Folklore has it that Surprise Arizona gets its name because an early resident was supposed to have said that if a city grew here, it would be a Surprise.

Surprise! A city did grow here. And a fast growing city it is also. Recent figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau say that between the year 2000 census, and the 2006 revised estimate that Surprise grew over 177%, from 30,918 people to 85,914. John Hagen of the cities economic development department estimates that population is now over 100,000. He also states that the city leads the country in job growth.

Opportunities abound in Surprise, whether you are looking for a home to raise a family, or a place to start a business.

For more information on homes and condos for sale in Sun City, Sun City West, Surprise or Peoria Arizona or the greater Phoenix and west Maricopa county areas, please visit either of my web sites http://jclittle.com or http://suncityneighborhood.com. You may search the MLS free and with no registration required.

Jim Little, Your Sun City Realtor
http://jclittle.com/
Ken Meade Realty
17001 N Del Webb Blvd
Sun City AZ 85373
800-877-1776
623-977-1776

By the way…if you know someone who is interested in buying or selling real estate, please call me with their name and phone number. Thank you!
See my other blog at: http://activerain.com/blogs/jlittle

My Promise to Home Buyers

•1  Help with the qualification process

•2    Recommend 3 local lenders

•3    Identify suitable properties

•4    Set appointments and show qualifying properties

•5    Prepare buyers estimated closing costs on selected property

•6    If a new home is selected, help review the Public Report and developers contracts

•7    If a resale home is selected, prepare purchase contract per buyers instructions

•8    Present offer, explain and negotiate counter offers, addendums etc.

•9  Disclose and advise on neighborhood environmental issues, i.e. busy streets, airports, fumes, dumps, flood plain, etc.

•10  Get disclosures and CC&R’s from sellers and others.          

•11  Help arrange recommended inspections and walkthrough

•12  Assist throughout escrow

•13  Negotiate desired seller repairs

•14  Assist in finding local vendors   

•15  Follow through on loan process and status

•16  Counsel and advise on all relevant matters

•17  Close escrow, assist at closing if necessary

•18  Provide keys, garage door openers, etc.

•19  Communicate throughout the process

Jim Little, Your Sun City Realtor
http://jclittle.com/
Ken Meade Realty
17001 N Del Webb Blvd
Sun City AZ 85373
800-877-1776
623-977-1776

By the way…if you know someone who is interested in buying or selling real estate, please call me with their name and phone number. Thank you!
See my other blog at: http://activerain.com/blogs/jlittle

How much? That is the question. How much can you get for your housing dollar in Sun City?

As June 2007 approaches a close, there are 36 homes for sale in Sun City AZ. They range in price from $99,000 for a 2 bedroom 1 bath home of 918 square foot home to $150,000 for a 3 bedroom 2 bath home of 1706 square feet.

Is a condominium in your future? Today, June 24, 2007, there are 176 condos for sale in Sun City AZ. You can get a 625 square foot studio, perfect for the occasional winter visitor for only $69,500. You can go all the way up to a 3 bedroom 2 bath condo of 1735 square feet for $150,000 even.

Your housing dollar buys a great deal in Sun City. For homes in a major metropolitan area, housing prices in Sun City and the greater Phoenix area are a bargain at this time.

For more information on homes and condos for sale in Sun City, Sun City West, Surprise or Peoria Arizona or the greater Phoenix and west Maricopa county areas, please visit either of my web sites http://jclittle.com or http://suncityneighborhood.com. You may search the MLS free and with no registration required.

Jim Little, Your Sun City Realtor
http://jclittle.com/
Ken Meade Realty
17001 N Del Webb Blvd
Sun City AZ 85373
800-877-1776
623-977-1776

By the way…if you know someone who is interested in buying or selling real estate, please call me with their name and phone number. Thank you!
See my other blog at: http://activerain.com/blogs/jlittle

Get a Realtor.
A Realtor can help you with local knowledge of traffic patterns, flooding of streets, future construction plans, location of dumps, railroads, future freeways and a multitude of other things that will impact your enjoyment and the future value of your home.
Your Realtor will represent you, and you alone in the transaction. Oh, did you think the nice sales agent on the property was Your agent? Think again. The developers sales force represents the developer. No one is better at writing contracts to protect themselves at the buyers expense than the developer.
Your Realtor will also interpret the documents for you, helping you to understand before you make the decision to buy the impact of the community rules and the subdivision report. Not everyone is willing or capable to read 100-200 pages of legalese to protect themselves.
Your Realtor can  help you with arranging financing if the builder doesn’t have a preferred lender. Your agent can also help you with the "fine print" if the builder does have a preferred lender. A major valley builder has recently gotten people to buy homes with mortgages requiring prepayment penalties up to 3% of the purchase for as long as 9 years. Many people don’t have the equity to be able to sell the home without paying to get out. 

