Bob Lomax | Phoenix Lifestyle

MIRAB

The Broker’s Corner

DECEMBER 2018

O

ne of the value-added services that Mirabel Properties offers is home staging. Staging your home can help to get you top dollar and a quicker offer.

The overall goal of staging is to help prospective buyers emotionally connect with a home. Allowing these buyers to imagine themselves living in the home is the way to make that connection. As buyers walk through the home you want them to visualize themselves living there, entertaining family and friends and sharing traditions in the home with their loved ones.

P HONE P HOTOGRAPHY

How one decorates to live in their home is very different than how one decorates to present a home to sell. Remember you are not selling your family, you are selling your home.

Staging homes is not a “one size fits all” project. Many times, simply decluttering your home or adding a fresh coat of paint is all you need. Other homes may need to be staged more “transitionally” to appeal to a wider range of buyers. Lastly, for vacant homes, we find that most buyers are more responsive if the main living areas are staged to help the client envision how it would look and feel furnished. Would their furniture fit? What is the best placement for furniture?

The bottom line is that putting your best foot forward in presenting your home will give you the best shot to sell it quickly and for top dollar. Most people now surf the real estate websites to view photos of homes for sale prior to seeing the homes in person. Those marketing pictures are one of the most important tools with which to attract the biggest pool of buyers. And the presentation of your home in those photos will help to captivate the attention of potential buyers and entice them to want to see YOUR home.

If you are thinking about selling your home, please feel free to contact us and we are happy to walk through your home to give you some advice on what might need to be done to help you get ready to put your home on the market.

For inspiration, we have included two pictures of a spec home that we have for sale. The before and after photos show you how dramatic simply staging your home can take your home from just “seeing” a house to “feeling” a home.

Until next time …

Bob Lomax

Owner/Designated Broker | Mirabel Properties

Get Gallery-Worthy Pics

Some tips for selling your home: • Take care of any deferred maintenance, stained carpet, wall dings and change any dark or bright paint colors to brighten the home to appeal to more buyers.

• Replace regular light bulbs with halogen bulbs to create as much light in each room as possible.

• Take care of any food, pet or smoke smells.

• Remove litter boxes, dog bowls, and pet toys for showings.

• Remove as many family photos and smaller personal effects as you can.

• Remove unnecessary décor items including furniture and counter items to make your home the focal point and help to make it feel more spacious.

• Clean up your yard from dead or damaged plants and plant fresh flowers in pots to update curb appeal.

BOB LOMAX

OWNER/DESIGNATED BROKER MIRABEL PROPERTIES

480.595.2545 OFFICE 480.595.9503 FAX 602.920.7192 MOBILE

www.mirabel.com If your home is currently listed, this is not a solicitation for that listing.

MIRABEL LIFESTYLE

Produced by DLP Marketing • (480)460-0996 • DLPmarketing.com

Master-Planned Lifestyle More Than Just A Neighborhood

Blood Orange Almond Upside-Down Cake GoodNes

Presented By Bob Lomax

EVENT CALENDAR NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2018

A MASTER-PLANNED

39th Annual Bluegrass Festival Wickenburg | November 9-11 WickenburgChamber.com

Thanksgiving Day Parade Fountain Hills | November 24 FountainHillsChamber.com Thanksgiving Day Parade on Saguaro Boulevard— the state’s only Thanksgiving Day Parade—with up to 75 units including bands, floats and marching units. Fun for the whole family and free!

Dianne Reeves: Christmas Time Is Here Scottsdale | December 8 ScottsdalePerformingArts.org Renowned for her breathtaking virtuosity, improvisational prowess and unique jazz and R&B stylings, Grammy Award-winning jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves will warm your heart with holiday cheer. Reeves rings in the holiday season with music from her celebrated album, Christmas Time Is Here, melding her timeless grace, elegance and charisma into unforgettable jazz renditions of holiday favorites.

