Phoenix Metro Real Estate and Community News

Are you planning on selling your home in the near future? Studies show that staged homes will sell faster and for a higher price than homes that are vacant or not staged. Many sellers will turn to professional home stagers to prepare the home for sale before listing the home with a realtor. Here are some great tips that will allow you to maximize your selling price:  

The Staging rule of thumb to keep in mind...
You are trying to help potential buyers feel that your home will become their castle. To do this, just remember that appealing to a home buyer’s five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch, will be the key to successful staging.

• Sight – Light, bright homes with neutral colors and a few colorful accents appeal to more buyers. Bold, vivid colors may be more “you”, but remember that you’re trying to provide more of a “blank canvas” that a potential buyer finds attractive now, but can also visualize making their own.
• Sound – Ever heard the expression “the silence was deafening” or “quiet as a tomb?” Well, walking into a totally-silent home can be like that – possibly eerie or oppressive, but rarely welcoming. Leave some soft, light music playing to help provide a tranquil, inviting ambiance.
• Smell – Make sure to avoid any strong aromas. Of course, it makes sense to make sure noxious smells like pet odors, last night’s fish dinner or poker-game cigars are not the first thing to hit a potential buyer as they enter your home – but don’t forget that exotic incense, heavy floral accents and even cleanser smells can be offensive to many. Make sure your home is aired out well, and then provide simple, clean, subtle aromas with the restrained use of potpourri or air fresheners.
• Taste – Could a plate of fresh-baked cookies entice a buyer? Maybe, maybe not – but it would certainly make your home more memorable.
• Touch – Physical comfort is important. Remember that “ahhhh!” feeling you get when you walk into a cool building, getting out of the heat of summer? Any realtor showing your home – and any potential buyer – is going to be much more comfortable in your home if your AC is set appropriately. Be careful not to over-cool (or over-heat!) but do try to make your home feel comfortable to visitors.

Do you need help with staging your home before putting it on the market? We would love to help.  Contact us at www.MyAZHouse.com or 602-753-0177.  

My favorite part of listing and selling any home is negotiating the best possible contract for our client! Preparation is a big part of the negotiation. When showing a home and advertising to multiple buyers, the goal is to have as many buyers as possible interested in our home! Often overlooked, the contract we negotiate with the buyer is a big part of the product. If the terms of the contract are prohibitive, then our sellers see a lower price. However, if the terms of the contract are attractive, our sellers see bigger prices! Here a few terms to avoid if you want to get the best price!

• As-Is Sale Transactions – Many sellers would prefer to not do work before listing and selling their home.  However, many buyers don’t understand the cost of repairs or even understand how to get the repair complete.  Questions that linger in a buyer’s head generally result in lower offers or no offers at all. In most cases, the seller can complete the repair for smaller expense than what a buyer thinks the repair will cost

• Tenants In Place - Only in very rare cases does a tenant want the owner to sell the house. Most tenants would prefer to remain in the home and don’t want to move. In addition, the tenant does not receive any proceeds from the sale, so the tenant has NO motivation to clean up and present the home to get a great sales price. Most buyers want to move in at close of escrow, so having a tenant in place is probably a deal killer for any owner occupant buyers.  

• Longer Escrow Periods – If you have lots of stuff and may not be able to move out of your home in 30 days, you might want to consider that most buyers want a quick move into a new home. Longer escrow periods will be a deal killer for a large number of buyers. There are a variety of different strategies you can consider that will allow you to move in under 30 days. Bringing those quick move-in buyers back to the table will bring more contracts and a higher price.  

• Changing the Buyer’s Financing Structure - Most buyers have consulted a lender prior to writing a purchase contract and have determined a financial structure that will work for their purchase. Part of the structure may include a request for the seller to pay some or all of the buyer’s loan costs. While most sellers don’t like to pay any extra costs, changing the structure of the contract can be a deal killer.  Instead, focus on ways to get the overall net amount of the contract up to an acceptable amount. At the close of escrow most sellers are much more interested in how much money goes into the bank, not the structure of the contract.  

Do you want to learn more about how to manage the home-selling process? Contact us at 602-753-0177 or www.MyAZHouse.com

More and more clients are coming to us to discuss real estate needs in regard to their parents. As we discuss the logistics and strategy of selling the home, one challenge is generally driving the move. Our aging parent is dealing with a new health or memory issue such as Alzheimer’s that needs to be managed. At the same time, most families are not ready to deal with mom or dad’s new set of health issues, as most are still focused on raising their own family. 

With all of life’s current challenges and the new health issues for mom or dad, we find that the home where mom and dad currently live suffers the most. Many times, the home will sell for $25,000 to $75,000 less than it should due to neglect and deferred maintenance. When the home sells, this could be money going into the bank to pay for long term care for mom and dad. 

Jamie Thompson is designated as a Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES). The SRES is a rigorous education focused on developing understanding of needs of the 50 plus demographic. The SRES Council is known to have knowledgeable, passionate members that serve consumers in the 50 and older market.

