Prescott Arizona Spring 2010 Real Estate Perspective

Opinions are rampant as they apply to real estate, values, appraisal, market trends, and vast etc. Often times the property advertising has a catch and the "too good to be true" headline is just that. So where do we find the truth? Agencies that previously were famous (even responsible) for finding and reporting the truth are now famous for selling an agenda, this includes the government, all news agencies, and all political parties. The facts of the matter become subjective as the story spins on it's way to the comsuming public.

Once again there is a recurring theme in this blog- "It's up to each one of us to find the facts and use our own skills to make good choices". In real estate it's important to know the sequence of events to buy or sell and have good results. There are lots of local professionals that operate with respect and continuously have good results.

In the wider Prescott Arizona area there are hundreds of square miles of variety. Tall pines, mountains, rolling ranch properties, high desert, custom homes, subdivisions, wide open spaces, golf communities, upscale, downtown retro charm, and lots of mile high possibilities county wide.

As this fabulous Spring season unfolds in Prescott the perspective on residential real estate remains very favorable for buyers, interest rates and home prices are still way down, and plenty of inventory to search. Good homework is producing good results. Selling is tough as values are down and many people are keeping their heads down and eyes on the market cycle, anticipating the upward swing in home prices.


There is a powerful search engine on my website at www.craigmann.net Prescott is a stunning places to consider moving your life. Pay attention, work hard, and by all means live it up!

2009 Restaurant Reviews Parker Colorado

2009 Restaurant Reviews Parker Colorado

Review your favorite and least favorite restaurant in Parker to share with your neighbors.

The Leaders of The Masses

Let’s define the masses as the biggest piece of a pie graph for whatever subject we are discussing. For our purposes we’ll select Real Estate/owners of one residential home. Statistically this mass of people finds a reason to sell their home and buy a different one every 3- 6 years. In the long haul most of these people make money and eventually have a more valuable home or have refinanced cash out. Strategies notwithstanding, the masses tend to profit and real estate is historically sound. That’s the good news.

In this mass of people a small percentage leads the way through the market cycles and a large percentage will lag behind what the market is doing. In simple terms “THE LEADERS” risk and profit more by anticipating the low peak and selling at the crest. The biggest part of the group will wait a little too long to buy or sell their home. They still do all right but waiting until the market cycle is well on it’s way up or down misses some of the value potential. It’s safer but produces less profit, just like other markets. Let’s call that great news for “THE LEADERS” and medium-good news for the masses.

In Prescott, Arizona residential real estate is selling for at least 30% less right now than it was in late 2005. Interest rates are at a 35 year low, and “THE LEADERS of the Masses” are becoming active in the market. Mind you there is still plenty of hysteria in the media designed to influence the masses to lay low and wait but there is good evidence that history will confirm 2009 as the bottom of the market cycle and a fabulous time to buy a home. I don't fault the logic if you prefer to wait the extra year or so to make sure.

There is a powerful search engine on my website www.craigmann.net if moving to Prescott is on your list of stunning places to consider moving your life. Pay attention, work hard, and by all means live it up!

Top 11 Tips for Real Estate in Prescott Arizona

Top 11 Tips for Real Estate in Prescott Arizona

1) Prescott Arizona has great views- Most days you can see the peaks in Flagstaff about 60 miles away. We are next to a million acres of National Forest, you can see Thumb Butte from lots of places in the county. Panoramic views are pretty common on homes listed for sale. We have some beauty to share with the rest of the world!

2) Prescott Arizona has peace and quiet- There are no interstate highways in Prescott, you have to come here on purpose. Much of the real estate is on larger lots than you find in big cities. A quarter acre is very common and you don't have to go more than a few miles to get a 5 acre lot or find a secluded getaway in the forest.

3) Prescott Arizona gets rave reviews- Prescott has been written up many times for being "Everybody's Hometown", one the "Top 10 Places to Retire", for having the "Worlds Oldest Rodeo" that happens every year over the 4th of July. The Courthouse Square Plaza is one of the country's famous "Gathering Places". We have some great museums and restaurants that show off our "True Western" Culture.

4) Prescott Arizona has 4 fabulous seasons- Prescott is a mile high in the North Central mountains of Arizona. We have 4 MILD seasons, it's almost never 100 degrees here and when it snows it's usually gone quickly. Spring and Fall are long and gradual with many clear sunny days. Arizona has a "Monsoon" season usually just after July 4th until about mid August. We get some rain and things generally get all green and wonderful again.

5) Prescott competes with it's Arizona neighbors- Prescott is milder weather than Flagstaff (7000ft), cooler and much cheaper real estate prices than Sedona, cooler and much smaller than Phoenix. Watch out for photo radar is some of our neighboring towns. We love our neighbors and visit them often but Prescott has a very comfortable set of statistics that make it easy to put together an attractive real estate package.

6) People come here to get out of the heat- Prescott is a mile high in the North Central mountains of Arizona. If it's 105F in Phoenix then it's probably 87F in Prescott.

7) Prescott has fabulous scenic roads- Bikers, RVers, and Photo buffs come take a few days to drive around the area. There are some fabulous roads in and out of town. Summer has lots of motorcycles coming up the "back way" from Phoenix on a twisting-turning road that is famously cool. Drive north through the mining town of Jerome, Az and continue through Sedona and Oak Creek canyon for a beautiful scenic cruise you will long remember.

