Bad MLS Photos, The Flip Side

I post every once in a while about the truly horrible MLS photos that are out there. Today’s post is the opposite. This is a stunning photo series of remodeled kitchen.

$435,000; 3bed, 2bath, pool, Awhatukee

15201 S Foxtail, Phx 85048

New cabs, counters, fixtures throughout

Gorgeous!

This series is a showstopper. I look at MLS photos for hours at a time, every day. By the time I finished this 4-series of just the kitchen in this home, I was compelled to go back and look at them all over again. No wonder my clients loved it when they saw it online, and called me to make an appointment to see it.

That last photo looks like a magazine cover! Whoever took these should get a commission from the sale.

Goes to show ya, MLS photos can really make a difference.

By the way, this home is still actively for sale. It’s like this throughout and shows like a Pottery Barn catalogue. The sellers are not my client but if you’re looking for a 3/2 house in Ahwatukee with a pool and a great lot (and you’re not already commited to a Realtor) I’m happy to show it to you. Call!

Related Posts

• Why Photo Cropping Matters
• Entryways Matter

Fixing Bad MLS Photos

Remember yesterday’s post about staging the entryway of your home? (OK, so it wasn’t yesterday. I got a little busy.)

A few subtle photo fixing tips can make all the difference in the photos that go in the MLS.

First of all, if your home is priced above about $225,000 or so, your Realtor should hire a professional photographer. A pro’s photos won’t need any of this fixing.

If you’re doing the FSBO thing (for sale by owner, aka Fizzbo) or your Realtor doesn’t hire a professional photographer, at least make sure you or your Realtor do a little minor photo-fixing. I’m not talking about photoshopping in a lush green lawn where it doesn’t exist, or deleting a telephone pole in the middle of your yard, mind you.

Nothing deceptive, just make the photos look as good as the house. See the before and after below. It’s a really minor change. Photo fixing won’t overcome the fact that the seller didn’t spend a couple hundred dollars to fancy up the front entryway, but it helps.

Before

After

More Before and After photos. I used Google’s freeware photo editing software, Picasa. I highly recommend their “Straighten” feature.

Before

After

Before

After

In each case above, the “After” photo has been cropped, straightened and “Sharpened” using Picasa. For the living room shot I also used Picasa’s “Warmify” tool to take out the bluish tinge to the white walls. It all took about 90 seconds.

Will that 90 seconds sell these homes? No, of course not. But in a market that’s as tough as the one we’re in, sellers need every advantage they can get. The “After” photos might get a couple more people to come look in person. A couple more people looking in person might equal 1 offer. And one person making an offer is all you need.

Related Post – Good MLS Photos

Staging Tips For Entryways

Staging is vital in making your home as appealing to potential buyers as possible. However, staging effectively can be a challenge in tract houses, which by nature are uninteresting square white boxes. Metro Phoenix is filled to bursting with tract housing, especially in the price ranges in reach of the average working family. Here’s a tip or two for making the entryway in an average house stand out.

Great Entryway!

Put up a really cushy, plush welcome mat. It should be thick enough and large enough that visitors to the house stop for a moment to notice the plushiness of the doormat. Slap a fresh coat of paint on your entryway door while you’re standing there admiring the new doormat.

If the front door has sidelight windows, clean them inside and out so they sparkle. The trick here is to make potential buyers stop for just a few seconds while they notice how lovely your exterior entryway is. If the outside is great, potential buyers will automatically think better of the inside.

Picture Number 1 is is an inviting outside entryway on a 1950′s brick ranch. Number 2? Not so much.  The homes are the same size and about the same floorplan. Granted, someone in home number 1 spent a chunk of change to switch out the front room windows and add landscaping. But the entryway of home number 2 could have been made more appealing with a few simple steps.

Entry Needs Help

First, lose the mobile basketball hoop. It’s tacky. If your kids play with it every single day, you can leave it in the driveway. But at least take 3 minutes to move it out of the photo frame.

