September in Scottsdale: Home, Life Local News, ChatGPT Fun, & Market Updates

September is here, and this month’s newsletter has a little bit of everything - from the never-ending surprises (and expenses!) of homeownership to fun things to see and do around town. I’ll share what Americans continue to see as one of the best long-term investments, catch you up on what’s happening in Scottsdale, and wrap things up with a rather unusual question: Who’s the smelliest? Trust me, you’ll want to see what ChatGPT has to say about that one!

Here's the September lineup:
One Thing After Another
September Sights
Americans Say This is the Best Long-Term Investment
The Scottsdale Scoop
Who's the Smelliest?

One Thing After Another

About two months ago, we discovered that one of our split HVAC units wasn't working in the basement. It was old, so there really wasn't much to do except
replace the whole thing. And this was before we had even reached triple-digit temperatures.

Then, last month, the freezer in our Samsung refrigerator stopped working. Thank goodness we have a standalone freezer in the garage. But shortly after that, we
realized the refrigerator itself wasn't working either.

We loved our Samsung, but after doing some investigating, we decided to stay away from the newer models. We ended up replacing it with a GE. So far, so good - but
they sure don't seem to make appliances like they used to.

I remember moving into a house years ago with an ugly old washer and dryer. I figured they'd probably break down soon and we'd replace them with something
newer.

Nope! We ended up selling that house with the same washer and dryer still going strong.

And then, just recently, the A/C went out in the bedroom wing on our main level. Our HVAC guy couldn't even get out to look at it for about three days. Then it took
another four days to get it fixed. Let's just say we had some very hot nights.

We do have a nice guest room in the basement, but with all of our dogs, that wasn't exactly going to work. I briefly considered sleeping down there myself.

So, yes, it's been a hot - and expensive - summer around here. Hopefully, we've now checked enough boxes on the big-ticket home expense list to be set for a while.

But wait...

We're also thinking about getting a new car because one of our cars cost us more to repair last year than the car is actually worth.

Apparently, this is our year of big expenses. I'm hoping we've gotten them all out of the way at once. Because I'd really like to get back to spending money on things that are actually fun! Although I think a new car is fun, and we love our new fridge. And it sure wasn't fun sleeping with no A/C in Arizona.

September Sights

The Abe Hays Family Spirit of the West Collection saddle display at The Western Spirit Museum

I've been out of town, and this blog post, which is written from the email newsletter I send out, is being posted later than normal. Some of these activities have already happened. If you'd like to get the newsletter before the early-month activities are over, please use the Contact Form and write Newsletter in the subject line and/or body.

Quilt, Craft, and Sewing Experience - September 3-5
Three days of fabric, patterns, and handmade inspiration take over WestWorld of
Scottsdale - a fun one if you've got a crafter in your life (or you are one).
16620 N 94th St, Scottsdale, AZ 85260
North Hall

9/11 Memorial Stair Climb - September 5th
Honor and remember the FDNY firefighters, police, and EMS who selflessly gave
their lives so that others might live on 9-11-2001.
Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, Scottsdale
7555 N Pima Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85258

Western Spirit Museum Unveils New Exhibit - September 5th
Free admission for children 17 and under.
Be among the first to experience Woven: Navajo Textiles from the Pelberg
Collection, a captivating exhibition showcasing seven modern and contemporary
weavings by Diné artists.

Experience Japan - September 5th, 6th, & 7th
Immerse yourself in the beauty of Japan through dynamic cultural performances,
interactive workshops, and curator talks.
MIM - Musical Instrument Museum
4725 E Mayo Blvd., Phoenix, AZ 85050

Arabian National Breeder Finals - September 16-19
This prestigious show offers the Arabian horse community the opportunity to
showcase the very best the breed has to offer in an unparalleled venue.
WestWorld of Scottsdale
16601 N. Pima Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85260

Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market - September 18-20
This beloved vintage market is back and celebrates its 15th year at WestWorld with
160+ dealers, live music, and food trucks - mark your calendar since tickets go fast.
WestWorld of Scottsdale - North Hall
16601 N Pima Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85260

Action & Adventure Festival - September 26
This free, family-friendly festival at Arizona Boardwalk brings ziplining, bounce
houses, a Ferris wheel, superhero meet-and-greets, and free carnival games - a
great low-cost outing with the kids.
9500 E. Via de Ventura, Scottsdale, AZ 85256

Americans Say This is the Best Long-Term Investment

When Americans are asked where they would put their money for the long haul, one investment has consistently come out on top - and it isn't the stock market, gold, or even the latest cryptocurrency.