Ballet Arizona - The Nutcracker Phoenix| December 13-24 BalletAz.org Celebrate the joy and wonder of the holidays with Ib Andersen’s The Nutcracker. Follow Clara’s wintry adventure as she battles mischievous mice and charms the Sugar Plum Fairy. With 150 performers, 100,000 Swarovski crystals and Tchaikovsky’s cherished score performed live, Ballet Arizona’s The Nutcracker is the best way to celebrate the holidays with friends and family.

The Great Pinecone Drop Flagstaff | December 31 FlagstaffArizona.org Visitors in Flagstaff for New Year’s Eve should not miss the city’s traditional countdown celebration at the Weatherford Hotel in downtown. The Great Pinecone drop is to Flagstaff what the glitzy giant ball is to New York City. The city sings as the countdown takes place and illuminates the sky with a lightshow and fireworks. This event is free and appropriate for all ages.

COMMUNITY to Call Your Own W

hile the term master-planned community tends to evoke images of active seniors and golf cart traffic, the careful planning and structure of cities has been around for a millennia. Even in the United States the first such community, St. Augustine, Florida, was created in 1695. Closer to home, the city planners of 1960s Scottsdale anticipated the growth to come when they created McCormick Ranch – the Valley’s first master-planned community.

A more contemporary definition, according to BusinessDictionary.com, cites “a type of residential plan that includes an unusual number of recreational amenities such as parks, golf courses, lakes, bike paths, and jogging trails. The scope of the plan is very large scale and the number and variety of amenities clearly separates it from a normal plan for a housing subdivision.”

In fact, many such communities contain several individual subdivisions that may offer varied housing choices from multi-family properties to townhomes to large estates. Some may include age-restricted neighborhoods for 55 and older, or cater to families with extra parks and playgrounds.

In addition to recreation, many of the large communities today include their own shopping areas, neighborhood schools, healthcare resources and yes, golf courses. Planners have given great thought to the lifestyles and needs of the residents they hope to attract, be it families, singles, seniors – or all of the above. These amenities can be even more valuable when the community lies a good distance from cities and centers of commerce.

Styles of homes can vary within a community or large subdivision given the necessity of having more than one builder or developer on the project. This can give homeowners a stronger feeling of individuality, plus a more localized look and vibe to the neighborhoods.

This standard can sometimes come at a cost in the form of HOA (homeowner association) fees and CCRs (codes, covenants and restrictions), ensuring a level of quality throughout. The tradeoff , however, is usually worth it for homeowners hoping to maintain good property values.

In growing cities whose populations number in the millions, people in all demographics still seek that small town feeling. Even in the heart of Phoenix, a wellthought-out, amenity-rich, master-planned community can provide just that.

A Few Popular Master Plans in the Valley: SOUTHEAST: Power Ranch, Ocotillo and Sun Lakes.

NORTHWEST: Sun City West, Anthem and Desert Ridge.

SOUTHWEST: Verrado, Estrella and Mountain Park Ranch.

SCOTTSDALE: DC Ranch, Gainey Ranch and Grayhawk.

WAnd there are lots of new and different ways to elevate e all love to take photos with our phones these days.

your iPhone pics and take them to the next level. Follow these sure-snap secrets to get gallery-worthy photographs from your iPhone.

First, get to know your iPhone camera. It helps to find the quickest way to open your camera so you can catch that one special moment without fumbling around (you can swipe up to open your camera without logging in, which can save precious time). Most phones now offer a variety of functions, such as delayed timers, which allow you to run to get into your shot before the camera goes off. Phones also have camera filter controls, which allow you to pick the tone of the photo before you take it (warm, cool, noir, and silvertone are a few interesting examples to experiment with for different effects).

A few other interesting tips? Use square mode for taking pics you want to load onto Instagram (you won’t have to crop them), and use the panoramic feature, which is especially great for

IN GOOD TASTE

Sponsored by the Wickenburg Chamber of Commerce, The Four Corner States Bluegrass Festival is one of the oldest Bluegrass festivals in the Southwest. At the three-day festival, you will find food & drink concessions, arts and crafts and a designated kids zone. It is encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets to sit on.

getting wide shots or capturing lots of people in big spaces.

