Change is good

I was honored to be chosen by Local Einsteins Books as one of 15 agents in the Valley to write a
chapter for their book on “What to Know Before Buying or selling a Home.” They picked the top agent in each part of the Valley and I wrote about “Understanding the Real Estate Market of North Central Phoenix.” I was fortunate to list 158 homes in 2013 (13 homes per month) and sold 126 homes this year (10 homes per month). We sold almost 75 homes just in North  Central.
 I was asked recently why I chose to live in North Central with all the beautiful homes that I see throughout the Valley and my simple answer is that is the area my dad lived in and I feel so comfortable here. My parents got divorced in 1965 and I moved to Atlanta, Ga., with my mom and brother and dad moved to Phoenix to buy a ladies dress shop called Kagels at Park Central Mall
with his business partner Gerry Aron. Dad first moved into the Moroccan Apartments on 3rd Avenue and Maryland, which were torn down a few years ago and replaced by Herro Park Townhomes (these were built out and finished by Porchlight Homes). My dad then rented at Executive Towers at 3rd Avenue and Clarendon. Those were then converted into condos, where he lived for more than 20 years. Finally he moved into Crystal Point Condos, located on Osborn and 13th Street, before he passed away a couple of years ago.
I would visit Phoenix twice a year until I moved out here permanently in 1978 to work with dad at the Jockey Club Nightclub, which he owned and was built by Jerry Hassett. We had a second location for seven years at Central and Camelback, which was formerly Navares and now is Sweet Tomatoes. I enjoyed seeing the early Phoenix from 1965 to 1980 but, like all cities and neighborhoods, it must change in order to attract new families and keep the old ones here. I used to go with my dad to Rocky's Hideaway in the Ambassador Hotel on 4th Avenue and Maryland, which is now a gated subdivision of 20 homes called North Central Estate West. The cook at Rocky’s was Gregory Andro, who was Rocky's nephew and later opened many wonderful restaurants called Gregory's Penthouse. One of Greg's best customers was a former star softball player named Rose Mofford, who went on to greater fame as one of our finest governors. Rose, hope you are feeling better because we miss seeing you at Sierra Bonita. also had the very first disco in Phoenix called Herb's Underground, located across the street from the Del Webb Townhouse on Clarendon and Central in 1970. He used to take me to Willie andGuillermos Nightclub and Restaurant on Central Avenue Missouri, where people used to stand in linesfor hours to get in. That was torn down and estate housesare now in its place.
What is my point with this month's article? First of all, that I am very grateful that my dad chose this area to live in for more than 50 years and introduced me and my family to North Central. Second, I get a little upset when I hear people say that our area should always remain the same and never change and that is just not practical. Properties get run down and become a blight to the neighborhood and a seller has the right to sell to whoever they want to for the most money they can. If the new buyer happens to be a developer who is not needing a variance and is keeping the current zoning in place, then that is a positive change and brings new people to our area who want new homes and will pay more money for these homes, which drive our prices up. We sold three
new homes for Magee Builders in 2013 between $740k and $805k and the buyers moved in these because they only wanted new homes and their kids all went to our neighborhood schools. Magee is building another 24 custom homes in North Central the next 24 months and I am proud to be their exclusive agent. Porchlight Homes, another local developer, bought a 5.5 acre old horse property on 7th avenue and Claremont and we have sold 7 homes priced between $625k-$800k and there will be a total of 15 homes in this gated subdivision. Five of the buyers are North Central homeowners who wanted new and gated (two of those five are moving from 5,000-square-foot North Central Homes and want to downsize and stay in the area) and are proud to call this their new home. Porchlight also is building 10 new homes on Central Avenue just north of Northern, which should start selling in January. I am also honored to be Porchlight's exclusive broker.
I understand that not all of you want to see changes to our area and I respect that opinion. Please respect the fact that there are many new people who are moving in to our neighborhood, as well as long time area residents who want to move here and buy new or remodeled homes. I literally have a waiting list of buyers who want homes in our area and that is why I sold more than 20 homes out of 126 home sales in 2013 to clients who bought my listings before they even went in to MLS. There is also a reason that new restaurants and businesses are locating in our area. CHANGE IS GOOD!
Have a great and healthy 2014

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