8 Scottsdale Home Buying Strategies

How to Buy a Home: 8 Tips and Tricks from Real Estate Insiders

We are still in a Seller's Market in Scottsdale real estate, and one of the reasons we are is because there is a lack of inventory. Buyers still need to buy, and there aren't the normal amount of Scottsdale homes available. This means there are more buyer eyes on the good places - those homes that are priced correctly for the condition and location. The best properties will normally receive multiple offers and the seller will usually choose the highest offer, although sometimes there could be other factors, such as no home inspection, a quicker or longer closing date, etc. Even in a Buyer's Market, there are some strategies you can use so a seller accepts your offer over others.

1.…

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Don't Get Burned - Hire a Home Inspector

In Arizona, once you have contract acceptance on your new Scottsdale home purchase, you need to start working on setting up a home inspection - you have 10 days to have the home inspection done and to deliver any requests to the seller. I always tell my buyers that this is Round 2 of negotiations.

When a buyer views homes with us, we point out anything we can see, such as peeling paint, ceiling leaks, visible water lines (could be dry) in a basement, rotting wood, old windows, etc. But we are not licensed home inspectors, and we will not be testing appliances, HVAC, electric, etc.

Why do I need to pay for a home inspection?

Purchasing a Scottsdale home (condo, townhouse, etc.), is probably going to be the largest financial investment you'll…

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How to Create Useful Areas at Home During the Coronavirus Outbreak

Many states currently have a Shelter in Place Mandate, asking all of us to stay in our homes and only go out for essential needs, such as food and medical supplies. Some states have ruled that real estate is an essential service, so Scottsdale real estate is still open for business.

This includes listing properties, buyers viewing those properties in person, and some agents are still holding open houses. Closings are occurring but they‘re just being done differently. Most are not happening in a title company. Many are happening in the parking lot with paperwork being passed through windows with only the title rep. The buyers (sellers are signing prior to the closing the same way or using overnight mail. Crazy!

Some states are having…

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Common Garage Door Problems and How to Fix Them

Garage doors allow us convenient access to our garages. Until one day, they don’t.

Issues and malfunctions are expected of mechanical products after years of use – and your garage door is no exception. That thing weighs around 150 pounds; closed and opened multiple times a day or over a thousand times in a year – of course, it’s going to fail at one point (or several).

Most garage door problems, however, are simple issues with simple solutions that you can do on your own.

Here’s a rundown of the most common garage door problems, along with their likely fixes. If, however, none of these solutions correct the problem, contact professional garage door repair services near you.

The garage door opener isn’t working

This is, perhaps, the…

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2020 Real Estate Market Outlook

Despite some recession scares predicted for 2020, we are in a lengthy healthy economy and many experts don't see things slowing down anytime soon. It is believed that the real estate market will continue growing in the coming year.

With that good forecast for 2020, we will see a recession at some point, and you might wonder how this will affect the real estate market when it occurs. In the Great Recession of 2008, prices plummeted, but that hasn't always happened with prior recessions. Most believe that prices dropped so drastically because they were highly inflated to begin with. Income was not keeping up with the housing market and I knew it couldn't get much higher.

In our past 5 recessions, during three of them, home prices actually increased…

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8 Scams to Look Out for this Holiday Season

For most of us, we look forward to the upcoming holidays and celebrating with our family and at our workplaces. In the past, we'd have to worry about pickpockets (we still do), but today's scams can hurt us without being near us physically.

I've written an article about home security, and you need to take your credit and identity protection as seriously, if not more. Scams, identity theft, and stolen charge card numbers spike around the holidays. Following are tips on protecting yourself from 8 different scams:

1. Data Breaches
Using charge cards and doing online shopping during the holidays is great for the different stores and suppliers. As we've seen, hackers and scammers can break into big company sites that we felt we could trust. According…

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DECEMBER 2019 SMART HOME GIFT IDEAS FOR EVERY ROOM IN YOUR SCOTTSDALE HOME

If you're looking for some cool gifts this holiday, you've come to the right place! We have compiled a list of today's popular technology gifts for the home. Get some of these as gifts for others or buy them for your own home.

For Your Entryway

I posted an article this year about home security (the link to the post, with a video, is below this article). Home security systems are becoming commonplace, but not everyone has jumped on the trend. For those that are still on the fence, you might want to get them the gift of security.

Smart Lighting

Did you know that the inventor of Ring video doorbells was turned down on Shark Tank? They are kicking themselves now!

The Ring Smart Light System offers accessories that work in conjunction with…

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Before You Buy a Scottsdale Home You Need to Get Your Credit in Shape

I have to admit that I'm kind of surprised when I begin working with a buyer and they truly don't know their FICO score or much about their credit at all. I've worked with several buyers that assured me they were pre-qualified by a mortgage lender only to find out that they weren't. These buyers just figured they could buy a house. When I had them speak to one of my lenders, they had to clean up their bad credit.

The first thing you need to do before looking at homes is to check on your credit. It's not a good feeling when you fall in love with a house only to find out you can't get a mortgage on it. You put time, effort, and emotions into house hunting and it really hurts when you find out you are not creditworthy to buy after you've found the…

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How to Increase the Resale Value of Your Scottsdale Home

Whether you're putting your Scottsdale home on the market this year or in the next five years, it is a smart decision to start building your home's resale value now. Here are some ways to create a comfortable home while making it easier to put more money into your bank account on closing day.

Small Maintenance and Repairs

We show so many homes that lack basic maintenance. The house might look fine and we usually don't find out how normal maintenance has been deferred until the home inspection. Don't think of maintenance as something you don't need to keep up with, or that it's a waste of time.

Neglecting small maintenance and repairs can cost you around 10% of your home's value. Most appraisers claim that homes showing little to no…

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5 Interior Design Styles From Around the World

This has been a fun post to create. I love home decorating (especially my home in Scottsdale), and I've always loved exotic decor. I suppose my favorite style of the five below would be #1, but #2 is interesting. My least favorite is #4, which many people are aiming for today. That would be followed by #5. And I do like the photo depicting #3, and would love to see more decor in that style. I'm not sure just looking at one photo of a particular style is fully representative of that particular area's decor.

1. Moroccan Style

Many ethnic groups have called Morocco home. Their various influences merged into a dazzling, distinctive style of decor. From Ancient Rome comes the craft of tile-making. Vividly colored ceramic tile mosaics are a Moroccan…

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