The Scoop on Real Estate in the Phoenix East Valley

So you’re trying to sell your home.  Have you asked your agent to send you a copy of the listing of your home as it appears on the MLS in your area?  I really wonder if sellers know how their is being marketed.  Based on some of the photos on MLS, I’m thinking ‘NOT’.

Here’s todays winner in the “stupid home marketing photo” category.  Actual photo  from the MLS.

Does this photo say “Buy this house?”  or.. “be sure to wipe and put the lid down”?  I’m glad they flushed.

I recently read a question from a seller on one of the popular real estate internet bulletin boards.  This seller was lamenting the fact that her home had been on the market for almost 6 months with only a few showings.  She was asking how she could find a good Realtor to sell her home. 

When I pulled up her listing on the MLS it was pretty obvious that one of her biggest problems was the horrible picture of her home.  It was dark and uninviting and certainly wasn’t calling out to me to sell it, let alone to a buyer to buy it.  

In today’s market with 56,560 homes on the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service (last count), you had better hope your home leaps off the page and says “BUY ME” as buyers flip through 100’s of homes in every single price range.

Great photos are probably the first thing a buyer notices…pricing is the next.  I will tell you a beautifully photographed overpriced home is likely to have more showings than a poorly photographed “deal”. 

When you’re looking for a Realtor to market your home in today’s market, the first place you should start is the internet.  Who comes up on the first 3 pages when you do a search for “your city name” homes for sale?  Or “your city name” real estate.  Now I’m not talking about those listings that are paid for at the top of the page…anybody can pay to have their name on a page.  What you are looking for is an agent who is high on the search pages naturally due to the content of their website. 

Why is this important? Over 80% of buyers are starting their home searches on the internet and that number is growing everyday.  If you don’t have an agent who is internet saavy, who is going to post your listing all over the web…well, you’re getting left in the dust.  The good ol’ days of open houses and newspaper ads are gone.  The internet is where it’s happenin’!

Now, start clicking on the webpages of the agents at the top of the search engine rankings.  Do you like their marketing style?  Look at their listings.  Do the photos of their listings make you want to see those homes?  If not…move on.

Here’s a few examples of how NOT to sell a house.  This home that was listed but did not sell.  Why?  Could be several reasons, but the first most obvious is the photo used to market the home.  Check this out…

I listed this same house and took the photo below

Which house would you buy? Exact same house just better photography.

Here’s another.  Would you want to run out and buy this house…..?

or this house….?

Exact same house…just better photography.

Now…drum roll please….. 

The Winner of this week’s Ugly Photo contest is………….. 

 
Why would anyone think this would be a good marketing photo? I’m thinking the big box with “no photo available” would have had better success in drawing a buyer.

Stay Tuned…Tomorrow’s Stupid Photo of the Week is another winner!

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For more Information visit Chandler Arizona Real Estate.  This information was provided by Amy Jones, a multi-million dollar top producing Realtor with RE/MAX Elite. Amy specializes in residential, vacation homes & cabins, as well as retirement communities in the communities of Ahwatukee, Chandler, Fountain Hills, Gilbert, Maricopa, Mesa, Paradise Valley, Queen Creek, Scottsdale, Sun Lakes, Tempe and the White Mountainscommunities of Pinetop/Lakes & Show Low.  Search the Arizona MLS.

I was showing property to another couple from Canada over the weekend.  Their target price was a home under $250,000 in Chandler. 

72 listings came up that matched their search criteria.  It was interesting to note however, that of those 72 listings, over 60 of them were either short sale or lender owned!

A short sale can take up to 3 months for a decision to be made by the lending institution if preliminary work on the short sale has not yet been completed by the seller. For that reason, my buyers had already decided they would not be interested in a Short Sale property as they needed to know while they were in town whether or not their offer had been accepted. 

They decided to check out some of the lender owned, which can sometimes take awhile for contract acceptance, but as they are in town for 2 weeks, they wanted to investigate this option. 

The outcome of this investigation was not good.  Most of the lender owned property needed considerable work.  Most had missing appliances…ie.  all the built-in appliances had been removed.  Some properties were even missing the light fixtures and ceiling fans and open wires hung from the places where those fixtures had been removed.

My buyers decided lender owned properties were not going to work for them either.

What did this mean?  We had less than 12 properties that would even make the short list to be viable for consideration.  Which homes made the short list?  Those that were the nicest and the best priced.

 So, the question of the day is…how many homes are TRULY on the market for an average out of town buyer (which, I might add, are many of today’s buyers).  It’s obviously not as many as the media would have you believe.  Granted, there are more short sale and lender owned homes in the lower price ranges as this is the price range many of the investors bought into a few years back.  But there are plenty of homes listed as short sale and lender owned in price ranges up to $500,000.

