JUST LISTED!

OPEN HOUSE Saturday, 8/11/07 from 10:00AM to 2:PM

WHERE: 5431 W. Cochise Dr. Glendale AZ 85302

This fine 4 Bedroom 3.5 Bath home with private pool, spa and game room is being offered for $375,000. The home is perfect for a family with teenagers. Your kids can frolic in the pool or spa, or play games in the game room. You will know who they are with and where they  are.

Call me at 623-977-1776 for directions.

Peoria schools and a Glendale address.

Suprise Tennis and Racquet Complex:  14469 W Paradise Lane, Surprise AZ

The state of the art Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex had a soft opening on Monday. It features 25 courts, one of which will seat up to 5,000 spectators. The grand opening is scheduled for September 8, 2007. 17 of the courts will be lit for night-time play, something very important in Arizona’s heat.

Plans for the use of the complex include lessons and tournaments for the young players, including some smaller courts, up to hopes to get USTA sanctioned and senior matches.

The complex is part of the Surprise Recreation Campus. This jewel in the city’s crown includes Cactus League playing fields for the Texas Rangers and the Kansas City Royals, as well as the main library and a wonderful water park. For more info on parks and recreation in the city, click here.

In other news, Surprise and its neighboring city, El Mirage have agreed that Surprise will provide police dispatch service for El Mirage when its contract with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office expires. El Mirage is setting up a completely separate police department.

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 in the Sun City Neighborhood, Peoria, Glendale or Surprise, please call me with their name and phone number. Thank you!

Home of the "Jiffypop" stadium.

Officially known as the University of Phoenix Stadium, home of the Cardinals football team, to those of us old enough to remember, the stadium looks like the Jiffypop popcorn containers. Yes folks, that was before microwaves, let alone microwave popcorn.

Not only does Glendale host the Cardinals, but the NHL Coyotes call Glendale home, and the Los Angeles Dodgers are bringing their spring training facility to Glendale in the near future, to be near the other Cactus League teams

Glendale is located in the rapidly-growing northwest Phoenix metropolitan area. Glendale is known for its excellent medical and educational institutions, beautiful neighborhoods, easy access to freeways and a diversified economic base.

Glendale is the 100th largest city in the United States and the fourth largest city in Arizona based on its population of approximately 227,000. Although fast growing, rapid population growth has been handled with caution and foresight, characteristic of Glendale’s planning process.

The median age of Glendale’s population is 31 years. Overall, residents are young, college-educated, married with children, Glendale’s population is younger than that of other Valley cities.

GLENDALE’S PAST:

Glendale was founded as a temperance colony in 1892. The arrival of the railroad and an ice plant heralded Glendale’s glory days when this agricultural mecca was Arizona’s largest shipping center.

Preserving its past is as important to Glendale as planning for its future. The old town clock graces the downtown

square, accompanied by a vibrant downtown with many restaurants and antiques shops. Not to be missed is Catlin Court, home to many small shops and boutiques housed in early cottages in Glendale’s historic district. Glendale’s skyline is enhanced by the famous six-story brick Sugar Beet Factory. Much of the city’s history can be seen in historic sites that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places

RESIDENTIAL HOUSING:

There’s a home in Glendale to match every lifestyle and budget. Some feature scenic mountain views, desert vistas, wide-open spaces, golf course and lake properties. Strong community programs and many organized neighborhood associations help to keep Glendale a popular city in which to live.

Home prices in Glendale are some of the most affordable in the Phoenix metropolitan area, and buyers have a wide range of choices. There are beautiful master-planned communities, luxury executive homes, older residences in quiet, tree-lined neighborhoods, ranchettes, condominiums, and affordable starter housing.

COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES:

Glendale is home to four institutions of higher learning, including the nation’s largest and oldest  school – The American Graduate School of International Management.

• Arizona State University-West 602-543-5500
• 4701 W. Thunderbird Road, Glendale      
• American Grad School of International Mgmt.
• 15249 N. 59th Ave., Glendale 602-978-7011
• Midwestern University 623-572-3200
• 19555 N. 59th Ave., Glendale
• • Glendale Community College

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 in the Sun City Neighborhood, Peoria, Glendale or Surprise, please call me with their name and phone number. Thank you!

The pot of gold is in a house in Sun City. It is at the end of my street, So I thought I would share this picture taken last night. (8/1/07)

That is one good reason to live in Arizona during the summer. As I turned around and looked behind me, I found another one.

These pictures were take with my Treo 700p Phone after a monsoon storm yesterday. Obviously right at sunset.

The rainbow was particularly spectacular, as it occupied about 240 degrees of the sky. We get used to beautiful sunsets here in Sun City, but the rainbow was a special treat.

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 in the Sun City Neighborhood, please call me with their name and phone number. Thank you!

The monsoon season has finally arrived in the valley. Rainfall totals exceeding 2" in some communities have been reported, with the typical street flooding and flooding washes.

This is a good time to remind everyone about the "Stupid Motorist Law". This law makes it illegal to pass traffic barriers and cross a flooded wash. Violators who have to be rescued will be required to pay for their own rescue! Don’t think about it. It is a dangerous practice, not just for the violator, but for the emergency crews who have to risk their lives to rescue them. The nice thing about monsoon flooding is that the washes will recede in an hour or two. Just be patient, you’ll get home sooner and safer.

