TheTucsonFoothills

here’s one for the books

When 4151 E La Paloma Drive sold for $715,000 in 2006 it was listed as 3300 square feet – with the Floor Plan people shown as the source - and it was in vintage 1976 condition,
like this,

 

and this,

 

And after spending $715k the new owner spent a whole bunch more and remodeled it and listed it for $1,000,000 in 2009.  Meanwhile, somehow it had grown to 4000 square feet, and the owner was now listed as the source.

And it looked like this,

and this,

A very nice improvement, but it didn’t sell.
So it was reduced to $899 then $799 then up to $839, etc. And along the way it went through a few listing agents.

Meanwhile the square footage stayed at 4000 sf, but suddenly the Assessor, as in Pima County Tax Assessor, was listed as the source. Baloney, that’s just not so. As a matter of fact, the assessor shows the square footage as 2530 sf. And they always did.

And that brings us to the present and latest new listing for La Paloma Drive. Yes it’s been listed again. It turned up today asking for $350,000 as a short sale (can you believe it, half what it sold for in 06, before the remodel). 

And finally, it’s now listed as 2530 square feet, with the Assessor as the source.

Make sure you know what you’re buying.

4151 E La Paloma Drive Tucson, AZ 85718
(listed by Long Realty)

see thefoothillsToday.com
to find your Foothills home

and yet another contract in Pima Canyon

I realize my reports of one contract after another in PC may be getting very tedious, but it’s Pima Canyon, what can I do, I can’t ignore it. So I’ll at least try to make this one interesting …

7303 N Mystic Canyon Drive – first listed in February 2010 for $1,127,000 and failed to sell - 
is reported in contract, currently listed at $799,900 ($222/sf) – down about 33%.

You may recall that last March they announced a really creative approach to pricing this house. They announced right in the listing that they were going to drop the price $5000 every week until it sells. Is that a nifty idea or what. And, as you can imagine, if buyers weren’t breaking down the doors before, why rush to make an offer now that you stand to save a bundle by just sitting back and waiting. And time went by but no one took the bait. So they scrapped that idea and went back to the more traditional tactic of dropping $50k or so, unannounced in advance.

and PS-  this may very well take the cake for the lowest $$/sf sale in PC in many moons. (that is, not counting a few foreclosures that were ripped apart and needed $250k or more to put them back together)

7303 N Mystic Canyon Drive , Tucson, AZ 85718
(listed by Coldwell Banker Residential Br 70207)

hacking your Gmail account the easy way

I received the following email, purportedly from Google, but obviously from some ill disguised cretins who are trying to boost my Gmail account without breaking a sweat.

Dear Valid User,
Our Account users discovered series of illegal attempts on your Gmail account from different IP locations.This is for your own safety to avoid your account closed, you will have to verify your account by filling out your Log-in below by clicking the reply button. Account will be de-activated and erased from our database if no response in 72 hours. We apologies for any inconveniences.
After receiving the information requested you will be able to continue using your Account.

User name:..
Password:..
Date Of Birth:..
Occupation:..
Country Of Residence:..

Yeah sure, no problem, and while we’re at it how about my ss #,

This message came from Gmail Team @ rgjohns@telus.net

Aha,

now isn’t this curious

6702 N Los Leones Drive in Skyline CC sold in 2004 for $825,000 and it sold again today for more than it did back then, for $950,000. And since there’s no indication of improvements having been made during that interval, I’m, let’s say, surprised at how much it sold for today.

Is this an indication that the market is loosening up, or is it just one of those things.

In any case that makes two sales today in Skyline CC. And that is something. The other is reported just below this,

6702 N Los Leones Drive Tucson, AZ 85718
(listed by Long Realty)

another older 2 story sells in Skyline CC

7028 N Mission Hill Lane sold today for $700,000 ($164/sf) from a $750,000 list price. It was built in 1982 and it’s a 2 story with spectacular views. And maybe that did it.

And in the Catalina Foothills 2 story homes are tougher to sell. Because there are simply many fewer buyers who are interested in, or would even consider, a 2 story. Elsewhere in the country, in SF, NY, Chicago, Atlanta, etc. 2 story homes are the norm. But not here.

But seeing this sale I remembered another recent sale of an older 2 story home in Skyline.
So I pulled up the recent sales and sure enough there it was - 7077 N Mission Hill Lane – right up the street – also sold. 