If you are average Joe Seller, have a beautiful home and are willing to price it to sell (and I don’t mean give it away…just listen to your Realtor’s advice), the opportunity is still great especially at this time of year.  3 of my listings went under contract this week.  2 of them had been on the market less than 2 weeks.  Homes ARE still selling.  Your’s will too.

For more Information visit Chandler Arizona Real Estate.  This information was provided by Amy Jones, a multi-million dollar top producing Realtor with RE/MAX Elite. Amy specializes in residential, vacation homes & cabins, as well as retirement communities in the communities of Ahwatukee, Chandler, Fountain Hills, Gilbert, Maricopa, Mesa, Paradise Valley, Queen Creek, Scottsdale, Sun Lakes, Tempe and the White Mountainscommunities of Pinetop/Lakes & Show Low.  Search the Arizona MLS.

Chandler hit a benchmark 250,000 residents this month.  The 6 largest Arizona cities (population-wise that is) are Phoenix #1, Tucson #2, Mesa #3, Chandler #4, Glendale #5, Scottsdale #6. 

Chandler is now about as populated as St. Petersburg, Florida & Fort Wayne, Indiana.  Hip Hip Hooray! But wait…where’s the parade?  Where are the balloons?  Hmmm…  is this not good news?  At first I thought, no…not good news. I don’t really want to live in a “big city”.  But when I look around me and see all the great restaurants, shopping and entertainment venues, I realize I wouldn’t have these great amenities living in a town of 1000. 

 So Yippee!  We are the 4th largest city in Arizona!  Yes, Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore.

I enjoyed my 1.20 minutes of fame today as I was interviewed by Sara Acevedo of Fox 10 News. (click to see the interview)

 The topic?  The Canadian buyers who are taking advantage of their strong Canadian Dollar and our weak real estate market.  There continue to be tremendous real estate deals in the Phoenix Metro area and Canadians are wisely snatching them up and paying cash. 

They are hitting the market at a perfect time as I have reported in my Weekly Real Estate Market Update, there has been increased buyer activity in almost every East Valley community over the last couple weeks.  If this activity continues, we will begin to chip away at our inventory which will help us return to a more stable real estate market. 

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For more Information visit Chandler Arizona Real Estate.  This information was provided by Amy Jones, a multi-million dollar top producing Realtor with RE/MAX Elite. Amy specializes in residential, vacation homes & cabins, as well as retirement communities in the communities of Ahwatukee, Chandler, Fountain Hills, Gilbert, Maricopa, Mesa, Paradise Valley, Queen Creek, Scottsdale, Sun Lakes, Tempe and the White Mountains communities of Pinetop/Lakes & Show Low.  Search the Arizona MLS 

Chandler has arrived..or at least the first bus route south of Pecos Road has.  Beginning this summer the first bus route will start on Dobson Road & Ocotillo with more routes to follow. 

The first route will begin in July and will run north to Riverview at the Red Mountain Freeway in Mesa.

Chandler’s Transportation Services Manager, Mike Normand announced to the Neighborhood Advisory Committee this week that Chandler can expect big increases in transit options and funding over the next few years.  This is great news for a wonderful community that was lacking mass transit.

 The next new route is planned for 2010 and will run on Gilbert Rd.  This route currently ends at Chandler-Gilbert Community College and passes through Gilbert and Mesa.  The new extended routh will continue south to Riggs Rd then east to Basha High School on Val Vista Drive.

In 2011 bus service will begin on Arizona Avenue in South Chandler and on Alma School in 2013.  Both lines will run to Ocotillo Rd and more lines will be added as the need arises.

By the end of this year, a park and ride lot will be completed at Tumbleweek park and the city has plans for another park and ride lot close to Snedigar Sportsplex next to the new Fulton Ranch Shopping Center on Alma School between Ocotillo and Chandler Heights.

 For more information about bus transportation in the city of Chandler visit the transportation website at http://www.chandleraz.gov/default.aspx?pageid=457

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For more Information visit Chandler Arizona Real Estate.  This information was provided by Amy Jones, a multi-million dollar top producing Realtor with RE/MAX Elite. Amy specializes in residential, vacation homes & cabins, as well as retirement communities in the communities of Ahwatukee, Chandler, Fountain Hills, Gilbert, Maricopa, Mesa, Paradise Valley, Queen Creek, Scottsdale, Sun Lakes, Tempe and the White Mountains communities of Pinetop/Lakes & Show Low.  Search the Arizona MLS

For more Information visit Chandler Arizona Real Estate.  This information was provided by Amy Jones, a multi-million dollar top producing Realtor with RE/MAX Elite. Amy specializes in residential, vacation homes & cabins, as well as retirement communities in the communities of Ahwatukee, Chandler, Fountain Hills, Gilbert, Maricopa, Mesa, Paradise Valley, Queen Creek, Scottsdale, Sun Lakes, Tempe and the White Mountains communities of Pinetop/Lakes & Show Low.  Search the Arizona MLS