The day is here! You need to sell your home. The next steps are to find a real estate agent familiar with your neighborhood, put your home on the market and negotiate a BIG sales price. You might not have seen the latest Arizona purchase contract, filled with 10 pages of legal jargon and multiple addendums. The lack of understanding of the Arizona purchase contract is an easy way to give away thousands of dollars, even though you may sell your home for Big $$$. Here are a few items to watch for that can affect your bottom line: 

• Buyer Loan Costs - Many buyers need help with the purchase cost and like to write offers asking for the seller to pay their loan costs. And if the overall contract sales price is right, paying the buyer loan costs might be well worth while. Generally, the request is made as 3% of sales price. Initially that amount may not seem high. However, when considering a sales price of $200,000, 3% of sales price works out to be $6000 – not a small sum of money. Instead, consider offering a compromise: have the buyer pay only half of the loan costs or a set amount instead of a percentage of sales price.
• HOA Transfer Fees - Did you speak with your home owners association (HOA) before listing your home? The amount your HOA will charge to transfer your home to a new buyer is great information to know. We have seen HOAs charging in the range $500 - $2500 to transfer the property. With HOA transfer fees being a negotiable item, a seller may be able to pass this cost on to a buyer.
• Home Warranty Costs - As a general rule, buyers of most Arizona homes expect sellers to pick up the cost of a home warranty. The home warranty will cover the buyer for one year in case some of the working components in the house break. The home warranty also protects the seller from being pursued by a buyer who feels that an A/C unit, hot water heater, or other expensive item died prematurely. A typical, basic home warranty plan will cover most items and can be obtained for under $450. But watch out, some buyers will ask for plans that can cost twice this amount.
• Appraisal - Did you and your real estate agent have a conversation about what price the property is likely to be valued by an appraiser? Will your home appraise for the sales price on the contract? Sellers may accept contracts for sales prices that have no chance of being supported by appraisal. Mr. Seller, beware! The appraiser may submit an appraisal for thousands less than the contracted sales price. If the seller forgot that the purchase contract is subject to the appraisal, the seller may have packed up the house and secured a new place to live.  When the appraisal comes in below sales price, the seller is generally between the proverbial rock and a hard place. They’re forced to decide: “Do I accept the new sales price and take a financial hit or do I cancel this contract and try to sell the home again?” Keeping in mind, that most sellers are moving for significant life reasons such as job transfer, bigger home or changes in lifestyle, the seller generally must accept the financial hit or give up on the timelines and main reasons for moving. 

In most cases a little upfront planning by home owners will help net more money when the contract arrives. Do you have more questions?  Contact us at (602) 753-0177 or www.MyAZHouse.com    

When preparing a home for sale, often you are dealing with a whole lot of logistics and people. Managing painters, landscapers, handymen, stagers and photographers takes up time and agents often overlook marketing location.  

On a weekly basis, we get a number of questions about the local area around our listings. Many buyers are new to the area and have lots of questions about the location of your home. If buyers are able to get excited about the location of your home, then they will make better offers! 

Great amenities around your home may include award winning schools, shopping centers, specialty stores, movie theatres, restaurants, community parks, community pools, and great freeway access. The more you and your agent are able to present to a buyer, the better.  

Another factor in a location is proximity to great employers. If your home is near big employment centers or big employers are moving into the area, those employers can be great avenues for marketing your home. Buyers prefer shorter commutes, so there should be a plan to market to any job seekers in your area.

There can also be negatives to your location. There may be issues with the local schools, extra commute times to work or proximity to noisy roads. Rather than ignore the negatives, it is important to address and come up with solutions that will work for the buyer. While fixing some location issues is not possible, it is usually possible to find alternate solutions to satisfy and get a buyer excited.

Summing up, one of the most important skills a real estate agent will bring to a seller is the ability to market location. Do you want to learn more? Contact us at MyAZHouse.com or 602-753-0177 today!

COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus) is creating economic shockwaves. These shockwaves are moving through the Phoenix Real Estate Market.  So, if you need to sell now, how do you know if you home is overpriced? Here are a few thoughts:

Comparable Sales for last 90 Days

Is your home priced right according to comparable properties? Comparable homes that have sold recently can give you a great idea of how well your home may appraise and what buyers in your area are willing to pay for a similar property.  However, these sales may not give a good idea of what the market is doing now and may not indicate a price reduction is needed.

Active and Pending Listings

Active listings give you a great idea of other inventory you are competing with to get your home sold, but Active listings are all UNSOLD properties.  If you are looking for successful sellers, check out Pending Listings as these are all sellers that are 2-4 weeks away from being Sold!

Showings

How many showings are you getting each week? If you are getting a lot of showings and an offer a week, then you are close to selling!  Or, has it been a few weeks since you last saw a buyer’s agent in your home? If so, you are probably overpriced and need to discuss a price change. 

Market Changes and Activity

What is the market doing? Are Employers hiring or laying off workers.  Are interest rates higher or lower? What’s new on the local MLS?  Is there a lot of inventory in the area from builders or bank owned properties?  Does your area attract lots of first-time buyers or move-up buyers? All great questions to ask when deciding on how high or low to price your home.

Do you really want the truth? 

Being honest about the situation may be painful one for sellers and real estate agents.  However, getting the pain out of the way, allows for a realistic discussion about what is necessary to get your home sold.  Also, the discussion allows for ways to bring in more buyers, reduce costs, and take advantage of the market. 

Are you ready to get started?  Contact us at Here! or get try our INSTANT home value.

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Curious about local real estate? So are we! Every month we review trends in our real estate market and consider the number of homes on the market in each price tier, the amount of time particular homes have been listed for sale, specific neighborhood trends, the median price and square footage of each home sold and so much more. We’d love to invite you to do the same!

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You can sign up here to receive your own market report, delivered as often as you like! It contains current information on pending, active and just sold properties so you can see actual homes in your neighborhood. You can review your area on a larger scale, as well, by refining your search to include properties across the city or county. As you notice price and size trends, please contact us for clarification or to have any questions answered.

We can definitely fill you in on details that are not listed on the report and help you determine the best home for you. If you are wondering if now is the time to sell, please try out our INSTANT home value tool. You’ll get an estimate on the value of your property in today’s market. Either way, we hope to hear from you soon as you get to know our neighborhoods and local real estate market better.