Chuck Willman, Arizona Realtor® 480.292.0600

You could live anywhere in the country and wonder what just happened.

You don't have to witness it first-hand, like we have.

The Arizona Cardinals have been one of *the* perennial hard-luck teams.

In their 21 years in the Valley, they had one winning season.

During that season they went to the play-offs. They won one game, then lost the next.

An original members of the NFL- that was their only shot anywhere near the Super Bowl.

You'd have to go back to 1947 to find a championship of any kind.

So... it came as quite a surprise that this team got off to a fair start this season.

Then, it was an even larger shock that theymade the playoffs and beat Atlanta.

Then Carolina.

This team from the weakest conference in football somehow managed to upend two teams from the strongest conference.

Their porous defense held two of the three best running backs (as measured in yards per game) to miserable lows.

The pundits were shocked.

The opponents were shocked.

Anyone who knew anything about football just couldn't believe that the weakest team in the playoffs was winning.

Winnig BIG, even.

I'd like to say that I saw this coming.

I've been a fan... but a largely silent one.

Many years ago my father was invited to try out for the Cardinals.

I've followed them through years of futility.

Like following the Chicago Cubs- it's difficult to root for the Cardinals out loud.

There are just too many naysayers who well let you know how silly it is to make a case for your team.

There are a few unwritten rules in sports.

The Cubs don't go to the World Series... and the Cardinals don't go to the Super Bowl.

It's just the way it has been for many, many decades.

All that changed Sunday.

And I still can't believe it.

Feb. 1 is the biggest day in television.

For $100,000 you can buy 1 second of air time on a program seen around the world.

Of course, they'll make you buy the other 29 seconds to go along with it.

Three million dollars is what you pay for a Super Bowl commercial.

This- for a game involving our Cardinals?

They've hit the big time.

They played like a team.

They ignored their doubters.

And they've made it... they have a chance to win it all.

Of course, the odds are against them...

... just as they've been all season.

Can the Cardinals win?

We'll soon find out.

----

For tickets to the game, go to the official site by clicking on the image above of this text link: AZCardinals.com

"NFL", "Cardinals", "Steelers" and "Super Bowl" are licensed and trademarked by their respective organizations.

My dog needs a job.

I'm serious.

She's an outdoor dog and she seems, I dunno, fairly happy.

She's got a half acre to roam, a small collection of toys, and birds to chase.

But there's something missing. I can sense it.

Anytime I approach the back door she jumps to attention. She's eager to do something. Anything.

And I'm at a loss for what to do.

-----

I wonder if animals have dreams of doing more in life.

Does my dog dream of Lassie-like adventures?

We don't have a nearby mine-shaft... so she has no one to rescue.

My dog clearly wants a job. And...

Until I figure out what that job can be I'm looking for clues.

And I now have something to show her.

-----

America's cities are cash strapped. That's no secret.

America's cities have landscaping issues... these include keeping our roadsides beautiful. Weeds grow... it's something they do very well. We can pull them; that's labor intensive. We can spray them; that can be bad for the environment. Another problem- some weeds grow in those hard to reach places.

Facing this challenge, the City of Mesa has hired goats. That's right- goats are the new weed depletion crew.

They'll work for food.

And, humble employees that they are, they don't stand by the roadside with a sign, advertising the fact.

The City of Mesa, according to a Fox News report, has a six month contract with Arizona Herdsman Eco Goats. Up to 80 goats will patrol retention basins and thin out the thick vegetation that is so challenging.

"Utilities Department Water Division Director Bill Haney says the design of the retention pounds and the amount of vegetation at the site make it difficult to use machines and to keep down the weeds. Officials hope the goats can do a better job, saying in a statement they'll "eat just about anything resembling a plant." Besides, Haney says goats are a "more sustainable and environmentally responsible form of weed control.""

Here is a summary of benefits, according to the Mesa Tribune:

• Unlike landscape machinery, goats don't pollute (unless you want to count methane)
• They like to eat (and don't request overtime)
  
• They can get to those hard to reach places (Click on that link- it's an awesome picture)
  
• They're a pesticide/chemical free solution

If ever you're in Mesa and want to see the goats at work, travel the red mountain portion of the 202 until you're near the eastern portion of the 101. You'll find them on the south side of the road.

I may strap the dog into a seat belt, show her what they're up to and see if she has any creative ideas.

Until then, she's been polishing her resume.

-----

When not giving career advice to family pets, Chuck Willman performs real estate in the Phoenix Metro area.

-----

Photo Credits: "After an Exhausting Day of Work by Mario Alberto Magallanes Trejo & "Smiling Goat" by Jens0815

NOTE: The dog featured above is not mine... it's stock photography. You may have noticed the dilemma... my dog is female and I couldn't find any photos depicting a feminine canine in smart/business casual. So... dog-wearing-a-tie was the best I could do.

