Races in Arizona

I like to run in foot races. Anything from a 5k up to the marathon. But, race organizers don't always advertise races in the papers. So, where do you find them? My favorite is GetSetAZ. They have a race schedule for every state. Running, biking, triathlon, specialty races, you name it. Other places I find races at are Arizona Road Racers, a great group of runners. Arizona Running Events Calendar. Runner's World Online Magazine.

If you want to run I recommend these places to visit online. If you need motivation I'd go to this great page.

Now here's some races you should run in September:

8/31/08 8:00 AM
Arizona Road Racers Jerome Hill Climb

4.6 miles Run, 4.6 miles Walk

Website

9/1/08 6:30 AM
Saguaro National Park Labor Day 8-miler

8 mile Run, 2 mile Fun Run/Walk, 2 mile Walk

Website

9/13/08 8:00 AM
"Life Without Pain" 5K Fun Run/Walk

5K Run, 5K Walk Website

9/14/08 7:15 AM
Arizona Road Racers I-Did-A-Run 10K, 5K and 1-Mile Fun Run

10K or 5K Run, 10K or 5K Walk, 1 Mile Fun Run/Walk Website
Reach 11 Arizona Horse Lovers ParkPhoenix, AZ

9/20/08 7:00 AM

Air Force Birthday 5KRun
Pima Air and Space MuseumTucson, AZ

9/21/08 7:00 AM
Race JudicataRun
Tempe Kiwanis Park, AZ

9/27/08 7:00 AM
Moon Valley Grasshopper Bridge 5K

5K Run, 5K Walk Website
Moon Valley ParkPhoenix, AZ

Street Light Repair

Most cities have a phone number you can call to report a street light that is not working. Some cities now have an on-line reporting option as well. Here is contact information for requesting street light repair for East Valley cities.

Chandler Street Light Repair - Hotline 480-782-3460

Gilbert Street Light Repair - 480-503-6488

Mesa Street Light Repair - 480-644-3191

Tempe Street Light Repair - 480-350-8033

SRP Daily Energy Usage

When I got our electrical bill from SRP this week I noticed that it had a note on it - "As a customer with a Smart Meter on your home, you can go online anytime to My Account and view your daily electricity use. Sign up at www.srpnet.com/myaccount." So, today I went and signed up for an on-line account. Sure enough, I was able to click on "Smart Meter Daily Usage" and see our daily electrical use for the last month. It even breaks out off-peak usage and on-peak usage. I'm going to try to use this to see if we can reduce our electrical usage. It is a bit difficult to see if small changes at home will affect this because the outside temperature obviously has a big impact on electrical usage from day to day.

Not all SRP customers have a smart meter. For more information - Smart Meter.

You should also know that SRP has a discount in conjunction with ACE Hardware for 20% off new or rebuilt solar shade screens purchased between 7/1 and 9/30. For more information on this and other offers - SRP Offers.

R.L. Brown Housing Report

If you are curious about the R.L. Brown Housing Report, this month they are offering a free on-line copy of their report. Normally to get the reports, you need to pay a subscription fee. It would normally cost you $65 to get this single report. This report is widely used by the local real estate community and often referred to by the press. To access the free report, just click on the R.L. Brown Housing Report link and scroll down almost to the bottom of the page. Right click on the "Housing Market Reports" box and open in a new window. The report discusses new home builders, the resale market, and the impact of bank owned foreclosure properties on the market.

Chandler Mayor's Fitness Challenge

I'm all for getting fit and Chandler is asking residents to get fit in September. They're even having a big fun day on October 18th to celebrate. Join me in getting Chandler Fit.

Here's the list of ways to get fit in Chandler(my activities are in bold):

1. Walk, bike or jog the Paseo Trail or Environmental Education Center Trails at Veterans Oasis Park
2. Walking the dogs on the neighborhood greenbelt or to a local Bark Park
3. Swim in your backyard, neighborhood or Chandler pool
4. Play Tennis at the Tumbleweed Tennis Center, another City court or (indoors!) at the PGA Tour Superstore *
5. Play Racquetball at the Tumbleweed Recreation Center or other area courts
6. Jump Rope for 20 minutes on the patio
7. Lift Weights/work out at the gym
8. Take a yoga class *
9. Dance, dance, dance the night away…or take a dance class through the City *
10. Play Frisbee, Frisbee Golf at Mesquite Groves park site or play catch with the kids
11. Start a Bike-to-Work day at your jobsite
12. Coordinate a beach volleyball tournament with friends or co-workers at a City park
13. Walk the course at Bear Creek or other Chandler golf Courses
14. Play softball at the Snedigar Sports Complex or other City fields *
15. Play basketball at a neighborhood Park *
16. Bowl a few games at one of Chandler bowling centers
17. Walk the Chandler Fashion Center Mall, or better yet, walk around the mall!
18. If it’s an option, take the stairs at work for the whole month
19. Walk around one of Chandler’s community parks (like Desert Breeze or Chuparosa Park)
20. Run the track at the Tumbleweed Recreation Center (10 lap minimum)
21. Ice Skate at Polar Ice (Ray & I10)
22. Roller skate/roller blade around the neighborhood (don’t forget the helmet!)
23. Hold a Bike-a-thon (using indoor stationary bikes) with friends
24. Fitness Bootcamp at Chuparosa Park *
25. Enjoy Chandler’s Adult Sports Programs or join a local sports team *
26. Use the open Gym/Weight Rooms at local Junior Highs *
27. Walk, bike or jog to the supermarket, department store or gym
28. Fall cleaning! Pull weeds, rake leaves or other yard work (this can be great exercise)…better yet, volunteer to help others through the City’s Neighborhood Resources office
29. Take a Martial Arts class *
30. Aerobics *

