How about shopping in Havasu??

All right... we've covered the new Target and Kohl's shopping center in Bullhead City enough (for awhile at least). Yes we still see folks make comments in the paper or whatever about how these commercial centers detract from the character of the town and provide jobs that only pay a pittance.

So lets now take a look at a different community IN Mohave County and what the folks there have to say about their new retail commercial center located in Lake Havasu City.

Normally I link the article I'm taking information from. In this case I can't do that other than for this link here. The article comes from this months Economic Development Journal/Mohave County (article written by Regina G. Purcell). Yes, they have a website (I've linked to it) but in this case their paper version is much easier to read. You can pick one up in many places around town. We have them here at the office where I practice real estate.

The article's title is 'Wal-Mart Super Center newest anchor store at new open-air mall in Lake Havasu'. Now I realize that Wal-Mart won't excite the folks here in Kingman like perhaps a Target would. We already have our own Super Wal-Mart, and life is well... super because of it, right??

Anyway here's a few bits from the article...

According to Lake Havasu City officials, the 150-acre Shops at lake Havasu is projected to generate $3.7 million in transaction privilege (city sales) tax annually and once the large mall is fully developed and all of its store are in operation, the cmmercial outlets in the outdoor mall will collectively employ in the neighborhood of 2,000 new jobs.

Lets just play devil's advocate for a second, lets say the projected sales taxes are off by half, the city of Havasu would still rake in nearly $2 million dollars a year. Not bad.

While some will say that the 2,000 jobs will be of the low paying variety, it is possible that these jobs will help bring other employers (with higher paying jobs) to the area. This new commercial center improves the amenities of Lake Havasu City and therefore this has the possiblity of making their community more attractive to other opportunities. Plus, no matter how you slice it, just knowing that there is 2,000 employees at a mall has to be attractive to any new employer thinking of moving to the area. While retail jobs aren't normally career choices, they tend to be proving grounds for employees. Good employees often end up in better jobs because they've developed the skills need to prove their worthiness to employers looking for a better skilled employee.

Anderson Chrysler Jeep & Dodge in Lake Havasu broke ground in May on its new 38-acre auto mall, the first-ever in Mohave County. The first of several auto dealerships that will go into the auto mall is Anderson Toyota, which will occupy a 45,000 square-foot facility and showroom. Some of the additional auto dealerships may come from outside Mohave County.

Hey... isn't Anderson Toyota currently in Kingman?? Didn't I buy two brand new Toyota's there within the last 5 years?? Didn't a portion of the final sales price end up being sales tax collected by the City of Kingman??

And... if additional auto dealerships are to come from outside Mohave County, doesn't that mean that new commercial development attracts new capital investment into the area?? Yes... I think it does Martha.

With the estimated cost of the Anderson Toyota dealership building in the $6 Million range, together with the value of all of the land that is being developed for the auto mall, the entire commercial investment by the Anderson group in Lake Havasu is in the neighborhood of $20 million.

Seems like lots of money trading hands locally to me. Sure could use some transactions like that around our neck of the woods.

Lastly...

This fall, Ultrastar Cinemas, a 10-screen movie theater and Michaels Arts & Crafts store will open, Martin said. There are also seven out parcels of land available, which will likely house banks and fast-food restaurants.

Hey wait a minute... no fair!! Havasu already has a multiplex for catching first run movies.

You know for an article with the title of Wal-Mart in the header... there wasn't much talk of Wal-Mart at all. Plenty on new auto-dealers, retail business, new banks, a theater, and eating establishments though.

(confirmed tennants listed in the article appear to be: Wal-Mart, JC Penney, Dillards, Kay Jewelers, Amercian Eagle Outfitters, C.J. Banks, Christopher & Banks, Famous Footwear, Styles for Less, Bath & Body Works, and Victoria's Secret)

Well... that is how the other folks are livin' these days. Just thought you should know.

Who will pay??

I can't say that I'm surprised. In today's article from the Miner there is a bit about how 'impact fees' won't be enough to guarantee enough income to pay the city's portion of the many years out Interstate project known as Rattlesnake Wash.

From the article...

Fortunately, the city is responsible for only 30 percent of the project, about $11 million of the approximately $35-million interchange project. The state is picking up the majority of the tab.

Unfortunately, the city's impact fee revenue totaled only $1.7 million through June 30, an amount comprising incomes since the fees were implemented in 2006. The transportation portion of those revenues - the part that legally could be used to pay for the traffic interchange - sits at a two-year total of $756,839.

Based on the past two years' income, the city wouldn't be able to pay its share of Rattlesnake Wash using impact fees until 2037.

While it may be fortunate that the state is picking up $24 million dollars... and Mohave County is putting $2 million dollars aside to help Kingman pay for the needed infrastructure... this is only phase one of a two phase project. Kingman is on its own for another $11 million dollars or so for that 'evacuation route' as some have called it that leads south from RW to Hualapai Mountain Road.

More...

If Kingman does not have its share of the costs for Rattlesnake Wash by 2013, the project will be canceled. There are several other options available, including revenue bonds, community facilities districts and other cost-sharing avenues available to the city, all of which will be explored for the two projects, (Mayor John) Salem said.

So... who will pay??

It would interesting to see if the hopeful solution comes down to revenue bonds. I mean some very interested people in Kingman were against the bonds on the ballot last year, but revenue bonds for this project won't likely meet the same resistance from those same folks since this project is so close to property and interests they own.

The campaign signs put up for last Novembers special election had the word 'NO' all over them, my guess is that if the hopeful solution is passing a bond or two for funding that the signs will be strewn with plenty of 'YES'... maybe even the words 'pretty please'.

The bottom line though is that this project is NEEDED for our growing community (for such things as improved public access connecting other parts of Kingman, for improved commercial access to the airport, and to help the natural progression of growth along the Interstate and towards the east side of Kingman). This is a very important future project and along with expansion of the city boundaries, the community should be looking at realistic ways to make the proposed infrastructure a reality. Hopefully a CFD, improvement district, or other forms of development agreements can be worked out with the private property owners to a large degree.

At this point, as of this day... I have to believe the property owners at both proposed new interchanges will have to pony up and front major portions of the costs. I'm in favor of reasonable reimbursement options out of new commercial sales tax revenues created at developments. Maybe even some kind of additional charge (like impact fees) on any new residential developments in the areas and thereby passing costs to reimburse on to the new residents of the developments.

The time to be creative is right now.

See another good article about impact fees right here.

UPDATE:

Our good buddy, Ken Herskind, had an interesting bit to offer from the article linked at the top. You can read the entire thing there but I wanted to share this...

If the 168 acres are rezoned commercial and the interchange put in for Kingman Crossing, the PEOPLE would stand to receive TENS OF MILLIONS of dollars which can be used for other needed services and infrastructure....ALL WITHOUT RAISING OUR TAXES A DIME.

So, I personally would like to see both interchanges, but the people of Kingman have a vested interest in Kingman Crossing.

Yep, and while a few of us were trying to make that point last year... our voices were drowned out by folks with other interests that were more for their own personal interest instead of the community interests. The new council has to take a firmer grasp of all the issues surrounding the Kingman resident owned 168 acres near Kingman Crossing. It really isn't difficult to manage this incredible asset in order for the entire community to benefit.

Happy Birthday America

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.


Do indeed enjoy our great holiday. Please be safe. From all your friends here at MOCO, God Bless and let freedom ring.

** A MOCO RE News Alert **

MOCO RE News is updating an earlier news alert. Weather conditions expected today include very breezy conditions. The Yahoo Weather Forecast for Kingman says to expect winds between 15 and 25 miles per hour for most of the day.

