Payson (AZ) was predicted to get its first snow last night or today. I LOVE SNOW, AND I CAN'T WAIT! It rained a little last night at our house, but when we woke up- clear blue sky with not a cloud in sight! Now it's clouding up again, and the weather report still says chance of snow. We'll see... I took this picture last Spring, in our backyard. 10/28/2009

Homes for sale in East Verde Estates, Payson, Arizona are selling well.    Go North through Payson on Hwy. 87.   Drive about 6 miles and look for the East Verde Estates directional sign on your right.  Turn West and cross the bridge over the East Verde River.  The community is about 1/10 mile further.  Home prices range from the high $150,000 to $500,000. This seemingly remote community of only a hundred or so homes is such a wonderful place to live full time, or purchase for a second home.  East Verde Estates is a place where you can live & play, enjoying nature's bounty and the association of friends and neighbors. East Verde Estates is nestled in the Tonto National Forest 5 miles north of Payson, Arizona. One reason people buy in East Verde is their love of animals and the forest. Li... 10/18/2009

Rim Country Literacy Annual Book Sale was held on Saturday, October 17, 2009.  Piles of gently used books of every description and topic have been pouring into our local office for the past 12 months in anticipation of Saturday's event.  The funds raised are used to further Rim Literacy's outreach to the citizens of Payson who would benefit from tapping into the great wealth of knowledge and experience our volunteers freely share.  Two of our current prograns include tutoring for GED and one-on-one help in learning English as a second language.  We are currently helping students with Tonga, Russian, Italian, German, Korean, and Spanish. Quite a diverse collection of needs for a small town of only 15,000 fine, upstanding citizens. Literacy also has an outreach program in the local elemen... 10/18/2009

Many Real Estate Professionals are seeing a change in this market. Some are following the trends and some are not. Buyer agents are looking at making money and providing fiduciary to their clients by providing the most sought after property listings to their clients by researching the REO properties... yet many do not have clue how the process works. After all... when in History did most all the buyers flock to REO properties like they do today? I write this for two important reasons. One for the agents and one for the consumers. When it comes to purchasing bank owned homes there are a few important things to consider. The seller although being a bank... trying to recover from the loss of foreclosure is not necessary going to give their valuable assets away for 50 cents on the dollar. S... 10/16/2009

  Ahh, the last warm days! Come out and enjoy them at the last community Flea Market of the year. It is held at the Presbyterian Church parking lot on West Main Street, Saturday the 17th from 8 am till noon.     You never know what you may find. In addition to second hand items, there are often various crafts, some real antiques; and at this one I think there will probably be some Farmer's Market vendors since the Market closed the end of September. You might look for some baked goods and jams and jellies.  Payson weather is gorgeous just now. Nights are chilly, so mornings are cool. I figure by noon it will be around 80, though.     I'm planning on coming to sell tomato preserves (the last of my harvest) and maybe some herbs and flowers. I will also be clearancing some candles left fr... 10/16/2009

This picture looks over of the town of Payson.  The sun is shining, you can almost hear the birds singing. You know that there are squirrels dashing across tree tops and somewhere there are herds of elk grazing just out of view (or in plain view depending on where your located) Just a reminder as to why we enjoy such a beautiful little town. 10/15/2009

We manage well over 100 rentals, but we have only about 4 or 5 which are four bedroom. This one is currently for rent. It is a large double-wide manufactured home, newer- so it is light and bright inside. It sits on a city lot on a cul-de-sac in a quiet part of town, It has a deck, a fenced yard, and even a fireplace in the master bedroom! It is available for $1150 per month. For this or any other rental in the Payson area, visit http://www.RentinPayson.com 10/14/2009

