Val Vista Lakes Archives - The Phoenix Real Estate Guy

Gilbert Real Estate: The Islands

June 12, 2007 By Jay Thompson

It's a veritable oasis in the desert… The Islands, a master planned community in Gilbert, Arizona offers amenities many are surprised to find here in the middle of the Sonoran Desert. The Gilbert real estate market is home to a few communities like this, but their existence never ceases to surprise people — including some long term residents.

Bounded (roughly) by Elliot Road and Warner Road to the north and south, and McQueen Road and Cooper Road to the West and East, the Islands is ideally located in the heart of Gilbert with convenient access to all the major East Valley freeways.

Homes in The Islands range from condos to large water front properties. It's difficult to get an exact count of the currently available listings because there are a large number of neighborhoods that compose The Islands – "sub-subdivisions" if you will. Agents tend to specify all these neighborhoods in different ways, clouding the ability to get a true listing count. Like most of the Phoenix real estate market, there is a significant amount of inventory available — at least 65 homes, and probably more. Generally, single family homes are priced in the $270K – $600K range.

Amenities abound in The Islands. Parks, trails and of course water activities that range from fishing to boating (no wakes allowed). The highly regarded Gilbert Independent School district serves The Islands with Islands Elementary, Mesquite Jr. High and Mesquite High School. Shopping of all varieties and golf are very close by.

Everyone I've ever talked to that lives in The Islands tells me it is a close-knit community, but they welcome new residents with open arms. Drive through the neighborhoods on any given day and you'll see people walking the trails, sitting on benches by the lakes, or chatting in a neighbor's driveway.

If you enjoy the water and "resort style" everyday living, you may want to consider a community like The Islands in Gilbert. Check out Val Vista Lakes while you are at it — it's a similar lake front oasis also located in the booming Gilbert real estate market. As always, we're here to help in any way we can!

[tags]The Islands, Gilbert Real Estate, Val Vista Lakes[/tags]

Phoenix Bloggers Meet; Much Conversation Ensues, Including The Long Tail

January 8, 2007 By Jay Thompson

Last Friday, many Phoenix area real estate bloggers came together for a face-to-face meeting. I’m late to the posting party, as several attendees have already chronicled the meeting. I won’t review the details as these folks have already done it, better than I could. Special thanks to Brian “I’ll never buy donuts for Realtors” Brady for setting it all up.

While the gathering was newsworthy in and of itself, and meeting folks and being able to put a face and voice to the prose was certainly a highlight, the discussions that evolved provided the real food-for-thought.

Greg Swann was in attendance and discussed and has penned a great post on cultivating a local audience for your blog.

Another topic that came up more than once was The Long Tail. I’ve always been fascinated by the subject of The Long Tail and highly recommend both Chris Anderson’s book, The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More, as well as his outstanding blog.

It’s a very interesting concept, and with apologies in advance to Mr. Anderson, I’ll attempt a Cliffs Notes version of The Long Tail and how it relates to local content real estate blogging.

Basically The Long Tail is about the volume of sales, web hits, search engine results etc. for “less popular” things. Say Amazon sells 100,000 copies of the latest New York Times best seller. That’s great, brings Amazon a lot of money. But while they are selling 100K copies of the best seller, they are selling one MILLION copies of a bunch of other, less popular books. What generates Amazon more revenue, 100,000 best sellers, or 1,000,000 other titles? That’s the long tail.

OK, goody for Amazon. But what does The Long Tail mean for a real estate blogger?

The Long Tail has huge implications. As I mentioned in the Phoenix bloggers meeting, it’s extremely difficult to get good Google placement for a term such as “Phoenix Real Estate”. But pick a “less popular” term like “Subdivision Real Estate” (substituting “subdivision” for, well, a subdivision name) and you will find two things:

1) FAR greater ease at getting ranked well for that term
2) FAR more serious prospects — serious as in ready to buy or sell

When people hit our site for a term like “Phoenix real estate” they tend to be “tire kickers”, out-of-staters, or people looking for general info on the Phoenix market. Not that there is anything wrong with that. We welcome them.