Experts indicate that it is okay to be outdoors in such conditions but people should be reminded to use lip balm to avoid chapped lips that often occur in dry and windy conditions.

For other ideas as to how to react and perhaps even improve your quality of life under these conditions, readers are asked to click on this link and watch the demonstration.

Once again, this has been a MOCO RE News alert... now back to our regular scheduled programming.

Got my scissors... out

Yep, once again, it is that time again. Time for those scissors to get some use in response to something I saw posted online. This occasion comes from a post from the Mayor's blog regarding the subject matter that I pointed to yesterday.

A reminder... I'm not writing the following as a personal attack against the author or anyone else. I'm merely exercising my right to perhaps disagree a little.

The victim here... is actually a person that occasionally joins the discussion here at MOCO. This person is someone that I think is friendly and means well and I have no ax to grind with him on anything.

Here goes...

Posted: Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Article comment by: Loyd

Here we go again.

When I read the words 'here we go again' I hear Chuck D's voice in Public Enemy's song called 'Bring the Noise' and now that tune will be stuck in my head for the remainder of the day.

But yes Loyd, here we go again...

Les Byram and the prior council sent a very clear message to the V & V group that they should make their presentations and proposals at "PUBLIC" meetings where Kingman residents could field questions and bring clarity and understanding to this project.

The V & V group is code for the development company named Vestar and the private property ownership group Vanderbilt Farms.

The funny thing here is... the V & V group has held many public meetings and have presented much of what they plan to develop. As far as the 'proposals' are concerned... a very large public outcry shouted the V & V group down all last summer. The land owners and developers could have promised to pave all the roads in Kingman gold for free last year and they still would have been met with loud opposition.

Let us not forget that last summer it was all the rage to be against any new project that involved Kingman Crossing. We had the email controversy, we had the community group RAID speaking out against conditioning the Kingman resident owned property for highest and best use, and we had others trying to have us believe that the V & V group was out to steal all of our sales tax dollars. Man... those were goooood times.

It is indeed interesting that they sat back and waited until a "New Council" was seated and then again came to the city hall back door with another of their "Presentations".

Funny... I see it as 'Old Council' washed their hands of the mess once the special election last November was over and as many in the community told us that the elections result was an indicator that 'Old Council' was nothing more than a 'lame duck'. 'Old Council' must have agreed as not one city official up for possible re-election bothered to, while an unprecedented amount of citizens actually did pull in the required petition signatures to run for those positions.

I'm not surprised one bit that the V & V group wanted to meet with the new mayor and council as it was more than obvious they weren't getting anywhere with the 'Old Council'.

Not speaking for R.A.I.D., but they should be more than happy to sponsor one of their "Town Hall Meetings" to address the Kingman Crossing issue.

I wouldn't mind seeing such a town hall event like that myself... but I don't think it should be a requirement in any way shape or form. IF there is a proposal made (someday), each member of RAID will get his or her chance to speak in public and lend their support or criticism to such a proposal. The key to all of this is to allow an actual proposal to reveal itself... not something that was allowed at all last year.

To bring Kingman Crossing into reality is probably going to require the participation of all concerned – V & V, the city, property owners in the interchange vicinity and probably the voters and residents of Kingman. If V & V chooses to exclude any stakeholder from the process, then a result similar to history's recent lesson will likely just be replayed.

(emphasis mine)

Well since it is a FACT that ALL citizens of Kingman are property owners of a nice parcel of land in the interchange vicinity... and any agreement the city is pondering is up for public debate... I can't see how ANY stakeholder in the area is going to be excluded.

As far as the recent history lesson is concerned... I doubt it ever gets replayed. Amazing what one bad year on the economy makes. Think about it. Some of the very folks that spoke out against Kingman Crossing last year are publicly stating that they are FOR more than one interchange because those public infrastructure projects equal growth, growth equals opportunity, opportunity equals cold hard cash. There simply aren't as many people willing to side with the 'save the sacred street of Seneca' folks any longer.

One more year of having to deal with traffic on Stockton Hill. One more year of having to go many miles out of the way to get to a place one could throw a rock at and hit before departing. One more year of expensive gas prices. One more year of jobs leaving the area. One more year of young people leaving the community for opportunities elsewhere.

Yep... there was a history lesson in there last year... but I don't think it really was what Loyd thinks it is.

C'mon Mr. Mayor – let's get it all out on the table and into the light. Lead – don't be a peddler - you are after all, the Mayor, not an ambassador. Invite, if you must, but have them come to the public input table, not the city hall back door.

Loyd WAS right 'cause here we do go again. Give me a break with the 'back door' gobbly-goo. The mayor blogged about the meeting with the V & V group for Pete's sake. If any person had ANY issue concerning the city... one of the first places they should feel welcome at is the mayor's office. The mayor has been elected by the voters of this city to represent the people of this city. No better place to start.

Now that we are asking the city to treat everyone equally... then we should treat everyone equally. If Loyd has an issue, I bet he heads to see the mayor... and what do you know... I'd do the same thing. It shouldn't surprise anyone that when the V & V group has an issue that they, too, go see the mayor.

There is no 'back door' to the mayor's office. Not when Mr. Byrum held the office and not with Mr. Salem at the helm (and I didn't vote for either but I still totally can respect the job that both did/do).

I don't see the harm in allowing ANY one person or interested party to begin discussions with the very people that us voters in Kingman elected. In fact it is what I expect the mayor and other elected officials to exactly do.

Read the infamous emails again, I dare you. Find where there was any proof of a true 'back door' deal in place for the Kingman Crossing project. You won't find it.

The city tried to change a land use designation on the resident owned property and the elected leaders passed it with the required votes needed AT A PUBLIC MEETING. Then some citizens didn't like it and put the issue on the ballot for a special election and the PUBLIC VOTED. The city council asked the voters for persmission to possibly sell Kingmans best asset, and the VOTING PUBLIC turned the request down.

There was a email conversation about a stupid idea that wondered if the city could 'blight' the resident owned property... but a city employee had stated in a responding email that the city council would have to make that declaration and last time I checked city council meets to discuss issues IN PUBLIC. That one never even made it to a meeting... because it was an idiotic suggestion in the first place.

I think we all remember the bit about the V & V group wanting to 'freeze' out any other commercial development on the Kingman resident owned 168 acres across the Interstate from their property. Remember the stir that caused?? How ironic then that it would be the voters of Kingman that fundamentally 'froze' out the resident owned property when they voted to not allow the city council to sell any part of the property. Since that day I haven't seen or heard one city council member (past or present) suggest selling any part of that land. It is, for all intents and purposes, 'frozen'.

The good news is that all major parties to this 'back door' paranoia are no longer under the employ of the fine citizens that live in the city of Kingman. It is more than time for the process to begin again. It begins at the city complex no matter how you slice it. It certainly doesn't start at a Rotary Club meeting or for that matter a RAID meeting.

They need to sell us - we don't have to sell Kingman - it's already one of the best.

They need the opportunity to sell us, something they never got last year. Never - never - never. As a citizen of Kingman myself, I'd love nothing more than to see, hear, read a proposal that would ultimatley mean an improvement in public infrastrucure, more sales tax opportunity, more retail and commercial space aligned off the Interstate, job opportunity, and community enhancement.

Who is going to get in the way this time when all of the above is now a clear need??

The Mayor wants your input...

Before I begin... I have to say that I am impressed with our new Mayor and his blogging skills. His blog on the Kingman Daily Miners website is worth frequenting.