8) What we don't have in Prescott is nearby- The Grand Canyon south rim is about 2.5 hours from Prescott. Wahweap Marina at Lake Powell is 3.5 hours, Lake Pleasant on the north side of Phoenix is 90 minutes from downtown Prescott. Sedona is just over an hour, Jerome, Az is 45 minutes, Flagstaff and Phoenix are under 2 hours. LA and San Diego are 6 and 7 hours if you go the speed limit (wink, wink).

9) Prescott has some stunning horse properties- About 10 minutes NW from downtown Prescott is Williamson Valley Road. The next 16 miles is rolling ranch terrain and very beautiful horse property. Large acre lots and upscales homes along the road as well as modesly priced areas with views all the way.

10) There is usually something fabulous happening at the Courthouse Square Plaza- There are Craft Fairs on many weekends during the summer, car shows, music, dancers, and local concerts. Whiskey Row is a famous shopping area and several blocks of restaurants and local culture surround the Courthouse Plaza all. It's snapshot of the commercial real estate market. Check the links below. www.cityofprescott.net http://www.cityofprescott.net/_d/courthouse09.pdf

11) Prescott loves bald guys- I know this from personal experience. Very important to the real estate market is our population of bald guys and we treat them with respect. I specialize in residential homes and land for bald guys and their families, as well as those not folicle-challenged and even the occasional estate for our comb-over friends.

There is a powerful search engine on my website www.craigmann.net if moving to Prescott is on your list of stunning places to consider moving your life. Pay attention, work hard, and by all means live it up!

Prescott Arizona Real Estate Urgency Update

Real Estate traffic and sales have been very slow for 2 years but I heard the first piece of good news in a long time. Phoenix is always ahead of Prescott as far as market forces taking hold, we are always months behind as the market cycles. So, the last two years there has been an absence of buyers, everyone is very cautiously waiting in the wings in Phoenix, Prescott, and most of the country. More and more foreclosures and short sales just sitting on the market, nobody buying or even making absurdly low offers.

Yesterday I heard from my realtor friend whose company is based in Phoenix and lately there are multiple offers on these distressed sales, coming in above the asking price (which is still very low mind you). This will need to continue for a while to verify a market shift but the odds are good that investors and brave folks have decided that prices are low enough (along with interest rates) to make the big jump. I doubt that our Prescott market will repeat the huge 100% jump we had from 04 to 06 but there may be a small frenzy of buying and some supply and demand correction (people will take their houses off the market to wait for a better price… good old fashioned greed) as the market shifts.

There is a rumor that interest rates will go way up as the market kicks in thanks to some political forces that favor inflation. So, those of you who are watching from the wings may want to consider that now is a good time to pounce. Residential homes and land prices are way down from the 2006 market peak and there is a huge inventory to shop. Be in touch and live it right up!

There is a powerful search engine on my website www.craigmann.net if moving to Prescott is on your list of stunning places to consider moving your life. Pay attention, work hard, and by all means live it up!

Riding the Real Estate Market Cycle

Riding the Real Estate Market Cycle

Real Estate, Gold, and Money don’t really care what they are worth. It’s humans that push the values around and we are complicated beings.
As singular people we all have a specific strategy about money, life, love, and basically everything. We have made the choices that for the most part have brought us to the present day and made us who we are.
As a huge group of people however, we are at the mercy of market forces, like it or not. The economy and real estate have cycles that follow patterns and you would be well advised to ride along as opposed to trying to stop this formidable force.
In times of plenty people buy real estate because the “gettin’ is good”, prices are going up, and there is serious optimism. People save money in times of recession (kind of like right now) because they realize life may dip into their reserves… we are skeptical. What usually happens to energize the market is that prices go down far enough (and people have saved enough) and suddenly a wary buyer can afford a lot more house than a couple years ago.
Saving is wise and keep an eye on houses in your price range. The values are pretty stunning even now and you can make the world behave. There is a powerful search engine on my website www.craigmann.net if moving to Prescott is on your list of stunning places to consider moving your life. Pay attention, work hard, and by all means live it up!

Convincing Qualities and the Truth

We just finished a long election campaign and neither candidate had to stoop so low as to lie about anything. I must admit the arguments were certainly convincing. Such drama and delivery, camera angles, sound bites, and the production quality as each candidate looks side to side into the teleprompter so naturally we could hardly imagine they were reading the rehearsed lines.
Different news media then spliced different sound bites together, editing out the compelling points that are contrary to their board of directors’ politics. After all, the idea of elections is to convince more people than your adversaries can convince. It’s not so much the core principles that we are discussing but the advertising dynamics. Candidate X claimed this about candidate Y in an ad during the Super Bowl. Does it matter if it was false? Not to the marketing team who just convinced millions of people to change their vote it doesn’t.
The situation in Real Estate is similar if you aren’t careful. Lots of people would love to show off their “convincing” skills to get you to buy something. Actually the solution in politics and real estate is the same- Check your facts, inspect the product, the history, any claims made, and go kick the tires. Never mind the flyer or the dramatic photos. Would you really buy a home because it sounded so good in the ad? I know trying to sell the truth is hardly a convincing argument but that’s my advice. Make sure it’s true before you vote for it or live in it.

There is a powerful search engine on my website www.craigmann.net if moving to Prescott is on your list of stunning places to consider moving your life. Pay attention, work hard, and by all means live it up!