We’re getting into the holiday spirit here at the Monique Walker Team, and we wanted to take just a moment to wish you a Happy Holidays and send you a special end-of-year message.
We had a great 2015, and we wanted to thank all of the clients that worked with us this year, and all of the clients that were referred to us. We hope to help even more families in 2016!
If you or anybody you know is looking to buy or sell real estate in Phoenix, we would love to hear from you! Don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. Until then, Holly, Shannon, Sarah, and Monique wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Most people think that the real estate market slows down during the holidays, but this isn't true, especially here in Phoenix where we enjoy warm weather year-round.
Contrary to popular belief, the holidays are a good time to sell a home, and I have some good reasons why this is true.
People who look for homes during the Holidays are more serious buyers!
Serious buyers have fewer houses to choose from during the Holidays and less competition means more money for you.
When supply goes down it means there is a greater opportunity to capture motivated buyers AND a better sales price for you.
Houses show better when decorated for the Holidays.
Buyers are more emotional during the Holidays, so they are more likely to pay your price.
Buyers have more time to look for a home during the Holidays than they do during a work week.
Some people must buy before the end of the year for tax reasons.
January is traditionally the month for employees to begin new jobs. Since transfers cannot wait until Spring to buy, you need to be on the market during the Holidays to capture the market.
Even though your house will be on the market, you still have the option to restrict showings during the six or seven days around the Holidays.
You can sell now for more money and we will provide for a delayed closing or extended occupancy until early next year.
By selling now, you may have an opportunity to be a non-contingent buyer during the Spring when there are traditionally more houses on the market which could ultimately drive prices down.This could mean you sell high and buy low.
These are all fabulous reasons to sell your home during the holidays, but I think the most important reason may be that buyers are much more serious during this time of year.This means that you can have a faster home sale and most likely get a better price for your property.
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you're thinking of buying or selling this winter. Now is the time to begin the listing process!
I am on a mission to raise $5,000 this year for the The Guerrant Foundation by November 7, 2015. That is the date of our most important event of the year, the FREE Battle of the Sexes Tennis Festival. 8 women (including myself) and 8 men will be battling it out on the court to see who will prevail, in an ode to the 1973 Battle of the Sexes match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs.
I just wanted to take this time to cordially invite you to the event, which will be held at The Phoenician Resort on November 7th, from 2-4pm. There will be plenty of music, food, raffles, and of course, tennis.
As many of you know, I am on the board of The Guerrant Foundation, a non-profit organization whose main purpose is to provide small business loans for the world's poorest. Ann Guerrant, the company's founder, is a friend of mine and I have seen first-hand how passionate she is about her mission and how careful she is with the money we raise.
The Guerrant Foundation provides small business loans as little as $40 to as much as $400 that change people's lives. This kind of work provides small business owners with a starting point, which they can then build off of and thrive from. Check out a short video about the foundation here.
Today
I'm here with Tom Ross from Nova Home Loans, and we are going to
discuss a massive change in the lending world. It's called TRID, which
stands for Truth in Lending RESPA Integrated Disclosure. TRID is designed to simplify the lending process for the consumer. How will the new TRID law affect you?
Right now when you close a loan, there are three essential pieces of paperwork: the good faith estimate, the truth in lending statement, and a settlement. The problem is that those three pieces don't seem to fit together. It is simply a counter-intuitive process that causes stress and confusion for the buyer.
The new TRID law essentially compiles those three pieces of paperwork together. Instead of the good faith estimate, you will get something called a loan estimate. It will look similar to the good faith estimate, but it will also have information that usually goes on the truth in lending statement. When you go to close, instead of getting a settlement, you will get a form called a closing disclosure. The closing disclosure looks exactly like the loan estimate. This way, your initial documents will look like your final documents, which creates less confusion.
Another change is that our consumers will now have a mandatory three day waiting period before they can sign their final loan documents. The waiting period eliminates rushing around to assemble all the papers you need in order to close the next day, which is phenomenal for our consumers.
Overall, the TRID law will probably add about 15 days to the escrow process, which is currently 30 days. The new 45 day escrow process is really aimed to protect the client, as it allows more time for things like inspections and assembling paperwork.
If you have any questions, you can contact Tom at 602-791-5861, or email him at Tom.Ross@NovahomeLoans.com. As always, if you have any questions about real estate, call us or send us an email. We'd love to hear from you!
Today, I'm here with my buyer specialist, Holly Huntimer. We're going to discussthe many benefits of hiring a buyer's agent.
First of all, by hiring a buyer's agent, you know you're going to get fair representation.In the past, there was just one agent. Now, you have a listing agent to represent the seller's best interests and a buyer's agent will invest all of their time in helping you meet your home buying goals.
