Scottsdale Real Estate Blog - Judy Orr

Exploring the Ghostly Remains of el Pedregal: A Journey Through Carefree, Arizona's Abandoned Mall

One of several of the mall entrances from the parking lot

I know I'm not the only one that has sentimental feelings for shopping malls that have changed or no longer exist as I've read about the memories people have had about these places. I come from the southwest suburbs of Chicago and I have many wistful memories of the two more famous malls I hung out at with my friends when we were teens. I'll mention them later since I know a lot of Arizonans are from the Chicago area.

El Pedregal Festival Marketplace, the Dead Mall

The large photo at the top of this page is of some of the boulders you'll pass before getting to the mall. I had read about el Pedregal mall located in Carefree, Arizona, the third highest priced town in all of Arizona, and also…

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5 Responsibilities Every New Homeowner Should Prepare For

This is an uncredited guest post. The process of purchasing your first house is incredibly exciting. For starters, you may now finally exhibit your sense of style in interior design without being constrained by a landlord. Also, you can buy a pet you've always wanted to have along with whatever else you desire. However, owning your Scottsdale house is not all fun. It also entails a lot of responsibility. Unfortunately, many individuals overlook this part, which can end up costing them considerably. To help you avoid that, we compiled a list of responsibilities every new homeowner should prepare for and expect.

#1 Homeowners Insurance

Getting the right insurance should be your top priority as soon as you purchase your new home in Scottsdale.…

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Map Your Way to Your Dream Home: How to Use Online Maps for Efficient Home Searching

When it comes to searching for a new home in Scottsdale (or any other Phoenix city), the Internet has made the process easier and more efficient than ever before. I always get questions like:

1. Where is this located?
2. Is it close to shopping?
3. Are there any restaurants nearby?
4. How close is the school?
5. How close is this to a highway?
6. Is there a mountain view? (We can't always tell from maps, but we can see proximity)
7. Is there a waterway, pond, or other water feature nearby?
8. How close is a golf course?
9. How big is the backyard?
10. Where is the nearest hospital?

And of course, there are many more questions. I sometimes feel bad when I direct people to online maps. But it's so much easier for someone to view a map vs. me…

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Real Estate Market Predictions for the Remainder of 2023

If you are a buyer or seller, or both, of real estate in 2023, you can easily tell that there has been a shift away from the crazy Seller's Market we saw in 2020, 2021, and the beginning of 2022. Prices are easing and homes are remaining on the market longer.

The real estate market in the US saw a rise in mortgage rates last year, which affected both demand and price appreciation. Availability of homes is no longer the main concern, although inventory still remains lower than normal, but affordability is a great factor for many home buyers. The real estate market is expected to finally stabilize due to the increase in mortgage rates. 

What will happen with mortgage rates?

Economists predict that mortgage rates will fluctuate less this year…

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How to Make the Home Buying Process Less Stressful

This is an uncredited guest post. If you are planning to buy a house, you are in for a real rollercoaster of emotions! Home buying can be thrilling, nerve-racking, and exciting all at once. Whether you've done this a couple of times or you are a first-time home buyer, it's a fact that the whole process can be confusing. So if your emotions make you feel overwhelmed, perhaps it's time to take a step back and seek the necessary information to ease your stress. We've created a list to answer your question about how to make the home buying process less stressful. Here are the ways to minimize stress when searching for your dream home.

Tips on how to make the home buying process less stressful

Home buying is one of the most important milestones in…

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Visiting Lake Pleasant Regional Park in Peoria, Arizona

We recently had friends in from Illinois and I couldn't wait to show them our hidden gem, Lake Pleasant Regional Park. Many people don't realize that Arizona has lakes, and some are an hour or less away from the greater Phoenix area. I've taken my friends to Canyon Lake when we visited Tortilla Flat (one of my favorite double-decker boat rides). I've also taken them on a boat tour of Saguaro Lake in Mesa. But this was our first group trip to Lake Pleasant in Peoria.

My husband and I took our first trip a while back since I was studying hiking trails and where to see wildlife. I read about the wild burros at Lake Pleasant so we took a trip when my son was out visiting and we saw a herd down on a dry waterway. We even got kind of close to a family of…

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What is the Difference Between Mortgage Pre-qualification and Pre-approval?

A guest author just wrote an article on benefits of getting pre-approved before purchasing a home getting pre-approved before buying a home. It really isn't just an idea or suggestion, most sellers will not accept an offer without at least a pre-qualification letter. If a seller doesn't understand the importance of this, the listing agent will educate them.

How it used to be done

When I first started selling real estate in 1983 there were no pre-qualification expectations. We would go through an entire loan process, waiting on pins and needles to see if the buyers would get approved for the mortgage. In many cases, they didn't.

In fact, we did our own pre-qualification process. We would just ask the buyers questions about their job history,…

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What Expenses to Expect When Buying a Home in Scottsdale

Buying a home can be an expensive and challenging endeavor that will require a lot of effort and patience from your side. When we talk about buying a property, expenses usually come to your mind first. It is ok to dream of owning a specific home, but it's the expenses that keep you from owning that piece of property. There are the "usual" ones, but some can slip below the radar and cause complications later. This article is dedicated to uncovering what expenses to expect when buying a home in Scottsdale.

Types of expenses when buying a home

Before we discuss specific expenses and what to expect, let's take a minute to analyze the types of costs. Generally speaking, you divide expenses into two groups:

Upfront expenses:

• downpayment
• …

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Living in Cave Creek - a Small Town with Big Town Amenities

Cave Creek has a small-town charm, as well as access to the larger cities of Phoenix and Scottsdale. With over 170 miles of hiking trails, the preserve, and nature trails, this small community is an ideal place for anyone to live. It is only about 30 minutes from Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix depending on traffic.

The population of Cave Creek is just shy of 5,000 and has a high concentration of residents who own their homes. Cave Creek real estate offers many different subdivisions and areas with different home styles and lot sizes, including horse properties.

Living in Cave Creek offers numerous advantages. Here are some of the benefits of small-town living:

1 Town, 1 Zip Code

What's the big deal about that? Unlike it's much larger neighbor…

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The Scottsdale Real Estate Market and the State of Inflation: What You Need to Know

It's no secret that the real estate market has had ups and downs since the Great Recession of 2008. Prices fell precipitously during the crisis after reaching an all-time high in 2006 and have risen at a high pace in the past couple of years. The Federal Reserve has maintained interest rates at historically low levels in the meantime in an effort to promote economic expansion.

What will happen to the Scottsdale real estate market is the issue on everyone's mind right now as the economy keeps growing and inflation begins to increase. To help you better understand what to anticipate in the months and years ahead, we'll look more closely at the housing market and inflation in this article.

What is inflation?

Inflation is when prices for…

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