Gary and Claudia Scott - Scottsdale, AZ Real Estate

The Arizona Regional Multiple Listing System (ARMLS) just released their real estate report for Quarter 1 2009. The information is relevant to the overall market health. The Trends article, “Changing Season, or Changing Market”, is interesting and provides definitions for some of the frequently used real estate terms we are hearing lately. For instance, when you hear statistics referring to “Months Supply’, this is defined as the inventory divided by the number of sales in the most recent period (or supply / demand). Most ‘experts’ agree that for our area a 4.1 months supply is the norm – meaning the monthly market supply does not favor either buyer or seller.

There are many reports available computing current ‘Months Supply’ as well as other pertinent real estate statistics for individual cities and zip codes. If you would like more details for a city or even a specific zip code, feel free to contact me for additional information.

The Economic and Market Watch Report for Quarter 1 2009. – compares Q4 2008; Q1 2009 and projects Q2. 2009.

The real estate market actually started to boom in April and May with record numbers of home pending and closing escrow. As of 5/06/09, there are an amazing 12,438 Single Family Homes PENDING sale And a total of 13,870 total properties Pending in the MLS. Now the Valley-wide Months of Supply is at 4.1 months supply. A whopping 94% of the sales were under 400,000. Many of the short sale and foreclosure properties are being sold, often with multiple offers. There area actually areas of the valley that are now considered a 'sellers market'.

Bottom line, the market is improving! The good news for the housing market is that the indicators are pointing to a healthy home sale activity for the second half of this year.

Search the Scottsdale and Pheonix Multiple Listings for properties currently listed for sale.

I must admit that our little rescue dog , Heidi, is adorable and very sweet. This is probably the only reason that she remains ‘our dog’ these days.

She is a lovely dog but has separation anxiety whenever we leave the house without her. Needless to say, during the past year since her adoption, she has trained us to attempt to figure out the things she could possibly get in to while we are away. So much for screens.

Lets put it this way, she is banned from the house because she either chews something or carries it around so we cannot find it. She is also banned from the pool yard because she loves to chew on the sprinkler system. The little fountains are sorta fun. Since we have an acre lot we allow her to patrol the large back patio and yard beyond the gated pool area. She is also allowed to be inside in bathrooms that has her doggie door to the back yard. After finding a variety of items in the back yard, I have learned to remove everything from this bathroom’s counters and the towel racks. The toilet bowl cleaner brush is safely locked in the shower and the toilet paper is set high on an empty towel rack. One of Heidi’s favorite pass times is toilet papering our yard. This is especially fun if the automatic sprinkler system comes on.

Anyway, one morning last week I left the house for a short period of time. I returned to find water running out from under the bathroom door! I opened the door to discover the sink clogged and the faucet on full blast!

Ok it was my mistake, the previous day I had set a new roll of TP on the bathroom counter intending to put it in the cabinet later. Unfortunately, I forgot to do so. The result? Well, my guess is that Heidi discovered the TP roll on the counter and immediately jumped up to play with her treasure. She is an excellent jumper! She must have somehow knocked the roll in to the sink basin. And in attempting to get it out, she managed to turn the water faucet to the ON position. Just in case you are wondering, wet toilet paper makes and excellent drain plug!

I came home to a sink over flowing, water running down the hallway (fortunately tile) and cabinet drawers filled with water. It took me several hours and lots of towels to finally clean up the mess.

Now, the question. Should I confess to Gary what had transpired or simply be quiet? I did manage to not say anything until the following day/ There were just too many tell tail signs - small pieces of TP that glued down to the back patio, the warped drawer that would not close completely and the musty smell. I finally explained the event reminding him that ’some day’ he would think this was funny! Of course at that moment, he did not see the humor and I got my lecture about what could have happened if I had been gone for an extended period of time , about how the dog would have to be in her cage when we were away etc.

He immediately removed the drawers so the warped pressed wood would dry and hopefully fit in to their place again. Then he got our large fan and set it up to begin to dry out the cabinets. Fortunately Arizona is a very dry climate! All has ended well with the bathroom and hall show no effects of any water damage.

Doesn't she look innocent:-)

So, what do you think would be the probability of this happening????

I have to say that I love meeting all the diversified and talented individuals whom I am fortunate enough to assist in buying and selling homes here in Scottsdale, Arizona.