What sets the Monique Walker team apart from the rest are our skills and our experience.Holly is a certified negotiation expert. She helps the MIke Ferry organization with a buyer specialist training program. As for experience, our team did over 100 deals last year, and over 80 deals this year, so we certainly know our way around the process.
A good buyer's agent will tell you that it's very important to be committed to the buying process.Get pre-qualified before you even start looking for a home and sit down and do the buyer consultation so we can figure out what you're looking for.Our goal is to save our clients time and money, so we need to know what your goals are.
We give our clients an edge simply by communicating with everybody in the transaction.It's very important to continue communication with the lender and the seller's agent. That way we can make your offer more appealing, becausewe know what the seller needs and can get you the home without necessarily raising the price.
Even if you're buying new construction, you should have a real estate agent to represent your needs.People forget that the builder's agents are essentially salespeople, and they work with the builder's interests at heart.
If you are a buyer and have question for Holly, you can call her at 623-451-8494 or emailHolly@MoniqueSells.com. As always, if you have any questions for me, give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you.
Today we are excited to join azluxurytour.com to talk about one of our latest sold listings in the Arcadia market. Arcadia is expanding. The boundaries now sit from 40th St. all the way to Scottsdale Rd., and from a little north of Camelback all the way to Thomas. There are a ton of great homes here, and the homes were built on citrus grove lands, so there are a lot of mature trees as well.
The Arcadia market has always been a very stable one, even in the downturn. We are very excited to share one of our latest SOLD listings today in the video, and are excited to tell you about all the features it offers.
The listing we are talking about is a unique property that sits on an acreage in Arcadia. When you enter the property, you'll notice it's gated with a lot of yard space and grassy areas. When you walk into the house, there are soaring 12-14 foot ceilings, an 8-person bar area with full granite and a 400-gallon salt water aquarium looking through into the gourmet kitchen with all the works. The master bed and bath are expansive, and include a jetted tub and shower with a large, formal office between the rooms.
If you have any questions about this property or anything else real estate related, give us a call or send us a quick email. We look forward to talking to you soon!
Our team has been able to help 70 clients this year already, and the market is doing great.Unfortunately, we have experienced a couple of contracts that have blown up. This had nothing to do with us or the house, but the lender. When we aren't working with Tom Ross, we have bad experiences.Why is that?
Well, there are a million different ways for a transaction to blow up. What's different about Tom and his team is their experience. Between him and 3 of his associates, they have over 50 years of experience!They are great at asking the right questions to determine if something is serious or not, and they can eliminate 95% of your headaches that come with getting approved for a loan.
Once you remove the lending part from the equation, all you have to worry about is the appraisal and title issues. This is much more comfortable than having to constantly deal with your loan. Tom and his team have such a wealth of knowledge, they simply make the process easier and smoother, which will get you into your new home the fastest.
If you have any questions for us or for Tom or are looking to buy or sell a home here in Phoenix, give us a call or send us an email. We would love to help you out!
Hey everyone, we are here today to give you the latest market update for Phoenix. Right now, we have fewer homes for sale than we have had at any point in the last 2 years. It's tough to get people under contract and when the supply of homes goes down, like it has been lately, demand goes up. In fact, we just listed a home this last week at $450,000 and got 7 offers on it! That's the kind of market we're experiencing right now andif you've even been entertaining the idea of selling your home, now may be the perfect time.
Home prices are steadily rising, as are interest rates. They have actually gone up about .5% in the last month, and there is no sign of them slowing down.We hope they will go down a little in the near future, but can never know for certain.
Either way, it would be a good idea to give Tom a call to make sure you are pre-qualified if you aren't already. A lot of people will pre-qualify based on what they wan their payments to be, anda .5% change in interest rates can be a huge difference.
If you have any questions for us, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We can't wait to hear from you!
Hey everyone, thanks for joining us today. I am here today with my CPA, Michael Nelsen. I asked my clients to send me some questions that I could ask Michael about taxes and real estate, andwe are excited to share some of them with you today.
What are the financial benefits of being a homeowner?
One of the biggest benefits is that you can itemize your tax return. Most people take the standard, fixed deduction, but when you own a home, you have the option for an itemized deduction. The itemized deduction is based on medical expenses, charitable contributions, property taxes, mortgage interest, and mortgage insurance.If your itemized expenses are higher than your standard deduction, you get that deduction.If it's lower, then you just get the standard deduction, and a lot of wasted time. Most people don't take the itemized deduction unless they are paying mortgage insurance.
What are the benefits of purchasing a rental?
With rentals, you get two things. First, someone is paying for your mortgage, at least partly. The second thing, is that all expenses related to the home are deductible.Typically, most rentals produce losses so it's basically tax free money to you and you are reducing your taxes. We should all have as many rental properties as possible.
If you have any questions for Michael, please give him a call at (480) 582-0452 or visit his website in the link above!
If you have any questions for us, just give us a call or send us an email. Talk to you soon!
