The Housechick Blog

Number 9 - Community Property

Arizona is a Community Property state, which means that anytime a husband and wife purchase property in Tucson, it is assumed that they’ll hold title together, equally, as community property.

When one spouse tries to buy property on their own, the other spouse usually has to explicitly give up their rights to that property.

Married couples can decide to hold title to a property in other ways, of course, but only married couples may hold property as community property.  Other options may include:

• Joint tenancy with right of survivorship
• Tenancy in common
• Sole and separate
• Corporation
• Limited Liability Company
• General or Limited Partnership

When anyone buys property in Tucson, the escrow officer will send out a form, asking how you want to hold title.  There can be significant tax and legal implications depending on what you choose - not only in who eventually ends up with the property when you die, but what happens to it should you divorce, who is responsible for the taxes, and other fun topics.

Here’s a link to a short description of each type, and another link to a more indepth discussion of the more common ways of holding title, as provided by Title Security Agency.

Summary of the Top Ten Things to Know about Tucson Real Estate so Far:

• Number 1 - A/C and Evaporative (Swamp) Coolers
• Number 2 -The Tucson Military Airport Vicinity
• Number 3 - Termites Love Tucson Homes
• Number 4 - Who does my Tucson Agent represent?
• Number 5 - Flat Roofs: Types and Maintenance
• Number 6 - Basements, Radiators, and other Non-sequiturs
• Number 7 - Tucson Area Fire Districts
• Number 8 - Escrow and Closings

Number 8 - Escrow Closings

While in many states, all parties and their lawyers come together at a closing table to work out final details, sign documents, and transfer keys, this isn’t the case in Tucson and in Arizona at large.

Arizona is an escrow state.  We take all of the house sale documents, all of the money, and give it to an escrow officer, who coordinates the actual transfer of ownership, the settlement statements, the transfer of money, and the signing, among other things.

Remember that escrow is just a neutral third party, paid by both Buyer and Seller to help coordinate the sale and to be a unbiased storage place for the money involved in the sale.

When you buy a home in Tucson, your purchase agreement usually states that you will sign all of the required documents 3 days prior to the closing date.  That means the closing date is not when you sign; it’s when everything records downtown, that’s the actual close of escrow, the date of the transfer of ownership. 

Signing usually occurs on a different day than closing.  Signing is just, well, signing.  No transfer of ownership happens on that day.  In fact, you’re not going to meet the other party over a table at the end, you don’t need a lawyer, you just go to the escrow officer, who has all the documents for you to sign.  It’s just you, the escrow officer, and usually your agent will come along too.  Most likely, you’ll be bringing in a certified check for the remainder of your down payment and closing costs at the time of your signing.

Some people seem a little disappointed that they won’t get to meet the other party, but that’s customary in Tucson.  You may never meet the person who is buying your home (or selling the home you’re buying).

We’re also one of those states where you don’t need a lawyer to buy or sell real estate.  While you are always welcome to hire one to review the various agreements, and are encouraged to do so if you have concerns, the vast majority of homes in Tucson are bought and sold without lawyers.

Summary of the Top Ten Things to Know about Tucson Real Estate so Far:

• Number 1 - A/C and Evaporative (Swamp) Coolers
• Number 2 -The Tucson Military Airport Vicinity
• Number 3 - Termites Love Tucson Homes
• Number 4 - Who does my Tucson Agent represent?
• Number 5 - Flat Roofs: Types and Maintenance
• Number 6 - Basements, Radiators, and other Non-sequiturs
• Number 7 - Tucson Area Fire Districts

There’s a lot of people who don’t really understanding what zoning is - thinking that an R1 lot means only one house on that lot and an R2 lot means 2 homes on the lot.  This is not always true.

Zoning, in general, limits the density and use of a property.  So you can have an R1 lot with 2 residences if the lot is big enough and meets the other requirements.  And you can have an R2 lot that’s too small or the setbacks too large to be able to build a second unit.  If you’re wanting to build additional units, it pays to investigate the zoning thoroughly, as well as any recorded easements and setback requirements.

Here’s the City of Tucson land use code, which describes the zoning, among other things, and here’s the Pima County zoning code.

I’ll admit - I’m a sucker for a classic Tucson wire-cut double red brick house.  But every once in a while, tucked into those brick homes, is a burnt adobe home, a personal favorite.

