TheTucsonFoothills

how quickly things can change

 Just a few days ago I was reporting that a Golf Villa in Ventana had (finally) gone to contract, ( the market speaks) and I mentioned that > ‘the competition in the Golf Villas is stiff, there are 10 for sale and just 2 sold in the last 6 months …’ 

That was on the 17th. And then, in rapid succession over the next three days 3 more Golf Villas went to contract. So out of the blue we suddenly have 4 contracts in 4 days when, until then, there had been just one in 6 months.

Noted however is that, regardless of where they were initially priced, all of them were now listed at prices that reflect the current market.

>  to contract, to contract – 4 Golf Villas < (listed by Long Realty, Keller Williams, Coldwell Banker)

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strange visitors from another planet

Here we are still in October and already the talk has turned to the growing number of cars on our streets with out-of-state plates. And how restaurants and shops are getting busier by the day. A sure sign of snow birds coming to roost for the winter season.

And, of course, in the hallowed halls of real estate everyone is revving up for the arrival of our winter visitors. The hope, or expectation, is that their arrival will bring a surge of home buying here in the foothills that will pull us out of our doldrums.

So you’ll see more advertising for homes and more open houses and, for sure, there will be a slew of new listings coming to market to meet the hoped-for demand. 

Just the other day I had a conversation with some clients about how the attitude of sellers and their listing agents will change once January rolls around. January is opening day for the winter season and, with its arrival, sellers and their agents get all puffed-up and confident. They become more confident of getting a good offer and, in turn, become less flexible about what they’re willing to accept. And because there are more buyers on the streets, it stands to reason that they would. Because for many years that’s how it worked.

Come January, snow birds would arrive and home sales in the foothills would take off like a shot. And that seasonal rhythm has become ingrained and second nature.

But our winter visitors, whether they’re from Chicago, Des Moines or Kansas City, are not from another planet. And they are not going to arrive with pockets full of cash and a care-free, free spending attitude. They are not.

They are going to be as careful and concerned and tight fisted, 
and as much on the lookout for a bargain, as everyone else has been. So rather than getting all puffed up and confident, the best thing sellers and their agents could do, that is if they wish to take advantage of this fleeting opportunity, is to get their prices down to where buyers see their homes as an opportunity that is just too good to pass up. One that may not come their way again. 

Otherwise, those winter visitors are going to go home to Des Moines with nothing more than some cactus jelly and frozen tamales and maybe think about having another look at the foothills in 2012.

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what a difference 2 years makes

In the popular second home community on the north side of La Paloma, 6210 N PLACITA PAJARO sold today for $650,000 ($264/sf).

All fine and dandy. But two years ago, when the sellers were buyers, they paid $770,000 for it. And that was in May 08, a good two years into the bust. But pre-Lehman, but just.

see it here> 6210 N PLACITA PAJARO Tucson, AZ 85718

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in La Paloma

Contracts for lower to lower-mid priced homes in La Paloma are moving along very nicely. Since April 1st 6 homes, priced $275,000 to $674,000, have gone to contract in La P.

And since Jan 1st, 14 homes have sold – $265,000 to $700,000 -then 1 at $1,100,000. And interesting, all 14 sold in March and April, with not 1 single sale in Jan or Feb.

And there were no sales in the estates section of La Paloma –
where there are 4 for sale priced $810,000 to $2,495,000 – and where just 2 homes sold in 2009. But one was a biggie at $3,250,000.

Many of the homes that have gone to contract and sold in La Paloma are destined to be 2nd or 3rd homes. Vacation homes. So it’s nice to see that someone still has the bucks for a substantial discretionary purchase.

Shopping for a home in La Paloma, click> La Paloma and see them all.
There are currently 32 for sale, $250,000 - $2,495,000.

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to find your Tucson Foothills home

it’s lovelier the 2nd time around

In La Paloma, listed for $479,000 - 6226  N Via Paloma Rosa was on the market for about a year before it finally went to contract this past January. And then, unfortunately, after sitting in escrow for four weeks, it fell out of contract and was back on the market again. Don’t you hate that.

But here’s the good news. Less than three weeks after going back on the market it went under contract again. And today it went from Active Contingent to Pending – so it’s almost a done deal. Almost.

At least it didn’t take another year to find another buyer. And that’s a good sign.

holding the line

7043 E Fox Sparrow Pl, a Ventana Canyon golf villa, returned to the market today at $567,500($258/sf) after having failed to sell in the previous 12 months at $585,000 and $575,000. So will a $7,500 cut do it.  (Listed by Long Realty)

We’ll see, but there is a lot of competition in Ventana Cyn golf villas.

16 currently for sale, $394,900 to $620,000 and just 1 under contract and 1 sold in the last 3 months. I wouldn’t hold my breath.

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to find your Tucson Foothills home

how would you like to be a house for sale in Ventana CC

there are 22 homes for sale in Ventana CC from $299,000 to $8,250,000
the average list price of those 22 is $1,623,559

there are 2 under contract, one at $499,000, the other $1,040,000 
which averages out to a $769,500 list price

7 have sold in the last 6 months, from $549,000 to $1,300,000
which, considering there are 22 for sale, equals about a 19 month supply of homes for sale
and the average sold price of the 7 that did sell is $803,107, less than half the average list price of the 22 for sale

I wouldn’t

on the bright side, the two highest sales, $950 & $1.3, were also the most recent sales – late July and mid August.

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the 2nd home market in La Paloma

Because it’s so well located, beautiful, peaceful and private, and offers a good selection of smaller, low maintenance homes, La Paloma has long been popular with the Foothills 2nd home crowd.

But since so many of them are bought as 2nd homes - and therefore a completely discretionary purchase, because let’s face it, when it all hits the fan no one has to have a 2nd home – their popularity has waned. And so, unlike past years, there are quite a few for sale and very few selling.

I mentioned this yesterday to a friend and client who is thinking about buying a smaller home in the Foothills, and was wondering where he might find a nice smaller house and a good deal.

At that point I was winging it, and didn’t have the data at my finger tips, so I thought I’d follow up with a closer look at the La Paloma
2nd home market.

Looking at homes priced up to $800,000 in La P over the past few years, here's what I found. This data is for Jan 1 – May 27 for each year noted.

