First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit

A $7,500 tax credit is available to first-time home buyers who purchase a home between April 9, 2008 and July 1, 2009. For the purposes of this tax credit, anyone who has not owned a primary residence within the last three years is considered a first-time home buyer.

Single taxpayers with incomes up to $75,000 and married couples with incomes up to $150,000 qualify for the full tax credit. The tax credit works like an interest-free loan and must be repaid over a 15-year period.

For more details, check here.

September Residential Sales Statistics

The Tucson Association of Realtors has released the Residential Sale Statistics for September. The best news is that number of sales increased 20% from September 2007 to September 2008. However, average and median prices declined 20% and 16% respectively during that period. The number of active listings was down 14% in the past year, which is a good thing.

Dividing the 7,858 active listings in September by the 934 sales indicates we have an 8.4 month inventory of listings. We are getting closer to a six month inventory, which is considered a balanced market, i.e., neither a buyer nor a seller market.

The average sale price in Tucson is now $218,397 and the median sale price is $180,500. In September, 78% of the sales were under $250,000.

Sunbeam

For three weeks, I could get this close to Sunbeam only when she was on the other side of the window, spying on me in my office.

We have a darling orange striped cat who adopted us over the summer. We named her Sunbeam, but who knows what she calls herself. We haven't had a cat for seven years because the last cat who adopted us, the beautiful black Shadow, broke our hearts when he died. We also don't want the lizards and birds in our yard to be murdered. Because Sunbeam rejected our usual efforts to scare her out of our yard, just as Shadow had, we decided we had been paw picked again and this must be our cat.

Sunbeam was hungry when she appeared in our yard, but she was also afraid of us. Taming her took three weeks. I had to eat my breakfast on the porch, wearing long sleeves and pants to fend off the mosquitoes when the temperature was over 100 degrees, while she ate at my feet. As soon as she finished eating, she was gone. I was getting pretty fed up with this behavior, and told her I was not going to feed a feral cat who gave nothing back to us. The next day, she flopped on her side and let us pet her for the first time. This was the first big break through in our relationship.

When we were petless, we named the wild animals we could recognize in our yard. A huge collared lizard bravely owned the walkway to the clothes line. He would not budge, and we had to go around him. We admired his courage and stoutness, and named him Augie, which is the name of one the Sidewinders (local AAA baseball team) who is also stocky. We were saddened to see that Sunbeam killed Augie for the fun of it. She didn't even eat him. When this happens, I want to take her not to the no-kill animal shelter, but the kill shelter. We went through four years of this with Shadow, but Sunbeam is a more accomplished murderer than he was. Or at least he had the sense to take his kills to his dissenting lab, as we called the place under a tree at the back of the yard where he dismembered birds out of our sight. Sunbeam is not ashamed or secretive about her violent tendencies.


Her Highness takes a break from murder and mayhem. Or not. What's she got under those front paws, anyway?

Of course, a cat has her ways of getting her needs met without cramping her own style too much. Sunbeam's adorable chirping as she enters the house, the way she flops on her side to entice us to scratch her head, her soft fur and beautiful markings all enchant us and make us willing subjects of Her Majesty.


Now Sunbeam is so relaxed around us, we have a hard time getting her to go out at night.

July Residential Sales Statistics

The Tucson Association of Realtors has released the Residential Sales Statistics for July.

Art Deco Gas Stations

Have you ever noticed how many art deco gas stations Tucson has? This seem peculiar to me for many reasons. There were about 30,000 people here during art deco's Depression Era heyday. How many people in this cow town could have had cars? Even more mysterious is how the gas stations survived Tucson's contempt for old buildings. If Barrio Historico was razed for our abominable Tucson Convention Center, how did the lowly gas stations survive the Urban Removal of the '60s? Compounding the mystery is the question of why these gas stations weren't destroyed a few years ago when it seemed the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality suddenly got tough about LUSTs (leaking underground storage tanks), and numerous gas stations were bulldozed so the soil could be cleaned up.

The beauty shown above is at 648 North Stone Avenue. I just love the cupola, which looks like a soft serve ice cream cone. This gas station has a new life as the offices of a bail bondsman and a seller of Mexican car insurance.



This station at the northeast corner of Grant and Stone is empty, despite having wonderful windows.

Jimmy's Broadway operated at the southwest corner of Tucson Boulevard and Broadway for years without bothering to hang a sign. Then suddenly they got a website and a paint job that accentuates the art deco lines.

