Taking the trip of a lifetime

Normally I write this column about the real estate market in North Central but this month I would like to share with you a wonderful experience that my wife Mary Ann and our two great friends Wendell and Jan Chapman just experienced. We got to spend the past week on an incredible journey to the land of Israel. My daughter was fortunate to visit Israel last year on a program called Birthright, which is available to Jewish kids between the ages of 18- 26 and is actually free if they qualify. For the first time ever, the Birthright program invited the parents (we have to pay!), to visit Israel and experience what our kids got to see. We got to meet 84 parents from all over the country and had the adventure of our life.

We started on day one by going to the port city of Caesara and then drove along the  Mediterranean coast to the upper Galilee and saw incredible old ruins of the country. On day two we got to discover the Golan Heights on ATV off road vehicles, looked out at Syria from Mount Bental, then continued to a memorial service at the Valley of the Tears that marked 40 years since the outbreak of the Yom Kippur war, took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee and then had dinner in Tiberias.

On days three and four we went to the magical city of Tzfat, met with a Kabbalistic artist, drove to the incredible city of Jerusalem where they had a welcoming ceremony for our group and then stayed in Jerusalem. We also went to visit the Israel Museum, which included the model of Jerusalem and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Next we went to visit the Western wall which also is known as the Wailing Wall. We then went to Ammunition Hill where we walked through the bunkers and heard about the battles for Jerusalem in the six-day war.
Over the next few days we went to Yad Vasheem, which is a historical museum depicting
the Holocaust and the children who were killed during this horrible time. We then went
to Israel's National Military Cemetery and then went shopping at the Machane Yehuda outdoor market (absolutely about as crowded as you could possibly imagine) and then went to a sound and light show at the Tower of David Museum.
The final two days we went to the Judean Desert, floated in the Dead Sea, went to Masada and relived the bitter confrontation between the Zealots and the Romans, and then got to ride camels at Kfar Hanokdim. Finally, we visited the site where Prime Minister Rabinwas killed in 1995 and visited the beaches in Tel Aviv.
The passion of the residents in Israel is incredible. It truly does not matter what religion
you practice because this is a country for everybody. The history and the surroundings
from the north all the way to the south of Israel offer a vacation and history lesson for all ages. I was a little nervous because of everything that I had read but I personally will tell you it is absolutely safe and you need to experience what we experienced. If you are interested in a tour, contact Israel Maven Tours at 866-317-9307 or the visit the website at www.Israel-Maven.com.
Have a great November.

Bobby Lieb

The Lieb Group
Bobby Lieb
Associate Broker
HomeSmart Elite Group Manager/Founder
5225 N. Central Ave., Ste. 104
Phoenix, AZ 85012
Mobile: 602-376-1341
Fax: 602-996-9141
www.centralphx.com

MAN'S BEST FRIEND

I remember around 27 years ago playing tennis at my friend Dr Peter Nutley's home when he stopped for a few minutes to walk up to his dog and gave it a treat and started talking to him like he was human..I kept saying to myself what a wacko and then Peter went on to tell me that he took his dog hunting with him and camping..I started to worry a little about my friend that he was so attached to his dog because I had never owned a dog and did not understand. Later that year, I surprised my wife when we got back from our honeymoon with our first dog, a shar-pei named IRIE and we became hooked..Irie would sleep under our newborn Sean's bed and then 2 years later, protected Sean's sister Juliann when she was born. Irie was a great friend and we enjoyed him for many years. About 7 years later we got another shar-pei, Punam and then about 11 years we bought a weimeraner named Jakki who is still prancing around the home..Irie and Punam had passed on and we got our 3rd Shar-Pei, Shay around 9 years ago..Shay was an amazing pet. He never had a bad day and would wake me up when he was hungry and had me trained to do whatever he wanted me to do..When we bought a boxer Layla a couple of years ago, Shay would cause interference on Layla whenever Layla starting getting aggressive with Jakki and was the protective father that he needed to be.. 

 

We almost lost Shay a couple of years ago due to health issues but our vet, Dr BJ Umstead saved him with proper medications and Shay continued to give our family daily smiles. A couple of weeks ago, Shay stopped eating and although we did everything that we could we realized that his time was near. We took Shay in July 5th to the vet and made that really difficult decision to put him at peace..That choice was probably the hardest decision that I ever had to make but I just did not want to see him suffer anymore..Four days later my 2 dogs are very confused to where their pal is and additionally my wife and I are having a rough time because Shay was a huge part of our family..It has taken me 27 years to realize what Dr Nutley had exposed me to that day and that is whatever pet you have, dogs, cats, birds, gerbils, etc., they are addicting and habit forming. Any of you who have suffered the loss of a pet, I sympathize with you and I now realize that these pets are HUMAN after all! I would love to hear about your stories so you can email me at boblieb@aol.com.