	2004	2005	2006	2007
# homes Sold	28	40	20	13
Avg Sold$	$376,796	$522,049	$563,330	$493,746
Med Sold$	$380,000	$517,500	$545,750	$495,000
$ Value of all Sold	$10,550,300	$20,881,950	$11,266,600	$6,418,700

	2008	2009	2009	2009
# homes Sold	13	7	# for sale	39
Avg Sold$	$553,385	$466,856	Avg list	$560,443
Med Sold$	$543,000	$450,000	Med list	$549,000
$ Value of all Sold	$7,194,000	$3,267,995	$ value of all for sale	$21,857,290

Green is good, Red is not so good.
As you can see, 2nd home sales are suffering in La Paloma

for 2009 we’ve had;
-the fewest # of homes sold, by a wide margin
-the lowest average and median sale prices since 2004
-the lowest $ value of homes sold going back longer than I know
And yet;
the average and median list prices of homes currently for sale are practically identical to what sold prices were at the peak of the market in 2006. Consequently, we sit with $21,857,290 of unsold inventory waiting for buyers. And sales for these 2nd homes are even more seasonal than for your average Foothills hacienda, and that season is now kaput.

So you’d think, given the sorry state of affairs, there oughta be some deals to be had in La P.

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238 homes and just one contract

In the last 14 days 31 homes went to contract in the Tucson Foothills, and 31 of the 32 were listed at $750,000 or less.
Above that, just one lovely old Joesler at $1,990,000 found a buyer.

That leaves 237 for sale at $750,00 and up that no one's touched

Yet there are buyers out there shopping at $1.0m and up, I'm working with 4 of them myself, but they're in no rush, and not about to make a move until sellers get real. 

So hurry up and get real, because there are just 54 shopping days 'til June

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I like this one in La Paloma

and it fits the bill nicely for 2nd home owners in the Foothills.
It's new on the market in La Paloma, 2482 sq. ft., 3 beds/2.5 baths,
single story, built in 2005, listed for $725,000, with wonderful mountain and golf course views.

As recently as last spring homes like this, with mountain and golf course views in La Paloma, were in big demand and short supply.

And now, even though the supply remains limited, they have not escaped the woes of the real estate slowdown. They're selling, but more slowly and for less money than in the past.

This owner/seller paid list price, $769,000, in 2006.
And now, in an all too rare nod to the market having gone down,
not up, listed it for $44,000 less than he paid.

That may or may not do the trick but, when a buyer sees that, they see a seller who is prepared to deal with the realities of the market, and who doesn't expect the buyer to make up for what they lost in a down market.

It's a beauty, see it here> 6202 N Placita Pajaro

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do you pay a premium for a home in a golf course community like La Paloma, Ventana or Skyline CC

I had that conversation today with someone from out of town who is interested in buying a home in the Foothills. I told them they would pay a premium for a home in the three gated/golf course communities. Because they're private, guard-gated, beautifully landscaped, well maintained, and they have golf courses running through them. And because of that, they're exclusive and prestigious and, some people are all too happy to pay extra for those amenities. Others aren't.

And except for La Paloma, which somehow keeps coming up with new ways to expand, they're not making any more land in the these communities.

But they didn't ask what the premium is, if they had I would have had to guess. So I thought I'd take a look and compare the golf communities to non-gated Foothills homes and try to get an idea of what the premium might be. Here's what the numbers look like for homes sold over the past three months.

NON-GATED
Average Sold Price = $451,191
Median Sold Price = $385,000
Average $/sf = $173

La P, Skyline & Ventana CC's
Average Sold Price = $553,463 - 22% more than non-gated
Median Sold Price = $575,000 - 49% more
Average $/sf = $223 - 29% more than non-gated

So there appears to be a premium, though looking at the numbers I still couldn't say exactly what it is. But for lack of more concrete evidence, I would suggest that the $/sf costs might be the best guide. I also tried pulling up similar homes that have sold recently, in the golf course communities and in non-gated areas, to make a more direct comparison, but because sales have been slow, I wasn't able to find comparable homes.

Also, if you're comparing the golf communities to, let's say, the Canyons, Cobblestone, Pima Canyon or Cat 10, then you're pretty much on equal footing, because you can easily pay as much, or more, for a home in those places as in the golf communities.

The other thing to consider is that HOA fees in gated communities are always more than in non-gated areas. That's because the gates have to be maintained and the guards paid, and the streets within gated communities are private and therefore maintained by the HOA.
Plus there's common area insurance and landscaping fees and, if there's a community pool/spa or other facilities, those are also paid by the HOA.

If you're considering a home in the golf communities, currently there are 86 to choose from, priced from $290,000 to $3,995,000, which pretty much reflects the range of prices in the overall Foothills market.

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will this affect us

Striking Declines Seen in Manhattan Real Estate Market
By JOSH BARBANEL  The New York Times

'For those New Yorkers who wondered what the Manhattan real estate market might be like without the ever-rising bonuses of Wall Street’s elite, the answer is now emerging: an abrupt decline in transactions, tottering prices and buyers who are still looking but unwilling to sign a contract.'

'Pamela Liebman, president of the Corcoran Group, a real estate brokerage, said that though the Manhattan market had continued to rise in the past year when most of the American housing market was in decline, it “came to a grinding halt on Sept. 15,” when credit markets collapsed and buyers lost confidence.'

We don't get as many New Yorkers migrating to the Tucson Foothills as we do people from the mid-west and the west coast, and it sounds as if we may be seeing even fewer of them in the coming months. On the other hand, since the Foothills are a lot less costly than say, the Hamptons or Palm Beach, maybe we'll emerge as an amusing and thrifty alternative. Because believe me, I lived there for 25 years, and eventually, you've got to get out of N.Y.C.

see my web site thefoothillsToday.com
to search for and learn more about Tucson Foothills Homes

popular choices for second home buyers

Some of the most popular choices for second home buyers in the Tucson Foothills lie within our three gated golf course communities.

La Paloma, Ventana Country Club and to a lesser extent Skyline CC, offer a variety of homes that are particularly well suited to the many second home buyers who venture this way come winter.
The attraction of these communities is the convenience of location, services, amenities and the security they offer. Most have community pools and spas that are heated throughout the year. Club facilities, walking trails and the golf course are right at your back door, restaurants and shopping are a stone's throw, and all are 24 hour guard-gated for security and privacy. The homes are low maintenance on smaller lots, and street-side landscape maintenance is usually included in the HOA fee.

They range in size from about 1500 to 3000 sf, though I've found that most people's needs fall somewhere in the 2000 to 2500 sf range.
At that size they usually have 3 bedrooms, or 2 and a den, 2-3 baths, and kitchen, living and dining areas combined into an open great room. Out back there's usually a covered patio and a nice easy care yard for dining, daydreaming and catching a few rays. And by far, the scarcest and most popular are those with views of the golf course and mountains, which of course means they sell the quickest and for more money.