* These, and many more organized activities available through the City’s Community Services Department
**This list was taken directly from the Chandler Fitness webpage.

Please leave a comment if you plan on joining in. I, also, plan on running the 5k on the 18th. Maybe we can have a race within the race!

Chandler - Good Planning for Job Growth

Chandler started planning for job growth a number of years ago. It seems like the plan has been a good one. They have preserved areas, empty lots, for commercial development. They resisted putting a strip center on every corner. This should yield a good balance of residential houses with nearby employment now and for in years to come.

Recent article in Chandler Republic:

Chandler Plans for Job Growth, High-density Housing

ASHI Client Bill of Rights

The American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) has created a Client Bill of Rights. Before ordering a home inspection it is a good idea to visit their site and read the Client Bill of Rights along with some of the other information they provide. There is information for home buyers as well as home sellers and home owners. You can even take a Virtual Home Inspection Tour.

Market Statistics - East Valley

As stated previously with the new flexmls system we have a new way to pull statistics. We now have the ability to pull a great variety and quantity of statistics. However, I will try to just stick with what I hope you will find most interesting. I have pulled data for the East Valley cities, Phoenix, and Scottsdale and have provided the full ARMLS data as well for comparison. The graph above shows a comparison of months of inventory by city. Months of inventory is calculated by dividing active listings for July by the number of sales in July. You might be surprised that Queen Creek has the lowest number of months of inventory. We have seen prices drop significantly in Queen Creek and believe that has driven the increase in sales there as well as the reduction in inventory. Below is a slide show which scrolls through the cities.

Elevation Chandler - Unfinished Building Update

There was an article in today's The Chandler Republic about Elevation Chandler. Elevation Chandler is the unfinished building just south of Chandler Fashion Center that has been sitting in the same unfinished state for so long now. The article indicates that the developer has filed a plan in bankruptcy court for the property to be auctioned possibly in 2009. The creditors and the judge still have to approve the plan. You can click on the link below to read all of the details. Unfortunately it sounds like this partial building will continue to sit as is for some time to come.

Elevation Project to Stay - For Now

Market Statistics for Chandler

With the new flexmls system that we have for the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service (ARMLS), we have the ability to pull market statistics in new ways. I am now able to pull market data for a specific city and will be doing that and sharing that with you monthly. Today's graphs are for Chandler.

The good news is that the total number of residential listings for sale has been going down steadily. It is necessary for this to happen in order to bring the market back into balance. We have dropped from 2940 in July 2007 to 2308 in July of 2008. This represents approximately 7 months of inventory currently on the market down from a peak of over 14 months of inventory in September 2007.

This data is supplied by the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service. ARMLS, West USA, and Pat & Amy Monahan do not guarantee the accuracy of the data.

Rocket Scientists Weigh In On Saving Gas

I found a pretty interesting article through Google Reader from Market Watch (The Wall Street Journal Digital Network). They interviewed some rocket scientists regarding whether it is better to drive with you tank full or half empty in order to save gas. It seems like the most common answer is the best thing you can do is make sure the tires on your car are inflated properly. Click on the link below to read the full article.

Gas Savings: It's Not Rocket Science

ADRE Posts List of Builders in Financial Trouble

The Arizona Department of Real Estate has announced that they have posted a list of builders which are experiencing financial trouble on their website. It lists the builder/developer and the community/development they are building. If you are considering buying a property in a new development, you should check this list first. You do not want to give a down payment to a builder without an understanding of their financial ability to complete the home for you.

Arizona Home Builders in Financial Trouble

ADRE also recommends that you read Commissioner's Advisory Number 2 which gives information to home buyers and others that will be impacted by a builder discontinuing operations.

Please note that most home builders are meeting their obligations to their buyer's. ADRE provides this information as a service to Arizona's home buyers.

