The Phoenix Real Estate Guy » Photo of the Week http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com Phoenix Real Estate -- Anything and everything about it. Plus random musings... Now with Phoenix area MLS Listings Search! Sat, 04 Jul 2009 07:13:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 en hourly 1 © jay@thompsonsrealty.com () jay@thompsonsrealty.com() 1440 Phoenix Real Estate -- Anything and everything about it. Plus random musings... Now with MLS Listings Search -- And No Registration! jay@thompsonsrealty.com No no http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/powered_by_podpress.jpg The Phoenix Real Estate Guy http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com 144 144 What is That Thing in Your Blog Header? http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/what-is-that-thing-in-your-blog-header/552 http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/what-is-that-thing-in-your-blog-header/552#comments Sun, 04 Nov 2007 22:21:08 +0000 Jay Thompson http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/what-is-that-thing-in-your-blog-header/552 A reader recently asked, “What is that thing in your blog header? Some sort of plant or what?”

A while back, someone left a comment about the “pine tree” in my blog header and said it didn’t make sense for a Phoenix real estate blog to have a pine tree graphic.

Maybe I’ve been living in Arizona too long, but I thought it was obvious the stylized graphic represents Carnegiea gigantea — the Saguaro cactus.

The saguaro (pronounced sah-wha-roh) is native to, and grows exclusively in part of the Sonoran desert. Perhaps that is why some don’t recognize it — a lot of folks have never seen a saguaro in the wild.

These things get huge. Here’s a photo of me, six feet tall, standing next to a mature Saguaro:

This guy (the cactus, not me) is probably around 125 years old (scientists think they may live up to 200 years) and would weigh close to 10,000 pounds. The “arms” usually appear on cacti that are around 75 years old. This saguaro is roughly 30 feet tall, there are some out there over 50 feet and with 50 arms.

Contrary to popular belief, the saguaro is not endangered. They are very slow growing and extremely slow to propagate, so they are protected by Arizona law. It is illegal to damage, destroy or move a saguaro (you can get permits to transplant and harvest saguaro, but transplanting a specimen like this would be insanely expensive).

So the next time you see our little graphic in the blog header, think big giant Arizona saguaro cactus, not pine tree (though surprisingly to many, northern Arizona is home to reportedly the largest single stand of Ponderosa Pines in North America).

More info from Saguaro National Park.

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]]> http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/what-is-that-thing-in-your-blog-header/552/feed The Wild West: Beautiful, Hot, and a Wee Bit Windy at Times http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/the-wild-west-beautiful-hot-and-a-wee-bit-windy-at-times/346 http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/the-wild-west-beautiful-hot-and-a-wee-bit-windy-at-times/346#comments Thu, 17 May 2007 01:21:43 +0000 Jay Thompson http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/the-wild-west-beautiful-hot-and-a-wee-bit-windy-at-times/346  

We list a lot of land, particularly in the West Valley areas in and around Whispering Ranch, Wittmann and Tonopah. I love it out there. It's gorgeous high Sonoran desert terrain, with majestic mountain views, and lots of critters.

Today we went out to put up a sign on a newly listed parcel near Tonopah (just try finding a sign installer that is willing to go off road and locate a parcel via satellite imagery..) The picture above is a view from the parcel of Saddle Mountain. You can't get much more of a wild western name than "Saddle Mountain"! (and if you saw it from the other side, you'd understand why they call it that)

Whenever we are out that direction, we always check on our other signs as we've had some damaged or destroyed by vehicles, gun fire and theft (why would someone feel compelled to steal a real estate sign?) and now, the elements.

We arrived at one such listing today to be greeted with this:

Apparently it got just a tad bit windy out there. The name rider was blown off and twisted up too. We repaired and replaced as necessary. Who knows what the next desert drive will uncover…

 

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]]> http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/the-wild-west-beautiful-hot-and-a-wee-bit-windy-at-times/346/feed Listing Photo of the Week! http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/listing-photo-of-the-week/263 http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/listing-photo-of-the-week/263#comments Sun, 04 Feb 2007 18:35:14 +0000 Jay Thompson http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/listing-photo-of-the-week/263 Looking through ARMLS (Arizona Multiple Listing Service) this morning and came across this gem. Please note, this is the PRIMARY photo — the one photo displayed with the listing info when it’s first pulled up.