Second, go to Target, WallMart or Home Depot and spend $250 on a bench or some chairs for the front door. While there, grab a plastic planter pot and a fern. Better yet, grab a plant that’s flowering. It’ll provide extra punch in the photo. Reds and yellows show up extremely well in online photographs.

Finally, make sure your Realtor zooms in on the front door when taking the photo. Buyers aren’t buying your driveway, so it shouldn’t be the focus of the shot.

Tomorrow – how a little photo fixing can go a long way.

Donut Tour, Cave Creek Safeway

Only a few moments to post; I’ve been busy enough lately that I’m behind the 8 ball when it comes to posting.

To update the Donut Tour, I recently went to the Cave Creek Safeway. I was looking for a mid-day Starbucks pick-me-up when I spotted this:

Was I indulging my sweet tooth? Or was I doing double duty – creating a blog post while also helping a client by waiting for an appliance delivery?  I’ll let readers judge me on that one.

Suffice it to say I grabbed 3 donuts and made for the exit. I chose a plain glazed, a choclate frosted and a cinnamon roll.

The cinnamon roll was the best, although it could have used a thicker glaze, and more of it. The cinnamon was just right, and there was spicy goodness in every layer. The glaze was too thin and not nearly enough of it was used. Overall though, a very good cinnamon roll.

The plain glazed was downright awful, I’m sorry to say. The donut itself was fine but the glaze had a plastick-y, fishy taste. Weird. I didn’t finish it. Glaze texture was just right and there was enough of it, but the flavor was just terrible.

The chocolate frosted mostly redeemed Safeway’s donut selection. The donut itself wasn’t quite as good as those at the Cave Creek Road Rainbow Donuts, but the chocolate frosting/glaze was perfection! I almost always want more chocolate on anything I eat, but this donut had enough to satisfy even my chocolate needs.

At at 69 cents per donut, they’re a great bargain. Just avoid those plain glazeds.

Next up: Rainbow Donuts on 7th Street. By invitation, no less. I was immensely flattered to receive a personal invitation to visit from the Manager of the store himself. He boasts about his coffee, so I’m going to check it out. Since I don’t move in the mornings without a good cuppa joe, I have high hopes!

Household Quickie – Square Muffins

Image courtesy of Kitchen Kraft.com

I found this item via my membership at eVite, the online invitation and party ideas scene. Square muffins are apparently all the rage with the party set and in-the-know home chefs. I dunno about that; will check it with my foodie friend Sarah.

In any case, eVite had some great ideas for other uses for square muffin pans.

1) individual brownies – no cutting
2) individual Thanksgiving stuffing portions – everyone gets a crunchy top
3) square muffins stand out in a crowd at potluck parties

If these sound like a good idea to you, you can order square muffin pans from Kitchen Krafts.

My favorite idea for using these square muffin pans (or any muffin tins for that matter) is to freeze unused wine. Wine cubes are a much easier way to get wine into soups, stews and stir frys than uncorking a new bottle every time you make a recipe that calls for a 1/2 cup of wine. What are you supposed to do with the rest of the bottle? Drink it every time? Cook with wine too often and before you know it you’ll have an addiction problem on your hands. Frozen wine cubes are a better idea.

Related Posts

1. Household Quickie in the Shower
2. My Dark Furniture Always Looks Dusty. Help!
3. Top 14 Items to Keep Away From Your Pets

SRP Rebates for Old Fridges

Hat tip to Aaron V for pointing out this program to me. SRP will come pick up your old fridge and haul it away, recycle up to 95% of it and send you a $30 check to boot. I think it applies to SRP customers only.

Here are some of the program details:

• SRP electricity customers are limited to recycling two appliances per account per year.
• Refrigerators and freezers must be 10 cu. ft. to 30 cu. ft. (interior measurement).
• Appliances must be on the SRP account premises, clean, empty and in working condition (plugged in) at the time of pickup.
• A $30 check will be mailed to your address within 30 days after pickup.
• Appliance recycling requests are reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis.
• SRP reserves the right to change or terminate this program without prior notice.

See further details on SRP’s Appliance Recylcying program here or call SRP at (602) 236-4225.

