Josh Carlson | We Know Urban Realty | (480) 510-8755 x23 1005 E 8th St Unit 2007, Tempe, AZ Awesome 4 bedroom/2 bath condo near A.S.U 4BR/2BA Condo $1,250/month Bedrooms 4 Bathrooms 2 full, 0 partial Sq Footage 1,209 Parking 2 dedicated Pet Policy Conditional Deposit $1,250 DESCRIPTION Very Nice 4 bedroom/2bath updated condo within walking distance to A.S.U. Great location, even better price for 4 bedrooms. Community is gated with assigned parking, nice community pool. **Listing Courtesy of Prudential Arizona Properties** see additional photos below
RENTAL FEATURES - Air conditioning - Dishwasher - Refrigerator - Stove/Oven - Microwave - Laundry area – inside COMMUNITY FEATURES - Swimming pool(s) - Sauna/Spa - Gated property LEASE TERMS Looking for a 12 month lease, but would consider alternatives **Listing Courtesy of Prudential Arizona Properties**
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS Building ext barbeque/common area Community Pool Kitchen Dining Living
Contact info: Josh Carlson We Know Urban Realty (480) 510-8755 x23

Equal Opportunity Housing

Posted: Jan 10, 2012, 8:53pm PST

]]> http://www.weknowurban.com/blog/2012/01/amazing-deal-4-bedroom-near-a-s-u-for-1250/feed/ 0 http://www.weknowurban.com/blog/2011/12/tempe-town-lake-22-only-1600/ http://www.weknowurban.com/blog/2011/12/tempe-town-lake-22-only-1600/#comments Wed, 28 Dec 2011 19:15:47 +0000 Josh http://www.weknowurban.com/blog/?p=2251

Josh Carlson | We Know Urban Realty | (480) 510-8755 x23 945 E Playa Del Norte Dr Unit 3022, Tempe, AZ 2BR/2BA Condo $1,600/month Bedrooms 2 Bathrooms 2 full, 0 partial Sq Footage 1,287 Parking 2 dedicated Pet Policy No pets Deposit $0 DESCRIPTION 2 pkg spaces. Upgraded third floor condo in lakeside community in Tempe. Super close to ASU, Loop 202, and downtown Tempe. Upgrades include maple cabinets, slab granite, stainless appliances, oversized stone floors, and views of Tempe Town Lake and more. Community amenities include great fitness center, courtyard pool and spa, secure parking (2 spots), club house and BBQ area. True 2 bedroom with 2 closets. Unit to be prof cleaned by Landlord. see additional photos below
RENTAL FEATURES - Air conditioning - Central heat - Fireplace - Walk-in closet - Tile floor - Living room - Dishwasher - Refrigerator - Stove/Oven - Microwave - Granite countertop - Stainless steel appliances - Washer - Dryer - Laundry area – inside COMMUNITY FEATURES - Garage parking - Clubhouse - Fitness center - Swimming pool(s) - Lake - Gated property - Secured entry - Elevator - New property (< 5 years) LEASE TERMS 12 month minimum
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS view from balcony kitchen from entry kitchen 2 living/kitchen living from kitchen mstr bed bath 2 bed 2 mstr bath W/D
Contact info: Josh Carlson We Know Urban Realty (480) 510-8755 x23

Equal Opportunity Housing

Posted: Jan 5, 2012, 12:20pm PST

]]> http://www.weknowurban.com/blog/2011/12/tempe-town-lake-22-only-1600/feed/ 0 http://www.weknowurban.com/blog/2011/08/help-wanted/ http://www.weknowurban.com/blog/2011/08/help-wanted/#comments Wed, 31 Aug 2011 18:39:20 +0000 Will Daly http://www.weknowurban.com/blog/?p=2202 We Know Urban Realty is looking for another hard-working energetic agent to work with our ASU rental prospects.  We average about 70 rental requests every single week and frankly our agents are exhausted trying to keep up.  If you currently have, or are in the process of getting, your real estate license and are interested in working with ASU students looking to rent urban condos then give me a call (Will Daly) at (480) 510-8755 Ext 4.  Thanks.

Buildings such as One Lexington (formerly Century Plaza) just celebrated their 1-year anniversary since they started selling again and are currently 75% sold out.  ST Residential, new owners of 44 Monroe were initially going to restart sales in late 2010, but switched to luxury rentals in January, and has been filling up quickly ever since.  ST’s other recently acquired properties include 3rd Avenue Palms in midtown Phoenix and Safari Drive in downtown Scottsdale, both of which are selling at a good steady pace.  Optima Camelview is merely months from completion of it’s final phase (Phase 3) which will bring the total development to 700+ units.  Another iconic Scottsdale project, The Mark is selling very well with only 30% units remaining.

A lot of urban fans are excited to see West 6th (formerly Centerpoint) in downtown Tempe finish construction and potentially change the face of Mill Avenue…for better or worse?  Originally planned as luxury condos, selling at the peak for $700+/SF, West 6th has finally found a new owner who has decided to lease the building for now.

Not all fractured condo buildings have been blessed with new ownership.  Summit at Copper Square is “controlled” by Stearns Bank, the buyer of the original construction loan and owner of approximately 70 of the original 165 units.  I put the word controlled in parenthesis because in my opinion Stearns is kind of stuck.  It’s stuck because we believe most prospective buyers of the 70 unit package would want to rent those units out while waiting for the condos sales market to improve.  Unfortunately, we believe that renting of the units may be prohibited by the CC&R’s and the law.  Oh, and to make matters worse lenders will not make loans in the building.