You should also know that you can have a real estate agent represent you when you purchase a home from a builder. However, that agent must go with you the first time you visit the community. An agent can help you understand the contract and to negotiate the home purchase with the builder.

Adopt a Desert Tortoise

It turns out that dogs and cats are not the only pets being abandoned due to the high foreclosure rate on properties. This is also happening to desert tortoises. This is a different type of tortoise than we have as a pet. The desert tortoise is native to the area and will hibernate in the winter. There have been several articles in the AZ Republic about this, to read them click on the links below.

Help is Available if You Can no Longer Care for Your Pet Tortoise
The Tortoise and the Harried

If you are interested in adopting a desert tortoise you can get more information from:
AZ Game & Fish Department - 623-236-7767
Phoenix Herpetological Society - 602-550-7029

Where to run in the East Valley?

Need help finding a place to run in the East Valley? Thousands of your fellow runners have mapped a route for you. Simply go to mapmyrun.com
and put in the city you are interested in running in. Next thing you know you'll have hundreds of places to run in any city in the US.

Chandler Police now hiring

So you live somewhere cold and you'd like to live in Arizona. But, you need a job first? How about becoming a Chandler Police officer?

The Chandler Police are now hiring.

The Mesa Police are hiring too.

And so is the Gilbert Police Department.

And Phoenix.

If you don't want a job, but do want to find out crime stats for Chandler, visit the

Chandler Police Department website.

Phoenix Police Department website.

Gilbert Police Department website.

Mesa Police Department website.

Why no one is looking at your home for sale.

Click on picture for a larger image.

Showing homes to potential buyers start these days at the computer. Agents search for homes using criteria that is given to them by the buyer. It has to be in a certain city or it has to have four bedrooms. If you've bought anything, you've been through this process.

Realtors input this information into the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). What most of them fail to realize is that each input is a possible connection with the buyer. The more you input, the greater the chance that the buyer's agent will find it in the MLS. If you put in a typo that the price is $3,500,000, instead of the correct price of $350,000 (one extra zero), than no one is going to see your home. If you leave a field blank, than it might limit the showings as well.

Here's an example. I have a client that needs a ground level unit that is one level. She's disabled and she cannot do stairs. I found 37 properties in the area she wanted to live in that were single level. Now, you can have a single level home on the 2nd floor. I then narrowed it to how many were ground level and found five. Now, I thought the number would be higher. So, I went back to the first search and manually looked at each listing. Sure enough, I found about 15 properties that were ground level, but wasn't listed as such. 15 agents that left the field blank and 15 agents that are getting less showings because of it. Look at the picture, there's other boxes that might need to be checked. All in all, there are hundreds of places for agents to mess up on.

If your home is listed for sale and you are not getting enough showings, I'd check your MLS listing to make sure it is accurate. If you are in the process of interviewing your next agent, ask him or her for an audit of your current listing.

Here's the five top things I'd check for:

1. Is the location correct in the MLS map? I was looking at a Queen Creek property the other day. When I clicked on location, the map showed dozens of properties pinpointed far from Queen Creek. One, was in Salt Lake City, Utah.

2. Can you get to the home with the written directions?

3. If you live in a condo/townhome is the level, shared walls, unit style correct?

4.Under features and room details is everything possible listed?

5.Are there pictures and virtual tours attached to your listing? Did you know that agents can choose to send only listing with these items. I've seen properties on the MLS for over a year and no picture of the home.

Firebird International Raceway

There are folks in the east valley that have lived here for decades and don't really know that we have a world class facility on the Gila River Indian Community. What is it? Why it's the Firebird International Speedway. A dragstrip that holds national events, as well as, let's your neighbor speed down the strip. The National time trials were held in January, as well as, the Tire Pros Monster Truck Nationals in April. But, the coolest night at Firebird might be the Friday night "Street Drags". Here's the explanation from Firebird,

"Want to race like the super-stars of drag racing? Firebird International Raceway's Street Drag program is just the ticket. Speaking of tickets, why get one on the street when you can come out to the track and race legally, in a fun and much safer environment. Enjoy legal drag racing almost every weekend of the year. Be a part of the action and give it a try!
Who Can Run or be a Passenger? (Car must be 14.00 or slower to ride along)Any licensed driver 18 years of age or older, (OR) any licensed driver 16 to 18 years of age ACCOMPANIED BY A PARENT OR LEGAL GUARDIAN to sign a parental consent form (OR any licensed driver 16 years of age or older whose name appears on our current Parental Consent list."

Firebird International Raceway

Home Resales in Pinal County Increase

The article, Price Dip Spurs Pinal's Resales, in today's AZ Republic indicates that ASU has reported that home resales in Pinal County were up 40% in the second quarter of this year as compared to the first quarter of this year. This is primarily being driven by the declines which have occurred in home prices to make the homes more affordable for buyers.