Check the reputation of the builder.
In the state of Arizona, you can check with the Better Business Bureau and the Arizona Registrar of Contractors. Many builders will have complaints, that goes with the territory when you are creating such a complex product, so look for the fewest complaints for the size of the builder. Also look to see the complaints have been resolved. If possible, ask past customers about their experiences.

Always get a home inspection.
The reputable builders have their own quality control employees. These people will appreciate a fresh set of eyes looking at the home. Also, being human, they may have a little bias toward their employer. An independant home inspector works for you, the buyer, and no one else.

Problems after the sale?
First work with the builder. If the complaint is valid all reputable builders will attempt to solve the problem.
Second contact both the Better Business Bureau and the Registrar of Contractors. If you cannot resolve the problem, and it is found to be poor workmanship by the contractor, the state of Arizona has a recovery fund paid for by contractor licensing fees. This fund can reimburse a buyer up to $30,000, but only if you start the process in less than two years after completion.

Jim Little, Your Sun City Realtor
http://jclittle.com/

How do we survive the heat?
It really isn’t that hard. Dress in light weight, light colored and loose clothing. (See the suit and tie in my picture? I’m not wearing it today.) Drink lots of ice water, try to stay out of the sun, start your day earlier. Wear a hat, especially if you wear your hair in the wide center part style my genes blessed me with. Use sun screen when you must be in the sun. If worse comes to worse, go to one of the cool places in Arizona I wrote about here.

Do People Golf in the Heat?
You betcha Red Ryder! A few years ago, 3pm on a hot day in August, I was taking a listing. The client was an 83 year old woman who kept saying "hurry Up". I asked her do you have a tee time? She said yes, at 3:30. Keep in mind the hottest time of the day is 5PM. I made the comment that she was a great deal tougher than I am, she replied, "we don’t shoot for the pin, we shoot shade to shade" That’s dedication to your sport.

Hope you all have a pleasant and safe summer.

Jim Little, Your Sun City Realtor
http://jclittle.com/
Ken Meade Realty
17001 N Del Webb Blvd
Sun City AZ 85373
800-877-1776
623-977-1776

By the way…if you know someone who is interested in buying or selling real estate, please call me with their name and phone number. Thank you!
See my other blog at: http://activerain.com/blogs/jlittle

Lake Powell, to some an engineering marvel, to others a playground, and to some a mistake, is like no other place on earth. Soaring Navajo Sandstone cliffs, towering buttes, seemingly endless canyons, beaches and hiking trails – like playing in the Grand Canyon by boat. Houseboaters, fishermen, and visitors from all over the globe come to the lake to get away! http://www.lakepowellvacations.com

Petrified Forest is a surprising land of scenic wonders and fascinating science. The park is located in northeast Arizona and features one of the world’s largest and most colorful concentrations of petrified wood. Also included in the park’s 93,533 acres are the multi-hued badlands of the Chinle Formation known as the Painted Desert, historic structures, archeological sites and displays of 225 million-year-old fossils. http://www.nps.gov/pefo/

Sedona Arizona is one of Northern Arizona’s most sought after communities. With it’s charming lifestyle, pleasant weather, and recreational opportunities, Sedona is definitely worth the trip whether you are nature lover, seeking fine dining, or a new age experience. http://www.sedona.net/

Montezuma’s Castle, One of my favorite places! – Nestled into a limestone recess high above the flood plain of Beaver Creek in the Verde Valley, stands one of the best preserved and most easily accessible cliff ruins in North America. http://www.desertusa.com/mzm/index.html

Arizona Snowbowl is only 70 miles south of the Grand Canyon, a short two-hour drive from Phoenix. The San Francisco Peaks reach an altitude of 12,633 feet. Visit Arizona Snowbowl and take a breath of fresh mountain air. http://www.arizonasnowbowl.com/