Don't you remember in grade school during the fall and winter arts class would always make some sort of fun little bird-treat for you to hang in your back yard.  Here is your chance to embrace your childhood memory and utilize it to help scientists track birds (low or high in numbers)  and log migratory patterns.  www.feederwatch.org is the place to sign up to pick your days (November through April) and later input your data of birds that visit your backyard bird feeders.  There is a small fee to sign up but they send you a research kit and all the tools necessary.  This is a really cool opportunity for those of you who might get snowed-in or on winter-break  and something to do to keep warm and do something constructive to watch a bird feeder and see which kindof birds show up.  You ne... 10/13/2009

I want to share some of the benefits of living or being a part of the Payson area. There are vast trails and mountain ranges that are just waiting to be seen.  From any outskirt of Payson you can get to endless trails that can take you all over! These particular pictures are taken from horse-back on a trail that leaves Flowing Springs and loops around towards Beaver Valley and Freedom Acres.  Hope you Enjoy looking at these pictures as I did taking them.   This is Dolly & Rio Smoochin before we leave Flowing Springs     Small Portion of the East Verde River          Monsoon had just ended on a Mountain Range-- Beautiful Double Rainbows seen here! This is by far my favorite picture of a place known as Love Lady.. an old ranch.  This is where we always love to play with the horses and qua... 10/13/2009

I love to garden! When we moved to Payson I was so excited- a four season climate! Reasonable temperature summers! I can garden! Well, yes, Payson has nice daytime temperatures in the Summer, but the nightimes can be down in the low 50s. And we can have storms with high winds and hail. We can have Spring snows and Fall heat. Fruit trees bloom in the Spring and a frost knocks down all the buds. A Fall frost knocks out flowers, and then it gets warm again. For help with gardening in the Payson area I recommend the local gardening clubs. High Country Gardening Club has a website, as does Rim Area Gardeners. Or contact Plant Fair Nursery in Star Valley. They are very knowledgeable and helpful. Alas- I pulled my tomato vines last weekend I hated to do it, but twice it got much colder in my b... 10/13/2009

  The oldest  home in Payson, Arizona is sod and was built in 1882. It can be seen at 505A W Main St. And was built of mud to make sure it would not be burned down in an indian attack. Payson, AZ, is located just 80 miles north of Scottsdale and is surrounded by 3.9 million acres of National Forest. Payson was founded around 1870. and has an elevation of 5,000 ft.   10/07/2009

We are opening a new short sale division in Payson Arizona. As we specialize in reo properties currently we are also equipped with the software and top of the line equipment to expand our business portfolio into Short Sale to help the consumer before foreclosure hits them. I am very educated and knowledgeable about how the short sale process works and currently have many short sale escrows throughout Central, Northern and Eastern Arizona. I have Four assistants currently training to handle all aspects of the business including two assistants in Real Estate office clerical positions and two field service assistants prepared to help the consumer with the physical on-site property issues. I hope to provide exceptional service where is needed most in our community and I look forward to help... 10/06/2009

Payson, AZ sold statistics for September, 2009. (These are ONLY for properties listed as being IN PAYSON, not outlying areas, and are properties which were listed through our local MLS).  Site Built homes (constructed on the site) 38 sold1 of these was "bank-owned"prices ranged from $105,900 to $975,000 15 of the "solds" were under $200,00015 were between $200,000 and $300,0008 were over $300,000 the average price was $258,665median price was $225,000 average days on the market until sold was 185   Manufactured homes (trucked in, but newer than mobiles) 8 soldprices ranged from $108,000 to $325,000average price was $157,937median was $132,500 average days on the market was 129 There were also older mobiles, condos, land sales; and there are many properties in Pine, Strawberry, Star Val... 10/06/2009

A river runs through the National Forest on my way to one of my remote listings in Geronimo Estates.  Lucky me gets to drive through the East Verde River as it runs South towards Phoenix every time I go out to check my flier box.  Sometimes there are elk or deer drinking when I pass by.  Today I could see fish jumping near the banks.  Too peaceful... 09/27/2009