Several other buildings around town are facing similar problems, which is hardly a great thing, but opens up one-of-a-kind opportunities for cash buyers to scoop up great condos at historically low prices.  First time homebuyers, investors and second home seekers have a solid array of choices, matched with interest rates that are still very low.  More and more people are buying which leads us to wonder, have we hit the bottom?

Coming sooner that later developments:

While a chunk of the once planned luxury fleet of high-rises in the urban valley have vanished, a few are hovering on the horizon and surprisingly a few new developments are picking up steam and filling up city council schedules.  Safari Drive was originally planned to encompass nearly the entire Northeast corner of Scottsdale and Camelback roads, minus the Triyar development along Scottsdale with Chipotle and Sprinkles.  Now, that vacant lot has a “next generation” vision according to Gray Development, the potential developers, with plans for a 750 unit, 3 building complex over 4.3 acres. The project is currently battling opposition from the local community and is in and out of council hearings with an undetermined completion date.  Ownership is another hurdle for the developer, as ST Residential (Owner of Safari Drive) and Triyar Properties (owner of that retail along Scottsdale Rd) jointly own that parcel and the project is contingent on the sale of the land, among other obstacles.

It is great to see a little life in the development industry, as it was hibernating for nearly 2 years.  Unfortunately, many grand visions during the latter half of the boom will never come to fruition, but in time, cranes will return to the urban cores.

Other notable development updates:

• The W Residences, comprised of 18 new penthouses on the top two levels of the hotel have re-opened sales, with starting prices of $800+/SF, yes I said 800.
• The unique 5-story, 21 unit Chateaux on Central found a new owner and relaunched sales at the beginning of the year.  With units ranging from 5000-8000+ SF and prices STARTING at $1.3M, they are still waiting for their sale as of May 1st.
• Portland 38, Evergreen 9 and Roosevelt 11, (Jag Development) all have builder units still available although Portland 38 had very strong sales in 2010 and is almost sold out.
• Sage Scottsdale, a 50 unit townhome/condo community on the canal off Chaparral is steadily selling after a opening earlier this year.
• Corriente, on the outskirts of downtown Scottsdale, just off Indian Bend is actually building their last phase, with construction on the first building set to open later this year.
• Cityscape in downtown Phoenix opened its office and retail sections, with an eclectic array of shops, restaurants, grocery and drug store, bowling alley and full service gym.
• Scottsdale Quarter, a mixed-use complex just east of Kierland Commons opened last year and is continuing to expand with a great variety of shops and restaurants and appears to be quite popular.  iPIC is definitely worth checking out.

That has changed, at least in some urban condo communities.  I have written before about certain urban communities where lenders are not willing/or are unable to loan money for purchases.  At the time, I suspected that prices would suffer greater at those communities.  Well now, it seems that there is evidence to suggest that is the case.

Edgewater at Hayden Ferry, in Tempe is one of my favorite urban communities.  I love the location and the style, the building seems to be extremely well-built, and it seems to be very well-managed.  Unfortunately, due to several things beyond the control of management, lenders will not loan money there to condo buyers.  Because of this, prices have gotten pummeled.  A good example of this is a two bedroom condo with over 1600 square feet on the sixth floor of Edgewater, with fantastic upgrades, that just sold for $220,000.  That’s less than $140 per square foot for commercial grade construction in one of the best locations (IMO) in the Valley!  The property originally sold for $835,000 less than four years ago.  Now, I don’t typically look at previous sales prices to determine whether a deal today is great or not, but in this case I think it is significant.  While we have seen many properties sell for 40 or 50% of their original sales prices it is unusual to see a Class A property sell for 26% of the original price.  Clearly, the reason for such a significant drop is because buyers must pay cash at Edgewater….fewer Buyers leads to lower prices.  I believe that it is just a matter of time, probably very little time, before lenders will loan money to buyers at Edgewater.  When that happens, I believe that prices will begin to trend upward.  Are we at the ‘bottom’?  I don’t know.  But for those of you who have cash to spend, buying a fantastic two bedroom condo with fabulous lake views for $220,000 sure makes sense to me.

Last week I learned of another sale that fell through for the same reason but at a different condo community; this time 525 Town Lake.  In this case the HOA receipts at 525 Town Lake are 36% under budget.  Expect prices there to drop as a result.  But be careful not to get lured just by the low prices as there is potential risk in buying in a community where the HOA is unstable or at financial risk.  I’m not saying not to buy there, just know what you’re getting into and know potential risk before doing so.

The AZ Rep reported today about problems at Summit at Copper Square.  I’m not privy to the financial matters at Summit but I will say this; the owner David Wallach is very hands-on and working hard to see the high rise condo building through these tough times.   He is currently renting out condos at very very competitive prices (contact us for details or to see the condos).  The added cash flow from the rentals will hopefully keep things afloat.   It’s amazing what a difference just a few months made during the boom/bust cycle.  Summit delivered condos starting roughly December 2007 and closed approximately half the units.  If construction had finished six months earlier I think that most of the condos would have closed.  But then again, if construction had been completed six months later I bet only 10% of the condo buyers would have closed.  

BTW, Mr. Wallach if you’d like a venue to refute or add to today’s article, feel free to e-mail me your observations or comments and I will gladly post them to this site.

Things have been pretty quiet at Century Plaza, at least in our circle.    For a while there we were hearing from prospective investors every single week.  Over the last month we have only heard from one party.  The guy was very very confident that he and his company would soon own Century Plaza.  IF they do buy the high rise and IF they are able to offer the condos at the prices he shared with me then expect some really great bargains in the future.  Keep watching this web site or give us a call to learn more.

I swung by Stella to shoot more photos last week; what a great community!  I’d put the quality, style and overall look up against ANY (except Galleries at Turney) infill row house style project in town.  I’ll post the photos in the next couple days so you can see for yourself.

Stay tuned for more…