• Home
• Buy
• Sell
• Statistics
• Neighborhoods
• Loans
• Search Tucson MLS
• About Tucson
• Blog

Saying Goodbye

February 18, 2010

I’ll miss you, Grammy.

You were kind and loving, quick with a smile, a demon at cards, and your popovers and fudge always came out perfect.  You brought grace and happiness to us all.  And I love you.

Goodbye.

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving to you!  This is one of my favorite times of year in Tucson – the days are still warm and the nights trend towards chilly.  The city is bustling with students and winter visitors, football games and street fairs and bike races.  It’s also a lovely time to sit and reflect on the many things we can be thankful for, both small and large.

I’m thankful to have a family that loves and accepts me, and for homemade pecan pie with the perfect dollop of whipped cream on top.  I’m thankful I live in a city where I can still find a sunbeam to bask in midday at the end of November.  For a tiny electric bill and being able to wear soft sweaters that stay stored away most of the year.  For a broker that supports and encourages me, and for my friends both near and far. 

And I’m thankful for you, dear reader, without whom I’d just be talking to myself.

Happy Thanksgiving.

photo courtesy of active metabolite via Flickr

Characteristics of Home Buyers and Sellers – from the NAR

November 23, 2009

Every year, the National Association of REALTORS surveys home buyers and sellers to gather information about the home buying and selling process, demographics of those people, housing characteristics, and whatnot.  The 2009 report just came out.  It’s interesting (to me, at least) to see how these trends change over time.

Highlights:

• 47% of recent home buyers were first time buyers.
• 10% of buyers purchased a home in foreclosure, up from 3% in 2008.
• 20% of those first time buyers said the loan application and approval process was somewhat more difficult than expected, with 10% saying it was much more difficult than expected.
• The biggest age group of home buyers were 25-34 years old – at 34%.
• Single females bought 25% of the homes purchased by first-timers.
• Top three factors influencing neighborhood choice by buyers were quality of the neighborhood, convenience to their job, and overall affordability of homes.
• 78% of buyers used the internet frequently as an information source.
• Home buyers looked at an average of 12 homes before making a selection.
• The primary reason for people to sell their home was for a job relocation, at 21% of home sellers, followed by those needing a larger home, at 19%.
• Recent sellers sold their homes for 95% of the listing price, with 60% reducing their asking price at least once. (this is the one I have trouble believing applies well to the Tucson area…)

By the way – the average home seller is 46 years old.  The average home buyer is 39 years old.  The average agent?  Is 54 years old, did 7 transactions in the last year, and earned a median income of $29,400. 

And 7% of us have blogs.

Introducing… Electronic Signatures!

November 12, 2009

So by joining this new brokerage, I get to do some extra cool stuff.

And one small part of that is that my clients can sign all of their documents electronically, using some technology from a company called Docusign. 

This is a huge step forward for many reasons.  Instead of having to go back to the office where there is a printer and a copier and a fax machine to write an offer or create a repair request, we can create and sign contracts and offers and any paperwork from any computer with internet access.  (Did I mention I travel with a laptop and wi-fi?)  Instead of sending you paperwork at home to print and sign and fax back to me, you can log into your email and with just a few clicks, sign your documents and return them to me. No fuss, no muss, no reduction in quality of the document by printing and scanning or faxing several times.

Docusign is also integrated with something called ZipForms, which lets me create all of your paperwork and offers and contracts electronically.  There’s no concern that the agent on the other end can’t read the handwriting – everything is typed out neatly.  And there is no concern over ever losing original copies of those valuable contracts – they’re all stored and kept safely in ZipForms.

So the next time you need to sign paperwork, I’m going to tell you to look for an email.  When you open it, you’ll click two checkboxes that say you agree this is your signature, and then you just click right next to the big yellow "SIGN HERE" tabs.  So you’ll never miss a signature or line where you’re supposed to initial.  And when you’re done, I know immediately, so I can forward that on to the other agent.

Which makes us, hopefully, faster and more responsive than the next guy.  And that’s a powerful thing.

Moving To A New Brokerage

October 28, 2009

Just a quick announcement to let every one know I’m moving to a new brokerage this week!  I’ve enjoyed my years with Long Realty, but it is time to move to a brokerage more in line with my techno-geek style of business.

