You've likely heard the term before, but do you know all that goes into an appraisal, and even what it is for? Selling your Greater Phoenix Home? Get a free home value reportBuying a Greater Phoenix Home? Search all homes for sale Let's talk about appraisals. An appraisal is a third party getting the value of a home in the most scientific way possible. The appraiser is neutral, so unlike buyers, they won't have an emotional connection to the home or its value. They use comparable properties in the neighborhood together with the updates in your home to find a value for the home. A willing and able buyer and their purchase contract will be a big part of that. Anyone can order an appraisal on a property they own, but I recommend sellers that I work with not get a pre-appraisal because, as a real estate professional and local market expert, I can give you a value and show you a marketing plan to get your home sale to that value.  Buyers, on the other hand, will be required to do an appraisal by their lender if they are financing their purchase. Cash buyers may want to have an appraisal, but they aren't required. Don't let appraisal issues break a deal at the 11th hour If the appraised value of the home comes in lower than your offer, you might not be able to get your loan, because the bank won't lend more than they think the house is worth. If the home appraised higher than the offer price, the seller can't change their asking price, because you already have a contract. Obviously, there are a lot of things that can happen surrounding an appraisal and a lot of things your agent can do up front to help you avoid issues down the road that can make or break a deal at the 11th hour. That's why it's so important to have a great agent on your side to help you as a buyer or a seller. If you have more questions, or you're thinking about buying or selling a home, give us a call.

We have a quick market update for you today. Home sales are up, but so is inventory and the average days on market. Selling your Greater Phoenix Home? Get a free home value reportBuying a Greater Phoenix Home? Search all homes for sale I just have a quick update for you today on our housing market. The latest stats are in for Phoenix and I wanted to give you an idea of what the market is looking like right now. Here are some of the notable statistics we’ve been monitoring: Average listing prices are up 4.5% over last year.The average sale price is up 7.9% over last year.We have about 3.29 months of inventory, slightly up from last year.The average days on market rose slightly from 71 to 74.Inventory has crept up slightly. New home sites have also been increasing, too. The number of new home sites is still historically low, but the increasing number is encouraging. These numbers are for the Phoenix metro area, so if you would like some stats specifically for your area or neighborhood, we would be happy to send those to you.  If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you.

Both buyers and sellers should be prepared for multiple offer situations when dealing in the Phoenix real estate market. Selling your Greater Phoenix Home? Get a free home value reportBuying a Greater Phoenix Home? Search all homes for sale What should you do if you're in a multiple offer situation in the Phoenix market? As a buyer, you really want to be in the hands of an experienced, humble agent who can build a rapport with the listing agent. If you want your offer to be accepted, your agent matters. Don't work with someone who lets ego get in the way. When it comes to the offer itself, there are a few ways you can make yours stand out. The first is to make a cash offer; sellers will always favor cash offers because they can close faster with less hassle. Purchasing a home as-is will also be attractive to sellers, knowing they won't have to deal with repair requests. These two ways alone could make your offer more attractive than a similar one with a higher price. All cash and as-is offers are very attractive to sellers. As a seller, what are you looking for in a multiple offer situation? You probably want the least hassle and an offer that gives you back time and money. As previously mentioned, cash offers or as-is offers are preferred, as are buyers who can offer a quick close. Hopefully, this gives you an idea of what to do on either side of a multiple offer situation, but don't forget, the way to put yourself in the best position to succeed is by using an experienced real estate professional. If you have questions about this topic or you're thinking about buying or selling a home, don't hesitate to call or email me today.

Selling your Greater Phoenix Home? Get a free home value reportBuying a Greater Phoenix Home? Search all homes for sale Most homes in the Greater Phoenix area have seen appreciation over the past year. Even if you have made no updates to your home, it is probably worth more money. Here is the appreciation break down from area to area: Phoenix - 6.5% appreciation Peoria - 7.5% appreciationScottsdale - 2.6% appreciationGilbert - 6.5% appreciation Tempe - 4.6% appreciation Mesa - 8.4% appreciation All of these percentages are from the Cromford Report by Mike Orr, who is a genius. You can definitely count on these figures. Here are a few more appreciation rates from secondary cities: Cave Creek - 2.9% appreciationSun City - 8% appreciation Fountain Hills - 5.4% appreciation Paradise Valley -  1.2% appreciation "Even if you haven’t made upgrades to your property, it has probably gone up in value." The only area where home values have decreased is Anthem, where home values are down by 3.1%. Otherwise, even if you haven’t made any updates to your home, your home value has probably gone up. If you have any question about your specific home’s value in today’s market, give us a call or send us an email. My team and I would be happy to help you!

Selling your Greater Phoenix Home? Get a free home value reportBuying a Greater Phoenix Home? Search all homes for sale Today, we are having our launch party for Riddle Realty! I’m super excited about our new company. Thank you to our past and current clients for celebrating with us. We are so grateful for your loyalty and your trust. We wouldn’t be here without you. If you haven’t worked with us yet and are looking to buy or sell, give us a shot. We are in the top 1% of over 40,000 Realtors here in this valley and we are extremely proud to have gotten to that spot. We will make you proud by taking care of you. If we miss you this year at this launch party, hopefully we will see you next year as a past client to celebrate a great year in real estate.  Thank you again for your support. We look forward to launching Riddle Realty to be a huge success!