As a rule, these 2nd home homes range in price from about $350,000 to $850,000.

But here's the tricky part if you're searching for them online.
Within the communities of La Paloma, Ventana and Skyline there are a number of different subdivisions where the homes are located, each with it's own subdivision name, HOA, CC&R's, etc.

So if you search La Paloma as a subdivision, you may not find the homes located in - Ridge 4, Vista Serena, Paloma Ridge, Villages 2&4 At Villages Of La Paloma, Paloma Del Sol, etc, etc, - all of which are subdivisions within La Paloma. Same applies to Ventana and Skyline. What to do?

Ta-Da. I have a search page on my web site Search by Subdivision

There you'll find a link to a one-click search for Ventana, La Paloma or Skyline, and many other communities and subdivisions within the Foothills, that will return everything, at all prices, currently for sale within each of those communities or subdivisions, or whatever you want to call them. And yes for simplicity on my web site, I cheated a little bit by calling them all subdivisions, rather than indicating this one's a community, and this one's a subdivision, and this one's a ...

Or, click here> popular choices for second home buyers for a quick peek at what is currently for sale in all three. But try the link above for a better presentation and more information on each listing. And when the search results page comes up, click the
drop-down menu in the upper right corner and select, Price Lo to High, so you won't have to scroll through all the multi-million $ listings.

see my web site thefoothillsToday.com
to search for and learn more about Tucson Foothills Homes

the Foothills luxury market, where do we go from here

It wasn't so long ago that it looked as if the Foothills were becoming a community of mostly high-end homes. After years of chugging along at 20 to 30 sales per year, in 2004 luxury home sales swung into high gear.

Pima Canyon had a lot to do with it. With almost 300 home sites in a new luxury gated community, and a big PR blitz, it popularized the notion and broadened the appeal of luxury living in the Tucson Foothills. And this was just in time for the wave of well-off baby boomers starting to look for their place in the sun.

And pretty soon everyone who could swing a hammer got into the act, and so-called luxury homes started popping up wherever one could be squeezed in.

 

And of course it got out of hand, and along with poor timing, the mortgage meltdown, the economic crisis, and denial that the party would ever end, the million $ market is now limping along with lots of inventory and few sales. 

Where do we go from here. Are people going to give up on finding their place in the sun, stop looking for a spot to retire or buy a second home. The mood of the moment notwithstanding, will they lose their taste for luxury or the easy southwest lifestyle that the Foothills affords them.

We'll see. January is right around the corner, and it'll be the first test, because that's the beginning of the high season for home sales in the Foothills, particularly luxury sales. And because there's a lot at stake, I'm sure that every Realtor® and every home seller is waiting on pins and needles to see how this one shakes out. I know I am.

see my web site thefoothillsToday.com
to search for and learn more about Tucson Foothills Homes

weekend reading

On a subject near and dear to our hearts, second homes,

From The New York Times,
'Though the market for vacation homes is not immune from economic reality, it does not shadow the total real estate market. “While the overall housing market peaked in 2005, the market for vacation homes didn’t peak until 2006,” said Walter Molony, a spokesman for the National Association of Realtors in Washington. That doesn’t mean, though, that a recovery in the second-home market will lag behind the larger market. “A large number of our transactions are not subject to financing,” Ms. Saatchi said of second-home sales in the Hamptons, so a rebound could occur if consumer confidence rises ahead of a loosening of credit.'

Your Second Home | Buying and Selling
          Timing a Market

True, our market here in the Foothills didn't peak until late winter-spring of 06. But in my experience, the Foothills market has lagged both the up and the downsides of the total U.S. real estate market.

It peaks later, but also recovers later, particularly in relation to markets in NY, Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle, Denver, etc, where many of our new residents migrate from. 

Because while a big piece of our market is in second homes, the other big piece is retirement homes. And most retirees need to sell their home back home, before they jump in and buy in the Foothills.  

see my web site thefoothillsToday.com
to search for and learn more about Tucson Foothills Homes

they're still hanging tough at Villa Milano

I don't know if anyone's paying attention at Villa Milano at Rancho Sin Vacas, but the only two homes that have sold in there in the last six months, sold for $227 and $221/sf. And that was well before our latest financial woes took root.

Yet inexplicably, the 20 homes that are still for sale in Villa Milano are listed for an average of $322.79/sf. The high is $384/sf, and 15 of the 20 are above $300/sf.

And most of these homes have been on the market for more than 500 days, some for 600, 700 and more days. Hello! Anybody home
See them here> Villa Milano (link will expire on 12/28/08)

And Villa Milano's very nice. It's in a great Foothills location, in gated Sin Vacas, far from the maddening crowd. And the homes are nicely designed and built. But for some reason (price maybe?) it ain't working.

Worse yet, a year ago I wrote about Villa Milano,
villa milano at rancho sin vacas,
with basically the same story to tell. So this is now getting boring, even for me, so let's hope something changes by next year.

see my web site thefoothillsToday.com
to search for and learn more about Tucson Foothills Homes

some good news for the Tucson market

Each month I participate in a housing industry survey conducted by Credit Suisse. And I just received the results of the September survey, which has some encouraging news about the Tucson metro real estate market.

In their words,
Inventory levels near stabilization. Our home listings index increased to 39.5 in September, up from 37.5 in August (with a level of 50 indicating flat inventories sequentially with levels above 50 pointing to falling inventory levels). Denver, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Sacramento, Sarasota, Tucson, and Washington, D.C. were among the markets showing flat or falling inventory levels in September.
We continue to believe that declining inventory levels are necessary for home price stabilization.

And that's very encouraging news for the Tucson metro market.
But unfortunately in the Tucson Foothills area, inventory levels have not declined and remain relatively high. Why?

There are a couple of things about the Foothills market that I see are holding it back right now and contributing to higher inventory levels.

Homes prices in the Tucson Foothills are much higher than most other areas of Tucson, so buyers often need a jumbo mortgage to purchase here, and jumbo mortgages have by far taken the biggest hit from the credit crisis. As a result, many fewer buyers are able to qualify for a jumbo, and if you can qualify, the rates and fees are higher, and so buyers end up with less purchasing power. 

Also a much higher percentage of Foothills buyers are making a discretionary purchase. They're looking for second, third or retirement homes in the Foothills, much more so than in other areas of Tucson. And when the economy is weak and confidence is lacking, it's those discretionary non-essential purchases that go out the window first.

For inventory levels by price range in the Catalina Foothills see>
more on what's happened in Tucson Foothills home sales

see my web site thefoothillsToday.com
to search for and learn more about Tucson Foothills Homes

ships in the night

In the piece I did yesterday I mentioned that Villa Milano at Rancho Sin Vacas has been slow to get off the ground.