Related Post – Recycle When You Remodel with Stardust Building Supplies

Household Quickie – Shower Curtains

Image courtesy of I Can Has Cheezeburger

Haven’t had a Household Quickie posting for a while. Also, I’m still suffering with the writer’s block that crept through the blogging Realtors’ world a few weeks back.

So today I turned to my favorite humorous cat website (is there more than 1 of these I wonder?) for inspiration.

And whammo! It came immediately.

One of the best household care tips I ever got was this: when your plastic shower curtain liner gets icky with mold, scum and other unmentionables, pop it into the clothes washer with some towels. Add bleach if the towels are white and the liner is clear or white plastic.

It just that simple. Out of the washer comes a load of clean towels, ready for the dryer, and a shiny clean, like-new shower curtain liner.

Now I’ll admit that shower curtain liners are a mere $5.99 at Target online, but with all the recent talk of economic crisis, belt-tightening, sacrifice and so forth….   Saving $5.99 is better than buying a new liner and tossing the old (mildewy) one into the trash. They aren’t biodegradable, ya know?

Besides $5.99 buys a really big Starbucks’ coffee. Or a really small sandwich for lunch on the go, once the real estate market picks up again.

Downtown Phoenix Block Party

logo shamelessly borrowed from CopperSquare.com in order to help promote the event via this blog post.

The 2nd Annual “Happening” is happening this Saturday, November 1, 2008, from 10am till 2am.

The event is sponsored by the Downtown Phoenix Partnership in conjunction with the Phoenix Community Alliance, the Mayor’s Office, and the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce. The Happening is designed to highlight the growing array of living and entertainment options in the 90-block area that makes up downtown Phoenix.

The event includes a loft and home tour, a pub crawl, the What’s Happening Street Expo, the third annual Parade of the Arts and the first It’s Happening sweepstakes. Get more detailed information on the Street Expo, pub crawl, Parade of the Arts and sweepstakes here at the Downtown Phoenix website. (April 2010 -this post has been edited at the request of Downtown Phoenix Partnership, who runs the Downtown Phoenix website to which I link.)

The skinny on the Loft and Home Tour:

• Runs 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
• Event begins on 5th Street, between Roosevelt and Garfield streets (map below)
• You must check in on 5th between Roos & Garf to get your wristband and tour book
• Free shuttles will run up and down the tour route during the event
• Admission is $8 pre-paid and $10 on the day of the event
• Tickets are available from the Copper Square website ticketing page

Properties on the Tour:

• Century Plaza
• Portland 38
• Portland 2
• Chester Place
• 44 Monroe
• Summit at Copper Square
• 215 E. McKinley

again, logo shamelessly borrowed from the It’s Happening website, in order to help promote the event

Get out there Phoenicians, and find out how funky-cool our downtown is becoming!

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Phoenix’s Reverse Lanes in Limbo

The Phoenix City Council voted on Tuesday October 7 to table any decision about changing Phoenix’s unique reversible traffic lanes for a further six months. See here for a little background on Phoenix’s unique solution to moving more traffic quicker during rush hours.

According to one of my favorite local news blogs, Downtown Voices Coalition, Council members Maria Baier and Greg Stanton support leaving the lanes as-is, while Council members Tom Simplot and Michael Nowakowski want to remove the lanes.

The Council noted their desire to study the effects of the coming Light Rail on street traffic. Light rail service is scheduled to get underway in December.

Related Posts – Phoenix’s Reversible Traffic Lanes

By the Way – Light Rail’s Grand Opening is Saturday and Sunday, December 27 and 28. Rides are free all day, both days. There are also station celebrations – including music, exhibits and activities – scheduled for Saturday the 27th from 10am to 5pm. Volunteers are needed to help out with the opening and folks who volunteer will get a special up-close look at the rail system as well as training to handle the events.

South Mountain Pics

Hiked South Mountain on Saturday morning. Yes, I know the blog name is NORTH Phoenix Agent and I do normally focus on stuff north of Camelback Road. But the pictures were so pretty that I couldn’t help posting.