1975? 2008? Same Story on Energy

I was going through some old things I'd saved from my youth this past weekend and found some interesting things. Some things I have no idea why I saved them and others were still meaningful. One of the things I found was a page of Jan. 23, 1975 Des Moines Tribune that my aunt had sent me. It was an article about the author of the Nancy Drew books. What was more interesting to me now was an article written by John Shuttleworth on the same page about energy. Read this and see if you think it could have been written this year,

As I've stated before in this column, last year's so called "energy crisis" was only a mild foretaste of the chronic, desperate and very real age of energy scarcity that now looms over the world. Tomorrow, in short, appears rather bleak. Or does it? Perhaps we're not really facing a scarcity of the power we need to turn our machines or heat out homes after all. Perhaps it's just been so easy to burn coal, gas, and petroleum all these years that we've overlooked a far richer - and pollution free - source of power.

He goes on to discuss the appeal of solar power. We all know that solar power never took off in a big way following the 70's energy crisis. Hopefully, this time we'll make more progress in our ability to capture and use solar energy.

Cheese Curds in the Valley

If you are from Wisconsin and feel a little home sick, Culver's is now in the valley. Butterburger's, cheese curds and frozen custard are just some of the things on this restaurants menu.

CULVER’S

Where: 1909 S. Country Club Drive, Mesa (northeast corner of Country Club and Baseline Road)Open: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily

Prices: Salads $3.79-$5.99, burgers/sandwiches $1.79-$4.79, sides $1.49-$3.09, frozen custard $1.79-$3.49

Info: (480) 733-5330 or culvers.com

Big League Dreams

Big League Dreams in Gilbert has improved their website. Now you can get schedules, results and standings for their softball and soccer games. Athletic types all over the valley are enjoying the luxury feel of the BLG facility. Ever want to play ball at Wrigley Field or the old Polo Grounds? At BLG in Gilbert you can.

BLG schedules, standings and game results

Facility photos

Others Seeing Positive Signs for Phoenix Real Estate Market

An article in Sunday's AZ Republic, Some Positive Trends Are Showing Up in Metropolitan Phoenix's Housing Market, indicates that June statistics are showing some positive signs for the area. In my previous post, Slow But Steady Progress for Phoenix Real Estate Market , I also saw some positive signs for the East Valley market. We still have a lot of inventory of homes available for sale and it will take a while to work through that; but there is now a good selection of homes below $200,000 and condos below $150,000 for sale.

Stitch N' Pitch at AZ Diamondbacks Game

Do you like doing needlework and are looking for a fun event? Consider going to the Stitch N' Pitch event at the Aug. 24 Diamondbacks game. Watch some baseball and work on a knitting, crocheting, or needlework project. Sit with a bunch of other fans doing the same thing. You get into the game early and attend to a needlework expo. You get a t-shirt as well. For more information, click on the links below. There is even a link to a pattern to knit your own baseball cap!

Info on buying Stitch N' Pitch tickets

AZ Diamondbacks info about event

Official Stitch N' Pitch website

Rules for Loans Change on October 1, 2008

If you are thinking about buying a house in the next 12 months, you should really talk with a lender now. The new housing bill will have an impact on everything from down payment requirements to seller assistance. These are some things that will change on October 1, 2008 as I understand the bill:

• The down payment requirement for an FHA loan will go from 3.0% to 3.5% of the purchase price.
• For FHA loans, the seller will no longer be able to assist the buyer with the down payment through programs like AmeriDream and Nehemiah. (There are currently a lot of sales using these programs.)
• Provides for a tax credit of up to $7500 for qualified home purchases between 4/9/08 and 6/30/08. This credit acts like an interest free loan in that it must be repaid over the next 15 years.

For more information: NAR Summary of Housing Bill Provisions

We recommend that you contact a lender to discuss the specific impact for your home loan and that you speak with an accountant for more information regarding the tax credit. We will also be happy to answer any questions that we can.

Newspapers - Are Classified Ads going away

I frequently hear the statistic that about 80% of home buyers start their home search on the Internet. The impact of this change can be seen in the shrinking size of the real estate classified ad section of the newspaper. Even though we have an historically high quantity of homes for sale in the Phoenix area, the size of the real estate classified section in the AZ Republic has gotten much smaller in the last few years. Today, I read that the Los Angles Times printed it's final edition of their real estate section on Sunday. (Article - A Good Steady Market) I think that over time most of the classified ads in newspapers will be posted on-line only, and this is not just for real estate.

What this means is - if you are thinking of selling your home, make sure you hire a real estate agent that is experienced with Internet marketing.