I was reminded of Villa Milano, and wrote about it because it came up the day before in a conversation with a client friend of mine about Foothills real estate and opportunities and what's happening, etc.
So I went home, did a little research and wrote that piece. And I ended that post saying that since prices had come down recently in Villa Milano, sales had picked up a bit, and that maybe things were changing (for the better). I spoke too soon.

Because in a strange and coincidental twist, while I was busy writing about the recent sales and lower prices at Villa Milano, the folks
at Villa Milano were busy (making a liar out of me) raising prices.
I found out when I checked the MLS this morning and Villa Milano showed up with price increases on 12 of the new builder units-
after I just got done applauding them. Imagine that!

Here are a few examples of what they did. 

They raised them from
$675,000 to $751,730
$710,000 to $758,650
$535,000 to $617,250
$710,000 to $758,650
$545,000 to $629,660
$560,000 to $632,520
$550,000 to $632,520
$675,000 to $722,520

So now the 12 units they raised prices on are listed for an average of $349.50/sq. ft. And the four units that sold in the last six months- sold for an average of $224.82/sq. ft. See anything here that doesn't quite add up. And by the way, none of those recent sales were builder units. They were all re-sales.

Makes you wonder what they're thinking. Or if.
Are they so giddy about the few recent sales they believe things are now on a big upswing and it's all hats and horns from here on out.

Who knows. So I take back everything I said yesterday about Villa Milano. It does look like things are changing, just not for the better.

and see my web site thefoothillsToday.com
to search for and learn more about Tucson Foothills Homes

the villas at rancho sin vacas

Developed in 2005, Villa Milano at Rancho Sin Vacas is a small single family & town home community here in the Tucson Foothills that has been slow to get off the ground.

It's in Sin Vacas, a very nice guard-gated community high in the Foothills. And the homes are beautifully designed, built and appointed. They're nicer (in my opinion) and much newer than comparable homes in La Paloma or Ventana. And because of their convenient location and being in a gated community, they're ideally suited to second home owners.

But for some reason they haven't captured people's imagination.
I've mentioned them to clients looking at similar homes in Ventana or La Paloma, and explained the slow sales scenario, and that was that, we never went up for a look. So slow sales lead to even slower sales.

According to the MLS there are 21 for sale and just 9 have sold in the last three and half years. Maybe it's because there's no golf course, or because they just don't have the cachet of La Paloma or Ventana.

But one thing's for sure. When it was first developed and for a long time after, the homes were priced as if they were the only game in town. And unfortunately it's taken them about three years to realize they're not. Now prices are finally down, and maybe things are changing. Because of the 9 homes sold in the last 3 1/2 years, four of them have sold in the last 5 months. So we'll see.

and see my web site thefoothillsToday.com
to search for and learn more about Tucson Foothills Homes

out of town buyers

Oddly enough it's turning out to be a busy week for me with buyers from out of town. Oddly, because given the general scarcity of buyers of any stripe in this wobbly economic and 100° Tucson climate -suddenly having a few out of town buyers is an unexpected treat. Because if I had to pick my one favorite thing to do in real estate, it would be working with out of town buyers.   

Lots of people come here from somewhere else, and most of them have a limited knowledge of the different kinds of housing and locales and settings that are available in the Foothills.
3000 sf, 4 bedrooms/31/2 baths with a pool for $850 can go a lot of different ways here. So there's more to it than just finding a house.

There's a process of learning, and discovering the possibilities that makes working with out of town buyers particularly interesting, challenging and fun. And in the end, after we've peeled away the layers and whittled it down and found the one that's right for them, it's special.

Many of the people I work with from out of town end up buying a house that's different from what they had in mind before we started. Because before we started they had no idea that that kind of house or setting even existed. And when they find out it does, they're thrilled. And that's what it's all about.

see my web site thefoothillsToday.com
to search for and learn more about Tucson Foothills Homes

buying snow blowers in July

In the Tucson Foothills we have our in-seasons and our out of season seasons. January through May is our in-season in the Foothills.
Snowbirds and second home owners are here en masse, and showings and sales of homes are at their busiest time for the year.

As June arrives and temperatures head into the triple digits, winter visitors and second home owners have left town and everything slows down, including home sales. It's like clockwork, it happens every year.

But if you can take the heat, it's the best time of year to make a deal on a home in the Tucson Foothills. It's like buying a snow blower in July, there's not much competition. Home sellers realize that sales are slow and are not going to really pick up again until next January.
And when it's 100° in June and the showings are few and far between, January can seem like an agonizingly long way off.
Your offer is the bird in the hand. 

In addition to the regular seasonal slow-down that summer usually brings, this is now the third year in a row of slower home sales overall in the Foothills. Because of that we have a relatively large inventory of homes for sale, and quite a few of those homes have been sitting on the market for a long time.
So our regular summer slowdown, combined with higher inventory and the continuing overall sluggishness of the market has created a situation that heavily favors buyers, and should enable buyers to make even better deals this summer than in summers past. 

Here's what to look for and what to do to give yourself an edge when buying a home in the Tucson Foothills this summer.
The more of these conditions that your subject home meets, the better your chances of making a great deal.

-Make sure to search the market thoroughly and try to find at least two homes that you'd like to buy. The point is, you don't want to fall in love with a house, and then find that the seller's not negotiable,
and have nowhere to turn. You want to be able to walk away and move on to your next choice. 
 
-Make sure that your target homes are priced roughly in the ball park of where they should be. If the seller is way off in the stratosphere on their list price, that's probably not a good starting point to making a good deal. 

-The home should have been on the market for at least four months, and longer is better. It's less likely that the owners of a home that's been listed for just a month or two are going to be very motivated to make a great deal.
 
-If the home is vacant that's a big plus. If it's been vacant for a long time that's an even bigger plus. But it needs to be a primary residence, or what was their primary residence. If the current owners use the house as a second home, it's probably always vacant in the summer, so that's not much of a plus.

-If it's a new builder spec home, that's a big plus.
And if it is, then it's almost certain that it's priced at $1,000,000 ++, and in the $1,000,000++ market there are a lot of homes for sale, both new and resale. And quite a few new-vacant-builder-investor homes. And many of these builder/investor sellers are super motivated to do what it takes to sell ASAP. They're probably holding a big note on the cost of building that big expensive home, and they want out from under.

-If it's an older home and it was purchased in the last two years or so, and it's now advertised as having a new kitchen, baths, flooring, etc, and at a much higher price than the last sale, it may well be a home that was bought to fix & flip, and there may be an opportunity here too, particularly if it's vacant.
 