(Yes, I know I'm late) Payson, AZ sold statistics for the Summer, 2009- June 1st to August 31st.(These are ONLY for properties listed as being IN PAYSON, not outlying areas, and are properties which were listed through our local MLS). Site Built homes (constructed on the site)64 sold3 of these were "bank-owned"prices ranged from $61,400 to $725,00025 of the "solds" were under $200,00017 were between $200,000 and $300,00022 were over $300,000the average price was $284,641median price was $230,000average days on the market until sold was 188 Manufactured homes (trucked in, but newer than mobiles)11 soldprices ranged from $70,000 to $187,500only the one at $70,000 was under $100,000average price was $139,955median was $140,000average days on the market was 298 There were also older mobiles... 09/23/2009

  I've been attending some renewal hour classes this last month and have learned a few "trick of the trade" so to speak to get some loans done that I thought were out of the questions. FHA seems to be the loan flavor of the month, and many lenders are conducting classes to teach REALTORS some of the possibilities with these loans...got to capture those buyers with any rope available. The newest angle is to purchase a second home with an FHA loan.  Although FHA says you can't have TWO FHA loans, there are some exceptions.  One of them goes like this...if only one spouse in the union owns the primary residence (the second spouse is not on the loan or on title). And providing that the second spouse can qualify for the loan without counting the income of the other, they can get a loan on th... 09/07/2009

(I tried to post this Friday, but our internet service was out due to a storm) Picture below is from a fire a few years ago west of Payson. That's not sunset- it was the middle of the afternoon. The smoke and ash made it hard to breathe, and turned the sunlight red and yellow.   We who live in the woods understand why people who live in the desert want to come North for the weekend. Really, we do.  And we welcome you.  But PLEASE, please, be careful while you're here. We had a fire just North of Payson last week. It started last Sunday afternoon, within half an hour there was a gigantic plume of smoke, and two small communities in the woods, Beaver Valley and Whispering Pines were quickly evacuated. Here is the story in the local newspaper.     The fire is pretty well out now, the evacu... 09/06/2009

I posted the 3 and 4 bedroom rentals already. Here are the 1 and 2 bedrooms: *apartments at 2 locations, one a large complex, one a very small complex. -The large complex is technically condos (converted from apts a few years ago) so it is a mix of Owner occupied and renter occupied. Our rents start at $400 for an uptairs 1 bedroom to $525 for a downstairs 2 bedroom. Our Owner also has a couple of these for sale at good prices. Visit our web site for details.-The small complex is 5 one bedroom units, 5 two bedroom. The 2 bedrooms are two story, and back to a shared yard. They range from $450 for a 1 bedroom to $595 for a 2 bedroom. *a 2 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath site-built home in Payson, for $700*a 2 bedroom, 1 bath site-built home in Tonto Village (about 20 miles East of Payson), very near ... 09/02/2009

This is such a fun post… I love trying something new all the time…and I just had to share this, Starting September 4 (Labor Day weekend) Payson will be hosting on Main Street - First Friday - this is a year round free event featuring an art show, craft show, antique show, classic cars, music and food. Main Street is closed off the first Friday of every month for a fun filled pedestrian event.     Cheron Lange You're Neighborhood Realtor© We proudly serve and sell Real Estate in all and around Phoenix, Arizona. If you are thinking about purchasing and selling your home in Phoenix, Chandler, Gilbert, Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, Fountain Hills, Paradise Valley and Queen Creek or other surrounding areas, and most importantly would like to work with a local expert… "Let Our Family Help Yours!"... 09/01/2009

A year or two ago $1300-$1400 a month or more was not uncommon in Payson. Now there there are many more homes on the rental market because they are not selling, so the competition has brought rents down somewhat. If you are looking for a higher-rent home you now have many to choose from.Many Owners are trying to rent the homes out themselves, and we say "Tenants beware". Why is it to your advantage to rent through a management company?* We KNOW the laws governing rentals, and we WILL follow them* We will NOT come into your rental without your permission (except emergencies)* We run the company as a business, so we won't get emotional at you* We do walk-throughs, we're "firm but fair" about cleanliness, we deal with the deposits when you leave (we would MUCH rather you leave it clean and... 08/31/2009