Just click and slowly move your phone to the end of the area you want to photograph and then click the button again. And if you’re capturing an action shot, keep your finger on the white button to get a burst of photos.

Finally, as phone cameras become more and more sophisticated, an increasing number of phone camera accessories have become available.

Some to look into as you become more advanced with using your phone camera: a tri-pod specifically meant for holding phones steady, lenses that attach to the phone to capture wider shots, remote-controls to snap photos from a distance, and special battery packs to keep you in the action longer.

INGREDIENTS 2 7 tbsp 1/4 cup 1/4 cup 1 cup

Large blood oranges Unsalted butter Packed brown sugar Sliced almonds All-purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp 1/4 tsp 1/2 cup 1 1/2 cup

Baking powder Salt Granulated sugar Large egg Fat-free milk

DIRECTIONS Grate 2 teaspoons of orange peel. Cut oranges into ½-inch-thick slices (need 8 slices).

Carefully remove rind. Place 3 tablespoons butter in 9-inch-round baking pan.

Place pan in oven. Preheat oven to 350° F. When butter is melted, swirl pan to coat bottom. Sprinkle brown sugar over melted butter and stir to coat pan bottom evenly. Top with orange slices. Sprinkle almonds mostly between orange slices.

Combine flour, grated orange peel, baking powder and salt in small bowl. With electric mixer, beat remaining 4 tablespoons butter and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until crumbly. Beat in egg. Alternately beat in flour mixture and milk.

Spoon over orange slices, spreading evenly.

REAL ESTATE

corner

Once you’ve taken some pics you think are good, head over to the App store. There are numerous photo-editing apps available. These can really take your photos to the next level. Several of the apps can add filters to your photos, which create impressive special effects.

Snapseed, a free app, can create a “fine art” or “silhouette” look to your photos with the touch of a button.

Other tools let you apply “vintage” or “glamour glow” looks. Another app, Big Lens, can help magically correct out-of-focus pics and the Noir Photo app can help create striking black and white photos.

Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool in pan on wire rack for about 30 minutes. Run knife around edge of pan; invert cake onto serving plate. Serve warm.

GoodNes.com

EVENT CALENDAR NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2018

A MASTER-PLANNED

39th Annual Bluegrass Festival Wickenburg | November 9-11 WickenburgChamber.com

Thanksgiving Day Parade Fountain Hills | November 24 FountainHillsChamber.com Thanksgiving Day Parade on Saguaro Boulevard— the state’s only Thanksgiving Day Parade—with up to 75 units including bands, floats and marching units. Fun for the whole family and free!

Dianne Reeves: Christmas Time Is Here Scottsdale | December 8 ScottsdalePerformingArts.org Renowned for her breathtaking virtuosity, improvisational prowess and unique jazz and R&B stylings, Grammy Award-winning jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves will warm your heart with holiday cheer. Reeves rings in the holiday season with music from her celebrated album, Christmas Time Is Here, melding her timeless grace, elegance and charisma into unforgettable jazz renditions of holiday favorites.

Ballet Arizona - The Nutcracker Phoenix| December 13-24 BalletAz.org Celebrate the joy and wonder of the holidays with Ib Andersen’s The Nutcracker. Follow Clara’s wintry adventure as she battles mischievous mice and charms the Sugar Plum Fairy. With 150 performers, 100,000 Swarovski crystals and Tchaikovsky’s cherished score performed live, Ballet Arizona’s The Nutcracker is the best way to celebrate the holidays with friends and family.

The Great Pinecone Drop Flagstaff | December 31 FlagstaffArizona.org Visitors in Flagstaff for New Year’s Eve should not miss the city’s traditional countdown celebration at the Weatherford Hotel in downtown. The Great Pinecone drop is to Flagstaff what the glitzy giant ball is to New York City. The city sings as the countdown takes place and illuminates the sky with a lightshow and fireworks. This event is free and appropriate for all ages.

COMMUNITY to Call Your Own W

hile the term master-planned community tends to evoke images of active seniors and golf cart traffic, the careful planning and structure of cities has been around for a millennia. Even in the United States the first such community, St. Augustine, Florida, was created in 1695. Closer to home, the city planners of 1960s Scottsdale anticipated the growth to come when they created McCormick Ranch – the Valley’s first master-planned community.

