Nick Bastian - Tempe, AZ Real Estate Agent

After 16 years in the real estate business, I feel more proud of my job and enthusiastic of my future than ever before. Recently, after a long process, I made a decision to join what I feel is the best fit of a real estate company (for me) in Arizona. That firm is Realty Executives. Over the past couple of months, I have weighed my options very carefully and have met formally and informally with several brokers, large and small. My desire to stay in Tempe where I live and where I enjoy being a part of the community played a large part in my decision. While my normal business practices will not change much, I believe the corporate structure, the ability to continue to "run my own business" along with the convenience of many valley wide offices will help me to serve my clients even better in the future. Realty Executives was the clear leader in allowing me to do everything I want with my business. My phone number, email address and web site address will all remain the same and this will be a VERY smooth transition for myself and for my clients.

I have not been blogging here on Active Rain much recently as I have been planning our next move, implementing new systems and utilizing new technologies that will be a benefit to myself and to my clients. The real estate market has changed and I have decided to embrace change while growing my business. Thanks for being a part of it.

Nick Bastian - Realty Executives, Tempe AZ.

The new AZ light rail system opening in December looks pretty easy to use. Much of the 20 mile route contains 2 sets of tracks where the cars will pass each other. At each station, you simply board a train heading in your desired direction. For instance, most stations are built in the middle of the street. If you are in Tempe and want to ride to downtown Phoenix for work or for a sporting event, it is a pretty short trip and you have several options. Let's use boarding a train at one of the four Apache Boulevard stations as an example. You will enter the station and the west bound train will pick you up on the north side of the station while the east bound trains allow passengers to board at the south side of the station. 

Now, let's use a baseball game as an example: I have talked to a ton of sports fans that are looking forward to taking light rail to a Suns game or to see the Diamodbacks play at Chase. There is a stop at 3rd St/Jefferson near Chase Field but most people probably don't yet realize that this is an east bound train. Not to worry, you just need to know your way around. If coming from Tempe, you will NOT arrive right outside of the ballpark at 3rd/Jefferson. You will want to exit the stop at 3rd St/Washington  and walk about a block and a half to the stadium. By clicking on this pic of the 3rd St/Washington station, you might get a better idea of what I am talking about. However, when the game is over, you simply board the station at 3rd St/Jefferson (right outside the stadium) and head back to Tempe. Light rail will definitely be a benefit to the businesses close to the stadiums. To help you navigate and better understand these areas, our friends at RailLife.com have a light rail map that allows you to see the location of the stations and to zoom in/out to see views of the areas and stops. This map is a work in progress and they will be "tweaking it" for a while to make it even more user friendly.

For anyone that LOVES Tempe as much as we do and for people that might want to see what types of housing is available (visit our FREE MLS search) along or near the light rail corridor, "Just Call Nick!" and we can give you the scoop on these dynamic and ever changing neighborhoods.

You can also click the box below to see homes for sale near the Mill Avenue district priced from $200k - $500k. Of course, we can create any custom search you would like... Just let us know! Nick Bastian - Realty Executives, Tempe AZ.

Last week, I was in San Francisco for two different real estate conferences. I had a great time, and enjoyed the convenience of utilizing San Francisco's public transportation system. I specifically picked a hotel that was between the two conferences and was adjacent to a BART station so that I could try it all out. From the airport, during traffic, I was at my hotel in less than a half hour and the cost was just over five bucks. The bus system on Market street was surprising to me as well. I recall seeing at least 4 different types of bus that stopped directly in front of my hotel. For a buck fifty, I could get to most parts of the city and yes, it took me within a block of my conference on Tuesday. On Wednesday and Thursday, I rode BART toward down town and exited within a very short walk of the other conference as well. Before my trip, I made sure to brush up on my etiquette by reading "Muni Manners." I think it came in handy a couple of times. :-) Here in Arizona, there is incredible opportunity to create some really cool things along the new light rail line. Some of the areas are largely un-developed and others are already pretty cool. Prime examples of where we have opportunities to create some really great new environments would be along Washington Street between Tempe and downtown Phoenix and along the Apache Corridor in Tempe. Tempe has done a really cool study along the Apache Corridor and there have been recommendations for creating transit oriented developments (TOD's) along the boulevard. These exciting new areas should incorporate street facing shops, café's and businesses along with pedestrian friendly access, off street parking (rear of buildings?) bike path's to access the area, ample shade and a vibrancy that we currently have very little of. RailLife.com, is going to be a great place to learn about the changes that WILL be coming to the areas along the light rail route. Keep up with some of the areas surrounding the new light rail line by joining this "Light Rail Flicker Group" which will be sharing all kind of pics of things on and near the new light rail line. There will be lot's of cool changes to these areas in our future!

