AZ Active Retirement Living

Arizona Sun City retirement homes for salewith a Casita or guest house

"What is a Casita?".  I often hear this when showing homes for sale in our Arizona retirement communities.  Particularly if it is their first visit to the area.

In essence, it is a guest house or, as my husband calls it... his "man cave".

These little dwellings are a hot commodity and homes that have one usually get top dollar in the current market.  In part because it provides a third bedroom space many of the homes don't have.

The addition of a casita on the front of a home also creates a wonderful, private front courtyard space that screams for a water feature of some kind.

Click on the links below to see homes for sale in Sun City Grand, Sun City West, Sun City Festival & Corte Bella with casitas or guest houses

BE ADVISED- the searches are only as good as what the listing agent puts into the MLS listings.  Some of these searches will include listings that don't belong and some listings may not show up at all if the listing agent has put in incorrect or incomplete information (something the sellers should be made aware of).  The majority of what comes up on these searches though will be correct and make your search for homes with a casita or guest house much easier.

Homes for sale in Sun City Grand Arizona with a casita or guest house

Homes for sale in Sun City Festival Arizona with a casita (some of these will be new construction)

Homes for sale in Sun City West Arizona with a casita or guest house

Homes for sale in Corte Bella Arizona with a casita or guest house

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Be sure to visit my website. Here you will find MLS listings for many of the other Phoenix Del Webb retirement communities and more, including homes for sale in Sun City Grand, Corte Bella real estate, Sun City Festival homes for sale, homes for sale in Arizona Traditions, Trilogy at Vistancia and Sun City West, PLUS see a map of the Surprise AZ area retirement communities. Don't hesitate to call or email if you have questions.

Subscribe to my AZActiveRetirementLiving.com blog feed

Kathy Anderson
Ken Meade Realty
Sun City Grand Office

(602) 703-8930

Arizona Sun City retirement homes for salewith a Casita or guest house

For those of you looking to purchase a small vacation getaway... on the golf course... in one of the newer Arizona retirement communities, the Corte Bella Quinta or Bellita floor plan might just be the ticket. 

At 1282 s.f. & 1155 s.f., respectively, Del Webb designated golf course lots along San Ramon Drive to these cute Villas, a rarity in the newer communities where the best views are usually saved for the estate size homes.

As of this writing there are no golf course listings available in these models but it just got easier to watch for them.

New to my website is the ability to search for Corte Bella MLS real estate listings and homes for sale by the floor plan or model name.

To watch for the Quinta & Bellita listings on the golf course click on the following links and bookmark them or give me a call and I can set you up to receive notifications as soon as they come on the market.

Corte Bella Quinta listings for sale

Corte Bella Bellita listings for sale

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Be sure to visit my website. Here you will find MLS listings for many of the other Phoenix Del Webb retirement communities and more, including Sun City Grand real estate, Sun City Festival homes for sale, homes for sale in Arizona Traditions, Trilogy at Vistancia and Sun City West, PLUS see a map of the Surprise AZ area retirement communities. Don't hesitate to call or email if you have questions.

Subscribe to my AZActiveRetirementLiving.com blog feed

Kathy Anderson
Ken Meade Realty
Sun City Grand Office

(602) 703-8930

Have you refinanced your Arizona retirement homes? 

With interest rates continuing to stay at these unbelievable historically low percentages, chances are you could be saving a bundle if you settled for a 6% rate or higher a few years ago. 

One of the problems for many homeowners in Arizona is that we are upside down on our mortgages (i.e. - we owe more than the house is worth).  Did you know that you may still be able to re-fi?  According to one of my mortgage guys this is the case for some homeowners.

I came across this handy little mortgage calculator awhile back.  Plug in some numbers and see what a difference you could make in your monthly house payment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you are in the market to buy or sell a home in one of the Phoenix west valley active retirement golf communities, please call me or visit my website. Here you will also find information on homes for sale in Sun City Grand, resales in Corte Bella, Sun City Festival real estate, Arizona Traditions MLS listings, Trilogy at Vistancia and Sun City West, PLUS see a map of the Surprise AZ area retirement communities. Don't hesitate to call or email if you have questions.

Subscribe to my AZActiveRetirementLiving.com blog feed

Kathy Anderson
Ken Meade Realty
Sun City Grand Office

(602) 703-8930

2010 Corte Bella Real Estate Sales & MORE!

If you'd like to follow Corte Bella real estate sales you might want to bookmark my website. I have been posting sales since the 1st quarter of 2008.  For now, click on the tabs below to see what has sold this year, 2010.

Sales for the first half of 2010 were up in all the area Arizona retirement communities.
Check out the chart below

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you are in the market to buy or sell a home in one of the Phoenix west valley active retirement golf communities, please call me or visit my website http://KathyAndersonRealtor.com. Here you will find information on homes for sale in Sun City Grand Surprise Arizona, resales in Corte Bella, Sun City Festival real estate, Arizona Traditions MLS listings, Trilogy at Vistancia and Sun City West, PLUS see a map of the Surprise AZ area retirement communities. Don't hesitate to call or email if you have questions.

Subscribe to my AZActiveRetirementLiving.com blog feed

Kathy Anderson
Ken Meade Realty
Sun City Grand Office

(602) 703-8930

Foreclosures in Corte Bella, Sun City West, Arizona - 2009

There were 24 Corte Bella foreclosures that sold this year vs. 4 in 2008.  It looks as though 2010 will see at least as many, but could have many more than 2009 as the Corte Bella real estate inventories are running still higher than the current demand.