I think the predecessor to Jimmy's Broadway used to serve its customers at the current location of Long Wong's at Tucson Boulevard and 6th Street, where buffalo wings and beer are now served. I liked the dancing bears they used to have painted on the side of the building better than the current pink flamingos, which are so '80s. Or '50s. Maybe Long Wong's is just 10 years ahead of its time.

At least one more art deco gas station can be found at the southwest corner of Main and Speedway. The windows have been covered and the streamlining on the canopy has been covered, and the canopy supports have been replaced by some thin ugly pipes. No respect.

Update: Mystery solved. None of these gas stations was built in the '30s. According to the tax records, 648 N Stone was built in 1960, Long Wong's was built in 1941, Jimmy's Broadway was built in 1986, 1 East Grant was built in 1959 and 1057 North Main was built in 1953. Oh well.

Building Permits by E-mail

I have previously posted here (October 9, 2007) about the importance of checking for building permits when you are buying or selling a house. Most agents don't bother with this, either because they don't know the consequences of buying or selling a home with an unpermitted addition (which is a huge proportion of the houses in Central Tucson), or they figure what their client doesn't know won't hinder the house sale.

Some agents are aware of the need to check permits to the extent that they go to the City of Tucson's Development Services web site and look there. If they don't find anything, they conclude no permits exist. The problem with this is the City has only put permits on their web site for the past few years. Most of the carport and porch enclosures occurred decades ago.

Friday I went to the Development Services office at 201 North Stone Avenue to look up the permits for a house I have in escrow. I was dismayed to find that I can no longer request the microfiche of the permits and have a paper copy made on the spot. Now I have to submit my request, and the staff will e-mail the permits to me in a day or so.

This had to happen eventually. I was always amazed that the City let people get their hands on these microfiche, the only records of the building permits. Because the City will only make 10 copies per customer per day, a lot of the microfiche were stolen. More were probably misfiled and lost forever. Until a few years ago, people could take the microfiche without even giving their name. Then a form with name, address and phone number was required, but no one verified the contact information, so I doubt this had much effect on the disappearance of microfiche.

Now that I know the drill, it will be a pleasure to request permits online at dsd_records@tucsonaz.gov. I will not miss the drive downtown, paying $2 to park in the garage, and impairing my vision and sanity while trying to use the ancient microfiche reader.

Farmer John Meats

On the north side of Grant Road, just east of the I-10 underpass, is a former meat packing plant, Farmer John Meats.

The exterior walls are covered with murals celebrating the cowboy myth of happy cattle and Marlboro Man ranchers.
As mesquite hugger and pesco-lacto-ovo-vegetarian (that's a joke, son), I am of course cynical about the whole How the West was Won legend, but I like these murals.

According the the New York Times, these murals were painted in the 1960s by Leslie Allen Grimes, a Hollywood set designer. He also painted murals for Farmer John Meats in Vernon and Fresno, California and Phoenix. Amusing comments about the murals at the Farmer John slaughter house in Vernon can be found here.
Mr. Grimes died in 1968 in a fall from a scaffolding while painting one of his murals. Arno Jordan restored and added to the murals from 1968 to 1998.

I'm not sure whether anyone is still maintaining the murals. I also wonder what is going to happen to Tucson's defunct Farmer John plant. I think I remember hearing years ago that it may become a nightclub or something.

June Residential Sales Statistics

The Tucson Association of Realtors just released the Residential Sales Statistics for June.

The market continues to slowly stabilize. Changes from May 2008 to June 2008 were as follows: Average sale price up 2.65%, median sale price down 0.5%. Housing units sold up 0.88% and active listings down 4.54%. With 8,140 properties on the market, and 1,034 sales in June, we have a 7.9 month supply of listings. A six month supply is considered a balanced market. We're heading in the right direction.

Bats

A couple of nights ago Steve and I decided to go see the bats emerge from under the Campbell Avenue bridge over the mighty Rillito River.

While we waited for them to wake up, we enjoyed the usual postcard pretty Tucson sunset.



We were surprised to see that a couple dozen other people had the same idea. Some were sitting down in the dry (for now!) river bed. Everyone seemed to know the bats would fly to the west.

We could hear the bats twittering to each other as they woke up. They had been sleeping in the one inch space between pairs of joists. I read somewhere that some buildings and bridges are now designed as bat houses. I don't know whether that happened here, or whether it was just a lucky accident.

After the sun went down, the bats started coming out a few at a time. Eventually we could see hundreds fly away for a night of insect consumption. Eat lots of mosquitoes, guys!