We don't need to become San Francisco, we need our own face, our own identity but we will embrace a new style of living to enhance the other many options that our state has. Tourists will love the convenience of the light rail route. The ability to get to the Mill Avenue District and yet be a few minutes from Downtown Phoenix and see a play, a baseball or basketball game, get to the convention center etc etc.. This place is changing right before our eyes. It is nice to see the excitement building in these upcoming areas. With gas prices changing the way many people think about their commute, the housing demand near transportation (mainly light rail) has become very appealing to many people. These trends should continue well in to the future. Take a look at this video I shot at a light rail stop in the Mill Avenue District this past 4th of July. It was one of the rare times when the public has had access to the trains and the reaction was very positive! (they begin service in December)

Tempe is a growing, vibrant community with excellent access to amenities.. To Live, work and play, our great city is hard to beat! Tempe is very centrally located with easy access to our freeway systems and to the airport. Here, you will find some amazing housing opportunities, a great arts community, wonderful restaurants, great schools, lot's of different jobs, enthusiastic sports fans and a wonderful lifestyle in an amazingly convenient location that is close to many of the things our great state has to offer.

If you have any questions about the community of Tempe Arizona, please feel free to visit our web site at http://www.nickbastian.com/ or feel free to call us at 602-803-6425 or toll free at 1-888-343-6425.

I was a little surprised that SunCor decided to sell one of their two office towers at Hayden Ferry Lakeside to New York based Sumitomo corp. While some of the projects in and around the Mill Avenue District have been delayed, canceled or had different "financing issues" come up, the Hayden Ferry project is one that seems to have it all. Great location, great views, easy access to freeways, the airport and the upcoming light rail line etc.. The project is a wonderful mix of commercial and residential uses.

The commercial building that has been sold has a decent tenant in Smith Barney. Several other high profile tenants include KPMG, MetLife and the new corporate offices of Fidelity National Title. Fidelity decided to lease the entire 11th floor, leaving the posh 24th / Camelback location for this awesome area. Believe me, the management group at Fidelity knows a thing or two about real estate. The $92.5 million price tag is a lot of money but given the demand for the area, the growth and excitement surrounding the Mill Avenue District and the future developments that SunCor has talked about in the area, this might end up being a great deal for all involved. These "New Yorker's" are not exactly new to town. In fact, they recently sold out of the Phelps Dodge Tower in Phoenix prior to picking up this trophy property along the Tempe Town Lake. If you haven't seen these buildings, they are worth a look. The following pic is one I took in the lobby of the Hayden Ferry building. The lobby was designed with a really cool nautical theme where you feel like you are looking through the hull of a ship. :-)

Here, you can see the homes currently for sale at Hayden Ferry. These buildings are just East of the commercial buildings.

The lifestyle along Tempe Town lake and in and around the Mill Avenue District is changing drastically. This is a growing, vibrant community with excellent access to amenities..

To Live, work and play, our great city is hard to beat! Tempe is very centrally located with easy access to our freeway systems and to the airport. Here, you will find some amazing housing opportunities, a great arts community, wonderful restaurants, great schools, lot's of different jobs, enthusiastic sports fans and a wonderful lifestyle in an amazingly convenient location that is close to many of the things our great state has to offer.

If you have any questions about the community of Tempe Arizona, please feel free to visit our web site at http://www.nickbastian.com/ or feel free to call us at 602-803-6425 or toll free at 1-888-343-6425.