Sabino Mountain – Tax Assessments too High in Some Cases

Wow! Today I was updating my list of names and addresses for Sabino Mountain. I get this update from the Pima County Assessor’s office and found many of you are assessed way too high. I appealed my taxes successfully – three times – they make lots of mistakes, believe me! The first year I moved here, they had my home assessed a lot higher than my neighbors that had similar houses and had pools, etc which I did not. I appealed and won. Then a few years later they brought up my assessment a lot due to my home being a brand new custom home; it is custom but was 6 years old and not a new home; I appealed and won again. Then the next year I had to appeal because of their dumb law that somehow said I had to appeal again because any change they make to their tax assessment valuation is for two years even if you appealed a year ago, it goes back up to the incorrect assessment. Some of the laws in Arizona are very foolish. Some of our legislatures are asleep at the wheel and our assessor has to wake them up! Believe me, I complained to the Tax Assessor personally on the phone! I called until I got him and told him to help change the ridiculous law!
So when your tax assessment for your home in Sabino Mountain comes this year and the assessment seems too high, call me, I will be happy to supply the comps to help prove they are not right if that is the case. There are a few lucky high-end homes that are very under-assessed. The bulk of the homes over-assessed are non-custom homes.

This Year is Quite Different from Last Year in Sabino Mountain

There is a big difference in the home sales patterns of last year versus this year. Mostly we have seen quite a bit of depreciation as the Sellers that have to sell have finally realistically priced their homes.

This year we have had 6 homes sell under 500K; last year there was only 2 and one was a foreclosure.

This year the homes that have sold under 500K have been very aggressively priced except for one which was a nicely remodeled foreclosure that was a two-story Pepper -Viner home on Ocotillo Canyon that sold for $424,900 at the beginning of the year. All the others that sold this year revealed the tremendous depreciation from the peak of sales in early 2006 with estimates of most non-custom homes depreciating approximately 25%. At the beginning of the year, 2 homes priced at exactly a million dollars and one priced at $1,250,000 (my sale) closed escrow and revealed that the over a million dollar price- range was doing fairly well in warding off the depreciation of the less-priced homes in Sabino Mt. Now most over a million dollar homes that were on the market gave up and are no longer listed for sale. The few that are hanging in there have little chance to sell since the buyers that are buying in the high-end are looking for bargains and there are many out there, but not in the Continue reading

Sabino Mountain Ridgetop Home at a Very Agressive Price!

Some future buyer is going to get a great deal on 4042 N Black Rock Drive (MLS #20921750) that is listed for sale at $699,000 by the Long Realty Foothills office. The condition is impeccable and it is very upgraded. This floorplan has a super, large gourmet kitchen. But the best feature of all is its tremendous high Catalina Mountain views. It is a semi-custom, large 3,631 square foot home located on a Sabino Mountain ridge! At $699,000 it costs $192.51 a square foot which is less per square feet than one of the Pepper-Viner homes listed for sale that does not have these amazing high Mountain views.

The Fortunate Middle School Alternative for Sabino Mountain Residents

I feel very fortunate that my daughter can open enroll in Esperero Canyon Middle School that is only a few miles from Sabino Mountain and is located across the street from Sabino Canyon. She is a 7th grader who attended St Gregory’s last year. I am so glad she is back to a schedule of having all her classes every day; at St Greg’s classes were every other day. It is great that in this year with many budget cuts, she has Spanish and Phys Ed daily. The credentials of the teachers are outstanding. Other things I really like is she is able to stay at the school library for an hour after school and not be part of a paying school care supervisory program. Daily lunches run less than $3.00; at her former school the cost could run about $8.00 a day. Although I have to say my daughter liked the food better at St. Greg’s. There is no high teacher turnover at Esperero. The Math team has free Math tutoring for an hour after school twice a week; to me that is amazing! So although my daughter has only been back to school for less than two weeks, I am very happy with the school.

Heating the Sabino Mountain Pool in the Winter

I have heard a few neighbors comment that they would like the Sabino Mountain pool to be heated in the winter. Last winter it was not heated and the entire pool and spa area was locked up.