But when people hit our site for “Val Vista Lakes real estate” they tend to be one of two types of people — someone living in Val Vista Lakes looking for a Realtor to list their home; or someone who is saying, “I want to buy a house in Val Vista Lakes. I need a Realtor.” We love visitors like this.

Our main web site has a page that ranks #1 – #3 (depending on the day) on Google for “Val Vista Lakes real estate” or “Val Vista Lakes Realtor”.

But the real power of the long tail (and local content blogging) is evident with this fact. Three days after I posted a blog entry here about Val Vista Lakes, that post, that THREE DAY OLD post ranked #7 – #9 on Google for Val Vista Lakes real estate/Val Vista Lakes Realtor. Comments on that post are also now showing up on page 1 of Google.

I posted about this on ActiveRain, and THAT post was rapidly indexed and is now 5th and our AR profile is 6th on Google for the “Val Vista Lakes real estate” search term.

Nothing you could post using a “mainstream” keyword will rank this highly this fast. A post on a Long Tail term however, can place very well, and with remarkable speed.

We now have FIVE web pages on the first page of Google for two very powerful search terms that someone ACTIVELY looking to buy or sell in a 1,000 home subdivision would use. We own 50% of page 1 on Google.

Will more people type “Phoenix real estate” into Google than will type “Val Vista Lakes real estate”? Sure, no question. Will someone seriously looking to buy or sell a home in Val Vista Lakes type “Val Vista Lakes Realtor” in Google. Absolutely. Traffic to the main site from Val Vista Lakes searches is up significantly. We’ve added three people on Val Vista Lakes auto-listings this week alone. Only time will tell if thetraffic and prospects on searches lead to active clients, but there’s no reason to expect it won’t–it certainly has in the past.

The Long Tail works folks. Local content blogging works. Learn it. Use it. Take it to the bank.

PS: Happy Birthday Elvis!

[tags]Long Tail, Val Vista Lakes, Phoenix real estate[/tags]

Ocean Front Property in Arizona…

January 3, 2007 By Jay Thompson

OK, sorry… the title is a nod to my Texas pal George Strait. That was a great song.

For the geographically challenged, there is no ocean front property in Arizona. But there is lake front property, and you can even have that right smack in the middle of the metro Phoenix area!

Val Vista Lakes is located in Gilbert, Arizona (a suburb in the “East Valley”). Sure the lakes are man-made, and they aren’t vast expanses of uncharted waters. But you can boat, swim, fish and sit on your porch and watch the sun rise (or set) over the water.

Homes in Val Vista Lakes range from 2 bedroom condominiums to very large lakeside homes. There is something in every size, shape and price range.

Amenities abound in Val Vista Lakes. The award winning club house (pictured above) offers conference rooms, a gym, swimming, tennis, volleyball, picnic pavilions and more. Many a wedding reception has been held in the spacious clubhouse facilities. The subdivision is filled with playground and park areas, and jogging/biking trails.

Val Vista Lakes enjoys an outstanding location in the Phoenix East Valley. Easy access to the Superstition Freeway (US60) means you have the ability to easily get just about anywhere in the entire Phoenix metro area.

Here is a map showing the location of Val Vista Lakes relative to Phoenix:

And here is a close up map:

Homes are available on, and off the lake. Most lakeside lots include a small dock (it’s a “no wake” lake, so power boats are not allowed. Pontoon boats and small sailboats abound). Naturally, lakeside homes tend to be more expensive.

In addition to the amenities within the development, there is every form of shopping, restaurants, etc. nearby.

Home began being built in the Val Vista Lakes development in 1986, and build-out was completed approximately 10 years later. There is immense pride in ownership throughout the development, and it’s a very friendly place to live.

Here are some of the homes currently listed for sale in Val Vista Lakes:

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Gilbert Real Estate: The Islands

Phoenix Bloggers Meet; Much Conversation Ensues, Including The Long Tail

Ocean Front Property in Arizona…

Who is The Phoenix Real Estate Guy?

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