Flagstaff Blog - Real Estate and All Things Flagstaff: April 2008

Another week, another Flagstaff home listing. The good news is that there are some offers under negotiation, too. And, we had a closing for a buyer, so those sellers are moving to another home.  Not a bad week for a Flagstaff real estate team, I guess.

The weekend will be busy in Flagstaff. Our community hosts the acclaimed Northern Arizona Book Festival and there are loads of other activities including a kite festival and an Arbor Day celebration at the Arboretum of Flagstaff.  The picture here is from a Birds of Prey demonstration of the sort that will happen at noon and 2 p.m. every day at the Arboretum this summer.  Meanwhile, Phoenix will be hot, hot, hot, and it's time to escape to Flagstaff for the weekend. So our streets will be crowded.

If you are looking for something to do in Flagstaff this weekend, visit my other blog for a long list of fun activities in Flagstaff.

If you're looking for a Flagstaff home, visit our website to get serious about Flagstaff real estate.

Have a great weekend!

‘Tis the season for cabins in the woods. Here is a great one newly listed: 665 Kwa Ovi, MLS # 130493.   

It's also that time of year when students need to line up housing for next year. We've got a great Riordan Ranch condo with two bedrooms plus cave for just $165,000. Wow! MLS #129591  -- we've had a lot of people wanting to rent this - they just need a landlord to buy it from us!!!

Two substantial price reductions this week: 2001 Country Club Drive, MLS #129771, is down $10,000 and 903 Curling Smoke, MLS #125809, is down $40,000!

Don't miss these other great listings:  2545 E Joshua Lane ($220,000) or 3766 S Hideout ($495,000) or 555 N Apollo Way ($615,000) or 743 Locust ($350,000) or 1460 Fox Hill Road ($360,000).

3481 S Gillenwater Dr. is so special. Check it out and all of our listings at BestFlagstaffHomes.com

My clients read and watch the real estate news closely, but they don't always correctly understand what it means to them. I try to explain what I hear and read regularly in my blog so that it makes sense in the context of the Flagstaff home market. Listening to the national real estate news is a great way to get blogging ideas. I think you need to take the next step and make that national news relevant at the local level.

One example is my post this week about New Home Construction Statistics. Mid-week, the U.S. Commerce Department issued first quarter statistics for new home starts and new home building permits. Do you know the difference?  And how the different data is gathered? You can provide that information to your clients by linking to the U.S. Bureau of the Census website.

The media was carrying the new construction statistical news as more evidence of doom and gloom for the economy. (For example, the Wall Street Journal: Slide in Housing Starts Said to Be Stalling Economy.) But it's also evidence that the housing markets are going to be reducing inventory - a necessary shift before prices can again come up. That's a bit of a positive spin that one never hears on the radio but which our clients need to hear.

It's also interesting to get your local building permit statistics and let your clients know what's happening in your own market. Our city website publishes a monthly report of building permits issued, which includes year-to-date numbers and comparisons to last year. I've included that information for Flagstaff in several of my posts, most recently this week.

Happy real estate blogging!

For Flagstaff Real Estate, contact Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties!

Big news for Flagstaff music lovers: Elizabeth Schulze is the choice for Flagstaff Symphony conductor. After a year-long competition that brought some great talent to Flagstaff, the announcement was made on stage at the final FSO concert of the 2007-2008 season. I saw her conduct at the first performance of the season and she's been my personal choice since then, although the others (all men) were also outstanding. 

Ms. Schulze is now the conductor of the Maryland Symphony. Since Flagstaff has, in the past, shared an Artistic Director with other symphonies as far away as Hudson Valley, New York and Anchorage, she may not be leaving that post. I've not heard one way or the other.

By the way, last night's performance was was fabulous. I'm sure my enjoyment of Britten's War Requiem was enhanced by attending the preconcert buffet and lecture where Northern Arizona University faculty members explained the music, the poetry incorporated into the music, the history which inspired the music and the many ways it has been intepreted since it was first introduced in the early 1960s. For more on this performance and music, and a picture of the cathedral ruins which inspired it, see yesterday's post on my other blog and the links collected there.

Photos from the Maryland Symphony website.

The bug person told me to take the day off. Actually, she told me to take a hike. (?) It's beautiful today, so maybe I'll do that. Later. Right now, I'm blogging. And trying to get price changes. And trying to get roofs fixed. You know -- the life of a real estate agent. (But I'm doing it from my beautiful Flagstaff home instead of from the office.)