It's real estate.

For the 14th consecutive year, Gallup's annual survey found that Americans continue to rank real estate as the best long-term investment. And in 2026, the gap between real estate and the other choices was significant.

Real Estate Keeps Its No. 1 Spot

Here's how Americans answered the question this year:

• Real estate: 38%
• Stocks and mutual funds: 20%
• Gold: 18%
• Savings accounts and CDs: 12%
• Cryptocurrency: 2%

Real estate wasn't just in first place. It was nearly twice as popular as stocks and mutual funds.

That doesn't necessarily mean Americans think owning a home is the fastest way to make money. Instead, it points to something that has made real estate appealing for generations: the potential for long-term growth combined with the fact that you can actually use what you're investing in.

A home isn't just an asset sitting in an investment account. It's a place to live, while potentially building equity over time.

The Long-Term Numbers Tell an Interesting Story

Real estate certainly hasn't gone up in a straight line.

We've seen housing booms, recessions, rising interest rates, falling interest rates, and one of the most severe housing crashes in modern history. Yet when you step back and look at the longer picture, home prices have continued to trend upward.

Consider the growth in U.S. home prices over the past several decades:

1990s: +30%
2000s: +47%
2010s: +45%
2020–2024: +47%

Even the 2000s - which included the housing crash and the Great Recession - ended the decade with home prices higher than where they started.

That's an important distinction when you're thinking about real estate as a long-term investment. There can be painful downturns along the way. But historically, the longer you hold real estate, the more those short-term swings become part of a much larger picture.

There's More to Real Estate Than Appreciation

One reason real estate is different from many other investments is that it can provide value while you're holding it. If you own your home, you're not simply waiting for its value to increase. You're living there.

And if you have a mortgage, a portion of each payment generally goes toward reducing the loan balance. Over time, that can help build equity.

There can also be tax considerations, potential rental income if a property is used as an investment, and the possibility of benefiting from long-term appreciation.

Of course, none of those benefits are guaranteed, and homeownership comes with costs that other investments don't, such as maintenance, property taxes, insurance, repairs, and the costs associated with buying and eventually selling.

That's why looking only at the purchase price versus the eventual sale price doesn't tell the whole story.

But Does That Mean You Should Buy a House?

Not necessarily. This is where I think the "real estate is the best investment" conversation needs some context.

Buying a home isn't automatically a smart financial decision simply because home prices have historically increased. Your timeline matters. If you think you'll move in two or three years, the costs of buying and selling may outweigh any appreciation you experience during that short period.

Your finances matter, too. You need to be comfortable with the monthly payment and the other costs of owning a home - not just today, but if your circumstances change.

And your risk tolerance matters. Real estate can be less liquid than investments such as stocks, and you can't simply sell a portion of your house if you suddenly need cash.

In other words, there's no one-size-fits-all answer. A financial advisor can help you look at how real estate fits into your overall financial picture before you make a major investment decision.

The Bigger Picture

What I find most interesting about Gallup's results isn't necessarily that real estate came in first again. It's that Americans continue to view real estate as a long-term investment, despite everything the housing market has experienced.

And that was an important decision for me wanting to become a REALTOR®. Not only did I respect the need to use a real estate agent for buyers and sellers, especially after my failed attempt at being a FSBO (For Sale By Owner), but I've personally seen how real estate appreciation has helped us move up to what is pretty much our dream home.

That makes sense when you consider the nature of the investment. A home can provide a place to live in today while potentially becoming a significant financial asset years down the road.

But the key word is long-term.

If you're considering buying a home primarily because you expect to make a quick profit, that's one conversation. If you're looking at a home as something you may own for 10, 20, or 30 years while building equity along the way, that's a very different proposition.

And that's why the right question isn't simply, "Is real estate a good investment?"

A better question is:

"Does owning real estate make sense for me?"

That's a question worth answering with your own numbers - not headlines, generalizations, or what the market happens to be doing this month.

If you're curious what buying a home could look like in your particular situation, I'm happy to help you run the numbers and look at the possibilities. No pressure and no sales pitch - just a realistic look at the numbers so you can make an informed decision.

