Flagstaff Blog - Real Estate and All Things Flagstaff: October 2007

If you are in the market to buy, we'd be happy to show these featured homes to you, but we will also show you any Flagstaff home that meets your buying criteria. Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties represents the owners of these fine Flagstaff homes.

3847ForestBrook.com  -- NEW Skyline Estates Listing! This home is less than one block from FUTS access to Mt. Elden trail system. $370,000 - limited time offer at this low price. There is a tenant in place for the next 30 days, so serious buyers only please and we need to give 48 hours notice.

903CurlingSmoke.com -- This fabulous home on 5 acres, 5 minutes from town, has the perfect in-law, handicap-accessible apartment, plus so much more. $990,000.

8360Arroyo.com - This immaculate Doney Park home on over 2 acres can belong to you with just 72 hours' notice to the buyer who snapped it up and made a contract to buy contingent on the sale of their other home. Fabulous views! $360,000.

1460Fox Hill.com - Classic Country Club, with a backyard that can't be beat! You won't believe the wood flooring and fireplace that you get for this price! Just $360,000.

3319AltaVista.com - Four bedroom, family room, covered and open patios, LARGE, fenced and landscaped backyard. You must see this to believe it - kitchen is exquisite! $310,000.

2545JoshuaLane.com - This "priced-right" townhome is just waiting for one of those North Country Health Center employees who want to walk to work. 3 bedrooms, including a downstairs master. $225,000.

3845BoxCanyon.com - this one is a sleeper because it's on "Hold-Don't Show" pending the owners' move. But if you are looking for a serious bargain, give us a call and we'll get you in, or have your own representative call for an appointment. A great house in Ponderosa Trails at $156.64 per square foot - no, that's not a typo!

5620AtkinsonRd.com - Last, but certainly not least is this lovely ranch home on the mountain side of Highway 89 North - the most beautiful place from which to see the Aspens and snowcaps on the San Francisco Peaks. 2.5 acres of mature landscaping and mountain views. $630,000!

I admit that I don't read the RE/MAX.net website as much as I should, but I caught the link to Dave Liniger and Margaret Kelly being interviewed by a Time columnist. What surprised me actually is that I missed the piece in Time, since I read it every week.  Perhaps because I read it when I'm falling asleep in bed at night?

Anyway, I've shared the link with my clients on my public blog. See it here: Founder of RE/MAX and Veteran Real Estate Guru Gives His Forcast to Time Magazine.

We love your referrals. Keep them coming!

Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties

Technorati Profile

Hoping to continue to grow my real estate business, the link above is a baby-step (at least now) in that direction.

I hardly know what Technorati is, but I read elsewhere that I should figure it out. So, as with Active Rain 9 months ago, I'm learning by doing. Blogging is a great thing, and it seems to just keep getting bigger! I searched for Technorati using the search function of Active Rain, and I found that lots of others have done this too. If the Active Rain Community thinks it's important to the real estate business, it MUST be.

Flagstaff Real Estate and Community News today contains a post with all my Flagstaff real estate listings and a pitch for working with Accredited Buyer Representatives -- there are three of us on Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties.

Have a great weekend Rainers!

I was working with pictures while doing some marketing this afternoon. The pictures made me think of the devastation caused by the fires in California this week. The neighborhoods that are the subject of my Focus on Flagstaff Communities blog post today back up to Mt. Elden, scene of the devastating Radio Fire of 1977.  The fire burned through unpopulated areas but destroyed a huge, old growth stand of Ponderosa Pines. Now, thirty years later, this is what the mountain that burned looks like:

  (It's the lower mountain in this picture that burned. The mountains in the background are the San Francisco Peaks.)

In 1977, the town came out to picnic and watch the fire for days. It swept up one side of the mountain (the side shown in the pictures above) and down the other. The "other side" is now my home. Here's a picture of it:

When we first saw Flagstaff in 1993, the east side of Mt. Elden seemed beautiful to us (it still does - it's my favorite view in town.) As we investigated moving to Flagstaff, I found that many long-time Flagstaff residents had a different perception, saying "why would you want to live there! It's all burned out." Well, here is why: In the thirty years, the burned trees had fallen leaving a majestic view of red rock and deciduous trees, including an ever-expanding stand of Aspens and Oaks that turn the loveliest colors in the Fall. In winter, the red rock asserts itself from the snow-covered mountain, reminding us that we live in the Southwest.

So, take heart, Californians. Someone will love your hillsides again someday.

Greenlaw Neighborhood blog post, which started these musings.

Focus on my favorite neighborhood

If anyone is inspired to buy Flagstaff real estate, contact Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties!

If you're not an enthusiastic NAU alum, you may want to stay away from Flagstaff's westside this weekend. Northern Arizona University celebrates Homecoming with a big game against #3 in the conference Montana. Tailgaiting begins in the early afternoon with the game at the skydome on South Campus at 3:05 p.m. Watch out for heavy traffic on Milton Road all day and for raucus celebrations in the westside restaurants and bars as well as downtown.

 Historic Downtown Flagstaff will have street closures Saturday morning for the NAU Homecoming parade.

More information about NAU Homecoming 2007.

Have a great weekend!

Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties -- search for all Flagstaff homes at our website!

There were two major news annoucements about the national real estate market this week. Your clients and prospects, hopefully your fans, are waiting to hear what you think about those annoucements. A blog post, or two, using localism or your own commercial blog are a way to do that. Then e-mail the link to your favorite people.

