Really kind of amazing how fast the time has flown by.  My 1st post was not anything memorable, other than I started blogging. I’ve been a journaling since I was in college. However, sharing or writing something publically was a very big push for me. Yet, there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to do it.

The following video was uploaded to YouTube in October 2007. I’ve gone back and watched it several times over the past several years. The content and delivery truly changed my way of thinking about learning, life, and how we share and connect.

When I look at how I’ve evolved personally and professionally in the past four years, I’m truly amazed.

• Stumbling across the Cromford Report and falling in love with numbers again. Being able to see and share what’s going on statistically has been a big part of this blog.
• Learning to use my cameras to frame and share my world, especially the beautiful city I live and work in.
• Finding that I can open up personally, upon occasion, and feel safe, and then learning that my vulnerabilities are not all that scary once they are out there.
• Jumping into social media with Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, meeting all kinds of new friends, colleagues, and clients
• Mobilizing my business with use of wireless and broadband, using smartphones, mini-laptop, and now an iPad.

For fun, I went back and picked out a few of my favorite blog posts.  Surprisingly (or not), the pieces I remember most, are the ones where my hearts strings tugged a bit, or I felt a bit uncomfortable sharing how I feel.

• Blogging and Social Media: Really, It’s Never Too Late to Get Started
• Live or Work with Someone with Autism?
• A Quiet Tribute to Byron Bloomfield
• At Home In Scottsdale–The Inspiration for Starting my Blog
• Where can I get the best real estate deal in Scottsdale?
• Can a blog really do this? Friends re-united after 50 years
• Real Estate BlogWorld – How we can communicate with each other
• Why Do I Write?
• A Very Special House – It’s Called a “Home”

With a ton of appreciation, I thank the following people for inspiring me to start my blog, to expand my views, to keep at it, and to focus on what I really am good at and like to do.

• Jim Sexton
• Calie Waterhouse
• Shailesh Ghimire
• Jay Thompson
• Phil Sexton
• Mike Orr
• Dean Ouellette and Kristin LaVanway
• Stacey Harmon
• Joeann Fossland
• Josh White
• John Wake
• Paul Slaybaugh
• Irene Hammond
• My clients, readers, and future clients
• Numerous local and national Realtors
• and many, many more!

What a great time it’s been – to the future and all that it holds!

If you’d like to know a little more, you can read About Me, follow me on Twitter, or Friend or Like me on Facebook.

Thanks, Steve!

What a great surprise and honor to find out AtHomeInScottsdale.com was included in a recent article on “Must-Read Real Estate Blogs“ by Francesca Levy.

The sub-title of the article “Even small, neighborhood-specific issues discussed online can be of interest to a national audience” set the tone for Franceca’s article and mentioned many other real estate bloggers from around the nation, including local blogging phenomenon, Jay Thompson, over at The Phoenix Real Estate Guy.

Many home buyers and sellers are changing the way they interview agents, doing a lot of research on-line, before ever making contact via email, phone, or text.  You all have busy lives, and my goal is to provide current Scottsdale (and sometimes Phoenix) real estate information, that’s available day or night.

If there’s ever a topic, you’d like me to cover, just let me know. 

( Many thanks to Mike Simonsen, CEO of Altos Research, for tipping me off about the article and for providing current statistics about the Scottsdale real estate market!)

My husband got a kick out of telling me I was in the paper yesterday.  I knew the article on Twitter and real estate blogging might be coming out since I’d been interviewed a few weeks ago, and I’d met the photographer at one of my rapidly dwindling listings, but I still was taken by surprise. 

I thoroughly enjoy connecting with people, on-line and in person. I first discovered the power of social media through my blog and then via Twitter a couple years ago.  Then, Flickr caught my attention, and I started sharing photos and learning more about photography. I signed up for the more professional LinkedIn, and starting finding old buddies from my previous career.  Then, there was Facebook, where I seem to connect to my friends, family, old classmates, and other Realtors.  Recently, I started playing with music over at blip.fm. 

Social media in its infinite forms is here.  I watch my son work Facebook, Skype, and text message all at the same time.  It’s how his generation communicates.  And, for me, it’s been an eye-opening way to connect with a world of people that I never would have met, if I’d restricted myself to face-to-face meetings.

One of the best parts of this recent media experience was during the photo session.   I was explaining Twitter to the photographer, and this tweet arrived on my phone:

I couldn’t believe that I was actually seeing this happen while I was explaining how and why I use Twitter.  Total synchonicity!

Twitter can be whatever you make it.  It can be totally a business tool, to share a business or do to research about one, but that’s not what makes it interesting and keeps people coming back for more. 

I found that the more I let myself play with it, the more the real me came out.  I can share the latest real estate stats, or I can play "Taking Care of Business", or I can upload a photo of a dust storm rolling into Scottsdale.  It helps me paint a picture of the Scottsdale real estate market in a really unique way.

I think Twitter has applications across a wide range of business. Ask Christy. She works with major league businesses every day, showing them how to use social media to expand their reach.

