Realty Executives of Northern Arizona
Poised high above the deep, narrow gorge of the Little Colorado River—running thousands of feet below—a swayback suspension bridge serves as a reminder of a gap long ago bridged—not only geographically but culturally, as well.
Driving 65 miles per hour across the modern-day pavement, one might glance at that bridge, forgetting that this arid, rocky region—scarce of vegetation—was once traversed on foot or horseback by the original American peoples. To the Navajo and Hopi, these lands were theirs; the bridge provided them a straightforward route over the precarious gorge.
Five years following the bridge’s construction—erected in 1911, thirty-two miles from what is now the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park—Texas brothers Hubert and C.D. Richardson claimed over 100 acres on the south side of the gorge. They constructed a meager, tin-roof building and in 1916 opened the Little Colorado Trading Post. Later renamed Cameron Trading Post, honoring Ralph H. Cameron, the post best served the indigenous neighbor. Crossing the 660-foot-long bridge, the Navajo and Hopi peoples used Cameron’s to barter blankets, wool, and livestock for dry goods.
In visiting Cameron Trading Post, we are invited to remember the rich history of this area and to realize the old ways that connected people and cultures in a rare exchange of diversity and respect.
The Richardson brothers played a crucial role in the lives of their Native friends. Treated like family, they housed and fed local tribes at the post, for the journey to and from was arduous. Understanding Native dialects and traditional customs, the brothers shared the new American laws and social systems with the tribespeople.
The post grew over time. Hogans were built to accommodate Native guests, and in 1928, Hubert built the Klo-a-chee-kin (Little Red House) Hotel. Additions were created over time, connecting the original structures with new.
In 2016, Cameron celebrated its Centennial. What began as a shack in 1916, Cameron Trading Post boasts a magnificent Native American art gallery, a 15,000 square foot gift shop, a market, a restaurant, a post office, gas station, an R.V. park, a 66-room hotel and the stunning Sandstone garden—planted in the 1930s.
Today, Cameron is owned and operated by father and son, Joe and Josh Atkinson. Joe purchased the lease from Gilbert Ortega in 1977 and the trading post from Standard Oil in 1983. Like their predecessors, the Atkinson’s have an intimate history with the Navajo, a personal connection to the post, and trading with Native Americans. Joe, fluent in Navajo, is the great-nephew of C.D. Richardson. Josh Atkinson—the present Naat’áanii, or leader—began working at the post when he was thirteen. Josh’s grandmother was an educator and taught Navajo children, and his great-grandmother was a trader who—with her bible, her gun, and a few spare tires—traveled to different posts in her Cadillac.
Trading families and local-area ranchers assisted in protecting their Navajo communities and endeavored to help Natives preserve their culture and traditions. Sheep, for example were sacred to the Navajo.
Sheep provided the tribe sustenance and offered wool to the exceptionally accomplished Navajo weavers.
In the early 1900s, traders like J.B. Moore and C.N. Cotton crafted catalogs featuring Native American designs intending to sell them back east, where a romantic interest in western culture bloomed. For hundreds of years, Churra wool was the material for Navajo blankets and rugs. Churra sheep, later renamed Churro, were brought to North America by conquistadors in the 1600s. Navajo and Hopi peoples acquired Churro through trade. For a Churro blanket in the 1800s, one might trade two horses and a wife. In later times, blankets and rugs sold by the pound. The Navajo then added dirt to the wool to increase their work’s value.
Around the 1930s, environmentalists believed overgrazing was a problem that would result in flooding and landslides. Through government-sponsored flock reductions, herds were slaughtered, almost to the edge of extinction. The government forbade the tribe to eat the meat or utilize the wool; the tribe was traumatized. News of this spread fast. As tribes began hiding their sheep in caves, ranchers like Josh’s great-grandfather—whose Star Lake ranch was on the eastern side of the reservation—sheltered thousands of sheep to save them from certain death. When things settled, the sheep were returned to the tribe. Although the Churros are no longer considered endangered, their breed is still rare. That Churro blanket—once traded for two horses and a wife—would today sell for as much as $250,000.
…The trading post building hosts the gift shop where over 20 tribes have their works exhibited. Herein one will find rugs, potter, baskets, turquoise jewelry, kachinas, sculpture, totems, stone carvings, and drums.