Here's what I had to say about the resale numbers for September and new home sales numbers today.

Flagstaff real estate news.

Flagstaff real estate agents.

Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties

Flagstaff and Coconino County residents have the opportunity to give their views on public transportation issues tonight and on development and planning for Coconino County parks and open space tomorrow night. Public meetings will take place in Flagstaff tonight and tomorrow. There are additional meeting schedule on the parks and open space issues around the County.

Northern Arizona Intergovernmental Public Transportation Authority is a regional organization including Coconino and Yavapai Counties; the cities of Flagstaff, Sedona, and Cottonwood; and Northern Arizona University. NAIPTA's mission statement says "Getting You Where You Want to Go."  NAIPTA currently operates the following:

• Mountain Line fixed route bus service in Flagstaff
• Mountain Lift paratransit service for disabled residents in Flagstaff                             
• RoadRunner fixed route bus service in Sedona
• RoadRunner paratransit service for disabled residents in Sedona
• RoadRunner Cottonwood Express commuter service between Cottonwood and Sedona

Tonight, at Flagstaff City Hall, representatives of Mountain Line, NAIPTA, and a Citizens Review Commission, will be on hand to discuss the future of public transportation in Flagstaff and to seek public comments. The open house will be held at Flagstaff City Hall (corner of Aspen and Humphrey St.) from 4:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, October 23rd. Light refreshments will be served during the event.

On Wednesday, the Coconino County Parks and Recreation Commission is sponsoring an open house in Flagstaff to plan the future of public open space. This is part of a series of meetings being held throughout the county to seek public input on a master plan to be finalized in July 2008.  The Wednesday meeting is on South Campus at the Northern Arizona University School of Forestry, beginning at 6 p.m.

For more background on this planning process and information about areas affected, visit Flagstaff Residents Have Opportunity to Weigh in on Bus Service and Parks Development This Week.

In Flagstaff's Daily Paper recently, there has been a running controversy about the alleged conflict between affordable housing and green housing. The charge of some is that impact fees will increase the cost of our already above average homes, making affordable housing in Flagstaff impossible. Also that the green building codes under consideration will increase the cost of housing. Another recent editorial accused city administrators with sending "mixed messages" about sustainability by organizing and subsidizing a huge expansion of our retail mall and encouraging the establishment of an auto mall next to it. The Sun sarcastically referred to the city's green policies as a "mantra."

The Daily Sun limits the length of letters to the editor, so my response was constrained and incomplete. For example, I didn't have room to talk about federal tax credits that are available to builders and consumers for energy efficiency in homes. Or, to express my belief that it would be good for the country to expand those tax credits. Nor, did I have time to point out that one of our local developers has found a way to build developments that include affordable housing units sold under a city mortgage program while selling most of the units at market prices. And incorporating energy-efficient features to boot! But in a short letter, here is what I was able to say:

"Tuesday's editorial was a bit off base in charging the City with sending "mixed messages" on sustainability. Sometimes a city needs to take a step in one direction to prepare to take larger steps in another direction.

"Thus, an expansion of the mall and creation of an auto mall is not inconsistent with sustainable development. Keeping shoppers and retail tax dollars in Flagstaff instead of driving to spend money in Phoenix is neither a bad idea nor inconsistent with sustainable living. Consolidating the auto dealers in one location to free up central city land for infill and to cut down on auto buyers' driving all over town to shop for cars also makes "green sense." The trick is to use the tax dollars for smart development, including job creation.

"As to affordable housing, if anyone thinks we can build our way out of unaffordable housing prices, they are in la-la land. We need to be looking to the other half of the affordability equation - raising people's incomes. Impact fees will not make housing less affordable. The fees just redistribute the costs of infrastructure. If we don't have impact fees, property and sales taxes have to go up to pay for that infrastructure and that makes living in Flagstaff less affordable.

"As for building on the outskirts, the building I see right now is on McMillen Mesa, at 4^th Street, at Butler and Lone Tree, and near the Gore Westside plant.

"Finally, if there had not been the fight over Wal-Mart, would Wal-Mart have built the eco-friendly store they are building? I was not on the side of banning Wal-Mart, but I'm glad that viewpoint was well-represented and the issues were raised.

"Seems to me, "sustainability" is not a bad "mantra" for a city to have."

Here is my letter online as published by the Sun on October 18: Development,Sustainabilty Coexisit

Here's the editorial I was responding to: Hiring Makes Policy Statement

Ann Heitland, RE/MAX Peak Properties                  

Flagstaff Real Estate and Community News

Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra is nationally known as the premier regional symphony.

For several years we were blessed with the skills of Randall Craig Fleisher as our artistic director and conductor. Randy has gone on to greater opportunities, but before he left he set up a fantastic repertoire for the 2007-2008 season. Meanwhile Randy and the Board selected four finalists as his successor, to begin next year. Each of these four is performing as "guest conductor" during one of the concerts this season. Audience surveys following each concert will be used to choose the next outstanding Artistic Director and Conductor for the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra.

This week, the FSO will be lead by Peter Jaffe who is entering his thirteenth season as music director of the Stockton Symphony in California. Guest artist is the fantastic pianist Chu-Fang Huang. The FSO program this Friday will include selections from Gershwin and classical artists.  

Take a bus from Sedona, or travel on your own to Flagstaff for this great concert. Arrange tickets in advance -- concerts are often sold out.

Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties is a proud sponsor of the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra. It's one of the gems of our community! Read more at Flagstaff Real Estate and Community News.