Today I find that he submitted some words about that old cantankerous issue known as 'KINGMAN CROSSING'.

Go here.

Give him some feedback.

(I have to say that it is a pretty good feeling finally being able to link to other local blogs)

commenting is on hold...

Something is up with the vendor that I use for comments. Hopefully the issue will be resolved shortly.

Thanks

UPDATE

Comments seem to be working again, Hey!!

Have you heard...

Hat tip to the Phoenix Real Estate Guy for this.

June Listings Report (2008)

I present you the listings report with a twist this month. Look for raw foreclosure data mixed in with the more normal sets of data. I've been getting plenty of phone calls and emails from readers that want that kind of information... so it is simply better just to share. A few extra mouse clicks for me, but well worth it in the ongoing effort to bring the best content possible to the great readers here at MOCO.

On to the report... but first... yeah you know so say it with me... the disclaimer...

Disclaimer... all data compiled for this report comes from the WARDEX Data Exchange and does not include any sales activity from outside that resource. All research is done only on single family homes and there is no inclusion of modular homes, commercial properties, or vacant land. The geographical area researched includes; all areas within the boundaries of the city of Kingman, north Kingman, the Hualapai Mountain area, and the Valle Vista subdivisions. Click here to see maps of the included area's.

Listings:

Today total listings available for single family residence equals 594 (down 2 units from 596 on June 1). The total number of units that are listed as 'foreclosure' listings is 66. The rate of new listings taken per day in June was 3.6. Compared to last years total listings available on the market are down 20.9%.

There were 109 new listings taken in June (down as compared to 118 in May). The total number of units listed as 'foreclosure' listings for June was 28. The average asking price for the new listings is $206,556 (down from last months $213,108). The median asking price is $156,400 (sharply down from $189,000 previously). Newly listed units are down 17.4% from last year and the average initial offering price dropped 16.6% as compared to June of 2007.

The average newly listed home in June has 3.13 bedrooms, 2.07 baths, a 1.7 car garage, with 1,700 square feet of living space and was built in 1991. The average asking price per square foot of living space is $121. Lastly, 17 of the new listings were actually re-listed either by the same or different broker. 9 units listed last month are already under contract and 1 already closed.

The original price of new listings last month was from $69,900 through $650,000*.

* please note, there was a new listing with price tag of $2.9 million dollars entered into the system for June. I removed that listing to run the numbers because it would have skewed the average listing price upwards by nearly $30,000. Plus, I feel the property is hard to comp, I mean how many other homes are on top of the mountains and include its own private lake??

Units under contract:

As of today there are 90 total units under contract (up a few compared to the number of 87 last month). Of these, 25 were listed as 'foreclosure' sales.

53 units entered into contracts in the month of June (no change, the same as the 53 the previous month). Of these, 17 units were listed as 'foreclosure' sales. The average asking price for homes that received contracts was $190,165 (up from $176,582 last month) and the median asking price for June was $152,450 (up a little from the previous months $149,900 figure). Units entering contract are actually up from June of 2007 by 8.16% and the average marketing price is down 7%.

The average home that went under contract in June has 3.17 bedrooms, 2.17 baths, a 2.0 car garage, with 1,680 square feet of living space, and was built in 1995. The average asking price per square foot of living space for listings that entered contract this month is $113. It was also priced $13,972 higher when it first was listed as compared to its current asking price (the average price reduction was $15,496 last month). The average marketing time to reach a contract was 90 days (from 116 last month).

The advertised price of units that entered contract was from $67,500 through $539,000.

Conclusions:

Still a challenging situation for the market, even though some numbers are getting slightly better. But I think considering the foreclosure data reveals significance.

First off 42% of all 'foreclosure' listings were put into the system last month alone. Couple that with 'foreclosures' nabbing more than one out of four units as newly listed right now and the figures are most interesting. Even for the month units listed as 'foreclosures' basically took one out of three contracts for the month. Oh... I'd say the heat is on.

Foreclosure sales will have a huge impact on our market and this might just be the beginning.

If it wasn't for the foreclosures, the good news this months would have been far less new listings coming from folks that are considered home owners, i.e. residents. Inventory levels seem to be holding steady right now even with the influx of foreclosure listings.

An early look at sales from last month shows that unit sales will be very close to what they were last year and the average sales level will be close to 2005 levels. We'll see that report next week some time. Until then, have a great day!!

Look outside (locally)

It may come as a shock, but weather conditions outside in the greater Kingman area equal what one could describe as sunny and breezy.

Looks like somebody has taken notice and is going to try and capitalize.

Appraisal pains...

Pretend you are the seller of a fine home. You've reduced price multiple times on your quest to find a buyer. Success!! Sort of anyway. A buyer makes an offer... it is too low (you think) and after a few rounds of negotiation via counter offer forms... you settle on a sales price you never would have thought you'd accept.

The buyer is NOT paying in cash, which means the buyer is working with a lender to borrow the needed amount to meet the terms in the agreement (think sales price).

Before you call that moving company... take the following into consideration.

This comes from the BloodhoundBlog (and they just turned two years old, so happy belated birthday to Greg, Cathleen, and the rest of the very fine contributors of that great site).

I ask that you read the whole thing, but I'm gonna share the information that should scream out to you below from that post.

You probably won’t sell your home for an above-market price, but even if you do, the home still has to appraise for that price

Catchy title, eh??

So your house is finally under contract. Congratulations. It took longer than you thought it would to sell, and you had to go through three price reductions before you got regular showings. But now you’re under contract and in escrow. You’ve made it through the inspections and you’ve taken care of all of the repairs. Nothing but smooth sailing from here, right?

Not quite.

Here comes some bad news you hadn’t anticipated: Your house didn’t appraise.

I can tell you from recent professional experience that appraisals are not coming in for even the agreed to price on the contract you worked so very hard through lengthy negotiations. Here is more...

A lender will only lend on the appraised value or the purchase price — whichever is lower. If the appraisal comes in lower than the purchase price, something has to give.

Greg goes on to say that a buyer is protected in most contracts in the sense that if a house and/or property do not appraise, the buyer can simply cancel the contract and receive their earnest money back. Thanks for playing.

Or... the buyer can ask the seller to reduce the sales price (once again) to the appraised value (subject only to the appraiser and how he or she feels that day). If it is only a few thousand dollars it might not be all that bad and the seller may do it... but what if it is an additional ten thousand or twenty thousand?? Again, normally, thanks for playing.

The lender will not underwrite the loan, so the buyers will be forced to cancel using the financing contingency.

You could end up waiting quite a while longer for another buyer. And that buyer could offer you quite a bit less for your home. And even then, your house will still have to appraise for the purchase price. If home values continue to decline, you could live through this same nightmare a second time.

Again you are pretending to be the seller on this one. And if you've been a seller recently that has been given a low appraisal, it is a nightmare. Sometimes the appraisal report does not get finished in a timely manner... other times it is possible that the underwriters are slow to give final determination on the status of whether or not the loan is a go. It is more than possible that, as a seller, you are given the bad news of the low appraisal with about a week to go before scheduled closing. Yeah... a nightmare.

Appraisers and loan underwriters are skittish right now. Lenders are taking back homes and selling them for fifty cents on the dollar. Appraisers are being fastidious to make sure they are not overestimating values.

There are three check boxes on a typical appraisal form that speak to the current state of the market on the form. The options listed are the market is: 1) appreciating, 2) stable, and 3) DEPRECIATING.

On the most recent appraisal report that I've actually seen with my own eyes here in the Kingman area... option number three was checked (you shouldn't be shocked). This is a big indicator that underwriters watch closely when making their determinations. As a buyer or seller, at this point you are powerless to the appraisal form.

Once you get the bad news about the low appraisal... you are free to search for other comparable sales. You may even find a few sales comps that did not make it on the appraisal report that show sales data that point to a higher value. It probably will not matter. Not in this market. Not with all the eyes of the various government agencies out there looking for something that can be considered 'unscrupulous' (even though the buyer and seller agreed that the value of the home was the amount listed as the final sales price).

The buyer will probably cancel the contract... or at least extend the close of escrow period so that they can find a different lender and start the process all over again. With values dropping monthly, chance are that the next appraisal will be in line with the first one.

Fun huh??

And all of this is just another reason to price your home to the market. You probably won’t find a buyer willing to pay an above-market price. But even if you do, the home still has to appraise for that price.

So, once again, are you sure you really WANT to sell?? I can understand the NEED to sell, but if you fall into the NEED to sell group then I suggest following the advice I emphasized above. You are not only competing against other sellers in perhaps similar circumstances as your NEED indicates, you are also competing with foreclosed on property that banks are maybe getting $0.60 cents on the dollar for. You might want to think three or four months into the future as well. What will the property market value be then?? Will today's listed price even appraise in 90 to 180 days??

Tomorrow is the day that I'll share the listing report for June. I'm going to include a new data figure. I'll report how many new listings are of the foreclosed flavor. See you then.

Home for sale... includes wife!!

I know my limits. As a real estate professional... I simply cannot compete with the likes of this.

From the article...

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FL -- A struggling single parent and real estate agent is trying to sell her house and find a husband. She's auctioning off both her home and her love in a package deal on eBay and Craigslist.

And here I thought flat fees were a bit out of the ordinary.

The 42-year-old real estate agent, tired of struggling on her own, came up with a package deal to auction off her Palm Beach Gardens home and herself on both eBay and Craigslist.

Traboscia told News Channel 5 "If I have to place an ad to find my prince charming, I will. I'm doing it for the real reasons, the right reasons, honest, sincerity and respect. And I hope whoever reads it will read me that way."

There are no words...

In the ad, Traboscia writes:

"If you want to live the never ending dream and experience the real love, life and the romance you have always felt was a fairytale then this is the vibrant outstanding woman of your dreams! To sweep this European Loving Lady off her feet send in your application right now."

You see folks... I simply can't offer my love and romance along with the other... more typical... shall we say... services that are normally practiced in the real estate industry. Again... I know my limits (I know them because my wife put those limits on me).

The ad description says that her four bedroom, 2,000 square-foot home, that will be included in the deal, has "neutral colors, Berber carpet, and upgraded tile".

Traboscia has traveled the world, but Europe, and its men, are her favorite. "The men there are very captivating, they're very vibrant," she says.

Does she like Europeans or just the better value of the Euro?? That is my question.

Anyway, if you want to see some photos of the woman that is included in the purchase of the house (or is it the other way around??), click on the link above. And... if you are interested... all you eligible men out there... there is a link to the Craigslist ad.

Enjoy!!

You know that old expression...

I'm talking the one that goes... "I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out". Well it was kind of like that at my entertainment venue of choice I attended last night. No... there were no fights and in fact everyone was very nice and respectful.

But I went to a RAID meeting last night and all that was talked about was how to grow this community. Yes I'm oversimplifying a bit, but that is what I took out of the meeting when I left. For basically an hour and a half... how to attract beneficial growth was an underlying theme... at a RAID meeting.

The main advertised content for discussion last night was in fact those 'impact fees' that have been a hot point of conversation amongst many in the Kingman area. The impact fees were discussed at length and I think many in attendance that spoke up made good points.

Invited to the RAID town hall meeting last night were; Mayor John Salem, Council Members Robin Gordon and Keith Walker, and City Manager Jack Kramer. I won't speak for anyone else, but I was impressed with each city representative last night as various points were brought up by the audience and how those points were addressed.

One thing for certain came clear, for me, out of the discussions last night... Arizona has some stupid laws on the books with crazy requirements put on Arizona cities. There were a few nice ideas put out last evening, but those ideas were met with certain state statutes that basically eliminated the good idea.

I thank the hosts for last nights event for making me feel welcome. It is my hope to attend more of these kinds of community meetings in the future (no matter who is hosting). I did not speak up on any of the issues last night, but I do want to thank the Mayor for asking me if I wanted to before the meeting was over. It was my intension to listen to all issues last night and I feel that I benefited from doing just that.

One of the points the city representatives made last night was they wanted and needed to see how the 'impact fees' have curtailed specific growth related projects. I think their request for proof will be granted. I have heard through the grapevine of some smaller buildings not being built because of the additional fees that are tagged on to other typical costs such as permitting and required improvements.

So if anyone does know of projects put on hold or scrapped all together because of the high cost of commercial impact fees, please contact our City Council members and tell them what you know.

When this discussion was taking place, the only thing I would of added was all the proof they'd need would be staring us in the face once some stability returns to the economy and the market. You see, both neighboring communities such as Bullhead City and Lake Havasu city are a ways away from Kingman. Kind of like in the far corner. Those communities are 'over there', if you get my drift. But when things smooth out again (some day) I think it is very clear that we'll see noticeable growth in both residential and commercial building outside the current city limits.

We know that the master planned community that is going to be developed in the Golden Valley area is pretty close to getting all the necessary authority it needs from various government agencies to begin their project. That project is not 'over there'... more like right around the corner. For now, Kingman has the advantage simply because of the population base -- but how much will that matter is demand springs up its pretty face once again and all the builders (small or large) pull permits at the county for new projects... instead of the city??

I am already aware of many people moving out of the Kingman area because of the lack of opportunity brought on by the bad economy (much of it due to national issues, but they directly affect us in our humble area). A competing community could swipe other folks that live in Kingman and depending on the success of the developing community... sales tax revenue could easily follow in greater numbers. Not a good thing for city services at all.

Luckily... to some degree... the city is not threatened by ongoing development in the county area close to Kingman (again... a bad economy is right here, right now). Kingman has time to right itself and to ensure that it is competitive once things begin to turn around. It is time for Kingman to be aggressive in setting the stage for another round of good solid growth... whenever that happens.

Once again, last nights event was a success in my eyes. It is quite clear now that the community is ready to work together for progress that offers benefits to all. Thanks again to RAID for hosting a fine town hall event.

Interesting stuff from the Mayor's blog...

What?? You didn't know that the Mayor of Kingman, the honorable John Salem, has a blog?? Well you can find a link to it right here. The Kingman Daily Miner was gracious enough to offer Mr. Salem some room on their blog page and I think that it is great to see our mayor keeping us in touch with what is happening.

I found an interesting passage on his most recent post and wanted to share.

Infrastructure: Members of staff and I have been habitual in attending the ADOT State Transportation Board Meetings. Staff has made several addresses to the board on behalf of Kingman. It looks like we have been added to the five-year plan for some capital projects in Kingman. Statements made by board members at the Nogales meeting last Friday reiterate the consensus of the board that private money in addition to city and state funding for infastructure shoots projects to the top of the list as far as priority. This means that highway capital projects may become a reality in the near future rather than just a smoky dream.

Emphasis mine above.

Like I said, interesting.

What to do on a Thursday evening in Kingman??

Tonight I find my schedule lacking. The first half of the softball season is over (only took one throw that skipped off the field in front of me in the face so far this year) and I thought that I'd hit the town tonight.