-If the home has had two or more meaningful price reductions (3-4% or more) that's a good sign that the sellers want to sell and will adjust their expectations to get it done. Little token price reductions, $1000 here, $2500 there, they don't count. As a matter of fact, they're a sign that the seller is into playing games and/or they don't understand or don't care about the reality of the current market.

-If there is a large inventory of similar homes for sale in that area of the Foothills or that price range, or both, that's a very useful bit of negotiating ammo.

Once you find your target homes and you're ready to move forward, you'll have to evaluate each one individually to decide how much to offer and how best to structure a winning deal. There are too many variables to offer specific advice beyond the following generic tips.

-if you're financing the purchase, have that all lined up, signed, sealed and approved ahead of time

-make your offer as clean as possible with only inspection and financing contingencies and limit the offer to just the house and grounds, the real property. Forget about the potted plants, the furniture and the other personal stuff that you'd like to include.
The seller may have a particular fondness or sentimental value for that do-dad that you've included as part of the offer, and now they're agonizing over that item, rather than concentrating on the main deal. Don't complicate the offer.
 
-if possible, make it a cash offer, and if the property is vacant, make it a cash offer with a fast close - two weeks, start to finish.
The combination of a cash offer and a fast close is hard for a home seller to resist. Boom, two weeks and they're out from under.

-If you've done your best, negotiated diligently and in good faith and still can't make a deal, walk away and move on to your next choice.
Sometimes walking away causes the home seller to reconsider.
If not, just stay cool and keep walking.

see my web site thefoothillsToday.com
to search for and learn more about Tucson Foothills Homes

the condo sizzle fizzles

I don't have all the details yet, but word is that 40 condo units at The Villas at Sabino Canyon here in the Tucson Foothills are going to auction on May 10.

I don't know if these are all the same units, but when they were listed for sale in the MLS recently, they ranged from 1004 to 1209 sf,
2 to 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, and were listed from $169,900 to $220,000.
And according to the MLS, 36 others have sold in there over the last year or so, from $155,000 to $255,000. These owners are not going to be happy.  Unconfirmed information tells me that bidding will start at $89,000 or $99,000 depending on the unit, and there is an undisclosed reserve price that must be met.

But you could see this coming from a long way off.
The condo craze got started here in 2005 with the zippity-quick 6 hour sale of all the units at Tierra Catalina, the first new condo development to open in some years in the Foothills.

Soon word got out that there was fast money to be made in Tucson, and out of town developers quickly bought up all the apartment complexes in the Tucson Foothills, and waved their wands and turned them into condos. But they all did it at about the same time, and in the blink of an eye we went from 40 or 50 condos for sale at any one time, to more than 1000 and growing.  OOPS!

The Villas at Sabino Canyon were one of the last to open their doors, and by that time, the market for condos in the Tucson Foothills was suffering from a severely bloated supply amidst trickling demand.

I'll post the auction details when I get them tomorrow.

see my web site thefoothillsToday.com
to search for and learn more about Tucson Foothills Homes

do you see trouble or opportunity in the land of the fabulously wealthy

Today I read two interesting but somewhat contradictory real estate articles about the fabulously wealthy.
The first in The New York Times Hints of Fear in the Land of Mansions about the slowdown of the market in Greenwich, Conn., long home to the fabulously wealthy. 
Sales are down 39% from last year in Greenwich, where they call the $2.0 to $4.0m price range, the meat and potatoes houses.

At the more respectable end of the Greenwich market, Mel Gibson's got his place for sale for $39,000,000 and Leona Helmsley's 40 acre spread is listed at $125,000,000.
But even in the rarefied air of Greenwich, the downturn is causing a touch of panic. A home that was recently listed for $11.5, then shamelessly reduced to $8.5, finally sold for just $6.9.  
What's the world coming to!

Realizing that other sweet spots in our hemisphere are experiencing similar downturns, I concluded that buying a second, or third home, perhaps in the Tucson Foothills even, would be last on the
to-do list of these hopelessly stressed lords and ladies of the manor.  

But then I picked up the Wall Street Journal and read
Sunny Side of the Street, America's wealthy see buying opportunities in sluggish real-estate market , (this may require a subscription, if so, let me know and I'll email it to you)
(reading it, I wondered, could this just be Rupert having fun, in a not so subtle poke at his new rival, The New York Times)

The Journal presented a very different side of the real estate street, as perceived by the wealthy. From the article,
"While many average Americans are skittish about the housing market, some of the country's richest citizens see the current conditions as perfect for buying, according to the Annual Survey of Affluence and Wealth in America..."
"Seventy-seven percent of the wealthiest people surveyed think real estate presents a "real opportunity" right now"
"And these high-income earners are putting their money where their mouths are: 40% said they are in the market to acquire real estate this year"
And get this,
"Forty-one percent of those in the wealthy category said owning a second home was "almost a requirement" for people of their economic means, according to the survey"  tsk- tsk, but of course.

I'm confused, but I'm glad I read this one last, I prefer Rupert's take on it.

see my web site thefoothillsToday.com
to search for and learn more about Tucson Foothills Homes

whether it's a second home or a full-time residence, there's a lot to choose from in Ventana Canyon CC in the Tucson Foothills

Ventana Canyon CC is one of three very popular golf course communities in the Tucson Foothills. Located high in the foothills of the Catalina mountains, it's a very private, 24 hour guard-gated community that's home to two Tom Fazio designed golf courses, the Mountain and Canyon courses.

And whether it's a second home or a full-time residence, there's a lot to choose from in Ventana Canyon CC. With both townhomes and single family homes, the price range in Ventana runs the gamut from the low $400's up to $4.0 mil or more. Mountain views, homes on the golf course and spectacular city views, all in a very private golf course setting are just some of the attractions of Ventana CC.
Click Ventana Canyon CC Homes to see all the homes currently for sale in Ventana.

And see TheFoothillsToday.com
to search for and learn more about all Tucson Foothills Homes

"Tucson in really good years will grow 2.5%, despite ...

I grew up in New York City and then I lived in Chicago for 20+ years. And every square inch of those cities have been paved over and built and re-built since before the beginning of time.
Growth in New York and Chicago meant knocking down a big old building and putting up an even bigger new one.

So I when I moved to the Tucson Foothills in 2000, I wasn't accustomed to seeing the kind of growth that's happening here. 
Oro Valley and the entire Northwest Tucson area, Southeast Tucson and Vail, plus the southwest and west Tucson areas, have grown tremendously in that short time. Where once there was desert - hundreds of homes, miles of roads and homes for Home Depots and Wal Marts have sprung up relentlessly. When you read about big growth in Tucson, those are the areas that you're reading about.

