If you are reading this post, I don't need to bring you up to speed on the power of online media. You went to your search bar, whether Google, MSN, Yahoo, etc, and typed in a few keywords (Selling A Home In Scottsdale AZ, perhaps?) and here you are. You likewise understand that today's home buyers perform thousands of similar searches every day with slightly different keywords (Homes in Scottsdale AZ, for example). Gone are the days of waiting for the Sunday paper to clip the classified ads and open house listings to find a home. Gone are the days of waiting for much of anything, as a matter of fact. The internet provides 24/7 exposure for your home on the medium where the overwhelming majority of big game house hunters begin their quest. That's where we come in.
I'll take ... that one!
With a reach that spans continents as well as states, the Real Estate blog that you are riveted to at present is viewed by buyers from around the world. I'd have to check my visitor stats, but I believe the only locale from which we have not received an inquiry from a prospective home buyer is the planet of Zoltar, which lies within the fourth dimension of Saturn's largest moon (Titan, for all of you keeping score at home on earth). Zoltarians are notorious tire kickers anyway.
If there are buyers here, we'll find them!
So how do you harness this power for good (read: to sell your home)? The answer is so rudimentary that you are already rolling your eyes at the condescending simplicity of the pitch.
List your Scottsdale, Phoenix or Paradise Valley home for sale with Ray & Paul Slaybaugh!
In addition to prominently displaying your property in front of an armada of prospective buyers, this Little Blog That Could ™ includes a subscription base of hundreds of Realtors from around the country and Canada. That's what you call synergy, folks. Every contact leads to an additional pool of previously unreachable buyers. The more buyers that are exposed to our propaganda, the greater the likelihood of not only attracting a suitor for your home, but in maximizing the ultimate sales price.
Yes, your home will still be exposed to the market by traditional methods. Flyers, virtual tours, broker tours, enough digital pictures to choke a small animal with mega-pixels and the invaluable face to face networking that makes an experienced agent a prerequisite to the home selling adventure. Your home will also appear on all of those formerly cutting edge sites that aren't so cutting edge anymore (Realtor.com, etc).
When it comes to selling your home, the bottom line is not just what your agent does, but how he/she does it. So scroll through my blog archives, see how we market our properties via the Web 2.0 medium and learn a little about us in the process. Consumers have more information at their disposal than at any other point in the history of man. They are an insatiable collective beast. Hungry to buy, you nonetheless can't feed them until they have seen the menu. Your home may represent the juicy filet mignon to your neighbor's greasy hamburger, but if your waiter never tells them about the specials ...
So call us today to see your Scottsdale home up in these virtual lights!
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Ray & Paul Slaybaugh
Realty Executives
(480) 220-2337
paul@rayandpaul.com
Selling Scottsdale Since 1974
It is an inevitable starting point for many buyers right now. Before I can finish saying hello, I am bombarded with requests to see bank-owned and short sale housing. Frankly, were we to change places, I would most likely do the very same. I am aware enough of the opportunities this market has created in the foreclosure arena to dedicate a more or less weekly post to bank-owned property spotlights, after all.
However, there are values everywhere right now. Resale homes have been dragged inexorably closer to the shallow end of the pool by the bank properties, and builders have been forced to sell off their inventory homes at even deeper discounts than usual. There is no part of the market that isn’t coughing up a bit of water.
Ah, brand new construction at foreclosure pricing … can it be?
In some cases, yes, it can.
Builder spec homes just might provide the alternative to bank-owned property that Phoenix area value hunters seek. A spec home is either one which the builder constructed without a waiting buyer in the wings or one in which the original buyer bailed out on the transaction after construction commenced. These homes make great options for buyers who prefer brand new construction, but don’t want the lengthy wait involved in having their new home built from scratch. A buyer can typically move into a completed spec home within 30 days. Of course, if construction is complete, the new buyer will not be able to make any cosmetic choices in regards to flooring, cabinetry, etc. The big discounts, however, are often very persuasive arguments for that sacrifice.
