Jayne Friedman

The Boulders Located in Northern Scottsdale/Carefree and Metropolitan Phoenix Area in Arizona is One of Arizona's Prestigious Gated Properties with Golf Course Homes and other Exquisite Amenities. Picture a Community Nestled in and around the Foothills of the Sonoran Desert.

Homes are not the Outcroppings, rather, Ancient Granite Boulder Formations Link with Exquisite Architecture to give the Home Buyer who is Looking for Something a Little Different than the Ordinary. Are You Looking for a Security Guard Gated Community in North Scottsdale? Are You Looking Golf Course Homes? A World Renowned Resort, (The Boulders), within Walking Distance? How about a World Class Spa (The Golden Door), Pool Properties with Privacy, Black Mountain Views, Colorful Displays of Desert Wild Flowers, the Delicious Aroma of Mesquite Wood?

If You would like a Private Viewing of Golf Course/Private Pool Properties, Just Give me a Call to set up a One on One Meeting to Determine your Needs. To Preview an Incomprable Property in The Boulders Golf Property/Resort Living Community, Please Visit http://www.jaynefriedman.point2agent.com or http://34844nindiancamptrl.epropertysites.com

The Boulders Resort Golf Community in Northern Scottsdale, Arizona Quietly Awaits You.

Here in beautiful Scottsdale/Phoenix/Cave Creek/Carefree metropolitan area, many luxury properties are now short sales and foreclosures. Early on when the economy tanked, the prevailing philosophy was lower priced properties were lender dependent and high end properties had access to wharehouses of private money.

Well the undertow has been pulling in bigger and bigger fish these days. Beside the free fall that such a slide from affluence can induce, people have to find a road map to personal dignity and sustainance while falling.

The current media pox on capitalism's house contributes to feelings of guilt and shame in addition to their loss. Salvation is often made more tortuous when people believe that they are economic victims. Victims, by nature, are rendered helpless and subsequently can spiral into despair.

It's hard to watch, endure and help. If you give people unsolicited suggestions and they are not ready to implement them, they may then feel victimized by you. They inadvertantly isolate themselves. So what do people do then when they are free falling from their real estate bursted bubble? Or what can their support system do to help them?

The following is just my opinion based on watching people topple, listening to stories of such people on a daily basis. I am curious what you think.

Listen with an empathic ear and fold up your Superman cape. Ask questions. Repeat certain words that seem loaded back to them. This way they can hear it coming from the outside in rather than the reverse which sometimes recycles the angst.

I've learned that often people who are free falling tell themselves a story that is air tight about their circumstances. It may or may not be that dire or dead end. I've met and talked to others in similar situations who looked outside the box for any solution while opening up to all suggestions.

Ask the person if they'd like to just talk to you and have you listen or if they'd like for you to brainstorm with them. In a small way, you are giving them the gift of self control which they've felt they've lost. It is up to them how you behave as their audience. It's a small dignity. There's a fine line between being an empathic listener over and over again and becoming an enabler.

Don't try to clone an advisor. Know your limitations. In the end, we all have to find the light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully it's a spotlight leading us, like a GPS, to a soft landing.

Curious about what you think.....

Sound familiar? I sat an open house whereby the seller had bought the property a year earlier at foreclosure. It was a reclamation project. One year later, the home is HGTV show ready. A client enters the property, looks in every nook and cranny, swoons on the couch, ogles the granite slab in the kitchen and proceeds to send her family and entourage to subsequently view the home that day. She calls and wants to make an offer the following day. I meet her and her "friend" who is a real estate agent in another state. He's done her detective work and determines that she will offer what the seller originally paid plus fifty thousand dollars for improvements ($150,000 under asking which was already competitively priced). I felt as if I swallowed a fur ball.

He explained in a rather know-it-all-way that the market will continue to deconstruct and that his "friend" will gladly take the property off the seller's hands. Oh, he also requested a 10% referral fee being that he was a licensed agent in another state. Double fur ball!

I told them that I'd present the offer verbally. No need to fill out contracts and addendums.

Moral of the story......A buyer's market does not mean that it's a fire sale out there!

A Property's Design

When a property optimally sits on its site and has considered its climate, your subsequent comfort and smaller utility bills are the result. Here are some things to look for minimal solar heat gain:

Are exterior doors protected from direct sunlight by covered design structures?

Do the longest walls of the home face north and south?

Do most of the home's windows face north and south?

Are windows shaded by exterior design structures? (awnings, trellis)

Is garage and/or little used utility rooms located on west side of property? This will serve as a thermal shield.

Here are some things to look for regarding maximum natural light & ventilation:

Does property have windows on at least two sides for daylighting?

Do all windows work and are they positioned for cross ventilation?

Are high windows operable? Hot air rises and windows will vent out heat buildup.

Let's Go Inside

Many times the indoor air quality is worse than outdoors. A little attention to certain details can greatly improve your indoor air quality. Look for these things and/or consider adding them:

Mostly hard surface flooring.

Carpeting and padding is certified under the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) "Green Label" program.

Use of low VOC (volatile organic compounds) paints, finishes and glues.

No vinyl wallpaper! Can trap moisture in walls.

Exhaust fans in bathrooms (or window) and laundry rooms.

Carbon monoxide (CO) detectors installed. Installation locations vary by manufacturer. Read directions.

Now you are armed with the powerful tool of information when you go home shopping.....

Some things to eyeball as you look for GREEN features when you are out to purchase a home:

Home Site and Location

Are exterior entrances protected from direct summer sun?

Are there protected outdoor living areas (porch, trellis, shade trees, courtyard)?

Are there shade trees on east and west side of home?

Xeriscape landscaping (water gets very expensive)

Native plants? Don't try and recreate Hawaii in the desert!

Does neighborhood lend itself to walking, biking and/or running?

Is the distance to your work, services, social group, shopping, etc. workable for you?

Your Home's Exterior

Is home painted with light colors and is roof a light colored surface? This will reduce your heat gain.

Is home 1 story? Since heat rises, a one story home here in the desert is a valuable commodity.

Check your new home's insulation. Remember this is the desert and we get toasty. Attic insulation should be at least R-30. Wall insulation should be at least R-13 (2X4 construction) and R-19 (2x6 construction)

Are windows dual glazed with low-e coating or solar screens? You can always remove screens in winter on south side when you'd want to be warmed by the sun's free heat.

Tomorrow, I will tell you what you may look for in GREEN terms regarding Design and Interior features.

See, it's not that hard being GREEN.....