We stood under the bridge with bats flying within inches of us, but none ever hit us. It was really fun.




Although the air was filled with bats, I could only get a picture of one of them. You'll just have to go see the spectacle for yourself.

Update: The Arizona Daily Star just did an article today about the Campbell Avenue bats. It says the bats are Mexican free-tailed bats. They've also got a photo of a cloud of bats.

Solstice Celebration

Flam Chen burning the memorial urn at the All Soul's Procession last November.



Anytime you can see creatures on stilts playing with fire while listening to a kilt-clad bagpipe marching band, you know something fun has got to happen.

Saturday the Arizona State Museum on the U of A campus near Park and University will celebrate the Solstice in fine style. Starting at 2:30, you can cool off inside the Museum and learn about the astronomical achievements of the Anasazis at Chaco Canyon in New Mexico. Multicultural events will occur throughout the day, including Japanese and African drumming, henna tatoos, opportunities to grind corn, make a paper flower and play a Yaqui instrument. The Aztec sun blessing will be at 4:30. Molehill Orkestrah performs gypsy music at 7:30.

At 9:00 Tucson's own Flam Chen, a performance group famous for their costumes, stilts, percussion music and fun with fire and helium, join forces with the Seven Pipers Scottish Society for the Grand Finale. This is so perfectly Tucson, and not to be missed.

Mourning Dove

This mourning dove is nesting in the jasmine vine next to the drain pipe on our back porch. He is on his third brood this summer! He's as devoted as my Dad was, and it's nice to think of both of them on Father's Day.

Nesting mourning doves are so brave. They often choose nest sites like this where there's a lot of human traffic, but they will sit as low and still as possible, even when a human gets way too close. If the dove does decide he has to leave the nest, he will engage in that broken wing act to distract the predator from the nest.

How do I know this bird is a he? According to "Western Birds' Nests" by Hal Harrison, the female incubates from dusk to dawn, then the male takes the day shift.

The New Monsoon Season

I am outraged to read that the National Weather Service has decided to mess with our sacred monsoon season again.

Our dramatic summer thunder and lightning storms are one of the best reasons to live in the Sonoran Desert. Desert rats endure the ever-increasing humidity and heat (it was 111 today!) until one magical summer afternoon, the air gets cool, the wind blows hard and we all happily get drenched by the rain goddess who pours water from her ancient clay jug. If we're lucky, we'll also get some hail. The flashes of lightning over the Catalina Mountains are better than fireworks. Flooded streets are to be expected. It's just a matter of time before some clown drives his car around the road closure barriers into six feet of water in the Sixth Avenue underpass and gets cited under the "Stupid Motorist Law".

Those who inexplicably don't appreciate all this excitement go to San Diego.

Until last year, the start date for the monsoon season was determined by watching the dew point. On the first of three days on which the average dew point was 54 degrees or above, the monsoon season was said to start, according to those persickity people at the National Weather Service. No rain is required by this method, and we never knew the glorious monsoon season had begun until three days later. By this reckoning, the earliest recorded monsoon season started on June 17, 2000, and the latest started July 25, 1987. Through the 1990s, the average start date was July 3 and in the aughts, it has been July 7.

Obviously, this method has a lot of problems, the biggest one being its lack of correlation to actual rainfall. Most desert rats think this methodology is a joke, and rely on their own definitions of monsoon.

Steve says the monsoon starts when the first drop of rain falls in our yard. I say it starts when I personally witness a down pour with street flooding somewhere in Tucson, regardless of what the weather is doing at our house, which very likely is nothing.

What these definitions lack in the scientific method, they make up in the satisfaction of knowing with conviction that the monsoons have arrived.

Believe it or not, according to those meddlers at the NWS, today is the first day of the monsoon season. Henceforth, or until the NWS comes to its senses, the monsoon season will be from June 15 to September 30, every year! Have you ever heard anything so lame?

May Residential Sales Statistics

The Tucson Association of Realtors has released the Residential Sales Statistics for May.

The median sale price increased 3.07% from April to May, and the average sale price decreased 1.15%. From May 2007 to May 2008, median sale price decreased 9.98% and average sale price decreased 9.86%.

The best new is that over 1,000 housing units were sold in May for the first time since the mortgage industry meltdown last August. With the number of active listings at 8,257 and the number of sales at 1,025, we have a listings-to-sales ratio of 8.06. This is equivalent to an eight month supply of listings. A six month supply is considered a balanced market. We are rapidly getting closer to a stable market. The listing-to-sales ratio was 15.43 in January 2008.