You can click to enlarge each of these photos. The first (big) one is a view looking north to the Phoenix city skyline. The second looks south towards Ahwatukee, and the third looks generally northwest to Phoenix.

Interested in hiking in metro Phoenix? The City of Phoenix website has some great introductory hiking information.

There’s a super hiking group online at Meetup.com, called Hiking Hikers Hiking Group. The group is active all over the Valley and has an event nearly every day, and sometimes multiple events per day. They hike from east Mesa to the White Tanks in the west, and also plan overnight hiking/camping events. One thing I really like about the group is that they take a head count before, during and after the hike to make sure everybody’s accounted for, and do a good job of accomodating different fitness levels on individual hikes. For example, on big hikes with dozens of people, they’ll have a lead hiker who hikes with the super fit folks who want to run bits of the trail, and a caboose hiker who hikes with the folks who stroll rather than hike.

The weather everybody moves here for has arrived – get out and get active!

Update on Landmark Towers

June 2, 2009

Hello All,

Thanks for finding me and coming on over to read. There has been a TON of interest about the Landmark Towers and the comment thread is wonderful – full of info from actual residents.  Thank you all for reading and taking the time to comment!    

Please note that all new comments (and the entire blog) have been moved to:

http://thephoenixagents.com/landmark-towers-even-more-updates-opinions/

The rest of the blog is available at www.ThePhoenixAgents.com

- – - – - – - – - – -

I’ve got some updates on the info in my August post about the troubles plaguing Landmark Towers.

I got this info through various buyer showing appointments, talking to some HOA management representatives, talking to some residents in the elevators and lobby, and quizzing a local Realtor acquaintance who lives there.

Regarding the A/C issue. A resident I met in the elevators said they need a new chiller and the expected cost was $1M. I’m unsure if the Landmark has a chiller instead of an A/C system, or if the chiller is a component of the existing A/C system. Wikipedia makes them seem inter-related: a chiller is either air-cooled or water-cooled and pumps cold air through ducts to cool buildings, and a chiller can be stand alone or part of an integrated HVAC system.

Mechanical engineering aside, my inside informant confirmed this. Plus his inside tipster on the HOA Board says they’re cutting some other areas of the budget so that they can absorb the chiller repair cost without raising HOA dues for 2009. Some of the expected cuts for 2009 are the valet service is gone, and the Direct TV satellite service will be changed a bit too. Since there are 2 central elevators that run from the parking spots in the basement to rooftop, the valet service always seemed a little silly to me, but what do I know? My informant said the valet cost about $125,000 a year to maintain. Holy Short Trip Driving, Batman!

I can tell you from personal experience that the climate control system at the Landmark currently works like gangbusters. No matter whether it comes from a chiller, an A/C or a group of hamsters running treadmills in the basement, that air blows cold!

I showed about 10 or 12 condos there on October 9 and 10 when it was still really hot and sticky. The units with A/C on and blowing were our favorites. Standing in front of those blowing ducts was like an icy blast from a wind turbine. That stuff blows cold! We also visited several condos with the power off completely and therefore no A/C blowing. Those units were fairly comfortable to stand in for 10 minutes at a time or longer. Considering that 1 entire wall of every condo is floor-to-ceiling glass, and these units have been on the market for months without power, I was impressed by the building’s overall ability to hold in the cold and keep out the heat.

My buyers and I calculated that at most, the cost of absorbing some increases to the monthly HOA dues to cover repairs to the climate control would be either $0 as the HOA Board indicates, or at most a thousand or two spread over time.

Considering we were looking at a 6th floor 1-bedroom unit with 180 degree views off the North side of the building, from the White Tanks to Camelback Mountain, and the asking price was $42,900 – we were all pretty sure it was still a great deal.

Bottom line – I’d buy in the Landmark. In fact, I was trying to figure out where to scrounge $42,000 to buy that 6th floor view once my buyer client took a pass.

(BTW, this bit I can’t confirm… my friend the Landmark resident says there has been a lawsuit either considered or filed over the local newspaper story covering the Tower’s troubles. I can’t confirm or deny that, but wouldn’t be surprised. Prices at the Landmark have plummeted in the past year, more so than other nearby towers that were also affected by the Light Rail construction.)

