Yoga can be an activity that people love and make a huge part of their daily life, while others may find it intimidating to even try. With fewer in-person options available right now the answer may just be Yoga with Adriene. Adriene Mishler is a popular instructor with a huge variety of yoga videos that can be found and enjoyed for free on YouTube. Experienced yoga students may find the online availability works well in place of classes that are harder to come by and even beginners who’ve never tried yoga will find these videos an excellent introduction without the stress of “performing” in front of other class participants. Adriene makes her videos very welcoming for beginners who don’t need to worry about not being flexible or being able to hold a pose, often providing many alternative positions. The relaxation and mindfulness of yoga is also welcomed in times like these where people are finding themselves more stressed out than usual. Give a single Yoga with Adriene video a try or choose one of her 30 day series and let us know how it went for you
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The market hasn’t let off the gas pedal yet! All of our listings that come on the market are getting snatched up for list price or over list price in just days, most of the time with multiple offers. It seems a pandemic, record heat, and a contentious election season aren’t enough to stop this momentum of extremely low inventory, strong buyer demand, and unheard of low interest rates. Even local agents are feeling this market is crazy right now. Recently released statistics by the Tucson Association of Realtors MLS show that homes are selling for 99.7% of their list price. Long gone are the days of buyers coming in under list price in most cases and more commonly buyers need to go over list price to land a home. We’ve also had success focusing on other important factors to a seller like closing date, financing terms, etc. that can make our buyers’ offers stand out amongst the rest.
While September often brings us a hint of cooler temperatures, it also is the time we see property tax statements begin to arrive in the mail. For the vast majority of home owners who have a mortgage, it’s usually the case that the mortgage company will pay those property taxes on your behalf out of the escrow account you pay into each month for exactly this purpose and homeowners insurance as well. However, for those who own their homes outright or have elected to pay property taxes directly, it’s important to remember this tax obligation is upcoming. Property taxes here in Pima County are paid in arrears, with the first half of 2020 taxes just now coming due on October 1st. They’re not considered delinquent until November 1st, so you really do have the entire month of October to make that payment without any penalty. Then the second half of the year’s taxes will be due on March 1st of 2021 and delinquent on May 1st, 2021. Anyone who did recently purchase a property should take extra care to ensure these taxes get paid. This is especially true for those that own a home or land outright as the assessor and treasurer often don’t get the addresses updated very quickly and the tax bill may not arrive in the mail as a reminder, but you’re still obligated to make the payment regardless. No one relishes the thought of paying these taxes, but at least some comfort can be had that they’re being used locally to fund our community and make it a better place to live. Thankfully the Bighorn Fire is now largely contained and with monsoon rains beginning to arrive it will hopefully be completely out soon. There are two items worth noting now that the fire is nearly extinguished. The first is that most of the Catalina Mountains will be off limits to visitors until November 1st. These trail closures were just announced this week and include the vast majority of the mountain from Oracle Ridge, to Romero Canyon Trail, Linda Vista Trail, all front side Catalina trails (Pima Canyon, Ventana, etc.), into Sabino Canyon, and everything up on Mt. Lemmon. It also includes Catalina Highway up to Summerhaven, except residents are now allowed access. While this is disappointing for many people it’s necessary to allow the area to recover and protect the public from potential landslides, rock slides, downfall, and other debris until after the monsoons. Speaking of monsoons, that is one of the next major issues that may cause problems in the wake of the fire. Floods can be a real concern now that much of the ground up on the mountain has been burned & cleared of underbrush. Homeowners near the base of the mountain or around washes that feed from the mountain may want to consider flood insurance in case we get large amounts of rainfall that now can come off the mountain at much greater speeds than usual. Often we only think of flood insurance for properties in designated FEMA flood plains, but it’s not unheard of for properties outside of these areas to also potentially flood and cause significant damage. If you’re near the mountain or a wash that sees runoff usually it’s worth reaching out to an insurance company to check into the issue in the aftermath of the Bighorn Fire. Here is a follow up from our favorite neighborhood insurance agent, Don Cox with Farmer’s Insurance: I have been doing a lot of flood quotes so I wanted to share with you my primary resource for helping folks understand their risk. The area of the site I like best is the third subsection, “Flood Risk Explorer” with