This past week I received several calls from my investors. Each wanted to know who had the best interest rates and lowest down payment requirements. These questions are on the minds of many and they hearken, in an uncomfortable way, to the days when everyone was offering stated income loans and other mortgage products with little money down. As an agent I am quick to warn that every investment needs to have a modicum of potential equity and a minimum of risk.

Still... it's a good question. Which lender offers the best deal? Surprisingly- the answer could be the Bank of You. More about that in a minute.

If someone has a great credit score, available cash and little debt- it's only natural to want to find the vehicle that offers low rates and little down. The investors that have been asking me this have something in common. They're looking for an investment vehicle which will outperform their stocks and mutual funds. They're looking at real estate and are concluding that homes that cash flow now will help pay for themselves more quickly than those that don't. Such properties should also provide an equity jump when the market improves. Since cash is king- the buyers would like to preserve as much of it as they can and use other people's money- especially if the financing is advantageous.

Fortunately, such investors don't need to commit their liquid cash. Instead, they may want to look at funding with a self-directed IRA. This plan is not for everyone... it's best for those who have a good handle on a) the market and b) the investment(s) that the IRA will fund. In essence, they will be using their IRA as a lending vehicle ... and their investment property will be set up like a trust. This offers the investor a trustworthy source of funds (one's self), and the power to impact the value of the personal investment portfolio. Before embarking on this possibility, the investor will want to make sure the trust is set up correctly and that no rules are broken that would turn the tax-deferred investment into a non-retirement asset.

To make this happen, I work with licensed individuals who are able to assist people in transferring their investments to real estate property portfolios. Again let me reiterate- these are retirement accounts and, as with any investment- proper due diligence is essential to being able to ensure that the process is done in a manner that the IRS will be able to deem acceptable.

If you're interested, please call (480.292.0600) or email: chuck@azVest.com. I can help you find the properties- my colleagues will help you protect and enrich your retirement funds.

-----

Photo Credit: "Chasing the Markets" by T. Al Nakib

I spent so little time in the place of my birth that I had almost no chance of getting to know many of my predecessors. So, when a distant relative once produced a box of photographs, I remember peering at the slightly familiar faces.

We have this human custom... we expect people to smile and look at the camera. I don't know if my grandparents and their cousins were given flawed instructions, but their visages were stoic and unflinching.

One face in particular stood out. She was a beautiful woman with piercing eyes. The photo was colorless and so were her eyes. I asked my dad, "Who is she?"

"She's my favorite aunt." he replied.

"Why is that?" I asked.

"She was a bit eccentric... maybe a bit mean... but I thought she was great... and she always liked me." he responded.

My father is not one to elaborate. If you press him, though- he will. When I asked about her eccentricities, he explained that people had memories of her... and who she might have become had she not taken a tumble down the stairs as a child. The fall had changed her. If the temper weren't enough to chase the suitors, her other foibles would set her fate. My father's aunt would never marry. She had, what we now call, early-onset Alzheimer’s and she spent the bulk of her adulthood in a nursing home. When others would arrive she could hardly recognize them. But with my father she would beam.

And she would remember him.

------------

I'm convinced there is a tender reservoir within our souls that collects these memories. Like a shoebox of photographs of long forgotten people, it can be brought out- if we so choose.

These emotions are stirred by the subtlest things... the smell of campfire... a cool evening breeze... the lilt of a song we haven't heard in a very long while... or hearing an old expression rescued from a bygone day. We have the capacity, as if from nowhere, to feel something powerful and familiar.

We have memory- and, even among those who are ravaged by a disease that robs them of that very capability... there are those lucid moments when long forgotten stories present themselves from the recesses to the forefront.

------------

I realize that I've been rambling... but a insist, I have a purpose in bringing this up.

I became a real estate agent for a reason…. and it is this:

There is something hallowed about the word "home".

I'm not talking about the materials that create edifices in various sizes and shapes.

I'm referring to the place in which we create memories.

In my life, I have called more than three dozen places “home”. This is not uncommon for those from military families. We would pack up and leave at a moment’s notice. Sometimes it was an adventure and other times a hardship.

I created a secret tradition back then.

I'd always leave something behind.

In California it was my lucky feather that I tucked underneath a loose floorboard. In Tennessee- a valuable baseball card that I buried beneath the surface root of a large tree. In Texas there's a buried hardbound copy of "Hoop Crazy" - a book that I wanted to finish but felt a need to treasure up. The list is longer, but you get the picture.

