Mesa, Arizona Real Estate - Teri Ellis - Homes Arizona Real Estate: Arizona: Phoenix

As we all know, anything to help the sorry state of affairs in our country when it comes to homeownership is a "good thing."  Here's a GREAT START! Homeowners' Survival Event will be held at the Indian Steele Park in Central Phoenix this Saturday, March 20 from 10-4. This event will be hosted by the Arizona State Escrow Association in conjunction with the Better Business Bureau, Arizona Department of Financial Institutions and the Arizona Mortgage Lenders' Association at the Memorial Hall at 300 East Indian School Road, Phoenix, AZ 85012.

There will be no cost to attend, and the event is will host mini sessions on adjustable rate loans, foreclosure/homeowner eviction, short sales, scams, tax implications and second mortgages/credit impact.

Those who would like to meet with a counselor from Take Charge America are encouraged to bring copies of their current loan documents, e.g., Note, Truth-in-Lending Statement, etc.

The event is sponsored by trade associations and will not be used as an opportunity to promote the services of a for-profit organization.

This is an awesome program/event for those struggling with their homes and mortgage payments. Spread the word! For more information, please click HERE!

P.S. Maybe it's time we started a GROUP "Helping Homeowners" which would include these types of events!

My photo blogs are hardly wordless, but I just say "less." Each year, my husband and I take some time and go to the Phoenix Botanical Gardens. We really enjoy the beautiful displays presented there. This year, there were myriad glass sculptures by Chihuly all set into the desert scape. You'll notice the cacti, but the forefront with the light shining through are glass. The one I am sharing is one of my favorites. Another of my photos at the Chihuly exhibit which is on Flickr - was included in an article about our area.

I always appreciate knowing this information, so let’s clean out our garages, our storage sheds and take the “stuff” to the appropriate places for disposal.

Common hazardous waste and other items can be disposed:

from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., May 14, 15 and 16 at Desert West Park, 6602 West Encanto Boulevard, and

from 7 a.m. to noon on June 18, 19, 20 at Los Olivos Park, 2802 East Devonshire Avenue.

Accepted items include: batteries, oil, up to five gallons of paint, antifreeze, pesticides, pool chemicals, computers, five road tires per household and household appliances that use refrigerants, including refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners and heat pumps. Commercial loads will not be accepted.

 The city will also pick up household appliances at your home for a fee. Call for a collection appointment.

For information, send an email to:

pwserve@phoenix.gov, or

visit phoenix.gov/publicworks, or

call 602.262-7251.

Mesa, Arizona Real Estate. Call me at: 480.216-3334 for information on purchasing or selling a home in Mesa, Arizona or surrounding towns. OR email me: Teri@TeriEllis.com. Feel free to visit one of my websites: HomesAzRE.com, ServingMesaArizona, MoveToMesaAz.com or MoveToSunnyAz.com. Or stop by my blogs at: MesaAzRealEstateVoice; or Phoenix Valley Real Estate Blog

Budget cuts due to the slowdown in the national and local economies have created the  necessity of reducing library hours at 15 Phoenix, Arizona public library locations as follows:

11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Eight libraries – Burton Barr Central, Cesar Chavez, Cholla, Ironwood, Juniper, Mesquite, Palo Verde and Saguaro – are open from 1-5 p.m. on Sundays.

For more information, call 602.262-4636 or visit Phoenix Public Library

Mesa, Arizona Real Estate. Call me at: 480.216-3334 for information on purchasing or selling a home in Mesa, Arizona or surrounding towns. OR email me: Teri@TeriEllis.com. Feel free to visit one of my websites: HomesAzRE.com, ServingMesaArizona, MoveToMesaAz.com or MoveToSunnyAz.com. Or stop by my blogs at: MesaAzRealEstateVoice; or Phoenix Valley Real Estate Blog

I have always been a proponent of purchasing a home rather than renting one; however, it seems that more and more people are contacting me to find them a rental home. They want to “rent” a home rather than to buy! Just this past week, I showed two separate clients a rental.

I am also receiving calls from those that have purchased a home through me – and are now foreclosing or considering short sales.

Almost without exception, these homebuyers who purchased a home through me have refinanced or acquired a second loan on their home purchased six or seven years ago.  Due to our market, they are upside down and cannot sell their home. As a result, they need to “rent.”

There are, of course, other reasons, but being upside down due to refinancing seems to be at the top of the list.

Many former homeowners are now needing “or” wanting to rent a home. Because of their inability to pay the loan on their home thereby short selling or foreclosing, investors are flooding the market picking up homes at prices not seen in years. Typically an investor makes needed “fixes” and “repairs,” and then puts the most recent purchase on the market as a rental. Therefore, purchasing property as a rental has become increasingly more affordable.

So? If you were to ask me if it’s a good idea to  purchase a home NOW, I would resoundingly say YES! Whether for investment purposes or to live in – I’ve never seen a better market to purchase. Just be very careful when thinking of a short sale – or a bank owned. Become educated on what that is about.

Mesa, Arizona Real Estate. Call me at: 480.216-3334 for information on purchasing or selling a home in Mesa, Arizona or surrounding towns. OR email me: Teri@TeriEllis.com. Feel free to visit one of my websites: HomesAzRE.com, ServingMesaArizona, MoveToMesaAz.com or MoveToSunnyAz.com. Or stop by my blogs at: MesaAzRealEstateVoice; or Phoenix Valley Real Estate Blog

Well, here we are again, celebrating Earth Day helping us learn and remember how we can help keep Phoenix beautiful at a lunchtime celebration from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 22, at Cesar Chavez Plaza, Jefferson Street and Second Avenue – downtown Phoenix.

