Steffy's Notes

I was updating my profile on CreativeMornings.com because I was thinking of attending an upcoming Phoenix meeting. I have a creative office listing, and I thought members of a creative community might be interesting people to meet and learn from.Then something completely unrelated caught my atten...

That's the question I've been asking myself as I work to find the right tenant for a commercial building near the Camelback Corridor in Central Phoenix.The property has a lot going for it - but it doesn't have the sea of weekday parking spaces that many traditional office users expect.So instead ...

If you are asking yourself, “Can I hire a Realtor® to find a tenant and then manage the property myself?” you have arrived at the right place.My answer is yes.For owners who are comfortable handling rent collection, maintenance, and the ongoing landlord-tenant relationship, hiring a real estate p...

In many parts of the country, August means spending as much time outdoors as possible. In Tempe, August means becoming strategic about when you go outdoors. Early mornings become valuable, shade becomes an amenity, and air conditioning is simply part of daily life. What does August look like in T...

I often attend meetings organized by the Arizona Chapter of the National Kitchen & Bath Association. I enjoy learning about trends in kitchen and bathroom design, but there is also a very practical reason for attending.The knowledge helps me provide resources to real estate clients who are consid...

When buyers tell me what they are looking for in a home, we usually begin with the familiar criteria: location, price, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, square footage, perhaps a one-story versus two-story preference.But sometimes none of those is the feature that really determines whether a hous...

If you live in South Tempe, you may recognize the horse as a symbol of our part of the city. But have you ever wondered what “Corona/South Tempe Character Area 8” actually means?About 10 or 11 years ago, I noticed an announcement in a local Tempe newsletter inviting residents to a meeting about T...

Broker tours continue to evolve, but their purpose remains the same—to help listings gain exposure and gather valuable feedback from fellow REALTORS®. It's interesting to see how broker tours have evolved over the years. Years ago, broker tours meant driving from house to house and networking in ...

It's August 2026 already.Didn't this year seem to fly by?Like many people, I keep my appointments on my phone. But at the beginning of each month, I still enjoy opening a traditional wall calendar and looking at all those blank squares. I still print my annual client calendars because they remind...

Realtor Scott Smolen reminds us these important points when buying a home that has outdated features - the right property may need new flooring, paint, lighting, or cabinet updates. Those changes may be manageable when the home already provides the right location, usable space, natural light, and...