I suggest to those of you who desire the community pool to be heated in Winter, you should email Bill Druke at bdruke@comcast.net. Bill is the President of the Sabino Mountain Board of Directors.

I am sure the Board of Directors will start working on next year’s budget soon, so do not delay contacting him if you wish to have it open. Of course, like anything else, the more owners who contact the Board and tell them they want it, the more likely it will stay open.

Open Houses – Sabino Mountain

It was interesting to note that the best priced homes in Sabino Mountain were held open today–they are located on Sunset Cliff Place, Boulder Canyon Place and Black Rock Drive. You know there are 5 others for sale and they were not held open. I guess it is fair to say some agents aggressively market their homes and others’ don’t. Although the market is turning in the Tucson Foothills for homes priced under 500K, homes still need to be aggressively marketed. It makes sense that homes listed for sale be held open once a month. As I look at the homes listed for sale, I have noted some agents really do not know the tricks of the trade, or they are not applying them. Of course, over-priced homes have little chance of selling. Selling a home demands a partnership of the Owners with their Agent. The Owners need to allow the agent to hold it open (once a month) and need to allow their agent to price the home at fair market value.

A Beautiful Sabino Mountain Home Priced at $449,000

The Long Foothills Office has a very nice listing at 4118 N Sunset Cliff Place that is $449,000. This almost 3,000 square foot Monterey-built home backs to the Sonoran Desert. It offers resort -style living with pebbletec pool and outdoor Kiva Fireplace. The house is very upgraded: it has travertine in many areas, cherry cabinets, granite counters and the list goes on. It has only been listed 2 weeks and is sure not to last long! Very few of the non-custom homes at Sabino Mountain have personal swimming pools which adds to the attractiveness of this two-story, family-size home. Call me at 520-615-2598 if you are interested in this beautiful and very special home.

Update on Sold Prices of Sabino Mountain 2009

Here is a list of the final sales prices for homes sold in Sabino Mt in 2009:
$323,500
$370,000
$375,000
$380,000
$383,500
$418,000
$1,000,000
$1,250,000

In recent years you could not get a home in Sabino Mountain for less than 400K. There were three upscale homes listed for over a million on N Quail Canyon and they all have recently been taken off the market. This year I have met with many potential Sellers who have decided to wait until the market gets better to sell their homes, or they have decided to rent them. There is no doubt about it that the homes priced in the $300,000s in the Foothills are selling well and homes in the $400,000s are picking up speed as well. The lowest priced homes will be the ones to appreciate the most. The over million price range is a very tough sale unless the home is bargain priced since there are so many on the market that are priced well.

Market Update – Sabino Mountain

Interestingly enough 8 homes have sold in Sabino Mountain this year and there are 8 homes presently for sale. All but three are over-priced and one is a short sale and is priced aggressively. Unfortunately, short sales rarely make it to close of escrow. We have seen homes priced over one million drop off the market since this price-range is finally feeling the heat and has clearly depreciated in the past 7 months.

For those of you looking for a home priced right in Sabino Mountain, there are three: 4118 N Sunset Cliff Place priced at 449K, 4042 N Black Rock Drive priced at 699K and 4155 N Boulder Canyon Place listed at $1,050,000. The first two listings are listed at the Long Foothills Office (the office I am associated with) which sells more homes in Sabino Mountain than any other office.

The Present Housing Market at Sabino Mountain

There are a few listings in Sabino Mountain that are priced where they should be to attract buyers. However, most of the Sabino Mountain listings are over-priced. There is a beautiful new listing that is approximately 3,000 finished square feet and is built by Monterey Homes on Sunset Cliff Place. It has a pool and many, many upgrades and is priced below 450K. This new listing is priced where it should be to sell! There is also a drop-dead gorgeous home priced just over 1 million on Boulder Canyon that has all the bells and whistles and is a custom one-story contemporary backing to the gorgeous Sonoran Desert. This is a great home for contemporary lovers that want a gated community with lots of privacy.

Sabino Mountain is a truly majestic place to live, but buyers are not going to pay over the market, so many who have their homes for sale need to reduce their prices or take the houses off the market. Another alternative is to rent their homes and sell it when the market improves and they can net a higher price. After all, who wants to just waste time?