This event is sponsored by “Keep Phoenix Beautiful” and will include booths and other activities where we can learn about recycling and sustainability and pick up useful giveaways.

For more info: check out: Keep Phoenix Beautiful. See you there!!!

Mesa, Arizona Real Estate. Call me at: 480.216-3334 for information on purchasing or selling a home in Mesa, Arizona or surrounding towns. OR email me: Teri@TeriEllis.com. Feel free to visit one of my websites: HomesAzRE.com, ServingMesaArizona, MoveToMesaAz.com or MoveToSunnyAz.com. Or stop by my blogs at: MesaAzRealEstateVoice; or Phoenix Valley Real Estate Blog

A new voting concept in Phoenix, Arizona! Wow, that sounds like a great idea. Although we typically mail in our  ballots, I do like some of the ideas proposed giving voters more days and more voting sites to cast their votes.

Some of those Benefits would include:

1 - Voters could cast ballots at any voting center convenient to their home, work or activities.

2 - The voting centers would be open for several  days, such as the Saturday and Monday before a Tuesday election - thereby allowing more opportunities for voters to participate.

3 - The total number of facilities and workers needed would be reduced, freeing up the best facilities and using the most knowledgeable and skilled workers.

4 - This plan would reduce the number of polling places from 128 - and election costs by an estimated $250,000 addressing the fact that an overwhelming number of Phoenix residents vote early by mail. In the City's last election in May, 96% of votes cast were by mail. Since 2001, city elections have received 80 percent of all ballots cast via mail.

For more information on the proposal and community meeting dates, times and locations, visit: Phoenix.gov.

Mesa, Arizona Real Estate. Call me at: 480.216-3334 for information on purchasing or selling a home in Mesa, Arizona or surrounding towns. OR email me: Teri@TeriEllis.com. Feel free to visit one of my websites: HomesAzRE.com, ServingMesaArizona, MoveToMesaAz.com or MoveToSunnyAz.com. Or stop by my blogs at: MesaAzRealEstateVoice; or Phoenix Valley Real Estate Blog

We all use them. Those little cards that attach to our key chains? Well, now, the Phoenix Public Library customers  can carry their library cards on their key chains and/or in their wallets.

The colorful new library card comes in both credit card-size and a new key tag size.

New customers will receive the new-look card in both types for free when they join the library.  Existing card holders may switch to the new card and receive both sizes for a $2 fee.

For more information, call 602.262-4636  or visit phoenixpubliclibrary.org.

Mesa, Arizona Real Estate. Call me at: 480.216-3334 for information on purchasing or selling a home in Mesa, Arizona or surrounding towns. OR email me: Teri@TeriEllis.com. Feel free to visit one of my websites: HomesAzRE.com, ServingMesaArizona, MoveToMesaAz.com or MoveToSunnyAz.com. Or stop by my blogs at: MesaAzRealEstateVoice; or Phoenix Valley Real Estate Blog

AARP has a Tax-Aide program for residents with a low to moderate income. They are able to receive help preparing their federal and state tax returns FREE. 

What to bring: just bring last year’s return, the amount of stimulus payment received (did you know you had to pay taxes on that payment?), and documentation of the real estate taxes paid in 2008.

Where to go: Granite Reef Senior Center, 1700 North Granite Reef Road, Scottsdale – 480.312-1700; Via Linda Senior Center, 10440 East Via Linda – Scottsdale, 480.312-5810; Paiute Neighborhood Center, 6535 East Osborn Road – Scottsdale, 480.312-2529.

In addition, the City of Phoenix has partnered with the  Internal Revenue Service to help low-income individuals and families file their 2008 federal taxes so they can claim the Earned Income Tax Credit.

 Nineteen sites are available where eligible residents can receive free tax preparation services and financial education information. Individuals who earned less than $12,880 and couples who earned less than $41,646 may be entitled to receive from $438 to $4,824 under the tax credit program.

For the locations and other information, call: 602.263-8856.

Mesa, Arizona Real Estate. Call me at: 480.216-3334 for information on purchasing or selling a home in Mesa, Arizona or surrounding towns. OR email me: Teri@TeriEllis.com. Feel free to visit one of my websites: HomesAzRE.com, MoveToMesaAz.com or MoveToSunnyAz.com. Or stop by my blogs at: MesaAzRealEstateVoice; or Phoenix Valley Real Estate Blog

For those in the Phoenix Valley who want to dispose of their batteries, oil, up to five gallons of paint, antifreeze, pesticides, pool chemicals, computers, five road tires per household and household appliances that use refrigerants, including refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners and heat pumps, there are two places in where anyone can bring these items.

8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. -  March 12, 13 and 14 - at Paradise Valley Park - 17648 North 40th Street, Phoenix; and

8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. - April 23, 24 and 25 at North Phoenix Baptist Church, 5757 North Central Avenue, Phoenix

The City will also pick up household appliances at your home for a fee. Call for a collection appointment: 602.262-7251, or email to pwserve@phoenix.gov or visit the website at: Phoenix.Gov/publicworks.

Residents are also encourages to donate or recycle televisions and other elecftronic equipment rather than throwing them out as garbage. Unwanted electronic items, including televisions, can be taken to one of the city's monthly household hazardous waste collection events or to the city's transfer stations.

We all need to be particularly careful not to just dump everything into the garbage. These services are offered for free....just take the stuff and drop it off.

Mesa, Arizona Real Estate. Call me at: 480.216-3334 for information on purchasing or selling a home in Mesa, Arizona or surrounding towns. OR email me: Teri@TeriEllis.com. Feel free to visit one of my websites: HomesAzRE.com, MoveToMesaAz.com or MoveToSunnyAz.com. Or stop by my blogs at: MesaAzRealEstateVoice; or Phoenix Valley Real Estate Blog