Elena Thurston, Family Real Estate Specialist

Homes in Seville have a huge range, from small courtyard homes that share a driveway and are very low maintenance, to huge custom properties well over 5,000 square feet in size. That's part of why I like Seville so much, it has something for everyone and the neighborhood ends up with a wide variety of people.

Currently there are 100 homes for sale, ranging in price from $170k to $2,700,000. 7 homes have closed this month, and 16 have accepted offers and are waiting for escrow to close.

This is a great month to tour homes for sale in Seville. All the rain we just had means the San Tan Mountains will be green and gorgeous! Bring your camera, especially for the sunsets!

Currently there are 13 Homes for Sale in Agritopia. Now in Agritopia, homes range from 1500 square feet, up to well above 5,000 square feet, including the basements. So the most affordable home on the market right now is a 1900 square foot cottage for $189k (awesome deal!). The most expensive home in Agritopia for sale right now is 5,000 square feet for $645k.

If you are looking for a home theater system and set up, many of the homes in Agritopia that have basements have incredible home theaters.

There are 3 homes that have accepted an offer and 2 homes have closed escrow during August. The average sold price per square foot in Agritopia is $98.46.

Today the Gilbert hotsheets show us that in the last 24 hours:

21 new homes on the market

10 Cancelled their listing agreement

8 Expired their listing agreement (market rejected them)

18 went Pending (accepted an offer)

20 Closed

For the second week in a row, those are great numbers for Gilbert Real Estate. If I took a snapshot of this week, between these numbers and the number of inquiries I received from new buyer clients, I would venture to guess things are changing....don't wait for the newspaper to tell you, figure it out for yourself.

In Gilbert Arizona, school boards have the power to raise property taxes, which they exercised last year. Three Board Members' terms expire in December. Citizens of Gilbert may choose to re-elect or replace the candidates at this year's election in November.

This is a very significant issue to me as one of the huge draws of Gilbert is our top-ranking school district. Much of our homes' value is tied to the public perception of our schools. Now I don't necessarily think that higher taxes = higher budget = better schools, but we all have a hugely vested interest in our school board, whether we have children in public school or not.

The Gilbert Education Association will present a Candidate Forum for all Legislative District 22 House and Senate candidates, and all Gilbert Unified School District Governing Board candidates on Thursday night, August 21st, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM . The forum will be held in the Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board room at the district offices, 140 S. Gilbert Road. The forum is open to the public.

If you would like to submit a question to one, several, or all of the candidates, please send your questions to t.mihalchick@cox.net

Much thanks to Vickie Savory for keeping me informed.

Gilbert is a lovely suburb of Phoenix, Arizona and considered by many to be the best mix of affordability, low crime, family friendly, with easy access to downtown.

But it's still part of Arizona and summertime in Arizona means HOT HOT HOT! So what are the Top 5 Things To Do In Gilbert, AZ, even when it feels like an oven?

• As always, I start with food. You gotta check out Joe's Farm Grill. Great food with a retro feel, it's built in the middle of the organic fields that supply the yumminess. HUGE trees, misters, and lots of green grass make it comfortable even in the heat of summer. Get out of your cave, uh house, and enjoy the outdoors again.

• Gilbert has a brand new mall, the San Tan Village . My favorite thing to do there is take the kids to an early matinee movie at the Harkins Movie Theatre (the $4 kids combo is actually a really good deal), afterwards hit the water spray park at the east end. The kids love it and it burns off tons of energy. Just don't forget the sunscreen!

• Go for an evening stroll at the Riparian Preserve. With all of the beautiful plants, birds, streams, and waterlife, you forget you're in the middle of a desert. Afterwards hit the observatory for the star-gazing. Now that's a good time!

• Take the whole family to Bounce-U. Family Bounce Night is Tuesdays from 5-8 pm and it's a blast! Huge inflatable slides, obstacle courses, even basketball courts. It's a blast and a workout to boot.

• Speaking of workout, check out the climbing wall at the Freestone Recreation Center. Nothing like hanging out in cool air conditioning while scalings mountains and conquering fears. Makes for a great (and cheap) date night!

For more information about Gilbert Arizona and what a great place it is to live, check out the Gilbert Relocation Package.

Your Family's Realtor,

Elena Thurston