Eager to dump existing inventory in the best of times, builders are even more anxious to get their specs off the books in this market. As evidenced by the near standstill in new permits being pulled by builders for new projects, it is cut and run time for many. I am seeing completed spec homes with significant levels of upgrading being advertised for sale well below base price. In other words, if you signed a contract to build from scratch, you would pay more for a home with absolutely no upgrades than you would for the completed home with cherry cabinets, slab granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, premium culdesac lot, etc.
Another advantage that a builder can offer a prospective buyer right now is tough to beat in-house financing. Not usually a fan of running my loan through the same guy who is selling me something, any conflict of interest concern tends to melt away when they disclose the cheap rate blocks they have purchased for their customers. In addition to the low sales prices, I have isolated several builders who are paying up to the maximum allowable buyer closing costs. A recent client is getting a fixed rate in the 4’s with an additional buydown for the first two years. At no out of pocket cost. All he has to show up to closing with is a downpayment. Not too shabby. *
You have to be careful, however. As I mentioned in a previous post, there are many struggling builders throughout Maricopa County. While a little financial pinch works in the buyer’s favor, too much can lead to unfinished subdivisions, mechanic’s liens and other fun stuff. You want to do your research (or better yet, work with a knowledgeable Realtor ;) to ensure you are not walking into a doomed project. I recommend national builders with ample working capital and developments that are nearing close-out.
You don’t want to get stuck in a ghost town.
Bear in mind that you may have to venture a bit further from your desired location if brand new construction is your bent. Scottsdale is largely landlocked, with only the valuable land in the North remaining open to development. There is infill construction in central Phoenix, but the majority of new home projects are located in South Phoenix (Baseline corridor), North Phoenix (I-17 corridor) and pushing ever Westward towards LA. For those in the Southeast Valley (Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, Tempe, Queen Creek), there are still plenty of options.
I spent the last week looking at a fair amount of them, as a matter of fact.
I had one of those purported foreclosure buyers who ended up buying a brand new spec home from a quality home builder instead of any of the bank-owned homes in the same price range that needed work, had no available warranty and disclosure information and no special financing incentives.
The moral of the story is not to rule anything out. Look less at the property label (bank-owned, resale, new) and more at the property itself. You just might be surprised at the unexpected bargains that are available to be had across the full color spectrum of the 2009 Real Estate market.
Give me a call if you want to find just the right shade of perfect.
* I always advise speaking with a reputable outside lender to compare programs/costs
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Paul Slaybaugh
Realty Executive
Your Source for Scottsdale AZ Real Estate
(480) 220-2337
Preston Hills is a two phase custom home subdivision of North Scottsdale renowned for its beautiful architecture, large homes and generous lots at a more palatable price point than many neighboring subdivisions of similar caliber. Located along the Shea corridor near 104th St, the neighborhood is convenient to everything that Scottsdale has to offer.
Preston Hills Unit 1
Preston Hills Unit 2
Preston Hills (General)
Both phases of Preston Hills feature natural washes and views of the McDowell Mountains. Within the boundaries of the award-winning Scottsdale Unified School District, the schools include Anasazi Elementary, Mountainside Middle School and Desert Mountain High School. The lack of an active homeowner's association (HOA) has not diminished the luxury home feel of the development in the least. On the contrary, the very lack of a governing body and exorbitant dues has contributed to its accessibility and comparatively affordable pricing structure. While nearby developments price many in need of a large custom home on a sizable lot out of the Scottsdale market entirely, Preston Hills offers all of this with homes currently for sale in the mid to upper $700,00s (as of March 2009).
If you have looked at some of the buzzword communities like Ancala, McDowell Mountain Ranch and DC Ranch, but can't stomach the million dollar price tags for similar quality homes, you might want to give Preston Hills a perusal.
