Tempe tear downs bringing BIG bucks to area

Wowza. There's a few BIG projects happening in South Tempe right now.

Someone recently paid just over $730k for a home on a large lot in a snazzy neighborhood and they plan to tear it down so that they can build a 16,489 square foot home.

This isn't the first big tear down project in the area lately and another monster of a home is being built just a few blocks west of this home.

Yeah, we are seeing a bunch of money entering some of these areas with large lots.

You know what they say about land... "They aren't making any more." Good to see that people with deep pockets have been buying real estate again. :)

New Videos for Our Web Sites

Recently, I was talking about some real estate video ideas with my friend Bill Risser at Chicago Title. Bill and I talked about doing some community specific videos to give people an idea of what it is like to live in a certain part of town or a specific neighborhood. Since I had recently taken some photos of a neighborhood called The Lakes, we decided to start off with that one.

Take a look and see what you think…

After shooting the video for The Lakes, Bill suggested that I shoot a quick “into” video to our main web site.

“Just tell ‘em about the site.” “Keep it short and sweet.”

Um, ok…

At first, I didn’t really get what we would do with a short intro video but I’m kind of glad we gave it a shot. For now, we are using it in intro emails to send to people who come to our web sites looking for information about homes for sale.

 I'm looking forward to doing some more of these videos to talk more about areas where we have new listings or in places we enjoy working a lot.

Tempe Condos on Ash Avenue

The Ash Avenue Condominiums are found in an area we like a lot. As one of the "oldest existing neighborhoods" around, the Maple Ash neighborhood isn't always thought of when people are looking for Tempe condos. In fact, these charming older homes are one of the biggest reasons the area is so popular with so many people

Other than having some really cool homes, Maple Ash certainly does have a lot to offer by way of its location. Close to ASU, minutes from Mill Avenue, close to freeways, job centers, the airport, the PHX Zoo and so much more.

For some, the "newer" style homes, the tile and stucco look and the low maintenance of these homes is exactly what they want.

See this video or the photos below to get a little better feel for the neighborhood.
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Here's a few more photos of the neighborhood. Please let us know if you would like any information about the Ash Avenue Condominiums or about the homes in Maple Ash and surrounding neighborhoods.

Call Tempe real estate agent Nick Bastian at 602-803-6425 for details.

More Social Integration - Will It Help?

So, I'm a pretty big fan of WordPress for my web sites / blogs but have long wondered if/when/why/how it makes sense to use this Blogger platform for more writing.

Heck, I'm a pretty big fan of G+ and of just about ANY Google product, it just seems like WordPress does so many things, better.

With the new additions to the platform and with Stronger Ties to G+, will more people try giving this platform a real shot?

Since you can now tag people from Blogger, I wonder if some of these improvements are a sign of things to come. Will friends like +Chuck Reynolds or +Greg Taylor ever use the platform? Do you see small business owners with a presence here?

For my industry, I don't see a lot of tools or widgets for use here like we find on WP. I kind of like how you can add photos from Google but they seem to have to be located in the middle of the page and the size isn't easily changed? How do you even "tag" the photo?

As for a home search tool, I doubt we can really have nearly the customization as we do with other options. The widgets can probably be embedded in to the page but there doesn't appear to be custom side bars, custom pages etc.

Does Blogger have any SEO advantages or dis-advantages over other platforms? That kind of stuff is WAY over my head. When you hear of Google products, you just about have to assume there are some advantages. I'm just not sure the advantages outweigh the disadvantages...

South Tempe Gated Community

There is a cool little gated community in South Tempe called Tempe Village where we just took a new listing. The listing is located at 1087 W Caroline Lane and it's a gorgeous home. I like the location, I like the privacy of the neighborhood, the large greenbelt area, the community park and the style of the homes.

Earlier this year, I represented a buyer in this neighborhood and felt they had made a really good decision with their purchase. Given the upward trend in prices lately, I'd say they certainly did.

The home on Caroline Lane that we just put on the market really is immaculate. It's one of those places where you can easily tell that the people truly care about their home. My first contact with the sellers came via a web site lead from NickBastian.com. The owner told me that he would be moving out of state due to a job transfer. One thing that I found to be really cool is the fact that he was specifically searching the web for a local Tempe REALTOR to help sell the home. I love hearing stuff like that. :)

Take a look at some of these photos. I'm sure you will agree that the place is gorgeous.