In the older burnt adobe homes, the bricks are usually reddish in tone, and are much larger than your typical brick.  Walls built with burnt adobe blocks are usually at least 8″ thick, if not more.  In theory, the thick adobe wall has enough thermal mass that it will absorb heat during the day and release it at night to keep an ado be home at a fairly stable temperature.  Some people confuse them for slump block homes, but slump block isn’t nearly as thick as burnt adobe.

Newer adobe homes tend to be more of the tan-ish, grey-ish variety.  One of my favorite builders, Stellar Gray, specializes in adobe homes.

Especially for the older burnt adobes, the bricks can be damaged pretty easily by running water, and just from wind and dirt and rain hitting the bricks.  The burnt adobe bricks have sort of a hard layer around the outside, and once that has worn off, the bricks can erode pretty quickly.

Don’t get me wrong, a house built of burnt adobe bricks will still probably outlast you and I in terms of lifespan!  There are several companies in town that can help you repair and maintain your burnt adobe home, but some erosion is inevitable.  All part of the character of the adobe home.

Clay Mine Adobe, a company that manufactures adobe bricks, has a decent photo gallery and description of how the bricks are made.

I don’t have a good way of linking to them here, but today in MLS, there are 209 homes listed as Burnt Adobes in the Tucson MLS, from $118,900 to $1,950,000.  Drop me an email and I’ll send you the current list - be helpful if you gave me a price range too!

Ah, polybutylene.  Once the favored child, now banished and reviled.

Polybutylene pipe was once considered the pipe of the future, and was used as a substitute for copper plumbing between 1978 and 1995.  It was low cost and easy to install.  Until reports of leaks started.  And didn’t stop.

Turns out, “poly pipe” has one irredeemable flaw - it tends to leak.  Not the most desirable quality in your plumbing system. 

In Tucson homes, you’ll find polybutylene pipe in homes of that era.  Anything built in the 1980s and early 1990’s should set off a little warning bell in your head.  Or your agent’s head.  Who should then tell you all about PB Pipe.

I heard a plumber talking a year or so ago, who went on about how the crimping tools for the fittings were sometimes hard to use, or that the pipe never tightened up after being stretched over the fittings.  A bit of online research says the pipe may be failing because some chemicals in the water may react with the pipe and fittings, causing them to scale and flake from the inside out, become brittle, microfracture, and so forth.

Bottom line: polybutylene tends to leak.

There’s a class action suit (but that doesn’t surprise you) that you can read about at www.pbpipe.com.  Potentially, home owners with poly in their house who have had leaks can go there and find out if the suit will help them take care of the issue.

If you’re selling a home and your house has polybutylene pipe, know that it is becoming ever more common for a buyer to require the house be replumbed - and to have it done at your expense.  We’re talking in the ballpark of $5k - $8k, roughly.  Your mileage may vary, depending on the size of the house, if there’s attic space, where the pipe runs, etcetera.  I tell you this now, as much as I know you don’t want to hear it: just replace it now.  Really.  I’m urging you to repipe your home now, from the bottom of my heart.  Please, let me help you get a good price and get it done right now, so that we can get you more money when we sell it.  Really.  Please, please, please, trust me on this one.

How do you know if the home you’re buying has polybutylene pipe?  Well, it’s grey stuff.  There’s pictures here, and here, and here.  Best bet - call a plumber and ask them to come take a look.  Sometimes, it’s only the water main that is poly.  Sometimes, the stuff in the wall is poly, but it’s connected to copper that stubs out through the wall, so all you see outside of the wall is copper.  Sometimes, we can look into the washing machine connection box and find out.  Sometimes, we’ll need to get permission to cut a coupla holes in the wall.  Usually behind the washing machine, since we know there’s pipe there, and it’s a somewhat unobtrusive area.

Question from the Audience: What’s a Heat Pump and does it affect resale value?

Answer: A heat pump is basically an air conditioner in reverse.

Before we get all geeky with this answer, let’s point out that heat pumps are usually appropriate for climates where it doesn’t get incredibly cold outside, much like Tucson, and in general, don’t add or subtract value when compared to a furnace-type heater.

And now the techno-dork answer.

First, we need to wrap our minds around the concept of measuring and transferring heat and not cold.  Cold is just the relative presence or absence of heat.  So an air conditioner removes heat from the house, and a heat pump adds heat to the house.  In fact, an air conditioner takes the heat from inside and vents it outside, and a heat pump takes the heat from outside and vents it inside.

Also, your refrigerator is basically an air conditioner in a box. 

