Volume 3, January 2010 Editition
Today's Forecast Sunny. Hi 75 Never Windy
Commentary and Perspective from one of
America's most unique small town areas, edited by Preston Westmoreland of
Russ Lyon Sotheby's International Realty.
Lenders in 2009 foreclosed on about 41,000 single-family detached homes in Maricopa County, according to a report from Arizona State University. That's more foreclosures than the Valley has seen during any previous year on record, accounting for more than 35 percent of all existing-home transactions, the report said.
Its author, Jay Butler, associate professor of real estate at the W.P. Carey School of Business, said overall home-resale volume in 2009 rivaled that of the real-estate boom's peak year of 2005, but for all the wrong reasons.
"That (2005 sales volume) was ... due to rising home values and a type o
The Buyer Light is ON! Carefree/CaveCreek Commentary from Preston Westmoreland
I knew things were changing when a couple wanted to see a bank-owned home that just came on the market in Carefree for $ 470,000. It had been priced in the $ 800,000 range before the summer as a short sale. We got down to the home, in a desirable gated community, to find other Realtor cars lined up to go in. "It's already sold" one yelled out at me. It was amazing to see a bank get such a strong offer in o
n the market in Carefree for $ 470,000. It had been priced in the $ 800,000 range before the summer as a short sale. We got down to the home, in a desirable gated community, to find other Realtor cars lined up to go in. "It's already so
Cave Creek: A local historian insists the town's incorporation 25 years ago was forced by "threats" of being scarfed up by neighboring Carefree, not Phoenix or Scottsdale as commonly believed. "Back then, Phoenix and Scottsdale were still a long way off," said Beverly Brooks. "But the Carefree Development Company had it's sights on Cave Creek."
Brooks, the Cave Creek Museum's historian and local resident since 1958, appeared before the Cave Creek Town Council and presented a 30-minute history of Cave Creek. Most of her report focused on Machiavellian schemes cooked up by the founders of Carefree to eliminate Cave Creek.
"The Carefree Development Company portrayed Cave Creek residents as peasants who would serve Carefree," said Brooks. According to Brooks, the Carefree founders literally tried to wipe Cave Creek off the map by submitting information to map publishers showing an expanded Carefree and no mention of Cave Creek. She said they also