Flagstaff Real Estate - News, Market Reports and Humor

Doing the Snoopy Dance- An Update.

 

If any of you read my story about "Saying Goodbye to 2008...", as of this morning, the escrow is still on and we are going to to our best to close this puppy to bring in the New Year.

I hope we all have a great 2009!

         

Not to be Negative, but bringing out the old really $#!@!

It started out on a great note. The escrow I had open, and which had been struggling along for months, looked like it would close! With final documents (not loan docs) being rushed around for signatures, my Buyers were hopeful that in the first week of January they would have their beautiful little Flagstaff home with the great views of the trees.

Rewind. We had started in September. These buyers, like many others, were looking for their dream second home - the beautiful cabin in the trees for under $200,000.

If you don't know the Flagstaff market (and most people on the planet do not), that dream is almost a pipe dream, in some instances a fantasy.

Flagstaff is unique in Arizona. We are at 7000 feet, at the base of a mountain, surrounded by the world's largest (I think) Ponderosa Pine Forest. We are a treed oasis in the high-desert, complete with four seasons, temperate summers, and plenty of outdoor fun. We also have a great hospital, a university and community college, and are on the road for everybody coming from the East and South to go to the Grand Canyon.

What I mean is that Flagstaff is special and knows it, and therefore is not cheap. And we haven't crashedlike many larger markets. Finding something for under $200,000 that doesn't make you want to bring out the smelling salts is not often easy. (Affordable Flagstaff)

So, my buyers have a $208,000 escrow on a home in the trees that is in really good condition! A dream come true! We are ecstatic!

Except that right in the middle of the escrow, the banks changed all the rules, and from one day to the next they became un qualified for their loan. Except for the fact that the sellers are very elderly, do not "do" fax or email, and are used to being able to be stubborn rather than follow contractual law.

Yesterday, as it looked like we had survived these land mines, I approaced Phoenix, AZ for my New Years Eve party at about 4:45 PM. I received the call that I hope signifies the end of all horrible surprises of 2008. "If we can't close today, the Sellers don't want to sell".

Without boring you with the rest of the details, let's just say that for the next two hours and multiple phonecalls with Realtors, Lenders, Buyers and my Broker, the strategy was in place, the emails sent, and I was finally able to start bidding adieu to 2008.

We don't know what will happen with this escrow, but I do know that as of today, I'm giving strict instructions to the Universe that these types of surprises are no longer welcome, or acceptable! In 2009 we want all great things to come easy!

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Eileen

Resolutions of a Flagstaff Realtor for 2009

 

Where else but Flagstaff?  A Pine Cone Drop to bring in the New Year!

In the year 2009.....

1. I will learn from my dogs and play exuberantly at least once a day.
2. I will continue to NEVER watch the local, regional or national news.
3. I will always remember that even if I need to redefine my idea of success, I can always achieve success.
4. I will remember each day that enjoying life and what I do is the best recipe for success.
5. I will continue to grow my love for Flagstaff, AZ, and especially for all of the cool outdoor and athletic activities that make Flagstaff so special (check out www.FlagstaffAthletics.com)
6. I will learn from my dogs and remember that I can be happy in any moment, regardless of what happened the moment before.
7. I will always remember that there is Plan B:  Move to Phoenix, become an executive assistant, and wear tight skirts and pantyhose.
8. I will think of Plan B every day as a way to motivate me harder within Plan A.
9. I will consider giving up being a Blog-A-Holic if my life becomes unmanageable.
10. I will remember that one day, I may actually work for money!

      This is how to have fun in a snowy, Flagstaff Winter.

For The Best Flagstaff Real Estate Website, www.TheFlagstaffWebsite.com

Flagstaff Single Family Homes Sold: Dec. 22-28

The following statistics are for single family homes only sold in Flagstaff, AZ for the week of December 22-28, 2008.  It does not include condos, townhomes or manufactured homes.

For specific reports that reflect your neighborhood, or for reports that provide comparables to your home, or the home you wish to purchase, please call or email Eileen!

• Average Price                          $315,000
• High Price                               $370,000

• Low Price                                $250,000

• Median Price                           $316,000

• Avg. Price/SF                            $186.27

• Avg. Year Built                         1996     

• Avg. Sales to List Price              96.94%

• Avg. Days on Market                          84

• Inthe same week, One Condominium Sold: A 1270 SF, 3 BR, 2 BA Condo for $215,000

Flagstaff will have Two Walmarts, One Supercenter

Reprinted from the Arizona Daily Sun.  Author -Joe Ferguson - December19, 2008

Green light for supercenter

By JOE FERGUSON
Sun Staff Reporter
Friday, December 19, 2008

It's official: A Wal-Mart Supercenter is coming to east Flagstaff in 2010.

It just won't be the massive big box that city voters debated back in 2005. But it will sell groceries in addition to discount retail goods under the same roof.