So there’s two parts: the air handler and the condenser/compressor.  The air handler’s job is to direct air over a coil full of freon, where the air either looses heat or gains it by passing over the coil, depending on which mode you’re using.  Sometimes, this is the part inside the house or the garage.  The condenser/compressor is the big box that sits outside, whose job is to compress the freon either before or after it runs through a condenser coil, again, depending on which mode you’re using.  That’s the box where the freon either releases heat to or gains heat from the outside air.

Clear?

Good.

HowStuffWorks.com has a good explanation of how heat pumps work too.  But you heard it here first!

Good question.  An Arizona room can be many things.

Generally, an Arizona room is a room off the back of a house that is either open to the outdoors, or has a lot of windows and light, usually with access to the backyard.  Many times, Arizona rooms are patios that have been enclosed.  Some are screened in and are separated from the main house by a door; some are fully heated and cooled with real windows and lighting and electricity, just like any other room in the house.  Some Arizona rooms are wide open to the rest of the house, some are very closed off and separate. 

Think sun room.  We do a lot of outdoor living in Tucson, and the Arizona room is a big part of that.

This photo has nothing to do with Arizona rooms, but I saw it on Flickr and thought the flowers were beautiful, tiny purple halos atop the cactus.

Photo via Flickr, courtesy of thomwatson

I found a pretty cool study that was performed on the residential development of Tucson between 1945 and 1973, with some interesting maps.

I like that the maps give a very good overview of Central Tucson.  You can see on page 3 how the city grew over time.  If you look at the map on page 5 and zoom in a bit, you can see the relative size of Central Tucson homes: lots of yellow and blue squares which puts many many homes between 1000 and 1700 sq ft.  There’s also a map that shows exterior wall materials, roof materials, the presence of carports or garages, patios, lots of stuff.

Here’s a snippet from the main report:

At the beginning of World War II, Tucson was home to 40,000 people located within approximately 20 square miles. Attracted by jobs, affordable homes and mild climate, the population grew by 368%, a 57% higher rate
than the growth in Phoenix during this same time period. By 1950 the metropolitan area had 122,764 residents. However, two-thirds of this
population did not actually live within Tucson but settled instead in subdivisions which sprang up around its corporate limits. This pattern
changed during the 1950s as the City began an aggressive campaign of annexation and the city boundaries were extended to include over 70 square miles by 1960. Most of the annexed areas were single family subdivisions developed in the county with limited or no zoning or building requirements.

There’s some interesting reading in there - how unregulated development areas were annexed, how the city dealt with the rapid growth in terms of planning and water resources, who and how created all these subdivisions anyway.

Another excerpt:

An interesting aspect of the rise of the large scale builders and the increased involvement of developers with national operations in Tucson
was the evolution of names for the subdivisions. The name given a subdivision is a branding technique and part of its marketing. In the first
decade after World War II many of the Tucson subdivisions had Spanish names. For example, the name given the 1947 Bonita Vista Addition not only reflected the Hispanic heritage of the community but also conveyed that the subdivision had pretty views. …  In the sixties the practice of using descriptive names related to the history and character of the community essentially disappeared. Names were now generated by corporate offices and were generic monikers the same as those used to identify subdivisions across the nation. For example, a large 228 unit subdivision was recorded
in 1960 by the Arizona Land Title and Trust Company with the name Warwick Village. Other sixties developments included Westwood Village,
Centennial Park, Enchanted Hills, Hidden Hills, Lakeside, and Blue Ridge Estates, the latter two developed by the Lusk Corporation.

Lastly in the detailed report is a section about the styles used during building during this period with examples and descriptions.  I’m going to have to go through those carefully in order to tell the difference between them.  Who knew there were so many kinds of ranches?  There’s the:

Transitional Ranch, Simple Builder Ranch, Simple Custom Ranch, Tucson Ranch, Spanish Colonial Ranch, Character Ranch, Modern Ranch, Contemporary, Postwar Territorial, Postwar Pueblo, and Split Level.

Really a great snapshot of what to expect in Central Tucson homes!

A quick shout out to my Raytheon readers.  Engineers, unite!  Form of… ah, an iPhone?

I’m spending time this week showing Central Tucson homes to a client, trying to stay under $200,000, with at least 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, central air conditioner, and - preferably - covered parking.

Central Tucson is largely homes from the 1950s and 1960s.  Lots of red brick ranches, some slump block homes, a few burnt adobes.  The classic central Tucson home is a wire cut double red brick: a personal favorite.

