The Catalina Foothills

everything's coming up green

look out, home builders are turning green, or so they say. environmentally friendly housing developments are coming your way,

you never know

Looking in the Tucson MLS to see the new listings, or homes that have sold or gone under contract over the weekend, I see that a home that's been listed for sale for 1107 days has just gone under contract. This is a new house that was listed for well over $1mil.
1107 days on the market, and nothing, nothing, nothing - and then just like that, out of the blue comes a buyer. Along with the house that sold in Saguaro Ranch for $4,950,000 - see Record Price for Tucson Home - at least a couple of people are celebrating.

Record Price for Tucson Home

A new home in Saguaro Ranch that was listed for $5,950,000 sold last week for $4,950,000. And while $1,000,000 is quite a discount off the list price, and probably a record in it's own right, the sale set a new price record for a home sold through the Tucson Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service. Although 14 lots in Saguaro Ranch have sold through the Tucson MLS, this is the first home that has been sold through the Tucson MLS.
Saguaro Ranch, on the far Northwest side of Tucson, is a unique ultra-luxury home community that's been in development since 2003. On 1035 acres of breathtakingly beautiful desert in the Tortolita Mountains, when completed, Saguaro Ranch will have a total of 180 homes on 4 acre (approximately) lots.
Last year I had a client who was interested in buying some lots in Saguaro Ranch as an investment, so I spent quite a bit of time looking around in there. I was very impressed.
While they're developing the land as an ultra-luxury home community with all the amenities and services you'd expect- and some you wouldn't- the developers of Saguaro Ranch have taken great pains to minimize the visual impact of the development on this pristine desert environment. And they've been very successful at it.   
Visit the Saguaro Ranch web site for the Saguaro Ranch story.

The Latest - Tucson Foothills Home Sales, 5/18

Here's a look at the sales activity for single family homes in the Tucson Foothills during the past two weeks - that's 5/5 - 5/19/07. This activity took place against an average of 495 homes listed for sale during this period -priced from $235,000 to $22,000,000.
New Listings = 75 (priced from $269,900 - $3,200,000)
Homes gone under contract = 38 (priced from $214,900 - $2,500,000)
Homes Sold = 26 (priced $260,000 - $1,400,000)
Price Reductions = 58
Price Increases = 4
Expired Listings = 16
Withdrawn Listings = 26
Balancing an increase in the number of homes that have gone under contract (8 more) with a decrease in the number of homes that have sold (11 less) -since the last two week period- I interpret the sales activity as holding fairly steady, and doing so across a broad price range. We've also seen just a slight decrease in inventory, from about 500 to the current 486 homes for sale.
Very soon however, we'll begin to see the effects of a seasonality factor coming into play. As we drift toward summer, sales activity in the Tucson Foothills will begin to wind down, as seasonal visitors
(aka, snow birds) head back to their primary roost.
In the past, the summer sales slowdown has been accompanied by a reduction in inventory, as some sellers decide to pull their homes off the market, or hold off on listing their home for sale, until things pick up again in the fall. The net effect has been that while there are fewer buyers in the market during the summer, there are also fewer homes to choose from. It will be interesting to see if that holds true in this year of slower sales where some sellers have not been able to sell their homes despite being on the market for a long time.
To see all the homes that have SOLD in the Tucson Foothills during the past 30 days- including the pictures and listing information from the Tucson MLS, the List Price, the Sale Price, $/sq. ft and more, click JUST SOLD
For sales numbers during previous two week periods, please see:
The Latest - Tucson Foothills Home Sales, 5/4
The Latest - Tucson Foothills Home Sales, 4/18
The Latest - Tucson Foothills Home Sales, 3/28
The Latest - Tucson Foothills Home Sales, 3/14
As always, the source for this data is the Tucson Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service.

average sale price comparison for Tucson metro area

Here's a quick reference of average sale prices for residential properties during this past April in different areas of Tucson-
Average Sale Price per Area

This info is from the Tucson Association of Realtors
Multiple Listing Service

knock-knock

Who's there?

Barbeques Galore

Fantastic!
A few weeks ago I ordered one of those barbeque islands for my house. Nothing too fancy, just a 7' island with a nice grill built in, a couple of storage drawers and a small bar counter at one end, so people could keep me company while I burnt their dinner.
And now the big day, the guys were here to deliver and install it. Barbeques Galore had called me a few days before to let me know that it was all built and painted and that they could deliver it on Wednesday at noon. Perfect!
When you get a new grill, you want to break it-in the right way.
So we invited some friends over for margaritas, steaks, chicken and anything else that could be grilled, on Thursday,
the next evening.
The island needed to be maneuvered this way and that way to get it through the courtyard door because at the bar end it was wider than the doorway- and they couldn't maneuver it too well since it weighed about 700 lbs, and they were afraid of scraping it and scratching it, and in the end, they couldn't get it in. And I couldn't believe it.
I didn't get any pictures of that, - I was too pissed - and I was doing my best to convince them to try it this way and that way, and every which way.
So back on the truck it went.

