Looking to sell your Home? Get a FREE home value reportLooking to buy a Home? Search all homes for sale Here’s how the latest year-over-year statistics from our Phoenix market compare between March 2017 and March 2018: -The number of new listings dropped from 12,200 to 11,402. -The number of active listings dropped from 22,100 to 20,356. -The number of sold listings rose from 9,357 to 9,612. -The month’s supply of inventory dropped from 2.36 months to 2.12 months. As you can see, sales are up, inventory is down, and there aren’t as many new listings coming onto the market. What’s interesting is interest rates have escalated since last year, but at the same time, home values and sales are both rising as well. This is because buyers want to lock in a rate now before they get even higher. If rates rise too high, these buyers will get priced out of the market and not be able to afford what they really want to purchase.  “ If you’re looking to trade up or buy your first home in our market, now is a great time to do so. ” There’s a scramble among these buyers to buy now, so if you’re looking to trade up, now is a great time to do it. If you’re looking to buy your first home, now’s a great time to lock in a low rate before they increase even further. If you have any questions about our Phoenix market or you’re thinking of buying or selling a home soon, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to help you.  

Looking to sell your Home? Get a FREE home value report Looking to buy a Home? Search all homes for sale What happened in the December 2017 real estate market? What can you expect from our real estate market in 2018?  In 2017, 6,146 homes came on the market in December. In December 2016, 6,579 homes came on the market, leaving us with a 6% decrease in 2017.  In December 2017, there were 20,461 homes available for sale. Compared to the 22,449 homes available for sale in December 2016, that’s a 9.7% decrease in active inventory.  The number of sold homes increased by 0.8% year over year, from 7,128 sales in December 2016 to 7,185 sales in December 2017.  In December of 2016, there were 3.15 months of inventory on the market, which decreased by 10.5% to 2.85 months of inventory in December 2017. What do all of these numbers mean for our market? There were fewer homes coming on the market for sale, and we had a 10% decrease in active inventory. We did have a slight increase in the number of homes sold, but inventory is down, leaving us with a seller’s market. Why? For one thing, interest rates are below 4%. Interest rates have gone up slightly, so buyers realize that as rates go up, their payments will go up. As a result, they want to lock in that low rate now, while it’s still below 4%.  The stock market is booming and the economy is roaring, causing homebuyers to think, “Prices are going to go up, so I’d better lock in the current price now.”  What does all of this mean for the 2018 market here in Phoenix? I anticipate 2018 to be one of the hottest markets on record, and it’s off to a great start. In January, we get about 10,000 new homes on the market. From now until May, there will be 10,000 to 12,000 homes going up for sale each month, so get your home on the market now before your neighbors do. If you have any questions about buying or selling a home in 2018, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I would be happy to help you!

Looking to sell your Home? Get a FREE home value reportLooking to buy a Home? Search all homes for sale Today, I’d like to take a look back at our November 2017 market here in the Greater Phoenix area. We had very little change year over year for the month of November. Last year, we had 8,477 homes come on the market. This year, we had just 20 more homes at 8,497. In terms of active listings, there were 23,191 in November 2016 compared to 21,347 we saw this year. That’s an 8.6% decrease. Sales are up, though, by 4.5%. We had 7,210 homes sell this year versus 6,890 last year. Inventory is down 13.8% in the valley from a 3.37-month supply in 2016 to 2.96 in 2017. Interest rates have also gone up. Despite the fact that buyer demand is still strong, they are definitely paying attention to these rates. Buyers want to lock their rate now before they go any higher. If you or anyone you know are looking to buy or sell, 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.

Looking to sell your Home? Get a FREE home value reportLooking to buy a Home? Search all homes for sale How did our October 2017 market compare to what happened in October 2016? Here are how the latest statistics stack up: The number of homes that came on the market dropped from 10,026 to 9,842, which is a 1.8% decrease. The number of total active listings dropped from 22,962 to 21,410—a 6.8% decrease. The number of total homes sales rose from 7,097 to 7,393, which is a 4.1% increase. Our supply of inventory dropped 11.5% from 3.24 months to 2.9 months. Remember—when you have a six-month supply or greater, you’re in a buyer’s market. Anything below six months generally constitutes a seller’s market. Because there are more homes selling, fewer homes for sale, and fewer coming onto the market, we’re in a seller’s market in most neighborhoods in the greater Phoenix area. If you or anyone you know are interested in buying or selling in this market, don’t hesitate to give me a call. I’d love to speak with you.                                        

Looking to sell your Home? Get a FREE home value reportLooking to buy a Home? Search all homes for sale Want to see more videos? Subscribe to my YouTube Channel! The stock market has been hitting all-time highs lately, which has many people wondering, “Should I put my money into the stock market or into real estate?” I am not a financial advisor, so I can’t give you any financial advice. What I can do is talk with you about real estate investing and how it’s been done in the past. There are a few things to consider when deciding whether to invest in real estate or stocks. For example, when you buy stock, you own a piece of a company. Theoretically speaking, can that company go to zero? Sure it can. It can go on the penny stocks, become delisted, or go down in value. Real estate can go down in value. However, can you buy a piece of property, rent the property, let the tenant pay off the mortgage, and own a free and clear property to provide income for you during retirement? Of course you can. When you invest in real estate, you can make money on the appreciation. Of course, the real estate market can be volatile as well. When deciding whether to invest in real estate or not, it all depends on your long-term motives. Do you want to own a property that pays you an income stream every month for retirement? Are you looking for a fairly stable income stream? Are you looking for an income stream that you can increase year over year to match inflation? If you are still worried, consider it this way. Are rents higher now than they were in the 1970s, 1980s, 2000s, or even 2010? Of course. Rental rates have gone up year over year in most cases. They can tick down sometimes if the real estate market gets really hot, but they have never dipped as low as they were 30 or 40 years ago. Owning a rental property that has been completely paid off can provide great financial security for you during retirement. Again, I am not a financial advisor. I am simply sharing what has worked for myself and my clients who invest in real estate. If you have any questions or are interested in investment properties, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