In the Tucson Foothills, which was pretty much built out when I moved here, the last large parcel of land was claimed by
Pima Canyon, the luxury home development built in 2001.
Since then, growth in the Foothills, has and will continue to be limited to the few and quickly diminishing number of good lots, and to what I charitably call, in-fill development. There just isn't any land available.

A recent article in the AZ Daily Star talks about current and future growth in Pima county and what's driving it. Some highlights,
Pima population growth to slow — microscopically
Pima County's rate of population growth will slow in the next seven years, but so slightly — despite the housing downturn — "you won't even notice," says planner David Taylor.
These are the latest forecasts from Taylor, of the Pima Association of Governments, and Marshall Vest, University of Arizona economic and business-research director.

Until at least 2015, annual growth rates will stay over 2 percent, where they've been for a decade-plus. "Tucson in really good years will grow 2.5 percent," Vest said. "In bad years, 2 percent."

The reasons: more retirees are moving here, along with people with "a heckuva lot more money," Vest said. "People are able to move here when they don't have a job, when they don't even need a job."
Some choose Tucson for second homes. The population is aging.

All of that is allowing the population to grow even when the economic slowdown could bring a drop in total jobs, Vest said.

 
And a lot of those retirees, and people with "a heckuva lot more money", choose the Tucson Foothills, because of -Location, Location, Location - there's nothing else like it in Tucson.
And though I have heard rumors that there are people who actually prefer these other areas of Tucson, I've never met one myself.
So as far as I'm concerned, it's just a rumor.

Second homes and retirement homes account for an increasingly large share of the homes that are sold in the Tucson Foothills. And as for the "heckuva lot more money" luxury home market, here's a look at how it's grown in the last 7 years:
In the years 2000 thru 2003, sales of $1mil+ homes in the Tucson Foothills ranged between 24 to 30 homes sold each year.
Then in 2004 that number jumped to 60 homes sold, then to 97 homes in 2005, and to 126 in 2006, about a 400% increase.
Yes, in 2007 that number slipped, to 91 $1mil+ homes sold.
But that's no surprise given the shenanigans of the financial markets and the resulting disappearance of jumbo loans.
 
The Tucson Foothills, along with Northwest and Southeast Tucson, will benefit from the continued growth that we'll see in all of Pima county, but unlike those other areas of Tucson - which will continue to expand out and get bigger and busier with more and more new homes and shopping centers and roads - the Foothills won't grow, and it won't get any bigger, it will just become more and more desirable because of what it has always been and continues to be.

See TheFoothillsToday.com
to search for and learn more about Tucson Foothills Homes,

the views have it in La Paloma & Ventana

I'm closing escrow today with some second home buyers,
on a home in the gated-golf course community of La Paloma in the Tucson Foothills. It's a wonderful home on a great lot that overlooks the golf course, and with big views of the Catalina mountains beyond.

But because my clients live in another part of the country, and weren't able to drop everything and get out here licketysplit every time a home that looked good came on the market, it took us almost a year to land this one. And yes, even with the slowdown, the really good homes with golf course and mountain views in La Paloma or Ventana are scarce, and get snapped up quickly - as long as they're reasonably priced. So more than a few that looked very good, were gone before my clients could even get to town. It was frustrating for all of us.
But in the end it was worth the wait, because it's a great second home at a fair price, and they're very happy with it.

On the other hand, some other out of town clients of mine who wanted the same type of second home in La Paloma with great views, ended up buying it sight unseen. From the very beginning they told me that they would never be able to get out here in time to see it first, before making an offer. So as soon as the right one came along, I took a lot pictures and after talking with them about it in some detail, we made an offer, got a counteroffer, and soon had an accepted contract. And we went through inspections and escrow and closed on the house, before they ever saw it. And we did it quickly, start to finish it took about five weeks.
And when they did see it, they too were very pleased.

Every time I've worked with clients wanting this type of home - with a great view in La Paloma or Ventana - it's always been a matter of having to act quickly, or lose out.  It's simple supply and demand -more people want one of these homes than there are homes for sale, particularly at this time of year when the snowbirds are here.

But if having a view isn't important to you, then it's another story.
You can take your time and shop around, because there are usually quite a few to choose from, and of course you'll have a lot more bargaining power to boot.

TheFoothillsToday.com 
to search for and learn more about Tucson Foothills Homes, including second homes in La Paloma, Ventana and other great Foothills locations.

loonies to the rescue

For years now our Canadian neighbors have been flocking to the Tucson Foothills, Scottsdale, Phoenix and other parts of sunny Arizona to escape their harsh winters, defrost and loll around in our sunny climate for a few weeks.

But until recently, the loonie traded at a deep discount to the US dollar, so renting a home or condo and spending winters in Arizona was a fairly expensive proposition for Canadians.
And buying a vacation home in the US was limited to the lucky few who could afford to buck that weak exchange rate in a big way.

U.S. Dollar to Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate


But now with the US dollar weaker and the two currencies trading at about parity for the first time in many years, the US suddenly looks like a bargain to many Canadians. And instead of just renting a place for a few weeks, Canadians are taking advantage of the strong Canadian dollar combined with a weak US housing market, to scoop up bargain-priced vacation homes in Tucson, Phoenix and elsewhere in AZ. With the housing and currency markets both working in their favor, Canadians see this as a window of opportunity that is unlikely to last, or to occur again anytime soon. So there's some urgency
to get it while the getting's good.

This reminds me of the 80's and 90's when I worked in the advertising business in Chicago, and frequently went to Toronto and Vancouver to produce television commercials for our clients.
Back then the Canadian dollar was at about 65¢ to the US dollar, so shooting in Canada was a bargain, we'd save 30% or more.
And it was just as easy, and a nice change of pace, to fly up there to produce commercials as it was to fly to LA, so it was a no-brainer.  
Word got around quickly, and soon Toronto and Vancouver were over-run with American advertising, TV and movie producers up there shooting for the American market.
This resulted in big and lasting growth in the Canadian film industry. 
Film crews and equipment, sound stages and related services, which were in short supply at first, ramped up to meet the demand.
This provided a huge boost for the Canadian film industry and all the services related to it. It was a win-win for all.

Right now in the Tucson Foothills, we're in the prime of our season for snowbirds from Canada and elsewhere. And with prices down and sellers quite flexible, in addition to the favorable exchange rate -  
maybe the Canadians will return the favor and give our real estate markets a little boost, while taking advantage of a fleeting opportunity to buy a vacation home in the Tucson Foothills.

