Phoenix enacts a Domestic Partner registry for city residents.

Registry Will Provide Hospital Visitation Rights for Unmarried Couples

12/17/2008
WASHINGTON –The Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights group, praised the Phoenix, Arizona City Council and mayor for voting today to enact a domestic partner registry for city residents. The registry will permit unmarried couples to register as domestic partners and receive hospital visitation rights. The registry, which will become effective February 9, 2009, will be available to both same-sex and different-sex couples.
"Today, the city of Phoenix has begun to recognize what we have known for a long time – that our relationships are just as true, meaningful, and deserving of legal protections as anyone else's," said Human Rights Campaign Board of Directors member and Phoenix resident Linda Elliott. "With this registry, we can feel confident that we can visit our loved ones in medical facilities at a time when they need us most. We thank Mayor Phil Gordon, Councilman Tom Simplot and the entire city council for taking this step towards equality."
Phoenix joins more than 70 other cities and counties nationwide with domestic partner registries.

The Human Rights Campaign is America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against GLBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

Seniors: Investing In The Next Big Boom- Ourselves!

I turned 50 this year so I wonder about my future and where I will be. Will I stay in my home, will I move out of state, will I move to a gay retirement where your neighbors are your family and everyone belongs. SO when ever I come across a gay retirement I love to blog about it because I wonder often where I will be.

The experience of people being together and sharing in the same values and activities is what creates a community.
With the aging of the baby boomers, the redefinition of family and the new concepts of aging mean that anyone at the advent of the changes and in the right place at the right time will be ready to serve a changing senior housing and residential care market.
RainbowVision Santa Fe, serving the GLBT population, is already ahead, and Joy Silver, President/CEO, wants to take the brand internationally. She says the RainbowVision model serves the mainstream boomers as well as the GLBT population- and for similar reasons....

for more information plaeas contact Linda Wieczorek 602-391-8246 AZhomes4u@gmail.com

Selling your Home - Feng Shui Staging Tips

Impress buyers by improving your home's energy




Feng Shui (meaning Wind and Water in Chinese) is the ancient art of placement to promote harmony, wealth, success and health. Feng Shui deals with the location and architecture of buildings, along with interior design and exterior landscaping. A working knowledge of Feng Shui may even help in home selling and home buying in today's multicultural world.
Feng shui has thrived in China for hundreds of years, but this design philosophy has only recently made a splash in real estate.The concept has gained popularity in the United States during the past 30 years, and now frustrated home sellers are using feng shui to make their homes more appealing to potential buyers.

1. Make your front door welcoming. Energy enters your home at the front door, so invite it in! Make your door stand out by painting it a color that contrasts with your home, adding a new welcome mat and flanking the door with plants. Choose plants with rounded leaves as sharp leaves can appear aggressive to buyers.

2.Engage the senses as much as possible. Feng shui practices include lots of horizontal space and properly lit rooms.

3.Create space Create a "room of first impression." Buyers generally decide whether they will buy a home in the first eight seconds they spend there, so you want them to see the best room first.

4. Create a clear path to this room with a runner rug or with eye-catching art and accessories.

5. Furniture should not be placed in the direct path of entrances/exits of a room.

6. Be sure a solid wall of support is supporting large furniture. Placing a couch or bed under a window is a bad idea in feng shui.

7. Stimulate your home's energy with sound by adding a wind chime to the front of your house.

8. Remove clutter and depersonalize.

FHA loans limits in Maricopa County ....DROP January 2009

FHA loans limits in Maricopa County for all property types will be reduced as of January 2009

FHA lending limit in Phoenix drops to $271,050 for single family homes. Multifamily properties also decreased but are higher then single family homes depending on the number of units.

These FHA loan limit for Maricopa County will go in affect next year. If you were planning to buy a Phoenix Valley home, now would be a great time to consider doing it if it matches your plans.


Starting in January, the maximum for the government-backed Federal Housing

Administration loans in Maricopa County will be $271,050. Currently, the FHA limit in the Valley is $346,250.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development quietly announced the changes to FHA loans last week.

Last year, HUD raised its loan limits to try to help struggling homeowners who owed more than their house was worth and couldn't refinance anywhere else. The move also was to encourage more lenders and borrowers to use FHA loans in the tight credit market.

The FHA dropped its limit in Maricopa because it considers the Valley a "low-cost" area for housing. Metropolitan Phoenix's median existing home price is now below $200,000 much lower then the peak in early 2006.

