Hey, cool news. I was voted in a Vice President of Tucson Association of REALTORS(R). Looking forward to serving membership and making sure that ALL voices are heard at TAR. It's an honor and a commitment on my part.
If you're contemplating selling, now is a great time. Yes, I really did say that... Both average and median sales prices were up in March 2012. Further... days on the market decreased to 73 & total unit sales rose 36.11% over February are up 18.65% over March 2011.... Those are some very positive indicators.
Rates are pretty steady and likely will remain fairly static during this election year barring any unforeseen chaos... So, could there be a better time to buy or sell. I think not.
Oh my. Interest rates are hovering below 4% right now. That translates to a buyer getting so much more house for the money. It's amazing. You seriously cannot get money this cheap out there so if you're on the fence, I have to serious ask WHY????? What would hold anyone back. Perfect situation right now for purchasing a home. Rates are phenomenally low, prices are down which means affordability is PEAK. These circumstances are so ripe to purchase and confidence in most sectors of the economy is improving. Get moving.... These conditions won't last forever. Call me with questions.
I have two fantastic lots available for sale in the Tucson Mountains (my fave....). Both are 3.3 acres. One touches the Sweetwater Preserve and the other is one lot away. They are priced right and ready to build on (yes, they are easily buidable sites).
Because you are right at the Sweetwater Preserve, this means your back yard is nearly 900 acres of dedicated open space, i.e. pristine Sonoran Desert that will never be built on.... It's lovely, and I mean, LOVELY. Call me to check it out. It's a smart buy and a fantastic hood with great neighbors.
Happy New Year to all... as we embark on another trip around the sun, I wish you all a joyous, peaceful, and productive 2012. My calendar is in print stage.... Yes, it's late and that's because the last quarter of 2011 was so crazy busy for me. A good thing and an indicator to me that 2012 is on the upswing.
So, if you're in my database, look for my calendar soon enough. It has all the fun Tucson events throughout the year that I love to frequent. If you'd like to sign up, send me an email.
Cheers to a fabulous new year.
With love and joy,
Nicole
The holidays..... Need I say more? Conjures up lots of stuff including stress, excitement, exhaustion, love, frustration, etc. I enjoy Thanksgiving, the preparing of a wonderfully healthy meal for my loved ones. Christmas is mixed for me. My Dad, who left this planet in 2005, loved Christmas immensely. And even more so once he had grandchildren. So, it's a sad time for me without him here to enjoy this holiday. He always so lovingly put it into perspective and he so enjoyed watching the kids on Christmas. So, I am left to figure out how to fill it with joy and, hopefully, perspective for my own children. My choices for gifts as I embark on this season are to choose carefully, choose locally as much as possible, and choose American made when I can.
This year, I pledge to keep it far more simple. I am only purchasing useful things (with a few fun items in the mix) for my children and loved ones. I've been putting so much careful thought into those gifts and I'm enjoying that. It makes it so wonderfully meaningful.
The other day I had a wonderful find. I found a book that was advertised on AOL by Sam Talbot (a famous chef) for his new book called The Sweet Life. Sam is a Type 1 Diabetic which my son also lives with. Well, I ordered it online and in doing so, the order process allowed me to choose an indie bookstore.... That was so cool and I was able to order through Antigone Books, one of our lone indie bookstores left in Tucson. So, when the book was available, they emailed me, thanked me for choosing them and voila... we got the book delivered to our home. Fabulous. And, by the way, Max really is enjoying the read. (Obviously this was not a Christmas present but it exemplifies our increased ability to make more local choices in ordering/purchasing.)
So, as I continue through the season and I purchase for my immediate family I'm doing so with joy, care, and FUN. I pledge to not feel too chaotic and then pass that onto others around me. This is going to be a joyful, relaxing, and a loving season for us. It's MY CHOICE.....
Enjoy the season, however and whatever you might celebrate. With LOVE.....
Nicole
I had the pleasure of selling Ron and Socorro their beautiful Pueblo style home last summer in the southwest part of Tucson. Ron & Socorro are committed to green through and through. They purchased a beautiful TJ Bednar REO property late summer of 2010 when they moved to Tucson from the east coast. In fact, they purchased the property without even seeing it in person. I took a series of photos of the property and explained away the lay of the land for them.
Once here in Tucson, Ron & Socorro went through their TJ Bednar home with careful scrutiny. One of their first major investments was to install 10 kWh of solar/PV on their roof. They installed larger panels of 280 watts. They employed Ted Bednar to install the solar. They are now, of course, very proudly a NET ZERO home!!
