Today I sat through my first class to earn my ABR designation.  That stands for Accredited Buyers Representative and it's the first thing you should look for to find a buyer's agent, in my opinion.  And I'm not even there yet!  I have talked before about everything your Phoenix area real estate agent should know, at the bare minimum.  But now, I'm throwing in an ABR designation because it differentiates them from all the rest.  I mean really, don't you want someone who is willing to make an effort to stand out from the rest of the pack?  And that effort makes them better equipped to represent your best interests.To be honest, I can't say I learned a whole lot today.  So far, it's just been a really great refresher course.  But I do welcome the opportunity to communicate to my clients th... 06/13/2007

No, it's not what you think.  They are actually great people.  She organizes our neighborhood's monthly Couples Game Night.  He co-teaches Sunday School with my husband.  (which is hysterical to see by the way, two grown men vs. seven 5-year olds).  We love them as friends and neighbors and were genuinely sad to see them move.But he really wanted a big yard to work in and she needed a little more space inside.  So we signed a new build contract and put their house on the market.Along with five others of the exact same floorplan!  Like the rest of the country, the Arizona market is sooo overflowing with inventory.  They got great traffic for awhile and then about three weeks ago, it all stopped.  I don't know what's going on but I do know if you're not in the bottom five of city-wide com... 06/07/2007

Gilbert Arizona Dog Owners - Gilbert Arizona Dog Parks Gilbert Arizona has two dog parks you may want to check out if you are a dog owner living in the Gilbert Arizona area. Crossroads Dog Park is located at 2155 E. Knox Road on the west side of Greenfield Road, south of Warner Road . Hours are 6 a.m.- 10 p.m., seven days per week. Call for information 480-503-6200. Cosmo Dog Park is located at 2502 E. Ray Road at the northeast corner of Ray Road and the Santan Loop 202 in Gilbert. Hours are 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Cosmo Park was named for Gilbert's first police dog: Cosmo van Blitsaerd of Holland . The park features a lighted fenced dog park. The northern part of the park is for timid dogs.. There is a lake where dogs may swim, plus there are two dog wash stations. Call for information 480-5... 06/06/2007

Seville Golf and Country Club Part 2by Kaushik Sirkar, Chandler REALTOR®Chandler AZ Real EstateI have previously blogged about the gorgeous Seville Golf and Country Club.  My previous post focused on the homes themselves as well as various market statistics.  This time I want to take a closer look at the country club itself and some of the amenities it has to offer residents.Interested in sand volleyball?  Basketball?  Plenty of courts!   Working out?  How about a state of the art fitness centerNeed a refreshing set of pools?Golf Course with STUNNING views?In summary, Seville's golf course and country club are truly gorgeous.  If these are the kinds of amenities you might be looking for...you may want to call Seville home!Thanks for Reading :)Kaushik Sirkar, Chandler AZ REALTORhttp://ww... 06/03/2007

Are you looking for a lender in Gilbert, Arizona (AZ)? Well you have come to the right place. I am a home loan (mortgage) expert in the Gilbert area with several years experience as a home mortgage lender. I can also help those in the Greater Phoenix area such as Scottsdale, Chandler, Tempe etc. Whether you have good credit, bad credit or no credit I can look at various home loan options and provide you with intelligent options. I work for your long term financial success, so you can be sure to receive excellent service! I can help with purchase transaction, re-finance transaction. I can do investment loans, construction loans, home equity lines as well as loans for second homes! When it comes to home financing I am your one stop shop lender in Gilbert, Arizona (AZ). Here is a summary ... 05/08/2007

Seville Golf and Country Clubby Kaushik Sirkar, Chandler REALTOR®Chandler AZ Real EstateLooking for a home?  Interested in a subdivision built around a GORGEOUS golf and country club?  Want to live in the East Valley?  Look no farther than the Seville Golf and Country Club, located in Gilbert, AZ 85297.  Seville is primarily bound by Chandler Heights Rd. to the north, Riggs Rd. to the South and on Higley and Power roads to the East and West.  It is also conveniently located just a few miles away from the loop 202.Want a smaller, starter home?  Seville has it.  Larger, mansion-esque home?  Got it.  Single story, no problem.  Two story - plenty to choose from.  Quite and well manicured community?  Yup!What about homes with potentially STUNNING interiors?  With the majority of Seville buil... 05/06/2007

