Ann Heitland, Associate Broker, CRS, GRI , ABR ~ Flagstaff Real Estate/Community

Flagstaff good citizens did it again -- for the 5th year in a row the Annual Climb to Conquer Cancer is SOLD OUT! Large groups of of people will be climbing up Snowbowl Road tomorrow a.m. (it's a seven mile trek). Although it's too late to register to join them, it's not too late to contribute to this great cause. Click here for my entrant page.

The Arizona Snowbowl's Skyride will be closed until afternoon on Saturday to accomodate the traffic involved with the Climb event.

There are many other things going on in Flagstaff this week-end, starting tonight at Heritage Square with music and a movie. There is a children's fair at Wheeler Park on Saturday. The Navajo Code-Talker Exhibit will be available at the Musuem of Northern Arizona. For these and many other events going on in Flagstaff this weekend, visit my weekend picks: Have fun -- there is plenty to do in Flagstaff this weekend!

If you are house-hunting in Flagstaff this weekend, contact us at 928-714-0001, or start by visiting our website: www.BestFlagstaffHomes.com.

Have a great weekend -- the weather in Flagstaff is scheduled to be BEAUTIFUL!

I'm back to beautiful Flagstaff, Arizona. Went to California last week. San Diego was nice, but hot and humid compared to our lovely town. At the beach the temperature drops precipitiously as you approach the beach (that is, after you have already walked some distance on the hot beach!)

Driving back, we came through the celebrated San Bernadino mountains and down into Palm Desert. It all looked hot and burned out to me. The overlook that we chose to stop at had very similar Native American legends to what we see in the Flagstaff region. I will say this for the route -- it's better than going through Yuma and the border patrol stops on I-8, although it takes longer.

As we rose toward Flagstaff from the Kingman area, the land around us began to green. And my favortie sunflowers appeared. I thought this might be happening at those lower elevations, but I was delighted to see, when we pulled in at home, that they are out in Flagstaff as well. That was Tuesday night.

I'm back at work and writing notes to my clients on my favorite sunflower notecards!

For Flagstaff real estate, call Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties!

The Arizona primary election (for state and federal offices other than President) is September 2. Today is the last day to register to vote in that primary. You must be living at the address reflected in your registration form (no one can "live" in a post office box!).

If you live in Flagstaff, go to the County Elections Office before 5 p.m. You'll find it at 110 E. Cherry in downtown Flagstaff.

You can also change your registration address on line at http://servicearizona.com.

If you don't register today, you'll not have a voice in who are the candidates in November to replace the indicted Republican Congressman Rick Renzi of Arizona's Congressional District 1. Make your voice heard!

I am.

The President had barely had time to recover from signing the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (which he did behind closed doors since he had opposed it for so long and then decided his veto would be over-ridden, so he better just go along), when some Congress-persons got whipped into introducing a bill to amend the new law.

That's because the new law will basically destroy Nehemiah Corporation and similar private downpayment corporations that have been established in recent years to funnel seller money back to buyers, disguised as "gifts" from these private corporations. This allows the buyers to claim the money as downpayment funds to meet the FHA 3% minimum (soon to be 3.5%). These mortgages have had huge default rates, so Congress decided to eliminate them.

Yes, not giving downpayment assistance to people unable to make mortgage payments will hurt builders, mortgage originators, and real estate agents, but will it help the country? That sounds like I'm begging for a "No", but I honestly am not sure and wish we could have some more facts and a decent hearing on this issue.

Here's more on this topic, posted on my other blog: Unintended Consequence of Housing and Economic Recovery Act?

Note: the recently enacted law that this bill is trying to "correct" does not eliminate downpayment assistance from public entities (like the City of Flagstaff or Coconino County), from employers, labor unions, or relatives of the homebuyers.

Looking to buy or sell Flagstaff real estate? Contact Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties!

It's always a great weekend in Flagstaff, and this one will be no exception. There is some rain in the forecast -- probably in the afternoons, so bring some rain gear for outdoor events.

I'm going to be resting up between trips this weekend (and catching up on my real estate work!) so I probably won't be out and about except to do my Saturday morning precinct walk commitment. If I were going to be doing fun things about town this weekend, it would be one of these great Flagstaff events:

Ann's Picks for Flagstaff Things to Do This Weekend

Have a great weekend in our wonderful mountain town!

If you want or need to buy or sell in real estate in Flagstaff, contact Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties.

Or, if you just want to get away from it all, take a hike:

This photo is on the Mt. Humphrey's trail in the beautiful San Francisco Peaks.

Like many, you are probably hearing bits and pieces of news about the Housing and Recovery Act that became law this week. There are a lot of "bits and pieces" -- it's a big law that covers lots of topics, from financing to foreclosure relief to vacation home tax issues. Over the next week or so, I'll be writing a number of individual blog posts that you may find of interest. I'll be connecting the implications of the new law to the Flagstaff real estate market and Flagstaff home buyers and sellers.

Two topics that I know I will be covering are the "first-time buyer tax credit" (which is really a loan that you have to repay to the feds!) and the vacation home tax changes - which will not help the Flagstaff real estate market. Here's the first post: Details on New Law's Tax Credit for First-Time Home Buyers.