 Our market continues to trend toward sellers. Here are the latest numbers that prove it. Looking to sell your Home? Get a FREE home value reportLooking to buy a Home? Search all homes for sale It’s time for us to share the latest numbers for the Phoenix real estate market. We took the numbers through July of 2017 and compared them to what we saw in July of 2016 to see how the market has changed. Here’s what we found: New listings are down slightly by 1.5%, going from 9,043 last year to 8,912 this year.Active inventory is down by 10.8%, from 22,510 in July 2016 to 20,301 in July 2017.Sold homes went up by 4.2%, from 7,761 to 8,016.Inventory dropped from 2.9 months in July 2016 to just 2.59 months now. That’s a 13% decrease.We’re still seeing a tightening of inventory and an uptick in home sales, showing that we are in a very strong seller's market with limited availability and strong buyer demand. A lot of that has to do with interest rates. Right now, the 30-year fixed average is around 3.75%. Buyers are buying now to lock in these low rates before they go up. If you have any specific questions for us about the market or real estate in general, give me a call or send me an email. If you found this video helpful, go ahead and pass it onto someone you know. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

In most cases, it doesn’t make sense to wait until prices go down to purchase your first home and rent in the meantime. Here’s why. Looking to sell your Home? Get a FREE home value reportLooking to buy a Home? Search all homes for sale If you’re a first-time homebuyer, does it make more sense to rent now and wait for real estate prices to come down and buy a home at a lower price in the future? There are a couple factors you need to consider. First, how long are you planning on renting the home? Second, how much would you pay monthly for rent? If you’re paying $1,500 a month, that equates to $18,000 a year. If you’re going to wait—say—three years for prices to go down and you’re paying $18,000 a year in the meantime, you’d end up paying $54,000. That’s a lot of money! You’re banking on the hope that the home you intend to buy will decrease $54,000 in the next three years just to break even. In most cases, it doesn’t make sense to wait and rent until prices go down because of all the money you’d throw away on rent. There’s no equity and there aren’t any tax write-offs when it comes to renting properties. “ The sooner you buy, the sooner you’ll be able to pay off your home. ”If you buy now, you start making payments on your home now. When you retire in 20 or 30 years, would it make more sense to have a home that’s paid for or would you rather still be renting? Whatever your age is now, add 30 years to it—is your home going to be paid off by then? Only if you buy a home now. Think about it. If you have any questions or are thinking about buying your first home, don’t hesitate to give me a call. I look forward to hearing from you.

Looking to sell your Home? Get a FREE home value reportLooking to buy a Home? Search all homes for sale Inherited homes often come with a lot of baggage. Outside of the property itself, you are often coming into possession of valuables and other things that were left behind within the home.  These extra belongings can make the task of inheriting a home seem daunting. So when you hire an agent to help you sell the home it is important that you hire one who specializes in probate. I personally partner with many different people including a probate attorney who is capable of handling some if not all of the paperwork associated with this process. Also on my team I have people able to come in and do an estate sale. They will be able to come in and help sell off the inventory on the property for you outside of the things you set aside to keep, and the things that are leftover can then be donated or removed. Our team consists of a number of individuals all qualified to get the home ready to sell. “ No matter what avenue you take, having a probate expert to help you out will be essential. ”However, if you are in a situation where you are ready to be done with the property immediately without going through any of the steps above, we do have cash investors who can come to the table and buy the property within 24 hours. Whatever option you choose should be the one that will remove the most stress from your life. But no matter what avenue you take, having a probate expert to help you out will be essential. Also, you can click here to visit our website to get more information on the process. If you or anyone you know could use our help or if you have any other questions feel free to get in touch by giving us a call or sending an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

The latest statistics from our Phoenix market point to a strong seller’s market. Looking to sell your Home? Get a FREE home value reportLooking to buy a Home? Search all homes for sale The latest Phoenix area market statistics are in for the month of June 2017. Here’s how they stack up against where we were in June 2016: The number of homes that came on the market increased 2% from 9,934 to 10,143.The number of active listings decreased 6.9% from 23,071 to 21,484.The number of sold listings rose 7.1% from 8,959 to 9,596. Our months of inventory decreased 13% from 5.58 months to 2.24 months. As you can see, our market is experiencing a decline in the number of homes for sale, an increase in the number of homes sold, and a decrease in our month’s supply of inventory. These numbers indicate a strong seller’s market. Along with the shortage of inventory and strong demand from buyers, interest rates are still below 4%. With prices going up, many buyers are entering the market with the intent of locking up a low interest rate before prices go any higher. If you’re thinking about buying your first home or making a switch from your current home, give me a call so we can formulate a strategy. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Why should you hire me as your real estate agent? Today I’d like to tell you why. Looking to sell your Home? Get a FREE home value reportLooking to buy a Home? Search all homes for sale I wanted to begin by laying out the three core principles that we live and work by on The Penrose Team. Honesty. I won’t lie to you about the price of your home just to get your business.Integrity. I will follow through on what I promise I’m going to do to get your home sold quickly and for top dollar. Communication. You’ll receive weekly communication from us about everything you need to know to get your home sold.With more than 18 years of experience and having sold more than 1,300 homes in my career, I have a lot of experience that people seek out in order to get their homes sold. We’re consistently ranked as one of the top 25 Realtors in the Valley, and this out of a pool of more than 50,000 agents. There is no substitute for experience. If you want to schedule a time to meet or you’re looking for a listing agent in the Phoenix area, please give me a call. I look forward to working with you.