I am seeing lots of bargains. Sadly for the former owners, they involve foreclosures, but I am impressed with what's available now for a person who wants to invest a little sweat equity.

Interest rates are still incredibly low at 6.25%, and money is available for qualified buyers. FHA is doing a lot to make housing affordable, but no one can predict how long their new programs will be available. This is a great time to buy a home.

Solar Energy

Tucson should be the solar energy capital of the world. We won't speculate on the frustrating reasons why it's not. But if you have been thinking of adding solar panels to your home, as I have, it might be a good idea to do it sooner rather than later. Tax incentives that make the installation more economically feasible may be expiring soon.

Mulies!

Yesterday I was enjoying lunch with my friend Linda at my Tucson Mountain home, Desert's Edge. Suddenly, I noticed a mule deer in the back yard, then two more! I was so excited. I had never seen deer there before.

I knew my neighbor, who has a gigantic non-native mesquite tree and a waterfall, used to have a family of deer who came to drink and relax in the shade of his back yard every day. I was jealous, and wanted some deer of my own. I plan to install a waterfall to lure them to my yard.

These most welcome guests hung around for several hours, chomping the bushes, striking beautiful poses, and lying under my less shady, native mesquite.

I felt so honored. They renewed my resolve to install a waterfall and vegetation that will attract more wildlife to my desert paradise.

Good Bye Bypass

We went to a party in Cascabel last weekend to celebrate the defeat of the incredibly stupid idea of building an I-10 bypass through the San Pedro River Valley. The San Pedro is the only undammed river left in the Southwest, and it is a magnet for birders from all over the world. Not too many years ago, it flowed freely and was lined with magnificent cottonwood trees. Thanks to the burgeoning development upstream in Sierra Vista and the immunity from environmental concerns enjoyed by Ft Huachuca, the river is dry and most likely doomed. Putting another nail in its coffin by building an interstate bypass through here is an idea that could only originate in the evil mind of a developer or a politician.

Cascabel is a magical little community of gentle folks living simply. It's about 90 minutes east of Tucson, and 20 miles north of Benson. Tucson friends of ours recently bought some land along the river. They had two nasty old trailers and a considerable amount of junk hauled away. They built a sweet little 8' by 12' shed with a corrogated metal roof for their home away from home and they have a composting toilet. The well has been cleaned out, but its water is too rusty to drink. We parked our VW camper among their mesquites and had a delightful getaway.

The locals tell us that sightings of vermillion flycatchers, western tanagers and hooded orioles are routine. We still got a thrill every time we saw a brilliant flash of fiery feathers zoom by us at close range.

After the sun went down, we heard an owl or some sort of night bird barking nearby. It wasn't the who who kind of owl.

As we were leaving our camp site to go to the party, we encountered a pink coachwhip snake asleep in our friends' driveway. He was about two feet long, and had bands across his back, with a very slender, solid pink tail. We wanted a photo, but didn't want to wake him with the camera flash. We didn't think he would be able to bite us because the evening had cooled off, but if a coachwhip does bite, he bites repeatedly, so we didn't want to harass him. By the time we got up in the morning, he had slithered away.

The party was down the road at Barbara Clark's Cascabel Clay Works. Her home is a completely enchanting work of art, made out of found parts. It seems to have grown organically out of the ground, and my first thought on seeing it was "hobbit house".

Wayback Machine provided the entertainment and our pal Gary Mackender sat in on the drums and cookware. I wasn't going to tell you that Gary forgot to bring his cymbals and he had to raid Barbara's kitchen for some pots that he clamped to his cymbal stands. Since Gary fesses up in his blog, I guess it's okay to show you his unique drum kit. The pots actually sounded pretty good.

You can go experience Cascabel the first weekend in December when Cascabel Clay Works hosts their annual winter crafts fair. Candles, leather goods, tie dye clothing, food and of course Barbara's clay creations will be for sale. Wayback Machine will probably play, and there will be peace and love, like in the old days.

Why fences are bad. This poor guy can't figure out how to join his family on the other side of the fence.

Night Blooming Cereus

We have a fabulous night blooming cereus growing inconspicuously in our wood pile at our Central Tucson home. Most of the year, it looks like a wimpy, half-dead cactus languishing on the ground. Last winter, some javelina chewed up quite a bit of it, and we wondered whether it would survive. The damaged stems grew scabs, and new branches have sprouted out of them.

