Maricopa Regional Bike Map

Scottsdale Bike Map

The Scottsdale bike path that runs along Hayden Road from North to South Scottsdale is wide and fast.  It goes under and over main thoroughfares, with only a few intersections to cross.  Rolling through golf courses and green belt, it’s a pretty ride, too.  Now that our weather is cooling off, it’s a perfect time to get out, and even start thinking about riding your bike to work. 

My mind wandered a bit this morning.  I have a question for you? Is it possible to:

Show homes and buy real estate on a bike?

I’ve been reading about Realtors who show houses to their biking clients on their preferred mode of transportation.  Interesting to consider.  What do you think?  I’d certainly be game to try! 

Here are a few Realtors mixing real estate and biking around the U.S. and Canada:

• Realtors peddle real estate to bike-happy clients 
• Specializing in homes for cyclists & alt commuters! - Portland, Oregon
• Pedal to Properties – Boulder, Colorado
• A lifestyle shift – riding a bike – Charlotte, North Carolina
• Buy a Home on a Bike (Denver) - Denver, Colorado
• Realtors on Bikes: A New Movement in Chicago? 
• Bicycle Real Estate Agents Directory (Canada)

(Realtors, if I missed you this list, just let me know and I’ll update.)

This program has some great features and down payment assistance.

Income limits will work for purchasing in many Scottsdale neighborhoods, too!  Since Scottsdale is a not-targeted area, limits are just a bit more restrictive.  For a family of two or less, maximum income to qualify is $64,524, and for a family of three or more, the limit goes up to $74,203.

Maximum home sales price for the Scottsdale area, is $311,625, and with all the price reductions, we’ve been seeing there are many homes in this more affordable price range.  As of today, almost 20%, or over 1,100 of the almost 6,000 Scottsdale homes on the market are listed in this price range.

So, if you’ve been thinking about buying a Scottsdale home, and need a bit of assistance to get started, call Shailesh to see if it’s a loan program that will work for you!  Funds are limited so you will want to take action quickly.

From the class, I learned that research was critical to make a savvy tax lien purchase.  And, when we walked into the standing-room only auction hall, I could see that there were a whole lot of people in the room who’d been coming for years, plus many newcomers like me. The pros, which I’ve been told were primarily commercial institutions, had huge notebooks of computer printouts and were very methodical in their bidding.  It was very fast moving, and more than a bit daunting. 

In Arizona, an investor, who purchases a tax lien, is bidding on the interest rate, and the bidding goes down.  The winner pays the tax bill, and then receives interest on that investment, if and when the property owner pays their back taxes.  Rates started at 16%, and in that particular sale, bidders were quickly bidding down, often to as low at 6%.  The winning bidders then were required to pay the entire tax bill, interest, and fees by the end of the next business day. 

Some bidders were bidding on tax liens, because of the guaranteed interest rate, and others were hoping to gain ownership of property, which a investor can acquire through the foreclosure process, after purchasing the tax liens on a given property for three consecutive years.

The reason for this post is that when I was visiting and confirming the county sites for my post on home ID theft, I stumbled across a new feature of the Maricopa County Tax Assessor’s office. The GIS map has been a very useful tool for me as a Realtor, but it was news to me that there’s now the ability to map out delinquent and unsold tax liens. 

For investors, this find at the Maricopa County Tax Assessor’s GIS Map is a great time saver.  Using the check boxes on the left you have a choice of mapping out unpaid property taxes and also unsold tax liens.

If you not an investor, but are interested in learning more about Maricopa County Tax Liens the Tax Lien Tutorial and Tax Liens – Frequently Asked Questions are great places to start. 

The Maricopa tax lien sale is usually held in early February.  I’ll post the date when it is available.  In the mean time, you have a new tool to start your research now.

I’ve been a LifeLock subscriber for several years and have felt secure that my ID is safe, but now to read that I need to check and make sure I still own my home, to verify that someone hasn’t lifted my house, is really kind of creepy.

