Elizabeth Newlin – Arizona Real Estate Agent

I have a new listing that is an anomaly in this market. It’s a ‘normal sale’; which is kind of an ironic name for the least likely type of property you’re going to run across right now. What is a ‘normal sale’, you ask? A normal sale, is a property that is not owned by the bank or a relocation company and is not owned by a seller who has negative equity in the property. It’s just a regular person who owns a house, has equity and has it listed for sale.

Lately, if I have a buyer who marks 10 properties he wants to see, when I pull them up to research, five will be short sales, three foreclosures (bank owned properties), one will be owned by a relocation company and one will have a normal seller with equity (in certain price ranges and areas you can swap out one of the those foreclosures for a new build or a fix’n’flip).

So this new listing I have is kind of a gem. No, it’s not super upgraded and new, but it IS adorable, CLEAN and completely MOVE-IN READY. In this financial climate, those are some magic words right there. There is just something to be said for walking into a home smells like a human being could actually live there without wearing a gas mask.

This property is a townhouse in Northwest Phoenix. It was built in 1997, is 1542 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and has a two car garage. The subdivision has a community pool and tennis courts and is close to the I-17 (which is great for commuters).

I know what you’re wondering: Does it have granite counters and stainless steel appliances?

No, it has original laminate counters and cabinets and white appliances, clean and mold-free.

But it also doesn’t have a window sill covered in bee carcasses.

(I didn’t bring my camera the day I showed this house because I thought to myself as I was running out the door, ‘I won’t see anything super weird today,’ and then the very first house we walked into was a monstrosity with a bees-living-in-the-walls problem. So my client snapped these with her camera phone.)

Does it have an enormous backyard with a pool?

Nope, a cute little patio with pavers and rocks.

But it also doesn’t have a swampy death-trap of a former pool just waiting to suck the neighborhood kids in and put you in litigation before you’ve even moved in.

Are the floors ecologically friendly hardwood bamboo?

Nah, more like a pretty pergo knock-off.

But hey, it doesn’t have holes dug into the walls where an animal was obviously locked into one of the bedrooms (which is good, because it’s bad business to report your own clients to PETA).

And what is the odor like in the house? Is it roses and perfumed candles?

No, more like cookies and green cleaning products; nothing like the short sale I showed about three weeks ago that smelled just like it looks (yes, look close, those are hundreds of cigarette butts mixed in with the rock; it’s like some kind of new decorative landscaping element designed by prison inmates):

All of this loveliness is available for under $100,000. ($1 under, to be exact.) Feel free to check out the details and give me a call when you decide you’d rather your home buying process be less Horror Show, more Home and Garden Show.

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.

I have a new listing in The Villagio subdivision in Tempe:

Contact me if you want to see it or have any questions!

Yep, I know it’s been awhile. October has been the month that Fate designed as a reminder to me to not take on more than I can handle. We had the reunion the first weekend (don’t worry, stories and pictures to follow), a family vacation to California to watch my sister finish her second marathon the next and a wild, adult-only jaunt down to Rocky Point that we just got home from (oh and I definitely have pictures of that one, just wait until you see the mechanical bull riding that took place!) the last. Throw in a family-wide bout with the flu, the closing of my house on Jupiter Way and like five soccer games and you’ve pretty much gotten a clear picture of my month so far. So excuse my absence.

Anyway, I just wanted to pop on and post some pictures of my latest listing that went up just last week:

This is 6091 W. Shannon, Chandler. Such a cute house! The owners (James, Brandy and their cute little dog, Karma) are moving to Portland for work and therefore have to sell.

Before they put it on the market, they re-tiled the kitchen and baths, re-carpeted and put in granite tile counters. It’s gorgeous!

Don’t forget the pebbletech pool in back!

We are asking $390,500. It’s a great family neighborhood and a dream of a layout. Call me to see it!

Have I mentioned that I have a new listing? No? I totally do!

Check this baby out:

It’s a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath in West Chandler (Rural and Chandler Blvd., just South of Intel). It’s one of those houses that had the faulty plastic piping that leaked and was replaced with copper piping under a lawsuit a few years back. It also has decent sized bedrooms and a nice grassy back yard. We are asking $268,000. Call me if you want to see it!

OK, no blood (or pictures of blood) in this post. But I have been meaning to do this for awhile:

1. This cheap and cute Chandler listing:

is under contract to close on Thursday. Woo!