The White Mountains The resort community of Pinetop-Lakeside, surrounded by the largest stand of Ponderosa pines in the world, is a fabulous year round retreat. The pristine lakes and streams, http://www.whitemtns.com/Community/Pinetop_Lakeside/
The Kaibab is one of six National Forests in Arizona operating under the care of the United States Forest Service. If you are a citizen of the United States, you are one of its proud owners. If you are from foreign lands, you are an honored guest. In either case, we hope your visit with us will be an enjoyable and rewarding experience. http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/kai/

Grand Canyon – Located entirely in northern Arizona, the park encompasses 277 miles of the Colorado River and adjacent uplands. One of the most spectacular examples of erosion anywhere in the world, Grand Canyon is unmatched in the incomparable vistas it offers to visitors on the rim. Grand Canyon National Park is a World Heritage Site. http://www.nps.gov/grca/

Jerome, Arizona – A friendly glow greets the Central Arizona town. Visualize the warm morning sun rising over the cool mountains of the Mogollon Rim, "Plateau Country.” http://www.desertusa.com/mag98/oct/stories/jerome.html

Arizona Guide Historic & Scenic – http://www.americansouthwest.net/arizona/

This information is provided to you by your Realtor for life:

Jim Little, Your Sun City Realtor

Ken Meade Realty
17001 N Del Webb Blvd
Sun City AZ 85373
800-877-1776
623-977-1776

By the way…if you know someone who is interested in buying or selling
real estate, please call me with their name and phone number. Thank you!

Right now is an excellent time to do so. Builder inventories are high, there are a lot of spec homes and back from sold homes. Many of these have upgrades as well. Builders are often offering incentives to move this stock.

WARNING!!! Get a Realtor first! You need someone who represents YOU!!!

Did you think the nice salesperson who greets you at the development is your agent? Think again, they work for the builder and only the builder. If you get a Realtor, that person works for you. In fact, the Buyer/Broker agreement in the state of Arizona is an EMPLOYMENT agreement. Who pays for the Realtor? The builder, just as the seller pays for the buyer’s broker. It is FREE folks!!!!

If you don’t have your own representative in a new build transaction, who will help you read and interpret the CC&Rs, Bylaws, Disclosures and Public Report? Who will tell you that the builder’s financial division is committing you to a 9 year prepayment penalty. Who will tell you about the gravel pit that operates 24/7 a block away? How about access road flooding? Many people in the Maricopa area were suprised during last summer’s rains to find out that the roads leading to their developments were flooded. It took some trips of 30 or more miles to get to the grocery store 2 miles away due to low lying roads being flooded for at least a week. It made getting home after a long day’s work that much more difficult also. What were these people saying? "No one told us". I’ll bet they didn’t have a Realtor, just the friendly sales builder’s sales rep.

It isn’t  just weather or gravel pits, there are other pitfalls as well. Many new residents of the Avondale/Goodyear find out several times a year just how loud a NASCAR race car can be.They also find out how many people go to the races. There are 3 roads off the freeway there. There will be 300,000 or more fans trying to use them. Can you say gridlock? Just wait until the race starts. Have you heard 33 500hp cars without mufflers in your neighborhood?

These are just a few reasons to have your own Realtor involved in any transaction.

Jim Little, Your Sun City Realtor

Sun City Arizona’s Premier Adult Community 

In 1960, Del Webb started a revolution in retirement housing for active adults. When Del Webb opened with 5 model homes, a shopping center, motel, golf course and a recreation center. Originally conceived of as a retirement community for winter visitors, it has become a commmunity of 45,000 people, over 60% permanent residents. If only Del could see it now.

Sun City has 11 golf courses, 3 of which are country clubs. For those who don’t golf, Sun City has 7 recreation centers offering sports includin swimming and tennis and pickleball to name a few. Each recreation center has a pool, as well as facilitied for every imaginable hobby, kept current to reflect today’s interests and desires. One example is the personal computer clubs. It was 24 years after Sun City was started that the first personal computer was commonly available. At this time there are over 140 activity clubs. Rec fees are currently $380 per couple for a year (4/1/07) Golf fees range from $13 per round in the summer, (Yes we do golf in the summer) to $1186 unlimited as of Oct. 2006.

We are a proud neighbor and supporter of Luke Air Force Base, about 6 miles west. Luke provides services to our many veterans and military retirees.

All of the services you could desire are in Sun City and the immediate area. Malls, shops, hotels, restaurants, medical and hospitals are all convenient.

Homes and condominiums for sale in Sun City range from a studio condo listed for $69,500 to a 5 bedroom custom at $725,000

For more information on Sun City, please fell free to contact me

Jim Little, Your Sun City Realtor