Contact Linda 602-391-8246 or send an e-mail for more information
Azhomes4u@gmail.com

What is the first Thanksgiving you can remember?

Mine was at my grandma's home in the countryside of New York a little town called Westfield. I remember the family driving from Erie, PA about a 40min drive to granny's. All of my cousins and Aunts and Uncles would be there. My Cousins and we were a pretty big bunch would go off in the woods to swing on a tree vine across a deep ditch.. What great memories I have. Even the Thanksgiving when the dog grabbed the Turkey off the table... That's when it was great to be Thankful that we are Italian because the turkey was gone but all good Italians always have a side of Pasta.


Thanksgiving is a time to sit back and be thankful for the many blessings that you have been given. Every day you are given is a gift...make the most of it.

Tell someone that you are thankful for them today!

Happy Thanksgiving To All
Have a Safe and Wonderful Holiday

November 2008 is looking to be a good month for the local buyers.

With home prices coming down and the high number of homes listed it would be the ideal time for buyers to make a move. There are several factors that help make this a buyers market: 1. Interest rates are low and banks want to lend money to qualified borrowers; 2. The unemployment rate is low; 3. AZ is a great place to live and work; 4. There is a limited amount of land for new housing, keeping pressure on the demand for re-sale homes. One way to view the health of the real estate market is to focus on the "absorption rate" (i.e. how long would it take for the current inventory of homes on the market to sell). The current absorption rate is about 11 months. Some examples of past abnormal absorption rates include 19 months, when the market stalled in the 1990's and there were 3 times the number of homes for sale here than there are now; and 1.5 months, during the feeding frenzy of 2005 when there was almost no inventory and Buyers lined up outside homes to make offers. The current 11 month supply of homes for sale is NOT NORMAL. Supply and Demand are tilted to the buyers side.
So... If you are a Seller, hire a great Realtor(R) and price your home fairly. Most homes that don't sell in the first three to four months or two are overpriced. If you are a Buyer, you have many choices... find a house you like and can afford and make an offer. Give me a Call Linda 602-391-8246 or e-mail azhomes4u@gmail.com

Fannie & Freddie To Suspend Foreclosures Through New Year

A Little Holiday Cheer!!!!

Additional Time Taken To Implement New Program

The initiative has come down from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to their network of servicers to halt all foreclosure and eviction proceedings between Nov. 26 2008 and Jan. 9, 2009, meant to give a recently announced rescue plan time to work.


The move is expected to give Fannie and Freddie additional time implement the new streamline modification recently announced and set to launch December 15th. The plan enables delinquent borrowers to get a modified mortgage that lowers payments to no more than 38% of their gross incomes.


"By delaying these foreclosure sales, the nation's servicers will have the opportunity to work with more borrowers who could qualify for a modification under the new [program]," said Freddie Mac CEO David M. Moffett in a statement.


As a result, Freddie has told its servicers to immediately contact the 6,000 borrowers who already have auction sales or evictions scheduled for between the specified dates to tell them the sales are postponed. Fannie estimated that 10,000 of its borrowers will be affected. Borrowers facing eviction between Nov. 20 and Nov. 26 were not expected to get relief.


The foreclosure suspension affects only a small percentage of homeowners facing foreclosure over the next two months. Although Fannie and Freddie mortgages account for more than half of all mortgages, they have relatively few of the most risky subprime loans at the center of the foreclosure crisis.
"The vast majority of what's going into foreclosure are not Fannie Freddie loans," said Freddie Mac spokesman Brad German.


The Fannie, Freddie plan was unveiled on Nov. 11. Eligibility is determined by several factors: Homeowners must be 90 days or more late in their mortgage payments, owe at least 90% of their home's current value, live in the home on which the mortgage was taken and have not filed for bankruptcy.


The mortgage rate could be lowered to as little as 3% for five years. After that, it would increase by 1 percentage point a year until it hits either the market rate or the original interest rate, whichever is lower.
Unlike previous federal efforts, participation by servicers is not voluntary. However, as mentioned in previous articles, this plan may not affect a great deal of at risk borrowers. We will continue to provide details of this plan and others as they roll out.

Mortgage rates down

Mortgage rates down for 2nd week
Freddie Mac cites weakening economy for easing of long-term rates.

Rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have been at 6% or higher for five consecutive weeks. Between the week of Oct. 9 and Oct. 16, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage posted its biggest weekly jump since April 1987, rising from 5.94% to 6.46%

Full Story

$224,900 Willo Historical It's your time to live in the Willo

$224,900 Great price to live in the Willo Historical Neighborhood
Beds/Baths: 2 / 1
SF: 1,197
Year Built: 1939
Nice Lot 7,501 - 10,000



Willo Historic District $224,900
E-mail Linda for more information

This fabulous Transitional Ranch style home was built in 1939, and designed by the architectural firm of Lescher and Mahoney (Orpheum Theater, Federal Bldg @ 522 N. Central). It is now LENDER OWNED but ready to be owned by YOU! It has been beautifully restored and enhanced with vaulted ceilings in the Master bedroom and kitchen, and painstakingly decorated with hand painted walls you have to see to believe. Square footage does not include an unfinished -- but ducted --AZ room. 2nd bathroom also unfinished.

For more information on this home or other Historical Properties
Call Linda 602-391-8246 AZhomes4u@gmail.com

Same-Sex Marriage on the Ballot in Arizona, a Second Time

VOTE NO ON 102

Hopefuls Differ as They Reject Gay Marriage

Same-Sex Marriage
Gay Couples Celebrate New Status

BETH KERRIGAN and Jody Mock returned from their twins’ first overnight Boy Scout camping trip last Sunday afternoon with loads of laundry and everyone tired and hungry. They ordered in Chinese food, threw some clothes in the washing machine and read to the boys before bed.

They have always considered themselves to be really no different from any other Connecticut family, balancing work with the children’s activities and adorning the walls of their comfortable suburban home with children’s drawings and photographs.

Only now, they will be allowed to put a name to their living arrangement that is routine to many Connecticut couples: Marriage.

The Oct. 10 State Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage — making Connecticut the third state in the nation to do so — will change little else about day-to-day life in the Kerrigan-Mock household. They will still go to their jobs in the insurance industry every day. Their lives will still be centered on their 6-year-old twins, Carlos and Fernando, adopted from Guatemala, and they will continue to worry about how they will pay for their college.

Happy HOLLOWEEN

Bargain Hunters Help Shrink Housing Glut

Here in Phoenix we are heading into the slower holiday months of November and December, tis the season..for...Buying that home?? Things are shaping up for a better 2009.
City agents confirm that the Investors are out in groves buying the deals.

Less homes on the market, lower prices and if the experts are right, a lot of folks here in the Phoenix Az area withdrew a ton of cash from the markets and might be looking for somewhere to invest... Obviously, hard to say... the City agents I've been speaking with confirm that cash is still king...

So where has all the excess inventory gone, ask the Wall Street Journal...

Bargain Hunters Help Shrink Housing Glut

Lower home prices are luring some buyers back into the U.S. housing market, but foreclosures and a weakening economy are likely to keep downward pressure on prices for at least another year, economists say.

A quarterly Wall Street Journal survey of housing data in 28 major metro areas shows that the glut of unsold homes listed for sale is shrinking in most of them. In many cases, sales have been stimulated by investors who are grabbing what they see as bargains on homes that can be turned into rentals. Metro areas with the biggest drops in for-sale signs include Sacramento and Orange County in California and the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.

The recent headlines give a mixed picture. On Monday, the Census Bureau reported that new home sales in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 464,000 units, down 33% from September 2007. The median sales price for new homes in September was $218,400, down 9% from a year earlier. Last week, the National Association of Realtors said sales of previously occupied homes in September edged up 1.4% from the depressed year-earlier level, the first such rise since November 2005, largely reflecting sales of foreclosed homes.

complete story...

1st Lesbian Housing Development in Tucon, Arizona

Olivia Communities will be developing a 334-unit resort-style living community in Tucson, Arizona, although anyone can purchase a home. The company is targeting lesbians. Judy Dlugacz president and founder of Olivia Companies. All us lesbians eather heard or have been on a Olivia vacations.. and my experance with Olivia is that this is going to be 1st class all the way just like her vacations. Judy Dlugacz whole vision of this has always been about creating community and creating a place where we can not only be free… but also the kind of community where you’re really connected with the people there and feel comfortable and happy in your environment.

Dlugacz and her partner Rachel Wahba went to Tuscon to review the property and look over the area. What they found was a complex with a swimming pool, fitness center and clubhouse, nestled in a gay-friendly town. Olivia will be adding another pool and a dog run.