Meanwhile the manager of Barbeques Galore called me to apologize and let me know that they would do their best to get it in as soon as possible. Great. As soon as possible like when.
Five minutes after that my wife pulled up with shopping bags full of food for Thursday nights shindig. ooh, she was pissed too.
We were like two kids that had had their toys taken away from them.
But Barbeques Galore came to the rescue. They showed up the next morning, and this time they brought a little extra muscle



The grill was in in plenty of time for Thursday's shindig.
And Barbeques Galore apologized again for the delay and the inconvenience, and didn't charge me a nickel extra for the extra muscle. I love Barbeques Galore.

$3000 vs 6%

I'm sure there's been more than enough said on this subject, and I'm a little late getting to it, but,
The recent 60 Minutes segment on traditional Realtor fees vs those of the new internet based real estate company  Redfin, only served to misinform the public -through glaring omission- about the facts of what it costs to list your home with Redfin, and all of it to Redfin's immediate advantage.
You might expect Redfin, who only serves to benefit, to go along with this sort of thing, but one wonders, what's in it for 60 minutes.
here's an excerpt where Glenn Kelman of Redfin is explaining to a smiling Leslie Stahl of 60 Minutes, just how it works;
'....we’re able to pass on a lot of savings to them," he says. (them being the buyers) And he does mean "a lot" of savings. Usually, a seller's agent and a buyer's agent split the commission, so they each get three percent. But when Redfin represents the seller, it charges a flat fee of just $3,000, and that’s it. That alone drives the traditional agents crazy. But then, when Redfin represents the buyers, they give them money back'.
Kelman said that they charge $3000, and that's it. But that's not it.
They too tack on 3%, which they give the agent representing the buyer, just like traditional Realtors do. If Redfin didn't collect 3% in addition to their $3000 fee, they wouldn't have any money to refund to the buyer. So on the sale of a $500,000 house- with a traditional Realtor, the seller would pay a total of $30,000 in commissions- $15,000 to the listing agent, and $15,000 to the buyers agent.
With Redfin the seller would pay a total of $18,000 in commissions-$3,000 to Redfin, and $15,000 to the buyers agent. The difference between the two is $12,000, not $27,000, as portrayed - through glaring omission - by 60 Minutes.
And it's worth noting, that Redfin gets their $3,000 up front, whether or not your home sells.
And the seller gets to do most of the work and most of the selling.
So much for investigative journalism, and Leslie Stahl, and CBS, and where's Andy Rooney when we need him.

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.

Desperate Housebuyers

Todays Wall Street Journal carries a very sad story of the desperation that has taken hold as a result of the fallout in the housing market. According to this story By MICHAEL CORKERY and RUTH SIMON, "disputes are breaking out between builders and buyers who signed contracts for new homes and condos when the market was hot -- and now want to get out of them."
"They were willing to ride the real-estate boom on the way up, but some are not willing to ride it on the way down." said Larry Sorsby, chief financial officer of Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. Read it here, WSJ.com - As Market Cools, Home Buyers Seek a Way Out
It's about capitalism, supply and demand, greed, the importance of timing, and the desperation that results when you get it wrong.
**Unless you subscribe to the WSJ online, this story will only be available for 7 days from today. 

The Latest - Tucson Foothills Home Sales, 5/4

Here's a look at the sales activity for single family homes in the Tucson Foothills during the past two weeks - that's 4/20 - 5/4/07. This activity took place against an average of 485 homes listed for sale during this period -priced from $235,000 to $22,000,000.
New Listings = 90 (priced from $305,000 - $3,300,000)
Homes gone under contract = 30 (priced from $299,900 - $2,600,000)
Homes Sold = 37 (priced $295,000 - $2,200,000)
Price Reductions = 65
Price Increases = 1
Expired Listings = 13
Withdrawn Listings = 24
90 New Listings. That's a lot, but it's also misleading. Many of these New listings are not really NEW listings. They're homes that have been listed for sale, and then recently the listing was withdrawn or the listing expired and they've now been re-listed, either by the same agent, or a new one. So, they count as a New listing, but they're not really New. The other figure that is misleading is the number of homes that have had Price Reductions. These days, when a home gets withdrawn and re-listed, it often gets re-listed at a lower price, and that is not reflected in the number of Price Reductions figure, only in the New listings figure. So while the official number of Price Reductions is 65, that too is misleading, because it does not count the homes that have been re-listed at a lower price.
 