2. This nice one also in Chandler:

just went under contract this weekend, and real estate gods willing, will close September 7th.

Those are just to let you know that when the papers say that the market has bottomed out and nothing is selling, they’re wrong. The market’s feeling a bit lazy, but those buyers are still out there for the right price and the right house.

3. This East Mesa charmer:

is still hanging in there but has be dropped even further to $214,900. It’s a great deal!

4. I have a new listing as of this morning.

Such a great house! I’m thrilled to have it in my repertoire. It’s 2366 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 2 baths and a 3 car garage in Gilbert (Guadalupe and Lindsay). The subdivision it’s in is a unique little 60 home neighborhood with privately owned streets. It used to be a pecan grove and most of the lots still contain one or two of the now massive, 80-year old trees. The landscaping is lush and perfectly manicured and the lots are all over-sized with nice big RV gates. They have a huge diving pool in back and a 12-seater in-ground spa in the back. We’re asking $425,000.

Check out the pool and spa:

Call me if you want to see it!

I’ve been out of town. It was the big trip of the year, and it involved quite a bit of planning, packing and finally, flying with crazy, exhausted children. I’ve actually been back since late Monday night, but it’s taken me a few days to get back in the swing of life. I think I’ve finally gotten enough sleep to think straight and most of our mountains of laundry have been done. Anyway, this trip had it’s ups and downs, which I tend to think that most trips do. It was a full week from the time we left our house until the time we walked back in the door and a week away from our house, and normal sleeping and eating routines was bound to throw us out of wack at least a little. Here’s the basic rundown:

The Ups:

Visting the cutest little Amish town and riding on a horse and buggy (plus I scored with some beautiful locally spun Alpaca yarn).

Riding ATVs through rows of apple trees, blueberry bushes and corn. It was easy to feel far away from stress of all kinds riding on the back of an ATV when all you can see is soy bean fields and queen anne’s lace.

Learning that the beach at Lake Michigan really isn’t that different from the beach at San Diego (weird!).

Spending time with family.

The Downs:

One of my new listings canceled on day two of our trip (I hadn’t even posted it here yet). The wife called me and said that due to family problems, they needed to take it off the market. Two hours later I got a call from an agent wanting to make an offer. Oh bitter irony!

We had decided to try the red eye out to Michigan from Phoenix. What a mistake! No sleep was had by anyone but Ben, because he could nap for a couple of hours through his little brother’s screaming. We went roughly 40 hours with no sleep when all was said and done.

Bugs. ‘Nuff said.

One bathroom, 10 people. Also, ’nuff said.

Our travel home got totally screwed up in so many ways it’s hard to describe. There was weather, airline error, and traffic. Suffice it to say that we ended up taking a 4 hour bus ride (where we actually had to get off and change busses with the kids and our 800 pieces of luggage halfway through) and finally missed our connecting flight in Chicago and had to stay an extra 24 hours.

Which brings me to one more final good:

We were lucky to have two dear friends who just happen to live outside of Chicago to come pick us up and let us crash for the night. It was so great, because I’d been wanting to get out and see their house and meet their new boyfriends and it was the perfect opportunity.

Check out the midwestern glory:

And how cute are they?

So we survived it all. And we even got to visit the horse farm I lived on as a child. But that’s a story for another day.

I’ve been meaning to get my two new listings up. Here is the first one:

5413 W. Fairview, Chandler

This is a great house, in an awesome location for a fabulous price. It has four bedrooms, two full baths, 2025 square feet, a 3 car garage and a pebble tech diving pool. It’s just two miles West of the Chandler mall and we are asking $350K. It won’t last long, I promise!

OK, I know I mentioned that I have lots going on. So I’m going to start with my current listings (and tomorrow we’ll move on to the new ones):

11117 E. Flossmoor, Mesa

This cute little number has been dropped to $218,000. What a fabulous deal! In this market it’s tough to find a newish house with a two car garage, three bedrooms and a backyard just made for dogs to run in for under $225,000. Snap it up!

589 W. Mariposa, Chandler

This beauty is dropped down to $259,900. This is a screaming deal. We are talking, literally the best priced house in Chandler for its age and square footage. Come by and see it, you’ll love how immaculate it is inside. And what a great location! Alma School and Warner is just a stone’s throw from the 101 and not a bad commute at all to Scottsdale or downtown. This one won’t last long at this price.