For all your Flagstaff real estate needs, contact Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties. Check out our website, we have more information about Flagstaff real estate, Flagstaff home buying and living in Flagstaff than any other website in town!

If you are looking to sell your Flagstaff home, be sure to check our exclusive services for Flagstaff home sellers - our systems are your solutions in this challenging market!

I'm exhausted and energized -- and I'm back in Flagstaff from the Star Power Conference, which was held in Orlando FL this year. Because it was in Orlando, we met the kids and did 5 days of family fun in advance of the conference. Then they went home and I went to work.

The conference is one huge mastermind group -- not that I've ever been in a mastermind group, but I keep hearing chat about them. "Stars" -- 175 of the best real estate agents in the country -- share their ideas and experiences for an intense 3.5 days of general and breakout sessions. I highly recommend this conference. Last year was my first and the second year was just as good, even though I chose to attend entirely different breakout sessions this year.

On the trip back yesterday, I spent six hours of plane, and waiting-for-planes, time organizing and structuring my notes. Next is implementing the ideas -- without the implementation, the conference will have been a waste, except as a fun pep-rally. I hope to share some of what I learned here over the next few weeks, but first I need to share them with my team and my clients.

Enough for now, more to come later!

Thanks to my great team, the work for our real estate clients did not miss a beat while I was away! Contact Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties, for all your real estate needs in Flagstaff, AZ.

P.S. Why am I posting this to the Certified Residential Specialist group? Because I learned about Star Power from attending CRS meetings!

In the last week, there have been 67 new listing in the greater-Flagstaff area. Fifteen homes went under contract and sales closed on 16 homes. This snapshot is according to the database maintained by the Northern Arizona Association of Realtors® Multiple Listing Service and reflects a search for all homes with Flagstaff mailing addresses, whether or not they are in the city limits of Flagstaff.

You can see our Featured Listings at our Flagstaff real estate website. One of these, so far, has the Seller Buy-Down offer so aptly explained by Mike Jones in commenting on my last post: Maximum Seller Buyer Down - What Does This Mean? Thanks Mike!

You can also search for every home in Flagstaff on the Northern Arizona Multiple Listing Service by visting our website and clicking on the Search MLS link. Also, use the Flagstaff MLS Guide, which I wrote to help our clients and customers understand the arcane regions and areas of the Flagstaff MLS.

If you need to buy or sell real estate in Flagstaff, give us a call: Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties.

This week I received a flyer from one of the local Flagstaff lenders with whom I work -- another technique for her to drum up business, I thought. Then I took another look. It was really an old technique for selling homes, but maybe one I'd forgotten about.

The strategy, in this marketing pitch, is called Maximum Seller Buy-Down. The details of how this program works aren't really there, nor can I find them on the blog referred in the sales pitch. What I think it means is that the seller pays the buyer's points at closing to reduce the interest rate on the buyer's loan. (I'd appreciate a few comments from our mortgage experts on Active Rain to see if I've got this right.) This can be a win-win because the seller saves money as compared to an equivalent (to the buyer) price reduction, but the buyer gets a lower mortgage interest rate so that the home comes within the buyer's monthly payment affordability range. (Right, mortgage experts?)

I'd don't think that, as the marketing pitch suggests, that this technique alone will "turn around" our market, but isn't it worth pursuing in the interests of our seller clients?

In the current slow market, we've seen more and more offers asking not just for price concessions but also payment of buyer closing costs, and, indeed, for paying points to buy down the buyer's mortgage rate. So, why not turn that to a marketing advantage for the seller - make the offer to all buyers as part of your marketing remarks about the home?

I promise to pursue this possibility with more research off-line tomorrow, but I'll also check back for comments by the Active Rain experts. I don't promise to write much in response because I'm headed on vacation later this week! Yahoo!

Want to buy or sell Flagstaff real estate? Contact my team: Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties!

There are always too many things for one person to do in Flagstaff during a weekend, but that means that there are things to do to appeal to nearly everyone. Come on up and enjoy summer in the cool mountains of Northern Arizona!

One of Flagstaff's great assets is Northern Arizona University and, for theatre lovers, another wonderful asset is the Theatrikos community theatre company. For three weeks this summer, the NAU drama department and Theatrikos have teamed up for a "town and gown" event that you won't want to miss. Stephen Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum is one of the classic comedy/tragedies of Broadway. I remember laughing about it way back when, I won't tell how long back.

Directed in this production by NAU Professor Robert Yowell, the musical tells the bawdy story of a slave named Pseudolus and his attempts to win his freedom by helping his young master woo the girl next door. The plot displays many classic elements of farce, including puns, a two-tiered set with many doors, cases of mistaken identity (frequently involving characters disguising themselves as one another), and satirical comments on social class. Tickets available at the NAU Central Ticket Office or by calling 928-523-5661. Remaining performances tonight and on July 12, 17, 18, 19 at 8 p.m., and this Sunday at 2 p.m. Click here for details.

For a HUGE list of other things to do in Flagstaff this weekend, visit today's post: Things to Do In Flagstaff This Weekend.

To buy or sell real estate in Flagstaff, call Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties.