Shayne Kilber, Realtor, GRI, AHWD, CNE

The frustration you are feeling right now is nothing strange. Your hopes and plans do not have to end simply because your home did not sell...the first time. My partner, Christine, and I specialize in helping sellers sell, who for whatever reason, were not able to the first or second time around. We have a LIST of homes that had expired that we were able to re-list and sell.

Our plan is simple. We have one! We know exactly what we are going to do in order to get our homes sold. We leave nothing to guess work. Our marketing strategy is laid out, it is proven and it works. You will not be left in the dark as far as what we are going to do to sell your home. You will know exactly what is going to happen.

As far as expireds go, usually we can tell you why your home did not sell in a matter of a few minutes. There is not much guess work here. Things just must be done right and the right things must be done. The reason most homes expire is because the right things were not done.

Frustrated, we understand. We have however, seen many a frustrated seller end up with a smile :)

Need help getting your home sold? Give us a call at 623-853-6644 or visit us on the web at:

http://www.theoasisteam.com/

Shayne & Christine

The frustration you are feeling right now is nothing strange. Your hopes and plans do not have to end simply because your home did not sell...the first time. My partner, Christine, and I specialize in helping sellers sell, who for whatever reason, were not able to the first or second time around. We have a LIST of homes that had expired that we were able to re-list and sell.

Our plan is simple. We have one! We know exactly what we are going to do in order to get our homes sold. We leave nothing to guess work. Our marketing strategy is laid out, it is proven and it works. You will not be left in the dark as far as what we are going to do to sell your home. You will know exactly what is going to happen.

As far as expireds go, usually we can tell you why your home did not sell in a matter of a few minutes. There is not much guess work here. Things just must be done right and the right things must be done. The reason most homes expire is because the right things were not done.

Frustrated, we understand. We have however, seen many a frustrated seller end up with a smile :)

Need help getting your home sold? Give us a call at 623-853-6644 or visit us on the web at:

www.theoasisteam.com

Shayne & Christine

As I sit here once again calling expired listings day after day I genuinely feel sorry for the sellers who did not sell and could have sold had they just done a few simple things different. Most of these suggestions should be done in any market. However, in our current market it is imperative to do the right things the first time. I have literally seen home prices drop $30,000- 100,000 or more in the last two years. I just wish simple suggestions would be taken more serious. Sometimes the simplest thing can end up costing thousands of $$$.

I have come to the conclusion that most people list their home for sale based on emotion and not on the facts. That is hard for me as an analytical person, especially when I have seen the amount of $$$$ lost stack up for some people. As I Realtor I have a concern for all of my clients that they get the most for their home. So when I see people making mistakes whereby they end-up losing money it hurts.

If you are selling, and serious about it, then I hope this list will help you get the most money for your home.

1. Use a Realtor. I know I know, I can do it myself, or I sold one before. OK, sometimes it works but 7 of 10 for sale by owners end up listing with an agent. A Realtor can typically get you 16% more for your home than you can by selling yourself. Remember in a typical market one of ten FSBO'S actually sells. A Realtor, at least a good one, has sold homes before, watches the market daily and can give you expert advice through the home selling process. Not only that, they are trained negotiators. Choose a GOOD Realtor and let them do their job.

2. Price your home to sell. Pricing a home where everyone else is at (Price wise) in this market is not going to sell most homes. Buyers are looking for deals right now. If you are not willing to price your home right the first time, then don't sell. You are only clogging the market with your unsaleable listing. If you are serious, drop your price monthly until it sells. Yes, every month -- remember I said "if you are serious." It hurts seeing people lose $30,000 because they listed at the wrong price when they were trying to save $5-10,000. Price your home right--THE FIRST TIME.

3. Put a lock box on the home and remove the dogs, cats, or whatever is keeping Realtors from having easy access to your home. There are too many homes on the market now and agents want to get in your home as easily as possible. If FIDO needs to be taken out because he eats people, remove FIDO during the selling process. Maybe you have a friend or relative that could animal sit for a few months. Remember you are a SERIOUS seller.

4. Make sure your Realtor will have 6 pictures and a virtual tour of your home on the MLS and Internet sites. 80% of buyers are starting their search for a home on-line. Guess what they want to see --PICTURES, and lots of them and a virtual tour. There are many places to advertise on-line, make sure your Realtor has a LIST of websites where they are going to have your home. If they do not, find a Realtor who does. Our listings are easily on over 100 websites. Your home should be also.

5. Be patient. Remember Rome was not built in a day and we are in a rough market right now. Do the right things and it will happen.

6. There are more, but that is all for now. If you are considering selling and would like a list of what needs to be done in our market to sell. Please give me (Shayne: 623-853-6644) or my partner (Christine: 623-229-9717) a call. Or visit us on the web at: http://www.theoasisteam.com/

Thanks and have a GREAT day!!!

The city of Surprise has decided to raise water rates for the Countryside Homeowners association. They have converted the account from residential to commercial which will result in a huge increase in Countryside HOA fees. This also would mean that the Countryside HOA would owe the city $68,653.00 in back billing. That in turn would mean a raise in the HOA fees for the residents of Countryside along with the possibility of a special assessment from each Countryside Homeowner.

