Elizabeth Newlin – Arizona Real Estate Agent

So the open house I held on Sunday for another agent in my office was everything I dreamed it would be. The house was utterly adorable. Before I even stopped at the house, I drove up and down the streets in the Willow District for a few minutes and marveled at the houses. It really just feels like a different place there. My grandfather lived in Minnesota when I was a kid and we used to go visit him in the summers. The streets of the Willow District remind me of Minnesota. The huge trees, the way that all of the houses are set back from the street with front yards for kids to play in and detached garages in the back, the fact that each house is unique; these are all of the things I love.

This wonder of a house was one of my favorites:

I couldn’t possibly be more curious about what it looks like inside. I plan on attending the Willow District Home Tour (February 12) just on the off chance I might find out.

When I got to the house I was holding open, it did not disappoint. Some of my favorite details were:

The skylights:

The mail slot:

The cute detached garage in the back:

For me, heaven is in the details. I actually had a couple who came through and LOVED the house. They came back twice and are considering making an offer. When I pointed out the mail slot, the husband gushed, “I’ll buy it just for that!” My kind of people, I tell you, my kind of people.

Whew, it was a full weekend and I have tons of stories. First of all, I attended a house warming party for one of my clients, who is also a good friend. Ryan and Amanda sold their old house with me back in October and we bought them a newer, larger house with a much better layout for them. I hadn’t been in it since they had moved all of their stuff into it and done quite a bit of repainting. Even though it was a really nice house to begin with, it was a major transformation. The master bedroom has been a sickly mint green before. I think the new toffee color was an excellent choice:

It was really fun for me to get to see them enjoying their house and to know I was a part of the process. I am so glad that it has turned out to be everything they wanted.

In addition, it was a totally fun party.

There was tons of yummy food. I made stuffed mushrooms that I had been determined to get a picture of, but completely forgot, again. Regardless, here is the quick recipe (I got it from my mother in law and this was the first time I had tried it, but believe me, I will make them again):

Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients -

20ish mushrooms
8 oz. cream cheese
3/4 jar of Hormel bacon bits
2 tablespoons diced chives
Butter to grease dish

Preparation –

Wash mushrooms and pull out stems to create cavity in center. Place mushrooms in buttered baking dish. Soften cream cheese in microwave. Mix cream cheese, bacon bits and chives. Spoon cream cheese mixture into mushrooms and bake at 350 degree for 15 minutes or until mushrooms are brown.

So over all, it was a great time. My favorite part of this business is being positively involved in people’s lives.

And there were even cute babies at the party! How’s this for a parting shot:

Check back this week for updates on my Willow District open house, a haunted house story and even a new listing or two!

I have mentioned my loved of the Historic District in Phoenix before. In Phoenix, nothing is really that old; at least nothing like back East in the towns that have houses that are literally hundreds of years old. So the 1940s and 50s are about the oldest houses we have, but I love them. I love that they are unique, with interesting little details and surprises inside and out. I also love that they are often remodeled using high end materials. I have to say, I abhor standard builder materials. The off-white counter tops with built-in sinks that you see so many bathrooms of houses built since 1980 make me cringe. So when I walk into a fully remodeled, custom house (because they were all custom back then), I get excited and inspired by the choices in flooring, cabinets, counter tops and decor. I would love to some day own one of those unique homes downtown.

Knowing all of that, you can understand that when my Daily Request email (it’s a company email that allows all of the agents put out requests for other agents to hold open houses, to advertise new listings, or anything else they want let other agents know real-estate wise) came out last Wednesday and an agent up in one of our new Surprise offices was requesting for someone to hold open his listing in the Willow Historic District downtown, I jumped at the chance.

The point is, I’m holding open an adorable house tomorrow in Phoenix that I want to invite everyone to. The address is: 550 W. Vernon Ave., Phoenix, 85003. It’s off of 7th Avenue and Thomas and I will have it open from 11AM to 3PM. It was built in 1940 and has been completely remodeled with saltillo tile, granite counter tops and beautiful maple cabinets. It’s little (3 bed/1 bath, 1191 square feet) and the price reflects that: $369,500. It’s difficult to get into the Willow District for under about half a million, so this would be a perfect and economical buy for a single professional. It’s right downtown (so close to great shopping and food, not to mention the office) and totally adorable.

Come out and see me, even if it’s just because you’ve always wanted to see the Phoenix Historic District!

Yep, it’s the final signal that I have completely succumbed to both adulthood and all things suburbia: we are holding a garage sale.

Basically, what is comes down to, is the fact that my house has been shrinking in upon itself as a result of the unnecessary stuff we have stuffed in it. We have extra furniture, clothes we haven’t worn in years and knickknacks up to our eyeballs. I’m not a pack rat, but somehow we’ve let the junk go too far, and I’m ready to purge.