TheFoothillsToday.com
to search for and learn more about Tucson Foothills Homes

'tis the season for Ventana & La Paloma golf properties

Despite the slower sales of homes, in general, in the Tucson Foothills, one category is showing a sudden and definite uptick.
Smaller homes, those usually used as a winter residence, in
Ventana CC and La Paloma CC are suddenly getting picked off at a very healthy pace. And with just one exception, it's the homes with the best golf course and/or mountain views that are selling, the rest are sitting it out.  These golf course homes range in size from about 1800 sf to 2500 sf, and are priced from the mid $500's up to about $700K.
With slower home sales in the Catalina Foothills, and the havoc wreaked by the mortgage fiasco, the jury was out on whether or not sales of these very special properties would take off again once the winter visitors started arriving in October. And even though the season has just begun, it looks like we now have the answer to that one.
In the last three or four weeks eight of them have gone under contract or sold. That's a very good clip, given that there were only ten available with good golf course/mountain views.
About half of these homes sat on the market over the summer and the rest were just listed for sale in the last month or so, in anticipation of the arrival of winter visitors. These homes have always been in short supply and high demand, and despite the slowdown in sales, it looks as if that will continue to be the case. If you want one of these prime golf course homes in La Paloma or Ventana, you've got to be ready to pounce.

La Paloma, a haven for second home owners

Come fall the snowbirds will begin arriving in the Tucson Foothills for the new season, which runs from late September through May.
Those who already own homes in the Foothills will settle back into
the rhythm of their winter lifestyle, while many of those who've been renting for a season or two will be looking to take the plunge and buy a second home in the Tucson Foothills.
La Paloma, with an ideal Foothills location, and proximity to the
La Paloma golf course and country club, combined with the beauty, privacy and security of living within its gates, is one of the top choices for the many second home owners who flock to the Tucson Foothills year after year.
And despite La Paloma's reputation as an expensive and exclusive enclave just for the wealthy, it offers a surprisingly wide choice of homes, priced from about $400,000 up to $3,000,000.

Divided by Sunrise Drive, the La Paloma residential community and golf course meander through the central foothills. On the north side of Sunrise Dr are the more moderately priced La Paloma homes, while on the south side home prices start at about $1,200,000. The south side of La Paloma is where the Westin La Paloma Resort and the La Paloma Country Club are located. The resort, with half a dozen restaurants and cafes including the justly famous Janos and J Bar is a popular spot with Foothills residents, while membership in the country club offers dining, health and fitness facilities, tennis, swimming, and of course golf. And just a 3 minute hop from La Paloma are the galleries, shops and restaurants at La Encantada, Casas Adobes Plaza, St Phillips Plaza and others.
In this piece I'm going to focus on the homes on the north side of
La Paloma, that's north of Sunrise Dr, that are priced from about $400,000 to $650,000, a very popular community and price range for Foothills second home owners. Looking at the map, you can see these homes clustered along Campo Abierto, Calle Cayo, Via del Verdemar, Misty Ridge Dr and other smaller streets.

This is Via Palomita, the main street through the north side of
La Paloma. Homes in this part of La Paloma are priced from about $400,000 to $1,200,000, with a great many in the $400,000 to $650,000 range.

The north side of La Paloma has a very intimate feel -
with it's narrow streets, lush desert vegetation and canopy of trees
 
In this area (above & below) homes are generally in the $400,000 to $650,000 price range. The homes on the right side back up to the golf course, and usually have good mountain views too.


Like this one, which I sold recently for about $500,000. 


And because it had nice mountain views,

and beautiful golf course views, it sold quickly.
While the homes with good views are more expensive, they are also
in the greatest demand.
Sitting out on the patio, whether reading the morning paper or enjoying drinks with friends, everyone wants to look out to a
beautiful view of the mountains and golf course.


Here's the view from another one that recently sold in
just a few days on the market.
 
Currently there are 10 homes for sale priced from $419,000 to $624,900 in this part of La Paloma. And there are 4 under contract and 12 have sold in the last 6 months.
So home sales in La Paloma are doing pretty well. 
Though I don't have any official figures, I'd say that 50% or more of the homes in La Paloma in the $400,000 to $650,000 price range, are second, or part time homes.
They're on smaller lots, 7000 sf or so, and the homes range in size
from 1400 to about 2200 sf. Though they don't usually have private pools, there are community pools in La Paloma for home owners use. And if you're a member of the La Paloma Country Club you have access to the pool, fitness facilities and other amenities of the club.
And for peace, privacy and security, La Paloma is a 24  hour
guard-gated community.
These are easy in, easy out, low maintenance homes that are perfect for the second home owner.
If you'd like to see the homes for sale in La Paloma, and everywhere else in the Tucson Foothills, visit my web site, thefoothillsToday.com

Tucson Foothills 2nd home market, Catalina Foothills Estates

For perspective, I thought it would be a good idea to start this series on 2nd homes in the Tucson Foothills, by looking in the area and at the homes where the second home movement all started back in the 1930's. As I mentioned in the introduction to this series last week- the 2nd home market in the Tucson Foothills -the second home movement in the Tucson Foothills was started back in the 1930's by John Murphey, the founder and developer of the Catalina Foothills Estates, who in partnership with the architect Josias Joesler, set out to create a lifestyle that would be attractive to wealthy midwestern and eastern families seeking a winter refuge in a desert environment.
These homes, many of which have been carefully renovated to provide the comfort and conveniences that we expect today, while maintaining the essence and character of Joesler & Murphey's vision -are large, expensive homes - 5000 to 7500 sq ft or more, priced at $1,500,000 and Up -and so they are within the reach of relatively few homebuyers. And like a vintage Dusenberg, they're tough to find, expensive when you do, and finicky to maintain.
The original Catalina Foothills Estates is ideally located in the center of the Foothills, bordered by Skyline Dr on the north, River Rd on the south, Hacienda del Sol on the east side, and extending to about a third of a mile west of Campbell Ave on its west side.
Here we are cruising north on Campbell Ave from River Rd, which cuts right thru the original Catalina Foothills Estates.

Up here we're going to turn left onto Calle La Vela -
it's one of the best streets in the Old Foothills for large Joesler estates built in the 30's and 40's. I count 9 Joeslers within about a 1/2 mile of this intersection, including the Lee Marvin residence on 12.2 acres.
In the following pictures, you'll see that these homes are very privately located, up on a hill or tucked back and away from the street, behind gates and desert foliage.