Jamie and his staff have resources to help mom and dad during this challenging time. We know professionals that help with Medical Home Health Care, providing caregivers, and professionals that help mom and dad find Independent, Assisted Living or Memory Care Communities.  

As a real estate professional, Jamie’s goal is always to help mom and dad protect one of their most valuable assets, their home.  

Do you want to learn more?  Contact us at (602) 753-0177 or www.MyAZHouse.com     

The day is here! You need to sell your home. The next steps are to find a real estate agent familiar with the Phoenix MLS, put your home on the market and negotiate a contract. The number 1 rule in selling your home, is to get your home tons of exposure. The more exposure you get for your home, the more potential buyers and the faster the sale and a higher sales price for your home. Seems simple, right? Well here are a few things to consider when going to market.

Focus Local and Worldwide. Recently, our team got a call from another state about one of our listings. The buyer who happened to have cash for a purchase found one of our listings on the internet. Unable to find a local Phoenix Real Estate agent the buyer called us directly to purchase the home. The buyer said, “Your home is beautiful.” While our seller took credit for the beautiful home, we took great pride in showcasing the home with our elite marketing plan.

Focus on the Internet. The internet has huge potential to market our listings, but also is very risky. While allowing agents to showcase a home’s best features, the internet can also make a home look very bad. Dark pictures, pictures of small rooms, pictures of the commode, and even the lack of any pictures will dissuade buyers to not look at your home. The presentation of a home over the internet should entice a buyer’s interest to see more of the home by scheduling a showing.

Focus on the Phoenix MLS. The Phoenix MLS allows home owners and agents to add lots and lots of features. Important upgrades like granite counters, RV gates, energy efficient upgrades, cul-de-sac lots, vaulted ceilings, etc. are very important to buyers. Many buyers and buyer’s agents will search for these important upgrades on the internet and the MLS database. Every time a buyer searches for features, and finds your home, the buyer is likely to want to see inside your home.    

Don’t Forget Traditional Advertising. With I-phones, tablets, and many other tech devices, it may be easy to forget the traditional advertising. However, traditional advertising is still very successful for attracting buyers. Newsletters, Just Listed Notices, and color flyers are still huge for getting the attention of buyers. While younger buyers under the age of 30 will start their search for a home on the internet, many older buyers will start their search with the newspaper or from items received in the mail. On a daily basis, many Phoenix homes for sale can be found in the local paper.

A great marketing plan includes aspects of all these items and many other ways of getting buyers to see your home.  Remember, the name of the game is exposure, exposure, exposure. Do you have more questions? Do you want to learn more about this or other ways to get the most money from the sale of your Phoenix, Arizona homes?  

We can help! Contact us at (602) 753-0177 or MyAZHouse.com 

This year saw prices rise to unseen levels, but the hyper-seller’s market is slowing down and some sellers are even doing the unthinkable! PRICE-REDUCTIONS! As the real estate market normalizes to a more traditional market, here are a few tips to consider to be sure your home is not overpriced:

• 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 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.  

Do you need to get you home sold? Contact us at www.MyAZHouse.com or 602-753-0177.

A home that shows exceptionally well helps arouse the prospective buyer’s emotional desire to buy quicker and at a higher price. First impressions count! That’s why neat, clean homes get snatched up and others just sit on the market.  Builders of homes in the Phoenix Real Estate market spend 1000’s of dollars to stage a model home properly. They do this for good reason. Buyers will buy the perceived value of the property...the image and feeling that they get from experiencing the property.  

Stand across the street and look at your home from a potential buyer’s viewpoint. Next, go to the corners of your back yard and look at your home with the critical eye of a buyer. Consider the following: 

• The buyer’s strongest first impression of your home is with the front outside entry and door. Make this area fresh and inviting with plants, flowers, and as needed, fresh paint. Make purchases which enhance the appearance of your home—large planters, new entry mats. You can take these items with you to your new home!
• Is there ‘clutter’ in the front or back yard? Debris, leaves, dead branches, old swing sets, broken lawn furniture? Pick up tools and toys from the yard. Put garbage cans in the garage and shut the door. Are there too many cars parked in the front or driveway?
• Is the lawn trimmed, edged, weed-free, and fertilized? Edge between your lawn, drive, and walkways.  Are the flower and shrubbery beds pruned, free of debris, and fresh looking? Do they need fresh mulch or plants? Repair cracks and pull weeks from walkways and the driveway. If you are an absentee seller, make arrangements for lawn care.
• Is the exterior paint fresh? Hose it down to remove dust and cobwebs. Touch up or repaint as needed. The expense of repainting has an excellent return on the dollar.
• Are all outside systems working? Is the sprinkler system functioning properly? Have the cooling and heating units been serviced?

Selling your Phoenix, Arizona home isn’t a single event – it’s a process. And part of that process is getting your home itself prepared to sell. As you prepare to put your home on the market, make sure to pay close attention to how your home is prepared to show – it can make all the difference in the world.

The Thompson Group is well versed in home presentation and can help you get your home ready to sell. In today’s market there are thousands of Phoenix Homes for Sale. If you don’t want to be just another home on the Phoenix MLS, give us a call today and we’ll help you stand out from the crowd. Contact us at MyAZHouse.com or 602-753-0177 to get started!  

