Welcome to the Camelot Corner in Tempe, AZ. I came up with the name of Camelot Corner recently when thinking of an area of town that I believe has a lot to offer. Basically, it’s homes from McClintock Drive on the West and the Price / 101-Freeway to the East and from Guadalupe Road South to the canal.

Within the Camelot Corner, there is a great mix of housing options within six different residential neighborhoods. Within the Camelot Corner there are two neighborhoods called Camelot Village and Camelot Park Villas, these two neighborhoods combine to take up a large portion of the homes within the area. Hence, the Camelot Corner name. The other four neighborhoods are Biscayne Bay, Legends at Tempe, Cottonwoods Tempe and Round Valley Estates. On the Western edge of the neighborhood, there is also an apartment complex called the Little Cottonwoods. If interested in the homes for sale in Camelot Corner <<—- just click that link to see the latest information or click on the green icons below for a few examples of homes for sale in the area..

Some of the things I like about this area are the lifestyle choices and diversity of the neighborhoods from beautiful single family homes on large lots to more “urban” homes in gated, low maintenance subdivisions. Most of the people living in these neighborhoods agree that the location is amazing. With great access to the 101 freeway and just minutes from the 60 freeway, people can be to most parts of town very easily. But, even without getting in to a car, the neighborhood has a LOT to offer. Stroud Park is in the area which borders a great City of Tempe walking and biking trail which can take people to places like the Ken McDonald golf course and to Kiwanis Park. There is also access to public transportation surrounding the area with bus stops on McClintock and on Guadalupe Roads.

The neighborhood shopping at McClintock and Guadalupe is very close and residents often walk to the grocery store, restaurants, bookstore, drugstore or any of the MANY area conveniences. In the map below, you will see the neighborhoods as well as many of the things that make this area such a great place to live. While the map isn’t 100% complete and businesses can change at any time, you should be able to get an idea about living in the Camelot Corner. I’ll try to add to the map and keep it updated as time permits.

View Camelot Corner Tempe AZ in a larger map

I’ll also try to add to the group of photos below. There will be pictures of Camelot Village and of all of the neighborhoods in Camelot Corner. We will also share pictures of Stroud Park and of many of the restaurants and shops in the neighborhood. If you have any questions about living in the area or would like to see any of the homes for sale, please feel free to call Nick Bastian for a tour!

Click on the photo above to begin the slide show of life in the Camelot Corner.

$287,900 :: 1935 E Woodman Drive, Tempe AZ, 85283

$215,000 :: 6510 S Hazelton Lane, Unit 133, Tempe AZ, 85283

River Run is a nice, gated community in North Tempe consisting of 112 homes. These homes have 2 car garages and, according to the tax records, average approximately 1200 square feet. Within River Run, residents enjoy well kept common areas, 2 community pools, tennis courts, sand volleyball and parking for RV’s, boats, trailers etc.

Click here to see Homes For Sale in River Run. The link will take you to the actual MLS for an accurate picture of CURRENT sales activity in River Run / Gardens Tempe.

To the right of the screen, you will see an example of a home in River Run —->>

The legal description calls River Run “The Gardens Tempe” and lists the homes as being built from 1984 – 1994. There appears to be a mix of people in age ranges with students, part time residents and just about anything in between. Being near a bus stop and an Orbit system, the area is also good for people that enjoy getting around town via public transportation.

To give you a feel for the neighborhood, I have enclosed some photos of River Run and will add to them as time permits. I am also enclosing a slide show from YouTube showing some of the community features. If you would like a list of homes for sale in River Run, please let me know and we will be glad to send you the information right away.

A map of the River Run area

View River Run Tempe AZ in a larger map
]]> http://nickbastian.com/2010/03/30/river-run-homes-tempe/feed/ 0 http://nickbastian.com/2010/03/08/tempe-enters-google-fiber-race/ http://nickbastian.com/2010/03/08/tempe-enters-google-fiber-race/#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:56:14 +0000 Nick Bastian http://nickbastian.com/?p=194

Google Fiber has been making a lot of local and national headlines lately for a contest they are holding to bring high speed data to “one or more” communities. Tempe has decided they want to be that community.

According to a Google Fiber web page: “We plan to test ultra-high speed broadband networks in one or more trial locations across the country. Our networks will deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today, over 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections.”

Tempe has a ton of technology companies, an amazing research community at ASU along with a huge student population and is a very mobile community. Google Fiber seems like a great fit. I am pretty excited to have been asked to help the City of Tempe with this fun project. Please join us in helping to spread the word about the Google Fiber contest. Complete details and information on how you can help can be found on the City of Tempe’s Google Fiber page.

If you have any questions on how you can help, please feel free to give me a call!

Click here to see the Homes For Sale in Camelot Village!

Below is a map of Camelot Village and the surrounding area. Take a look around!

View Camelot Corner Tempe AZ in a larger map

The listing widget below shows the homes for sale in Camelot Village. See detailed information with pricing, photos and more.

The main purpose of this blog is to provide information to you. In doing that, I have decided to ask people from within my industry to write an occasional “guest post” on topics that will be of interest to anyone wanting to know more about the real estate business or the real estate market in Arizona. 
Below, you will find some information about the escrow process as written by my good friend, Bill Risser from Chicago Title and Trust. I’d like to thank Bill for sharing the information with us!