Maybe the plant is in survival mode, but last night, it put on a show like we'd never seen before.

Forty-five blossoms! WOW! I think the most we have seen on one night prior to this was 23. It smelled like a church filled with Easter lilies. The bats couldn't have missed this extravaganza. Even with our puny human senses, we could smell the feathery blossoms from 20 feet away.
Steve has a theory that the cereus bloom during the full moon. The full moon was actually the day before the big show. When they were fully opened around 9 PM, most of the blossoms were facing the rising moon in the east.

By this morning, the show was over, and the gorgeous blossoms were wilting. What a wonderful world.

Our night blooming cereus keeps blooming all summer, one or two blossoms at a time. Last year there was another big bloom in August. We'll pay attention to whether it is during the full moon.

Licensing for Mortgage Loan Originators

Arizona requires real estate agents to be licensed. We take licensing classes, have to pass a test, we are finger printed and we have to take continuing education courses. There is a system in place to discipline real estate agents who break the law or behave unethically. An agent will lose his license if the Arizona Association of Realtors determines he is a menace to consumers and the real estate industry. This system helps limit the problems caused by incompetent and unscrupulous real estate agents.

Home inspectors, architects, engineers, and surveyors are licensed by the Arizona Board of Technical Registration.

Did you know that the weakest link in the real estate industry is the mortage business? We are all aware of the home loans that were made to people who were not qualified or properly informed of the terms of their loans. It's obvious that some of the blame for the current high rate of foreclosures can attributed to mortgage loan originators who either didn't know what they were doing, or knew what they were doing, but didn't care about the tragedy they were creating for their home buying customers.

Arizona regulates mortgage brokers (the people who find the loan for the borrower) and mortgage bankers (the companies that have the money to loan to to the borrower), but mortgage loan originators, the 10,000 people on the front lines advising the borrower, are not regulated.

Recently the Arizona House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill that would enable Arizona to join 30 other states in requiring licenses for mortgage loan originators. Background checks, continuing education requirements and testing would eliminate many of the rotten apples in this business. The Arizona Assocation of Mortgage Brokers supports licensing.

Licensing of loan originators should be a slam dunk, but State Senator Pamela Gorman, a Republican who heads the Financial Institutions, Insurance and Retirement Committe, will not let the State Senate vote on the measure. Gorman prefers voluntary registration. She calls a license "a slip of paper" that won't prevent fraud. She has no plausible explanation for why she opposes licensing, and she can't explain how voluntary registration will help consumers.

April Residential Sales Statistics

The Tucson Association of Realtors has released the Residential Sales Statistics for April 2008.

The average and median sale prices slipped 2% and 2.5% respectively in the last month, but the number of listings was down 2.4%, and the number of sales was up 8% from March, so we are edging closer to the balanced market we all want.

Currently, there are nine sellers (listings) for each buyer (home unit sold). This means we have a nine month supply of listings. A six month supply, believe it or not, is considered a balanced market. A few years ago, when we had a two month supply of listings and thought that was normal, we were so wrong!

FHA: Get It While It's Hot!

A home seller is not allowed to give the buyer money for anything other than closing costs. The seller can not pay the buyer's down payment. This is called "inducement to sell" and it's illegal.

The Ameridream program was created to enable a seller make a "donation" to Ameridream. As a non-profit, Ameridream is then able to make a "grant" to the buyer that happens to equal the seller's donation to Ameridream, minus an administrative fee.

This money laundering scheme, which is one of the many causes of home price inflation, was supposed to die last winter, but it was given a temporary stay of execution. Ameridream can only be used in conjunction with an FHA loan.

The maximum FHA loan amount in Pima county was $239,850 until it was temporarily increased to $316,250 in March this year. This temporary increase is scheduled to expire at the end of this year.

The extension of the Ameridream program, and the temporary increase in the maximum FHA amount have the same purpose: to make home financing possible for buyers with little to no savings, which constitutes the majority of the home buyers.

Conventional loans (those that are not government insured as FHA and VA loans are) now require a 10% down payment. This can not be borrowed. If the buyer is getting a money from a relative for his down payment, the relative must be willing to sign a letter saying the money is a gift that does not have to be repaid.

The average sale price of a single family house in Tucson was $287,133 in March 2008. If the average buyer, who has little to no savings, is going to buy the average house, he will need to use an FHA loan plus Ameridream. If the Ameridream program is discontinued and the temporary increase in the maximum FHA loan is not extended, a buyer will need to use a conventional loan, which means he will need about 10% of the purchase price for down payment, plus another 2% for closing costs.