As Realtor, I’m in the tax record database on a regular basis and know how to keep an eye on my home’s records, but some of you may need to know that you can check county records easily, and for yourself. 

The Maricopa County Tax map is an excellent tool where you can check the title on your house and also the status of your tax bill.  Even though your lender may be the one paying your property tax bill, it’s always a good idea to make sure that you are up-to-date on your payments.  Loans do get sold, and problems can occur. 

The second web site to check is the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office.  Here you can search on your name and view legal transactions that have occurred in your name.  You should find the mortgage and deed of trust to purchase your house, and if your home has been sold, you will (or should) also see a mortgage release.  

So in this day and age of information, please take the time to protect yourself against ID theft.  It’s a smart thing to do.

Valley population gains moderating

Last year, Maricopa County (home to Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa, and most of the metropolitan Phoenix area) was the fastest growing county in the U.S. based on number of residents added, according to a just released census estimate.  Our growth has slowed, yet the county is still growing, adding more than 100,000 residents last year, which the author indicates is “so far is the lowest rate this decade, but still enough to call it a boom.”

And where are our new residents coming from:

• 40% of the increase is from natural causes (births)
• 39% are moving here from other states
• 21% are moving to Maricopa county from other countries

That means that approximately 60,000 people moved to Phoenix last year and need to buy or rent a home.  165 people have been moving to Maricopa County a day.  Wow. 

So if you are thinking about a move to the Phoenix Metropolitan area, please know that Elliot D. Pollack has excellent economic data and forecasts on his ArizonaEconomy.com web site.  From there, you will find that the majority of our new residents, relocating from other parts of the country, are coming from California, the “Rust Belt”, other states in the Southwest, and the Northeast.

One of his recent reports, “Greater Phoenix Economy: What you need to know….”, has a wealth of information for a business person considering a move to the Phoenix area. In reading this report, I was taken back to my grade school days, where we were taught that Arizona was developed on the 4 C’s: Cattle, Copper, Cotton, and Citrus.  (In this report, an obvious fifth C has been added – Climate!)

Today, Phoenix’s economy is based on:

• Aerospace
• High-tech
• Advanced Business Services
• Transportation, Distribution, & Wholesale Trade
• Tourism
• Retirement & Second Home

Every time I read one of these reports, I get excited about living in Arizona, and specifically, the Phoenix-Scottsdale area:

Here are a few more of the “fun facts” that I discovered, or was reminded, of this morning:

• Phoenix is sunny 86% of the year (compare to Seattle at 43% and Chicago at 54%)
• The median age in the area is 33, lower than the national average of 35 years.
• Phoenix is the #4 move-to destination for young, single, educated adults.
• When compared to peer metro areas, Phoenix ranks 6th in median household income (when adjusted for cost of living)

So while real estate sales have slowed, and there’s much discussion about whether or not we are in a recession, I like to operate from the “glass half full” perspective and see that the job market in Phoenix has evolved, we still have great weather, and people moving to the area still need a place to live.

If you have any questions or would like some more info about the area, just let me know. 

From this data, I’ve calculated that:

• The number of homes for sale is up 25% from this same date last year.
• Last year, 47% of the Maricopa County home listings were vacant, and today it’s 50%.
• Homes under contract are down 35% this year.
• The ratio of homes contracted to actively listed has dropped from 1:7 to 1:14.

I was relieved to see that the percentage of vacant homes had not increased significantly, although there now more than 5,000 additional vacant homes on the market.  While it would be nice to be able to draw some conclusions and make a forecast from these numbers, really these statistics just confirm what most buyers and sellers already know…. it’s a buyer’s market. 

Related Posts:

• How Are Scottsdale Home Prices Holding Up? 
• Are Your Pricing your House Through Your Review Mirror?
• Seller Tips for Protecting Your Vacant Home