Overlooking the Little Colorado River Gorge and revolving around a massive stone fireplace bordered by large picture windows, guests enjoy spectacular views inside and out. The Cameron Grand Canyon Restaurant—surrounded by history and ornamented with Native American artwork—offers a delicious menu featuring local, Mexican, and American food. Located behind the restaurant sits an old barn once used to shear Navajo sheep.
Of Cameron’s 145 employees, most are Navajo with a few Hopi, Apache, and Bilagáa-na, or white man. “It’s a family-for-family business,” Josh Atkinson explained. “Every decision I make affects all of these families.”
What began over a century ago—a meager post for local traders—Cameron Trading Post now welcomes visitors from all over the world. Standing as an icon of ancient times, Cameron embodies the traditions of the Navajo Nation. It reveals a fascinating story of the Bilagáa-na learning to value the original Americans. It shares a history of the interdependent relationships between the indigenous peoples and the pioneers that settled here. Cameron holds the legend and lore of diverse cultures, blending, defending, and sharing a way of life and survival in a harsh environment. And like those indigenous peoples who crossed the bridge and walked through its doors, Cameron’s is one of the last of its kind.
Taken from story written by River Ann Polinard
Published in Essential, essentials for the Flagstaff lifestyle, Summer/Fall 2021 edition, Vol. 1.2
A lot of people look forward to the new year because it’s like starting a new chapter in a book. You’re about to finish one chapter and — on New Year’s Day — you’ll be eager to begin another.
Looking at it another way, that new chapter is full of blank pages – ready for you to write your own story.
In fact, you may have several hopes and dreams for 2022 and maybe some ambitious goals, too. Whatever your plans, we want you to know that you can reach out to us anytime you need real estate advice or help.
We will also continue to keep you up-to-date on the latest real estate news and insights. So, anytime you have questions, contact us. We can get you the answers you need.
If we don’t get a chance to chat before the year’s end, let me take this opportunity to say, “Thank you for the privilege of staying in touch with you. The blank pages of your 2022 chapter await. We hope you fill them with wonderful experiences!”
A Quick Market Note...
These days most conversations about Real Estate involve the topic of how much cash has entered the market over the last 18 months. With very low days on market and homes getting snatched up in 48 hours or less, many felt that it started to dominate.
Below is a chart noting the percentage of cash sales recorded in the MLS for Northern Arizona Association of Realtors.
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As of December 9th there were a total of 2278 home sales and of those 27.35% closed with cash. Yes, the market has been competitive but we expected these numbers to be much higher. Hang in there with us, buying a home is entirely possible and we're here to make it happen.
About the Authors:
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Renee Gaun * Jeff Ross 928-606-6232 Renee 928-607-5556 Jeff
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15 E. Cherry Ave |
Eventually, just about all homeowners get to the point where they think about moving. Some want to upsize, some want to downsize, while others just want a change.
No matter what the motivation, the decision isn’t always an easy one. There may be many reasons why it makes sense to stay with your current property. At the same time, there may be other compelling reasons to sell and find your next dream home.
Fortunately, you don’t have to make that decision alone.
As your real estate agents, We are always available when you have questions or need advice regarding home ownership. In fact, We are there when our clients need us even if it’s months or years before or after a transaction.
So, please don’t hesitate to give us a call. You don’t have to be serious about selling your home to talk to us. Even if you’re at the “wondering about it” stage, We are here to help.
A Brief Update to our Current Real Estate Market
In a Real Estate Market we currently have, it is extremely difficult to spin a positive for all sides.
In this case, the positives are all on the Sellers side in one of, if not the best market for a seller to make the decision to sell.
Here is what the market is like in a nutshell
None of this is sustaining, but to be honest, we do not know what the future holds.
On the Buyers Side, it is difficult at best.
It is time to Buckle-up, Hang-in there, and Call Us. There are few if any that understand the current market better.
If you need a home today,
First, call your lender, find out what your Lender limits are and also determine your personal limits, and then stick with them.
Once you have that, reach out to us and we will work as hard as ever to find you that home that fits.
If that home is not our there today, we will be upfront and honest with you.