 

On to Real Estate..We have now sold 70 homes and have 12 in escrow for 2013. Thanks to all of you for helping me be ranked by The Phoenix Business Journal the number 6 realtor in Phoenix for 2012 with over $50 million in sales and over 110 home sales. I will never take anything for granted and I have been fortunate to have sold over 1000 North Central homes over the past 20 years, some of them even 2 or 3 times. North Central is my speciality area and I think this is the best area to live and work anywhere in the valley. This is why all the new restaurants and businesses are opening here because the retail world realizes what a great area we live in, as well as all of the new construction.. Have you seen the long lines at these places?..Even in 110 degree weather!!

 

Have a great August..Be safe with kids going back to school and remember my parting words for this month..Love those PETS because they love you!!

 

Bobby Lieb
 Bobby Lieb
Associate Broker
HomeSmart Elite Group
602-761-4646 (office)
602-376-1341 (mobile)
boblieb@aol.com 

  

Man's best friend

Contrary to popular belief, man's best friend is not his significant other, it clearlyis his dog, or in my case, DOGS. I have a weimeraner (Jakki), a shar-pei (Shay) and a boxer (Layla). Since my kids are somewhat gone (they never are completely gone), my dogs have been the replacement for the kids being gone.
Yes, I am still married to Mary Ann for 26 years now but the dogs love me 24 hours a day as opposed to my wife, who only loves me for maybe a couple of hours a day. Jakki and Shay are 11 and 9 years old so they are a vet's dream and require special diets and enough pills per day to choke a horse or even their owner. Layla hikes with us and keeps the other dogs young. She was a rescued boxer and has a lot of energy. I really want to thank my vet, North Central resident Dr. BJ Umstead, who owns Glenn Animal Care Hospital. She is amazing and when you go to her clinic, you get her and not a resident assistant. She has saved the dogs twice from doggy heaven and she is the best. My dogs love swallowing 20 to 30 pills at a time, which probably should get me thrown in jail. You can reach Glenn Animal Care Hospital at 623-937-4004.
The inventory for homes continues todrop, which creates quite a demand for new listings. In 2013, we have listed 35 homes, closed on 39 homes and have 13 in escrow. We have the buyers if you are
thinking of selling your home. The demand for North Central has reached a feverish pitch for homes priced anywhere from $100,000 to $2,000,000.  I look forward to meeting with you to discuss your
homebuying/selling needs.
Our HomeSmart office at Central and Missouri continues to dominate the Central area. We now have 137 agents who specialize in the corridor and that is why two out of every three signs in North Central are HomeSmart Realty signs. When you see HomeSmart Elite on the sign, that means the
agents in that group have an average of 12 years experience in selling homes. I started that group two years ago and we now have 250 agents in our group. We have our own Facebook page to market our homes and we have the latest in technology.
You need to give us a try if you want your home sold or if you need to find a home, even before it is listed! This is a very small community and a lot of times if you tell us what you are looking for we can let you know before the world knows and hopefully it can become your dream home. It can be very frustrating to search for homes and what you want is sold before you hear about it. There
certainly is a reason why HomeSmart sells more homes in the North Central area. Last month I had Mayor Greg Stanton and Bill Gray, who is the founder of The Arizona School of Real Estate, at our monthly meeting and next month we have Michael Orr and The Arizona Republic columnist, Catherine Reagor speaking to our group. No other company can boast of the knowledgeable speakers that we have sharing their trends for the next five years of the valley's growth.
I am going to home to feed my dogs with their special diets.They miss me!!
Have a great May.


The Lieb Group
Bobby Lieb
Associate Broker
HomeSmart Elite Group Manager
5225 N. Central Ave., Ste. 104
Phoenix, AZ 85012
Mobile: 602-376-1341
Fax: 602-996-9141
www.centralphx.com

Never a dull moment...

