ALL PHOENIX REAL ESTATE

Remember, this is the same place that enjoyed to way too much of a degree the U.S. Hockey Team’s win over Canada in the preliminary round … and then pretended there was a power outage that prevented the Gold Medal game.

Take a quick look at the exchange rates on the right and you’ll see yours truly, with my bold predictions that we’re not going to see the Canadian dollar which par again with the U.S. dollar, was wrong … or at least is on the extreme edge of being wrong.

I’m sure there’s a new prediction I should make to see if I can make the opposite come true … but with great power comes great responsibility, so I’ll want to think this over.

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One of the things I’ve made relatively routine is reaching out to talk to my past, current and prospective clients. There doesn’t necessarily have to be an underlying purpose for the call (though I always let them know that, by the way, as good as business is I’m never too busy for any of their referrals), and sometimes the calls without a point are the most enjoyable.

Today was dedicated to calling as many Canadians as I could and there absolutely was a point, even if it had nothing to do with real estate. After all, when you have the chance to revel in a once-in-half-century event, you do it.

photo courtesy of Getty Images

Sure it’s blatant jingoism but what the hell. Your dollar’s almost as strong as ours and you fill the upper bowl of our hockey arena whenever one of your teams come to town. And don’t even get me started on what you’ll do to our bartenders curling team when that match comes up.

So hey, let us enjoy the moment, okay?

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Simply put, mornings like this morning are the reason I have made the Phoenix area my home for the last 33 years.

Temperatures in the 60s on the way to highs in the 70s, blue skies, Mr. Bluebird on my shoulder …

Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration.

For those for whom the ground looks like an Olympic cross country skiing course, here’s the view this morning from the concourse at the Surprise Recreation Concourse, spring home of the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals:

The air is filled with the scent of orange blossoms while the quiet is interrupted by the sound of a baseball thwacking into leather gloves … and the occasional F-16 overflight from Luke Air Force Base, but that’s another story.

It’s so easy to make this your winter home, or to purchase a property that will become other fortunate souls’ winter homes as a vacation rental. Such investments aren’t for everyone, mind you. But if you’ve got the ability, the will and your fill of the chills, the sun awaits.

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The pundits say the Canadian dollar is going to rise to par with the American dollar.

Until I see the loony do better than 1.027 I’m not going to believe it. Every time it has approached the $1.02 - $1.03 mark it has pulled back away for one reason or another, though probably not due to a chameleon lying there in the sun.

I still may be proven wrong but the CAD seems much more inclined to Run Runaway.

(And hey, it’s a cool video.)

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We woke up in Phoenix today to the sounds of raindrops falling against our roofs, the first of what is predicted to be five straight days of rain - the first time that’s happened in the month of January since 2003. Once every seven years … you have to admit, that’s not too shabby.

As the kids wandered in little circles, free from school because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and unable to spend much time outside lest the water cause their somewhat washed bodies to melt, my own thoughts turned toward March and the beginning of spring training in the Cactus League.

With the arrival of the Cincinnati Reds in Goodyear, the Cactus League now is 15 teams strong - all but 13 of those teams play in the Valley (the other two are in Tucson) and all but four of those play west of Central Avenue roughly along the I-10/Loop 101 corridor (the Rangers and Royals being the most deviant geographically.)

Dodgers and Padres and Indians … oh my!

With the beginning of the games comes the influx of visitors here specifically to watch the Boys of Summer work off some rust in the spring.

(Here comes the real estate hook.)

Some come in RVs and campers, others come down and pay surcharge after surcharge for rentals cars and hotels - in case you’re wondering, that’s how we paid for these spring training parks in the first place.

(Wait for it.)

And still others come down either to their own second homes here in the Valley or simply rent a home for a week or a month to better allow themselves to overload on baseball, sun and in many cases, suds.

(That wasn’t so bad, was it?)

Owning a second home certainly isn’t for everyone. But if you happen to like your baseball a little more intimate and you’ve got 20 percent of the purchase price squirreled away, then maybe the other factors in play - low prices, low rates and even the $6,500 tax credit if you decide to make Phoenix your primary home by the end of April - might make it the right time to have a conversation.

It’s raining now but there are another 300 sunny days in the forecast.

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