Nick Bastian's Blog

Homes near the new light rail line in Tempe, Phoenix and Mesa have had my interest for quite some time now. In fact, well before the grand opening of this 20 mile stretch of "a city within cities," I began to study the many different types of property along route. In looking at the diversity of neighborhoods, one can quickly realize how much sense the "city within cities" analogy makes.

I am really excited to be working with our team at RailLife.com to begin rolling out the real estate sections to bring some of this fun (to me) information to the public. We will also be working with other agents to help create awareness for the areas we find so interesting. (more on that in the near future)

For now, we have a "Real Estate" section on RailLife.com which will continue to evolve and improve in the near future. We will be looking for ways to improve these pages but wanted to get these "basic" sections out as soon as possible. I'm working with some good people to help us improve on how we can best serve this niche. People can also access the section via RailLifeRealEstate.com which will be used on some of our upcoming market reports and different real estate related material. This is designed to make it easier for people to find the information they desire. Within that section, you can choose a "city" button which will show them homes near Mesa Light Rail, homes near Tempe light rail and homes near Phoenix light rail.

Examples of neighborhoods near light rail include:

Affordable neighborhoods at the end of the lines, some homes can now be found in the sub $100k range, a number that was unheard of in the recent past.

Tempe Light Rail real estate, cozy and quaint neighborhoods in Tempe near the ASU campus are a gem in my opinion, Some of these neighborhoods have nice irrigated lots and have a great "style" that just feels like the heart of Tempe. The Mill Avenue District has some amazing "urban" settings which has garnered most of the attention from people thinking light rail and that does make sense as well. These homes range from the amazing lakeside community of Bridgeview to several really great and somewhat surprisingly affordable units on and near Mill Avenue.

Downtown Phoenix is coming alive: It is amazing at what is happening near downtown Phoenix as huge projects like Cityscape, the new Convention Center and overall renewal or interest in a more urban lifestyle slowly becomes a reality for Arizona. Yes, there have been some challenges but I feel the future for the downtown core is very exciting.

Midtown and the  Arts Districts:We have some amazing neighborhoods along Central Avenue along the light rail line. From gorgeous historic districts to new high rise developments and yes, even some demand for infill projects. The vibe is changing, the demand for convenient, less car dependent lifestyles "might" just catch on in our sprawling city.

So, I hope you will take a look at the real estate section for Rail Life and that you feel free to offer suggestions as to how we can improve them in the future. I hope to find another agent or two to help with this insanely fun project. There are MANY things we already have planned for the site but I wanted to begin with what we have as I feel it is a time where people are ready to start getting back into the real estate market. In my opinion, homes in these areas make a lot of sense...

If you have any questions about the communities along the light rail line, please feel free to contact Nick Bastian - Realty Executives, Tempe AZ via the web or feel free to call us at 602-803-6425 or toll free at 1-888-343-6425.

Yep, it's true... The 2009 SEVRAR / BlueRoof360.com Tech Conference is almost here! This year, I'll be participating with my good friends Rob, Calie, Jay, Bill and Shailesh along with a bunch of other really cool "geeks." Please come say "hi" and learn a new thing or two from some of the great speakers that are lined up. Serious, it will be fun.

The conference is Tuesday, January 27th from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Mesa Convention Center.

Over the last 16 years in the real estate business, I have really enjoyed meeting new people and keeping in contact with many of the friends I have made. Early on in my real estate career, I learned that "farming" was a term often used by successful agents, denoting an area, sphere of influence, or specific demographic that fits ones needs personally or professionally. In the "old days" farming mainly referred to door knocking, direct mail and making sure your farm heard from you a certain number of times per year.

Today, new farms have cropped up all over the internet. Terms like niche marketing and hyper-local blogging have become quite effective. Over the past couple of years, I have studied many different types of web -based and social networking options to better serve myself and my clients. This has allowed me to grow some great new relationships as well.

While I enjoy keeping in contact with past clients and feel that they are the back-bone of my career, it is fun to cultivate new crops via niche markets. For me, one such niche market has been homes near the light rail line in Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa. I have found this to be fun, interesting and mutually beneficial to myself and to many people. So far, the seeds for this niche have been planted strictly on-line, but the response has been quite positive. In the near future, we plan to further attack these areas using a combination of new technologies and some "old school" cultivation. In fact, I have been actively seeking out real estate and mortgage professionals that will be a good fit in helping with this harvest. It is a new year, rates and prices appear to be bringing people back into the game. This truly is a great time to be in real estate, I just don't care what the media wants to say... Our crops are planted, the growing season is upon us!