The Scottsdale Scoop

ASM to open Scottsdale facility in 2027 Q1:
The Valley is quickly turning into a global hub for microchip manufacturing, and
Scottsdale will soon be part of that picture.

Four Scottsdale schools facing potential closure:
The Scottsdale Unified School District is reviewing four schools for potential closure
at the end of this school year, and a timeline is now in place for a decision.

Scottsdale Wants Your Input On The 2026 Section 8 Housing Plan:
The next public hearing on the 2026 Public Housing Agency Administrative Plan for
its housing voucher program will be at 5 p.m. on Sept. 24 at Granite Reef Senior
Center, 1700 N. Granite Reef Road in Scottsdale.

Two Scottsdale Schools Make Arizona's Top 25 High Schools:
Two Scottsdale public charter schools are among Arizona's top 25 public high
schools in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings.

ChatGPT Ranks States by How Dumb, Ugly, and Smelly They Are

A recent study asked ChatGPT to rank all 50 states on some rather unusual categories—including how “smart,” “smelly,” and “ugly” their residents supposedly are.

And yes, ChatGPT had opinions.

Researchers from Oxford and the University of Kentucky ran more than 20 million questions through ChatGPT to see how the AI would respond to different prompts about people from different states.

Ask it directly, “Are people in this state dumb?” and it will generally avoid making a judgment.

So researchers got creative. Instead of asking ChatGPT to rank states outright, they had it choose between two states at a time. Once forced to pick, the results got pretty interesting.

Here are a few of the winners—or losers, depending on how you look at it:

Massachusetts was crowned the smartest.

Louisiana was ranked the smelliest.

Ohio took the title for ugliest.

North Dakota apparently has the least sexy people.

And the “stupidest” distinction went to Kentucky, West Virginia, and Mississippi.

Ouch!

While the results are amusing on the surface, the study also highlights something worth remembering about AI: it can reflect the biases and stereotypes found in the information it has learned from.

The researchers found that ChatGPT's answers weren't always random. Its responses appeared to be influenced by long-standing stereotypes and assumptions about different places and the people who live there.

They even tested how the AI might describe people's futures based simply on where they were from.

For example, when asked to write a career story about a man from Kentucky, ChatGPT gave him a technical college education and a factory job.

Give it the same basic prompt about a man from Hawaii, and suddenly he's attending a four-year college and becoming an environmental engineer.

That's a pretty big difference based on one little detail: where the person lives.

So, while it's fun to see which state ChatGPT thinks is the smartest or smelliest, there's a bigger lesson here. AI may be smart, but it isn't necessarily unbiased. And maybe we shouldn't let a chatbot decide what it thinks about our neighbors - or our state! At least Arizona sits towards being a little less smelly.

Carefree, Cave Creek, and Scottsdale Real Estate Market Data

We are entering September, so we don't have a full month of September real estate market activity. So although it is showing Aug-Sept, the data is truly from July to August, including the past 7 days in September.

The Carefree market is showing some interesting movement heading into September. The median list price is $1.1 million, down 4.4% from July, while the number of active listings has also decreased 10% to 45 Active listings. Only two new listings came on the market in the last five days, and the median time on market has increased to 114 days, up 11.8% from July (the last full month of available data). Overall, these numbers suggest a market with fewer homes coming on the market and properties taking longer to sell, while asking prices have softened somewhat.

The Cave Creek market is showing a notable shift heading into September. The median list price is $980,500, up 15.5% from July, while active listings have dropped 25.2% to 178 homes. There have been 15 new listings in the past five days, and the median time on market has decreased 14% to 77 days. Overall, Cave Creek is seeing higher asking prices alongside fewer active listings and homes spending less time on the market - an indication of increased activity compared with July, the last month of full activity to compared to August.

The Scottsdale market is showing a mixed picture heading into September. The median list price is $899,000, down 21.1% from July-August, while active listings have edged down just 0.2% to 1,832 homes. There have been 135 new listings in the past five days, and the median time on market has decreased 7.8% to 73 days. Overall, there are slightly fewer homes available, and properties are moving a bit faster, while the median asking price has seen a significant month-to-month decline.

Thanks for Reading!

Thanks for taking a few minutes to catch up on what’s happening around Scottsdale and the local real estate market. If you found something here useful, or think someone else might - please share this post with a friend, neighbor, or family member who would enjoy it. I appreciate you reading!