Latest Gilbert Market Statisticsby Kaushik Sirkar, Chandler REALTOR®Chandler AZ Real EstateYes I'm based in Chandler.  But I don't work only in Chandler :)  I serve my clients in many of the East Valley cities and Gilbert is no exception!  Per ARMLS, please find enclosed the last 30 days worth of data from the lovely town of Gilbert.Active - 2534 Properties FoundSquare FeetBedroomsBathsList PriceSale PriceAgent DOM Cumulative DOM Min73500 $ 137,500$0 00Avg242932.58$ 433,423$0 86101Max940588.5$ 3,100,000$0 648648AWC - 50 Properties FoundSquare FeetBedroomsBathsList PriceSale PriceAgent DOM Cumulative DOM Min128331.75 $ 199,000$0 1614Avg221332.43$ 385,284$0 110124Max476064.5$ 1,395,000$0 445513Pending - 332 Properties FoundSquare FeetBedroomsBathsList PriceSale PriceAgent DOM Cumulative D... 05/03/2007

Here is a quick Market Snapshot for Gilbert, Arizona according to the Arizona Multiple Listing Service.  Only Single Family Detached Homes are included in this chart.The SOLD Listings are from Jan. 1st, 2007 through today May 2, 2007AWC stands for Active with ContingenciesTOM stands for Temporarily Off MarketDOM stands for Days On Market Statistics Active - 2416 Properties FoundSquare FeetBedroomsBathsList PriceSale PriceAgent DOM Cumulative DOM Min85600 $ 180,000$0 00Avg247732.60$ 442,938$0 86100Max940588.5$ 3,185,000$0 647647AWC - 54 Properties FoundSquare FeetBedroomsBathsList PriceSale PriceAgent DOM Cumulative DOM Min128331.75 $ 199,000$0 1513Avg219532.42$ 381,275$0 105121Max476064.5$ 1,395,000$0 444512Pending - 288 Properties FoundSquare FeetBedroomsBathsList PriceSale PriceAgent ... 05/02/2007

Gilbert's Cosmo Park is the best all-around dog park in the country for 2007, according to a monthly dog magazine's recently released rankings.Dog Fancy, which considers itself "the world's most widely read dog magazine," praised Cosmo Park for its doggie exercise equipment, man-made lake and beach area, and amenities catering toward dog owners.Cosmo Park, near Ray Road and Loop 202, opened last July to major fanfare, with about 1,500 canines and 6,000 owners flocking to the grand opening."Cosmo Park is a pretty special place, and it's nice that people outside of the Valley and outside of Arizona are recognizing that," town spokesman Greg Svelund said.----------------------------------------------------------------------------Once again, the Valley receives national recognition for bein... 04/24/2007

About four (maybe 5) years ago, I went on an appointment to try and qualify a certain family for a mortgage.  This was before I was "the boss." I was just a "Senior Loan Officer", beating the streets for any mortgage clients that I could find.  I used to always offer to drive to them if they were too busy to visit my office and this was one of those cases. I pulled Mom and Dad's credit over the telephone and inquired as to their income. I did my loan officer type calculations and figured out that I could qualify them for an Arizona FHA mortgage, but very little else.  (This was before the Option ARM.) When I walked into their apartment, I was a bit taken aback.  It was a young couple with four children and they were living in a two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment.  One bedroom for the p... 04/04/2007

If you are reading this, it means you actually want to know what the market is doing in the East Valley (Ahwatukee, Apache Junction, Chandler, Gilbert, Gold Canyon, Mesa, Queen Creek, Sun Lakes, and Tempe).  Decipher these numbers how you wish.  Or call me with any questions.  In the last 30 days:13,221 homes have been on the market.  1623 of them have gone "pending" or in plain English, have sold.  That pending ratio is 12.3%.  1572 have gone from pending to sold in the last 30 days.  The average sold price was $478,578.  Homes were getting about 96% of what they were asking.  The average days on market was 120.   The easiest way to find current homes for sale in the East Valley, is to search the MLS system through free on my website.  You don't even have to register, how easy is that?... 04/02/2007

Time and time again my staged listings are selling. I am convinced that spending the money to stage a home is well worth the investment. I just sold a Gilbert home in two days that we had staged - the same Gilbert home sat on the market for 8 months last year with no offers. A little time, energy, and money up front will save a tremendous amount of time, energy and money in the end! 03/21/2007

DO YOU KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON? When you are a full partner in our brokerage you will attend partners meetings that are held two times per month in the training room. Find out what is going on in our market center. Updates from Broker Joe, special events, awards and more! Don't miss it...EVERYONE IS WELCOME! Contact us when you are interested! 03/14/2007

