Monthly Archives for
March 2006

Well I for one am glad it’s Friday. Jason took the week off from work to finish up some other sites he has been creating and to get started on my big relaunch of this site (May 1st! Be there or be square…). So basically, he’s spent his vacation working. But that is ok, because we are making up for it today. I’m rushing to finish this post up so I can dash home and scoop him up to head out to Scottsdale for sushi and shopping, two of our favorite things. Mmmm, sushi, mmm, shopping.

Other than our fun day planning, not much else too exciting is going on. I’m heading out the the Sale Day at La Terraza tomorrow with my parents to see if they want to purchase a condo. Then on Sunday I’m holding open my East Mesa listing from noon to 4pm (COME VISIT ME!). We are going to attempt to sneak in a viewing of Ice Age 2 some time in the next week or so, but that’s about all the craziness for now.

Hope you are all having fabulous Fridays also!

This:

1. Check out the virtual tour on my cute East Mesa listing! Let me know if you’d like to see it in person.

2. My Chandler listing is officially on the market now and we have decided on a list price of $289,000, which is honestly a deal for such a nice house in a great neighborhood.

That:

I put a whole bunch of my favorite photos from the wedding I did a few weekends ago up on my flickr account last night. I recommend watching them in the slide show on 2.5 seconds. I’d love feedback if you have any!

I showed a house this evening out in East Mesa. It’s in a lovely neighborhood called Mesquite Canyon, that I have actually sold another house in already. Anyway, it was a floor plan I’ve seen before, but it was more nicely put together, with designer paint, gorgeous, diagonally set tile and an utterly fabulous backyard.

The backyard had several things going for it right off the bat. First off, the lot size is well over 10,000 square feet, which is rare if not practically unheard of these days. Secondly, it’s been professionally landscaped to include both grass and rocks. Third, there is, of course, an awesome built-in barbecue with sink and counter space and everything. But none of these was my favorite part.

This, was my favorite part:

Yep, that is a super cool, totally awesome, in ground trampoline. I cannot tell you how excited I was to see it. I was a gymnast as a kid and it brought back so many fond memories of the gym and all the hours I put in flipping and jumping and twisting around on one of those babies. I literally showed up 15 minutes early just so I could sneak in back and do some flips. Oh man. It was so much fun.

Also, though, kind of sad. I jumped for about 10 minutes and had to stop because I was afraid my chest was going to explode. I actually went inside and stuck my head under the kitchen faucet to get a drink of water because my throat was killing me (don’t worry, the clients I was showing were friends and the house was vacant, so rather than being horrified by my unprofessionalness, I think they were just happy I didn’t wear my old gym leotard). I’m not exactly in what you would call ‘peak’ physical condition. Getting old is a bummer.

Regardless of how much of a wake up call this experience was in terms of my aerobic capabilities, it completely made me determined of one thing: I want one and I want it now. On the way home I called Jason and the conversation went something like this:

Me: So, you know what’s really cool?

Jason: What?

Me: Trampolines… can I have one? Because they are so so awesome. And also, the kids would like it. And I really really really wanted one when I was a kid and one Christmas we even totally thought we were getting one and ended up with a ping pong table, so I was thinking that you could totally repair that hole in my heart, that devastation of my childhood, if you would just let me get one… Please please please please please!

Jason: Babe, I’m pretty sure one wouldn’t fit in our backyard. And also, do you realize that you’re almost 28 and not 10?

Me: No, no I did not, but thank you for reminding me, you big old stick in the mud. Boo.

So I guess I can’t get one just yet. But someday, with the Net as my witness, I will have one of my own. And hopefully before I have to have a hip replaced. I have this feeling I’m going to be feeling those five back flips I did tomorrow. Ow.

Yep, I have a listing in Maricopa, that cute little new city you pass on your way to Rocky Point if you take the good short cut (don’t know it? oo, too bad, so sad). It’s a more budget friendly place for home buyers, but you’ll definitely have a bit of a commute if you work in Phoenix. Maricopa is off the I-10 freeway at Queen Creek, west about 16 miles.