Ron & Socorro then tackled their lighting by installing LED lighting with some of their lights even being battery powered. All the canned ceiling lights were replaced with LED lighting with some of the others being CFL, depending on their usage.
For appliances, they purchased an induction range which has proven to be 60%, yes that was 60%!, more efficient than your standard range. They purchased an LG True Steam for a washer machine. The machine spins so fast that the clothing is nearly dry upon completion of the cycle. They then hang whatever needs to be hung dry. They purchased an LG refrigerator and promptly switched out the light from an incandescent light bulb to an LED. The little things really do matter!
For water efficiency purposes, they purchased smart faucet devices online (because they couldn't find them locally...) These devices don't allow one to let the water run when it's not needed. Something they found saved them substantially and with teenagers under roof that's a huge accomplishment (I speak from experience...)! In fact, they found that their water bill was cut in HALF!!!
Ron & Socorro have done it right. With their solar install, the lighting adjustments, and the water efficiency improvements, they are living lightly on our planet. They aren't stopping there either. They are committed to additional improvements and they're always exploring what's next on the horizon.
And I'm proud to say I was their agent!!
Keller Williams pledged their commitment to green at Family Reunion, 2011 in Anaheim. EEdge is the company's commitment to green. It is a paperless system in an industry that is often buried in paperwork beginnng with our 9 page contract and multiple Addenda that accompany any and all transactions. Just ask anyone who recently bought or purchased a home and their eyes will glaze over when you ask about the paperwork side of things. Commonly a real estate transaction can end up inches thick. This is HUGE! A great opportunity to reduce our paper consumption and thus save some TREES!!!
And there's more to come....
Nicole was named REALTOR(R) of the year for 2010 at the Tucson Asociation of REALTORS(R) (TAR) Installation and Awards dinner at Loews Ventana Canyon. A huge honor that comes straight from her peers. Nicole's involvement at the local and national level were among the reasons for her nomination and receipt of the award. Nicole is an NAR Director, a member of the NAR Land Use, Property Rights and Environment Committee, a Director for the TAR Board of Directors, Co-Chair of the TAR Green Committee since 2008, & on the Government Affairs Committee.
The property built by Dave & Drew Lutz which I've talked about quite a lot, was featured in the AZ Daily Star's Business Section. The link is attached here.
1240 E. Blacklidge is soon to be the first LEED Platinum home in the City of Tucson. A huge accomplishment. All paperwork has been submitted to the USGBC. We're simply awaiting final approval at this point.
Email me if you're interested in seeing this lovely home. Too many green features to list here.
Check it out here:
I've just listed a beautiful, sophisticated home in Amado, AZ. Perfect for the artiste, writer, one who seeks solace in the desert. It's gorgeous!! It's a 3 bedroom, 3 bath SIPS constructed home (2132 s.f.) on 5 acres with vistas in every which direction. Appointed perfectly to maximize views of Elephant Head, this is truly a peaceful getaway. Especially the rooftop spa....The night skygazing opportunities are boundless.
This home has lots of green features including 2.0 kwh photovoltaics, rainwater harvesting, 19 SEER heat pump, EnergyStar appliances, plumbed for greywater, etc.
Join the resident roadrunner, watch the deer traipse across the landscape, savor the views, take a dip in the saltwater ozonated pool, etc. It's within walking, mountain bike ride or horseback ride to Rex Ranch.... Ride on down to get your hot rock massage, have lunch, or simply luxuriate in the beauty of the amazingly diverse Sonoran Desert.
Call Nicole (465.5770) for your opportunity to see this beautiful home with a slice of style, luxury living in the desert and not but 35 minutes from downtown Tucson.... You've got it all here. Peace, serenity, beauty, & taste. All in large amounts.
The first LEED Platinum (soon to be, that is) is finished. Construction is complete and it's a beauty.
There are more than enough points, per the USGBC LEED policies to be LEED Platinum. This means it's soon to be the first LEED Platinum home in the City of Tucson. What an achievement. Run... don't walk to see this wonderful home.
Come see this wonderful home, 1240 E. Blacklidge. Call Nicole at 465.5770 to schedule a private showing.
