If you aren't from Arizona, you probably are surprised to learn that Arizona has a summer Monsoon season. We have storms with strong winds, sometimes rain, and sometimes just dust. It occurs around July and August.
Clay Thompson's column in the AZ Republic provided this link to the Tucson office of the National Weather Service's forecast and information about the monsoon.
Monsoon Information for Phoenix Area
The site provides this technical information regarding the start date - "The monsoon start date is determined when the average daily dew point is 55 degrees or greater for "3" consecutive days. The start date is the first of the "3" consecutive days.". It also provides historical information about rain levels and monsoon safety tips.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
How to Do Your Own Home Search
You can easily do your own search for your dream home, just click on "Search for Single Family Detached Homes" on the right side of this screen. This will take you to our website, http://www.realtysecrets.net/. Click on the "Search Area Homes for Sale" button on the left side of the screen. This will take you to a screen where you can select general search criteria. You can select as many or as few of these criteria that you would like to use for your home search. The criteria include: price, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, square footage of the home, year built, city, architecture, subdivision, street name, and zip code.
If you would like to narrow your search further, you can click on the "More Criteria" button. This will bring up the following types of additional search items:
- Description - select from a variety of things including Gated Community or Golf Course Community.
- Property Type - select from Single Family Detached Home, Town home, Patio Home, and more
- Parking - select Garage size or other types of parking
- Features - select private or community pool or spa
- School - select homes in a specific high school or elementary school district
If you would rather have us do the search for you, just click on the "Contact Us" button on the right and send us an email listing the type of homes which you are looking for or give us a call at 480-917-1922.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Two Positive Signs for the Local Real Estate Market
First - We have been watching for the number of listings to decrease as a signal that the local real estate market may be beginning a turn around. In the graph of the number of lis
tings, you can see that in 2006 and 2007 the number of listings increased monthly from January to April. This year the number of listings has held fairly constant since January and actually decreased in April. In January there were 20575 listings of single family homes and condos combined while in April there were 19833, a 3.6% decrease. We still need to reduce inventory to get back to 2006 levels but it looks like we may be headed in the right direction.
Second - The number of sales has increased each month from January to April. In both of the two previous years, April sales decreased from March.
April sales were 1952 units a 15.6% increase over the 1689 units sold in March.
tings, you can see that in 2006 and 2007 the number of listings increased monthly from January to April. This year the number of listings has held fairly constant since January and actually decreased in April. In January there were 20575 listings of single family homes and condos combined while in April there were 19833, a 3.6% decrease. We still need to reduce inventory to get back to 2006 levels but it looks like we may be headed in the right direction.Second - The number of sales has increased each month from January to April. In both of the two previous years, April sales decreased from March.
April sales were 1952 units a 15.6% increase over the 1689 units sold in March.
These statistics are for the homes listed or sold by members of the Southeast Valley Association of REALTORS® (SEVRAR). They will include sales of homes in the greater Phoenix area that were made by SEVRAR members. Even so, these statistics should be fairly representative of what is happening in the East Valley.
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.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Do you have a water leak?
Your water bill will tell you how much water you used this past month compared to last year. If there's a big difference you may have a water leak.
I found this informative page on the Chandler, AZ website:
How to check for a water leak
Finding water leaks can save you water, which means saving money on water and sewer bills. Follow these easy steps to determine if you have a leak in a home or irrigation system.
Step 1. First, locate your meter box. It is generally located near the sidewalk in front of your home in a direct line with the main outside faucet. It’s important to make sure the meter box lid is uncovered and visible at all times. A black circular disc on the lid provides the signal to the meter reader with an electronic signal - a ‘radio read.’
Step 2. Turn all water-using appliances off so that no water is being used. This means turning off all water inside and outside the house including showers, sinks, washing machines, ice makers and any appliance that uses water. If you have an automatic irrigation system, turn off the controller.
In leaky toilets, the flapper valve often needs to be replaced.
Step 3.Carefully remove the meter box lid by using a tool such as a large screwdriver. Stand back. There are sometimes ‘critters’ inside the box that will be startled when the lid is removed. Give them a chance to get out of the way. The meter uses a straight-reading dial which is read similar to a car’s odometer. The meter measures water use in thousands of gallons. (Photo at right.) The small pointer or dial near the center of the meter is the flow indicator and should not move if you are not using any water inside or outside the home. If the flow indicator is moving, you may have a leak.
If there is no indicator and the actual meter dial hand is moving, water is running somewhere in your system and you have a leak – go to step 4.
If the hand is not moving, note the position of the hand and wait 10 minutes. Check the meter again, if it has moved, you have a slow leak - go to step 4.
If no movement is recorded, you probably don’t have a leak. The meter may not be able to detect leaks irrigation systems.
Step. 4.To isolate the leak, turn the water off to your house. Your home’s valve is usually located under the outside faucet near the front of the house. With all water turned off in the house, there should be no movement of the small pointer or any of the dials on the meter. (see photo)
Step 5.If the leak indicator or dial hand is still moving, water is flowing between the meter and the shut-off valve. That means you could have a leak between the meter and the valve where water enters your home. This is called the ‘service line’. Consider that movement in your meter can also be caused by things like an automatic pool filler, a leaky irrigation valve, or an evaporative cooler.