The name of the game in real estate is location. Some say, “location, location, location” because it is so important. 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. Many buyers are new to the area and have lots of questions about location of your home. If buyers can 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 can 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, then those can be great avenues for marketing your home. Buyers prefer shorter commutes, so there should be a plan 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 harmful 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 a buyer.

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 www.MyAZHouse.com or 602-753-0177 today!

Our clients have presented us with many unique situations when selling their Arizona Homes. Whether moving out-of-state to take a new job, hoping to buy a bigger home with a pool, needing to be in a new school district, or looking to downsize to a home that is more manageable, our clients all had something very important in common. Each had future plans – plans that depended heavily on how the logistics of the sale were handled and the financial results of the sale. 

Marketing and Selling Homes is Serious Business. 

A well planned and executed sale of a home allows the homeowner to move forward with their next phase of life. However, mistakes may cost thousands of dollars and hours of stress when escrows are canceled. Nothing may be more important in the transaction than the knowledge and experience of the agent giving you advice. So, here are a few good questions for you to ask your agent:

• What do you know about the area? At times, knowledge of the area can be the key to selling a home. Buyers that are new to the area need to know information about schools, movie theaters, shopping and more. An agent who lives in the area can help buyers identify how they will enjoy the area – and many times, the home will sell quicker.
• How do you market my home? Believe it or not, some agents think that ordering a “for sale” sign and putting your home in the multiple listing service (MLS) is how to sell a home. This is only the beginning! Great agents should be able to deliver to you a written marketing plan tailored for the Phoenix Real Estate market along with success stories from using that plan. 
• How much are the costs of selling my home? In order to plan for the future all homeowners with Phoenix homes for sale need to know the amount of money they will have after the sale of the home. Great agents should be able to estimate the cost of real estate commissions, title fees, loan costs, repair costs, and property taxes. 
• When will the buyer’s loan be approved? Without loan approval, the sale of the home cannot close escrow. In tracking a lender's process, a great agent should know how to use the LSU (Loan Status Update) form, what “PTD” conditions are, and what is the time needed for a lender to get loan documents to title after full loan approval. Being able to track the lender's progress is essential for a seller to know whether they will close on time or not.
• What is breach of contract and how do you handle this? In the Arizona purchase contract, the seller is unable to exit the contract while the buyer retains over five exits from the contract. However, if the buyer is in breach of contract, then the seller may exit the contract. Breach of contract occurs when the buyer takes actions that are contrary to the written contract. This is a serious situation that experienced agents should have a plan to handle. 

Do you want to learn more about how to make your home-selling process go smoothly? Contact us at www.MyAZHouse.com or 602-753-0177.

The day is here! You need to sell your home. The next steps are to find a real estate agent familiar with the Phoenix MLS, put your home on the market and negotiate a contract. The number 1 rule in selling your home is to get your home tons of exposure. The more exposure you get for your home, the more potential buyers and the faster the sale and a higher sales price for your home. Seems simple, right? Here are a few things to consider when going to market.

Focus Local and Worldwide. Recently, our team got a call from another state about one of our listings. The buyer who happened to have cash for a purchase found one of our listings on the internet. Unable to find a local Phoenix Real Estate agent the buyer called us directly to purchase the home. The buyer said, “Your home is beautiful.” While our seller took credit for the beautiful home, we took great pride in showcasing the home with our elite marketing plan.

Focus on the Internet. The internet has huge potential to market our listings, but also is very risky. While allowing agents to showcase a home’s best features, the internet can also make a home look very bad. Dark pictures, pictures of small rooms, pictures of the commode, and even the lack of any pictures will dissuade buyers to not look at your home. The presentation of a home over the internet should entice a buyer’s interest to see more of the home by scheduling a showing.

Focus on the Phoenix MLS. The Phoenix MLS allows home owners and agents to add lots and lots of features. Important upgrades like granite counters, RV gates, energy efficient upgrades, cul-de-sac lots, vaulted ceilings, etc are very important to buyers. Many buyers and buyer’s agents will search for these important upgrades on the internet and the MLS database. Every time a buyer searches for features, and finds your home, the buyer is likely to want to see inside your home.    

Don’t Forget Traditional Advertising. With iPhones, tablets, and many other tech devices, it may be easy to forget the traditional advertising. However, traditional advertising is still very successful for attracting buyers. Newsletters, Just Listed Notices, and color flyers are still huge for getting the attention of buyers. While younger buyers under the age of 30 will start their search for a home on the internet, many older buyers will start their search with the newspaper or from items received in the mail. On a daily basis, many Phoenix homes for sale can be found in the local paper.

A great marketing plan includes aspects of all these items and any other ways of getting buyers to see your home.  Remember, the name of the game is exposure, exposure, exposure. Do you have more questions? Do you want to learn more about this or other ways to get the most money from the sale of your Phoenix Arizona Homes? 

We can help!  Contact us at (602) 753-0177 or info@ThompsonGroupAZ.com   

Give us a call at 602-753-0177 to see how we can help you find your dream home!