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Paul Slaybaugh with Realty Executives is Your Source for Scottsdale AZ Real Estate
Whether Buying, Selling or just curious about the market
Give me a call at (480) 220-2337
Or email me at paul@rayandpaul.com
Appraisals are typically regarded as the most accurate measure of a home's value, and for good reason. Licensed to perform one task and one task only, appraisers see and evaluate property all day, every day. While some of us more egocentric Realtors feel that we put more time and effort into our own opinions of value, considering we will ultimately bear the responsibility of bringing the home to market and selling it, that bit of vanity is neither here nor there. Appraisers, though many underwriters these days are loathe to admit it, are still considered the ultimate authority on worth outside of a willing buyer and seller.
Appraisers, however, are often hamstrung by their own guidelines in keeping pace with the current market. This can be beneficial, such as when prices were artificially exploding between 2005-2006. We agents lamented the stodgy appraisers who were too rooted in the past (closed sales) to acknowledge the present (upward trending prices) while values were exploding. You couldn't attend an office meeting without a colleague or six bemoaning the bozo appraiser who didn't grasp the current market. If only our industry at large had been so conservative.
Normally the protective ally of the bank and the buyer, I have noticed an interesting shift as of late, however. Appraisers have become a seller's best friend. Before you toss me out on my heretical ear, hear me out.
Appraisers have begun to view the market in two distinct categories. There is the general non-distressed resale home market, and then there is the foreclosure market. When evaluating a property, most seem to have taken to lumping properties into one grouping or the other. Their subsequent findings are based upon the homogeneous pairings: bank-owned properties are comped against other bank-owned properties and standard resale homes are comped against other standard resale homes.
It sounds great in theory, but the problem with this new pattern is two-fold. First, there is the matter of pure sales volume. The action in our current market is more heavily dominated by foreclosure properties than any point in memory. It's undeniable. The mini sales boom that has seen a steady increase in total closed and pending sales in each of the last several months here in the greater Phoenix area is due in large part to the allure of these lower priced options. As such, it is just not feasible to ignore this growing segment of the market when trying to determine the value of a home. The data is often quite scarce when trawling for non-distressed sales upon which to base an evaluation. By and large, the higher priced resale homes just aren't selling with a great enough frequency to provide adequate comparison data.
The other issue is the problematic assumption that a buyer cares. If the home next to your own has been foreclosed upon and is listed at $200,000 less, do you honestly think the buyer will buy yours if all other things are equal? Is a buyer really expected to see anything beyond the price and the condition? The label of "bank-owned" versus "resale" is wholly irrelevant to what a buyer is willing to pay. Shoot, I have seen quite a few remodeled bank-owned or short sale properties that put many dog-eared resale listings to shame. And yet, they are somehow devalued or eliminated from the consideration of value for other homes in the neighborhood simply because of the conjured stigma. Buyers may start their search with one particular market segment in mind (distressed property shoppers looking for a deal, resale shoppers looking for a well maintained home), but they will ultimately look at everything that fits their price and need requirements. Labels be damned.
I sure like it when my appraisal tells me my home is worth more by ignoring completely the last four neighborhood comps, but I know the real score. No buyer will pay me what my current appraisal tells me it's worth. No way. I know better than to be the ostrich who thinks that the homes that are actually selling right now have no impact on my property value because they are "distressed." Guess what, buckaroo, those sales are distressing the entire market. There may be microcosms within the market at large, but they are amoebic. The uneven boundaries protruding against each other as they occupy overlapping space.
So while there is still plenty of benefit in having your home evaluated by a neutral authority, just remember not to spend all of that anticipated equity before your buyer signs on the dotted line. You just might be unpleasantly surprised when he doesn't downgrade the competition or recent sales comps like your appraiser did.
Shh! Can you hear that?
It's the sound of hollow vault doors being slammed shut and masking tape being drawn to piece together shattered family piggy banks. Smashing the pink porcelain piglet in cases of emergency is the easy part. It's putting the starved omnivorous swine back together that requires the patience of Job.