A more contemporary definition, according to BusinessDictionary.com, cites “a type of residential plan that includes an unusual number of recreational amenities such as parks, golf courses, lakes, bike paths, and jogging trails. The scope of the plan is very large scale and the number and variety of amenities clearly separates it from a normal plan for a housing subdivision.”

In fact, many such communities contain several individual subdivisions that may offer varied housing choices from multi-family properties to townhomes to large estates. Some may include age-restricted neighborhoods for 55 and older, or cater to families with extra parks and playgrounds.

In addition to recreation, many of the large communities today include their own shopping areas, neighborhood schools, healthcare resources and yes, golf courses. Planners have given great thought to the lifestyles and needs of the residents they hope to attract, be it families, singles, seniors – or all of the above. These amenities can be even more valuable when the community lies a good distance from cities and centers of commerce.

Styles of homes can vary within a community or large subdivision given the necessity of having more than one builder or developer on the project. This can give homeowners a stronger feeling of individuality, plus a more localized look and vibe to the neighborhoods.

This standard can sometimes come at a cost in the form of HOA (homeowner association) fees and CCRs (codes, covenants and restrictions), ensuring a level of quality throughout. The tradeoff , however, is usually worth it for homeowners hoping to maintain good property values.

In growing cities whose populations number in the millions, people in all demographics still seek that small town feeling. Even in the heart of Phoenix, a wellthought-out, amenity-rich, master-planned community can provide just that.

A Few Popular Master Plans in the Valley: SOUTHEAST: Power Ranch, Ocotillo and Sun Lakes.

NORTHWEST: Sun City West, Anthem and Desert Ridge.

SOUTHWEST: Verrado, Estrella and Mountain Park Ranch.

SCOTTSDALE: DC Ranch, Gainey Ranch and Grayhawk.

WAnd there are lots of new and different ways to elevate e all love to take photos with our phones these days.

your iPhone pics and take them to the next level. Follow these sure-snap secrets to get gallery-worthy photographs from your iPhone.

First, get to know your iPhone camera. It helps to find the quickest way to open your camera so you can catch that one special moment without fumbling around (you can swipe up to open your camera without logging in, which can save precious time). Most phones now offer a variety of functions, such as delayed timers, which allow you to run to get into your shot before the camera goes off. Phones also have camera filter controls, which allow you to pick the tone of the photo before you take it (warm, cool, noir, and silvertone are a few interesting examples to experiment with for different effects).

A few other interesting tips? Use square mode for taking pics you want to load onto Instagram (you won’t have to crop them), and use the panoramic feature, which is especially great for

IN GOOD TASTE

Sponsored by the Wickenburg Chamber of Commerce, The Four Corner States Bluegrass Festival is one of the oldest Bluegrass festivals in the Southwest. At the three-day festival, you will find food & drink concessions, arts and crafts and a designated kids zone. It is encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets to sit on.

getting wide shots or capturing lots of people in big spaces.

Just click and slowly move your phone to the end of the area you want to photograph and then click the button again. And if you’re capturing an action shot, keep your finger on the white button to get a burst of photos.

Finally, as phone cameras become more and more sophisticated, an increasing number of phone camera accessories have become available.

Some to look into as you become more advanced with using your phone camera: a tri-pod specifically meant for holding phones steady, lenses that attach to the phone to capture wider shots, remote-controls to snap photos from a distance, and special battery packs to keep you in the action longer.

INGREDIENTS 2 7 tbsp 1/4 cup 1/4 cup 1 cup

Large blood oranges Unsalted butter Packed brown sugar Sliced almonds All-purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp 1/4 tsp 1/2 cup 1 1/2 cup

Baking powder Salt Granulated sugar Large egg Fat-free milk

DIRECTIONS Grate 2 teaspoons of orange peel. Cut oranges into ½-inch-thick slices (need 8 slices).

Carefully remove rind. Place 3 tablespoons butter in 9-inch-round baking pan.