On top of that, our job is to control the enthusiasm once we find the right home. The final offer price is one you must be comfortable with. If you get the home great, and if you do not, you know you gave it your all and time to walk away.
Renee and I, thought we would invite one of the top lenders in Flagstaff, Chris Hallows with Wallick & Volk Mortgage to give us some insight into the direction the current home mortgage rates are trending and how this affects us in today's aggressive housing market.
Change Coming for the Housing Market Silver Lining
By Chris Hallows, Branch Manager at Wallick & Volk Mortgage
Many of you reading this hopefully have enjoyed historically low rates on either a purchase or a refinance within the last 24 months.
With rates in the 2’s and 3’s, we barely even remember the last two decades - National 30 yr fixed rate average from 2000-2010 was 6.29% and from 2010 up to 2020 was 4.09%. It is no secret that these rates exist due to billions of dollars of market subsidies as directed by the 2020 Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2020.
This has truly made interest rates the silver lining in a very aggressively price appreciating market. However, this ‘new normal’ is not here to stay and we shouldn’t take that for granted. That silver lining is already under pressure as the FED announced in its meeting earlier this month that they are officially tapering this expenditure and this at a time with heavy inflation readings. Less subsidy and fear of inflation will likely drive interest rates up. Experts predict an overall increase in the next 12 months of around .375% but we could certainly experience some volatility in getting there.
While we may not be in the “6’s” anytime soon it is a good reminder to make best use of the terms available in market and let your friends and neighbors know that while that house price may knock them off their feet, at least their rate will pick them back up for now!
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Click on this to get a more in depth reporting of Mortgages in Todays Housing Market.
NMLS 306345 | AZ MLO 0914354 | BK 0018295 | Corp NMLS 2973 Equal Housing Lender
About the Authors:
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At Realty Executives of Flagstaff, we are committed to giving back to our Flagstaff community. On November 16, 2021, our Executives had the opportunity to tour Habitat for Humanity of Northern Arizona’s current home that is being built for a local family. They also participated in the Sponsor a Stud campaign with custom Realty Executives studs designed by our Executive, Mark Colletti, and his wife Maggie! #executivesgiveback
Realty Executives of Flagstaff is the exclusive real estate agency is town to officially sponsor Habitat for Humanity of Northern Arizona. They realize home ownership can seem like an impossible dream for some families, and agents in the office donate a portion of their commissions to help make that dream a reality for families in the Flagstaff area.
How often has someone asked you about a particular professional or a service company? For example, they may have asked, “Do you know a good tree trimming service?” or “Can you recommend a great accountant?”
Chances are you’ve been asked plenty of times over the years.
The reason is obvious. Most people would prefer to work with a professional or company that a friend or neighbor has endorsed. That’s why they ask for recommendations!
With that in mind, when you get asked, and you do not have anyone in mind, never hesitate in reaching out to us, we have a very extensive list of service providers.
Better yet if you get asked “Do you know a great real estate agent?” We hope you’ll offer our names. If you do, We promise to provide that person with the very best service — as we do all our clients.
If the opportunity comes up and you do recommend us, please let us know. We will want to thank you personally for the referral.
Before jumping into Real Estate;
Sue and I had a great trip overseas spending a combined little over 3 weeks in Albania's UNESCO region with Rivers, Valleys and Gorges, a side trip into North Macedonia, then down to Greece to the Peloponnese Peninsula Region.
This was a self guided bike trip organized by a company called BikeTours.com. This was our 5th ride with them, having ridden in past years to Portugal, Czech Republic, Italy-Slovenia-Croatia, and lastly this ride. Most rides have been just Sue and I, though a couple of the earlier rides we rode with another Flagstaff couple.
The Tour company planned out the route, taking care of accommodations and moving our main luggage from town to town. Our job was to enjoy ride, 'smell the roses' so to speak, take in what the country side offers with its sites and wonderful people and food.
From the Flights over and back, the people in both countries and the daily bike rides, all went smooth. Not to say we took the current Covid situation lightly, but with proper planning and being careful in crowds, we had few if any issues.
Most of the days were out riding by ourselves , totaling right around 450 miles in the two countries, and then all the walking through the small towns we got to stay in, the time was superb.