What makes this community unique, Dlugacz said, will be the social aspect. Women from their 20s to their 80s have put down deposits on condos in the development, though the most women fall in the 55- to 70-year-old age group. Olivia plans to have a full-time events coordinator who will bring in live entertainment, including comedy events and film festivals, and who will coordinate tea dances and other parties. Group excursions will be arranged to nearby locations like Las Vegas and Mexico.

Interest in the new development has been fairly high so far. Olivia has received 40 deposits and hundreds if inquiries since announcing the project in July. Construction begins when 400 deposits have been received.

Cindy Jordan-Nowe, co-chairwoman for City of Tucson Commission on GLBT issues, believes this will be a good fit for Tucson. “Tucson is a very inclusive community, years beyond other places in the country as far as embracing diversity and accepting and protecting LGBT people.

For more info contact Linda azhomes4u@gmail.com 602-391-8246

Marigold Creek...Gay Retiree

Marigold Creek which is a new retirement community for gays, lesbians and their family and friends. Marigold Creek is located In Surprise, Arizona, which is 30 minutes from Phoenix. Close to Sun City West on Phoenix’s rapidly growing west valley. Marigold Creek is a welcoming and "straight-friendly" community.




1. They offer the choices of 2 or 3 bedroom Single Family Homes or Patio Homes with Casitas available for an additional charge.

2. They offer 1 to 3 bedroom Condos, all of these in a “Contemporary Southwestern” design.

3. The property is owned by Out Properties and is a gay-owned and operated
Realetate development company with many years of experience in building luxurious, lifestyle properties.

4. A Green community, and pet friendly community complete with a dog run and bath area.

5. Marigold Creek is specifically designed to cater to the wishes of the “gayby boomer” generation.

6. Walking Trails - Persuades you to “break a sweat” with the breath-taking beauty that surround you.

7. Coffee Kiosk - serves fine coffees, teas and other beverages in a cozy gathering place.

8. Travel Club - Coordinates trips to exciting destinations for you, your loved ones and neighbors who share your love for seeing new places and faces.
Activities Director - Plans enjoyable outings and programs that suit your active lifestyle.

9. Gated Entrance - Contributes to the safe, secure and full-acceptance atmosphere that makes Marigold Creek such a unique place.
10. Poolside Bar and Grill - Features delicious snacks and refreshing beverages so you can make the most of your time in the sun.

11. Daytime Spa and Salon - Provides the finest relaxation and beauty treatments without ever leaving the comfort of Marigold Creek.

12. Concierge Service - Supports the entire living experience, from securing tickets to area events to helping you find the best dry cleaning services in the area.

13. Fitness Center - Features state-of-the-art equipment in the ideal environment for staying fit.

14. Spiritual Center - Provides a relaxing and meditative space for residents of all faiths and devotions.

15. Theatre & Cabaret - And we love the theatre, Engages the community with live entertainment and movies. Showcases the residents with the Annual Talent Show!

How do I secure a home at Marigold Creek or view the community?
Contact Linda Wieczorek, 602-391-8246 or e-mail azhomes4u@gmail.com

Historical Coroando

I woke up this morning thinking… “I don’t have anything to blog about today”. Fortunately, my world changes very quickly,when I came across this little charmer in the Coronado Neighborhood. There is nothing I enjoy more then when a new listing comes on the market to be the 1st to take a peek.

2222 N DAYTON STREET
Registered 1930s Historic Bungalow with modern conveniences! This charming 3 bedroom, 2 bath home exudes comfort! Original wood floors add grace to open dining and living areas! Split floor plan with plenty of storage! Kitchen newly fully remodeled in 2007! New granite counters, new floor and cabinets w/extra storage! Historic touches include original wooden floors and built-in storage with drop-down desk! New driveway fits 2 cars up to the RV gate, an RV behind gate leading to garage! This white-picket fence beauty complements the Historic Coronado neighborhood with its large front lawn, spacious back patio/sitting area, and plenty of room in the backyard for playing, gardening, relaxing! Even add a pool to your own slice of heaven! Must see to appreciate! Listing
Courtesy of: Keller Williams Rlty-Platinum


E-mail Linda to View azhomes4u@gmail.com

Each Spring the Coronado Home owners open there Homes to the Public for the annual Coronado Home Tour. Check out the neighborhood web-site


A little Coronado History Map of Coronado