Hot News - Jerry Wamsley - Arizona Best Real Estate

March 16, 2007

Fountain Hills land fetches $110 million
Tatiana Hensley
Arizona Republic

The Ellman Cos. of Phoenix placed a winning bid of $110.1 million for nearly 2 square miles of state trust land in Fountain Hills auctioned Thursday by the Arizona State Land Department.

"We have a sizable investment in the Fountain Hills area already," said Don Kile, president of the Preserve at Goldfield Ranch, an Ellman subsidiary that plans to create a community of 1,000 homes east of Fountain Hills.

"We are really proud to have another sizable investment and be able to work with the town and the citizens and put together a plan we think will work with everybody, including the (Fountain Hills Unified) School District."

Ellman, run by businessman Steve Ellman (see photo at left), entered the bidding only minutes before the start of Thursday's auction. The 1,276 acres of state trust land was recently annexed by Fountain Hills at the northern end of town.

Also read Ellman Cos. buys Fountain Hills land for $133M
(June 29, 2006) The Business Journal, Phoenix

March 13, 2007

32-story condo tower proposed for downtown
Ginger D. Richardson
Arizona Republic

A developer who has already made his mark in downtown Phoenix with one condominium tower is now proposing a second, 32-story residential project in the heart of the city.

The $100 million development, called Omega, would be located at Second Avenue and Adams Street, behind the Orpheum Lofts. Once built, it would be the third urban housing high-rise downtown.

It is the brainchild of Chicago native turned Phoenix resident David Wallach, who is taking an increasingly active role in the redevelopment of Phoenix's core.

March 6, 2007

The experts' predictions
Vicki Johnson, First Vice President - Desert Heritage Mortgage
Arizona Republic

This year's prognosis:

2007 looks to be a year of continuing the readjustment toward a balancing of supply and demand in the housing market.

The resale market is adjusting gradually as seller's reduce their expectations from the price levels of last year. As buyers and sellers psychologically adjust to the new reality, we believe the market will normalize in an evolutionary way over the year.

March 2, 2007

Sales of pricey luxury units get headlines
Peter Corbett and Katie Nelson
Arizona Republic

A wave of mid-rise condominiums is spreading across the Valley, with prices for luxury units soaring.

Condo towers of up to 13 floors are changing the real estate skyline in some key areas in Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe.

The elite condo market has been getting headlines for its big-money sales. What started in 2003 with $2.7 million condos at Esplanade Place in the Biltmore area of Phoenix has pushed to nearly $4 million for penthouses at the Scottsdale Waterfront Residences.

March 2, 2007

An aggressive agent can help reduce stress
Glen Creno
Arizona Republic

Shannon and Philip Biancamano, who both work in the health care field, needed to sell their home in Surprise because they bought a spec home from a builder.

They had to close in 30 days on their new home, which they did. They listed their existing home in June 2006 and showed it for a couple of months before getting a buyer.

The buyer had some credit difficulties but still qualified for a loan. They took the house off the market and prepared for the closing.

January 20, 2007

Valley fighting mortgage fraud wave
Catherine Reagor
Arizona Republic

A wave of mortgage fraud is rippling through pockets of the Valley, inflating home values through scams called cash-back deals.

Left unchecked, cash-back deals cost homeowners and lenders millions of dollars and could erode confidence and values in Arizona's real estate market.

The fraud involves obtaining a mortgage for more than a home is worth and pocketing the extra money in cash. Neighbors may then discover home values in the area are exaggerated. Homeowners stuck with overpriced mortgages may never recover the difference. And lenders end up with bad loans that, in the long run, could hurt the Arizona real estate market, the largest segment of the state economy.

While the extent of the fraud is unclear, an Arizona Republic investigation into these cash-back deals found organized groups of speculators have bought multiple homes this way, leaving whole neighborhoods with inflated values. Add to these the individual deals done by amateurs who hear others talk about the easy money they made from cash-back sales.

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