The city's development review board approved plans on Thursday for a 114,018 square-foot Wal-Mart on Huntington Drive next to the Outback Steakhouse.

The approved plans are vastly different than the two-story, 212,000-square-foot Supercenter the nation's largest retailer had sought more than two years ago -- plus a parking garage.

But after several revisions, the approved plan calls for a one-story store only 9,000 square feet larger than the current Wal-Mart in west Flagstaff.

The new plans also outline a traditional parking lot rather than the original two-story garage on the 15.6-acre site.

A representative for Wal-Mart, Delia Garcia, said the store would include a fully-stocked supermarket, unlike the Wal-Mart in west Flagstaff, which primarily sells retail goods.

"It is still a supercenter concept, it is just not a 200,000-square-foot store people usually associate with supercenters," Garcia said. "We have 100,000-square-foot supercenters."

The city and the retailer are still at odds over 12 conditions that the city has proposed to address the thousands of extra vehicle trips a day at nearby intersections and two-lane roads the new store is expected to generate.

One of the conditions set by the city is a $750,000 payment to the city for extra lanes on the Fourth Street bridges over Interstate 40. The payment represents 15 percent of the estimated cost of $5 million.

Both sides said they are confident an agreement can be reached on the traffic conditions outlined in the eight-page report.

Conditions as part of the DRB approval process are common in Flagstaff. The Juniper Point mixed-use project reportedly had 1,000 conditions as part of its DRB approval.

Wal-Mart is expected to keep its "green" features for the store, including skylights, the use of local building materials and energy-efficient systems.

The store, when open in 2010, is expected to employ between 250 and 300 people, Garcia said.

Because the project complies with the underlying zoning, it does not need the approval of the city's planning and zoning commission or the city council.

Joe Ferguson can be reached at 556-2253 or jferguson@azdailysun.com.

Chronology of Flagstaff's second Wal-Mart

-- July 2006: Initial application for 212,000 square-foot Supercenter

-- Sept. 2006: 212,000 square feet, but with new, environmentally friendly features

-- July 2007: 178,000 square feet

-- June 2008: 114,000 square feet

--December 2008: Final DRB approval

Flagstaff will have Two Beaver Street Breweries

Reprinted From the Arizona Daily Sun.  Author - Joe Ferguson.  December 16, 2008

Brewery ready to expand

Beaver Street Brewery is set to build a second restaurant and microbrewery at an old lumberyard just south of the tracks in downtown Flagstaff.

By JOE FERGUSON
Sun Staff Reporter
Tuesday, December 16, 2008

The owners of Beaver Street Brewery in Flagstaff have plans to convert a vacant lumber warehouse just south of the tracks into a second downtown restaurant and microbrewery.

The plans hinge on approval of the Flagstaff City Council, which is being asked to consider a complicated 50-year lease of the city-owned land that would start at just a dollar a year. In exchange, the owners of Beaver Street could pour as much as $2 million worth of improvements into the historic J.D. Halstead Lumber Company building at South San Francisco and Phoenix.

The existing restaurant does roughly $4 million of business each year, according to a city staff report.

The new location would allow Beaver Street to begin bottling its beer for local, and eventually, statewide distribution. It would also create 70 new jobs that average $12 an hour.

Evan Hanseth of Beaver Street Brewery said he has reached production capacity at his current 9,000 square-foot location on Beaver Street.

"The brewery there has been pretty maxed out this summer and we don't have any room for expansion," Hanseth said. "One of the reasons we are going to do this is to be able to make more beer and supply the existing restaurant."

An increase in volume would help Hanseth deliver cans of Railhead Red and other award-winning, seasonal beers he produces to local grocery and liquor stores.

Beaver Street only distributes its beer now in 64-ounce glass bottles known as growlers and sells it only at the restaurant.

"Initially, it would be locally and then statewide eventually," Hanseth said.

CANS, NOT BOTTLES

He said plans currently call for distributing in cans rather than glass bottles.

"The trend in the industry is using cans, it is more environmentally friendly," he said.

Fans of the existing Beaver Street location have nothing to fear, Hanseth said, because the new plans will not affect current operations.

"We are not going to close the restaurant we have, this is going to be a whole new venue. " Hanseth said. "It will be a whole different cuisine ... we will cater to the college crowd. In some respects, we are going to compete with ourselves."

If approved by the council, Hanseth said the new restaurant would open sometime after the new brewery is up and running, projected for December 2009.

The lease would require the brewery, the sole bidder on the city contract, to preserve existing historic buildings.

Community Investment Director Michael Kerski said he has seen plans that call for Beaver Street to spend an estimated $2 million to remodel the existing buildings.

TIERED RENTAL CONTRACT

The draft agreement with the city, if approved, would have a tiered rental contract, with Beaver Street paying $1 a year until the new brewery opens.