In July 2009, we installd 2.8 kwh of photovoltaics on our rooftop. We used a slightly different product from the norm. We used a product that adheres directly to the roof surface & have no penetrations in our roof top. It's certainly been more than rewarding watching, on a daily basis, how much energy we create to offset our consumption. And after a year of having my solar/PV system installed we were able to determine that our system saved 3.59 tons of co2 emissions from being emitted into the atmosphere. What a thrilling determination for us! In terms of dollars, this translated to saving us $719 for the year.
Now, for those of you who don't know, I have a very robust household of three generations living under one roof. In addition to that, we are teenager central. So, there's always lots of activity here and we do feel like Grand Central Station. Our home is humming much of the time and we wouldn't have it any other way.
Gratefully our solar can now offset our consuption quite nicely.
Ha:san Bak: Saguaro Harvest Celebration held at Colossal Cave is on July 10th & is a celebration of harvesting the saguaro fruit by the Tohono O'odham. There's lots of amazing food and beautiful plants. The sweet saguaro syrup and other Native American wares are available for purchase. There are also talks on the culture and biology of the saguaro. Everyone can sow saguaro seeds in a pot to take home. The festival starts at 9 and goes through 1:00 pm or check out colossalcave.com.
I really enjoy studying these numbers and checking out where the inventory remains high, where things are levelling off and where it's low.
So, by zip code it looks like northwest Tucson has quite a bit of inventory.
85755 (Oro Valley) has 9.8 months of inventory, 85737 (also Oro Valley) has 5.8 months of inventory; 85739 (Catalina) has 12.9 months of inventory. Closer in, near northwest, 85704 has 5.6 months and 85741 has 3.0 months.
Central Tucson has the whole range: 85705 has 7.3 months, 85719 has 5.4 monhts, 85712 has 4.7 months.
Eastside and Northeast Tucson goes from 11.4 months (85750) to 5.2 months at 85715. 85748 has 4.7 months of inventory and 85710 has 3.5 months.
Southeast, including Vail, has 7.5 months in 85641.
South Tucson and Southwest Tucson have 2.7 months (85706) to 4.3 months (85757).
Westside has 5.8 months at 85743 & 6.2 months at 85745.
Let me know if you have any questions about these statistics.
On May 6th, the U.S. House of Representatives passed HR5019 or the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010. It passed by a pretty decent margin too, that is a vote of 246-161 which indicates that it was BIPARTISAN!!! This Act basically pays people to improve their homes, i.e make them more energy efficient. It's commonly been referred to as "cash for caulkers."
So this program is meant to encourage home energy retrofits by providing rebates to homeowners who install energy-saving products, energy efficient improvement such as insulation, windows, doors, & heating systems.
The legislation still needs to pass the Senate and must be signed by the President in order for it to become law.
There are two aspects of the Cash For Caulkers gig. They are known as the scaled down Silver Star program and the more souped up Gold Star version. The Gold Star requires the homeowner to complete an energy audit & then follow the recommendations therein throughout the home. Silver Star can result in a maximum of $3000 in rebates. The Gold Star is a larger financial reward of up to $8000.
just some brief numbers for may 2010... all good indicators in my opinion.
monthly sales olume is up 17.43% over may 2009
total unit sales increased by 28.67% over May 2009
new listings decreased 14.14% over may 2009
The summer is here and for us the shade cloth goes up quickly. We use shade cloth up in several locations around our home to buffer the impact of the summer sun. Because our orientation is awful.... i.e. full on western exposure for the front of our home, we really need it. We put shade cloth us on the western side and the eastern side. Plus, we've planted several trees strategically. We also use shade cloth on our skylight in the kitchen since it's so large. That really helps as well.
There's so many little things we can do to reduce our consumption, our impact. These things take but a few minutes, too, but they mean a lot.
1240 E. Blacklidge is nearing completion! This has been a thrilling project of a super efficient home with all the green bells & whistles done with taste and passion. Watch for more information to come. We'll be having some tours soon, once it's finished!, and you'll get a chance to see for yourself the attention to detail, the great design features, the thoughtful approach.
Call for more details, 520.465.5770.
Our housing stats are improving. December's numbers show a definite upswing in pending sales.
December 2009 had home sales units up 10,47%; home sales volume up 11.34%; pending contracts up 38.56%!!; and average sales price was up +.78%!! New listings and active listings declined which continues to indicate that inventory is on the downswing. All good indicators for a recovery.
Waiting anxiously to see the year end report. Once it's in, another update shall follow.
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Nicole Brule-Fisher