Sellers who have houses priced in the $240,000 to $316,000 range need to realize that the pool of eligible buyers will get a lot smaller if Ameridream dies and the FHA loan amount is once again indexed to the median sale price, which is currently $200,000 in Tucson.

Buyers AND sellers need to take advantage of the opportunities presented by FHA loans NOW.

Is the Sky Really Falling?

For some reason, the media love to try to make the state of the housing market sound a lot worse than it is. For example, on Tuesday, the S & P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index reported a 12.7% decline in home prices from February 2007 to February 2008. This was the largest drop in the index since its creation in 2001. So what? That's only seven years of data, during what was mostly a boom market. And this index only follows 20 major cities, many of which--Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Miami--saw the biggest run up in prices and now are experiencing the biggest declines. Despite that index's limited seven-year history and limited geographic coverage, the Associated Press reported that home prices "plunged by a record" percentage and "at their fastest rate ever."

The S & P/Shiller-Case Home Price Index only looks at single family house prices (not condos, townhouses, new construction or mobile homes), and it only considers houses that have sold more than once. I can't figure out from their methodology if they are looking at average or median price, and I don't know how far back they look for a previous sale.

Let's suppose they are looking at the average sale price. In Tucson, the average sale price of single family residences increased from $275,563 in February 2007 to $289,991 in Febuary 2008. This is a 5.2% increase in the period evaluated by S & P/Shiller Case Home Price Index. In Tucson, the average price of all properties, including townhouses, condos, etc., increased 1% during that 12 month period.

It should be clear to anyone that the average temperature across the country, or in 20 major cities, tells us nothing about the actual temperature in Tucson. Even within Tucson, the climate varies from one neighborhood to the next. Just as climate is local, so is real estate.

For an explanation of how the S & P/Shiller-Case Home Price Index distorts reality, see MarketWatch.

Real Estate Transfer Tax

A real estate transfer tax (RETT) is charged at the time a property is sold. While our city, county and state governments are not currently considering a RETT, it has been the topic of revenue enhancement proposals in the past. With our governments running deficit budgets these days, the RETT is likely to rear it ugly head again.

What's wrong with a RETT? Plenty. We already pay property tax, twice a year. This would be double taxation. It is only charged to property owners who sell, so it is discriminatory. It reduces a seller's equity, and is a further impediment to selling. As if sellers need any more challenges in this market!

The Arizona Assocation of Realtors is currently collecting signatures so a state wide ban on RETTs can be put on the November ballot. We need 230,000 signatures by early July. We won't know the proposition number until the signatures are validated.

Once we know the proposition number, we will be spreading the word to vote YES. A yes vote will prohibit state, county and city governments from ever imposing a real estate transfer tax.

Fro more information, go to No New Tax on Our Homes.

1422 N Painted Hills Road

When you decided to move to Tucson, this is how you imagined your home. Hacienda style on 0.66 acre with pool. Saguaro rib porch. Beehive fireplace. Saltillo and Talavera tile everywhere. Lots of mesquites and flowering cactus. Fabulous mountains views. The city lights twinkling only four miles away.










3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 car garage, workshop, living room plus family room.




For more photos and a floor plan, go to http://www.donnamoulton.com/

Sold June 10, 2008 for $270,000.

March Residential Sales Statistics

Overall, things seem slightly better in March than they did in February.

From February 2008 to March 2008, median sale price was up 0.05%, average sale price was down 1.2%, number of sales was up 27% and number of listings was down 1.59%. Let's hope the gradual progress continues.

For more detail, go to
March Residential Sales Statistics.

2753 W Begonia Place

This home's location on the wonderful west side of Tucson can't be beat. Near Greasewood and Speedway, it's close to shopping, downtown and U of A, but worlds away. An enormous tree-filled wash behind this lovely home will make every day a wildlife viewing delight.

The home has been beautifully remodeled by a devotee of the home remodeling television shows, and she has created a happy haven that you can now call your own.

High ceilings make this 3 bedroom 2 bath home feel airy and light. Tasteful colors and lots of upgrades.



Double pane windows. A sliding door to your private patio.

The upstairs master bedroom has a walk in closet and a luxurious bath room.


Sold April 25, 2008 for $172,000. We had three offers.