So this week, I’ll formally change my license over to become the new Tucson branch of Thompson’s Realty.  Thompson’s Realty is a brokerage owned by my friend Jay Thompson, who works out of the Phoenix area.  He’s another real estate blogger and we run our businesses much in the same way, with similar methods and philosophies.  Overall, it will be a good move.  (And I’m sure he’ll be adding Tucson to the Thompson’s Realty site soon… Right Jay?)

For you, dear reader, you’ll notice the logo on my site will switch to a new one.  But it’s still me, offering the same services and benefits, just under a different brokerage name.

In fact, switching to Thompson’s Realty means I get to go even more electronic and mobile.  Creating and signing contracts and other documents with my clients anywhere, anytime.  No more being tied to fax machines and copiers.  Electronic signatures.  More efficient communications during transactions, precise systems to manage the transaction and timelines on the back end.

I’ll explain some of that new stuff over the coming weeks, let you know how it works and why I think it will be a huge benefit to my clients.

In the mean time, if you need me, I’m still where I always was.  Right here.

Hi There!

August 12, 2009

Been a little quiet around here lately. I’ve been making some changes to the site configuration and it took a little longer than expected. I think I’ve got all the kinks worked out, and we’ll be back to a regular posting schedule shortly. Favor though? If you find something not working on the site, let me know. I went through it pretty thoroughly, but if you find something I missed, I’d appreciate the heads-up!

Floyd Koehler 1998 – 2009

June 20, 2009

I love you. Goodbye.

Happy Memorial Day!

May 25, 2009

I do love summer in Tucson. 

And hammocks.  There’s nothing like just before the sun goes down, when the day has cooled and dusk slowly appears, to be swinging in the hammock, shoes off, cold drink in hand.

With all the four million things that keep us busy during the day, it’s nice to take 20 minutes to breathe and stop and think, to find a small measure of quiet in an otherwise hectic day.  What better way to do so than at dusk in a hammock?

Perfection.

Valley Fever in Dogs

April 30, 2009

This is my brown boy Floyd.  He’s been a proud member of the Housechick family since 2000 when we adopted him from FAIR, the Foundation for Animals In Risk.

A couple of years ago, he was diagnosed with Valley Fever – fairly common in dogs, at least in my experience.  We didn’t catch it until his infection level was crazy high – Floyd never shows any of the typical symptoms, so we only find out when things get really bad.

Last time, he was on medication for nearly two years.  Which is painful, as the pills are expensive.  Floyd loves it all, of course, as he gets a spoonful of "crunchy" treat twice a day for two years.

And here we are again.  I took him in for vaccines and figured we might as well do the blood work for a Valley Fever test, since it’d been a while – and my past experience with my pets tells me that it can recur.

And it’s back.  And of course he’s showing no symptoms.  But the level is so high that they did a chest x-ray to make sure he was okay.  And he will be.  Here’s hoping it won’t be 2 years of pills again.

Valley Fever is technically a fungal infection: Coccidioidomycosis.  It lives in the soil and usually infects both pets and people by breathing it in.  Many will become infected and only have mild symptoms, if any.  Others will develop more severe infections and require treatment.

Symptoms in pets include coughing, loss of appetite and weight, skin lesions, and lameness.  In bad cases, it can kill them.  I’ve yet to own a pet in Tucson that didn’t need Valley Fever treatment.  Keep an eye out, pet owners.  Non-natives haven’t always heard about this infection, but it is pretty common in Tucson.

It’s That Time Again – The Blog Brawl Smackdown

March 18, 2009

…and I’m not above begging for votes.  It’s the competitive streak in me.

The Virginia Association of Realtors, for the second time, is holding a national real estate blog brawl – a head to head competition of real estate blogs.

Now, I know, dear reader, if you’re not a real estate agent with a blog, you probably have no idea who these other people are I’m competing against.  But you can click thru to their blogs if you want to see what some other cool folks are doing in the industry, trying to stay at the top of the technology curve.  It’s quite a collection of people devoted to providing an exceptional resource for their local markets.  Or you can just vote blindly.

But I’m hoping, pretty please, you’ll take a second and vote for me.  You can vote here: I’m in Zone 4, "mytucsonblog.com."

Only one vote per IP address.  Which means you need to vote at home AND at work.

Now back to your regularly scheduled blog.  Market stats tomorrow…

Next Page »

Copyright © 2010 Tucson Homes, Neighborhoods, and Real Estate from Housechick.com