Phoenix, AZ Real Estate Video Blog with Monique Walker

Avoid the Pitfalls of Internet Home Searches

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 I will talk about the pitfalls of online home searches because you need to know that the information you find on Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com is not always accurate! I can't tell you how many times my clients have called me thinking they had found the perfect home, and then I check the MLS (the accurate search engine for realtors) and have to break the bad news to them.

Another reason to be wary of these websites is that they will sell your information. What I mean by this is that they will track your activity on the website, and when you request to speak to a realtor about a property, you will likely not actually be speaking to the listing agent. It will actually be three or four other realtors that will bombard you with questions about your search activity.

If you're a seller, there is no accuracy in the listing of your home. Each website uses different algorithms to come up with a price for your home, so there is no consistency. These websites also gather their information from the county assessor's office, so if you've had an addition on your home that wasn't recorded by the assessor, then your value will not be accurate on those websites.

These websites do not take into account the changing conditions of the real estate market. March has been a very good month for us here in Phoenix and Scottsdale, but these websites will not aggregate that into their property information. They don't show you whether it's a buyer's market or a seller's market. The information they use is outdated, and usually consists of market data that is at least 3 months old.

If you're a serious buyer looking for your next dream home, call me so I can find it for you. If you're a seller, please call me too because my performance and experience will outsell any promises out there.

Consider me your top real estate resource in the Phoenix and Scottsdale areas.

Introducing my Real Estate Professionals to You & How We Work to Save You Time and Money

Today I am going to step out of the limelight and introduce my team that helps me bring excellent service to you. We all work very hard here, and I thought I'd let my team introduce themselves and how they can help you as a client.

•    Sara Barker, Listing Coordinator: Sara's job involves all aspects of the listing and marketing of a home. She assists in administrative duties and also coordinates agents to show our listings. You can contact her at (602) 730-1983 or email her at LC@MoniqueSells.com

•    Seng Lhotka, Licensed Transaction Coordinator: Seng's job is to move your home from an accepted offer to a close of Escrow (in the smoothest way possible). She also handles many administrative duties which allows me extra time to buy and sell client's homes. Seng also fields lots of questions from clients, so feel free to reach her at (623) 330-2290 or email at Seng@MoniqueSells.com

•    Holly Huntimer, Licensed Realtor, Buyers Agent: Holly researches the market daily in order to find appropriate homes for buyers to save you both time and money. She also hosts open houses and previews properties. She really has become an excellent home-finder for our clients. She can be contacted at (623) 451-8494 or email her at Holly@MoniqueSells.com

•    Tricia Jefferey, Buyers Agent: Tricia assists Holly in finding homes so that you don't waste time or money in the process. Tricia has a good command on the local market, and helps find homes for buyers that will suit them for years to come.

Nova Home Loans can help you after a "strategic default" so you can own a home again!

Have you had a short-sale or a foreclosure in the past 2-3 years? Are you wondering about your financing options?

Your seasoning period will depend on what type of financing you're seeking. For example, veterans seeking VA financing will need to wait 2 years after foreclosure, and 1 year after a short sale. For FHA financing, you’ve got to wait a whole 3 years for a foreclosure or a short sale.

However, Nova Home Loans offers a Home Again Program that can benefit those with a strategic default on their mortgages.

After a strategic default, if you still have a 600 FICO score and can put 25% down, you can buy right away at Nova Home Loans.

If you don’t meet those requirements, don’t fret!

Nova offers an in-house Credit Services Department, where they can instruct you on what needs to be done to boost your credit and buy a home.

Nova will also work with a 700 FICO score so that at a closing, that score will jump to 720. That seemingly little jump will save you almost a $1,000. Sounds great right?

Best of all, this Credit Service offered by Nova Home Loans is completely free of charge.

If any of this information fits your situation, get in touch with us today!

Mobile: (602) 413-8195