Because of the era those homes were built, you won’t find many garages.  Carports, yes, usually single car.  Given that these homes have been sitting around for 60 years, many people have either made the carports into small garages, or enclosed them so that the original carport area is now living space.  The house I live in started it’s life as a little 2 bed, 1 bath house, and now the original carport area is a master suite, and the original patio is now an Arizona room.  This was all done before I purchased it.

Here’s what freaks out newcomers: a lot of folks, historically, didn’t bother getting permits when they made that kind of addition to the house.  Welcome to Central Tucson.

As a real estate agent who does a fair bit of business in Central Tucson, I’m pretty good at spotting additions.  It’s my job to warn you if I spot a potential addition, and that it may not be permitted.  Based on the quality of the addition, sometimes I know pretty confidently if it’s been permitted by the City of Tucson or not.  If you’re concerned, we can always check public records down at the Public Works building downtown.

Here’s the thing: technically, the city has a variety of options if they discover you have a non-permitted addition.  They can make you rip it down, bring it up to current code standards, charge you taxes on the extra square footage that you haven’t been paying taxes on all these years.   Lots of scary options.

Now, I love Central Tucson.  I live in Central Tucson.  There’s a good chance every house I’ve ever owned in Central Tucson has had non-permitted changes.  Many homes have them, and most Sellers won’t retrofit for permits when they sell.  Given that houses change hands every 5-7 years on average, most Sellers bought the house with unpermitted additions and have lived with it that way for many years.  That’s just the way we roll in Central. 

Again, as a real estate agent, it’s my job to warn you of the risks of buying a home with unpermitted additions.  If you’re planning on big renovations, or adding on a guest house, you really ought to be concerned, especially if you plan on getting permits for the work you’ll have done.  It’s a topic to discuss with your agent, if you’re considering Central Tucson homes.

Here’s what to watch for:

• Seams in the brick/block wall, especially at the front of the house where a carport opening might once have been.
• A change in building materials: from brick to siding, for example.
• A change in height between rooms, especially at the back or side of the house where there might have been a step up between the carport and the main house, or a step down between the patio and the main house.
• Rooms without air ducts, or with only window A/C units.
• Changes in wall thickness at doorways.  Double red brick houses will have exterior walls that are as thick as the long length of a brick.  If the doorway to a den or bedroom is twice as thick as the other wall openings, you’re probably walking into an addition.
• Sloping ceilings.  Patio roofs tend to have a lot of slope, while original interior ceilings are usually flat.  If a patio was enclosed, chances are the roof will slope.
• Changes in wall texture.  If the rest of the house is a plaster-ish texture and one bedroom is a knock-down texture, something happened.

Number Seven in our Series: Fire Protection and Fire Districts

Tucson is deceptive in some ways.  The actual City of Tucson is maybe only half of what most people consider to be “Tucson.”  There’s Oro Valley, and Marana, and Vail, and the foothills, and other rural areas that technically aren’t within city limits, but are considered the Greater Tucson area.

Outside of city limits, the Tucson Fire Department probably isn’t going to be the one to come put out the fires at your house.  So who do you call?

Depends on where you live!

 Many areas have fire districts, in which residents are levied a secondary tax with their property taxes to pay for fire protection - actually, every Pima County homeowner will pay a fire district assistance tax, but those living in the fire districts pay a higher amount for their specific fire district.  Other areas are protected by an annual subscription with fire protection service providers.

• Rural Metro is a big provider for the Northwest and in the foothills in the North - but be careful!  Some of those areas your fire protection is included in your taxes and some you have to pay for an annual subscription.  You can check your zip code at the Rural Metro website.
• There’s also the Northwest Fire District, in the, duh, Northwest…
• Drexel Heights Fire District is in the Southwest
• Golder Ranch Fire District is up Northwest too, and is taking over coverage of Oro Valley in a phased approach
• In the Far South and the Southeast is the Corona de Tucson Fire District
• Also in the Vail area is the Rincon Valley Fire District
• Far West would be Picture Rocks Fire District, who doesn’t appear to have a website, but I found a mailing address, so you can send a postcard to them after your house burns down, I guess.

There are 17-some fire districts in the area.  Those are the larger ones, and some districts are just Rural Metro under a group subscription name. 

Hopefully, the fire trucks don’t come to your house on tow trucks, like this one.