Paul Slaybaugh, Scottsdale AZ Real Estate

Put that down! That's nacho cheese!

Well, in this case, I suppose it is yours. In this economy, who isn't interested in holding on to as much of their cheese as possible? As such, many Scottsdale home shoppers are passing on the pricier properties and heading straight to the bank-owned aisle. With values such as the ones I encounter on a regular basis, who can blame them?

The Scottsdale Foreclosure Value of the Week is located in the prime McDowell Mountain Ranch planned community in North Scottsdale. Originally developed in the early 1990s, this community is nestled at the base of the majestic McDowell Mountains and features some of the finest amenities (including community pools, walking paths, rec center, etc) in the entire Valley. Boasting million dollar plus properties in a few of its exclusive subdivisions (Trovare, Sonoran Estates, etc), point of entry cost into McDowell Mountain Ranch is typically prohibitive to many.

Today's steal is a 5 bedroom Ryland home of approximately 2600 square feet with a pool. On an interior lot which backs to one of the natural arroyos that define McDowell Mountain Ranch living, this bank-owned steal is listed at just under $430,000.

Folks, this property sold for $675,000 in May of 2006. I have not physically viewed this property as it just hit the market, but it appears to be in decent condition and includes upgrades such as stainless steel appliances, granite kitchen counters and pebble-tec pool surface.

For more information on this and other Scottsdale foreclosure bargains, contact me at paul@rayandpaul.com. To search the Scottsdale MLS, visit me at Scottsdale AZ Real Estate.

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Ray and Paul Slaybaugh, Your Guides to Value in Scottsdale AZ Real Estate!

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Rotary Park is a small, public park which straddles the McCormick Ranch and Gainey Ranch border on the north side of Doubletree Ranch Road. With an expansive grass area that is conducive to impromptu touch football games, ultimate Frisbee and gatherings of dogs and their handlers, I distinctly remember the city spending approximately 100k alone on the original restroom facility. There was a modest playground area for the little ones as well. Recently, however, a good park got even better.

With recent upgrading to the playground apparatus, there are now climbing walls, new slides, swings and other fun staples. We had the boys over to visit their grandparents this weekend, and took the quick stroll from their home in the Vista De La Tierra subdivision. Having forgotten that the renovation was on the agenda, we were pleasantly surprised by the transformation. I couldn’t help but flashback two decades to when this beautiful palm tree-lined portion of Doubletree didn’t even exist. Hard to reconcile the Hyatt Regency and upscale Gainey Ranch community with the working cattle ranch that it was in my adolescence.

If you are looking for new options to keep the little ones entertained, you might want to give this old standby another try. For those days that you just don’t feel like battling the crowds at the Railroad Park or the throngs of budding soccer/field hockey stars at Mountain View Park, Rotary Park makes for a nice, relaxing alternative.

Don’t mind the overgrown kid jumping off the swings (not pictured). He’s harmless (except to himself).

Look no further than Ray and Paul Slaybaugh for all of your McCormick Ranch Real Estate needs. When the time comes to buy or sell in Scottdale, we're your guys.

In typical Real Estate marketing, an agent directs efforts towards selling either a product or his/her services. In turn, that is how most professionals gear blogging habits. We post our listings and promote ourselves as buyer and/or seller representatives. One avenue that is lightly explored, however, is the direct marketing of our buyers to sellers.

Given the sheer immensity of active inventory in many markets throughout the country, the art of mating buyer with property is not always as refined as it could be. For example, we have about 50,000 listings currently on the market in the metro Phoenix area. With that raw volume of choice, it is almost incomprehensible that the right property will not be among that throng. As such, common practice would dictate an agent send the prospect the best 10-20 options, show the prospect their favorite 8-12, select the prospect's top three choices, make an offer on the favorite, move down the line if acceptable terms are not met until you strike a deal. Easy.

While great in theory, I find this method works far better for the investor than the user. There are bargains to be had all over the market, but value is only one part of the puzzle for the person who will use the home as a primary residence. Especially true of someone who does not want to do much, if any, fix up, an agent is often left with far fewer viable options than would ever be conceivably possible in such a strong buyer's market. There's just a lot of junk to sift through, quite frankly.

I have several clients who have been looking off and on for that perfect house for well over a year. These aren't folks who demand to see property every week, but ones who will act if and when the perfect confluence of wants/needs appears. There is absolutely no pressure to buy, and they will essentially move when they are forced to by the manifestation of the perfect home.

For such buyers, trawling the MLS for new listings is the first, and unfortunately, only step that many agents will take. The search will become staler and staler until it vanishes into cyberspace altogether, lost in the apathetic binary code of a decreasingly motivated agent.

There is a more proactive route that an agent can take for such hard-to-place buyers. As enterprising agents have mailed or door-knocked communities in years past to drum up candidates for the discriminating buyer, we can use our blogs to canvas the internet. With our postings reaching into inboxes all across the communities we serve, relying solely on the MLS for inventory is antiquated.

Think about it. What is the first thing a homeowner will do when mulling the notion of putting his home on the market? While we agents would prefer they fetch our calendar or business card and call us immediately, the truth of the matter is that they will sit down at the computer to do a little amateur detective work. In doing such research, they will plug in certain defining aspects of their homes.

If I have already posted a buyer need for a client that wants a 4000 square foot home on an acre in the Chaparral School District in Scottsdale, Arizona for up to $1.2 million, a potential seller of such a property very well might find me before I find him.

