Scottsdale Real Estate Blog - Videos

6 Tips for Selling Your Scottsdale Home

Below you'll see a quick video showing 6 tips for selling your Scottsdale home (or a home in any area), and I'd like to add, selling it for top dollar.  That was the mantra when we sold our prior home.  I would say to my adult children, keep your bedrooms (and the house) clean so we can get top dollar!  We made a joke about it.  But it's true.

Today's Scottsdale home buyers are extremely picky.  With flip homes as competition in most price ranges, you might be competing with almost "like-new" places.  Many buyers want a home in move-in condition.  They don't want to have to paint or change the old carpet or remove dated wallpaper.  Wallpaper tried making a comeback, but it really isn't working.  Many buyers will accept a smaller floorplan in a clean,…

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The Home Buyer’s Guide to Getting Mortgage Ready

Don’t wait until you’re ready to move to start preparing financially to buy a home in Scottsdale. If you’re like the vast majority of home buyers, you will choose to finance your purchase with a mortgage loan. By preparing in advance, you can avoid the common delays and roadblocks many buyers face when applying for a mortgage.

The requirements to secure a mortgage may seem overwhelming, especially if you’re a first-time buyer. But we’ve outlined three simple steps to get you started on your path to homeownership. Even if you’re a current homeowner, it’s a good idea to prepare in advance so you don’t encounter any surprises along the way.

Lending requirements have become more rigorous in recent years, and changes to your credit history, debt…

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Tips on Buying a New Home

Following is a guest post written by Lance Mohr, a Tampa, Florida REALTOR

Buying a new home is one of the most exciting feelings anyone can dream of. However, it is not as easy as you might think. Having a lot of money is not all that matters. There are other factors to look into when buying a new home. Even the most luxurious property has its own drawbacks because there’s no such thing as a “perfect home”. Nevertheless, through several years of real estate experience, we have come up with various tips to guide you in choosing the home that adequately fits your style, needs and financial resources, may it be brand new or pre-owned.

Come up with a clear description of your ideal home. This way you have a clear understanding before you and…

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How Will Higher Interest Rates Affect the Housing Industry?

Interest rates keep going up on a day to day basis.  As I'm writing this, rates are above 4%.  We haven't seen that figure in a while!  

So before anyone panics, I'd like to go down memory lane to when I purchased my first house.  We were given a 10 year mortgage at 10.5% interest with a 20% down payment (the 3 bedroom, 1 bath single level home on a crawl in in a Chicago suburb called Evergreen Park cost $18,000).  We made it into a cute little dollhouse.  We didn't balk at 10.5% interest - those were the going rates.  But look at that low price!  In only about 3 years we sold it for $47,500 - those were the days.

I remember when the market went wild when rates fell to 8.5%.  It was definitely a seller's market at that time.  It was difficult for…

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Windy City Nights Video

Every once in a while I'll find something fascinating enough to share, and I'm pretty picky about what I put on my blog. Although this blog is about Scottsdale real estate, I grew up and lived most of my life in the southwest Chicago suburbs. My first real job was downtown Chicago and I had to take the Rock Island train to get there.

Once I finally visited my parents many years after they retired to Mesa, Arizona, I fell in love with this beautiful state. I especially loved Scottsdale and my dream was to leave Illinois and move to Scottsdale full-time. And here I am!

I have friends that moved out of Illinois and one of them seems to really miss Illinois, especially the Chicago downtown area. I met her in 7th grade and we grew up in the same…

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Is Scottsdale Real Estate as Hot as D.C.?

The video below is a funny rap video put on by REALTOR® Brian Block, who works in Northern Virginia and Washington D.C. It has always seemed like the D.C. market was hot compared to other areas, even when it was cooling off during the recession. According to Brian, in his area 'houses gettin' sold!"

I network online with a lot of other real estate agents nationwide on different real estate groups. Someone in the group introduced this video that I think is hilarious. 

How Does Scottsdale Real Estate Compare?

In the lower price ranges, Scottsdale real estate is pretty hot. For instance, a search for Scottsdale homes for sale priced under $200,000 brings up two listings, both Contingent (this means there is an accepted offer waiting for…

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