The scenario in both countries was similar, we flew into Albania and spent two days explore their capital city of Tirana, then biked for 9 days, taking layover days to explore some of the smaller areas in more depth. Then flew down to Athens Greece took a few days there, then down to the Peloponnese region to bike 7 days plus layover days there. At the end of this portion of the trip we stayed in a little town called Nafplio for 4 day to explore the surrounding areas and what Greece is all about, that was a treat in itself.
Our Trip offered so much to talk about we could only include a snippet of the areas we toured for this issue.
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A close friend gave us this quote when we moved toward retirement that we thought was very appropriate as we head in that direction.
"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open"
Jawaharlal Nehru
So with that said, and as you get this, I am up in Moab Utah, mountain biking for the week with my Sons family including our two granddaughters:), and Sue is down in Houston at the International Quilt Fair.
Now back to Real Estate;
2021 has been an interesting year in Real Estate, and you have heard a lot of stories.
In this article, we will cover some of the facts of Real Estate in North Arizona, and will include the combined communities of Flagstaff, Bellemont, Parks, Williams, and Munds Park.
If for any reason you would like just the area you live in, please just reach out to one of us and we can pull what you are looking to see.
To help gauge the numbers better we will break into Single Family, Condominium, Townhomes, Manufactured and then a total of All.
For starters last month we talked about the number of signs you see as you tour each neighborhood.
You may ask, why are we not seeing that home?
Though we will not break it down as we did last month, we will give you two total numbers.
As you are driving around today, you may see as many as 577 signs on homes throughout the above-mentioned areas.
After taking out the homes that are under contract in one fashion or another, which accounts for approximately 76% of the homes you see signed, which means there are only 138 homes left that are actually active ready for that right buyer.
Single Family homes, there are 101 homes available.
Condominium, there are 8 homes available.
Townhomes, there are 7 homes available.
Manufactured, there are 18 homes available.
With all this said, the availability has not increased as we have moved through the year.
On average we have sold 197 homes of all types, monthly thru September. We have a total of 138 homes currently available on the market, meaning we have less than 1 month supply of homes on the market.
We have mentioned before that the experts in Real Estate say a 6-month supply is a healthy market, anything less and it is considered a seller’s market, anything more and a buyer’s market.
Let’s move over to Number of Sales and Median Sales prices this year.
Overall, through the first 9 months of the year, our Median sales prices for all home types and the areas mentioned above, have climbed 23%, from a median price of $406,500 to a median price of $500,000.
We will break this down just a little, still in the 5 communities as mentioned above, but broken down by Home Type.
Single Family Homes Sales are down -6.7% for the year, while Median prices have risen to $575,000 a 25.0% increase.
Condominium Sales are down -5.8% for the year, while Median prices have risen to $279,000 a 26.8% increase.
Townhome Sales are down -12.3% for the year, while Median prices have risen to $419,725 a 17.2% increase.
Manufactured home Sales are up 7.3% for the year, while Median prices have risen to $310,000 a 21.6% increase.
Since Flagstaff and Single-family homes is the largest category, thought we would give you those figures.
In Flagstaff through September, the Median Sales Price of a single-family home is $600,000, rising 22%, though 8.2% fewer homes have sold.
You are hearing a lot of numbers out there and probably most can be justified, depending on the areas they are looking at and if they are including all types of homes. The key is asking what those numbers include to know how accurate they are as an overall picture.
Our goal here was to give you a broad and accurate overview of the Flagstaff and the surrounding communities.
Either Renée or I can pull an individual area for you pretty quickly, so if you have a particular area you are interested in, never hesitate to reach out.
As a summary:
As we move through the rest of the year, the key factor will be the availability of homes on the market.
That number will more than likely drop, but then so will the number of buyers. Winter can be a good time to be looking to buy since you normally do not have as many Buyers to compete with. On the same side of the coin, with the low inventory of homes, we are in an excellent time to sell your home.
We hope this helps, and as you have questions about your home and if it is a good time to sell, or on the buyer’s side of the equation, how can you navigate this market to get the best outcome for you and your family.
Please Never Hesitate to reach out.
About the Authors:
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Where the Experts are - Serving Flagstaff and Northern Arizona since 1977
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