On another note, there are areas in the valley with extreme soil conditions. They may be expansive soils, or worse, they may be prone to earth fissures. When buying a home, you need to know if the home of your dreams is built on one of these types of soil.

Expansive soils can crack your foundation.

Areas subject to fissures are even more dangerous. These are cracks in the earth that may be 10-20 feet wide, at least as deep and a quarter mile long or more. We haven’t had homes swallowed yet, but a horse was recently killed by a fissure related incident.

The majority of earth fissures occur in the southeast valley.

If you are buying a home, be sure your agent checks to see if your home is in an area of extreme soil conditions. If it is, get a soil survey.

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!

In Arizona, the typical listing agreement will include specific permission to do 2 things.

First, permission to put up a for sale sign. For most people with homes for sale this is a given, of course they want a sign. In Sun City and Sun City West, these signs are the best advertisment you will have. Many people like to drive the streets and see what is available. We get more calls from signs than newspaper ads.

The second permission is for the use of a lockbox. This can cause some concern for people. They often believe that the home will be less secure. In the greater Phoenix area we use the Supra box. This is an electronic box that requires a sophisticated electronic key to open. The key itself records the agent id, time and date of entry. This information is kept on Supra servers and must be updated daily or the key will not  open any boxes. This is a reasonably secure means to provide access and still maintain security.

An additional safeguard with the Supra box is hours of showing. Supra boxes have default hours of entry. They come set to only open between 8AM and 10PM. I own my own boxes and can set them to hours that my clients feel comfortable with.

By the way, some agents do not use the Supra box, but use a cheap combination box available at any hardware store. They than publish the combination on MLS data sheets. No record is kept, anyone could have access any time. I don’t know why they do this, but I guarantee I will never do it. It is in no way secure.

How important is access? We still have a buyer’s market. There are over 750 homes for sale in Sun City, and another 300 in Sun City West. If your home isn’t readily available to show, there are plenty of others, many just like yours. The buyers and their agents will just look at another. Your home may have not been exposed to the family that would have bought it. Lack of access is the fifth major reason why homes don’t sell in the Sun Cities.

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!

Crescent Crown Distributing has announce that it will build a regional headquarters an distribution facility at the Surprise Pointe commericial park.

Crescent expects to employ 250 people initially, growing to 600 jobs in the near future. The company also has a distribution center in Phoenix, which it will keep open. That facility employs nearly 600 people.

Crescent is a beer distributor, representing many high end brands such as Heineken, Miller, Labatt and others. The company expects to sell more than 16,000,000 cases of beer in Arizona in 2007.

Surprise City Councilman Joe Johnson said. "This brings real jobs the average citizens of Surprise can Get."

The Surprise Pointe development is expected to bring as many as 6,000 new jobs to Surprise. The positive aspects of this include shorter commutes for Surprise residents, increased non-residential property tax incomes, and less congestion on streets in neighboring communities. In addition, Surprise will no longer be a bedroom community for Phoenix and Glendale.

Surprise Pointe has a very strategic location, being near freeways and railroad tracks, in a major and growing metropolitan area, and within less than 6 hours from the Los Angeles/Orange County/San Diego markets.

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!

Growing, Growing Grown!

Forbes.com reports that Surprise Arizona is the third-fastest-growing suburb in America according the the Arizona Republic. In the same article, the Republic says that Money magazine rated Surprise AZ as first in the nation for the rate of new job growth.

Four of the top ten fast growing suburbs were in the West Maricopa County area. The other three were Buckeye, Avondale and Goodyear.

Most Family Friendly!

Suprise was also the city with the highest percentage of married couples in the U.S. with 69% of the households comprised of married couples. Source: socialexplorer.com

For more information about Surprise, click here

To learn more about homes and condominiums for sale in these or other west valley neighborhoods, such as Sun City, Sun City West, Sun City Grand, Peoria or Glendale Arizona, please visit my website here or call me.

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!

Surprise is the growth center of the northwest valley, located west of Glendale, Peoria, Sun City and Sun City West.

The town was a small, one-mile square village when it started in 1937. It has since become Arizona’s fastest growing city 4 years out of the last 5. The population is now over 100,000. For more about the population growth in Surprise, see my earlier article. click here

Surprise has a healthy mix of resident ages. There are many family oriented developments such as Marley Park Kingswood Park, West Point, Mountain Vista Ranch, Greenway Parc and others too many to mention. Homes for sale include many resales, as well as new homes that are being built daily.

In addition to the family developments, Surprise also includes Del Webb’s Sun City Grand. This is a priemie acctive adult community offering wonderful recreation and social opportunities for those who meet the age requirement of one resident 45 years old or older.

Surprise is a neighbor of Luke Air Force Base, just south on Litchfield Rd. Many of the fine men and women serving at Luke live happily in Surprise.

Current prices of homes for sale in Surprise range from $110,000 to $1,695,000. There is something here for everyone. The home values in this community are exceptional. Most of the housing stock is less than ten years old.

Schools and shopping are convenient, as is access to Interstate 10 an Loops 101 and 303.

The City of Surprise has built a Cactus league stadium for spring training activities of the Texas Rangers and the Kansas City Royals. The Dodgers will be coming to the nearby town of Glendale in the near future.

The Cactus league stadium is part of a city park complex including a water park, and the main city library.

All in All, Surprise is a wonderful place to live. For more information on new and resale homes for sale in Surprise, please contact me.

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!