Selling your Greater Phoenix Home? Get a free home value reportBuying a Greater Phoenix Home? Search all homes for sale We had a great time at our recent client appreciation event. Early spring is a great time in Phoenix to catch a baseball game, and that’s just what we did. It was great getting to see all of our family, friends, and past clients and enjoy a spring training game right here in Phoenix. This isn’t just a one-time thing. We host two client appreciation events each year, as well as a Thanksgiving pie giveaway and a Valentine’s Day brownie giveaway. We appreciate our clients so much, this is just a small way that we say thanks. "This is just a small way that we say thanks." We’re all about adding value to the relationships we have with our past clients and their referrals. That’s why we created this video blog, and it’s why we’ve got some great tools right on this site for all of our followers to use.

Selling your Greater Phoenix Home? Get a free home value reportBuying a Greater Phoenix Home? Search all homes for sale We recently took a drone video of a fantastic home in Cave Creek! This desert paradise was built on 1.25 acres and comes with a courtyard and covered patio in both the front and back. The backyard features a sparkling pool, fountains, waterfalls, and an enclosed slide. There’s also an exterior fireplace and spa. To fully showcase this wonderful property, we took a video using a drone. Drones allow us to present a bird’s-eye view to buyers so they can see the full beauty of your property, especially if you are on multiple acres or have an extravagant backyard like this property does. If you have any questions about this property or about our new drone video service, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

Selling your Greater Phoenix Home? Get a free home value reportBuying a Greater Phoenix Home? Search all homes for sale  We have a great guide for our home sellers called Pricing Your Home for Maximum Value: The Definitive Guide. This will help you market your home to the widest audience possible, and it will show you how to utilize your home’s price to help it sell. Please let us know if you’d like a copy! The one thing that will ultimately determine the value of your home is the market. It’s not the upgrades on your home or the landscaping. Absorption rates and supply & demand will be major factors affecting the final sale price of your home. Absorption rates are used to describe the amount of supply and demand. The real definition is the inverse of months of supply. For example, if there are 100 condos listed for sale in a certain area, and 10 condos sold over the last month, the absorption rate is 10/100=10%. An absorption rate of 20% or higher means that homes are selling quickly and the market favors sellers. If inventory is low, which it is in most places, you will get a nice price for your home. However, even when inventory is low and the market is working in your favor, you still need to price your home correctly. If you price your home right at the market value, people will see a good value in it and fight for it. A bidding war will ensue and your price will be raised by the invisible hand of the market. If you price your home too high, buyers will be able to see that you’re asking too much. Home buyers are much savvier than they were 20 years ago, and they will simply not look at your home. When your home gets no activity on the market, it will go stale and it will either sell for a reduced price or it will not sell at all. This is why coming out with the right home price is so important. If you want to learn more, ask us for a copy of this guide. There is a lot more information in there!

Selling your Greater Phoenix Home? Get a free home value reportBuying a Greater Phoenix Home? Search all homes for sale  Today we are going to talk about your property inspection. Whether you are buying or selling, a property inspection is going to be a part of your transaction. Today we are specifically going to talk to buyers about home inspections, and offer them some tips and ideas relating to them. In Arizona, you have 10 days to inspect a home as a buyer once you’ve gone under contract. A lot of things need to happen in this short time frame, but today we are going to focus on the property inspection. Over 16 years in my career, we have always had an inspector to recommend to our buyers. We have had the luxury of watching this person perform many inspections over a long period of time, and you just don’t get that kind of experience as a buyer. It’s true that an inspector is a professional, and they identify problems in the home, but we have realized that another strategy might make a little more sense. Instead of hiring a home inspector to tell you what’s wrong with your home, so you can then find contractors to do the work, why not skip the middle man? What we are saying is, why not just call the roofer, the plumber, the electrician, the HVAC person, and have them come out and inspect the individual systems of your home? With this strategy, you make sure you have all of the major systems in your home checked by a professional in that field, and you might even save some money on the deal. Our inspectors have been great over the years, but we usually find that we have to hire these specialized inspectors anyway. Testing out a strategy like this might not be a bad idea if you are looking to save some money on your home inspection. If you have any questions for us, give us a call or send us an email!

Selling your Greater Phoenix Home? Get a free home value reportBuying a Greater Phoenix Home? Search all homes for sale  What does rent-to-buy actually mean when you’re dealing with a home? Today, we’ll discuss leases purchases, or rent-to-own homes.A tenant will pay above market value for rent every single month. A portion of the rent will go towards the purchase, perhaps a year later. The time frame ranges, but you can expect one to three years. As a seller, you set the price when you initiate this transaction.However, no one knows the market in advance. It’s impossible to know how to price your home when selling it so far in advance. We do know the buyer won’t be paying in cash down the line, so they will need a loan and likewise, an appraisal. What if it doesn’t appraise for the set price later? You might establish a price now, and then, later on, the buyer won’t be able to afford the home. This hurts both parties and makes it difficult to plan.A seller doesn’t want to pay double mortgages. That’s why they want tenants to occupy their home now. Of course, then, the buyer can live in the home. It’s important to read the fine print. If a buyer can’t purchase the home, after all, they are out the extra money. They overpaid for a rental property, and they can’t get that money back. I’d even argue this happens 95% of the time: most buyers are unable to close after the time is up. Although the buyer has to list again, they profited off this tenant. As a solution, ask to lease with an option to purchase. When negotiating with sellers, buyers should ask for the option to buy the home after the lease is up. Personally, I wouldn’t pursue lease purchases without this component!If you’re thinking about leasing, renting, buying, or selling in Scottsdale, reach out to me today! I’d be happy to sit down and discuss your real estate needs with you.