While America has gone for her hammer, we Realtors have been peddling a seemingly contrary message.
Buy. Now.
While it is difficult to fathom spending money at a time when most are diving under the sofa cushions to retrieve every last nickel and Chuck E Cheese coin alike, we are all familiar with the free market tenet that the best time to buy is when everybody else is selling. Or trying to sell, I should say. The worst of times allow for the best of swindles purchases. The majority of the general public recognizes this, laments the scarcity of available funds to capitalize on the current opportunities, and grudgingly returns to the painstaking task of trying to figure out which of the three credit cards to make a payment on this month.
These prices are crazy! If I had any extra money laying around, I'd buy five!
Of course, it goes without saying that values are so low because of the very truth that so few are in a position to buy. As soon as demand catches back up with supply, and more folks are in better places financially, the opportunity for the best values will be gone. This isn't a sales pitch. This isn't even a sales post. It's just the way it is.
Nope, rather I am simply writing to remind you that the same market forces that apply to the current housing market at large apply to your home specifically, even if you are not looking to buy or sell. I am talking about now being an excellent time to renovate.
Blasphemy, I know.
With prices consistently falling for the past year and a half, why on God's green earth would you invest more money into a depreciating asset? Especially when money is not exactly growing on HELOC trees these days?
Because there are a lot of hemorrhaging material suppliers and minimally employed contractors out there, that's why. If you haven't shopped the box stores or general construction supply retailers lately, you might be surprised at some of the prices that can currently buy you a slab of granite or travertine tile.
With starts for new build homes down to a virtual standstill, there is excess material and labor strewn all across the Valley. Don't believe me? Go post a construction job on Craigslist and don't blame me when your inbox explodes. Just like winter is the best time to resurface a pool, a slow growth market is ripe for a home renovation bargain.
Whether you are an investor that has adopted a buy and hold strategy for a slow motion flip, a homeowner who plans to sell in several years when the market is more conducive to your goals, or just someone who is simply sick of mauve carpet and laminate cabinets, this just might be the time to take the plunge.
It will be more difficult to finance the rehab, with lines of credit evaporating and home equities diminishing, but again, that's the rub. That is precisely why there are bargains to be had.
While counting all of the money you are saving as you pick out those cabinets, thanks to the uncanny insight of a certain friendly Scottsdale Real Estate magnate, please bear one thing in mind as a thank you gift:
The magnate likes cherrywood.
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Scottsdale AZ Real Estate: A Slaybaugh family tradition since 1974! We haven't sold every home in the Valley, but we're working on it!
A native of Scottsdale, Arizona, I grew up in the planned community of McCormick Ranch. As a second generation Scottsdale Real Estate agent, I make my living selling the area I love. To this day, I place special emphasis on the McCormick Ranch Real Estate market in particular. After receiving a degree in criminal justice from Texas Christian University, I joined my father, Ray, in the industry in 1999. My company, Realty Executives, has been the top producing broker of residential Real Estate in Arizona since 1972 in every category that matters: total sales volume, total transactions, transactions per agent, luxury home sales ... you name it! Within the company, my wonderful clients have helped me achieve the prestigious 100% Club Award for production in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. It is not about the numbers, however. I tackle each new client and transaction like they are the only ones I have. I have unique local knowledge and drive. I did not come to the profession late in life as a career change or form of semi-retirement. This is the only profession I have known, and my clients get a great mix of experience and vigor. As a relatively young man with a burgeoning family, I am still growing my business. You can expect to get my very best as I envision selling my clients several properties over their lifetimes, and referring their friends and relatives as well.
In the rare times that I am not working, I am doting over my sons, Jack and Wyatt, with my wife, Brandi. When I had a personal life, I was a collegiate soccer player, music lover, aspiring/dabbling writer, and martial arts enthusiast. I change diapers now.
Please visit my site for more information about our services or to search for homes in Scottsdale AZ!
