Arizona

I have worked in some form of real estate for well over fifteen years and one thinks after all that time they have seen all that is possible to see. Yep, I am old enough to remember the 80's recession, and the 90's Savings & Loan debacle, but nothing could have possibly prepared me for the $700B "bailout" that fell upon us these last couple of weeks. True, I was one of those Realtors who had a burning suspicion two years ago that the swing in the market would ultimately be our demise and as time wore on I was sad to see my beliefs come to fruition...thank you accounting and finance background for that, I guess, but what shocks me beyond all I can reason is that no one saw it, as well? These lenders and brokers really had zero idea that all of these loans were impossible to pay back with ridiculous interest rate increases, high pre-paid penalties, which I would argue should be illegal, and DTI so high that it is not reasonable to think anyone making a decent salary could afford their adjusted payments? Ugh. I digress...there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Interestingly, I have received approximately ten calls since Friday from past and current clients wondering if real estate was a better investment and if I could recommend a good lender, someone they can trust. Ultimately, I do not know if anything will come out of these calls, but who would have thought a financial crisis as terrible as our lending collapse would have been such a great way to connect with my database. Live and learn. Lesson learned.

The truth is, it will always be something that challenges our way of knowing and doing and it is our ability to go with the flow and release our "know it all" behavior that will allow us to succeed. A very dear friend of mine reminded me of that today when we spoke over lunch about how us entrepreneurs sometimes forget that there is more to success than following a set plan, that success comes from knowing what your client needs and rushing to bring it to them. Thank you, Kate, for reminding me that today is a different day and we can make it whatever we want! You, my friend, are a keeper.

The media frenzy sometimes drives me banana's! I'm a late starter on active rain but better later then never. After today's media blitz I felt the need to take some time, get logged in and set up and find out what other agent around the country are doing to overcome the obstacles we keep getting hit with this past year or so. We were on a run and sales were picking up quite abit until the whole bale out deal came to light. People seem to be back to 'sitting on the fence' with a look and see attitude. What is selling here in Phoenix are homes under 200K. I've had more of them then I've had in years. There are some smoking deals to be had out there right now. I'd like to hear how you are marketing and working your way around the current ecomomic climate. Thanks so much! Anna Banana www.AnnaBananaRealty.com

Yes, that time is here again. I'm a "hunting widow" for a few days. It's not that I don't understand the appeal of the woods...

It's just that, when my husband is gone I have to do everything myself. Not only at home, but since we own an office together and manage almost 100 rentals, all the work at the office falls to me also. Saturday morning brought the usual amount of rental inquiries. OK, I can handle this.

Saturday afternoon, though, brought two surprises. The first surprise was a call from a neighbor to a rental property. "Do you manage the property at______________?" That tells you it's a neighbor, and that it's not good. Seems the tenant moved out, left STUFF everywhere, and even left the doors wide open. The neighbor was actually quite helpful, and offered to close up for me. Since it looked like rain and the property is 6 miles out of town that was nice.
Second surprise- I got a call from a tenant who sounded upset. She hemmed and hawed awhile and finally said her boyfriend had taken a SHOT at her, and put a hole through the manufactured home's wall! As she talked, it became clearer. He (the resident, with her) was now the EX boyfriend, and she had brought another guy over to help her move out. She said yes, she HAD called the police, the guy was in jail. I heard today from someone with a police scanner that the situation had gone on for quite some time with a swat team called and everything. That should make the neighbors happy.

I went, later, to look at the trashed house. I don't think there is real damage, but the STUFF is strewn from one end of the lot to the other, with neighborhood dogs rooting through it. We'll have to file it abandoned, but we will get the trash picked up, for health and safety reasons, immediately.
At the other property, the hole is head height. She's lucky the hole wasn't in her head! The girl will give us her key, and we will file for immediate possession due to the boyfriend SHOOTING THROUGH THE WALL, and go request a court date.

And I got the extra fun of getting to call and tell both Owners about the situations. These kinds of situations are really very rare, in our property management, because we screen our tenants well. They had to happen on hunting weekend!

I got a call from my absent hubby today. He has to get to the right high spot on the Mogollan Rim to get cell phone service. He and our son are turkey hunting, but he said the only turkeys they saw were on ATVs. Great! Not only does he miss all the excitement, he also doesn't get a turkey! Oh, well, at least he's heading home this evening.

The "woods" pictures are actually from much further North than where he is hunting. They are from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, where we took a mini-vacation last week. He is hunting on the Mogollan Rim, about an hour North of Payson, AZ. It actually looks quite similar, except that the evergreens in the pictures are fir and spruce. Where he is hunting is lower elevation (about 6,000 ft. the Canyon is over 8,000) and has Ponderosa Pines. But both have those gorgeous aspens.

Here is the 24 hour report for 10-6-08 activity in the Tucson Real Estate market according to the Tucson MLS.

This information is provided directly from our local MLS. Please feel free to check back often for the most accurate and updated information available in the Tucson area for local real estate reports and statistics.

For more free reports and Tucson Real Estate visit http://www.wiselisting.com/

24-Hour Market Watch

New Listings	127
Back on Market	17
Price Increases	6
Price Reductions	130
Contingents	35
Pendings	27
Solds	40
Expireds	21
Inactives	45

September 2008's numbers for the Scottsdale single-family resale market are in. September was another month where we saw a decline in sales and pending sales, but inventory is still not increasing, which is a positive.

September Highlights:

• The number of active homes for sale was flat from August at 3,839, which is still lower than the 12 month average of 4,007 homes for sale.
• Pending sales were down slightly to 297 from 300, a 1% decrease. However, this decrease is much smaller than we have seen over the last three months where the decrease in pending sales has ranged from 3.3% to 8.3%. Plus, this number is still tracking ahead of the average of 284 pendings.
• The number of homes that sold in September dropped again to 235, posting the largest month-over-month drop we have seen (-14.2%) since November of 2007. Additionally, this number has now dropped below the 12 month average of 245. This weakened performance could be partially attributed to the volatility we have seen in the financial sector which may be keeping people on the sidelines or preventing them from getting financing.

Overall, September was not the best month we have seen with sales and pending sales on pace with where we were in February of this year. Based on trends, October should be more of the same. Looking forward, a key factor will be whether or not buyers will be able to obtain financing, which will have a direct impact on these numbers.

To see the original post or to see other Scottsdale real estate market reports and information, please visit Scottsdale Real Estate News & Lifestyle.

Copyright © 2008 Heather Tawes Nelson