Patrick's Blog

A  Good-Bye!  to Good Friends! In life, there are many key moments. The most viscerally touching moments involve the transitions - birth & death. The nicest thing we can do with another soul is to create a life, and right next to that in value, depth, involvement, commitment...  is to help someon...

Real Estate in Val Vista Lakes, of Gilbert AZ Part 5 of 7 parts After the RTC left Val Vista Lakes, and the HOA became fully homeowner controlled, things began to settle down. The various builder subdivisions were nearing build-out. The remaining production subdivisions - Castaway Bay (Finitz Hom...

  The RTC finishes up... Part 4 in a 7 part series As the savings & loan debacle worked its way through the Arizona economy in the early 1990's, no one was spared. Locally, that meant a degree of pain for the developers & builders working in Val Vista Lakes. The Val Vista Lakes Partnership went i...

Real Estate Sales in Val Vista Lakes, Gilbert Arizona - History Repeats Itself? Part 3 in a 7 part series By the late 1980's, sales in Val Vista Lakes were brisk, although much of that would be attributed to the builders, with their large advertising budgets... Richmond American, Ryland, McBail, ...

Real Estate History in Val Vista Lakes, in Gilbert Arizona. The tropical water wonderland of Val Vista Lakes was not always what visitors & residents see when they drive thru the shady, tree-lined streets. Once upon a time, not all that long ago, actually, the land was a sheep farm. Then, in the...

Real Estate for sale in Val Vista Lakes is moving off the shelves like crazy! There are over 2000 homes in Val Vista Lakes, yet just 41 homes are for sale right now. And, there are over 35 homes in escrow! The buyers are out there, folks... Priced right, homes in Val Vista Lakes will sell in a re...

Zillow Home Value IndexYou need the latest version of the Macromedia Flash Player.Download the free Flash Player now!More Maricopa Home Values

Just released today, the new Realtor.com app for the iPhone seems like a sure hit! It is elegant, yet simple. Designed for Realtors, it answers the question buyers often ask - "how much is THAT one?" when out seeing homes... It is updated every 15 minutes, although I wonder about the latency betw...

Changes in the Market, 2009 Yeah, there have been changes! Some good, some not so good...                                                                         For Buyers                                            For Sellers Homes Priced <200k Sellers Rule the Day... Buyers are even using acce...

Remember the movie The Cooler? In that film, a down-on-his-luck type is hired by a casino to "cool off" a hot gambler, simply by standing near the guy at the tables... In a reverse-cooler sense, I have had the odd fortune this week of writing not one, but two offers on homes (different homes, dif...