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Nearly everyone has heard of ChicagoTitle Insurance Company.  But just what does the title and escrow company do in the purchase of your new home? My intent with this post is to explain the escrow side of the transaction.  We’ll discuss title insurance in depth in a
future post.

An escrow is an arrangement in which a disinterested third party, called an escrow holder, holds legal documents and funds on behalf of a buyer and seller, and distributes them according to the buyer’s and seller’s instructions. 

People buying and selling real estate often open an escrow for their protection and convenience. The buyer can instruct the escrow holder to disburse the purchase price only upon the satisfaction of certain prerequisites and conditions. The seller can instruct the escrow holder to retain possession of the deed to the buyer until the seller’s requirements, including receipt of the purchase price, are met. Both rely on the escrow holder to carry out
faithfully their mutually consistent instructions relating to the transaction and to advise them if any of their instructions are not mutually consistent or cannot be carried out.

An escrow is convenient for the buyer and seller because both can move forward separately but simultaneously in providing inspections, reports, loan commitments and funds, deeds and many other items, using the escrow holder as the central depositing point. If the instructions from all parties to an escrow are clearly drafted, fully detailed and mutually consistent, the escrow holder can take many actions on their behalf without further consultation. This saves time and facilitates the closing of the transaction.

The escrow process was developed to help facilitate the sale or purchase of your home. The escrow holder accomplishes this by:

• Acting as the impartial “stake-holder,” or
  depository of documents and funds
• Processing and coordinating the flow of
  documents and funds
• Keeping all parties informed of progress on the
  escrow
• Responding to the lender’s requirements
• Securing a title insurance policy
• Obtaining approvals of reports and documents
  from the parties as required
• Prorating and adjusting insurance, taxes,
  rents, etc.
• Recording the deed and loan documents
• Maintaining security and accountability of
  monies owed and owing.

When my son was much younger, he asked me what “escrow” was. My explanation to a 6 year old was this: One person has keys to the house being sold.  Another person has a bag
full of money to buy the house.  Each takes a hold of  the keys and the money together, but neither will let go. Each is afraid the other will run off with both the keys and the money if they let go first.  That’s where escrow comes in.  The keys and the money are given to escrow, and when all the terms of the contract are satisfied, escrow hands over keys to the buyer and the money to the seller!  He immediately understood, and then proceeded to tell me that it sounded boring. 

Gotta love kids!

Recently, I was invited to the Fox 10 studios to talk about real estate and my business. Interviews are always kind of interesting and it is interesting to see the final, edited version. I had a really good time shooting this and want to thank Fox for the opportunity to talk about real estate with them.

I’m thankful to live in a city that has a lot of cool stuff to do. Today, I read some more about the upcoming “Western Canal Project” in Tempe. I recall hearing about this last year and thinking, “how cool, that’s right by our park!” (We often take the kids to near by Stroud Park where my “mad hoop skilz” are coming back in a big way!)
According to the City’s web site, “The project will extend for six miles connecting parks, schools, and other destinations in Tempe. The project includes a path with lighting, landscaping and public art.” A link to the map is here…
From the 101 Freeway, the path will link to Kiwanis Park, Stroud Park, Redden Park, Ken McDonald Golf Course, the YMCA and end near Arizona Mills Mall and the I-10 Freeway.
Basically, they are going to spruce up the canal banks and make it more pedestrian and bike friendly. I often see people on these canals now so, for ten million, I guess it better be pretty nice.
Truthfully, I like the idea of the improvements and it is nice for South Tempe to get some love instead of the constant attention given to the areas surrounding the campus. Hey, I LOVE downtown Tempe but I choose to live in South Tempe. I/we feel this is a great place to raise our family and it is a rockin’ location for my business as I can get to most parts of town pretty easily.
One reason I like this project is because I think it will benefit our community. Another reason is that I could probably use some more exercise and this might help get me off of my rear end to take the kids on some bike rides etc.

The many new developments in Tempe are fun to watch. From Mosaic to Centerpointe to the new Monti’s projet that we recently wrote about, the Mill Avenue District is really “growing up.” Soon, the Valley’s Light Rail system will travel right through the community. If you haven’t been down there lately, you will be amazed. If you have, you can’t help but notice how “alive” the area is. People of all walks of life enjoy this area. From the Arts Center to small coffee shops to million dollar condos with HOA fees in the $1100.00 per month range! The park, the lake and near by hiking at “The Butte” / “A” Mountain are all things that people love as well. I found this cool video that shows some of the many existing and proposed changes in the area.Take a look!

Last night, the latest redevelopment plan for the historic Monti’s La Casa Vieja Steakhouse finally got the blessing of Tempe’s Historic Preservation Commission . This latest conceptual plan will now go in front of the Development Review Commission and the City Council in the coming weeks. Sounds like Sky Harbor officials (that didn’t like the height of the stadium) will also throw in their 2 cents. The location of this place has been called the gateway to Mill Avenue and will serve as kind of a breaking point for the events at Tempe Town Lake and the bustling Mill Avenue District. These two areas are separated by the light rail stop at Third Street and Mill. Once the rail line opens, this area is sure to see even more interest. Several major developments are in the works within a short distance. (I’ll be writing about them in the near future)
I am personally glad that the main part of the original building will be left alone as I have enjoyed many trips to Monti’s with family, friends etc. It will be interesting to watch and see what the final outcome produces. I’ll be sure to let ya know..