Giving Back to Our Heroes

 

We’re excited to announce our new program that will allow us to give back to the heroes in our community. Learn how it works here.

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I’m here today with my preferred lender, Tom Ross of Bay Equity, and we’ve been talking about how we can give back to our community, particularly to the people who have and still serve us in the community.

I’m so excited because we finally have a program designed to do just that: Giving to Heroes. Who qualifies as a hero? In this context, a hero could be any person who dedicates their lives to serving us in the community—such as a teacher, a nurse, a firefighter, a police officer, an active duty military serviceperson, a veteran, or, slightly controversially, an employee of the government sector.

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We’re so excited to be able to contribute and give back.

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With this program, we’re able to contribute toward these heroes' closing costs as our little way of thanking them for spending their lives serving us. We’re so excited to be able to contribute and give back.

If you have any lending questions for Tom, he can be reached at (602) 791-5861 or at tross@bayeq.comtross@bayeq.com.

If you’re curious about purchasing a property and you’re a hero, please feel free to reach out to us. We would love to serve you back.

How to Respond to Rising Interest Rates

 

What should you do about interest rates knowing that they’re on the rise? Tom Ross from Bay Equity is here to explain.

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I’m here today with my preferred lender, Tom Ross from Bay Equity, to discuss a question about interest rates: “What should you do about interest rates, knowing that they’re on the rise?”

Tom’s short answer is: Lock your rate in now.

People have it in their head that if they just wait long enough, they’ll end up with a lower rate eventually. But rates in the 3% area are long gone; at our highest this year, we’ve brushed 5% and came back down into the high fours. This time next year, the 4% rates will be long gone as well.

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Try not to turn down any showings, if possible.

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Those in the market need to wrap their heads around the fact that this climb in rates we’re going into will be long-term and sustained. We’re in the midst of a sort of trade war with China, and inflation tends to raise interest rates as well. In fact, the Federal Reserve has gone on record to say that they’re going to raise the federal funds rate at least four times between now and the end of next year. Two of those jumps might occur even before the end of this year.

Now the federal funds rate doesn’t directly impact mortgage rates, but as it rises, you tend to see interest rates come up.

If you have any questions for Tom about rising interest rates, you can reach him at Bay Equity by calling (602) 791-5861 or by sending an email to tross@bayeq.com. 

For any questions about real estate in general, we always encourage you to reach out to us here at RE/MAX Excalibur. We’d love to answer your questions.

Safety Tips For Selling a Vacant Home

 

If you’re listing a vacant home, there are certain safety tips you will need to follow.

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When selling a vacant home, following certain safety tips will be essential. Today, we’ll be sharing seven such tips: 

1. Set up a security system.

2. Install motion sensors and timed lighting. 

3. Ask a friend or neighbor to keep a car parked in your driveway. 

4. Have someone routinely pick up your mail.

5. Maintain your landscaping.

6. Keep blinds and curtains closed.

7. Check on the property after storms. 

Following these tips will help keep you and your asset protected during the listing process. 

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

5 Top Home Selling Tips

 

We’ve got plenty of tips for potential home sellers out there. Here are five of them.

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Are you in the process of getting your house ready to put on the market? If so, here are a few tips to help you:

1. Don’t overprice your home. Pricing is everything when marketing your home for sale. Even a well-priced home with a bad marketing plan will sell, but an overpriced home won’t.

2. Failing to make repairs. If the dog chewed something up or there are other minor damages that a buyer would spot immediately, get those fixed before you get the property listed and start taking pictures.

3. Neglecting to declutter your home. If you have a lot of personal items, boxes, or general clutter, that’s one of the first things a buyer will notice. As part of our services, we bring a professional stager out to our buyers’ properties to help declutter and stage the property.

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Try not to turn down any showings, if possible.

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4. Don’t turn down showings. To get your home sold quickly and for top dollar, it should be about when it’s most convenient for an agent to show your property, not the other way around.

5. Getting overly emotional about your home. Think of your home as a property or an asset than as your home. This shift in mindset will help you maximize the sale price.

If you have any questions for me or want to know why my performance outsells all those promises out there, give me a call or send me an email today. I look forward to hearing from you.

How Do Agents Earn Their Commission?

 

If you are wondering how an agent earns their commission, here is a rundown of everything we do for our clients.

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How do we agents earn our commission? There are six important ways: 

1. We identify and solve problems quickly by providing solutions to our clients.

2. We pre-qualify buyers. If I am your listing agent, it is my job to ask buyers the right questions so you can go under contract with one who is fully qualified and can close within the escrow period. 

3. We manage expectations. I need to manage expectations for my clients so they know what the process is like and we can work together to execute it properly.

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My ultimate goal is to get them the most amount of money in the least amount of time.

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4. We have communication skills. We have to communicate with both our clients and the public at large. We get paid to tell the truth, which is difficult sometimes because of market conditions we have no control over. Part of these communication skills also involves forecasting what’s to come in our market in the near future. 

5. We can find buyers for our seller clients. One of my favorite things to do in my job is prospect for buyers.

6. We can effectively and efficiently guide buyers and sellers through the whole home sale process. I have a full-service team working with me, and our whole goal is to prevent clients from waiting on me. Rather, my team should be waiting on them. 