However, if you’re looking for a newish home with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, nicely upgraded with 18-inch diagonally set tile in the kitchen and an extended covered patio out back with three ceiling fans and a built-in TV for under $250K, this is the place for you. It’s very close to the Bashas and there’s a bagel place, a subway and a Native New Yorker right there as well (hmm… maybe I need to move there, it’s got everything I need…). It was built in 2003 and has 9 foot ceilings, hardwood floors and granite counters in the bathroom. We are asking $230,000 and there is a one year home warranty thrown in with a successful close of escrow.

Check out the pictures:

And here is the link to the virtual tour.

Call me if you’re interested!

Well if you expected anything except utter chaos here, you obviously don’t know me very well. I’m currently in the raining and pouring stage of the year, apparently. Check out this basic run down of the week:

1. I made an offer on a condo for a client I’ve been working with for a month or so, last week. It was accepted and we are now in the inspection phase.

2. Gray had tubes put in his ears on Tuesday. We saw an ear, nose and throat specialist a couple of weeks ago about his chronic ear infections and the doctor did a test that determined there is fluid trapped behind his ear drums and that is why he keeps getting the ear infections. He will grow out of it eventually, but until then, we decided tubes are a better option than antibiotic after antibiotic. The surgery went really well and Gray was a peach. I was a little scared when they took him away to put him under, but it took literally less than 10 minutes and then we were back to see him and he was great. So I’m hoping the Newlin house is headed for healthiness.

3. I have two all-day showing appointments in the next two days. I have a client coming in from Chicago to look at second homes with a pool in Chandler and Gilbert tomorrow and another in from Indiana (job transfer) to look at houses with 3-car garages and good schools in Chandler and Gilbert. I’m excited for both appointments. The pictures of the listings we’ve narrowed the list down to are gorgeous. I will take some of my own to share here, too.

4. I took a new listing yesterday! Until Monday, it’s an exclusive. Monday (when the mom gets in from out of town) it will go up on the MLS. It’s in Chandler at Alma School and Warner and is just over 1700 square feet with 3 bedrooms, 2 and a half baths and a loft. It also comes with the fridge and a heated spa out back. Check out the pictures:

Contact me if you think you might be interested!

Mesa Public Schools are having their spring break this week, so we decided Tuesday that a trip to the zoo was in order. The weather was a gorgeous sunny 75 and we even got to see the baby orangutan (briefly, his mother is very protective). Take a trip to the Phoenix Zoo before it gets too hot!

This is what Ben looked like the entire time at the zoo. He’s obsessed with maps and directed us everywhere. I’m telling you he’s better than OnStar.

If you look close you can see a little orangutan head next to his mommy’s chest. He was born January 27, 2006 and they have not yet named him.

Grandma went with us (she’s on spring break too).

Another cute little primate.

And this is Gray an hour after we got home. Yes, I’m a terrible mother. I always forget that just because it doesn’t feel hot out doesn’t mean you can’t get sunburned (especially when you have see-through skin like Gray).

It’s all anyone could talk about this weekend. Five months of nothing and then it was like the heavens had saved all of the moisture from those five months and dumped it down in one day. About 3 AM Saturday it started to rain and didn’t stop for 24 hours. For me it was a giant hassle for several reasons. First of all, I took a new listing out in East Mesa on Saturday, but I couldn’t take exterior photos. I will need to go out this week to get non-rain soaked shots. Also, I went to a fund raiser for a friend’s work at The Venue in Scottsdale Saturday night. Not only did the rain wreak havoc on my hair (what, really, is the point of curling it when as soon as I step outside it slicks down to the sides of my head?), but between the wet streets and running in heels to avoid the rain, I completely bit the dust in a painful and embarrassing manner before I even got to the fund raiser. Ow.

That said, however, in the bigger picture, the icky rain day was totally worth it. Waking up Sunday morning to crisp, clear air in the valley surrounded by stunning snow covered mountains was glorious. Yay for the rain!