The good news is that we have two new, very attractive listings this week: 1460 Fox Hill Road and 555 N. Apollo, and the buyers' agents of Team Heitland are very busy. Tina is at a three-day marathon to finish up her Certified Residential Specialist designation. Patty has been doing her own marthon with buyers running through homes all week -- and writing offers!

The bad news is that I made no progress this week on my next technical goal -- how to make YouTube videos. I can find all sorts of stuff about how useful they are and how to use them in your marketing, but how do you actually make the slideshow and upload it??? Can anyone help? I've looked a bit on Active Rain for a nitty-gritty post about this and so far have come up dry. So, that's my failure for the week.

Some more good news, living in Flagstaff is wonderful and there is a lot to do this weekend -- both work and play. We have tickets for the buffet dinner and preconcert lecture tonight of the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra. This event is the culmination of the season-long search for a new Musical Director. If you've been following this process, you know that we've had some great guest conductors audition for the post and tonight the final selection will be announced from the stage. Meanwhile, nationally-acclaimed choral director Dr. Edith Copley of Northern Arizona University will conduct tonight's War Requiem performance.

If you're looking for fun in Flagstaff this weekend, click here. (Get your mind out of the gutter, this is not what you might think!)

On a more serious note, you may want to spend this beautiful week-end doing some fire protection around your Flagstaff home. Each year around this time I try to get the word out that it's important to protect your home against wildfire when you live in Flagstaff, AZ. Tips to do so are in my other blog (that last link) and in my print newsletter that's going out to clients next week.

Whatever you do with your weekend, make it a good one!

• If you need help with Flagstaff real estate, give us a call!
• If you can help with with that You Tube problem, post a link in the comments section please!

Thanks, all!   Ann

The Flagstaff condo described below is right next to Northern Arizona University and within smelling distance of Oregano's Pizza Joint. Check out that link -- it's pretty cool -- a Big Band sound. Click on the link for the Flagstaff location and you'll see the patio at this very delicious pizza place. The deep dish reminds me of true Chicago pizza from my college days, but I like the thin crust best (maybe because they serve it faster?). 

 The map on the right is Oregano's location (click on it and you'll hear the jazz).

So, anyway, here is the condo that you should own to be within reach of Oregeno's great smell, and the NAU campus:

To learn more about condos in Flagstaff, read Flagstaff, AZ Condo Market. 

To learn more about this condo click here.

For all your real estate needs, contact Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties.

That I hate bugs! They give me the creeps.

Each week, my assistant prepares a list of Flagstaff events for the coming weekend for me to blog about. She sends it to me with her favorite picture of the week.  Here is this week's picture. Ugh! The photo relates to "Bugs at Work", an exhibit at The Arboretum at Flagstaff. I, for one, will not be going!

There are lots of other things to do in Flagstaff this weekend, from opera to politics to classic plays. There is bird-walking, art-walking, and mountain climbing. Come on up!

If you'd like to buy or sell Flagstaff real estate, contact Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties.  Have a great weekend - we will!

Yep, that's right. Just by doing what I consider the necessary part of my work as a Flagstaff real estate agent - knowing the market - I won a $50 gift certificate for dinner at Buster's Restaurant in Flagstaff.  Pine Knoll Village is a new 55-lot development toward the east edge of Pine Knoll Drive (which runs through the south end of the NAU campus on the west side of Flagstaff). This is near the better known (thus far) Rio Homes development. 

I had been meaning to pay my second visit to Pine Knoll Village (the first was several months ago, when ground was just being broken). Then, last week, I got a message from the developer, Bob Karberg, a long-time colleague in Flagstaff real estate. He offered a chance to win a $50 gift certificate to any agent who visited the Pine Knoll subdivision and took a tour of the model home during a specific three-day period. So, I went.

The Pine Knoll homes are gorgeous, and all come with air-conditioning as a standard feature - unusual in Flagstaff where our cool mountain nights mean that most people live without AC. There are several floor plans. Although many of the homes have a common wall, some are entirely free-standing. Wouldn't you want to know the details of these 55-units if you were selling Flagstaff real estate?  (Especially because buyers seem to like them - several have sold already.)

Surprising, but I had no competition for the gift certificate. I was the only agent who responded to the invitation to stop by for a tour last week. As I dropped by again this week to pick up my dinner gift, I took in the sweet smell of fresh cut wood from the framers mingled with the Spring pine-smell of Flagstaff and wondered what the other Flagstaff real estate agents were doing to keep them away from knowing this new offering in our market.

To work with a team of Flagstaff real estate agents that does know the market, contact Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties. To get the latest market facts, visit Flagstaff Real Estate News.