the colorful map. Well…things are changing and quite rapidly over the few last weeks. The reality of the COVID-19 pandemic is hitting all industries and certainly real estate will be impacted. The depth of the impact remains to be seen and only time will tell what degree of change we see. Much different from the past recession which had underlying issues within the housing industry, the problems ahead will come from the response to the health issues and the shorter these disruptions are the better off for the larger economy & housing industry, but health comes first obviously. However, just as before, people will continue to need places to live and buying & selling will occur. For some there may be opportunities in the market that are worth jumping on. Team Woodall will continue helping our clients meet their real estate goals, yet are implementing procedures to reduce the risks to clients, ourselves, and the broader community. We’ve previously utilized digital tools to help out-of-state clients through FaceTime, Skype, and other video tours and now are using these same tools for in-state clients as well. Meetings can be done digitally over Zoom rather than in person. Therefore, if you have questions about buying or selling don’t hesitate to reach out to us as we’re positioned to continue our services and will adapt to this constantly evolving situation to provide the highest level of service possible while taking every precaution to ensure the safety of all! Do you like cookies? Do you own a bike? If you’ve answered yes to both of these questions then you should sign up for the 2020 Tour de Cookie! This fun-filled event is coming up on Saturday, March 14th from 8am – noon and is the 4th year of the event. Far from a race, this event takes place over a 35 mile section of the Santa Cruz River path parallel to I-10 and is very much a social ride at a leisurely pace. Riders do not have to do the whole distance by any means, but if you do you’ll hit all 12 of the cookie stations staffed by local businesses and community organizations. The event is put on by the Rotary Club of Marana as a fundraiser for their service projects. Registration costs are $40 per adult and children 12 & under are free with a paid adult. Follow this link for more information or to sign up. Water scarcity and climate change are issues that might jump immediately to mind when thinking of environmental issues impacting the Tucson region, but one of the next most pressing issues for our region is maybe less top of mind. That issue is the invasive spread of buffelgrass. Many residents aren’t even aware of this foreign grass species that’s been brought over here from other parts of the world and is changing our desert landscape into more of a grassland. Buffelgrass not only competes with our native plants for sun, water, and space but it creates a devastating fire hazard to our desert. Fires in areas of dense buffelgrass move faster and burn hotter than a typical desert fire which destroys native plants and further increases the density of buffelgrass. The Save Our Saguaros movement has identified February 1 through March 8 as a timeframe to “Beat Back Buffelgrass.” You can lend a hand by pulling buffelgrass at various location around town including San Xavier Mission, Saguaro National Park, Sabino Canyon, Catalina State Park, and others. For further information on this invasive hazard and to join the movement visit this Save Our Saguaros information page.  Even when we’re very careful with carpet, tile, and wood inside the home they do need cleaning from time to time. Some people prefer to handle that cleaning themselves while others, at least periodically, want a deep clean by a professional flooring company. We’ve had several clients achieve excellent carpet and tile cleaning results through Jim Wiberg with A Cleaner Solution. Jim provides free estimates and handles carpet, rugs, and tile grout cleaning. He’s best reached at (520) 572-8227. For those with wood floors that might need some TLC or refinishing one of the most highly recommended in town is Miguel “The Floor Guy” Monroy. He’s very active in Sam Hughes refinishing wood floors for those older homes and can be reached at (520) 400-8627. |
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A trip to the Grand Canyon is an incredible experience and people come from around the nation and globe to get a glimpse, with annual visitors of around 6 million according to 
It doesn’t take all that long for the intense sun and dust we have in Tucson to wreak havoc on your home’s window screens. Luckily it’s also a fairly easy DIY project to fix them and one that’s both satisfying and saves some money. With cooler temperatures approaching soon (hopefully!), now is an excellent time to get those screens in great shape! The only unique items you’ll typically need are a spline roller tool and new screen material. Both of these are available at your local hardware store. To re-screen, simply remove the existing spline holding the screen in place, measure & cut a new piece of screen leaving at least one inch of excess material on each side, and then use the spline roller tool to indent the screen into the track and insert the spline, rolling the tool to press the spline into the groove. Use a razor to cut off the excess screen and a screwdriver to press the spline in on the corners. This is a simple job that saves quite a bit of money & improves your home’s appearance.
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