Phoenix Arizona Waterfront Homes

Christmas lights light up lake communities

Christmas time in lake communities takes on an added dimension.  In addtion to the he annual ritual of displaying holiday lights in the front yard,  waterfront lots can decorate the backyards which can be seen from quite a distance.   Some lake communities even schedule a boat parade to show off decorated boats. Some communities such as Val Vista Lakes and The Islands in Gilbert make the boat parade an annual event.

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Waterfront Homes and communities that allow boating

 What makes an Arizona community a master planned community?

 How do you know if you live in a master planned community? It is a commonly used expression when describing  Phoenix residential real estatePho to say a community is a “master planned community”.  If you ask 5 people for a definition, you’ll probably get 5 different answers.  Many are very well recognized communities throughout  the valley such as McCormick Ranch, Power Ranch,  Anthem, Desert Ridge, Verrado, Estrella Mountain Ranch and Ocotillo.

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Charter schools provide an alternative to traditional public schools

One of the many, but very important items on the checklist of things to do for a family relocating to the Phoenix area is researching schools.  Which school is the best school in the area we want to live? Which district is the best? Do they have extra-curricular activities? And the questions go on and on.  These families will also have to add another question that they may not have considered previously, “What about charter schools?” Read the rest of this entry

Arizona Jobs Bill – HB 2001 will lower business property taxes, targets jobs creation

Arizona is open for business with business property tax cuts and targeted incentives aimed at job creation.  That’s the purpose and strategy behind HB 2001 that was signed into law last month.  That’s what the sponsors want you to remember.   What they didn’t tell you is what will happen to residential property taxes.  Buried deep in the 214 page bill is a change to the tax treatment of residential property.  And in this bill what they didn’t tell you will cost you.  How so? Read on.

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 Granite – An Elegant Natural Stone Upgrade

Granite counter tops in Phoenix homes are always considered an upgrade and a distinguishing characteristic in any kitchen. The Arizona Regional MLS has recently made “granite countertops” a searchable field for those buyers where granite kitchen counter tops are a “must have”.  While buyers and sellers alike will attest to the natural beauty of granite, the facts behind this natural igneous upgrade are sometimes unknown. 

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Maricopa County Tax Bills Arrived – Some Happy, Some Not

The motivation for this article comes from all the recent news about taxes, and some buyers who say interesting things like “The property values have gone down, so the taxes better be lower!”   With that I thought it was the right time to dig in and get to the bottom of this sensitive topic.   I’m glad I did because there are some interesting facts of which I was unaware.  Read on and find out what is myth, what is reality,  and discover some unknown facts.

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The Ins and Outs of a Short Sale

Short sales have gone from being a rare and infrequent occurrence a couple of years ago to a significant number of the real estate transactions in Phoenix due to the number of homeowners with negative equity that need to sell.

Simply stated,  a short sale is when the proceeds from the sale are less than the amount owed and the sale is contingent upon an acceptable agreement between the seller and the seller’s creditor(s).

The chart above furnished by The Cromford Report shows the percentage of distressed sales for each city for August 2009.  The blue bars represent the portion of total sales that were short sales.  As banks are increasingly reluctant to foreclose, short sales are on the rise.  For example, short sales accounted for more sales than bank-owned homes during August in Anthem.  And in Fountain Hills, short sales were equal to the number of foreclosure sales.

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Lakes and Mountains meet at Arrowhead Ranch in Glendale

Few would have thought it possible to find a lake community with such close proximity to the mountains.  Arrowhead Ranch in Glendale creates such an experience.  This may come as a surprise for an area with  humble beginnings as a citrus farm on approximately 5,000 acres that was conceived back in the late 70′s.    In 2008, Arrowhead Ranch was voted “Best Neighborhood” in the Phoenix valley by readers of azcentral.com.

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