The city of Surprise has decided to raise water rates for the Countryside Homeowners association.  They have converted the account from residential to commercial which will result in a huge increase in Countryside HOA fees.  This also would mean that the Countryside HOA would owe the city $68,653.00 in back billing.  That in turn would mean a raise in the HOA fees for the residents of Countryside along with the possibility of a special assessment from each Countryside Homeowner.    The Countryside HOA has found out that he majority of water companies charge associations a lower or residential rate.  The City of Surprise is not backing down.  There is a City Council meeting on Thursday October 11th, 2007 at 6:00pm at the Surprise City Hall Council Chambers, 12425 W Bell Rd, Suite D100.... 10/10/2007

Kingswood Park is a gorgeous community in the Northwest part of Phoenix. The many water features are home to ducks and other fowl. Please, when you go by the water watch out for the ducks! When you get to the stop sign the ducks have the right of way! Seriously, if you haven't been to this quiet community it is a treat with all the beautiful common area, play ground equipment, walking and bike trails. For a treat visit Kingswood Park and enjoy nature at it's finest. 10/09/2007

The new security pool fence at Ashton Ranch pool number 2 is in the final stages of completion. This approved 8 foot high security fence will help to keep the pool area from unwanted damaged caused by vandals. Damage to the three pools in the Ashton Ranch Community has been extensive in the past two years and now with the increased police patrols and design changes that trend has been reversed. Ashton Ranch is one of the ONLY communities to have three pools with three hot tubs for the residents pleasure. Please make certain that when you enjoy the amenities that you follow the rules and keep the facilities nice for your neighbors. 10/09/2007

On another post for Surprise, Arizona we learn that 1 in 18 houses were sold last month. What does that mean to you if you want to sell your home? It means that the Realtor you choose is extremely important. Anyone can list a home, all it takes is filling out the paperwork and most every agent can put it on the Arizona Multi List Service (MLS).80% of home buyers start their search on the Internet according to the National Association of Realtors. So, what exposure are you getting from your prospective agent? Do they have web pages, blogs, feature listings on Realtor.com, Voicepad, and will your property be listed on every major search engine there is available to find a home to showcase your property? Exposure alone won't help an overpriced home and so the listing price should be as acc... 10/08/2007

Hello again,   I hope all is going well.  Just wanted to bring everyone up to date on current market conditions in our lovely city of Surprise.  Well, we had 133 homes sell last month while 213 expired.  Currently we have 2394 Active listings with 153 currently pending.  Basically that means 1 in 18 homes sold.  Which is the average overall valley wide.  If you would like to have personalized market information sent directly to you please visit: www.theoasisteam.com         10/08/2007

Does your community sponsor a "free" movie night on a huge screen? The City of Surprise, Arizona has 3 or 4 of these nights a year. It is a great family outing at the Surprise Stadium, spring training home of the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals. They open the field and anyone can come, throw a blanket on the ground and watch a family film shown on the huge outfield screen. The gates open at 6 PM and the movies starts around 6:30 PM. They open the concession stands if you want to purchase food or you can bring your own and picnic on the stadium floor. The next movie night is October 18, which is a Thursday evening. It is fun for the whole family with food and a movie in the fresh air in the beautiful Arizona weather. Can you guess what the next movie is in Surprise? 10/07/2007

Surprise is now home of The Heard Museum West. In partnership with the City of Surprise, the museum renowned permanent collection and incredible programming is now in the West Valley.Heard Museum West offers an exhibition gallery showcasing more than 400 works of art from the Heard's permanent collection The museum has a changing exhibition space as well. The location also provides classroom spaces for lectures, films and discussions.The hours for this wonderful exhibit are 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM Tuesday through Sunday. It is closed all day Monday. School or group tours are available by calling 602-251-0213. Surprise is lucky to have such a world renowned museum in our community so take advantage of the wonderful art and exhibits throughout the year.  10/04/2007

Recycling is a good idea for everyone and the City of Surprise makes it easy to do so. Following are a list of locations:*Paper, cardboard:  Paradise Education Center at 15533 W. Paradise Lane*Paper, telephone books:  Surprise City Hall at 12425 W. Bell Road*Paper, Aluminum, cardboard:  Surprise Regional Library at 16089 N. Bullard Avenue*Aluminum:  Fry's Food Store at Reems and Bell RoadsLocations that accept GlassClear, green and brown bottles and jars with no lids only; labels OK - Behind Freed's Furniture, 107th and Peoria AvenuesWe can all do our part to keep the City of Surprise the best in the Valley of the Sun.If you are thinking of listing your home or buying a new one contact me for surprise information: www.sellingedge-azre.com or http://gaylen.typepad.com. 10/03/2007

Did you know that Surprise has made an agreement with the Northwest Valley Chamber of Commerce to create the "new" Surprise Chamber of Commerce?The City Council's vote to approve this action means that the City will be able to better serve the business's in Surprise. Did you know, there are over 500 home-based business in Surprise, population just over 100,000 and growing.The new Chamber wants to launch new initiatives that would provide local business with a voice in the region to help preserve Luke A.F.B. and establish legislative affairs connection.  This partnership with the Northwest Valley will allow Surprise to take advantage and expand on te good work started by that Chamber. 10/03/2007

After the purchase of the old Daimler-Chrysler Automotive Proving Grounds around Dove Valley Road and 211 Avenue, a General Plan was put before the Surprise City Council concerning the use and zoning. In December of 2005 the Surprise City Council approved the General Plan for this area which changed the land use designation from airport preservation, rural residential and proving grounds to a mixture of employment, commercial, high-density residential, medium/high-density residential, medium-density residential, lower-density residential and suburban residential classification. This is a wonderful change because it shows a responsible plan to manage growth while respecting the desert and lifestyle. It does reflect a change in he coming housing market in Surprise. Not to worry though, as... 10/03/2007

Did you know that Surprise is home to one of the teams in the Arizona Fall Baseball League? If you are a baseball fan and can't get enough then the Arizona Fall League is for you. The league is comprised of six teams: the Scottsdale Scorpions, Mesa Solar Sox, Peoria Saguaros, Phoenix Desert Dogs, Peoria Javelinas and Grand Canyon Rafters. These club names were picked by Major League Baseball as reflective of the Southwestern desert traditions in the state. The games are played in the beautiful Spring Training stadiums used by the Giants, Mariners, Padres, Cubs, A's, Royals and Rangers. As the regular season winds down and all eyes are on the post-season, the Fall League is getting ready to begin. The two-month experience sharpens skills and gets players ready to participate in the big l... 10/02/2007

Hello again,    I just wanted to give an update as to what is happening in the market.  Last month 3426 homes sold in the Phoenix area.  138 of those were in Surprise.    There are currently 57,209 homes active in the Phoenix area.  2356 of those are in Surprise.  We also have 153 homes that are currently pending in Surprise.    So, what does all of this mean.  Nothing if you are not selling.  However, if you are selling it means price your home right the first time.  Don't get overly excited because a Realtor tells you they can get you $20,000 more than another Realtor told you.  They are either lying, have been hibernating (and don't have a clue) or are buying your listing (lying).  It is never fun to price a home correct in a declining market, but then again neither is loosing tens o... 10/01/2007

For those of you who do not know there is a new skatepark being put in at the community center, right next to dreamcatcher park.  This is a much needed recreation facility for the kids.Right now the city is deciding  on what  to do about the fight between skaters and bmx'ers.  They are thinking about rotating days for each group.  Other cities are dealing with the same issue and Surprise is trying to resolve this before it is built.  Do you have an opinion?  Will rotating days work?  Is there a better way?  let's hear about it.  No solid plans yet for the new park in Surprise Farms, I will keep you posted.  Have a great weekend. DD 09/26/2007

Of course I am talking about prices.  In particular the prices of homes in Surprise.  I hate to be Mr. doom and gloom and I hope I am wrong but we may very well see prices back to where they were before our boom.    My family sold our home and we bought another earlier this year.  Just a few years back we had refinanced our home for around $154,000, (we paid $119,000 6 1/2 years ago.)  Then the boom hit and the price of our home went up as high as $250,000 or so.  Prices began to drop and we sold at the right time for us.  Just looked at MLS and found our former home pending for $14,000 less then we sold for.  Thats a $5,000 a month drop on that particular home.  $35,000 away from when we refinanced.     I remember last year working with several of my listings in Surprise and I could ha... 09/25/2007

Hello again, My partner Christine and I both live in Surprise; we work the whole West Valley & sometimes out east.  However, we wanted to provide some information on the local communities near where we live.  We hope this information is helpful.  The numbers given are per the MLS and go back three months.  If you wish to see another community added please let us know.Countryside:                    33  Active homes              6  Homes Pending       10  Homes SoldGreenway Parc:                30  Active homes              2  Homes Pending        6   Homes SoldMountain Vista Ranch:      79  Active homes              4   Homes Pending      17  Homes SoldRoyal Ranch:                   57  Active homes              4  Homes Pending       12  Homes SoldLitchfield Manor:              77  Act... 09/24/2007

Currently there are 2378 homes listed as active on the MLS.  There are 180 homes that are listed as pending and in the past three months 556 homes have sold in the city of Surprise.  Valley wide we are sitting over 57,000 homes on the MLS.  Last month roughly 4700 homes were sold (per MLS stats) valley wide.    To receive a regular update that will give you the breakdown for your neighborhood please visit: http://www.theoasisteam.com/FreeMarketReportShayne K. 09/24/2007

Many time I hear that people don't know when and where their Home Owner Association Meeting is held or the time. So, for the Ashton Ranch HOA, the board meeting is this Tuesday September 25th at 7:00 PM. It is held at the Paradise School on Reems Road. Please feel free to attend and participate with the residents of the community and brings your ideas, comments, suggestions, or rants. All are welcome!  09/24/2007

Remember the joke about weather, everyone talks about it but nobody does anything about it? That can certainly be applied to Home Owner Associations. People gripe and complain about the board, the decisions, and the rules, but they don't DO anything about it. I receive three or four complaints a week about our HOA and when I asked where they were at the last meeting I get some "lame" excuse. I was going to be there but something came up or I was going to attend but didn't know where to go. My personal favorite is I'm so busy I don't have time. How about those who serve on the board? Apparently their time isn't important or they can't possibly be as busy as he complainer. How about those who MAKE time to be in attendance? Things come up for them and if they don't know where to go they co... 09/23/2007

That is a teaser rate folks, YES IT IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!Many lenders in the past have offered rates like this and even lower. You see it on TV all of the time. Thes are teasers, meant to get you to call them. Even if you got a loan at that rate, you need to read the fine print. Almost without exception, these rates are offered for a limited time frame (1 to5 years). After the introductory period the rate will reset, most of the time at a much higher interest rate, or to market rate but the difference between the teaser rate and the market rate is added to the principle or term of the loan.Yes, your parents were right! Don't sign anything before reading it.For information on a Realtors opinion on Adjustable Rate Mortgages: click on the following articles.Adjustable Rate Mortgages, Goo... 09/21/2007

Good Morning Surprise- as you have probaly heard the first phase of city voting has ended and in District 3 we have a run-off between :Doc Sullivan and John Williams.  It is about as close as it can be.  I was actually surprised at the low turnout.  Verify that you are registered, if you are and did not receive a mail ballot, did you change your address with the registry?It is your right to vote and I am urging everyone to register to vote and mail your ballot in.  This is our community and we actually have a choice on who leads us.  Take advantage of that.     Danny Dimas 09/21/2007