Even with the slowing housing market, homes continue to go up in Gilbert and real estate continues to clip along. Homebuilders including Taylor Woodrow Homes, Lennar, and Cachet Homes are planning to bring about 3,600 houses to the southeastern sections of Gilbert. Gilbert real estate is perceived as an infill community, which may be fueling popularity of new home projects in the area, said Jay Butler, director of Realty Studies at ASU. In January, Gilbert was the third largest issuer of residential permits in Maricopa County. Some of the new real estate developments include Layton Lakes, a 1,965-home Lennar project at Lindsey and Queen Creek Roads; Adora Trails, a 1,871 unit planned community at Riggs Road in between Val Vista Drive and Higley Road which will have numerous builders; Sh... 03/06/2007

So you've just moved into your incredible new home and one thing is keeping you up at night. No, it's not buyer's remorse. Your amazing real estate agent made sure that wouldn't be an issue. It's the fact that you got such a great deal on your amazing new home in Gilbert (or the surrounding area) that now you don't have enough furniture to fill it up!! Well, You Gotta Know about Cortate Furniture. If you're like me, you would love new furniture but there is no way on this green earth, that you are paying retail for it. And however much you love a bargain, searching and hunting on Craigs List and eBay is just way too time consuming. Enter Cortate Furniture. In a little white barn, in the middle of fields is the best priced furniture on the planet. The story goes that a smart woman who wa... 03/05/2007

Here is a little sprinkling of some great Gilbert, AZ neighborhoods.  Check back often, as I will keep adding here.  Starting on the North side and working down:Val Vista Lakes - I have written about Val Vista Lakes before, it definitely deserves mention as a great Gilbert neighborhood.  It combines a great location, with a fabulous clubhouse including a sandy beach that kids can't get enough of.  Along with an excelling school and a huge range of homes, this Gilbert neighborhood is one to check out.  Freestoneneighborhoods - any of the neighborhoods around Freestone Park has some Gilbert real estate worth looking at.  They range from smaller duplexes to regular family sized to McMansions.  Proximity to the great city park lends itself to steady appreciation and entertainment for the wh... 02/28/2007

Greetings!  Hope you are happy and healthy.  Included in this month's letter, is the infamous "Realtor Calendar".  After I didn't reorder them in December, many of you asked when I was sending them out.  I took that as a good sign and got them reordered.  I hope you enjoy it.  I am thinking about doing a magnetic shopping list this summer.  Is that something you would like?I realized recently that in every letter I say the market is going strong but I never tell you why.  Arizona State University has an incredible Realty Studies program that spits out all kinds of statistics every month about the current real estate market.  Jay Butler, head guy in charge, said that the average home price rose $4,000 from December '06 to January '07, to $260,000.  Now, he also makes mention of the fact ... 02/19/2007

As previously mentioned in Episode 1, John and Jane were ready to go on their first day of house hunting.  With two small children and Grandma in town, we were only allotted 2 hours for our venture.  That meant we decided to forgo fixer uppers in North Mesa where John works, and stick with fixer uppers and new homes here in Gilbert.  We started with a nearly new home in the neighborhood they are renting their current home.  Obviously the benefit is that they already know the area and have friends.  The bad news is that there is hardly any yard, it doesn't have the coveted 4th bedroom/guest room/playroom, and it's at the tip top of their price range.  Next we went to an older Gilbert home in a good area, with a nice yard and no HOA.  There we were able to realize that Jane for sure wants... 02/19/2007

So, you're hunting around, you've decided on AZ because you're finally sick of cold/earthquakes/hurricanes/floods/out of control housing costs, take your pick.  But you're not quite sure of where to settle down and call home.  To help you out in this important decision, I'm going to run a series of the Top 5 Things about each East Valley city, Gilbert, Mesa, Chandler, Queen Creek, and Tempe.  So without further ado (drumroll please..)Gilbert AZ!5.  It's GREEN!  Not many places in the Valley of the Sun can shout that acclamation.  Sure, Gilbert's nowhere near as green as most of the country.  But in comparison to almost every other Phoenix suburb, Gilbert neighborhoods are downright tropical.  Every community has at least one neighborhood park, there are tons of city parks, along with do... 02/15/2007

A pretty constant question I hear from soon-to-be clients is "What will I get my money out of?"  Everyone knows that eventually they will sell and they'd like to enjoy some upgrades in their home.  But what is the best use of a remodeling budget?  Pretty much everyone agrees, it's the kitchen.The overall look is heading towards cleaner, airier, sleeker - but still traditional.  The popular Tuscan look that is so rustic, warm and inviting is still working but make sure you don't overdose into the heavy English Country look that is out.  These days people like to see some contrast, either with colors or materials.  Yesterday the hot topic was the cabinets, today it's the countertops.  Granite is still very popular but right on its heels are the quartz products that mimic the look but are ... 02/14/2007