I met Donna and Herbert when I was a relatively new Scottsdale Realtor. We became fast friends and kept in touch for several years. Finally, Donna convinced Herbert that they just had to move to Arizona. So, we began a search for them and their pets. They now have a lovely home in north central Scottsdale and have not regretted moving "west".

We have remained good friends. I asked Donna if I could share her story as she has blossomed in to a wonderful southwestern artist. Below is her story. Please view more of her work her work at this site.

Donna Leonard is a transplant from Northern Virginia and moved to Arizona in 2006. She has always loved to paint but never had any formal training. After a few nudges from her neighbors who love to paint, she enrolled in a few classes at Scottsdale Artist School and the Via Linda Senior Center. That was enough to get her started and she developed a theme of painting cowboy portraits in oils. She loves the western scenery and will soon branch out into painting landscapes and desert life as well.

Donna entered a juried show at the Scottsdale Artist School and was chosen to exhibit her painting in the Best and the Brightest show in 2008 http://www.scottsdaleartschool.org. She is also on the 2009 www.gamblincolors.com site after entering a black and white portrait. She is currently entering more contests.

She lives in Scottsdale with her 21 birds and Pomeranian (and her wonderful husband of course)

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Scottsdale Real estate Sales - search for homes in Scottsdale AZ

The Arizona Regional Multiple Listing System (ARMLS) has made the Cromford Report available to subscribing Realtors. This report provides detailed information to track the history and current status of the greater Phoenix residential resale market and offers unique insight into its future direction. It is an excellent tool for Realtors to provide up to date sales statistics and current market snapshots.

The greater Phoenix metro area statistics are favorable as sales are increasing and the market inventory steadily decreases. The local real estate market is most active in the $250,000 & less price range as investors and first time home buyers have jumped in to the market. The current Phoenix inventory is at 4.1 months supply, which is considered ‘normal’ for our area. Other areas/cities range in inventory. A variety of individual stats for a specific city or zip code can be computed. Feel free to contact me for the detailed information you are interested in researching.

The table below provides a detailed statistical analysis of today's residential resale market in the Phoenix metropolitan area as of May 21, 2009. The figures shown are for the entire Arizona Regional area as defined by ARMLS. All residential resale transactions recorded by ARMLS are included.

Geographically, this includes Maricopa County, a large part of Pinal County and a small part of Yavapai County. All dwelling types are included. For-sale-by-owner, auctions and other non-MLS transactions are not included. Land, commercial units and multiple dwelling units are also excluded.

© 2009 Cromford Associates LLC www.cromfordreport.com

Explanation of Column Headings

• ST = SHORT TERM TREND - The arrows in this column indicate the direction of the change between TODAY and LAST MTH
• LT = LONG TERM TREND - The arrows in this column indicate the direction of the change between TODAY and LAST YR
• Color code: The background to the trend arrow is colored green if the direction is favorable for sellers and is colored red if the direction is favorable for buyers. It is colored yellow if the change was zero. If the circle is white then the statistic is neutral for both buyers and sellers.
• TODAY means the date given at the top of the page.
• LAST MTH means the same date last month.
  
• LAST QTR means the same date three months ago.
• LAST YR means the same date one year ago. 2 YRS AGO means the same date two years ago.

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Search the Phoenix MLS for properties currently listed for sale

The ‘Chihuly—The Nature of Glass’ - blown glass exhibit currently at the Arizona Desert Botanical Gardens will be displayed through May 31, 2009.

This display of unusual and creative glass art sculpture is well worth the visit. Dale Chihuly's work is included in more than 200 museum collections worldwide. This is his first exhibition in an outdoor desert environment. His creative art work is quite amazing. We arrived early enough to view the glass sculptures before sunset and then also took in their beauty after the sun went down. Mr. Chihuly has created a variety of glass works are displayed throughout the gardens.

The colors are vibrant and the detail is amazing. His innovative glass creations are magnificent. I can only imagine how long it must have taken for him to create, transport and set up this exhibit. Not to mention, that many are displayed in the middle of some very thorny cacti! The event is fun for all - you can view not only the glass exhibit, but also experience the beauty of the red buttes of Papago Park and the wide variety of desert plants maintained throughout the Desert Botanical Gardens 50 acres! The gar

den is Home to 139 rare, threatened and endangered plant species from around the world. only 10 days left - plan your tirp soon.

Arizona is a great place to live, work and play!

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