Like this one

or this one up on the top of the hill, a really great Joesler

and another is tucked back there on about 4 acres 

Turning north onto Calle Ladero, there's a Joesler behind this entry gate.
Joesler and Murphey's original concept of homes sited on sprawling, hilly lots, surrounded by the beauty and privacy of the natural desert has been somewhat compromised, as many of these estates have been whittled down to a couple of acres, from their original 5 to 15 acre lot sizes. Nonetheless, the acreage that they do occupy is amongst the most desirable in the Foothills today.
In 2002 builders and investors started buying up these large estates and splitting up and subdividing the lots to make way for further development in the Tucson Foothills. There was no other buildable land available that comprised 7, 8 or more contiguous acres , which in turn could be converted into 7 or 8 individual parcels, particularly in the Old Foothills.

Here's a closer look at some of the homes behind the gates and on top of the hill- these pictures are from 4 different Joesler homes

Clay Tile roofs, thick adobe walls, arches, lots of private outdoor areas for recreation and relaxation, all Joesler signatures

Joesler used deep overhanging roofs on the south side to shield the house from the sun

This is the front entrance to this house, and though you can't see it, this large front patio is enclosed by an adobe wall.  The big windows are in the living and dining rooms, and look north to the Catalina mountains
Tall Timber beamed ceilings, prominent fireplaces, scored concrete floors, and large windows in the living areas for mountain and city views are all signatures of Joeslers work


Above, is an Arizona Room- a porch really, another signature.
AZ rooms were not heated or cooled and often had screened windows for an indoor/outdoor experience, notice the fireplace
behind the plant.
This one has been converted to year round living space, it's heated and cooled, and closed off from the outdoors.
I don't think you can tell from these pictures, but all the interior walls are also built of thick adobe- these homes are fortresses

This is a bedroom- with a fireplace, wood beamed cathedral ceiling, and stained concrete floors
A kitchen patio with brick flooring,

While many of these homes have been maintained, or carefully updated and renovated over the years, not all of them have been done as carefully and as well as the homes you see here.
I've seen some disasters that are all but unrecognizable as Joeslers, which is very sad if you're a fan of his work, as I am.
And then occassionally I'll come across a more or less vintage Joesler that hasn't been touched in decades, and with those, while the
good bones adage is generally very accurate, you also get to see the quirks of a Joesler. Joesler built these homes as winter retreats for wealthy families, and it was typical for these families to have a cook on staff to prepare meals - these people didn't hang out and entertain friends in the kitchen - or they would dine out regularly, and so the kitchens in many of these Joeslers are tiny, really tiny - like the stereotypical New York apartment kitchen.
Ok, so that's understandable, but the closets are also very tiny. And my vision of that era is of steamer trunks full of clothes with a variety of outfits for every occassion, from lawn tennis to an evening at the symphony. Where'd they put it all.
Nevertheless, Joesler's legacy in Tucson remains without parallel.
70 years later, and his homes remain the prized possessions of their lucky owners and a source of inspiration, and sometimes imitation,
for his followers.
Trying to capitalize on that legacy, I frequently see homes listed for sale that are described as;
'Joesler-esque', 'Joesler inspired', 'a hint of Joesler' and
the clumsy 'Joesler-like-feel'.
Or as this new residential development that's in the works proclaims-
A Joesler Inspired Neighborhood.

For last I've saved the mother of all Joesler's,
Eleven Arches, a.ka. Grace Mansion.
In 1937 Louise N. Grace, heiress to the The Grace Shipping Lines fortune, decided to build a 15,000 sq. ft. house in Tucson, just for herself. It was to be designed by Josias Joesler and built by John Murphey. The story goes, that in order to assure her desire for privacy, John Murphey had her stand on the hilltop where her home was to be built while two workmen walked south carrying poles with pieces of white sheet attached. When she could no longer see the white sheets in the desert, and therefore her privacy assured, that would be the boundary for her land. As a result, Eleven Arches was built on 200 acres of prime Foothills land.
(the information about standing on the hilltop, the workmen and the sheets, comes from an article by Ken Scoville, Privacy in the Catalina Foothills Estates)

This is a picture taken in 2004 from the house, it approximates what Ms. Grace might have seen back then - minus all the city lights
   

The front view of Eleven Arches

Above is the living room of Eleven Arches
In addition to being very wealthy, Ms. Grace was very well connected socially, and Eleven Arches was a popular gathering place for soirees attended by politicians, movie stars, ambassadors and the like.
After Louise Grace died, Eleven Arches changed hands again and again over the years, and with each new owner some of the acreage was sold off and the house slipped further and further into a state of disrepair. Until 1976, when it was purchased for $275,000 along with the approximately 50 acres of remaining land. At that time it was extensively renovated, to the tune of $1,000,000.
And then it sold again in 2000, this time for $2,800,000, with only 19 acres remaining. Someone made a fat profit on that deal.
But this new owner didn't stay very long, because in early 2004 it was again listed for sale, now for $3,490,000, and with just 5 acres of land remaining.
After languishing on the market for more than a year, the property was turned over to an auction house who ended up selling it 2 days before the auction for $2,200,000, now with just 3 acres of land remaining.
If you drive by Eleven arches today, it's hemmed in on all sides by new $1,000,000 homes built on land that used to belong to Eleven Arches, as it cowers in shame at the top of the hill.

the 2nd home market in the Tucson Foothills

The Tucson Foothills is the second home to a great many people who come here from all over the country. They come here to enjoy our warm sunny winter weather, and have the freedom to be outdoors in the Sonoran desert, surrounded by the beauty of the Santa Catalina mountains. The second homeowner movement in the Foothills was started back in the 1930's by John Murphey, the founder and developer of the Catalina Foothills Estates, who in partnership with the architect Josias Joesler, set out to create a lifestyle that would be attractive to wealthy midwestern and eastern families seeking a winter refuge in a desert environment. With the development of the Catalina Foothills Estates, Murphey and Joesler established a standard of large and rather lavish homes - for the time - that were surrounded by the natural desert on sprawling, hilly  lots chosen for their views of the city to the south and the Catalina Mountains to the north.
And that standard, though now attainable by relatively few, to this day remains the ideal of desert living for many Foothills homeowners.
Much has changed in the Foothills since Murphey and Joesler set about to make it a destination for relaxation and recreation on a grand scale. In the coming weeks I'll be doing a series of posts on the second home market in the Foothills today, at how it's grown and changed, and a look at some of the popular second home communities, and the range of choices that are available for seekers of sun and fun in the Tucson Foothills.
If you're a 2nd homeowner in the Foothills, I'd like to hear from you, to get your opinion and point of view about the Foothills, and perhaps include it in the posts I have planned.