As your Real Estate Resource, The Rice Group is dedicated to providing people with the most accurate and relevant information available to us. We take years of experience and break down this information so that everyone along the real estate spectrum can get the most from what is happening in real estate here, there, and everywhere in between!
We are up in sales volume people!! According to TAR we are up by a whopping 9.55% going from $266,059,250 in March to $291,466,552 in April. That's not all though... That gives us a 13.68% increase from last April. We have also experienced an increase in average sales price, average list price, total under contract, and unit sales. WOO HOO! Keep it up Tucson!
So, this week with Mother's Day coming up I thought we could talk about some ideas that I have been contemplating recently. I happen to be someone that tends to lose track of time with how busy I am and all my days tend to blend together. I rely heavily on my Google calendar to keep my holidays straight. Unfortunately, with finals and things picking up at the job(s) I forgot three times that Mother's Day was this weekend. Yeah... so after the oh crap moment I tried to set up brunch to no avail. Apparently everyone else has been on top of this whole thing and has every restaurant and brunch/breakfast completely booked. Congratulations to those of you who did so and I hope it's as awesome as it sounds. So what now?
My mom is someone who tends to stress about money, loves to spend time with us "kids" and loves stuff that we make her. That's right, she not much different than any other mom out there. After my search for the perfect brunch was a bust I started to look for other things that would make her just as happy without a hefty price tag. Here are just a couple things that I have found that I think most moms out there would love!
Breakfast in bed: Who doesn't love breakfast in bed am I right? Well, thanks to my new obsession with Pinterest I found this awesome idea that every mom would love. It takes a little bit of time and a little cash BUT compared to that diamond necklace we all know you were planning on getting her, this is chump change. So, if you're worried about time and live at home, here is a great idea!
Cool Artwork: My mom is a sucker for family photos and whatever else my brothers and I conjure up. Again, thanks to Pinterest I have always seen people make cool sayings boards that look amazing and expensive but in reality it really isn't that pricey. You can create anything you want! Here is a little video that will help you do it.
Spend Some Time Together: In Tucson there are quite a few lakes and parks that my family and I like to go to to just hang out, fish, and BBQ. My mom loves it especially when we bring the dogs and her favorite hamburgers. Keep in mind, SHE CANNOT PARTAKE IN ANY FOOD PREP! This is her day to relax and get catered to. If you have it in your budget to pick up food on the way and don't like to cook, that could be a good option for you. I'll stick a quick video on here for cute sandwhich ideas for mom if you feel like getting creative there. You can do this or just simply use a cookie cutter with all of the ingredients in the sandwich you want! Easy as pie! Hopefully this will get you started! I was also thinking of doing my moms nails or giving her a facial made with stuff you can buy at the store. Why spend all that money on a bunch of freaky chemicals anyway? These suggestions smell and probably even taste good!
The biggest thing to remember is that your mom or wife deserves to sleep in, not chase the kids around, and be catered to. Think about the crap she went through the nine months of back-aches, swollen ankles, throwing up, strange cravings, weight gain and the kicking we all did. Then when she actually gave birth to us...OUCH! Be good to her she deserves it and will love you for it! I hope this helps and good luck!!
Has anyone been keeping up with the green home market lately? If not, you are in luck! While some 10 years ago people were worried about a giant price gap in green building materials, sustainable living upgrades, and the traditional building materials and amenities. As we all know, solar panels have been around for a very long time and for most of us, just seeing the price made us all cringe. You will all be happy to know that since 1977 solar prices are down over 100 times. Things must be changing. According to McGraw Hill Construction SmartMarket report, "The percentage of builders that have more than 90% of their projects green is expected to double by 2018 to 38%. So why is it that there aren't a substantial amount of properties with green certifications? Well, apparently even though we have access to the 30% federal Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit it's not enough for us all to spend thousands of green to be green. Apparently Germany invests in more solar panels. On August 15th, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 40% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 32% of the time. Tucson is home to 284 days of sunshine, so what 's the deal? IT IS ALL IN THE INCENTIVES! As the cost of going green goes down some more, it becomes more mainstream, and we are given better incentives, Tucson and all the other sunshine states will jump on the bandwagon. GO GREEN!
As Tucsonans, we know that this is a great place to live. We have endless sunshine, we are surrounded by beautiful mountains, great wildlife, and awesome people of course! According to CRS, we aren't the only ones who appreciate all that Tucson has to offer. In fact, Tucson has become quite the happening place for people looking to settle down into retirement.
That's right Tucson! Our warm weather, low key atmosphere, and real estate opportunities have attracted baby boomers (those born between 1945 and 1964) from all over the place. Being that Tucson is considered something of a college town, this migration of baby boomers will offer an awesome and exciting age dynamic here that we may not have seen too much of in the past. We are only one of many in becoming sought after detonations for this population and their retirement lifestyles. Other destinations include:
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Boise, Idaho
Denver, Colorado
Fort Myers, Florida
Greenville, South Carolina
Orlando, Florida
Phoenix, Arizona
Raleigh, North Carolina
Saracosta, Florida
WELCOME baby boomers from The Rice Group! We are excited to be a part of this exciting transition!
Over the last several months, The Rice Group has received a major face-lift! In order to make the process of asking questions, getting answers and finding information quicker we have made our websites not only more aesthetically pleasing but also more functional for you! We are so excited to move even further forward to provide you with more services and more information to cover all of your real estate needs!
So, what's available to you now through our new website you ask? Well, we have created a new careers tab which allows you to see who we are, what we're about and gives you the opportunity to contact us to potentially pursue a partnership with The Rice Group! We are also proud to announce that you will now have access to a plethora of extremely useful resources that you can use for curiosity purposes or if you're planning on either selling or buying a home.Both of which are available on www.whyrice.com along with other awesome changes.
1.) The "Current Home Value" option will allow you to see what YOUR home or the one question is currently worth.
2.) You will also find a "Home Trends" tab that gives you updated information on the home trends in your area or the area you want to research.
3.) You can also "Name Your Selling Price" which allows you to set the selling price of your home.You will then be contacted by interested buyers for the specific price you set.
4.) "7 Seller Tips" gives you access to information that can help you sell your house not only faster by for more money!
Coming soon is what is different about our new TucsonPM website and all others that are here to help you realize your potential and dreams in real estate, property management and beyond!!
The Rice Group was conceptualized long ago by Steve Rice, our leading agent and his mother Barbara Rice who had spent many years in the real estate industry. Since then we have come extremely far and are looking forward to more success both in the long and short term.
The Rice Group was is based out of Tucson Arizona but our passion knows no city limits nor boundaries. We are so excited to be able to serve the people of Tucson and beyond! Our experience and expertise has progressed forward to places like Oro Valley, Marana, Vail, Mt. Lemmon, Sahuarita, Green Valley, Tubac, Rio Rico Corona De Tucson, and the surrounding areas.
We have confidence in our abilities to meet people where they are to help them get where they want to be in the real estate world! As our slogan suggests, "We are here to get you where you want to be." We appreciate all of the opportunities to expand our knowledge and skills as a collective. We look so forward to continuing to serve YOU and those around us to reach the peak of our potential in real estate.
We are off to a good start this year even though it may have seemed a little rocky at first. Sales prices are up for luxury homes from the previous month but rent has seemed to drop slightly over the last month across the board. How exciting is all of this activity!? is real estate on the rise?