My first thought was to check out a new movie at the cinema... but gas is $4 bucks a gallon and the closest first run movie theater is in Nevada which would cost me about a quarter tank and an additional hours worth of drive time... so that is out the window.

Then I thought maybe I'll do some shopping for some good name brand clothing, but again that would mean a trip out of town (probably to Havasu) to the NEW mall... gas at $4 bucks a gallon, yadda yadda yadda. So that is out.

So what to do... what to do??

Hey, I got it. I read that there is a town hall meeting slated for this evening and it is being hosted by those rascally community defenders against slaughterhouses and tattoo parlors. Sounds like the kind of entertainment that money can't buy to me.

The subject matter this evening apparently will be those 'impact fees' that have become a very popular point of contention since they were implemented a couple of years ago.

Hot damn!! A RAID meeting and 'impact fees'. I know the out of town readers are jealous and no doubt depressed that they'll miss the fun and games.

If you are in town, and out of entertainment options youreslf, why not come by the old Elk's building that is located downtown on the corner of Fouth and Oak streets?? Should beat an errant throw bouncing off your face (I'll let you know for sure tomorrow).

Today's letter to the editor goes into the Hall of ... something

As you might be able to tell, I like to catch up on things on the Kingman Daily Miner's letter to the editor section every few days. Now that the Miner has upgraded their website, the discussions found at the bottom of articles, columns, and letters provide a source of entertainment for me. It is certainly great to see more voices joining the discussion and even more letters being published in the paper.

Today's letter though takes the cake. Actually after reading today's letter (I'll get to it in a moment) I had to check to see if I was still sleeping, or fell in a worm hole into another dimension, or if I ended up in a 'funny farm' wearing a straight-jacket. I really needed Cher's character in the movie 'Moonstruck' to slap me across the face and yell at me to "snap out of it!!" when I tried to make sense of the letter to the editor I had just read.

Look, it is no secret that I have had disagreements with certain columns, articles, and letters over the last few years. I've even written letters to the editor in response to some of the things I have disagreed with. In fact participating in doing so helped lead me to the needed inspiration to run for city office (but I have learned my lesson for now... and thusly do not write letters to the editor any longer... for now at least).

Lately there has been a letter or two that has taken a jab at one particular journalist at the Miner. Of course the first salvo was followed by a letter and some comments defending the young man, which I have no problem with. Everything on the opinion page is, after all, an opinion... and I think we are all entitled to our opinions.

It would be interesting to see who comes out of the woodwork to take issue with today's letter.

Check it out at this link.

Of course I feel compelled to add my two cents so here goes...

Nicholas Wilbur's May 9 column, a mindless article consuming 84 square inches of space, might have aroused a bit of curiosity had it been left blank, but surely it would not have been crude or offensive.

Wilbur's mindless attack left a stigma on the editor's judgment in evaluating the pros and cons of Miner writers' submitted columns. Apparently, he experienced nothing other than pride. Wilbur's column defamed and denounced RAID.

This is just the beginning, AND the reason why I thought I may have fallen of a turnip truck this morning. My reading comprehension skills are lacking big time these days if indeed the young staff writer defamed and denounced RAID.

Here is the column the letter writer refers to.

What am I missing?? To me that particular column was aimed at the KDMiner's readers that commented below articles found on their website. To me the column was dripping with sarcasm for those comments left on the KDM site.

I have to believe that my reading comprehension skills are still in tact for only one reason... the former president... founding member... the treasurer... or whatever title the man holds with that group these days never fired back at the very same publication that 'made' their 'watchdog' group what it is today. RAID was silent, at least in the paper, after the column appeared.

More from today's episode...

Otherwise, Editor Mark Borgard would have felt compunction when considering and allowing Wilbur to submit another column on May 21, titled, in part, "RAID bashing," which I'm sure he wrote with glee and exuberance. Of course, the Realtors managed to have the beneficiaries of commercial enterprise attend the meeting. Baron Yankowitz managed to vociferously attack RAID, which I am convinced ticked Wilbur sillier than normal.

First off the words written by the young staff writer on May 21 did not come from the opinion page, they came from a news article (linked here). In the very same article, at least one member of RAID was quoted on various issues including responding to allegations of his wife saying things that may or may not be true (I'm Switzerland on that issue).

I find the extreme sensitivity of the author of this letter to be hilarious... 'vociferously attack'?? It is funny because a citizen (Mr. Yankowitz) took it upon himself to address the City Council at one particular evening to let his voice be heard, to take issue with a group of people that have never been elected to serve the community, to speak his own mind, someone that is NOT a Realtor or even a developer, and it is construed as a vociferous attack!! I expect this kind of thing when I'm watching episodes of 'The Office', but maybe some Hollywood types should send some script writers out to our neck of the woods as there is plenty of comic relief to be found.

Wacky Wilbur did not realize, in essence, that he was siding with the average homeowner when he included a picture of the Realty Experts marquee which read "Mommy who elected RAID to speak for us?" which preceded "Caution! RAID kills more than insects," and "Recall RAID."

Cue the rock 'n' roll music for either Golden Earring's or Rush's rendition of their own version of the song 'Twilight Zone' for the above... hell... cue Rod Serling back from the grave!! Since when is siding with the 'average home owner' a bad thing?? Didn't our newly elected mayor win on a ticket promising to represent the 'regular' people of this great community??

A photo that appeared along side a news article equals a young staff writer siding with average home owners now?? If this is true... then I hit my head at least three times this morning falling off that turnip truck. Wow... where's the Tylenol??

In conclusion, may I slip back to the "RAID kills more that insects?" Raid would not have to kill more than insects if man's integrity could be sized according to his value. I could rapidly stop infection from developers and "no gooders" with a can. Plaudits for Laura Cox for her courage in standing firm on solid beliefs, as she stood alone amongst the "growth surge" loonies.

Bill Bronn

Kingman

Shocking that in the end it came down to name-calling.

I've seen other writings at times from this author. Good stuff for sure... if you like paranoia and conspiracy writing. You'll find that in his writings that Kingman is just about out of water these days, that CEO's are very bad people, and that growth is really bad.

I was at a City Council meeting some time ago and I learned one other thing from Mr. Bronn's writing... he can't drive at night. You see he wrote the Council some letter about the plight of our water shortage and regretted that he couldn't come down to the city complex to speak in front of the Council because he can't drive a vehicle at night. I'm paraphrasing there but basically that is what the correspondance included... that and there will be no more water some day (even though the planet is 3/4 covered in that 'wacky' molecule). I suppose that Mr. Bronn will be proven right about the water some day... of course the star at the center of our solar system will someday go 'loonie', expand and generate enough heat to evaporate that particular molecule out to the far reaches of space (I watch the History Channel you know). However, I don't think Mr. Bronn or that even I or the young staff writer at the Miner will be able to witness the event as it is not slated to take place for another billion or so years.

I wait eagerly for the next letter from Mr. Bronn... I'm expecting no less than a command performance. I just hope I'm not any turnip trucks when it appears.

** A MOCO RE News Alert **

MOCO RE News is reporting that conditions outside in the Kingman area are currently sunny and fairly breezy. It is being reported that conditions such as these are alarmingly typical nearly 300 days out of the year.

Experts indicate that weather conditions such as these are ideal for generating solar and wind power for electricity needs in homes and other enclosed buildings.

Simple word searches, including the words: windmill, tower, wind, were used to try and locate zoning ordinances and restrictions from this document linked here. MOCO RE News could not determine if personal use energy producing windmills are allowed on residential private property, but understands that there is a $1,000 application fee paid to the City of Kingman by the applicant if a private property owner requests a variance to install such a device on the property.

According to at least one citizen, city leaders have said that wind generators are a 'blight' to neighborhoods.

On a related note, MOCO RE News is reporting that the one known power generating personal use windmill located near the intersection of Riata Valley and Western within the current city limits is not a 'blight' to the neighborhood and the tower the wind turbine rests on is still in tact.

Once again repeating our top story... weather conditions in the greater Kingman are considered sunny and fairly breezy.

This has been a MOCO RE News alert. Now back to the regularly scheduled programming.

Why some local markets are still okay...

Here is a little article from MarketWatch on housing markets that haven't been as affected by the slowing economy as our local area seems to have been. I'm going to copy some bits of the article below, but read the whole thing right here.

Challenging real estate markets can be found across the U.S. as home prices decline, sales fall and foreclosures rise. But in some places the biggest challenge has been convincing would-be buyers and sellers that local conditions don't resemble the national trends.

It's a challenge that Randy Jeffers, chairman of the Texas Association of Realtors, faces all the time.

While the number of sales has fallen somewhat, he still regards his market of Amarillo, Texas, as a seller's market right now. The median price of an existing single-family home in Amarillo was up an annualized 11% in the fourth quarter, according to the National Association of Realtors.

"Often they're surprised about what is going on locally or statewide," he said of his clients. As the country's collective housing ills land bold headlines, locals incorrectly extrapolate the information to their own markets, Jeffers added.

Just a couple of comparisons of Kingman to Amarillo for a second. First the median age is over six years younger in Amarillo. The median household income is actually higher in Kingman by a few thousand dollars. Lastly, the biggie, the median house/condo value in Amarillo is $91,600 while the figure for Kingman is $144,600. All of this data comes from city-data.com and you are free to double check.

I know there are higher property taxes in Texas, much higher in fact, and that leads to property values holding lower and usually more stable as compared to what we see in Arizona. But otherwise, it is entirely possible that right now people are moving to Amarillo because of favorable situations.

The housing problems largely aren't national but regional in nature, said Susan Wachter, a real estate professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

"The interesting thing is that there are parts of the country where housing prices are doing fine, thank you," she said. In fact, only five states are in what she would consider a housing recession: California, Arizona, Nevada, Florida and Michigan.

Not good.

Utah -- where home prices rose 9.27% in the fourth quarter of 2007 compared with the fourth quarter of 2006 -- was the state with the highest appreciation rate, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. Utah was followed by Wyoming, where prices rose 8.27% over the year, North Dakota, where prices rose 7.87%, and Montana, where prices rose 6.90%.

Still, in Billings, Mont., buyers often say they're waiting for prices to come down, said Dan Wagner, president of the Montana State Association of Realtors. But because they never soared during the boom years, prices likely aren't in need of a correction, he said.

I bet those buyers in Montana will change their tune once interest rates begin to climb.

And now... jobs...

The strong employment picture in Seattle caused home prices there to rise after other major cities reached their peaks. Appreciation there in the fourth quarter was just over 1%, according to NAR, but it is believed that the city's employment landscape is keeping Seattle housing from losing value.

No doubt that fuel prices will further pinch us locally from perhaps some newer opportunities for job growth, but even in the face of those higher prices we must do what we can to attract jobs to the area or else ALL property owners are going to suffer.

More on jobs...

Home-prices in major cities fell 10.7% in January compared with January 2007, according to the Case-Shiller home price index. The index tracks 20 cities, and 19 of them saw year-over-year declines. But one market experienced modest home-price gains over the year: Charlotte, N.C., another market that never saw a huge run-up in prices during the boom.

An influx of banking and research jobs in the Carolinas -- especially in Charlotte and the Research Triangle -- has been important to its stability, said Marty Frame, general manager of Cyberhomes.com. About 15,000 jobs were created in the Charlotte area last year, said Dot Munson, president of the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association. Large employers in the area include US Airways, Bank of America and Wachovia.

I'm not including the above because I weirdly think that Kingman is the next Charlotte or anything, but I've been reading about that market for a couple of years now. The availability of jobs is what is attracting people to the area. We have some opportunities here in Kingman for industrial as well as commercial jobs. Our community should focus on the things that will help bring the opportunities to our area.

The last point of the article is the coming trend of moving closer to town. I'm pretty sure they mean the big cities like LA, SF, NY, CHI, and many others. It is time for all of us to think of more creative ways to bring growth and opportunity to the area. We simply can't take things like the bypass bridge for granted. We have to give people a reason to come here... the nice weather we enjoy simply won't be enough.

Still Talking 'Target'

The article that appeared in the Miner last week is still causing some bits of conversation.

There seems to be two camps in the conversation. Those in Kingman that desire to shop at a fine retail store like Target... and those that are using the article to end the discussion because Target chose a different location than in Kingman.

I'm not going to get all that 'linky' in this post. The readers that are most interested in the discussions know where to look to find the various takes (hint, letters to the editor that appear in the Miner and the posts below). I even see a MOCO commenter got in the act and offered a letter in the Miner... even responded to a responder of his letter (how's your trip going Al??).

Speaking of Al (Koffman), he informed us here at MOCO that there was an article that spoke about the effort that was made to bring Target to the Bullhead City area. Now, while I haven't found the article as of yet, I don't think Al pulled what he said out of thin air. Apparently a group approached Target and told them that even though Bullhead City didn't have the needed 100,000 in population, Bullhead City was THE place to open up for business in Mohave County.

Al responded to a post by informing the others that the group used the populations of Needles (California), Laughlin (Nevada), and Arizona municipalities including Mohave Valley and Bullhead City in swaying Target to come to Mohave County.

So that got me thinking... just what is the estimated population of all of those communities??

I used city-data.com figures and here is what I came up with.

I started in Bullhead City. Notice the estimated population numbers for 2006... the number is 19.1% higher in population than the more official numbers taken from the year 2000. City-data.com did not give these estimated figures for ALL of the other communities such as Mohave Valley or Laughlin. So I've decided to add 20% to those figures in the rundown below.

Bullhead City, Arizona = 40,225
Mohave Valley, Arizona = 16,433*
Laughlin, Nevada = 8,491*
Needles, California = 5,330

Total estimated population count = 70,479

*denotes a figure derived by adding 20% to the reported population figure from 2000 according to city-data.com

Again, these numbers are estimated and I'm only using the resources from city-data.com to arrive at the figures above.

Now, let us look at the Kingman area that includes Kingman, New Kingman (Butler), and Golden Valley using the same resource and percentage increases as seen in the Bullhead City numbers. I'm going to use a 20% increase even though city-data.com shows that the population in Kingman increased at a rate of just under 40% from the year 2000 to 2006. I realize this isn't the most scientific way to do this but I'm trying to give Kingman every disadvantage that I can... with one exception.

I was looking for traffic counts on Interstate 40 and came across an ADOT website (Arizona Department of Transportation) and found a reported number of 22,000 vehicles a day traveled through Kingman along this major Interstate... in 1998. Yet an estimated 40% of those vehicles were 18 wheeler's, truck drivers, and the like. So I removed the amount reported for truck traffic. Keep in mind that this is daily traffic.

Taken from ADOT's website...

In 1998, Interstate 40 east of Kingman carried an average daily volume of 22,000 vehicles per day, of which 40% is truck traffic.

Let us just look at the numbers, later you will be free to call 'bullshit' if you must.

