Rare Custom Home in Central Tucson at a Reasonable Price

Toto, I don't think we're in Tucson anymore. Adobe construction and vaulted open beam ceilings evoke the serenity of a cozy New Mexico mountain cabin. See the open, flowing floor plan here. This unique hand-crafted home is a feast for the senses.

Walk on the cool, clean Saltillo tile floor in your bare feet. Take a deep breath of the delicious aroma of freshly-cut grass.

Open the wooden blinds to let the light stream in. Enjoy the delightful surprise of the rich stained concrete counter tops with maple cabinets.

Taste the fruit of your pomegranate tree. Hear the rain celebration on the blue metal roof. Contemplate your good luck with a mountain view from your roof top perch. King-sized bedroom.

 
Attractive solar-powered gate. Control the thermostat from your cell phone.

This house has an interesting history. In 2003, one of my friends from graduate school referred an incoming hydrology student to me. I helped him buy 630 N Jerrie Avenue. My client split the lot and built this house, 626 N Jerrie Avenue, behind it. I saw him and his friend making adobe blocks in the yard. They used as few power tools as possible, and their names are burnt onto the top of the center beam with a magnifying glass. I toasted the completion of the house with the builders on the roof. The market was crazy hot in 2006, and my client sold 626 without my help. The following year, I helped him sell 630.

626 was sold again to its third owner in 2011. A few weeks ago, the Tierra Antigua relocation director called to ask whether I wanted a listing on a cute little house behind a house on Jerrie Avenue. I asked whether it had a blue tin roof, and he said it did. So I put this house on the market, and sent the listing to my former client, the one who built the house. He sent the listing to his former housemate, who had lived in 630 and who helped build 626. The former housemate is the new owner. The builder, the buyer and I were all in the University of Arizona hydrology graduate program at different times. Sometimes magic happens. It's fitting that it happened with this lovely little home.

Sold December 11, 2014 for $149,000. 

Tucson's 40 Under 40

I am so pleased that the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Arizona Daily Star honored my fabulous client Moses Thompson as one of their 40 under 40. He has done wonderful work at Manzo Elementary School, helping the children learn about gardening and poultry. The school cafeteria will soon be serving the produce the children grow. Imagine how exciting that must be for them, and what a positive influence it will have on their eating habits.

This is a good time to point out that you can get a state tax credit for contributing up to $200 to a public school as an individual, and up to $400 as a couple filing a joint return. A tax credit means if you give $200 to a public school, you can reduce the amount of income tax you owe to the State of Arizona by $200. I know Manzo will use my money much more productively than the State will, so I always give my tax credit to Manzo. You can even pay by credit card.

September Residential Sales Statistics

The Tucson Association of Realtor has released the residential sales statistics for September. No surprise, the number of listings is up, the number of sales is down, and the average sale price has decreased. This happens every fall and it is probably no cause for concern. It's a good time to be a buyer, as most of the buyers will soon be obsessed with the holidays, so you don't have as much competition. If you're a seller, you may need to be flexible to get your house sold now. Or you might just want to wait until things pick up in January. Prices probably won't be a whole lot higher then, but you may have more buyers looking at your house.

A 245 Pound Bundle of Joy

The birth of the largest creature ever born in the State of Arizona was announced by my fabulous client Vivian VanPeenen.

My Favorite Neighborhood

CASA CON LOTE GIGANTESCO. This solid masonry House With The Huge Lot is nestled in my favorite neighborhood, Tucson Park West 3. Home Sweet Desert Home. High above the city in the Tucson Mountains, you'll enjoy wide streets, cleaner air and usually more rain and lower summer temperatures than down there in the flat lands.

Yet you're only 10 minutes from downtown and 15 minutes from UA. Even better is our 65 acres of common area, from which you can hike all the way to Saguaro National Park, crossing just two streets.

But you may not want to leave your quarter acre lot with walled back yard and mature trees.

The cheerful Arizona Room adds 150 bonus square feet to your home.

Three bedrooms, two baths, living room plus family room. The floor plan is here.