Pretty compelling isn’t it?

Really highlights the home and just makes buyers and buyer agents want to line up to see the home doesn’t it?

In our MLS, you can enter up to 6 photos. In the listing agents defense, he does indeed have six photos in the listing (the majority of listings in ARMLS do not!). Why he chose this one as the primary photo is beyond me.

We can also enter captions for photos. The caption for this one is, “Citrus Trre In Front Near RV Gate”. (my emphasis)

Remarkably, this listing expired a few days ago after 96 days on the market. I guess no one really wanted to stop by and see the citrus tree in dire need of pruning. A citrus tree in say, Minnesota, might be unusual and compel people to stop by. A citrus tree in the Phoenix area is about as common as… I don’t know… a corn field in Iowa? Snow on the Rockies? A teenager with a cell phone? The Cardinals losing a football game? A fish in the ocean?. Citrus trees practically grow wild here…

Sellers - *PLEASE* review the listing your agent enters into ARMLS. You have the right to see it, and ask for it to be accurate, free of typos, and to present your home in the best light possible.

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]]> http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/listing-photo-of-the-week/263/feed Why We Live in Arizona… http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/why-we-live-in-arizona/171 http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/why-we-live-in-arizona/171#comments Sat, 21 Oct 2006 02:52:49 +0000 Jay Thompson http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/why-we-live-in-arizona/
THIS is why we live in Arizona. May be hot as hades in the summer, but at least we never have to deal with this!

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]]> http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/why-we-live-in-arizona/171/feed Real Estate Pic of the Week http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/real-estate-pic-of-the-week-5/145 http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/real-estate-pic-of-the-week-5/145#comments Wed, 27 Sep 2006 18:51:26 +0000 Jay Thompson http://www.buygilberthomes.com/real-estate-pic-of-the-week-5/

I got an email yesterday from a regular reader asking me, “Where is the Real Estate Pic of the Week Month?” I bow my head in shame as I respectfully submit this one for all our avid readers. I always try to find out a little bit about the Pic of the Week, but alas, in this case I haven’t been able to locate anything. (I found it on a web site that has nothing but Chinese characters and I don’t speak Chinese–though I can order a beer in Chinese…)

The “Rezydent” in the signage above the entrance leads me to believe it may be in Poland. I tried the Polish version of Wikipedia, and there are pages for “rezydent” but alas, I don’t speak or read Polish either.

I can’t make out the word in front of Rezydent… that may be another clue.

If anyone knows anything about it (or can translate from the web sites) I’d like to know more…

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]]> http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/real-estate-pic-of-the-week-5/145/feed New Marketing Strategy? http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/new-marketing-strategy/120 http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/new-marketing-strategy/120#comments Mon, 04 Sep 2006 15:50:10 +0000 Jay Thompson http://www.buygilberthomes.com/?p=120

Real estate agents are always looking for a new marketing angle…

Hat tip to Maureen Francis for the link!

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]]> http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/new-marketing-strategy/120/feed Two Plane Garage http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/two-plane-garage/113 http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/two-plane-garage/113#comments Thu, 31 Aug 2006 18:15:07 +0000 Jay Thompson http://www.buygilberthomes.com/?p=113  

Welcome back Kotter…

Nice little spread John Travolta’s got for himself!  Yes, that’s a Boeing 707 parked in the driveway. (and a Gulfstream on the other side).  I’m not sure where the helicopter is, maybe taking this photo?

The only news link I could find has been “archived” and I’m not paying to access it.  It’s been mentioned in a couple of places in the Blogosphere.

I found it here, and here.

 

Below is what I believe to be the text of the original Herald Tribune Article.

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A lot of neighborhoods don’t allow the owners to park Boeing 707s outside their homes, which is why actor John Travolta moved to Jumbolair, near Ocala.