And looking further, I found 4 more older 2 stories that sold recently in Skyline. Yes, there are plenty of older homes in Skyline and many of them are 2 story. Why. Well, one reason is that if they’re up on the hillside it’s a lot cheaper and easier and quicker to put up a 2 story than to prep and fill and level enough of the hillside to accommodate a 1 story home. And sometimes, even if you’re willing to take the time and pay the price there just isn’t enough hillside to accommodate a single story home of the size required. And above it all are  the views from the 2nd story

Here’s a link to the 5 two story homes sold in Skyline in the last 6 months 
- they sold for an average of 168/sf.

And while I was at it, I thought I might as well compare two stories sales to one story sales in Skyline and see what’s what.  

And guess what, 5 one story homes also sold in Skyline in the same 6 months.  
- they sold for a little more, $190/sf, but, it seems that in Skyline, anyway, buyers are just as interested in two story homes as they are in one stories.

see thefoothillsToday.com
to find your Foothills home

2011 sales, at a glance

That’s for single family homes sold in the Catalina Foothills through the Tucson Association of
Realtors®  MLS

see thefoothillsToday.com
to find your Foothills home

to contract in record time

Listed just 14 days ago, 6820 N Los Leones Drive, a recently completed spec home in Skyline CC, range priced from $1,600,000 to $2,000,000, is in contract. Already!

This is the spec I mentioned when it was listed two weeks ago that claims to have
“Views you have only dreamed of” (making their debut today)

6820 N Los Leones Drive Tucson, AZ 85718
(listed by Long Realty)

see thefoothillsToday.com
to find your Foothills home

make that 5 Golf Villas in contract

Last week I wrote that after months with barely any action at all that 4 Golf Villas in Ventana suddenly went to contract in a couple of days - how quickly things can change 

One of them was at 6081 N Black Bear Loop, and now its neighbor at 6084 N Black Bear Loop is also in contract. Last week there were 11 for sale, this week there are 6.

see thefoothillsToday.com
to find your Foothills home

another day, another contract in Pima Canyon

Today it’s 2162 E Sentry Ridge Court’s turn. It’s a 2009 built spec, (and in good company on Sentry Ridge which has seen more than its share of specs, but more on that later) that was first listed (well before it was completed) in the easy-breezy days of January 07 for the not so easy-breezy price of $2,800,000 ($612/sf)

And as with many other high-end homes that were dreamt up during the boom years it sat around enduring one price reduction after another, and going nowhere, until 11 days ago when it was relisted and reduced to $1,550,000 ($339/sf), from $1,755,000. And presto, it’s gone.

And it’s a beautiful house too, with a very striking and distinct design that, though it wouldn’t appeal to everyone, I’m sure it would have sold long ago had it been more reasonably priced, long ago.

2162 E Sentry Ridge Court Tucson, AZ 85718
(listed by Long Realty)

That makes 5 homes in contract in PC, from $939,000 to $1,550,000
+ 5 sold in the last 3 months, from $1,038,000 to $2,325,000.
No doubt, the market in Pima Canyon is kicking into gear.

see thefoothillsToday.com
to find your Foothills home

what’s in contract

looking at which homes are in contract offers a good indication of what’s happening in the market right now – of what homes and at what prices buyers and sellers are actively engaged in the market. 

Overall, there are 105 single family homes in contract in the Tucson Foothills. And with 364 for sale, 105 in contract equals 28% of the available inventory in contract. And that’s pretty good.
But as you’ll see, and which has been the case for some time, most the action is huddled at the lower end, with diminishing activity at higher price points.

Broken down by list prices, there are;

84 in contract at $0 to $599,999 
(201 remain for sale) is 42% of available inventory in contract. WOW!

12 at $600,000 to $999,999
(90 for sale) is 13% of available inventory in contract

6 at $1,000,000 to $1,499,999
(36 for sale) is almost 17% of available inventory in contract

3 at $1,500,000 to $1,999,999
(18 for sale) is almost 17% of available inventory in contract

0 (none) at $2,000,000 & UP 
(21 for sale) is a long dark tunnel

**the number of homes in contract as reported above is only accurate at the time I pulled the data. Late Sunday afternoon. That’s because the number of homes in contract is constantly changing, so what you see when you click the listings above may well be different than what I’ve reported. That’s due to additional homes going to contract, while others that are in contract pass all the hurdles and sell (and therefore are no longer in contract) while still others fail to pass all the hurdles and fall out of contract and go back on the market as active listings.

see thefoothillsToday.com
to find your Foothills home