This well maintained retreat is reluctantly being given up by its owners of 26 years. 

Here's your chance to become a grateful TPW3 homeowner. Sold for $160,000 on September 17, 2014. The buyer was willing to pay full price, $165,000, but the appraiser made us reduce the price to $160,000.

Richland Heights Opportunity

Amazing opportunity for an investor or buyer who wants to build sweat equity. House with guest suite plus casita on north 4/10 acre.

Enormous garage/workshop on south 4/10 acre. Possible to split into two large lots. House has gorgeous beamed ceilings, polished concrete floors and living room fireplace.

Large family room faces spacious back porch. Two bedrooms and full vintage-style bath in main part of house.

Guest suite has three rooms and bathroom. Casita has kitchen and bathroom. See Floor Plan here. Richland Heights is a desirable neighborhood only two miles north of UofA.

The huge lots and wide streets give the feeling of country living. Stunning view of the Catalina Mountains. So convenient to the stores and restaurants on Campbell Avenue and close to the Rillito River bike/walk path. Sold for $260,000 on August 14, 2014.

Creatures in the House

One of my friends Back East is starting to think about moving some place where the winters aren't so harsh and the taxes aren't so high. She asked about the aggression of the fauna in Tucson, particularly the spiders.

Once I answered the spider question, I was on a roll with describing my experiences with wildlife that found its way into my house. Steve said this was really mean and I went overboard. Being the personality type that I am, I of course think if what I say is true, why would anyone be offended? I don't remember the name of the personality type, but that's me. Here's what I said.

We have loads of spiders, and they do bite. In the summer, I usually have a few bumps or red marks I can't identify. I have two right now. They disappear, usually painlessly, in a day or two. Some spiders, like the black widow, which I have found in my house more than once, are poisonous even to people who aren't allergic, but usually not fatal. I have also had very startling encounters with wolf spiders, which are about three inches in diameter, and love to hang out on top of doors. They fall on you when you open the door. Otherwise they are harmless, as are tarantulas, which are about five inches in diameter. I have never seen a tarantulas inside the house, but armies of them can be seen crossing dirt roads during mating season. Charming, isn't it?

I have not yet been stung by a scorpion, but I have killed plenty of them in my desert house. This is more of a problem in the desert than it is in town. I never saw scorpions inside the house in town. A scorpion sting won't kill a person, but it will make life pretty miserable for several hours. This is a scorpion I caught in my kitchen. I put it under a glass bowl on my table so I could photograph it before its demise.

We have had snakes inside the house in town, though. That is always exciting. I think they came in through a hole in the doggie door, because we haven't had any in the house since we discovered and closed the hole. The kind that have come in the house were not poisonous, and we were able to capture them and put them outside. See my blog post, The Snake Chronicles. We like to have them outside because they eat the pack rats. I don't know anyone who has been bitten by a snake. We have encountered rattlers on our hikes and I occasionally see one curled up on a porch or under a pool filter when I'm showing a house, but snakes want to be left alone. They are typically not aggressive and if they bite, the skin may necrotize, but the person probably won't die, although I understand that for a while he may wish he would. The typical snake-bitten person is a drunken male in his 20s who was handling or provoking the snake.

This snake was not in the house. We met him when we were hiking in the Tucson Mountains. He was next to the trail, and I had just passed him without noticing. I heard a cough behind me and turned around to see what it was. I thought it was a javelina, but it was this snake, slithering away toward his hole. 

We have had pack rats in the attic, which I tolerated for a while until one of them died inside the pantry wall and made a huge stink. Then I had the attic cleaned out and I repaired the screens on all the attic ventilation holes that the rats were using for ingress and we haven't had pack rats since.

We also had a skunk in the hall furnace closet in our house in town. It came in through the fresh air vent in the foundation. We've screened that off, too, and I don't think he has any wildlife in there these days.

It does take a certain type of person to love the desert. There is an article on my blog called Bedouins and Gods that explains it. There is magic in the air here. 

I think I may have blown any chance of getting my friend to visit Tucson or consider moving here.