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

The True Mentors

I know by now we are all sickened by what happened at Penn State with the Jerry Sandusky situation but my family has had nothing but great coaching mentors who have influenced our lives.
My wife, Mary Ann, played basketball in the Police Athletic Leagues (PAL) in Cleveland and played one year at Cleveland State. I played baseball for Coach Jim Brock at Arizona State, then transferred to Coastal Carolina in South Carolina and played in the NAIA World Series in 1978.
My daughter, Juliann, played for Coach Ami Beiringer at All Saints, who my daughter said nourished her strength and intelligence on and off the court. Moving into high school, Juliann played for Coach Amber LaTarte on club teams, who was all about the team concept that can win championships and life-long friendships. At Xavier, Coach Kelly Fitzgerald took a volleyball/softball/basketball player and molded her into the second-ranked discus thrower in the state and the current school record holder.
Both Juliann and my son, Sean, played RAMMS for many years where they got tired of their parents coaching them in everything. Coach Craig Maggi played a key role in Sean's baseball acumen and at All-Saints, Coach Mark Wagner was an amazing influence in coaching and teaching Sean about what to expect at Brophy and was all about discipline. At Brophy, Sean played baseball and basketball. Beginning in his sophomore year, he was fortunate to be mentored by Coach Scooter Mollander and was part of the 2008 State Championship team for which he had four touchdowns in the final game, which is still a school record.
In college, Sean played at Colorado and then transferred to Phoenix College, where he played for Land Jacobsen (Coach Jake), who then helped Sean get on the University of Arizona football team in 2011 that went to the Alamo Bowl. Coach Jake was like many coaches who coach for the love of the game and not the notoriety or money. Unfortunately, Coach Jake was murdered on July 19. Our family will forever be indebted for everything that he did to get Sean to the next level. We loved you, Coach!
All of these coaches have had an amazing influence on our family and I can guarantee their training will help our kids become leaders, learn to become part of a team, never be content with anything less than 100 percent, and really helped give our kids the confidence that they will use for the rest of their professional and personal lives. There certainly are bad people out there but there are far more great people who are willing to help our kids get to that next level. Thanks to all of you parents and coaches who take the time to teach and mold our kids.I have a new sponsor for this column–– Phil's Home Maintenance, owned by Brenda Barella, whose father was Phil. I have been working with Brenda for almost 20 years with my own house and also on homes that need work before and after the home inspection is done in order to close. They deal with roofs, AC, electrical, plumbing, painting, pools and even changing light bulbs for this writer, who is mechanically challenged. Phil’s prices are very competitive but the best part for myself and for my clients, is that they stand behind their work. There is a reason that I have used Phil’s Home Maintenance for more than 500 jobs the past 20 years. Brenda can be reached at 623-979-5995.
Once again, I want to thank all of my past and current clients for their confidence in allowing me to sell almost 90 homes this year and more than 1,000 homes in 18 years. This newspaper, the North Central News, is nothing short of amazing in helping me with my business. If you are a business owner in the North Central area, advertising in this paper is critical to your success.

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

Congratulations to the ‘Survivors'

In addition to this column, I am going to add another column in the North Central News beginning this month titled NORTH CENTRAL SURVIVORS. This monthly article will feature up to three North Central businesses that have been around for 20 years or more, which in my opinion is a testimonial to the owners who have survived at least one difficult economic time. I have always been a true believer and supporter of any business  that chooses to operate in the Central corridor and I feel that the more successful retail and restaurants are, the more families will choose to live here.

I am here  to sell homes and I want to see more people moving to North Central. I also enjoy seeing old friends in the restaurants and stores but I don't enjoy seeing the little kids who I coached in
RAMMS for 10 years grow up to now calling me Mr Lieb. It makes me feel too old.

This month my North Central Survivors article will feature Christo’s Restaurant and The Stock Room, both which have been fixtures in North Central for more than 25 years. I hope you enjoy the article and if you know of any area businesses that have been cranking for at least 20 years, please email or call me. Congratulations to the North Central Survivors!

On to the REAL ESTATE WORLD. The rates remain incredibly low, which is allowing buyers to purchase or refinance at almost all time lows. We have been fortunate to have sold more than 70 homes in 2012 including 14 short sales, which is a great alternative to going through foreclosure and usually has a shorter impact on your credit rating than a foreclosure. Please give us an opportunity to discuss any and all real estate situations that you may have. The inventory is still very low, which helped us sell nine homes in May including 450 E Ocotillo, which was listed for $1.5 million. We also sold four homes in May the first week we listed the home.

Our North Central HomeSmart office continues to grow both in agents and space. We started off a year ago with 25 agents who mostly came from Realty Executives and now we are 83 strong. We just expanded our office to another 1,200 square feet with five private suites, three of which are spoken for. If you are looking to make a switch to the top North Central Real Estate office, give us a try. There certainly is a reason that the top realtors in town are now HomeSmart agents, which has allowed us to totally dominate our neighborhood with almost 80 percent of the market share. 
 Please give us an opportunity to meet with you when you are ready to discuss your real estate needs.

Have a safe July and stay hydrated!

Bobby Lieb

 Bobby Lieb

Associate Broker 

HomeSmart Elite Group 

602-761-4646 (office) 

602-376-1341 (mobile)

Around Town

I hope everybody had a good Passover and a happy Easter or both if you just like to eat. I have a couple of friends who celebrate both and how cool would it be to be young and get money for finding the Matzah and gathering the most Easter eggs? Growing up in Atlanta, I enjoyed getting out of school for Christmas but was confused why Chanukah did not get us any days off? 

Just a thought! I keep getting comments from sellers about the current market because they hear everything is back to 2005 prices and I let them know they are misinformed. The homes under $200,000 are seeing multiple offers but as the homes get pricier the demand is not as great unless the home is priced competitively. If you have any questions about your home's value, please give me a call and I will be glad to give you a free consultation. 

Remember, we have now done over 40 short sales so that is a great option for you. We have done around 12 short sales in 2012 and we have another eight in escrow. The banks have been more willing to short sell a home now than to foreclose. 

Congrats to my good friends Christo and Connie on their 25-year anniversary of Christo's restaurant, located on 7th Street just south of Maryland. Great food and the restaurant was remodeled throughout and has a private room that accommodates 25-50 people. Christo also has Alexi's restaurant located on Osborn and Central. 

Also, congrats to Joe and Peppy Niccoli from Niccoli's restaurant, located at 6102 N. 16th St., on their expansion. They are the hardest working couple that I have ever come across. They have great homemade Italian sandwiches and breads.  Take home their lasagna made fresh every day.

Speaking of good sandwiches, visit Maryland Deli and Liquor at 7th Street and Maryland. They also have eight gas pumps with Shell Gas. It is a family owned business and you can now place your order on line at www.Shelldeli.com. 

A neighborhood fixture for many years.  If you are looking for a fitness coach and a really cool private gym, contact Bobby Kelly from Results Only, located north of Chase Bank on 7th Street and Glendale. There are short-term memberships available and they have many yoga and conditioning classes daily. Contact Bobby at 602-944-0747. You also can ask for Kelly. 

Finally, thanks to Ben Green from Abernethy & Green who helped my son Sean with his speeding ticket in Yarnell. Ben also specializes in DUI and other criminal cases. Ben grew up in North Central and lives in the corridor. 

Thanks again for your continued support. We have sold 37 homes in 2012 and have 16 in escrow.  We will get your  home sold! 

Bobby Lieb 

Associate Broker 

HomeSmart Elite Group 

602-761-4646 (office) 

602-376-1341 (mobile) 

Bobby Lieb