Plus, Jason promised me if I cleared out our closet and got rid of the ancient set of drawers we’ve been using, he’ll give me THE ENTIRE CLOSET and we can buy him an armoire at Ikea for his clothes. Did you catch that? THE WHOLE CLOSET FOR MYSELF. I almost wet myself with excitement when he told me that. Whew. You can bet I spent the next two hours after those words left his mouth cleaning out the closet and making Garage Sale signs on neon poster board.

Seriously, I already feel better about the declutterification (I swear it’s a word; from the Latin: Clutterfy, an insect which flaps its wings in crowded offices to spread about paper in an elaborate mating ritual). I’ve finally found all of the hangers that I buy at the grocery store every week that just seem to be sucked into oblivion with the left socks. They were hanging up that bright red one shoulder tank top sweater I bought once, to wear for Valentines Day… and wore, once, for Valentines Day and that purple faux suede dress I thought I would totally find an occasion to wear to, and, well, didn’t, except that Halloween when I wore it to be a hip Vampire.

So, my point is, if you were totally looking for an ancient dresser with drawers that are hard to open smoothly, but adorably lined with wrapping paper from my oldest son’s baby shower, or a lonely, shoulder-impaired sweater (that I realized only after wearing kind of makes me look fat and like a gal who belongs on Van Buren at the same time), come to our house on Saturday (the 28th of January, for those of you keeping score) between 7 AM and 2 PM! Take the 60 to Dobson, go South until you’re right across from the Dobson Ranch Branch Library (about a mile), look for the neon Garage Sale signs and follow them to us and our junk!

I’ve been saving this baby since high school, but now she’s all yours:

(I know, I should totally blog at night when I’m completely exhausted more often! I’m way more willing to embarrass myself then.)

Well, the renovation bug has bitten me again. The master bath is *almost* done. I know, I know, it’s ridiculous. We started the whole thing back in July and it’s still under construction. Although, I have to say, Jason has done an amazing job and an insane amount of highly skilled, detailed work. He’s been up in the attic the last four nights in a row installing the extra lights to make the bathroom bright enough for me to do my make up. Check it out (ignore the mess, like I said, it’s *almost* done):

Pretty, right? I’m in love with the whole thing. Those mirrors swing open to reveal extra deep cabinets with outlets inside. I also love the new Ikea towel rack:

And the racks above the toilet (Jason bought me those cute brown baskets for Christmas with this location in mind):

Anyway, now that the lights are working, pretty much all he has left to do is finish up some painting (the ceiling) and put the door on to the shower room. Oh, and there’s the small matter of the transition between the tile and carpet of our bedroom, but we’re still in talks over it. Regardless, I already love my new bathroom (now if I could only get the tools our of our bedroom…).

So the near completion of the bathroom has gotten me antsy for the start of the kitchen. Obviously, because of the time it has taken my perfectionist husband to complete the bathroom, we have decided to hire a contractor to handle the kitchen. Jason just couldn’t get it done in a reasonable amount of time with everything else he has going on, and I cannot live without a working kitchen for a year or so. Or really, even for more than about a month.

Yesterday, in an attempt to do some quick Internet research, I filled out a survey on this site, and within hours, was contacted by two different contractors who wanted to bid on our kitchen remodel. They both will be coming by on Thursday (one in the AM and one in the PM) to take measurements and talk about what we are interested in. I seriously can’t wait to have a pretty kitchen! We are absolutely going to gut the thing. I’m thinking about having a ‘Goodbye Kitchen’ party and then not letting anyone see the inside of my house until it’s totally done, and having another ‘Meet the New Kitchen’ party. I think it would be fun to not let anyone see it as it progresses. Don’t worry, though, I will take pictures along the way!

The finalists for the 2006 Weblog Awards are up! Yep, there are actually awards for things like Best Craft Blog. I found them yesterday from another site I read daily, and am fully entertained by their existence. Especially amusing to me is the fact that several of the blogs I read regularly are nominated, but so are a few of the ones Jason is always talking about. Which just goes to show you that the Bloggies cater to quite a varied audience.

Anyway, the reason you should check the Bloggies out is to find out what you’ve been missing. For instance, I realized that I do not have a food blog I read daily, which, considering how much I love food, is a major oversight. Now I have the five finalists to choose from. I also plan to check out some of the Best Designed Blogs for ideas to update the look of my site (coming soon!). There really is something for everyone. Go on, head on over.

Lately I have been finishing up a few training classes at my Century 21 branch (Arizona Foothills). We have a training program comprised of a bunch of beginning and intermediate level classes about the practical side of real estate (which they do not teach you in licensing school). Our classes revolve around the ins and outs of an actual transaction (escrow, mortgages, contract writing, negotiations, figuring closing costs estimates) and salesmanship, or the art of inserting yourself into a transaction. In general, because I have closed enough deals, the classes on just how to make it through the sale, are no longer that useful to me, although I still pick up something new in each one. The ones concerning sales, however, have been quite motivating for me. Last week, the manager teaching my class reiterated the idea that the truly successful agent is primarily a ‘listing agent.’ If you list the houses, buyers will come.