The Countryside HOA has found out that he majority of water companies charge associations a lower or residential rate. The City of Surprise is not backing down. There is a City Council meeting on Thursday October 11th, 2007 at 6:00pm at the Surprise City Hall Council Chambers, 12425 W Bell Rd, Suite D100. If you would like to show your support to the Residents of Countryside.

You may not live in Countryside but your HOA could be next. This is just not a Countryside issue this is a Surprise issue. Might I had the kind of SURPRISE we do not want. If so and if this passes this would not stop the city from doing this to other HOA's. As a concerned citizen in our great city, please show your support to stop this change.

Here are some people to contact:

Mayor: mayor@surpriseaz.com

District 1 john.logabaugh@surpriseaz.com

District 2 Martha.bails@surpriseaz.com

District 3 & Vice Mayor doc.sullivan@surpriseaz.com

District 4 danny.arismendez@surpriseaz.com

District 5 joe.johnson@surpriseaz.com

District 6 gwyn.foro@surpriseaz.com

Hello again,

I hope all is going well. Just wanted to bring everyone up to date on current market conditions in our lovely city of Surprise. Well, we had 133 homes sell last month while 213 expired. Currently we have 2394 Active listings with 153 currently pending. Basically that means 1 in 18 homes sold. Which is the average overall valley wide. If you would like to have personalized market information sent directly to you please visit: www.theoasisteam.com

Hello again,

I just wanted to give an update as to what is happening in the market. Last month 3426 homes sold in the Phoenix area. 138 of those were in Surprise.

There are currently 57,209 homes active in the Phoenix area. 2356 of those are in Surprise. We also have 153 homes that are currently pending in Surprise.

So, what does all of this mean. Nothing if you are not selling. However, if you are selling it means price your home right the first time. Don't get overly excited because a Realtor tells you they can get you $20,000 more than another Realtor told you. They are either lying, have been hibernating (and don't have a clue) or are buying your listing (lying). It is never fun to price a home correct in a declining market, but then again neither is loosing tens of thousands of dollars because someone was not honest with you to begin with. Remember, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.

Of course I am talking about prices. In particular the prices of homes in Surprise. I hate to be Mr. doom and gloom and I hope I am wrong but we may very well see prices back to where they were before our boom.

My family sold our home and we bought another earlier this year. Just a few years back we had refinanced our home for around $154,000, (we paid $119,000 6 1/2 years ago.) Then the boom hit and the price of our home went up as high as $250,000 or so. Prices began to drop and we sold at the right time for us. Just looked at MLS and found our former home pending for $14,000 less then we sold for. Thats a $5,000 a month drop on that particular home. $35,000 away from when we refinanced.

I remember last year working with several of my listings in Surprise and I could hardly find any homes below $200,000 -- Now there are many. We still have 57,000 homes active on the market and more short sales and foreclosures coming on the market daily. It is harder for people to buy then it was even one year ago. What does all this mean? Basically this, expect that the price of your home may get very close to where it was at before the boom. You say, "Shayne your nuts." I hope so, but unfortunately I doubt it. We have too many active listings, builders are giving great incentives etc. etc.

What most people do not realize is that our prices started dropping over 1 1/2 years ago. I sold a home for a client in Peoria late last year, I was their third Realtor. We met together and discussed what they needed to do to get the home sold and the home sold at around $145 a square foot. We talked last week, homes in that area are now going for $100 a square foot. They thanked me for telling them the right price to sell at last year. People who did not listen to their Realtors last year wish now they had. I am not saying this to be mean but remember when your Realtor told you last year to drop $10-15,000 and you didn't. Now your home is going for $30,000 or more below that...you get the picture.

If you need or want to sell this year then the bottom line is, you need to be aggressive on price before your neighbor is. Refusing to price right now only means that when you do decide to price your home right you will have to take a bigger jump. Its not a matter of "If" prices are going to continue to drop, it is a matter of "How Far." If you need to sell you need to be ahead of the market, not with it. If you are with everyone else you are already behind.

Hello again,

My partner Christine and I both live in Surprise; we work the whole West Valley & sometimes out east. However, we wanted to provide some information on the local communities near where we live. We hope this information is helpful. The numbers given are per the MLS and go back three months. If you wish to see another community added please let us know.

Countryside: 33 Active homes 6 Homes Pending 10 Homes Sold

Greenway Parc: 30 Active homes 2 Homes Pending 6 Homes Sold

Mountain Vista Ranch: 79 Active homes 4 Homes Pending 17 Homes Sold

Royal Ranch: 57 Active homes 4 Homes Pending 12 Homes Sold

Litchfield Manor: 77 Active homes 3 Homes Pending 11 Homes Sold

Currently there are 2378 homes listed as active on the MLS. There are 180 homes that are listed as pending and in the past three months 556 homes have sold in the city of Surprise. Valley wide we are sitting over 57,000 homes on the MLS. Last month roughly 4700 homes were sold (per MLS stats) valley wide.

To receive a regular update that will give you the breakdown for your neighborhood please visit:

http://www.theoasisteam.com/FreeMarketReport

Shayne K.