Interest Rates Going Up

Buyers usually assume that when the Federal Reserve cuts the short term interest rate, the mortgage interest rate will also drop. It's a lot more complicated than that. The Fed's most recent cut will probably cause fixed mortgage rates to go up. Adjustable rates may go down, which is a relief for people who currently have adjustable rate mortages (ARMs), but I think most people have heard enough horror stories about ARMs that few home buyers will choose that option anymore.

Suppose you can buy a $200,000 house with 20% down at 6% interest today. Your principal and interest payment would be $959.28 per month. Suddenly interest goes up to 7%. Your P&I payment will be $1,064.48. This might be enough that you now longer qualify for a loan.

Some buyers are waiting for the market to hit bottom before they buy. Experienced investors know that it is impossible to time their purchases perfectly. If, in the hypothetical situation I described, the interest rate went to 7%, the price of the house would have to drop to $180,233 in order for the P&I to be $959.28. This would be a 10% drop in price. I think the chances of interest rates going up more than 1% are greater than the chances of property values dropping more than 10% in the next few months, especially in the under $250,000 price range where most of the sales activity is occuring.

So it's a gamble. While waiting for prices to drop, buyers may see interest rates increase to the point where their buying power is severely reduced.

Hummingbirds!

A hummingbird zoomed by as I was watching the mourning dove on her nest on my back porch yesterday. I watched the hummer and saw her land on a branch about 4 feet off the ground. Then she thought better of it and flew away, but quickly came back. I could see a tiny bag of woven grass attached to the branch, so I went for my camera. I fired off this shot while the hummer mom bravely buzzed around my head. I left quickly so she wouldn't feel harassed any longer.

The inside of this nest is less than 1" in diameter! Another day, another reason to be grateful for a home in Tucson.

February Residential Sales Statistics

The February Residential Sales Statistics have been published. The Arizona Daily Star chose to further suppress real estate sales by exclaiming that the median sale price has dropped below $200,000. It was $199,900 in February 2008, or 9% lower than in February 2007.

Of course they didn't mention that the average sale price in February 2008 was $262,155, which is a 1% increase from a year earlier.

With friends like the Star, who needs enemies?

Most wizards who are gazing into economic crystal balls say interest rates are heading up. Way up. So get off the fence and buy while the buying is good.

Certified Deed Scam

The Tucson Multiple Listing Service sent this email to all its agents:

"Be aware that a national company is mailing out letters to homeowners (many will probably be your clients) making it seem imperative that they acquire and retain in their household records a certified copy of the deed to their house which the company will happily provide for a total cost of $89.95. As you know, the homeowner may obtain a copy of their deed from the Pima County Recorder for $1.00 per page plus an additional charge of $3.00 to have the deed certified should they believe certification is important."

The Fossils are In!

Two years ago I went to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show on a mission. I had decided that I would set ammonites in my back splash at Desert's Edge, the house I am renovating in the Tucson Mountains. I went nuts and bought 40 pounds of these gorgeous 110 million year old fossils from Madagascar. They look like nautilus shells, cut open to expose the chambers, which can be filled with gold, peach, rust or lavender minerals. Some of the chambers have quartz crystals in them, and some of the septa between the chambers have been replaced with pyrite (fool's gold). I am completely enchanted with my ammonites, and have been admiring them on the buffet for two years, but no more! Now they are set among the four-inch travertine tile above the astoundingly gorgeous granite counters.










I hired Jack Langley with Southwest Design, who hired Kevin who hired Juan, who figured out how to do this. I had talked to a few tilers about what I wanted to do, and everyone but Jack had said it would be impossible to set these fossils, which taper from 1/4" to 3/4" deep, among the tile. I hate it when people tell me something's impossible. Anyway, Jack was game, but it was Juan who figured that instead of punching holes in the drywall to make the fossils lie flat, he could saw off the backs in his whetsaw. I watched him hold the first fossil in his hands against the spinning saw and told him to forget it, I didn't need these fossils in my back splash as much as he needed his fingers. It looked really scary, and Desert's Edge already has enough bad karma without adding the blood of a tiler. But Juan assured me he could to this without cutting his fingers off. The results exceeded my expectations by 110 million years.

December Residential Sales Statistics

The Tucson Association of Realtors has released the Residential Sales Statistics for December 2007. Fortunately for owners and buyers of Tucson real estate, they show the same ol' same ol'. Not much change in average and median sale prices. Active listings are at their lowest level since December 2006, which means the balancing act between supply (listings) and demand (sales) is becoming more stable. Only 682 properties sold in December, but I'm not too worried about that. In my own business, I am starting to get more calls from buyers, who are realizing the sky most likely is not going to fall.