When people hire me, my ultimate goal is to get them the most amount of money in the least amount of time. 

If you would like to know more about how I am able to accomplish this goal or you have any other real estate questions, please feel free to reach out to me. I would love to help you.

3 Questions Your Agent Should Be Able to Answer

 

How can you determine whether your listing agent is the right choice to help you sell your home? Start with these three questions.

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Today we are going to talk about the three most important questions that you should be asking your listing agent:

1. What is my home worth? A good listing agent should be able to tell you what you should list the home for and what it will sell for within a couple of percentage points.

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The agent should have a specific marketing plan that will attract the most possible buyers.

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2. How long will it take to sell my home? They should also be able to show you the average time on market for your area and what their own average is based on past sales.

3. What will you do do get the property sold? There should be a specific marketing plan that will attract the most possible buyers and get your home sold quickly.

I would be happy to go over my answers to these questions with you. If you would like to know them or if you have any other questions about the market, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email today. I would love to hear from you soon.

How Has Our Market Been Doing Recently?

 

It is time to take a look at the latest market conditions. But alongside today’s update, allow me to also share a great, new listing.

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It is time to take a look back at our April real estate market. But before we get into those statistics, I want to tell you about a great new listing. 

Located at 3542 East Hazelwood Street, this 4-bed, 2-bath Phoenix property is one you will certainly want to check out for yourself. To see photos of this 2,000 square-foot, $675,000 home, click here. 

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We are still in a strong seller’s market.

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Now let’s get back to discussing our market. Currently, we are still in a strong seller’s market. As of April, there were 10% fewer homes on the market than in April of 2017. And there were 4% more sales year over year, as well. 

If you have any other questions, would like more information, or are curious about how market conditions will impact your real estate goals, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

What 3 Questions Do You Need to Ask Every Agent?

 

Before hiring a real estate agent, you need to do some vetting. Here are the questions that we recommend you ask.

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Selling or buying a home can be one of the largest transactions of your life. A trusted consultant and Realtor can be an invaluable partner to have. When you interview a Realtor to hire, here are three really good questions to ask them:

1. "How many homes have you sold in the last 12 months?" It’s interesting to find out how long an agent has been in the market, but noting their productivity in the last 12 months is a better indicator of whether or not they are a productive, full-time agent.

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You want to get a sense that this agent is somebody you can trust.

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2. "Can I have the contact info for your last three deals?" This question may be a surprise to the agent, but it could provide you with an honest, authentic answer to help you feel comfortable with them.

3. "What specific strategies are you going to use to get my home sold?” Some agents specialize in buyer sales. Some agents specialize in listing and selling. A specific, proven plan is essential for any buyer or seller.

To get my answers to these questions and more, feel free to reach out and give me a call or send me an email. I would love to hear from you today.

3 Reasons to Sell Your Phoenix Home This Spring

 

This spring is a great time to sell your Phoenix home. Here are three reasons why.

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Spring is my favorite time to sell real estate. If you are looking to sell your home, there are three reasons why we are in a very strong seller’s market right now: 

1. Demand continues to increase while inventory remains low. The number of homes for sale is down 8% year over year. Why? The job outlook is strong, and more millennials are coming into the market. 

2. Home prices are still surging. We have appreciated 6% year over year, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

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Our current market is great for both buyers and sellers.

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3. Interest rates are rising. Right now, interest rates are at 4.5% for a 30-year fixed mortgage. Although that is a three-year high for interest rates, it is still historically low and very affordable for buyers. I don’t know how much longer this favorable situation will last.

If you are looking to sell your home, now is a great time. Demand is high and prices are high, so our current market is very favorable for sellers. 

If you’re interested in finding out what your home is worth, we would be happy to come by and let you know what we can sell it for, how long it’s going to take, and what we’ll do to make that happen. 

If you have any other real estate questions, please don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

NEW LISTING !!! 2203 N 92ND Drive, Phoenix, AZ, 85037 Tour - $225,000

Do You Want to Buy or Sell Outside of Arizona?

 

If you’ve ever thought about buying or selling real estate outside of Arizona, I would be more than happy to connect you with the right Realtor for the job.

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As you will see in the background of today’s video, I’m definitely not in Arizona. Actually, I’m coming to you from San Diego for a real estate conference with 2,000 of the very best Realtors in North America. So if you’re looking to buy or sell property outside of Arizona, call me and let me connect you with the very best Realtor for the job. To see my full message, watch this short video.

The 2018 Market Is Already Full of Opportunities

 

What do you need to know about our 2018 market so far? Let’s find out in our first update of the year.

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Happy New Year! Now that we’ve entered into 2018, it’s time for us to have our first market update of the year. Our current market is great for both buyers and sellers. 

Sellers should know that we have 10% less inventory right now than we did last year. This means less competition for you.

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Our current market is great for both buyers and sellers.

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It’s also a great time to buy because interest rates are still hovering around lows of around 4%. As always, I’m here to help you with whatever your real estate needs may be. 

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.