Step 6.Check your irrigation system. If you have leaks in your irrigation system, they may not be noticeable unless your system is running. Turn your controller on manually and walk your property looking for broken sprinkler heads, missing emitters (which will produce small streams of water) or breaks in irrigation piping or tubing. Check for leaks inside the house including toilets, washing machines, faucets, etc.
Step 7. To check a toilet for a leak: Add 2 or 3 drops of food coloring to the water in the reservoir or tank (as shown in Figure 1). Wait 15-30 minutes. If the water in the bowl changes colors, the rubber flapper needs to be replaced. In leaky toilets, the flapper valve often needs to be replaced.
Step 8. Congratulate yourself! You’ve just completed a leak-detection investigation. If you have questions or need help, our Water Conservation Specialist can visit your home and perform a free water audit. Call 480-782-3580 for more information or to set up an appointment.
I found this informative page on the Chandler, AZ website:
How to check for a water leak
Finding water leaks can save you water, which means saving money on water and sewer bills. Follow these easy steps to determine if you have a leak in a home or irrigation system.
Step 1. First, locate your meter box. It is generally located near the sidewalk in front of your home in a direct line with the main outside faucet. It’s important to make sure the meter box lid is uncovered and visible at all times. A black circular disc on the lid provides the signal to the meter reader with an electronic signal - a ‘radio read.’
Step 2. Turn all water-using appliances off so that no water is being used. This means turning off all water inside and outside the house including showers, sinks, washing machines, ice makers and any appliance that uses water. If you have an automatic irrigation system, turn off the controller.
In leaky toilets, the flapper valve often needs to be replaced.
Step 3.Carefully remove the meter box lid by using a tool such as a large screwdriver. Stand back. There are sometimes ‘critters’ inside the box that will be startled when the lid is removed. Give them a chance to get out of the way. The meter uses a straight-reading dial which is read similar to a car’s odometer. The meter measures water use in thousands of gallons. (Photo at right.) The small pointer or dial near the center of the meter is the flow indicator and should not move if you are not using any water inside or outside the home. If the flow indicator is moving, you may have a leak.
If there is no indicator and the actual meter dial hand is moving, water is running somewhere in your system and you have a leak – go to step 4.
If the hand is not moving, note the position of the hand and wait 10 minutes. Check the meter again, if it has moved, you have a slow leak - go to step 4.
If no movement is recorded, you probably don’t have a leak. The meter may not be able to detect leaks irrigation systems.
Step. 4.To isolate the leak, turn the water off to your house. Your home’s valve is usually located under the outside faucet near the front of the house. With all water turned off in the house, there should be no movement of the small pointer or any of the dials on the meter. (see photo)
Step 5.If the leak indicator or dial hand is still moving, water is flowing between the meter and the shut-off valve. That means you could have a leak between the meter and the valve where water enters your home. This is called the ‘service line’. Consider that movement in your meter can also be caused by things like an automatic pool filler, a leaky irrigation valve, or an evaporative cooler.
Step 6.Check your irrigation system. If you have leaks in your irrigation system, they may not be noticeable unless your system is running. Turn your controller on manually and walk your property looking for broken sprinkler heads, missing emitters (which will produce small streams of water) or breaks in irrigation piping or tubing. Check for leaks inside the house including toilets, washing machines, faucets, etc.
Step 7. To check a toilet for a leak: Add 2 or 3 drops of food coloring to the water in the reservoir or tank (as shown in Figure 1). Wait 15-30 minutes. If the water in the bowl changes colors, the rubber flapper needs to be replaced. In leaky toilets, the flapper valve often needs to be replaced.
Step 8. Congratulate yourself! You’ve just completed a leak-detection investigation. If you have questions or need help, our Water Conservation Specialist can visit your home and perform a free water audit. Call 480-782-3580 for more information or to set up an appointment.
Addendum to Post - ASU Report on Housing Market
I read an article which came out several days after the post below ' ASU Report on Housing Market'. It said that the data used for that report included banks taking over homes that have been foreclosed upon, which are not true sales. Normally, those numbers would not affect year over year comparisons in any significant way; but, this year that is not the case.
To learn more read the AZ Republic article - Home-sales Data are at Odds.
To learn more read the AZ Republic article - Home-sales Data are at Odds.
The California Advantage
Sorry we haven't posted in the last few days. We took a much needed short family vacation to San Diego. One of the advantages to living in the Phoenix area is that it is only a six or seven hour drive to San Diego, Los Angles, or Las Vegas. How long it takes can depend on where in Phoenix you are starting from and how many stops you make. If you stop for a meal, you might need to add on to that time. There was not a lot of traffic on the highways despite it being around Memorial Day weekend. We think this was probably due to the gas prices. One fill up of the tank on our mini-van was $69! The gas prices are higher in CA.
While July and August are considered the prime beach months in CA, we enjoyed an afternoon at the beach while we were there. Went to the beach on Coronado which was very nice and clean. The kids even went in the water eventhough it was pretty cold. We also attended a Reds - Padres baseball game that went 18 innings. Yes, we stayed for the whole thing. It started at 1:00pm and ended around 7:00pm.
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