On January 9, 2008, the chief economist of the the National Association of Realtors spoke to the Tucson Association of Realtors. He had some very encouraging news about Tucson's unique qualities that will enable us the weather the economic storms better than other parts of the country will. Tucson Association of Realtors president Judy Lowe summarizes his remarks on the first page of the Residential Sales Statistics for December 2007.

The Rogue Theatre: Fear No Art

Fear No Art. That's the message on the tee shirt worn by male lead actor Joe McGrath when he and the cast of "The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?" sat down facing the audience for the after-play discussion. The female lead is Cindy Meier, who co-founded The Rogue Theatre with Joe. As always, their performances were jaw-dropping. These two theater professionals have worked together so long, their stage interactions are perfectly in sync.

I can't say this play is entertaining, but it is by far the best I have seen in the three year history of The Rogue Theatre. Joe plays Martin, a successful architect at the pinnacle of his career. He enjoys loving relationships with his wife Stevie, and his gay eighteen-year-old son, Billy (Matt Bowdren). I am so proud of our friend Cindy, who is amazing as Stevie, a smart, self-assured, witty woman. Martin shatters the family's perfect life when he announces he is in love with a goat. The play is shocking, horrifying, violent, vulgar and intensely thought-provoking. Because of the last quality, the performance is a work of art, albeit very disturbing.

Joe said The Rogue Theatre does not want to do plays that reinforce the audience's preconceived notions. The troupe wants to challenge the audience to question their values and assumptions, and "The Goat" effectively does exactly that. Why do certain behaviors disgust us? Where does aberration end and mental illness begin? Where is the line between moral and immoral? Why do these lines shift with time, circumstances and communities?

Cindy's real-life husband Tom Wentzel is very involved with the theater group. Web site designer is one of the many hats he wears, and The Rogue Theatre web site is one of the most beautiful I've seen.

Tom warned us not to sit in the front row of this play's intimate venue, the magical Cabaret Theater, located upstairs from the Temple of Music and Art. He said it would be too intense. He was right. The people in the front row fled as soon as the actors took their bows. Most of the rest of us remained in our seats, wide-eyed and stunned. Tom said we looked like that guy in the stereo speaker ad, gripping his chair with his hair blown back, and that is just how I felt.

I recommend you go on one of the nights when the post-play discussion will be held, so the actors can help you start the process of evaluating the complex issues presented in the play. I know I will be thinking about this play for a long time.

"The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?" will play through January 20. Post-performance discussions on January 10, 13 and 17. Call 551-2053 for reservations and information.

Artistry in Glass

Two years ago I bought a small house in the Tucson Mountains. The back yard faces 63 acres of protected wildlife preserve. I didn't need another house, but the setting is stunning, and I couldn't resist. I figured I could use it as a vacation and party house, and maybe rent it short term to snow birds.

I spent six months renovating Desert's Edge, making it my dream home. By summer 2006, I still had plenty left to do, but I was so discouraged by the problems I had with the various contractors, I couldn't stand to work on it anymore.

Finally, last month, I felt could deal with the last three phases of the project -- install the floor tile and granite counter tops, and buy some furniture. The end is in sight, and I hope Desert's Edge will be ready for its housewarming by February.

I have bored my friends and myself to tears talking about what has gone wrong with this project. I want to use this blog to express my thanks to the people who made things go right.

I decided I wanted to have something like petroglyphs etched into some of the floor tiles. This is about the eighth property Jack Langley with Southwest Design has tiled for me. Jack suggested I talk to his neighbor, John Wakefield, at Artistry in Glass, to see whether he could get the effect I wanted. I did, and he could. John does all sorts of work in stained, leaded and beveled glass, including etching. He readily agreed to acid-etch patterns onto my floor tiles.

I traced Steve's hand and mine, added spirals in the palms, and took the drawings to John along with drawings of the sun and the Man in the Maze (only in this case, she's the Woman in the Maze).

John is from outside London, so just listening to him talk is a delight, but we learned that we had something in common. He's a former exploration geologist and I'm a former hydrologist. We both decided there had to be a better way to make a living than working for The Man, so we started our own businesses.

John runs his business the way I run mine. We try to keep the customer satisfied, even when it's not convenient. I wanted a change in the tiles on the Saturday afternoon before Christmas (he's only open by appointment on Saturday) and he cheerfully agreed to make the change that day so they could be installed on schedule. I am very happy with the results. You can see Steve's hand print in the photo above.