This is something I really need to focus on. And not just getting the listings, I need to work on getting appointments so that I can practice my listing presentation skills. In the past I have worked on FSBOs with little to no success. I may go back down that avenue in the future, but I’m not convinced it’s right for me. This week, however, I’m going to try a new technique: Expireds. Realtors who have allowed their listings to expire without renewing them are subject to poaching of their clients, for good reason, I believe. If a Realtor is not able to fulfill his or her end of the bargain (selling a client’s house within the time allotted), and does not even bother to be aware that the contract is about to run out and get it renewed before that happens, why should their clients remain faithful? I have another new agent in my office who has actually procured two listings in the last month by contacting expired listings and offering his services. It’s something I’m going to try.

If you have any interest in selling your house at all, I’d love the opportunity to show you what my company and I can do for you. I would also love a chance to do the full blown listing presentation I have learned so much about. Practice makes perfect!

Obviously, this website is geared toward the general public of Arizona. I am a licensed real estate agent in Arizona, and most of my real estate stories and advice are particular to the laws and market trends of my state. However, I know that not everyone who reads my site actually lives in Arizona. I appreciate you out of staters. I know you come for my recipes (I get hits from Google for recipes more often than anything else on my site) or my crafts or my parenting stories, but I hope to also offer you some real estate substance.

One of the benefits of working for such a large and well connected company (Century 21 is said to have the most name recognition of any real estate company) is that I have ridiculous amounts of resources. Century 21 has paired with Cendant to provide a service called Outbound Referrals. This was originally developed for people relocating but can be used in many ways. It allows me to refer you to a Realtor in your area who can meet your needs and even accommodate your personality type.

Here is how it works: You live in Georgia and need a real estate agent to help you sell your house, but you don’t know anyone. You’ve read my site before (for my Crockpot Pork Roast recipe) so you contact me to see if maybe I can offer you some advice to finding an agent. I give your name, phone number and general needs to my Relocation department. Lindsay, who works in my office and is very nice, calls you and does an assessment of your needs and wants. She will ask you about the type of person you would feel comfortable with (highly analytical? touchy-feely?) as well as the area you live, how quickly you want to sell, etc. She will then call our Cendant contact in Georgia and relay all of this information. An agent, who has to meet certain educational and experience standards, will be assigned to contact you and help you with your transaction. In theory, this agent will be your perfect match. It’s a little bit like Internet dating.

This also works, of course, if you already live in Arizona and are relocating out of state. In addition, we have many world-wide contacts.

So if you live anywhere but here, don’t think I can’t be of service. I appreciate that you read my site and I want to help you too!

It’s been a wild weekend here at the Newlin house. The quick rundown is:

1. I held a poker party Friday night at our house. We played Texas Holdem with a $10 buy in. It was very fun (except for the fact that I did not win). I meant to take pictures of the food so I could post all of the new recipes I used, but in the chaos of getting everything done on time I forgot. Here’s a quick one, however, that is my new favorite easy cheese appetizer:

Baked Brie with Garlic

Ingredients:

Brie (I bought a 2.2 lb one imported from France from Costco)
2 heads of garlic
Drizzle of olive oil
2 loaves of long skinny French bread

Preparation:

Slice the top of the heads of garlic off. Drizzle them with olive oil and bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes or so. Remove roasted cloves from the head and mash together in a small dish. Place Brie in a glass pie plate and bake at 350 degrees until cheese is melted. Serve with sliced French bread. Spread garlic on bread and then cheese.

2. The kids have been sick again, again, again again again. I know it’s just the season, but man do I hope we’re almost through with all of this. Ben had strep throat and Gray had the usual (pink eye and ear infections). I’m feeling a bit like it’s all my fault because last week was the test run for a new day care center we are doing twice a week. I have gotten to the point where I need some time a couple of days a week to get stuff done without the kids. But then of course, they immediately came home with stuff. I swear, parenting is 50% guilt.

3. My sister ran in the PF Chang’s Rock and Roll Marathon and kicked serious tail. It was her first marathon, though she was a world-ranked swimmer in high school and college. She ran 3:41 and ran 10 minutes faster during the second half than the first half (which tends to mean that she went out too slow and could have done the whole thing faster). I’m just amazed at what a natural athlete she is.

Anyway, this week has been crazy with the sick kids, but the antibiotics have kicked in and I’m back in the saddle now!

After all of that trouble and hassle we went through to get a Montage condo, I just got a call that they have some available. I believe what happened is they got their Public Report earlier than expected and several investors weren’t ready to put the cash down to buy and pulled out. If you are at all interested in a condo up in the North Scottsdale/Phoenix area, contact me ASAP! These babies are flipping for $50 to $70 thousand more than they can currently be purchased for. The location is ideal. They are just south of the 101 on Scottsdale, right across from the Princess Resort and Golf Course. There is a huge mall planned right there just North of the 101. In theory, these will skyrocket in value. Call me!