Place pan in oven. Preheat oven to 350° F. When butter is melted, swirl pan to coat bottom. Sprinkle brown sugar over melted butter and stir to coat pan bottom evenly. Top with orange slices. Sprinkle almonds mostly between orange slices.

Combine flour, grated orange peel, baking powder and salt in small bowl. With electric mixer, beat remaining 4 tablespoons butter and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until crumbly. Beat in egg. Alternately beat in flour mixture and milk.

Spoon over orange slices, spreading evenly.

REAL ESTATE

corner

Once you’ve taken some pics you think are good, head over to the App store. There are numerous photo-editing apps available. These can really take your photos to the next level. Several of the apps can add filters to your photos, which create impressive special effects.

Snapseed, a free app, can create a “fine art” or “silhouette” look to your photos with the touch of a button.

Other tools let you apply “vintage” or “glamour glow” looks. Another app, Big Lens, can help magically correct out-of-focus pics and the Noir Photo app can help create striking black and white photos.

Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool in pan on wire rack for about 30 minutes. Run knife around edge of pan; invert cake onto serving plate. Serve warm.

GoodNes.com

MIRAB

The Broker’s Corner

DECEMBER 2018

O

ne of the value-added services that Mirabel Properties offers is home staging. Staging your home can help to get you top dollar and a quicker offer.

The overall goal of staging is to help prospective buyers emotionally connect with a home. Allowing these buyers to imagine themselves living in the home is the way to make that connection. As buyers walk through the home you want them to visualize themselves living there, entertaining family and friends and sharing traditions in the home with their loved ones.

P HONE P HOTOGRAPHY

How one decorates to live in their home is very different than how one decorates to present a home to sell. Remember you are not selling your family, you are selling your home.

Staging homes is not a “one size fits all” project. Many times, simply decluttering your home or adding a fresh coat of paint is all you need. Other homes may need to be staged more “transitionally” to appeal to a wider range of buyers. Lastly, for vacant homes, we find that most buyers are more responsive if the main living areas are staged to help the client envision how it would look and feel furnished. Would their furniture fit? What is the best placement for furniture?

The bottom line is that putting your best foot forward in presenting your home will give you the best shot to sell it quickly and for top dollar. Most people now surf the real estate websites to view photos of homes for sale prior to seeing the homes in person. Those marketing pictures are one of the most important tools with which to attract the biggest pool of buyers. And the presentation of your home in those photos will help to captivate the attention of potential buyers and entice them to want to see YOUR home.

If you are thinking about selling your home, please feel free to contact us and we are happy to walk through your home to give you some advice on what might need to be done to help you get ready to put your home on the market.

For inspiration, we have included two pictures of a spec home that we have for sale. The before and after photos show you how dramatic simply staging your home can take your home from just “seeing” a house to “feeling” a home.

Until next time …

Bob Lomax

Owner/Designated Broker | Mirabel Properties

Get Gallery-Worthy Pics

Some tips for selling your home: • Take care of any deferred maintenance, stained carpet, wall dings and change any dark or bright paint colors to brighten the home to appeal to more buyers.

• Replace regular light bulbs with halogen bulbs to create as much light in each room as possible.

• Take care of any food, pet or smoke smells.

• Remove litter boxes, dog bowls, and pet toys for showings.

• Remove as many family photos and smaller personal effects as you can.

• Remove unnecessary décor items including furniture and counter items to make your home the focal point and help to make it feel more spacious.

• Clean up your yard from dead or damaged plants and plant fresh flowers in pots to update curb appeal.

BOB LOMAX

OWNER/DESIGNATED BROKER MIRABEL PROPERTIES

480.595.2545 OFFICE 480.595.9503 FAX 602.920.7192 MOBILE

www.mirabel.com If your home is currently listed, this is not a solicitation for that listing.

MIRABEL LIFESTYLE

Produced by DLP Marketing • (480)460-0996 • DLPmarketing.com

Master-Planned Lifestyle More Than Just A Neighborhood

Blood Orange Almond Upside-Down Cake GoodNes

Presented By Bob Lomax