Related Posts – Century Plaza Condos

Of Writer’s Block and Donuts

The blog’s been pretty quiet lately. I’ve got writer’s block.  Given the upheaval in the world’s economies and the rollercoaster that is Wall Street and how it all stems from my industry, every draft post ends up seeming trite, immediately outdated by new information, or both.

I’m comforted to know I’m not the only blogger unable to write lately. Blogosphere giants Kris Berg and Jay Thompson wrote about their writer’s block too. But a quick review of Jay’s and Kris’ spots proves they have moved on. Sadly, I have not.

So, in order to indulge my current craving for comfort food to take away all the economic bad news….. I’m going to do a short series called A Donut Tour of Phoenix.

Call for Readers’ Help!
Do you have a favorite spot for donuts, pastries, Krispy Kreme replacements, danishes or any other sugary breakfast treat that you love to eat but know you shouldn’t? Write and tell me about them!

What’s this got to do with real estate? Wellllll, <thinking furiously> I do work with lots of out of towners buying Phoenix area real estate and they almost all ask for restaurant recommendations. So there.

I volunteer to test out the shops recommended. (I’m simultaneously renewing my gym membership and signing up for spinning classes to work off the extra calories.)

Let’s start things off with Rainbow Donuts on North Cave Creek Road just north of Thunderbird Road. I drive past it almost daily and have been meaning to go in and check ‘em out for months. Check back tomorrow for pics, info and a review.  <insert Homer Simpson voice here> Mmmmmmm, donuts!

Household Quickie in the Shower!

Now that I’ve got your attention with the headline, welcome to my blog! My Household Quickie series is actually a group of tips for household cleaning. Admittedly cleaning house is much less exciting than first thought my headline probably provoked, but I hope the series is helpful nevertheless.

Did you know that baking soda and vinegar are great for almost every household cleaning task? There’s environmentally friendly, safe for use around kids and pets, and much cheaper than chemical household cleaners to boot!

If your plastic shower curtain and/or shower curtain liner gets slimy with mildew you can clean it with baking soda and vinegar.

Put the shower curtain in the clothes washer with your usual amount of detergent, a couple of big bath towels and 1 cup of baking soda. Use the highest level of water and add 3-4 cups of vinegar to the rinse cycle. The shower curtain will be sparkly clean when done. (Don’t run it through the dryer though.)

You can see more uses for the humble vinegar and baking soda combination at the Heloise website, where I got this idea.

Like what you’re reading? Email me with “subscribe” in the subject line and I’ll add you to the daily emailed post.

A Monsoon Hangover – Blooms!

When is a hangover beautiful?? When it’s a monsoon.

One of the gorgeous side effects of the Valley’s monsoon rains is the blooms in the desert.  “In Arizona, we typically experience monsoon storms during the summer. Humidity levels increase, and the season is marked by wind storms, dust storms, and periods of heavy desert rains.” (from About.com)

It’s really quite beautiful to drive around the Valley and see the newly green landscape spread out before you as you crest a hill. As a kid I loved our very rare cloudy days and spent them looking forward to the rain which would wash the sky into an unbelievable cerulean blue and stripe the cedar fence marking our back property line with gorgeous deep-mahogany splashes of color. It was all set off by the nearly neon green hue of the putting green grass in the manicured section of our 1/3 acre.  Ahhh.

OK, out of my childhood and back to monsoons….

Much of the Phoenix area’s annual 7 inches or so of rainfall comes in the monsoon season. The definition of ‘monsoon’ has changed just this year. It used to be that the monsoon arrived when there were 3 days in a row with a dew point of 55 degrees or higher. This usually happened in mid-July and continued through mid-September.

Since nobody really understands what a dew point is anyway (insert tongue in cheek ) it’s a good thing the rule has been changed as of 2008. The monsoon season now lasts from June 15 to September 30 each year. 2008 has been the wettest monsoon in recent years.