The rent would increase to $1,500 a month until the city closes off the adjacent parking lot to make improvements to the Rio de Flag flood control project.

As the city demolishes the parking lot to build an underground culvert, Beaver Street would not have to pay any rent. When the project is finished, the city would rebuild the 40-space parking lot and charge Beaver Street $3,000 a month, with annual two percent increases.

The lease is for 50 years, with two optional 10-year extensions. The property will then revert to city at the end of the lease.

SOME WANT PARKING GARAGE

Some downtown business owners see the old lumber warehouse as the perfect spot to build a downtown parking garage. The city already the owns the land, removing the prospect of expensive land acquisition near downtown Flagstaff.

But the city's historic preservation officer, Karl Eberhard, said the city could jeopardize countless federal grants if it tore down a historic building it had vowed to protect.

The oldest lumberyard building on the site dates back to the 1890s and is the last remaining building from Flagstaff's lumber era.

As an example, Eberhard said the city is hoping to receive millions from the federal government for the Rio de Flag flood control project on the condition that the historic warehouse and several other Southside buildings be preserved. The Army Corps of Engineers has already allocated $18.6 million to the flood control project.

Hanseth said in a letter to the city that he would work with the state Historic Preservation office and other regulatory agencies to keep the building and site on the historical register.

Joe Ferguson can be reached at 556-2253 or jferguson@azdailysun.com.

By the numbers:

Beaver Streeet Brewery

90-100 Current employees

70 Additional employees at second site

$4 million Curent sales

$2 million Reported cost of renovations to the lumberyard

9,000 Size in square feet of current property

8,500 Size in square feet of second property

Flagstaff Single Family Homes Sold - December 15-21, 2008

                                           Average Price:                                               $379,000

                                           High Price:                                                     $587,000

                                           Low Price:                                                      $172,000

                                          Median Price:                                                  $325,000

                                          Average Price/SF:                                            $201.84

                                          Average Year Built:                                             1986

                                          Average Sales Price % of List Price:                      93.1%

                                          Average Days on Market:                                         101

Flagstaff Athletics - 7000 Feet Strong

Flagstaff Ahtletics Blog

If you are looking for everything athletic in Flagstaff, please visit my blog: www.FlagstaffAthletics.com. 

Flagstaff is an athlete's haven.  The trails, trees and rolling hills of Flagstaff make this a world -renowned destination for active people. Hikers, mountain bikers, Golfers, Runners, Horse People, Skiiers, and anyone who loves to move through the beautiful outdoors finds a niche in Flagstaff and our surrounding areas.

A personal tangent: When I'm not a Realtor in Flagstaff, I am participating in all kinds of athletic activities.  My daily love is long walks with the dogs, either on the back nine of Forest Highlands Golf Course, or in the forests behind University Heights.  I also play as much tennis as possible, here, in Sedona and in the Valley, have tried to commit to Yoga (soundly failed), have belonged to almost all of our Flagstaff Gyms, and have recently fallen in love with Crossfit (go to www.FlagstaffAthletics.com or www.crossfit.com for more info).

With Sedona, the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, the Verde Valley and Phoenix so close, Flagstaff is really the perfect base for all things athletic in Arizona.  If you live in Phoenix, you can get to the slopes by 8:30 AM, ski your heart out, and return for a nice warm evening in the same day!  Or, I can drive down Oak Creek Canyon, a world-renowned roadway, and hike or play tennis in Sedona in a T-shirt and shorts, before returning to a Flagstaff Blizzard. We really have it all.

So come check out the blog - submit news, stories, events, humor and photos!

Warmest Wishes from Snowy Flagstaff! - Eileen

 

Flagstaff Single Family Homes Sold: December 1 - 14

Graphic Analysis of 14 Sold Properties - December 1 through 14 2008

         

• Average Price:                                    $413,886
• High Price:                                          $221,000
• Median Price:                                      $303,500
• Average Price per Square Foot:           $184.07
• Average Sale Price % to List Price:        93.99%
• Average Days on Market:                             102

Flagstaff Market Report - November 2008

 Flagstaff Monthly Market Report

Month/Year	Average Sales Price	Low Price Per SF	High Price Per SF	Homes Sold this month
November 2008	$382,654	$123.70	$359.20	37
October 2008	$365,754	$99.94	$277.05	50
November 2007*	$365,008*	$148.00*	$330.21*	50

 *November 2007 does not include homes sold in Forest Highlands Golf Club.  November 2008 does include homes sold in Forest Highlands Golf Club.  Homes in Forest Highlands sell for higher price per sf than others.

All information is taken from the Northern Arizona MLS and does not include homes Sold by Owner or not listed on the MLS.

For neighborhood-specific reports, or for comparisons of properties similar to your home, call or email Eileen!