Welcome to Payson !

Payson is just so convenient!

It is an hour to two hours drive to various parts of the Phoenix metro area. That means one can drive down to shop, for business, for entertainment, or anything else available , and can drive back to Payson when finished. Imagine a shopping or business trip when the temperature in Phoenix is 110 and traffic is awful- that road back to Payson looks extremely good.

It is about the same driving time to ski areas at either Snowbowl or Sunrise. If you ski (or snowboard) you can drive up for the day and still be home that evening.

The picture is looking out over the town from a new homesite off Airport Road.

Payson is not as hot as the Phoenix area and not as cold as Flagstaff or Pinetop, so we can enjoy both areas without suffering the temperature extremes, breathing the Phoenix "brown cloud" of smog, or sliding on snow and ice all winter at the higher elevations. (Another post will come about our great climate and clear, blue skies).

Payson is about an hour's drive from many beautiful lakes on the Mogollan Rim, it is also close to Roosevelt Lake for those colder months. Hiking, hunting, camping, boating; outdoor activities are always available and popular.

California, and the Las Vegas areas are convenient driving distance; so are the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert, and other tourist destinations.

Payson is located just about in the center of Arizona, and is the center for all kinds of activities.

I couldn't say this any better myself- so I'm re-blogging it instead. It's a VERY good point.

If you don't watch the Today Show you may not have seen their "real estate guru", Barbara Corcoran They have her on ever so often. I don't always agree with her, but this morning she actually made a lot of points which we've been trying to make to people.

The segment was called 10 Real Estate Myths for Buyers and Sellers 

The link above takes you to the text (printable version available) and to a video of the segment. I didn't embed it because you have to wait through 30 seconds of commercial, and I just don't have the patience. I figured a lot of you don't either.

Basically, it put up 5 myths that Buyers believe, and 5 for Sellers, and then she proceeded to dispel them. Well, GOOD! I've been trying to dispel some of these with everyone I talk to!

Points she made:
-Just because the house has a high "days on market" doesn't necessarily mean you can steal it.
-Not every Seller is desperate.
-You DON'T have to put 20% down to buy.
-You DON'T have to have stellar credit to buy.
-You can't necessarily predict the bottom, so you may not want to wait.
-This is NOT necessarily the worst time to sell, and you will be buying at lower prices.
-You should counter back on a low offer.
-The first offer MAY be the best.
-Put your best price out there now, not later.
-If you want to re-fi, go to a lender you know.

The point that got me excited was in reference to whether or not it is "the worst time to sell".We all know the phrase "real estate is local". Her  comments included the following:"It depends on where you live. Many of the worst hit markets, like Las Vegas, Phoenix, or San Diego, are already beginning to turn around."

Those are markets which feed buyers to my small town (Payson, AZ).People sell in Las Vegas or Phoenix or San Diego, and because they used to be able to sell for very good prices they could come here and buy a very nice home. Now, that is somewhat reversed. Prices here have NOT dropped as badly as in those areas (see above- NOT every Seller is desperate), but there ARE some bargains available. If people can sell THERE for at least reasonable prices, then they can buy HERE. WE saw the poor market coming by watching those markets, and we will see the better market coming by watching them.

If you live in those area, do you agree that they have turned around?

We tell Owners that rentals in Payson are really NOT seasonal except for the holidays. Thanksgiving through Christmas is always slow. This year the rentals have been FROZEN! I've been telling people that it was too early to tell if it was just the season, or if it was the economy.

Well, it seems that most of it was the season. We have signed four leases in the last week, we have a bunch of applications to process, and we're back to showing houses several times a day, every day. We HAVE had several tenants give notice to move, as well. They are either looking for something less expensive, or in some cases looking to move out of Payson completely. This isn't unusual in January- people make moves with the new year. We find the increase in activity heartening.

The picture to the right is a home we have currently available. It is 3 bedroom, 2 bath, with a garage, and in a newer subdivision, for $1200 a month.

If you own rental property in the Payson area, or if you are looking for a rental, we invite you to visit our web site for rentals RentInPayson.com We have our currently available rentals there with descriptions and pictures, we also have our rental applications available on the site. 

This web site is a tremendous advantage for our business. We get calls every day from people looking at the site and considering moving to Payson. A prospective tenant can email an application to us right from the site. We deal with people by internet, email, fax, phone, and (if we have to) by mail. I'm constantly amazed by how many people know about Payson.

Call us for any real estate needs in the Payson area!

Today, in Payson, it is 60 degrees! In January! It is SO warm that it has me thinking garden, even though I know that Spring has NOT sprung, we WILL have snow, the temperatures won't stay reliably warm until at LEAST April, and probably May. Payson has rather unpredictable weather. I have, several times, seen a foot or two of snow in April, but I have NEVER seen it this warm in January.

I wanted a White CHristmas- but the closest I got was the pictures, below.

This is the view, in December, from the hill near the airport in Payson. Several times before Christmas we had rain all day, turning to snow in the evening. Rain again, in the night, melted it off before morning.

The trees looked flocked, the wind was blowing, and it was COLD! Note the pieces of snow on the camera lens- the wind was blowing it almost sideways.

If you like CHANGEABLE weather, Payson is the place for you. It has 4 mild seasons, not as cold as Flagstaff in the Winter, not as hot as Phoenix in the Summer, and Fall and Spring are just gorgeous!