What’s a dewpoint? Wikipedia gives a nearly unintelligible definition. Weather.com does better (on a redirect to the National Weather Service): “Dewpoint is the temperature at which air becomes saturated and produces dew.”

Despite the heat, the Valley’s landscape comes alive during the monsoon, storing water to get through our dry and (relatively) cold winters. It makes for beautiful Sunday drives.

Want to see another monsoon photo? Or more photos of the Valley in general? See my partner’s site, Chris Butterworth of Butter Homes and his Moving Stills series. Or, try About.com’s photo album of Phoenix dust storms. This link also provides an excellent article series about the Valley’s monsoons, if you’re interested.

Don’t miss out on the psychedelically cool monsoon maps at the weather.com link above!

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And by the way, folks make candy out of the ruby red cactus “flowers” pictured above. The quintessential confectioner is local favorite Cactus Candy, but they don’t do online orders. It’s worth the phone call. But if you simply must order via the web, you can buy these red jelly candies from DesertUSA.com

Century Plaza Condos

Century Plaza is an interesting new hi-rise condo development at the intersection of Osborn & Central Avenue (ZIP code 85012), and there’s a lot for sale there. Pricing goes from the high $200,000′s to $1.5 million, see more info on this below.

Originally built in 1974 as an office tower, it was completely gutted and rebuilt starting in 2006 by Equus Development Corporation (dba Windsor Century Plaza, LLC). The Century Plaza site offers condos from 734 to 2,911 square feet with current asking prices starting in the high $200′s and going up to over a million.

The views are stunning and one reason for that is that setback regulations in the 1970′s allowed buildings much closer to Central Avenue than today’s setbacks allow. The effect from the upper floors is almost like you’re floating above Central Avenue!

The Osborn light rail stop is literally outside the lobby doors and with the light rail scheduled to begin regular operations this December, residents will have easy access to downtown & Tempe.

Each condo has 11 foot ceilings, 8 foot doors, a shaded balcony off the living room and master bedroom. The site boasts private covered parking, secure key-card access, concierge service, a 24/7 clubhouse and fitness center and a unique Car Share program for urbanite owners who want to use a car once in a while but not foot the maintenance and storage costs. Upscale retail shops were built into the ground floor. (I’m not sure the Car Share program is up and running yet. Phoenicians are pretty addicted to our cars, so it’ll be really interesting to see how this idea takes off.)

After many construction delays, the tower is finally complete. The builder’s reps are still onsite, selling never lived in units. List prices currently start at $291,000 for a 3rd floor, extra large 1 bedroom. Expect to drop at least a cool million for 1600 or 1700 square feet on the upper floors. The current high list price is $1,449,000 for 1700+ square feet with a panoramic view from the 16th floor.

Think urban loft living is right for you? Contact me for a private tour, or just for more information. Just want to see downtown hi-rise condos on an MLS search? Email or call and I’ll setup a custom search for you which will email you whenever anything that suits your needs hits the market. Heather@NorthPhoenixAgent.com or 602.999.8831

This is probably an appropriate spot to remind readers that you absolutely need a Realtor to represent you when you buy from a builder! The builder has sales reps onsite who are lovely, helpful and charming people. They will tell you they’ll “make sure you get what you ask for” but the builder’s sales reps work for the builder. Their job is to sell inventory and they have no obligation to protect your interests.

A colleague of mine tells a story of working with a buyer who bought a condo from a builder. The buyer intended to work from home and needed a condo with quiet neighbors. The builder’s rep assured the buyer the condo was quiet as far as she knew. The buyer’s own Realtor visited the condo one weekday about 10am, only to hear a trumpet being practiced (loudly!) next door. Turns out the neighbor played for the Phoenix Symphony and practiced at home daily. The builder’s salesperson never mentioned that to the buyer.  The builder’s rep actually didn’t do anything wrong – she had no obligation to disclose the noisy neighbor because her duties were to sell condos for the builder. She had no duty to protect the buyer’s interests.

Had that buyer used the builder’s Realtor instead of hiring his own…… hmmmm. Earplugs, anyone?

Related Post – 2 Downtown Landmark Hi-Rises Having Trouble