Teaser: Many people aren't aware, but there are numerous tax related benefits to owning a home. We have invited our CPA, Michael Nelsen, to join us today and talk about these benefits. If you own a home, you can choose an itemized deduction instead of the standard deduction, which translates to more money in your pocket.To hear from Michael about the financial benefits of owning property, watch this short video!
Recently, we appeared on AZluxurytour.com with our friend Tom Ross of Nova Home Loans. You can watch the whole segment in the clip above, but we wanted to give you a quick rundown of what we talked about this week.
If you are thinking of selling your home, it's important to know that there is a danger with having your home on the market for too long. After it's been on the market for 60 days, buyers start to think there is something wrong with it. You get fewer offers, lower offers, and fewer showings. Over the last 10 years, our team has been focused on selling these types of homes that other agents cannot.
In Gilbert, we took over a listing that had been on the market for 5 months, and the seller was discouraged. We gave him a second opinion, with great staging and pricing advice. We ended up listing this home and selling it in just 23 days.
Another property we sold recently was downtown and had been on the market for over 250 days. After going in and making some staging decisions, we were able to sell the property in just two months. Every real estate agent will tell you they are the best choice to sell your home, but few of them can back their claims up with numbers. If you look at our page on Zillow, you will see that our statistics do stand out from the crowd, specifically our list-to-sale ratio. Our ratio is 98%, which is much higher than the market average of 94%. If you have any questions for us, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to speaking with you!
Today we are excited to join azluxurytour.com to talk about one of our latest sold properties in the Arcadia market. Arcadia is expanding. The boundaries now sit from 40th st. all the way to Scottsdale Rd, and from a little north of Camelback all the way to Thomas. There are a ton of great homes here, and the homes were built on citrus grove lands, so there are a lot of mature trees as well.
The Arcadia market has always been a very stable one, even in the downturn. In today's video, we are very excited to share one of our latest SOLD listings and to tell you about all the features it offers.
The listing we are talking about is a unique property that sits on an acreage in Arcadia for $925,000. When you enter the property, you'll notice it's gated with a lot of yard space and grassy areas. When you walk into the house, there are soaring 12-14 foot ceilings, an 8-person bar area with full granite and a 400 gallon salt water aquarium looking through into the gourmet kitchen with all the works. The master bed and bath are expansive, and include a jetted tub and shower with a large, formal office between the rooms.
If you have any questions about finding the home of your dreams like this one, give us a call or send us a quick email. We look forward to talking to you soon!
There are many great Phoenix area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a Market Analysis so
you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may
also call me at (602) 413-8195 for a FREE home buying or selling
consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.
Today we would like to talk about an area in Phoenix that we love. It's centrally located, with countless entertainment options, and is truly a great place to live. We are talking about Arcadia and why we think it's one of the best places to live in Phoenix. Here are 5 reasons why we love this area so much:
Location Arcadia is located just about 10 minutes from Sky Harbor Airport, making it easy for you if you travel a lot for work, or live out of state.
Food There are a ton of great, locally-owned restaurants in this area. We'll just talk to you about a few today. Chelsea's focuses on true Arizona food and is located right above the canal. North is also located above the canal and is known for its delicious, authentic North Italian cuisine. For dessert, we recommend checking out the French bakery, Essence, where you can get some delicious macaroons. Entertainment Arcadia is just 10 minutes away from Oldtown Scottsdale, which has plenty of entertainment options. You're close to Chase Field and the U.S. Airways Center if you want to check out a Diamondbacks or Suns game, and you're also within 10 minutes of two great hiking destinations, Camelback and Squaw mountains. Real Estate The real estate in Arcadia is beautiful and diverse. There is a wide range of homes, from humble single-family abodes to large million-dollar mansions.
If you'd like to take a look at some homes in Arcadia, or if you have any questions, be sure to give us a call or send us an email. We can't wait to hear from you!
There are many great Phoenix area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a Market Analysis so
you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may
also call me at (602) 413-8195 for a FREE home buying or selling
consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.
Hey everyone, today we are joined once again by Tom Ross of Nova Home Loans to talk about predictions, specifically predictions for where interest rates will be headed in 2015.
There is a huge opportunity for buyers in our current market. Interest rates are at 2-year lows and there is a lot of smart money to be saved by purchasing a home in this market. There is also a huge opportunity in our market for refinancing. There
are a lot of people coming back into the market and readjusting their
mortgages to get a better rate. In fact, if you got an FHA loan at any
time in 2014, you need to refinance. It will save you thousands on your
payments.
Tom and Nova Home Loans are great at helping people refinance. They structure their refinancing a little differently, making the first payment cash positive right out of the gate.
If
you have any questions or if you are curious about refinancing, give
Tom a call. He can really help you out and make sure the decisions made
about your home's future are in your best interest.
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