Google is a beautiful thing.

So while we continue to place our listings all over the internet for buyers to find, we shouldn't lose sight of the power of the internet for drawing out the owners of unique properties as well. I would certainly expect a receptive response from the homeowner who is not too keen on a lengthy and uncertain stint on the open market. A one-shot showing to a qualified buyer would have to sound quite appealing to a seller right about now. No accumulation of days on the market, no long-term commitment ... it could be just the tonic for the thirsty would-be seller who has been leery of putting a home on the market in the current environment.

Buyer Touts: They're not just for office meetings anymore!

So about that 4000+ sq ft home on an acre in Scottsdale or Paradise Valley for up to $1.2 million ... my clients prefer newer construction.

I'll be awaiting your call.

A weekend at the Railroad Park is a tough act to follow. Knowing this, Brandi and I reached into the bag of parental tricks and headed to the Southeast Valley yesterday. Queen Creek, to be precise. We knew we'd have to dig into our jeans for a bit more cash for this week's excursion, but what can you say to plaintive pairs of baby blue and brown eyes? If you are like us, you say, "Wanna go see the animals?"

This was our second trip to Schnepf Farms in as many years. While we enjoyed our initial foray last year, we didn't make it down during the Christmas Festival hours. It was nice to beat the throng and enjoy having the grounds almost entirely to ourselves (cheaper, too), but this year's adventure far exceeded the previous one.

From the moment we pulled into the overflowing parking lot, we knew this was going to be a far different experience. Ponying up $14 a piece for Brandi, Jack and I (children under 2 are free), we were anxious to see what manner of entertainment would be provided to justify the expense. Not fifty yards from the front gate, a traveling performer was wowing the crowd with assorted juggling skills and a talented canine assistant. We stayed and watched until he started lighting stuff on fire to juggle. If you have followed my blog for any length of time, you will understand why I draw the line with juggling and fire when Jack is in attendance. Such a demonstration would assuredly force me to up my homeowner's policy and keep Wyatt in fire retardant clothing at all times.

Next stop was the playground with all manner of slides, trikes, sand toys, train replicas and more. With a perfect vantage point for catching the train which circles the farm's perimeter, we weren't allowed to leave this venue for quite some time. When finally the little dictators allowed themselves to be manhandled to another attraction, we cruised the peacock enclosure before grabbing some barbeque. The food was excellent, if a little pricey, with bench seating in view of a local country/western band.

Time for the petting zoo and the rides.

Piglets, goats, lambs ... what more can a young parent ask for when looking on in horror as your little ones jam their fingers into their mouths and ears after a little wild kingdom interaction? I think Brandi is still washing their hands.

There were ample rides from which to choose, but the boys were limited to a single flight on the "Bee Ride." Climbing aboard the individual "bee" cars, it was the kind of deal where you simply go around in a circle, but with the ability to control your elevation by pulling or pushing a handlebar. Wyatt had a huge smile on his face as I rode with him, and Jack appeared to as well as I snapped a couple of pictures of he and Brandi in the trailing car.

The boys WERE NOT allowed on the flying swings and roller coaster.

As we did last year, we traversed the corn maze, with the boys ignoring all posted rules about staying on the path. Matter of fact, Jack managed to find a few unclaimed ears of corn deep within the bowels of uncharted maize. Lord knows the farm will want all of it for the ethanol subsidies which keep corn planted in just about every open field anymore.

Finally, we weaved our way to the pumpkin patch. This was auspiciously why we had come. While still no substitute for the now defunct Young's Farm just south of Prescott Valley, it is nice to have a passable replacement for a family tradition. Once you pick that perfect pumpkin from a patch, you'll never want to buy one from Albertson's again. The boys made their picks, and we made our way back to the car. Amidst an unseasonable string of 90 degree days, it didn't come a moment too soon for our pink cheeks.

We had a wonderful time, and highly recommend bringing the family down to Schnepf Farms as part of your Autumn ritual. Click here for park hours, directions, events and more.

There is an increasing number of accidental landlords in Scottsdale and Phoenix right now. What many prospective tenants do not realize when shopping for a place to hang their hats for the next year or two is that the new landlord might be on unstable footing. Unable to keep up with mortgage payments and unable to sell, leasing the home is becoming the trendy way to staunch, or at least slow the bleeding for many struggling homeowners.

The tenant will not bat an eye at the proposition of completing the requisite application, credit and background checks as an integral part of the approval process.

Is it time for landlords to be examined under the same microscope?

A renter stands to lose a great deal if the home they are living in falls into foreclosure. Should the landlord stop making the mortgage payment due to inability or lack of motivation, the tenant can be unceremoniously bounced into the street by the bank. Leases do not survive foreclosure. An unscrupulous landlord might simply pocket the rent while waiting for the bank to come for the property that is worth tens, if not hundreds of thousands less than the current note.

As such, it just might behoove tenants to begin investigating the financial situation of the person they trust to maintain the inhabitability of the home. While credit checks and bank statements of the homeowner are not likely forthcoming, foreclosure status and additional financing information regarding the property is generally available through the county treasurer. Public record is not bulletproof, but it should be scrutinized as a part of a tenant’s due diligence.

As the market evolves, so too do the caveats to one’s emptor.

Tenants have been asked to pee in a cup for years. Maybe it’s the landlord’s turn.