Real Estate Information

Veterans Day Blog;

Today not only did I have the pleasure of attending the signing a first time home buyers purchase, but today it was on Veteran's day and this person is a disabled gulf war veteran. I cannot tell you how happy I feel for her and her family, I am honored to have been her Realtor. How fitting it seems to me that she sign for her new home on this day. Happy Veterans Day & God Bless

I found my self telling a colleague today that if Realtor's ran the world we would be in a much better place, and by Realtors I meant of course, me. In real estate sales it is cut and dry you sell and you swim and if not, you sink.

As a practitioner it is my job to assist clients to buy, rent or sell their homes and in this market you have to be on top of your game if you intend to survive.

The sales process can be tough, but it does not have to frantic or hostile unless that is what they are bringing to the table, then you can use it to yours and your client's advantage.

It is November and for those of us who like the Fall..We made it! Ok whats going on with housing? Are bank Mods working? Do any of them go past the "trial period"? I agree with many industry insiders, we need to consider principal reduction as a more vialble solution to fixing upside down houses. In most loan mods, the borrower still winds up losing the house or breaking the agreement because they are still upside down and more importantly, they are and were bad credit risks in the first place.

Ok I know, I seem to Golf quite a bit. If it is any help at all, I spend twice as much time selling homes. FYI I am shooting in the high 80's, early 90's and my closing ratio is even higher.

This last Monday my friends and I played Vistal located at South Mountain. I almost bought a home there before I bought at the Legacy. It was in wondeful condition and wow what views it afforded us. Homes along the Baseline corridor run anywhere from 150K to 1 Million and more.

I love living on the South side, sure it is not the Biltmore or North Scottsdale but you know what, I pay 1/3 of the taxes that they do. Property values sure have taken a hit but we are climbing out one rung at a time. When the wind comes whipping off South Mountain it is quite spectacular and of course the mountain views are just beautiful.

If you have any questions about South Phoenix, the housing market in general or what club you should, use just let me know!

I saw this amazing Tuscan/ Mediteranian styled Home along Camelback Golf Club in Paradise Valley Arizona on Thursday while golfing it with a friend. This beauty was sitting on the #16 fairway of the Indian Bend Course and was at least 12,000 sqft. it could as large as 19K. The exterior coloring is the same color I helped to approve in my home community along with a wide spectrum of other available custom colors that are so abundant in higher end communities. The next picture is of me and Dr. B!

What if the seller can't move out and you now own the house? I am in this very situation right now and is it always fair? No. My client is the seller, the house is closing and the sellers are not able to move due to work and their Movers schedule. The buyer is adamant they move in as soon as it closes and refuse to allow the seller time to move out and has been quite nasty and vocal about it. So what do you do?

Prior to this, I sent over a post possession agreement, which help to protect not only my client but the buyer and both of the agencies against liability. The buyer refused to sign it because his agent said it looked too much like a lease, unfortunately for him his agent may not have explained the consequences for being frustrated and taking no action versus agreeing to the post possession and covering ones self, not to mention our collective butts.

I laughingly told the buyer's agent that since the buyer was intent on stamping their feet and having a tantrum to advise them that they were welcome to camp out in front of the house, build picket signs and protest till the cows come home but it will not change the sellers departure time frame, which was less than 48 hours later.

I was pleased to be invited to Golf the Arizona Biltmore's Links course this past Saturday. I have always loved the tranquility the Biltmore serves up. The course was in great shape and as always the staff was warm and friendly. There are homes that start at 700K and many in the area that top out near 25 million dollars or more. I viewed one up close that was 10.8 million and was just amazing, paved stone gated entry that led into a Tuscan style retreat with a four car garage. I imagined that any one, myself included could make home here. It had hand carved wood columns and floors inside and so many features I could not name them all if I tried. The exterior and much of the interior boasted stone and tile treatments and the walls, floors and ceilings. There was a grand ballroom upstairs next to the study. A luxurious hand tiled pool and patio faces the golfcourse and was the crowned jewel of this new home, I love this mediteranian beauty.

As a long time practitioner, I am more and more disappointed by the presence of weak agents in the industry. This past year the landscape of real estate has changed, now not only do you need to identify the home your client wants but now you have to interview the listing agent. Many do not know what they are doing and are operating under completely unethical and often times incompetent behavior. They are the ones who list homes and offer less than a full commission to the buyers agent. First it was the "discount" agents, or the flat fee listings, now it is the bank REO agents, but more and more frequently short sales and even straight re-sales are offering less and less. How can someone who drops their pants before an offer even comes in be considered a "good" agent or for that matter be encouraged to continue? 

We need to set a standard, if they are willing to dump the payable at the time of the listing it shows me they do not know what they are doing and do not deserve the listing. If they give up money so quickly, how the heck are they to be expected to get a higher sales price for the seller? Do they adequetley represent the clients best interest or get it sold at all for that matter? If you are an agent out there and take less than a full commission listing.. YOU should take the hit on your side of the transaction. You have already sold yourself short because your services are less valuable but keep your hands off the other agents commission. I have very little respect for agents who offer less than 3% after they have taken a less than 6% listing in the first place. In short if you are a weak agent please, do not take listings. Go back to the basics and leave the listings to the experienced agents who know what they are doing, we will welcome you back after you have earned your way back in.

Arizona and the national landscape are in constant states of change. We have the sunshine, the pools, 2.5 automobiles and the little red coolers on our Golf carts with the fancy Golf bags, but we have a common problem, America is living beyond it's means. 

We are creating astronomical debt and beyond that where are we? We need to get a system in place that levels the playing field. Spending our way into oblivion is not going to cut it, we have trillions of dollars out of the country as countries like China and many others buy our securitized debt but what happens when the world bank decides to go in another direction? 

We need to get lean, our government is bloated, it is way too big and is full of career politicians. The government does not fear us, it bleeds us. If we do not get control of our fair lady the landscape of this country will forever be changed and not for the better. Downsize the government, halt the drunken spending they are doing after all they work for us right!? People are losing jobs and faith in themselves. We are now a nation of watchers instead of do'ers, are we too evolving into the next Roman republic? We have all but stopped building and exporting goods and have reverted to an entertainment based country just like what happened to the Romans, all we need are gladitorial arenas erected so our imprisoned brothers and sisters can fight to the death for our amusement on closed circuit TV. Running man movie reference anyone?

I want to see we the people, get control of this country. It is only through our collective will and determination that we will, challenge yourself to act and live within your means, question authority and do not accept less than what our founding fathers have given us.

I heard that Ben Bernacke was nominated to remain in his position at the FED? Well why not he has done a bang up job so far, he may as well just stick around and see the dollar devalued all the way to it's bitter end. The last thing we need is more government intervention and growth. We need smaller, more efficient government that answers to the American people. My grandfather once told me "Shane, Politicians love unarmed peasants" We are evolving into a society of hand outs, many people think they need to be bailed out by Uncle Sam and are unknowingly handing away their Liberty and their Freedoms for a quart of uncooked rice. Stand on your own two feet and demand more from yourself, not from your country.