OCALA — It’s not just another housing development, as you can tell by the 1.4-mile airstrip and the Boeing 707 parked next to one of the houses.

Located in the Central Florida town of Anthony, just north of Ocala, it’s called Jumbolair, and it’s the new home of John Travolta — ’70s TV phenom, film superstar,Oscar-nominated actor, sex symbol, accomplished pilot, doting husband and father.

After several years of whispers about his building a house here, the 49-year-old actor has taken up residence in his nearly completed mansion. Travolta is flying daily from Ocala to Tampa to shoot “The Punisher,” an action movie based on the comic book, set to be released next summer. A lifelong love of aviation holds the key to Travolta’s decision to
build at Jumbolair.

Travolta owns at least two jets, a Gulfstream and a huge Boeing 707B. Simply put, there aren’t very many non-commercial airstrips where planes of  that size can take off and land. Jumbolair, with its long landing strip and massive jet wash berms at either end, is one of them.

About a decade ago, Travolta had a home in a fly-in community near Daytona, but was sued by neighbors who claimed his jet airplanes were too big and noisy for their facility.

The very layout of his new house is testament to Travolta’s love of flying. It’s located immediately off the main airstrip, and is designed so his jets can taxi right up to two outbuildings connected to the main structure, which is shaped like a squat air-control tower. Travolta literally can walk out his door, under a canopied walkway and into the cockpit, open the long mechanized gate and be airborne in a matter of minutes.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration pilot database, Travolta is qualified in several types of single- and multi-engine aircraft, and has the highest pilot medical certification possible.

 ”We know that Travolta’s an accomplished pilot. ….. A lot of people fly for the pleasure of it, and he’s one of them,” said John Clabes, an FAA spokesman. “If you have this many ratings on these types of high-performance aircraft, you’re obviously a good pilot.”

In layman’s terms, Travolta has enough experience flying large multi-engine jets that he could easily switch to piloting commercial airliners for a living.

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And a Hat Tip goes out to Todd Tarson. This post was created with Windows Live Writer which I first found out about on Todd’s Blog. Was a bit painful to initially set up, but it appears to be a pretty nice WYSIWYG editor.

 

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]]> http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/two-plane-garage/113/feed Real Estate Pic of the Week! http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/real-estate-pic-of-the-week-4/106 http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/real-estate-pic-of-the-week-4/106#comments Sun, 27 Aug 2006 03:27:23 +0000 Jay Thompson http://www.buygilberthomes.com/?p=106 Here’s the second one in a row out of Pennsylvania. What’s the deal with weird houses in PA? This one is in New Hope, PA. A little artsy-fartsy kind of town from what I can read… Anyone seen it?

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]]> http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/real-estate-pic-of-the-week-4/106/feed Real Estate Pic of the Week! http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/real-estate-pic-of-the-week-3/98 http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/real-estate-pic-of-the-week-3/98#comments Thu, 03 Aug 2006 14:19:55 +0000 Jay Thompson http://www.buygilberthomes.com/?p=98

Found this photo among a lot of other GREAT photography at ClearSpring Pictures. This guy can do some amazing stuff with cameras!

Here’s what the artist says about this shot.

The Haines Shoe House.

A book was recently published called “Weird Pennsylvania”. It’s filled with strange and creepy sights in the state. This place is in the book. I tried to shoot this with the intent of keeping the odd and strange feeling of the place.

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]]> http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/real-estate-pic-of-the-week-3/98/feed Real Estate Pic of the Week! http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/real-estate-pic-of-the-week-2/94 http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/real-estate-pic-of-the-week-2/94#comments Wed, 12 Jul 2006 14:10:28 +0000 Jay Thompson http://www.buygilberthomes.com/?p=94 I can’t decide if this one is ugly, or really cool. It’s located in one of the high dollar real estate spots in the country: Carmel, California (made famous of course by it’s more famous mayor Mr. Clint Eastwood)

Thanks to ackthud.net for the photo…

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