Kingman = 27,271
New Kingman/Butler = 17,772*
Golden Valley = 5,418*

Total estimated population count = 50,461

Interstate 40 Traffic = 13,200**

*denotes a figure derived by adding 20% to the reported population figure from 2000 according to city-data.com

**denotes a figure derived by subtracting 40% from ADOT's daily traffic estimation of truck traffic

So there are the numbers. I added the traffic count simply because it is more than possible that most of the traffic on Interstate 40 is NOT local traffic, certainly much less of a percentage than the traffic counts that pass by the property where Target is located in Bullhead City. In a given year according to ADOT's 1998 figures, more than 4.8 million vehicles that aren't tractor-trailers pass through Kingman using the Interstate.

The population counts between the Bullhead City area and the Kingman area are different by about 20,000. Not really all that much, but certainly Bullhead City has the population advantage.

To make up the population difference, Target or other retailers (or other forms of commerce) would only have to attract 0.416% of the traffic that runs through Kingman along I40 a year.

Now I'm under no impression that even a slight minority of drivers using the Interstate will simply be drawn to a place like Target just because it is in Kingman with freeway frontage... but there is a ton of potential with an asset like I40. It is a huge advantage over our neighboring communities in Mohave County. Given the right access, it is more than possible that Interstate traffic can be courted for shopping, eating, entertainment, and even fuel sales in greater numbers than what Kingman is experiencing today at this moment.

Another benefit for the locals would be that this traffic wouldn't have to necessarily utilize overcrowded streets such as Stockton Hill either. Imagine a commercial center with easy access on and off the Interstate a mere stones-throw away... local traffic would hardly be impacted... and it actually could be improved in some places.

Now, if you are a local Kingman resident, raise your hand if you've shopped at the new Target in Bullhead City. Oh I see many hands. Raise your hand if you shop at other places such as the outlet mall in Laughlin, or catch a movie, or even enjoy a nice meal. Wow, many hands are still up, in fact others have raised their hands to join. Now... how many head out to other destinations and find themselves shopping for goods they don't have a choice for in Kingman?? I'm seeing plenty of raised hands still. These raised hands represent lost dollars in terms of sales tax revenues. These hands also represent lost revenue to local business, and I'm talking 'ma and pa' types of shops as well as other locally owned franchise opportunities.

Just a couple of weekends ago, while visiting my sister's family in Las Vegas and watching my nephew play a little league game, I ventured off to Target and spent a little over $30 bucks on some items I cannot get in Kingman (I've looked). After that adventure it was off to catch a bite at one of my favorite sandwich shops known as Capriotti's (I ordered the Bobbie and it was better than good, it is a great sandwich). I only mention this because Capriotti's is a franchise and one of the franchise owners sponsored my nephew's little league team. He told me that the company is looking to add another 500 locations throughout the west. How much does anyone want to bet that I see a Cap's in Bullhead before we see one in Kingman?? This might just be one more reason to spend money in another town, unfortunately.

I love local food joints and always will. The Kingman Deli makes a great lunch and now that Senor Taco is open again I'm finding that my exercise regimen needs to be taken up a notch or two (as I have no more notches left on my belt). Local places like this will only see more business opportunity as the area grows on the back of a growing economy. They will welcome competition because they will have to continue to produce a good product and the exceptional service. As of right now, I doubt either location is noticeably benefiting directly from the traffic that passes through Kingman on the Interstate as neither is located right off the highway. Both examples will attract the local business opportunity and more business will come when there are more locals living in Kingman.

All in all, this isn't only about Target. Yeah, Target has some products in stock that I prefer over Wal-Mart and K-Mart... but I'm not living in misery because Target was courted by a group of people to open up shop in Bullhead City. Target probably made the best decision to locate in Bullhead at this time for themselves. Bullhead is doing just fine with the decision, I thought that I read that the city is expected to receive nearly $840,000 in sales tax revenues in the first year of Target's operation (with the other new retail venues in that commercial center it won't be tough to believe that BHC will benefit over $1 million dollars a year, funds that will hopefully be used to better services in that community).

Once again, the city made a horrible decision in 2005 when Target was actually very interested in locating in Kingman (for whatever reason that may have been). There was a development plan in place with letters of intent signed to develop property along the Interstate... I say again... along the Interstate. A development agreement that would have put a large sum of money into the city treasury, a public infrastructure improvement, and the means to millions of dollars of sales tax revenue.

This horrendous mistake was followed by vocal locals opposing a lesser proposed development agreement to do similar improvements. The window that was wide open to real opportunity only three years ago is getting slammed shut by other factors that aren't controlled by local issues. The national economy is now lagging, we have the credit crunch, high fuel prices, and higher prices on staple goods we all rely on. No fault of the vocal locals on this, but it has to be clear that better opportunities for Kingman are in the rear view mirror. Alarmingly similar as the rear view image as 0.416% of vehicles that pass through Kingman see every day on their way to spend money somewhere else.

Homework assignment for the new City Council

There has to be at least one issue out there that could possibly bring this community together, as fractured as it seems to be at times. It has been my plan to speak to the city in regards to issues surrounding renewable sources of energy... mainly solar and wind powered sources.

I mean... if you are in Kingman right now... look outside and notice the sunshine and the very breezy conditions. I've lived here for a number of years now and I find the current view very typical.

Honestly, I'm tired of the tree hugging zealots probably as much as the next person. The Al Gore's of the world are idiots and more importantly... hypocrites. I'm not sure I buy the notion that somehow this planet that has been around for 4.5 billion years (give or take a few million years) is suddenly threatened by our mere human existence because we drive some cars around. Sure, I've just oversimplified a tad, but as a South Park Conservative I get very cynical when it comes to media driven panics and manias about things. It is difficult to escape the onslaught... I even see articles about the so called effects of so called Global Warming on TV stations dedicated to sports... just give me highlights and box scores of the game dammit!!

However, even with this poor attitude of mine... some things simply make sense. It has been proven that electricity can be produced by sunshine and wind... and golly Martha... it sure is sunny and windy here in these here parts.

This also means that it gets fairly HOT in months like May, June, July, August, and September. Sure it can also be hot in other months as well... but in the months I listed, I often find myself turning on the air conditioner that was included in the purchase of my home. I hear that AC's are a burden on the power supply in the summer months and, honestly, that makes sense. That unit runs at all times of the day... well at least the moments I am in the home.

In my world... the only thing that suffers is my checkbook when I have to write larger amounts on the checks to the utility company in these often hot summer months. I'd rather write the smaller amounts I typically do in the more cooler months.

I suppose that I could just install one of these new personal use wind power generators in my yard... uhh... actually I can't in Kingman. You see, I have a decent sized lot upon which my home sits. Plenty enough room for me and my wife... however not large enough to allow me to utilize the one thing Kingman has plenty of... wind... to help with my electricity needs.

So this would be homework assignment number one for the new council elected to look out for the 'regular' folks here in these parts. Please look into the zoning restrictions and ordinances to prohibit a regular bloke like me to install one of these wind powered units on our property if we so choose to. While I have a lot nearly 8800 square feet in size... I'd be please if there was an allowance for half an acre minimum at first if this is too scary of a change, but only if there was some sort of promise to include smaller lot sizes as 30' to 40' foot windmills proved to be reasonably safe for surrounding neighbors and property.

That takes of the windy side of things.