And, if you looking to buy or sell a home, it really could be worth your time to explore Twitter a bit.  You’ll get a pretty good feel for the person you might be hiring for your next real estate transaction. 

photo credit: Dru Bloomfield – At Home in Scottsdale

A quick note to let you know that I’ve merged these two blogs into one that will be located AtHomeInScottsdale.com.  I wasn’t devoting enough time to Click2az, and I can cover the Phoenix Metro real estate scene and  statistics here just fine.  If you were subscribed over at click2az.com, you may need to subscribe here AtHomeInScottsdale.com here to continue getting the feed.

Scottsdale Homes Sold in 2008 for $100k or less

Here are a few of the details:

Most of the condos and townhouses are in Belcara at McCormick Ranch (85258) and Woodland Springs (85251), with others in Ciento, Rancho Antiguia, Summerfield, Hallcraft Villas, and Quail Point.

As of today, three homes listed at $100,000 or less are under contract, and 48 more are on the market.  The average time to sell since the beginning of the year has been 110 days, but in looking at just the past three months, the average has dropped to 74 days.  Still, we have a significant inventory in this price range.

Prices for single family homes are starting at $121,000 today.  In my next market report, I’ll focus on the homes price between $100,000 and $200,000, since that is where most first-time home buyers are looking.

It’s a combination of all that, and more.

A couple months ago, I had a transaction fall apart on the day of closing. For all my efforts, I couldn’t save it. If you’ve ever skied, you’ll be familiar with being “on your heels”, not a good place to have your center of gravity when going down hill. Anyway, I can honestly say that I’ve been on my heels, afraid to offend, afraid to make a mistake, and stuffing a sock in my mouth not to share anything about what’s been going on in my world. All out of fear.

Fear is not any way to lead a life. Run a business. Be a parent. Write.

Which takes me right into my second reason for being so quiet on the keyboard. I have a son with autism, who was not diagnosed until he was well into his teens, after receiving special services and education since he was three years old. I left my successful corporate career over ten years ago, so I could be closer to home, to guide his development and education. At the time I resigned my position, my son was 95% unintelligible. Quite a talker, but no one, except his parents, could understand a word he said. We used American Sign Language, and I became quite proficient at augmentative communication devices. And, over time, Matt’s speech cleared, and his other challenges became more apparent.

Leave it to say that transitions are sometimes very difficult for him. School started mid August, and he is just now getting into his rhythm. Any parent with a child that has any kind of sensory sensitivities, OCD, or other social behavioral issues, will tell you that there are times that you just have to drop everything, and figure out what’s going with your child who lives in a different time-space continuum. Because, nothing else will move forward, until peace and harmony are achieved. At least that’s the way it is, in our house.

And then the third possibility I considered, was that I was just getting bored with blogging about real estate. So much has (not) happened in real estate over the summer. Yes, buyer assistance programs were voted out of existence (for now). And, we have a government assisted recovery plan, that includes a no-interest loan disguised as a home buyer’s tax credit. Buyers are still nervous. Home prices are still going down. Not much has really changed over the summer, or so it seems.

I considered that I might really have a stale outlook, but then thought of the many new clients that I have, the true adventures we’ve been experienced viewing homes, all the offers that we’ve been writing, and I realize that I’m not really bored. I’m just underwhelmed.

We all want something to change for the better. We do.

How we got here is old news. Where we are going is what people want to know. Now.

Sellers are pricing better. Buyers are making offers, with the market in mind. And agents are positioning real estate offers more.

This real estate market absolutely requires us all to be better communicators. The reality of a real estate transaction in Arizona is that the buyer and seller most likely will never meet or talk to each other. Real estate agents provide real-time, street-wise real estate knowledge and expertise, craft the offer, procure a contract acceptance, and manage a closing. Negotiating a contract to a mutually agreeable result and completion, requires communication, creativity, flexibility, and finesse, ultimately resulting in a meeting of the minds. And today more than ever, negotiation is a core skill that is needed, must be refined, and leads to a completed home purchase or sale.

We all need to work together. Today, I showed one of my listings to two separate couples, represented by another agent, who called me in a panic. She was out of town. My listing was perfect for both of her clients, and time was running short, they were ready to make a decision. Could I help her out? I have a motivated seller, in a short sale situation, so yes, I did work my schedule so I could show the house.

At the same time, I was negotiating two contracts. One for a buyer who has been looking for a home in Scottsdale for over a year. And another who is relocating to the Phoenix area for a new job. Both are very motivated.

(Some much for the holiday. I guess that’s why they call it Labor Day.)

Back to my original question….why do I write?

I write because I have things to share. Information that will help buyers and sellers make real estate choices more easily when they are armed with good, solid information. My mom raised me to “not say anything, unless I had something nice to say”, and I have to confess, this statement really pretty much defines who I am, 99% of the time. And with all the havoc in the real estate industry, I sometimes just hunker down and plow ahead, knowing that there are brighter skies ahead.

And when the skies clear, and there’s something promising, or insightful, or just plain cool, you can count on hearing from me. I’ll always have something positive to say.