McCormick Ranch Real Estate & Homes

The Arizona Republic took it from the McCormick Ranch Property Owners’ Association so I don’t mind including this entire article on the origins of McCormick Ranch.

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Today’s question:

I live at McCormick Ranch. Who was McCormick and was this ever really a ranch?

Gee, don’t you ever read your Property Owners’ Association Web site? It has a nice, long history of McCormick Ranch (www.mccormick ranchpoa.com).

But here’s a condensed version, anyway.

The answers to your question are “the reaper guy” and “yes.”

Well, actually Fowler McCormick was the grandson of the reaper guy, Cyrus McCormick, who invented the farm implement. His other grandfather was John Rockefeller, so he wasn’t exactly hurting for cash. Fowler worked his way up from a factory job to become president and chairman of the board of International Harvester.

McCormick and his wife, Anne, bought the 160-acre ranch from Merle Chaney in the mid-1940s for use as a winter home. By the time the estate was sold in 1970, it had grown to 7 square miles.

It seems that, of the two McCormicks, Anne was the rancher. She lived on the estate every year from Thanksgiving to mid-April.

In 1949, she imported a small herd of Angus cattle from the family’s farm in Illinois to see how it would do in a desert environment. The herd eventually grew to about 350 head of show and breeding stock. The McCormick Property Owners’ Association’s logo is based on the McCormick brand.

But Anne’s real love was horses, one reason the McCormicks kept buying more land: Anne wanted room to ride.

She started out with palominos and then began breeding Arabians. She was one of the founders of the annual All Arabian Show, which is pretty cool even if you’re not all that interested in horses.

She also donated to Scottsdale the 100-acre parcel that is now McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park.

Anne McCormick died in 1969, and the property, more than 4,200 acres, was sold to Kaiser-Aetna in 1970. Fowler McCormick died in 1973.

Kaiser-Aetna developed a master plan for a residential community on the property and later sold off 1,120 acres of leftover land, which later became Scottsdale Ranch.

I hope it’s a technical mistake and I’ll find an error I’ve made.

I’ve heard September home sales were off the charts - off the bottom of the charts - as the “sub-prime meltdown” in August hit the September closings.

Any day now I’ll get the numbers from ASU so I can quantify the decline.

If it makes home sellers feel any better, phone and email inquiries have really picked up for me in the last week.

8324 N 82nd Pl

Well, this home has an interesting story.

It’s in Vista Del Lago but it’s not on the water. It has 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths and 3,100 (tax records) or 3,300 (old MLS listing) square feet.

It hit the market on May 31, 2007 with a price of $1,325,000 in the MLS. That seller sure wasn’t shy.

The MLS listing is confusing, it refers to increasing the size to 3,300 feet. I don’t get it. Were they pricing it remodeled? Anyway, the home was completely original and needed a total makeover.

The price was reduced to $899,000 on June 26. The MLS listing was canceled entirely on July 24.

It next showed up in the county records as closing on September 21 for $745,000.

It’s not uncommon for Arizonans to say that October is their favorite month.

Like March, October is warm but not hot. And like March, it’s a transition between shorts and pants - by the end of October, I’ll have put my shorts away until March.

Unlike March, however, October follows the long, hot summer.

The glorious weather gives me a giddy feeling knowing I have 8 more months of great weather! It has a bit of the same feeling as running home after the last day of school - freedom.

Stopped by the Green Building Expo at the Scottsdale Civic Center this afternoon.

The weather was fantastic. Perfect.

And the exhibits were interesting.

I forgot my camera so no play by play. The Expo ended today, Saturday.

Liz and I caught one of the films at the Scottsdale International Film Festival this evening.

The best part was chatting with an ASU student from Djibouti in the seat next to me before the show. She was delightful. I’ve never met anyone from Djibouti before. I had no idea that French was an official language of Djibouti. I lived in Paris for two years and thought I knew about such things.

The film we saw, Belle Toujour from France, was one of 21 films in the festival.

Belle Tourjour had the look of a cheap, art film from the 1950’s and indeed the director was 93 years old so perhaps that is his style. The film was a homage to a famous French film from the 1960’s, Belle De Jour with Catherine Deneuve. Not having seen the Deneuve film, this homage film was incomprehensible to me.

Despite that one film, I would enjoy seeing others at the Festival.

I’ve had some good luck stumbling upon excellent foreign and limited release films at Harkins Camelview 5 theatres in Scottsdale Fashion Square.

The Scottsdale International Film Festival goes through Tuesday, October 9, 2007.

With a sales price of only $675,000 ($245/square foot) this is the least expensive of the most expensive homes I’ve featured in while.

7950 E Via Bonita is a 2,751 square foot, 4 bedroom, 3 bath, 2-car garage with a pool on 12,243 square foot lot in Palo Viento 2. This was not a golf course or lake view lot. In fact, the lot backs to Eastwood Lane and kinda backs to Doubletree Ranch Road.

The home first hit the market on October 14, 2006 at $829,000. There were price reductions to $804,000, $785,000, $749,000, $748,000 and $728,000 before the listing agreement was canceled on March 29, 2007.

The home was relisted with a new real estate agent on March 27, 2007(?) at $714,900. From there it was reduced to $698,000 and the last listing price reduction was on June 22, 2007 to $685,000. The final sales price on September 14, 2007 was $675,000.

From $829,000 to $675,000, that’s a pretty big miscalculation on pricing.

I would bet a nickel that the seller did not want to lower the price to compensate for the home’s nearness to Doubletree Ranch Road and Eastwood Lane because those roads didn’t bother the seller in the least, and because homes in Palo Viento 2 that back to the golf course just a block away get over $1,000,000. I’m guessing that clouded their judgment.

If this home backed to the golf course or the lake instead of Eastwood Lane and Doubletree Ranch Road it may have sold for over $1,000,000 as well.

Location, location, location.

Comparing the two marketing efforts

From what I can see in the MLS, I prefer the marketing efforts of the first real estate agent - the one who put in a ton of time and money into marketing the home and who got absolutely zip, zero, nada for his efforts.

It wasn’t because his marketing efforts were bad that the first agent didn’t sell the home. It was because the home was way overpriced.

I can imagine that after so many months of the agent saying the home was overpriced, that the relationship between the agent and seller became frayed and the listing was canceled.

That first agent could have sold the home for the eventual sale price… but the seller wasn’t ready… yet.

The real estate market had to teach the seller for several more months before the seller slowly, very slowly, understood what the market was telling him.

This is a neat home! I had a chance to see it when it was on the Scottsdale Luxury Home Realtor Tour several months ago.

7633 E Via Del Reposo Dr in McCormick Ranch in Scottsdale, AZ is in a glorious location in Palo Viento 1. It’s unassuming from the street but once you entered you knew it was special and once you saw the views… you were floored.

It’s hard to imagine a better lake view in McCormick Ranch. Beyond the lake was the golf course so you had a lake and golf course view in one!

It’s 4 bedrooms and 4.5 baths in 4,490 square feet. The kitchen was fabulous.

This Scottsdale luxury home hit the market in July 2006 for $2,950,000. It was taken off the market in October and returned in January 2007 at $2,750,000. The sale price was $2,400,000.

“September and October are probably the best months to plant citrus and deciduous fruit trees…”

From the azcentral;

• ZMC Hotels is planning to tear down the 33-year-old Pima Inn and Suites, 7330 N. Pima Road, to build a three-story, 100-room hotel.

As planned, the new hotel would be a Cambria Suites, an upscale, all-suites brand that Choice Hotels International Inc. of Silver Spring, Md., launched about two years ago.

This was a really neat house! I saw it when it was on the Realtor tour after it first hit the market. I was impressed. Phenomenal view! And it apparently impressed a lot of other people - it went under contract after just 18 days on the market.

7663 E Via De Ventura is 4,063 square feet in Palo Viento 1. It was listed for $1,129,000 and sold for $1,089,000.

If you want a closer look, right now the virtual tour is still active.

I just noticed the agent representing the buyer was Pat Ford of Equitable. Pat and I went to Gerard High School in Phoenix together. Pat was one grade younger and his older brother Mike was one of my high school buddies. Pat’s a great guy.

The company I buy the raw homes-sold data from only had two days worth of closings this week. Apparently, Maricopa County changed how they format their data this week so my vendor will have to change his processes for handling the data.

It may take them a week or two to create new programs. Afterwards, they expect they will be able to publish data on homes sold that is 2 or 3 days more current!

That’s amazing because now they are selling “Sold” data only 2 to 3 weeks after closing! Most other web sites have data that is 3 to 4 MONTHS old because data that old is much cheaper to buy.

It’s not ranch-size anymore with only 5.7 acre and it’s not in McCormick Ranch, it’s a bit north.

The main house of the Brusally Ranch and surrounding land received approval for 4 new homes plus the original ranch house.

The Arizona Arabian horse industry started at Brusally Ranch in the 1960’s.

Many Arabian horses can trace their lineage to those bred at the original 160-acre Brusally Ranch by Ed Tweed, founder and first president of the state’s Arabian Horse Association.

Tweed’s importation of about two dozen Arabians from Poland in the 1960s put Scottsdale on the equestrian world’s map, according to historian Tobi Taylor, owner of Coronado Ranch in Tucson, which breeds Brusally Arabians.

You can see the remains of the area’s equine tradition in McCormick Ranch in the naming of the streets in the Paradise Park Trails subdivision, just south of Shea Blvd. The main loop is E. Arabian Trail and most of the other streets are “horse breed” followed by “Trail,” such as E. Quarterhorse Trail.

Here’s some trivia! Notice that those equine street names are unique to Paradise Park Trails, you don’t see them east or west of McCormick Ranch.

Alexandra did another great issue of McCormick Ranch Lifestyles this quarter! I’m rooting for her success.

While you’re here, do a little exploring around the blog.

Weekly Home Sales

Scroll down and you’ll see that every week I publish recent home sales in McCormick Ranch. If you follow these home sales closely for a few months, you’ll have an excellent idea of your home’s value. (If you’re in a hurry to find out your home’s value, contact me.)

You’ll see these are the most recent “solds” you can find, about 3 weeks after closing! Most other websites that show “solds” have data that is 3 or 4 months old.

And each home listed has its own map! Just click on a home’s address to get a Google map of the home’s location.

And if you click on the home’s price, you’ll go to the Maricopa County Assessor’s web page for that particular home where there is tons more information.

Priciest Home Sold

Now this is a fun little feature. Every week I do some research on the most expensive home sold in McCormick Ranch. It’s an entertaining, little guilty pleasure… but educational, of course.

Subdivision Maps

Boy, oh boy, making these maps was a real project but I think you’ll love the results. To get to the McCormick Ranch subdivision maps scroll down until you see them in the right column.

There are two maps, one for North McCormick Ranch and one for South McCormick Ranch. (McCormick Ranch is too big to put all of the subdivisions on one of these maps.) Click on the map itself or the link above the map.

Then once the map comes up, click on any subdivision and you’ll see the subdivision name, the number of homes in the subdivision, the percentage of homes that have pools, the average square footage of homes in the subdivision and a ballpark starting price.

TIP: When figuring out your home’s value, it’s best to start by comparing your home to recent solds within your own subdivision.

Don’t forget to click on one of the blue “map pins” on the map to see what’s located there; the stores, restaurants and resorts.

McCormick Ranch MLS Listings

You’ve probably already noticed that near the top of the right-hand column there are links to where you can see all the homes listed for sale in McCormick Ranch.

By combining the MLS listings and the weekly home sales into one website I’ve made it easy for you to watch the McCormick Ranch real estate market. You can’t find this anywhere else but at McCormickRanchRealEstateHomes.com.

As a Realtor, my goal is to help home sellers and home buyers make the best possible decisions they can. This blog, McCormickRanchRealEstateHomes.com, helps you do just that!

Fun Stuff

Now, this blog is not only about homes in McCormick Ranch, it’s also about living in McCormick Ranch.

For example, I did a recent video of Comanche Park, three doors down from where I live. That was my first video, I hope you like it. Scroll down until you find it or click “Videos” in the right-hand column under “Posts by Topic” to get a list of videos. It’s a very short list right now.

I’ve posted other fun stuff in this blog. Last spring I took pictures of a pole vaulting event at Saguaro High School because one of my younger son’s best friends was competing. There are even a couple of restaurant reviews. (I love Sakana Sushi & Grill!) Anything related to living in McCormick Ranch is fair game.

Hey, I need your help! Send me a restaurant review of a restaurant in or near McCormick Ranch.

Help Me

I would love it if you added a comment to any of my posts. Or sent me blurbs or photos about anything going on in McCormick Ranch.

It’s going to be great fun to see how this blog evolves.

Oh, I LOVE COMMENTS. Just click on “Comments” at the bottom of any post to make a comment. I would love it if you would make a comment.

Thank you!

John Wake
Real Estate Marketing
Associate Broker, M.S. ABR
HomeSmart Real Estate
480-596-3851 direct
480-600-0947 cell
John@McCormickRanchRealEstateHomes.com

P.S. bookmark this page.

I hope everybody was at the mountains or the beach and that explains only 3 solds this week!

Okay, the most expensive home sold in McCormick Ranch this week has an interesting story.

8021 E Del Caverna Dr sold for $1,067,000. This 2,669 square foot (according to Assessor) 3 bedroom and 2.5 bath home in Vista De La Tierra was “highly updated” in 2006 and backs to Rotary Park. It was originally listed for $1,199,000 and sold in only 27 days. The listing agent also represented the buyer.

The interesting thing is that it sold for $881,575 in May 2006, only 15 months ago. In 2006 it was on the market for 5 days. I can’t figure out from the MLS how much, if any, of the of the house was updated after this purchase.

If you want to buy or sell a home in beautiful, green McCormick Ranch, give me a call at 480-596-3851. John L. Wake, HomeSmart.