With each intentionally discarded keepsake I left behind in my childhood, I had every intention of coming back some day to retrieve each one.

Much later I discovered that they held more significance by their remaining behind.

------------

These days I spend a great deal of time looking at homes that have been lost to foreclosure.

I see the treasures left behind... many of them, I'm certain, unintended.

It saddens me to see the forgotten artwork in the closet... where a young one drew a stick figure girl and her pink dog. I see the garden in disarray- mostly a collection weeds. These are the lost treasures of a residence- once a home, but now a house.

Then I put it all in perspective.

We are all of pioneer stock...

…Descendants of persons who sacrificed.

Many of those who came before us brought with them a paltry sum with which to start anew. They scraped together what they could for passage to America.

My predecessors came from Sweden and the British Isles. They removed the rocks and trees from the cold Illinois soil to plant anything that could take root. Through the toil of their labor they built homes and raised families.

It is true, as well, of your forbears. Each of them found a new home in which success was never guaranteed… but they had optimism that their efforts would be rewarded.

A few thrived and a few had set-backs.

Those stoic faces- captured so long ago from camera lens to paper, only to be stowed away on a shelf, spring to my thoughts when I see the empty homes that once held memories.

Yet... I know this much: home is wherever we choose to make it.

It can be in the rental home that fits the current income... or in the apartment near the park. Along the path of my career, I've seen people move upward- into residences that give them more space. I've seen people move laterally... albeit from another part of the country- to a new environment. I've also seen those who are downsizing. For many of them, they see this change not as a setback... but as a positive challenge... a time to re-trench or to prove to themselves that they will make the best of the situation.

If I've learned anything through all my moving it is this: We can always start over.

Everywhere we go we can find opportunity- and people who will have an affirmative impact on our lives.

------------

As an agent, I am privileged to see the strength and resolve of those who are equal to the challenge of a shifting economy… and it makes me proud to be associated with those whose spirits cannot be broken.

So- here's to the memories- from the distant reminiscences that are trapped in the recesses of our fading recollection... to the fresher ones which are at the kernel of creation.

We are, each day, building memories… and I feel it a pleasure to serve those who allow me to be a part of helping them find their new home.

-----------

Chuck Willman is a real estate agent who, for the past twenty seven years, has been proud to call Arizona home.

-----------

Image “Old Family Photos” by Jean Scheijen

I've said it before... there's no such thing as one market. [Q. How's the Market ... A. Which One?]

I like to focus on areas that show the most potential for those who bargain hunt. That means I spend a great deal of time finding properties for first time home buyers and investors. The first-timers want as much home as they can afford that is as close to work, family, friends, etc. as possible. The investors want a bargain home that they can rent or flip.

Since there is so much inventory on the market today, we usually have no problem finding properties that fit the needs. However, the bargain properties move briskly.

Last week one of my buyers, an investor, had to move very quickly.

We spotted a home in the mid-morning, made an offer that afternoon and received an acceptance the next day.

There were others who were scrambling to submit their offers, but we were first to the table.

The others were simply too slow. Ours was a full price offer... it could be re-sold today for much more... especially if the buyer fixed it up.

The media will tell you the market is terrible and no one is buying. In the market I work (the Phoenix metro area) the upper end is slow, the mid-range is somewhat slow and the low end is beginning to sizzle. Here's my reasoning on this phenomena:

• Banking- Lenders are requiring higher down payments on homes that exceed the conventional loan limits. In the mid-range, purchases that exceed the FHA limits are less difficult, but still more costly than FHA loans. Homes being sold below the FHA limits are very easy to purchase. And the rates are fantastic.
  

• Investors are Returning- Depending on your news source, there are those who feel that the market will bottom sooner in Phoenix than in many other areas. This way of thinking follows a certain pattern- our market has been bottoming longer than most other metro areas of the country- especially those that don't enjoy population growth. Arizona also has tended to recover sooner than other states (again... population growth being a factor). So... there are many who feel that history will repeat itself. Such talk is up for debate. Regardless- make no mistake about it- it's becoming easier to find properties that produce positive cash flow.

• Unbelievable Low End Pricing- There are many homes being transacted at prices well below construction cost. The home my clients purchased last week is being bought for one-third of 2005 pricing. When you can buy a home for $70k that was purchased 13 months ago for $210k ... well... that's hard to pass up... especially when current rental rates are nearly $500/month above the mortgageable amount on the property.

So... while the traditional market is still in a lull, the low end business is brisk. If you're searching for Phoenix area properties, I'd love to discuss this in greater detail.

-----

Chuck Willman is an agent who specializes in the Phoenix metro area market.

-----

Photo Credit: "Hurry Up!" by Melanie Kuipers