An intrinsic value of holding title to Real Estate is that one owns the sky above it.
Spectacular cloud formations move into the Southwest as the June sun heats the desert floor. I like to think that the towering clouds drive before them flocks of the Lesser Hardy Snowbirds. They seem to leave en masse. One day they're there, chattering like magpies about cabins, and lakes to the north. The next, they're gone!
This seasonal migration provides a necessary period of tranquillity for Tucsonans. True desert denizens, we settle in to enjoy one of the true delights of desert living--the summer monsoons.
I'm no economist, but I'm a firm believer that the economic value of our real estate is enhanced by dramatic summer skies. Who wouldn't pay a premium to own, even for a moment, gems like these?
For a brief time nearly every day, and all summer long,
my Darlin' and I are the proud owners of these ethereal, three dimensional works of art displayed on the page.
Look closely, and you'll agree that they shame the considerable ability of Old Masters long gone.
As afternoon gives way to evening's arrival, and the night sky peers over the horizon, a transformation takes place.
Deep blue-grays and starched cotton whites are replaced by spectacular displays of color. Evening shadows dance on the edges of lava-flow cloudbanks as the sun makes its way towards Hawaii.
The value of real estate is set by agreement between a willing seller and a willing buyer. During Tucson's summer monsoons, the clouds rule the skies, and to my way of thinking, there's not a place on earth more valuable than home sweet home in Tucson, Arizona.
If you're reading this from a screened-in porch in the Northeast, humming tunelessly as you read, accompanied by the rythm and sparks of the bug zapper on the lawn, you might want to consider moving to Tucson.
If it's getting a little chilly up on the Great Lakes, and the thought of impending winter snows is making you eat more, so as to survive until spring, you might want to consider moving to Tucson.
If it's hot and muggy on the Grand Prairie, and the wind just will not quit, and you're tired of horizons that never change, you might want to consider moving to Tucson.
We're friendly here on the border. We have no bugs to bite you, no screened in porches to block the view. We complain to anyone who will listen when the humidity rises to an unbearable 45%!
Property values hold up better here in contrary markets than they might in your neck of the woods, because we're a University town with Teaching Hospitals.
And did I mention? We're home to a pretty fine gaggle of Lesser Hardy Snowbirds.
© All photos and content copyright Michael W. Jones
I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, AZ mortgage lender.