Out of 101 total homes sold in Corte Bella in 2009, the 24 foreclosures equates to 23.8%. This is one of the highest percentages for the Arizona golf retirement communities but is still quite a bit less than the city of Phoenix where 65.9% of the homes sold this last year were foreclosures, or the current national average for that matter. Take a look at the chart below.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you are in the market to buy or sell Corte Bella real estate, please call me or visit my website where you will find a wealth of information, including Corte Bella floor plans for the different models.  You will also find information on other Phoenix Arizona golf retirement communities.

Subscribe to my AZActiveRetirementLiving.com blog feed

Ken Meade Realty
Sun City Grand Office

(602) 703-8930

Corte Bella real estate sales for the 4th quarter of 2009 have been posted to my website. Sales were up considerably this quarter (29 homes sold) over the same time period last year (11 homes sold).

While the Corte Bella real estate market has struggled in the past due to high inventories and the Corte Bella foreclosures are still higher per capita than other retirement communities, the brisk sales of this last quarter show a glimmer of hope for this beautiful community.

It all comes down to supply and demand.  We realtors look at absortion rates to take a temperature, as you will, of the markets health. If the inventories don't sore in the next couple of months and we continue to see increased sales this next quarter, Corte Bella will be much closer to recovering.

Having said that there are currently 7 foreclosures showing up as MLS listings with around 21 more in pre-foreclosure. Some of these may be sold successfully as short sales but many will go back to the banks.

To see archives for homes sold in Corte Bella Arizona
over the last 2 years click on the link below

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you are in the market to buy or sell Corte Bella real estate, please call me or visit my website where you will find a wealth of information, including Corte Bella floor plans for the different models.  You will also find information on other Phoenix Arizona golf retirement communities.

Subscribe to my AZActiveRetirementLiving.com blog feed

Ken Meade Realty
Sun City Grand Office

(602) 703-8930

3rd quarter sales figures for Corte Bella resales have been posted to my website.  Sales were up this quarter (22 homes sold) over the same time period last year (13 homes sold).  This is probably due to the increase in foreclosures and short sales this last year (i.e. - great deals!). 

I'm afraid this beautiful Arizona retirement community's real estate market will continue to struggle this next year.  The inventories are still too high for the current demand which will continue to drive prices down on the owner occupied resales.  As a result we will continue to see the Corte Bella foreclosures and short sales rise.

There are currently only 3 foreclosures showing up as MLS listings but according to the tax records there are about 30 that are pre-foreclosure.  Some of these may be sold successfully as short sales but many will go back to the banks.

To see archives for homes sold in Corte Bella Arizona
over the last 2 years click on the link below

Current Corte Bella MLS real estate listings and Corte Bella Floor Plans

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you are in the market to buy or sell a home in one of the Phoenix west valley active retirement golf communities, please call me or visit my website http://KathyAndersonRealtor.com. Here you will find information on homes for sale in Sun City Grand Surprise Arizona, resales in Corte Bella, Sun City Festival real estate, Arizona Traditions MLS listings, Trilogy at Vistancia and Sun City West, PLUS see a map of the Surprise AZ area retirement communities. Don't hesitate to call or email if you have questions.

Subscribe to my AZActiveRetirementLiving.com blog feed

Ken Meade Realty
Sun City Grand Office

(602) 703-8930

I just posted the 2nd quarter sales figures for Corte Bella real estate. As I said in an earlier post, home sales in Corte Bella have picked up. Part of this is due to a greater number of short sales and foreclosures which mean lower sales prices.

For the future health of this gated community though, we need to see this inventory reduction. It's a tough pill to swallow for current homeowners trying to sell, but is ultimately necessary for Corte Bellas' real estate market recovery.

Click on the tabs below to see the Corte Bella Arizona home sales figures for the last month as well as the archives I have provided for the last year and a half.

Awhile back I did a blog article on restaurants in Sun City West, AZ. At the time I neglected to include a beautiful restaurant that provides a fine dining experience, located in the gated country club retirement community of Corte Bella. Because Corte Bella is a gated community, non-residents may not realize they are welcome to eat at the Anacapa Restaurant. In fact, restaurant management would LOVE your patronage.

If you haven't had the opportunity to visit the community you will be in for a treat. Just tell the guard at the gate that you wish to have lunch/dinner at the Anacapa Restaurant. The guard will then give you a visitors pass and you are on your way.

The restaurant boasts painted murals with a Santa Barbara/Mediterranean feel to the architecture... and, of course, gorgeous views of the golf course. I have included a copy of the summer menu as well as the summer hours. If you are like my husband and I, you are looking for new places to try out. Anacapa's is a special, AND affordable, place to eat. AND it's in our backyard. BTW... the Steak & Blue Salad is out of this world!

Click Herefor directions to Corte Bella.

Corte Bella sales have picked up significantly in the last 6 months. Over the next week I will be providing sales reports that will go back to the beginning of 2008. For now you can see Corte Bella Homes Sold - 1st Quarter 2009 and Corte Bella Homes Sold - 4th Quarter 2008. In the future you can access all the Corte Bella, Sun City West sales by going to my Corte Bella Home Sales Archives.

As you can see in the latest reports, foreclosures in Corte Bella, as well as short sales, are up considerably. Corte Bella was hit harder than other AZ retirement communities, by the slump in the Arizona real estate market, in large part due to the timing of Pulte Homes closing out the new construction in the community.

At the time the market started sliding, Pulte was offering huge incentives on their remaining inventory which made it near impossible for sellers to compete. As a result resale inventories rose to staggering heights, leaving many sellers in dire straights. The good news is, it appears that while the "deals" are being snatched up, inventories are coming down to a more acceptable level.

For you buyers looking for the real estate deals in Corte Bella, I have set up webpages that display the foreclosures and short sales. For the best foreclosure deals however, it is best to be set up with a custom search that is emailed directly from the MLS as soon as something comes on the market. When working with the banks, cash deals will often beat out offers requiring a new loan and you need to be ready to make a move quickly.