How many of you have had this conversation with your kids? My daughter lost her iPhone a couple of  days ago and in order to replace it she had two options–– replace it with the same phone or use our upgrade to improve the phone. I had to explain to her that the upgrade is mine to use on my phone since, after all, I am paying for the phones. Am I missing something here? Ok, I can only blame myself! I guess I can blame my wife also...
Thanks to many of you who attended our old nightclub reunion (the Jockey Club) the other night. We had more than 450 people and it was really cool to see old friends that I had not seen almost 20 years. My wife, Mary Ann, made her 20-year comeback playing disc jockey again and the floor was jumping. I also had Michael and Margo Reed along with Alice Tatum singing majically like only they can perform.
It really is great to see construction again in North Central. Rick Stark is building two custom homes on Lamar and Central and he hopes to get close to $300 per foot. I have been working with Magee Builders on remodeling sales and they also are building two new homes: one at 306 W Claremont, which will be almost 3,000 square feet and priced in the mid $700s, and another home at 6101 N. 2nd Street, which will be around 3,500 square feet priced in the high $700s. They have another remodel at 77 E Missouri, which is 3500 square feet that will be priced in the mid $500s and done by the end of April. Exciting times in our area.
Please let me know if you have a home that needs updating but you don’t want to spend the money on it because these guys would rather buy a home that has not been remodeled. I said last month that some of you are inheriting homes that need to be sold and that could be a perfect candidate. Either townhomes or single family will work.
I realize that we are all excited to see pricesgoing up but I still caution you that we still are having appraisal issues because the sales have not caught up with some of the comparable sales. We don’t have foreclosures to deal with but there still are short sales that are not allowing certain homes to appreciate so we are losing some sales out there. My biggest issue is that we get appraisers that do not know our area and they will use comps for the Butler Park area for homes that are south of Northern and east of 7th Street. Let me know if you are interested in listing your home and I would be honored to evaluate your home.
As always, thanks to my clients who allowed me to work with them so far in 2013. We have sold 24 homes this year and we have 20 in escrow, so the market continues to energize. We were fortunate to sell more than 110 homes in 2012 and I was named the top agent nationwide for HomeSmart for sales volume and units sold. HomeSmart continues to dominate the North Central area and our office now has 127 agents.
Have a Happy Easter and a Happy Passover. Happy Birthday to my wife, Mary Ann, whose birthday is April 3. I would love to buy her a present but I have to get my daughter her new phone. And, in adddition, my birthday is 15 days later and I need a new phone.


Bobby Lieb
The Lieb Group
Bobby Lieb
Associate Broker
HomeSmart Elite Group Manager
5225 N. Central Ave., Ste. 104
Phoenix, AZ 85012
Mobile: 602-376-1341
Fax: 602-996-9141
www.centralphx.com

It's 2013!

Many of us long-time North Central residents lost a great friend in December–Neal Sheiner. Neal would have been happy because he reunited many of his friends at his service who had not seen each other in a little while.
Neil was an architect by trade but served on the Fiesta Bowl committee for well over 20 years, was a past president of Silent Witness and was a long-time member of the RAMMS Board which over sees youth activities in our area. I served with Neal for six years on the Ramms board and I have one  funny story involving him. When Chuck Whetstine, Mark Hester and I coached girls sixth- eighth-grade softball, Neal was the uniform contact, something he did for more than 10 years. We
chose for our team the University of South Carolina because I went to college nearby and the nickname was the Gamecocks. The coaches quickly learned after the first game, when the girls would cheer 1-2-3 GO COCKS every inning, that this school's name was not going to work and I had Neal switch to another school's uniform.
Neal will be missed by many of us and I especially want to reach out to Marla, Julie Kirschner, and Neal’s two children, AJ and Sam. Godspeed, my friend.
The funny thing at the reception was that many of us dads/coaches were still upset losing games to each other in games that were played more than 10 years ago. None of us like to lose and we are still scarred!! Neal brought us together for the Ramms reunion. John Ashton, your family still owes my team ice cream when we kicked your wife's team in the championship seven years ago. Kim is a sore loser.
I want to welcome a new store to our neighborhood, Nene Unique Home and Gifts store located at 6042 N. 16th Street (just north of Bethany Home Road). It really is a cool store and adds to the ambience of the 16th/Bethany Home corridor. It is owned by longtime KEZ radio host Beth
McDonald, who was part of the Beth and Bill show for 20 years. Beth is in her 22nd year at the station. The store is managed by Beth's sister and North Central resident, Kelley Mc-Neil..The store reminds me of Vignettes, which was located on 7th Street and Colter for many years. Lets welcome NeNe to our 'HOOD.
I mentioned in December how appreciative I am of my friends and clients for allowing me to list 114 homes in 2012 and to sell 104 homes. The market is slowly coming back to life and the ugly foreclosures have disappeared. There will still be short sales for the next three to five years but home values in our area are finally getting better. I know some of you are hearing that homes are increasing in value 20 percent or more but that is in the outlying areas that were down almost 80 percent. I do have four totally remodeled homes coming on the market in the first quarter of 2013 by Magee Builders who have created some masterpieces in the past year in North Central and almost single handily are increasing our neighborhood values.
Finally, I want to thanks the 100 agents who have joined me at HomeSmart, located at 5225 N. Central Ave. Ste. 104, over the past 18 months and have helped us become North Central's top producing real estate company. We have the Valley’s top-performing agents in our office and we will continue to work hard and gain your trust. Our group has well over 10 years average experience and we all live in North Central or the surrounding areas. We also have Spanish- and Vietnamese-speaking agents in our group. In a slow economy, we just expanded our office and we have two vacancies. Give us a call and we’ll give you our marketing expertise.

Have a great 2013!!

Bobby Lieb
 Bobby Lieb
Associate Broker
HomeSmart Elite Group
602-761-4646 (office)
602-376-1341 (mobile)
boblieb@aol.com