Good Afternoon Everyone, I started this earlier today and for some reason when I went to post it, my content was blank.  Been having a little trouble here in the "rain" wondering what is going on for sure. Today's post is a bit of a rant.  I was talking to a colleague today and she shared that she had lost two more sales during escrow.  One over inspection issues and one over lending concerns.  What is with the market this year?  There seems to be a complete disconnect between the sellers, the buyers, and everyone in between.   Sellers - Like it or not, it isn't 2007.  Waiting for the market to come back or hoping that some unsuspecting buyer from out of town is going to fall in love with your property and overpay for it is just wishful thinking.  It isn't happening and it isn't going ... 07/23/2013

                                                         .....that does not mean I only sell homes in Pinetop. Good Sunday Afternoon Everyone, I believe there is a common misconception in the public that if an agent's office is in a certain city or town, that they only sell homes in that city or town.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  I hold a Real Estate License in the State of Arizona.  That means that I can sell property anywhere in the entire State.  That does not necessarily translate in to the fact that I should do that because my area of expertise is the White Mountain market.  The reason I decided to post about this is because recently I have worked with several buyers who had asked several different real estate agents to help them find property.  They had chosen differ... 07/14/2013

        Good Afternoon Everyone,   Hope you all had a great week.  I was talking to a colleague today and we were talking about how many sales fail to make it to the closing table this year.  It always seems to be the same issue, late in the game lending denials.  This bothers me a lot because the way things work in Arizona, and maybe other places as well, the buyers and often the sellers too, have a lot of skin in the game long before they ever get close to a closing date.  Buyers have money out for home inspections, appraisals, termite inspections, not to mention the Earnest Money they have on the line.  Seller often have the cost of repairs, certifications for wells and septic tanks, out of pocket too.  Then a week or so before closing the lender pops up and says "oops" we missed som... 06/14/2013

    This afternoon I was talking to one of my associates and we were discussing the property listings that are coming on the market this Spring.  It seems that everyone who wants to sell is convinced that a new boom is happening and they "want" to price far above the supporting comps.  The sellers are listening to the news stations touting their agenda, that everything is coming up roses, and they are convincing themselves that everything they hear is true.  Well, I'm here to say that in some areas the reports may be true but not everywhere.  In my locality unemployment is still in the high teens and the buyers coming in to the market are very well informed and are not willing to pay inflated prices.  Today's buyers are pretty savvy and they are not easily fooled.   We feel that the ag... 05/13/2013

Good Morning Everyone,As I was getting dressed this morning I started to think about the seemingly never ending changes in the Real Estate market.  It brought to mind several clichés, like "The Party is Over", "The Fat Lady is Singing", but for me it brought to mind an old favorite, "Alice's Restaurant" is playing on the stereo".  That may not mean a thing to most of you but it does with me. You see, back in the day when I was much younger and we often had impromptu parties at our home, everyone who knew us, knew when "Alice's Restaurant" started to play on the stereo that it was time for people to go home.  The party was over so to speak. In today's Real Estate Market there is a similarity between what has happened and what is currently happening and what is likely to continue to happ... 04/03/2013

    Making your Own Luck!   I gave this challenge a lot of thought and I decided to write about the challenges the Internet has made to our business.  How to overcome the invisibility and the obscurity of prospective Buyers and Sellers trolling the internet looking for property or an agent to list their property.  The shift from a Buyer's market to a Seller's market aside, we all have one goal in mind and that is to generate leads and convert them to clients whether they are Buyers or Sellers.      Some agents are spending a lot of money to be the "preferred agent" on websites to pick up leads.  Others are paying search engines like "G" or "Y" for premium placement.  Others blog everywhere to bring attention to their expertise in a particular area.  Maybe the agent is advertising consi... 03/25/2013

  Happy Sunday Everyone,  Smart phones, I-pads, tablets, all are wonderful tools in the Real Estate business.  But what about those awful pictures that are showing up on the MLS?  Pictures for the MLS need to be a certain size to show properly when enlarged. What I am seeing are far too many pictures that were obviously taken with one of the above at far too small a resolution and when they are enlarged they get grainy and blurry.  Technology is a wonderful thing when used properly, however I am not convinced that a cell phone or table camera can take the place of a fine resolution digital image taken with a quality digital camera.  Those gadgets may be convenient, but unless the user is highly skilled and knows how to adjust the resolution when taking photographs, the result is a horri... 03/10/2013

  Good Morning Everyone, Buyers are starting to venture back in to the marketplace in anticipation of the Spring offerings of Homes for Sale. What they are completely unprepared for if the lack of choices. The inventory of homes is way down and those that are coming out are at higher prices than they expect. "What do you mean there are only four?" "You can't be showing me everything, I expected a much broader selection!" And so the refrain goes from buyer to buyer. It is time to face a new reality. The market has shifted once again. We are quickly becoming a Seller's Market and that means lower selection and higher prices. If this trend continues throughout the Spring and Summer seasons, the prices are going to continue on this upward trend. Why is the inventory so low? The answers are... 03/04/2013