As compared to the previous two week period, this time around there have been: 24 more New Listings, 6 fewer homes have gone under contract, and 7 more homes SOLD. While homes are selling in all price ranges, albeit somewhat sluggishly, the number of homes for sale continues to creep up, as the number of New listings outpaces the number of homes going under contract and selling. I just checked, and right now there are 500 homes for sale in the Tucson Foothills, a record.
To actually see all the homes that have SOLD in the Tucson Foothills during the last 30 days- there are 69 of them - including the pictures and listing info from the Tucson MLS, the List Price, the Sale Price, $/sq. ft and more, click JUST SOLD
For sales numbers during previous two week periods this year, please see:
The Latest - Tucson Foothills Home Sales, 4/18
The Latest - Tucson Foothills Home Sales, 3/28
The Latest - Tucson Foothills Home Sales, 3/14
As always, the source for this data is the Tucson Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service.

todays numbers for the Tucson Foothills

The edit functions on my web site thefoothillsToday.com are STILL not functioning, due to a software problem that has dragged on for almost three weeks now.
Because of that I'm unable to update a few bits of information on Tucson Foothills homes that you may be interested in.
So, here it is here; today there are 496 homes (that's single family homes) for sale, priced from $235,000 to $22,000,000, in the Tucson Foothills. And if you would like to see all the homes, priced from $500,000 & UP, that have Sold in the last 30 days, including the pictures and information from the Tucson MLS, the list price, sold price, $/sq ft and more, click Just Sold

Free Harley

Apparently a lot of real estate agents have discovered email flyers. Everyday for the last couple of months my inbox is crammed with email flyers from Realtors advertising their listings. Like it or not I get 30, 40 or more of these things every day. And while they may be cheaper and easier to send than snail mail flyers, they're not very effective. 95% of them are for homes that are in areas of Tucson that I don't do business in - the Southwest, southeast, Vail, central Tucson, and on and on. So they mean nothing to me, they're just more meaningless advertising. And because there are so many of these untargeted flyers coming at me everyday, I have to just batch delete them, and in the process not get to see those few that may be of interest to me. Besides, the formatting and headlines are all just slight variations on the same theme, so they're really monotonous and very forgettable. Somebody sold these agents a bill of goods.

and my favorite, as opposed to Priced To Not Sell Like I said, I get 30 or 40 a day, so I just buzz through and delete delete delete But this next one caught my eye

FURNISHINGS FOR THEM / HARLEY FOR YOU!

I've never had a Harley, but every now and then I think about having one.
Furnishings For Them/Harley for you! A Must See!
Hmmm!
But what's the Must See? The Furnishings, The Harley, or what. The flyer goes on to explain that the buyers will get the furnishings that have been left behind in the house, supposedly a 20K value, and the agent will get the Harley Davidson motorcycle that's in the garage, a 5K value. And aside from the very glaring and cheap bribe, your first impression has to be that this must be a terrible house since the whole proposition is based on some leftover used furniture and a Harley. So now you're target is someone who's really smitten by this used furniture, digs Harleys, and is willing to take the house in the bargain.
How embarassing. It's hard to believe this ad got published.

Home sales in the Tucson Foothills - January thru April

Here's a look at how sales are doing in the Tucson Foothills for single family homes SOLD through the Tucson Association of Realtors MLS - for the period of
January - April of 2006 vs. January - April of 2007

Price Range	Jan-April 06 # Homes Sold	Jan-April 07 # Homes Sold	+/- %
$500 - $750K	68	67	-1
$750 - 1mil	38	29	-23
$1mil - $1.5mil	33	12	-63
$1.5 - $2.0mil	11	13	+15
$2.0mil & UP	13	3	-76
Total Homes SOLD	163	124	-24
*Avg List Price	$809,313	$716,695	-11
Avg SOLD Price	$775,760	$685,508	-11
Median List Price	$617,750	$550,000	-10
Median SOLD Price	$619,500	$540,000	-13
$$ Value of Homes SOLD	$204,800,690	$144,642,179	-28

*The Avg. & Median List and Sold prices, and the Total $$ Value figures, represent the homes SOLD in ALL price ranges in the Tucson Foothills - not just those from $500K & UP.

Home sales are down big time in the Tucson Foothills from the same period last year, 24% overall. And in a reversal of recent trends, whereas the $1mil + market had been doing better than ever, it's now showing the biggest declines. Keep in mind that during January to April 2006, home sales in the Tucson Foothills in all price ranges were still doing very well, and didn't start sliding until late April to May.