I'm under the impression that there isn't anything stopping me from putting up some solar panels on my rooftop, in terms of city ordinances at least. I hope I'm right on this one, but I haven't checked. However there is one thing that is stopping me from doing so at this time... the expense... the up front expense (if you haven't noticed the real estate biz has been a touch slow for the last couple of years so I'm kinda broke when it comes to taking on large expenses at the moment). Solar panels worth a darn seem to cost in the $10,000 to $20,000 range (I read such things on this here Internet anyway).

Kinda pricey. While I wouldn't ask anyone to purchase such a system for my home -- especially the government, I have been made aware of a program that has been approved in Berkeley California (of all tree hugging places).

I'm not going to go into too much depth on what the folks up there are doing... instead I'm going to link four items below for you to read and react to. From what I have read it seems that the program that received authorization from the Berkeley City Council is about to begin. It may be a model that can be copied, or improved upon, or tweaked in some other fashion that could benefit the residents of Kingman. Heck... it could even lead to a revenue source for the city.

Here are the links...

Berkeley Offers Residents Unique Financing Option for Solar Power

Berkeley To Finance Solar Installations

City Council Unanimously Approves Solar Financing District

Berkeley Breakthrough on Financing Solar Energy

In the above reading material, I tried to be fair and included some of the criticisms that this plan is/was faced with... but the information above is a good start.

Anyway, it is the new Council's homework assignment.

If the readers here happen to favor 'green' energy a bit and see the favorable implications moving towards this kind of energy would have... please drop an email to the new Council letting them know... or better yet -- let them know how you feel at an upcoming Council meeting in person during the call to the public.

There will be a presentation made tonight in front of the city Planning and Zoning Commission on parts of this subject matter, FYI.

New RE blog in Mohave County...

For certain... we are not alone.

While there may be other real estate blogs in existence, uncharted by me at this time, in Mohave County... someone that I have come to respect over the years has started a blog in Bullhead City (our neighbor to the west WITH a Target store).

Visit the blog at this link.

I put the blog over on the sidebar blogroll last week but I wanted to bring attention to the site with this post. I find the blog very well written with plenty of solid information. The author may have a few differing views at times, but this is expected... let me explain.

The host of Bullhead City Blog is Evan Fuchs. Evan was the first president of the new(er) regional MLS that was put together over the last few years. That meant that we were both involved in organizing WARDEX right from the beginning. Along with the many others that were as involved, Evan did a great job for the new(er) organization and his dedication to the effort was inspiring.

With that said, on occasion Evan and myself were at odds with each other at times on issues relating to the new(er) organization. We both held our convictions close and on a few occasions had to raise our voices... but at the end of each meeting or conversation I felt a mutual respect between the both of us. It is acceptable to disagree, makes for a good Board of Directors meeting for certain.

Evan is the broker of Bullhead-Laughlin Realty. While I know other Realtors from his community, if or when I have clients that can be better served by someone from Bullhead... I would refer the client to his office. I just know the clients would be well served.

I've come to find out that Evan is actually a few years younger than me... not a bad thing in the least... but more impressive is the time he has already given to represent other Realtors throughout the state of Arizona by serving as local Association president (at least once), serving as the WARDEX president (as mentioned earlier), served as Region 1 Vice President of the Arizona Association of Realtors (a position that I hold currently... but not doing as fine a job that Evan did not doubt), and serving in other capacities on state level committees.

As a Realtor that is serving in similar capacities there is no question that Evan has earned the respect that I give him... which is why this post is longer than I first intended.

So please check out what Evan has to say from time to time. Leave some comments as well, he'd enjoy the discussion.

Evan... to you I say happy blogging!!

Kingman missed the 'Target' (again)

If you missed the Sunday paper yesterday, you missed an article about Kingman missing out on a new retail store named Target. Actually missing the target on Target this time was in response to a rumor that had been making the rounds the last few months.

Here is the link to the article.

Lets take a peak at some parts of the article and add a few comments...

Anna Goeppinger is the Target spokesperson who confirmed the news. She said when looking to open new locations, Target searches for communities of 100,000 people or more.

There you have it folks... the RAIDers were right I guess.

But why did Bullhead City get a Target??

Though she was unable to confirm why Bullhead City had been selected as a Target location, Goeppinger noted population isn't the only thing the company considers.

"Another thing we look into is transportation - how accessible is this location to both guests and distributors?" Goeppinger said.

In other words, Bullhead City's placement between Lake Havasu and Kingman, as well its adjacent position to Laughlin may also have had played a part in its selection.

Interesting.

The Bullhead City location for Target is right on their long and winding Hwy. 95 that runs from the very north part of Bullhead City towards the very south parts of Mohave Valley. Also the Bullhead Parkway basically feeds right into the location. For Bullhead City and the immediate area this is probably the best location there is.

For us wanna-be Target shoppers in Kingman a better location would have been around the airport area and the business park in that area, and for the Lake Havasu Target shopper... they'd probably would have liked the location better on the south side of Mohave Valley. My guess is that Target didn't open up business with the other Mohave County communities first in mind though.

Go back to the year 2005 for a minute. A group of developers had approached the city of Kingman to inquire on the resident owned 168 parcel located in the vicinity of what is known as today as Kingman Crossing. The developers were in negotiations with the private land owners on the north side of Interstate 40 for about 110 acres... but wanted to also purchase land on the south side to the tune of another 110 acres. If successful... the developers looked to build an interchange for Interstate access bringing the potential for high amounts of traffic from all directions.

I'm sure you know the rest of the story as to how much money was going to be sought from tax payers in Kingman to pay for the construction of said interchange (if you need a reminder... the answer was zero dollars).

The developers knew, back then, the advantages of Interstate frontage and the value it would have for the project. Retail giants like Target were interested in opening up right here in merry old Kingman... as long as they could have access to the Interstate.

Before any new local readers get ready to blast the local community group that is currently protecting us all from runaway tattoo parlors and rogue slaughterhouses for the demise of this project back in 2005, relax... it wasn't them that put a halt to the proposed project. No, we can thank a former city manager more than anyone else on that matter.

That is right, the city turned down market price for some land that is not being used (to the tune of some millions of dollars) AND turned down a 'free' public infrastructure project.

Now this is just a guess... but an offer like that will come around again sometime in... probably never. Even though there is still a proposal out there for an interchange at the Kingman Crossing vicinity... the now land owners and developers (a different group than the ones that made the proposal in 2005) aren't willing to build a true connecting interchange for free AND the other proposed interchange to the east of Kingman Crossing will rely 100% on tax payer funds if it is to ever be built (yeah 70% of those funds for phase 1 would come from the state highway department ADOT... but those funds still come from tax payers like you and me).

I didn't start this post to lament about the past... even though I just did lament about the past.

Mostly it was about why Target may have settled on Bullhead City. The location is as good as it gets for that community and was likely the reason they went forward even though there isn't the 100,000 people in the community. But I wonder if the location in Bullhead is as accessible as a location along a major Interstate?? The Target spokesperson above implied that access was a big deal, big enough anyway to look past the population count of the community.

I suppose that the only way this question is answered is when there is some land in Kingman that comes with Interstate access. I'm sure Target has no plans to locate in Kingman, but it sure would be interesting to see what reaction (if any) from major retailers would be if it were ever announced that a deal has been struck to improve public infrastructure along the Interstate.

Meanwhile shopping and entertainment choices will likely be limited in Kingman until either some Interstate frontage is developed or... until 70,000 more people move within the city limits.

Now that the 'new' Target rumor has been officially debunked... maybe the editor at the Miner can get someone out on all those rumors about the out of control tattoo parlors and slaughterhouses set to invade our fragile village.

If you click on the article link... be sure to read the comments that have been posted so far. Good stuff.