when you get a chance. Here are the cities they fly to:

Bellingham, WA (BLI)
Billings, MT (BIL)
Bismarck, ND (BIS)
Cedar Rapids, IA (CID)
Eugene, OR (EUG)
Fargo, ND (FAR)
Great Falls, MT (GTF)
Medford, OR (MFR)
Missoula, MT (MSO)
Peoria, IL (PIA)
Rapid City, SD (RAP)
Redmond-Bend, OR (RDM)
Rockford, IL (RFD)
Sioux Falls, SD (FSD)
Springfield, MO (SGF)

Last night I made Eggplant Parm. I got started late and it took awhile (I’m slow) and I managed to burn my hand on the oven. Regardless, I thought it tasted great. The kids, on the other hand, were interested in nothing but garlic bread. Boo.

Anyway, it’s a good recipe and is considered ‘healthy’ because there’s no frying of the eggplant involved.

Ingredients:

2 medium eggplants
1 container of Italian breadcrumbs
2 eggs
1 container of shredded parm
3 cups of shredded mozzarella
2 jars of marinara sauce

Process:

Peel eggplants and slice them into quarter-inch thick rounds. Soak in a bowl of water for 10 minutes (to reduce the bitter taste of the seeds). Dry with paper towels. Set up two bowls, one with 2 egg whites and 1/2 cup water (whisked together) and one with breadcrumbs and 1/4 cup parm mixed. Dip each eggplant round first in the egg white mixture and then in the breadcrumbs and lay in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Broil eggplant until toasted on each side. Layer first marinara sauce, then eggplant, then cheese in a casserole dish until you are out of eggplant. Top with cheese. Bake uncovered at 350 degree for about 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and marinara is bubbly.

Couldn’t be easier, right?

I signed a new listing yesterday that will go live on the Multiple Listing System tomorrow. I decided to try out the new Flip camera to enhance my listing on the MLS and Century21.com (and of course ElizabethNewlin.com).

The house is adorable, and therefore, the perfect first subject. I, however, went in without a script or any video experience or knowledge and therefore would be happy to receive any advice or criticism. Video has recently become so accessible and user-friendly that I don’t doubt it will quickly become standard fare for showcasing listings. At the moment, however, it is a unique upgrade and I would like hone it as a skill before the rest of the crowd does.

Here is my maiden voyage on the sea of video (come back tomorrow for the rest of the listing info):

Well I am officially back in the land of the living. And geez, Louise, it only took an entire month from the day we moved until I feel like I’m not being crushed by the weight of organizing the new house, work and holidays.

Two things in particular impeded all progress in getting settled in: 1. A nasty bout of strep throat that felled first our eldest, then me, and finally Baby Jo and 2. Buyers coming out of the wood-work to look at property over the holidays.

The strep we have survived. Jo is almost done with his round of antibiotics and the nasty strep rash he got is fading. I’m personally just happy (and knocking constantly on anything that could possibly be related to a tree) that Gray and Jason escaped unscathed. It’s just horrible stuff.

The buyers coming out to play is another story. In the last month I’ve shown:

30+ $1-1.5million houses in Cave Creek, Scottsdale, Mesa and Fountain Hills
25 or so $150-$190K in Gilbert
10 high rise condos in downtown Phoenix
5 3000 square foot houses under $130K in Maricopa
and a house here and there in East Mesa and Chandler

Typically the time between Thanksgiving and New Years is known as a little bit of a dead zone in the field of real estate. People tend to be focused on family and the holidays and not that interested in uprooting and moving.

This year, however, this was just not the case. I think that a combination of prices actually dropping down low enough to be affordable and interest rates hovering between 4.75 and 5.5% has spurred some interest in the fence-sitting buyers.

I’m not projecting an increase in home prices anytime soon. In fact, I’m not even totally convinced that prices have completely stopped dropping. However, eventually we were bound to reach a point where purchasing a house became an economically attractive option again, and I think for a certain part of the population (the part who didn’t make a move from 2003 to 2008, who isn’t in foreclosure or underneath their loan, who didn’t refinance and remove all of their equity) we may be at the very least approaching this point.

So even though my late December/early January has been totally insane, I’m happy to see the activity (and I’m always happy to have the work). Our economy will come back, it all just takes time, and I can be patient.

Anyway, here are a few photos I’ve been meaning to post for the last month that just haven’t made it on the schedule:

This is from one of the first nights we spent at the new house, right after it rained.

Gray calls this ‘The View’ in a sort of proper noun manner (”Where is our old house? Is it near The View?”). It’s out the little window above the boys’ bunkbed.

This is a sneak preview of a brand new listing out in Maricopa that I will have more details on later this week. Stay tuned!

OK, and how cute is this one? I have a friend (Paula) who does daycare in her home and she captured this one on Tuesday. I just love it. I think it represents the hope that this generation of children is being instilled with a sense that they need to be paying attention to our country’s leaders and taking an active role in our government and economy. History is being made and their attention is focused right where it should be. I love it.

Things are utterly insane here with my clients, Christmas and our big move to our new house. We did our final walk through today and signed and closed! Tomorrow morning at 7am the movers arrive to transport our enormous amount of crud to the new house!

So until I have time to write again, if you want to see what we’re up to, here’s a video I took of our new house today: