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Tempe, AZ Real Estate News

By Steffy Hristova, Tempe AZ Realtor - Your Home Close to Your Work!
(HomeSmart Elite Group Tempe AZ Tel: 602.710.8161)
This blog is about Jacki Tait, CLHMS, a wonderful ActiveRain blogger and real estate agent, living and working in Flagstaff AZ. Last year Jacki wrote a memorable blog post, "What to Love about Flagstaff AZ". When you click on the link, you will immediately know why it is memorable - sincere, friendly writing, well-researched content and videos. Evergreen content.For people like me, living in the Phoenix metro area, Flagstaff Arizona is an attractive getaway destination in all seasons. It allows for a spontaneous day trip. I remembered Jacki's post when I decided to go cross-country skiing at my favorite Nordic Center this April. I was getting frustrated why I cannot find anywhere cross-country ski rentals and finally decided to call Jacki. She picked up the phone right away; she knew wh...
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Here is the weekly report for activity in the TempeReal Estate market according to the MLS. This information is provided directly from our local MLS. Please feel free to check back often for the most accurate and updated information.  If you'd like a more detailed report for a certain neighborhood in Tempe, click HERE.   Tempe Real Estate Statistics 8/30-9/5/2008   Average List Price:  $350,225 Active Listings:  1252 New Listings: 225 Pending:  98 Sold:  118 Average Sold Price:  $236,314    
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  Experience the phenomenon of Disney's THE LION KING. Marvel at the breathtaking spectacle of animals brought to life by award-winning director Julie Taymor.  You will remember this show forever.  It is spectacular!!!  Step into a world of imagination at the Tony® Award-winning Broadway sensation Newsweek calls "a landmark event in entertainment." ASU GAMMAGE Theatre is home to tons of  great shows every year.  If you're a fan of "The Lion King"  this show is a must see.  Tickets will sell out fast, so get yours early.    Tickets On SaleSept. 13, 2008Jan. 2 - Feb. 8, 2009Tickets: $23.25 - $140.00 On Saturday, Sept. 13 from 7 to 10 a.m., the only spot to buy LION KING tickets will be in-person at the ASU Gammage Box Office!   They are making it a really fun day. The first buyer in line ...
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Tempe is borded by Phoenix on the west, Scottsdale to the North, Chandler to the South, and Mesa to the East.  It is the home to Arizona State University.  As of the 2006 census estimate, there were 169,712 people living in Tempe.   This includes:  77.51% White, 3.66% Black or African American, 2.01% Native American, 4.75% Asian, 0.29% Pacific Islander, 8.49% from other races, and 3.30% from two or more races. 17.95% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. The median income for a household in the city was $42,361. About 7.5% of families and 14.3% of the population were below the poverty line. If you're wondering about the high poverity percentage....it's because there are a large number of ASU students living in Tempe,  so this number doesn't accuratley reflect the overal...
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By Will Daly, www.WeKnowUrban.com - Phoenix High Rise and Loft C
(We Know Urban Realty)
We learned today from the most recent Bankruptcy Court case regarding Mortgages Limited Securities (MLS), that the private lender has slightly switched gears in terms of their new lender for Centerpoint.  As of Friday, MLS announced a company called Stratera Portfolio Advisors will lend an immediate $4.9 million to help finish some highly time-sensitive issues with the Centerpoint towers.  Today, MLS announced they have found a new hard-money lender, Mountain Funding, LLC.  The primary reason for this move is because Mountain Funding is giving MLS better terms, including a lower interest rate. With this new and potential better move for MLS, the Bankruptcy Judge postponed the hearing until Wednesday morning.  Stay Tuned...
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By Will Daly, www.WeKnowUrban.com - Phoenix High Rise and Loft C
(We Know Urban Realty)
WeKnowUrban just launched a new light rail tool that urban enthusiasts are sure to love. Using Google Maps technology we plotted every light rail stop and indicated which is a park and ride station. Next we plotted every high rise and loft condo community that runs along the Phoenix and Tempe light rail line.  For each community we created a pop-up window that gives the address of the high rise or loft community, a starting price range, and links to live MLS feeds showing what's for sale and/or rent in that community. The Google Map allows you to move the map around, zoom in and out, and change the style of map (i.e. sattelite view, street map view or terrain view). We hope you find this tool to be valuable.  And please, offer suggestions on how to improve it.
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By Nick Bastian, Real Estate Agent - Tempe
(Realty Executives)
The upcoming Light Rail system in Arizona will bring some very significant changes to the areas along the line. I have been following these areas very closely for the past two years and am looking forward to the opening of light rail this December. One of the more popular Tempe areas near the new light rail system is the Mill Avenue District. With a light rail stop at Mill Avenue / 3rd Street, the homes near by will be easily accessible to downtown Phoenix for employment and entertainment reasons. I am enclosing a sample of some of the "affordable" homes in that area priced between $200k - $500k. Obviously, this is just a sample of the homes in the area and we would be glad to send you information on other areas and price ranges. You can always visit www.NickBastian.com to use our FREE ...
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By Mesa, Arizona Real Estate Mesa Arizona Realtor, AzLadyInRed
(Homes Arizona Real Estate LLC)
Free firewood is available as a direct result of the monsoon storm last week. More than 170 mesquite, cottonwood, pine and eucalyptus trees were lost in Tempe Beach Park, downtown and the surrounding areas. Those wishing to stock up for their wood burning fireplaces and firepits, can stop by on Saturday and Sunday from 6:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The location: Northwest corner of Rio Salado Parkway and Hardy Drive - the city's maintenance yard. Those picking up the wood are encouraged to bring your own tools to cut the wood. Reminder to residents planning to burn the wood: they must comply with Maricopa County's regulations regarding burn days.     Mesa, Arizona Real Estate. Call me at: 480.216-3334 for information on purchasing or selling a home in Mesa, Arizona or surrounding towns. OR ema...
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By Nick Bastian, Real Estate Agent - Tempe
(Realty Executives)
After 16 years in the real estate business, I feel more proud of my job and enthusiastic of my future than ever before. Recently, after a long process, I made a decision to join what I feel is the best fit of a real estate company (for me) in Arizona. That firm is Realty Executives. Over the past couple of months, I have weighed my options very carefully and have met formally and informally with several brokers, large and small. My desire to stay in Tempe where I live and where I enjoy being a part of the community played a large part in my decision. While my normal business practices will not change much, I believe the corporate structure, the ability to continue to "run my own business" along with the convenience of many valley wide offices will help me to serve my clients even better...
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By Tom Tokoph
(Urban Realty & Development)
The East Valley Tribune reported yesterday that the judge in the U.S. bankrupcy court has granted Avenue Communities partial payment of the 4.8M initial funding requested.  The remaining portion will be reviewed for approval at a hearing scheduled for October 16th.  This appears to be good news for the developer, Mortgages Ltd., and the City of Tempe since it theoretically places Centerpoint Condominiums back on track to complete construction of the $200M development. Read the entire EV Tribune Article Here  
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By Will Daly, www.WeKnowUrban.com - Phoenix High Rise and Loft C
(We Know Urban Realty)
Although the condominium market has been slow for a while, newspapers like to keep people excited and ready for the eventual opening of projects. I think it is great that the Phoenix Business Journal, AZ Republic and East Valley Tribune are still reporting on real estate development updates, whether their information is new or just repeated. In the last week or so, two separate articles have been published that highlight Tempe's Mill Avenue district and the much anticipated opening of Centerpoint. By now, most of you have at least heard a rumor or read one of the many articles regarding the Mortgages Ltd. situation. It is pretty simple, the primary construction lender for the Centerpoint project, Mortgages Limited Securities filed for Bankruptcy in June, which has caused the project to ...
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By Will Daly, www.WeKnowUrban.com - Phoenix High Rise and Loft C
(We Know Urban Realty)
For everyone who was hoping to see the internationally renowned Le Meridien hotel come to Tempe Town Lake, unfortunately it isn't going to happen. The hotel was originally planned years ago to sit behind the Edgewater tower in the Hayden Ferry Lakeside development.  Suncor Development Company, who is developing the HFL project, sold the parcel two years ago to Valhalla Development Group of Scottsdale. Valhalla had worked out a deal with the Starwood Group (Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide) to bring the European-style hotel with 143 rooms and 43 condominiums.  Due to several factors, Starwood pulled out of the deal a year ago, but Valhalla still planned to build a hotel on that site. Recent plans are to reconfigure the uses, with more hotel rooms and less condominiums, which would c...
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By Will Daly, www.WeKnowUrban.com - Phoenix High Rise and Loft C
(We Know Urban Realty)
There have been numerous newspaper articles reporting on the financial woes for Avenue Communities and its downtown Tempe high rise condo developement, Centerpoint. What I have not understood is how can a project that has sold 20-25% of its condominiums over the last three years survive current market conditions AND the bankruptcy of its construction lender? But I'm starting to understand.  Here's my take on it: The construction lender referenced above, Mortgages Limited, funded approximately $100 million of a $175 million loan.  So they funded approximately $75 million less than the loan commitment stipulated.  Then the company filed bankruptcy. Avenue Communites is out looking for lenders to supply the $75 million so that it can complete construction of the building. One can easily un...
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By Will Daly, www.WeKnowUrban.com - Phoenix High Rise and Loft C
(We Know Urban Realty)
Believe it or not a developer is looking to move forward with construction of another high rise condo community in the Valley. WestStone Communities recently announced the opening of its "virtual sales office" (meaning everything will be computer generated "virtual" photos and videos) to promote its proposed Onyx Tower. Plans for Onyx Tower call for a 22 story building located at the north east corner of Scottsdale Road and the north shore of Tempe Town Lake with 196 luxury condominiums ranging from 711 to 2364 squre feet. The question of course will be what kind of sales to expect with approximately 350 condos still for sale at Center Point, approximately 80 condos (both resale and new) at Bridgeview and Edgewater at Hayden Ferry, and approximately 20 condos for sale next door at North...
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By Will Daly, www.WeKnowUrban.com - Phoenix High Rise and Loft C
(We Know Urban Realty)
Avenue Communities is looking to break ground September 2008 on its mixed use redevelopment project called Hayden Flour Mill.  Phase one calls for 60,000-sf of retail and office space and will take about 14 months to construct. It is unclear when the second phase of the project might break ground. For more information on Tempe's Hayden  Flour Mill.
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By Gary Miljour, Mortgage Originator NMLS Licensed in AZ and NC
(American Financial Network, Inc. NMLS#207208)
My speciality for the last 3 years has been primarily to focus on helping 1st time home buyers make the dream of home ownership a reality.  Wow what a cliche I just said.  Anyhow my question of the week from many real estate agents is:  How am I going to help buyers who having very little or nothing down? In the past, the answer was pretty straight forward, we would look into down payment assistance.  With Housing Bill HR-3221 doing away with my favorite pet, clients, lenders and real estate agents are scrambling to find good solutions to help these buyers get into ... Continue Reading
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By Will Daly, www.WeKnowUrban.com - Phoenix High Rise and Loft C
(We Know Urban Realty)
A brand new Starwood Hotels product called Aloft is under construction in Tempe just behind (north) of North Shore Condominiums and near the site of the proposed Onyx High Rise Condo Tower.  The new five story, one hundred thirty six room hotel should be completed by early February 2009 and will offer hip, cool, upscale limited service hotel rooms appealing mostly to buiness travelers.
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By Will Daly, www.WeKnowUrban.com - Phoenix High Rise and Loft C
(We Know Urban Realty)
The Bad NewsMany retail stores along Tempe Mill Avenue have failed and closed and some people say that the area is the most "depressed" that it has been in the last thirty five years. How did this happen?  Well clearly part of the reason is that retail sales across the country are down.  But this does not explain the depth of the problem. A big part of the problem is that the transition from a largely college student population to a demographic including high rise condo dwellers has not been easy.  Retail rental rates along Mill Avenue skyrocketed in anticipation of a coming population "boom" of these more affluent condo owners. The problem was that the boom was postponed as high rise condo sales plummeted and construction of thousands of units came to a halt or were cancelled altogethe...
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By Will Daly, www.WeKnowUrban.com - Phoenix High Rise and Loft C
(We Know Urban Realty)
Several articles have run recently regarding the financial challenges facing Centerpoint High Rise community in Tempe. The gist of the articles suggest that all is fine with the development per Ken Losch, one of the principals of Avenue Communities, the developer of Centerpoint.  In general, these kinds of articles don't really offer any kind of substantive information but are really more filler and background info. However, we did glean something of value; at least we think we did.  Rumors have been circulating that sales at Centerpoint are approximately 30%.  The question was whether that was 30% of the first tower alone or 30% of the two high rise towers combined.  We had suspected that it was 30% of the first tower onlyand we now believe we have confirmation thanks to the East Valle...
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By Tom Tokoph
(Urban Realty & Development)
Moving around Downtown Tempe is about to get a whole lot easier... and we're not talking about the long awaited light rail project either.  Two new concepts are preparing to open on Mill Avenue and along Tempe Town Lake. The first, located in the Centerpoint on Mill development along Mill Avenue will be the "Campus Scooter" store.  They have just announced the public hearing, so it will probably be a little while before they are actually open for business. The second will be "Segway of Tempe" along the shores of Tempe Town Lake.  They plan on providing tours for $75 per tour. READ ARTICLE about Segway of Tempe in the Arizona Republic Here Tom Tokoph Downtown Tempe Broker Urban Realty & Development 602-549-9000 UrbanRealtyAZ.com
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