Specializing in all facets of Paradise Valley, Phoenix and Scottsdale AZ Real Estate.
Don't just take my mother's word for it, here's what Arizona home buyers and sellers have to say about me!
"Paul came recommended to me from a co-worker of mine. She swore he was the most patient realtor she had ever worked with. When I was looking to buy a home in North Phoenix/North Scottsdale area, Paul was all that and more. We must have seen 40 houses. What I appreciated more than his patience was that he truly wanted to find us a house we loved, not just make a quick sale. He had our best interest at heart. I am happy to say that he found me and my wife a home we love!" -Corey Loucy
"Yes- you were great! Greg and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend you to friends that were buying or selling. One of the things that impressed us about you is that you werent trying to push your own agenda in terms of places or prices. You had done your research and were very knowledgable about every place you took us. We were in a time crunch to find a place and you were very flexible and accommodating. You took care of a lot of the "details" and made it less hectic on us throughout the whole process. And, darn it, you're just such a nice, likeable guy!" -Greg and Amy Brill
"In April 2006 we spontaneously bought a new home prior to selling our existing house. The real estate market in general had slowed considerably and we had a few sleepless nights wondering if we would be able to sell our existing house prior to the close of escrow on our new house. We had talked with Ray & Paul previously about selling our house, but we were never quite ready. So, when we called Ray and told him what we had done he immediately prepared a market analysis to determine a market value range for our house. Ray and Paul both counseled us on what was going on in the market and gave us some suggestions regarding how to price our home given our needs. Ray and Paul understood our position and helped us arrive at an asking price that would be attractive to buyers and yet fair and acceptable to us. We received two offers. Paul negotiated the offer we eventually accepted, which was at our asking price. ... We can say that our experience with Paul and Ray's real estate services and results far exceeded our expectations and we appreciate them for their real estate knowledge and being there through the whole transaction. We would highly recommend their services to others. They would be the first people we would call if we needed to buy or sell real estate in Arizona." -Dave & Barbara
I just wanted to take a moment to send my sincere thanks to you for the job you did selling my home. I was extremely impressed by your work ethic and professionalism through the entire process. The AZ market is a tough one to price right and the hard work you put into sales research, finding the right comps, and analyzing market curve placed it right where it needed to be to get the home sold quickly and get the margin I was looking for. I was also impressed at how quickly the deal was put together even though I was out of town and signing documents via fax and email! So thank you so much for everything. I intend to do all of my future AZ real estate business through you! -Jason de Queljoe
"Ray and Paul sold two homes for us and we would enthusiastically recommend them to anyone. They guided us through every step of the process and helped us to achieve top dollar for our properties. They really care about their clients and are a pleasure to work with."
-James S. Collofello
"Jenn and I enthusiastically recommend Paul Slaybaugh to anyone who wishes to purchase or sell a home in Phoenix. We worked with Paul to purchase our new home and sell our condo. Throughout the entire buying/selling process we were very impressed with Paul's knowledge and his responsiveness. He helped us work through the mortgage process and assisted in setting realistic expectations for the home we wanted to purchase. Paul listened patiently to us and learned our likes/dislikes as we visited several properties. In the end, the home we purchased with Paul exceeded our expectations and the condo we sold brought a strong sales price. Even now, a year after the purchase of our home, Paul continues to be a resource whenever we have questions. At no point in working with Paul will you ever feel like you're just another sale. It is no surprise that Paul was recommended to us from a very successful realtor-friend in Southern California who uses Paul exclusively to purchase investment properties in the Phoenix area." -Rob and Jenn
"I met Paul through his sister and he was a fantastic realtor! He was very patient with me as a nervous first-time homebuyer. He took the time to explain things to me and helped make the whole transaction go smoothly. I told him exactly what I was looking for in a home and he found it after only a week! I have been living in my dream home for four years now and I couldn't be happier! I would highly recommend Paul to anyone looking for their perfect home!" -Lisa McCandlish
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