Scottsdale Real Estate Blog - Real Estate

Benefits of a Home Inspection Before Listing Your Property

Typically, the party who would pay to have a property formally inspected is the buyer. This step, however, far exceeds due diligence. Namely, before signing their name on the dotted line, a prospective buyer wants to establish the property’s assets and any potential liabilities. Uncovering any budding issues gives them the power to negotiate who pays for any necessary repairs or, in the worst-case scenario, even to walk away from the deal altogether. But what if you were to beat them to it? In a nutshell, getting a home inspection before listing your property increases your chances of having a smooth and pleasant transaction. But let us dive into it with a little more detail, shall we?

It gives the seller a heads-up

If the report uncovers some…

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Do I Really Need to Work with a Scottsdale Real Estate Agent to Buy or Sell a Home?

I've been a licensed REALTOR since 1983 and I've been in Buyer's Markets, Seller's Markets, and everything in between. 2021 is the wildest Seller's Market I've ever witnessed. I don't remember seeing such low inventory, and it seems to be nationwide, not just in the Scottsdale real estate market. Homes are selling in a day without much, if any, marketing from their agent.

Buyers Definitely Need an Agent

Since most Scottsdale homes for sale are listed in the MLS (Multiple Listing Service), the only other choice for a buyer would be to purchase a For Sale by Owner (FSBO). If you're considering that then you might want to hire a real estate attorney to have some kind of protection. Arizona contracts are lengthy with a lot of paperwork. Would you…

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Get Your Real Estate Purchase Offer Accepted by Using Knock

Are You Tired of Losing Out on Real Estate Offers?

Are you making offers on homes you love but you have to sell or close on your current home first?  This is happening to most buyers all over the nation, and the real estate market in Scottsdale, Cave Creek, North Phoenix, Carefree, Fountain Hills, and Paradise Valley are just as crazy, if not more so.

When we recently sold two of our personal homes, we received 18 offers in 1 1/2 days on one and around 8 in 1 day on the other.  That means with the 18 offers there were at least 17 buyers that did not get the home they wanted.  I know it's even more than that because several agents said their buyers loved our home but they didn't want to be involved in a bidding war.

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New Year, New House?

It's still not too late to make some homeowner's real estate resolutions for 2021.  Inventory and interest rates are at historic lows and prices keep climbing.  But even with higher prices, the low-interest rates still help with your buying power.

Home Buyer Resolutions

Work on getting mortgage-ready - figure out your current home buying power.  Your credit score is a big part of qualifying for a mortgage.  Ask for a free credit report from the annualcreditreport.com website. 

Your credit will need to be at least 740 for most lenders, and the lower the score, the higher your interest rate might be.  This is why you need to do this before you start actively looking at homes.  Many agents won't even take you out to see places unless you've been…

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What do Historically Low Interest Rates Mean for Scottsdale Real Estate?

When I purchased my first house at the age of 22, we didn't bat an eye at the 10.5% interest rate for my first mortgage.  We were also required to put down 20% and it was only a 10-year mortgage (not our choice).  That house also only cost $18,300, and our monthly payment was around $210.00 total (including taxes).

I didn't think I'd ever see rates this low. And I'm talking about 6%, 5%, 4%, and 3%.  So I never expected less than 3%, but that's what happened in July of 2020.

Did you know that in 1971 the average mortgage rate was 7.31%?  I was a few years out from owning my own home, and interest rates were higher when I bought, but in my 37+ years in the real estate business, 7% was a good rate.  In fact, at one point in time, around 2012,…

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5 Reasons Winter is a Great Time to Buy or Sell Scottsdsale Real Estate

There is a common misconception that you should put your house on the market in winter.  But that's not necessarily true.  There are some advantages for both buyers and sellers of Scottdale area real estate to buy and sell in the fall and winter months.

There are people who need to buy and sell throughout the year.  Sometimes, people planned to do it during the summer but for whatever reason, things got pushed back.

I remember when we bought a Scottsdale townhouse, our first property in Arizona, I figured the real estate market would be the opposite of our prior state of IL.  I thought more people would buy a home in Scottsdale during the winter because the weather was usually nicer then.  Our agent, who also hailed from IL, said that wasn't the…

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What You Need to Know About Virtual Home Tours

Although virtual tours have been used for many years for foreign and out-of-state buyers, they have become more popular during the Covid-19 pandemic.  During the pandemic, some buyers want and need to make a home purchase, but they don't want to take the risk of going into multiple strangers' homes.

Many home sellers took their properties off the market because of the pandemic.  This is why Scottsdale real estate, including Cave Creek, Carefree, North Phoenix, and Paradise Valley, plus many areas in the United States, have such low inventory.

Agents have suggested that sellers allow the listing agent to take a virtual tour that can be sent to potential buyers and their agents, or the sellers can just allow the selling agents to go through their…

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The New Normal: A Strong Housing Market Expected to Continue into 2021

2020 has given us a gut punch like no other that most of us have ever experienced. The housing bubble bursting was bad for real estate, but I was able to survive it like I've survived several recessions in my long history as a licensed real estate agent. The strong really do survive!

I received a phone call this past Spring when Covid was getting widespread publicity and government mandates were starting. It was a woman wanting to see a house for sale that was either my listing or something that showed up on my website.

She questioned the price and stated that because of the pandemic and a pending recession, home prices will be going down. I tried to explain to her that the only time (in our lifetime) that prices went down was during the Great…

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Frank Lloyd Wright's Norman Lykes House is on the Market

I was introduced to Frank Lloyd Wright in my teens or early 20's after watching a PBS documentary.  It showed his Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture and the compound.  I was mesmerized by it and was never really attracted to architecture before.

It was decades later that I actually visited Taliesin West and I keep going back.  The funny thing is, I really don't care for the small rooms and his furniture, but I was drawn to his building into and with the earth, trying to blend in as much as possible.  I'm still delighted by the acoustics in his very red Music Pavilion.

Although I was first attracted to Taliesin West, I learned to have an interest in the man himself.  He certainly lived a colorful life.  I was sad to learn that the…

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Avoiding Damages on Moving Day: This Is What You Need To Know

Everyone is nervous about something bad happening on moving day. The majority of the mishaps one might hear and read about are, fortunately, very preventable. Supplies and know-how make the packing process a breeze, and turn moving day from a stressful trial to little more than a usual chore. Adding a few extra items to a pre-move checklist and learning a few tricks of the trade helps anyone prevent damages during their move, no matter how far their items will travel.

Avoiding Damage to Your Items

The packing process for fragile items is mainly uniform. First, the items should be coated with some sort of protection. We recommend wrapping items in bubble wrap or packing paper. The added layer of protection helps absorb any shocks caused in motion…

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