Happy Monday Everyone, Well it is a White Mountain's White Out today. It is snowing hard in the White Mountains. It is the first heavy snowfall we have seen in a while. It has snowed up higher at Sunrise Ski Area but we have had little more than a dusting in the Pinetop area for quite some time. I guess it's about time we had some serious snow and it is pretty, no question about it. Speaking of the White Mountains, if you aren't familiar with the area it is located approximately 220 miles NE of the Phoenix area. It is a popular summer and winter destination for the desert dwellers. It is a thriving community in the High Country at an elevation between about 6200 to 7500 feet in elevation. Not at all what many people expect to find in the Desert Southwest.    Can you imagine how pretty ... 02/11/2013

Good Morning Everyone, Do you have a home in Pinetop Country Club you would like to sell? How about Country Club Manor in Show Low? From Pinetop to Show Low, AZ, now is the time to list your property. All indications are that the buyers will outnumber the listed properties this year and that means if you have been waiting for the perfect time to list, now is the time. Inventories are low all over the United States. Buyers are finding themselves left out in the cold because they can't find a property or they are finding they are in a muliple offer situation on choice listigs. Sound familiar? This was the case back in the mid-2000's when the buyer traffic exceeded the number of properties available. It drove prices up and that is already starting to happen again. I don't believe we will ... 02/06/2013

With all the information out there on the internet it may seem like that information is an open invitation to buyers to drive around and look at property. Nothing could be further from the truth. A sign in a yard or an advertisement on the internet is not an invitation to go drive around, peek in windows, or walk around a property without having an agent along. It is trespassing and trespassing is a crime. Buyers should not go wandering around looking at property without an agent with them. The Sellers of that property placed their faith in an Agent and a Broker. That means that the Agent committed to taking control so the sellers would not have to deal with someone they don't know coming to their door, peeking in their windows, or wandering around their property unaccompanied. They pu... 01/26/2013

Good Sunday Morning Everyone! I saw an article a few days ago that talked about how Buyers make mistakes during the loan process when they are buying property. I thought it made some good points but perhaps needed to be expanded a bit. Below are tips to keep things moving forward in today's challenging market. Lending is tough enough without making mistakes that could lead to disappointment. 1) Don't change or quit your job. If you qualified for your loan based on the income you are currently earning, do not change or quit your job if at all possible. The funding bank will verify your employment again, often while you are signing papers at the Title Company. This applies even if you are moving to a different area and a different job, and your new job pays higher than your existing job.... 01/20/2013

A Christmas Story by Sandra Paulow Twas two days before Christmas and all through the house, the creatures weren’t stirring, not even the dog. The stockings were hung and ready to be stuffed. The presents were wrapped and busy collecting dust. The dinner was planned but cooking was not. The restaurant was waiting and calling to us. Mom was inpatient for the Holiday to be past. Dad was grousing that he wished it would pass. Every year it it’s the same, the stress and the rush, because the retailers are busy calling to us. On spending, and buying, and support us you must. Our profits depend on your late Christmas Rush. There’s Santa and Elves and Temptations galore, to spend and expend to impress even more. This day is about Faith and Celebration of more, the Birth of our Savior is neede... 12/23/2012

Good Afternoon Everyone, I hope this finds you all well and happy and enjoying the long holiday weekend. If you are still eating left over turkey my sympathies are with you. We enjoyed a nice evening out with friends and ate Prime Rib rather than Turkey. Now to the subject at hand. If you have ever considered buying a Bank Owned or Short Sale property, you can expect to be asked to sign several documents declaring that the property is being sold in "As Is, Where Is" condition. What does that mean exactly? It means the property is being sold in it's Present Condition with no repairs or requests for repairs to be considered. I can't tell you however, how many times I have represented buyers in this type of transaction who after all is said and done, seem to think that "As Is, Where Is" s... 11/24/2012

Good Morning Everyone, Buying a Foreclosure, guidance for Buyers.  I can't tell you how many times in the past several years I have heard a client say "Well, it's been on the market for ____ days, they should be glad to get an offer." The issue with that statement is that there isn't a "They" there is an "It". "It" being a bank. Banks are not people, they are an institutions comprised of many people, none of whom have any personal interest in your offer on one of "their" properties. They are people who's only interest is in their paycheck at the end of the week. All they care about is how well the number on your offer fits in to their spreadsheet. If the number doesn't fit, that is the end of your offer. Chances are, you may never know exactly what happened to your offer either. It wil... 10/31/2012

But I want it....I'm sorry you can't have it.......but I really want it........I'm sorry you can't have it......etc.etc. etc. Does this sound familiar to anyone? It seems many of us have been hearing this a lot lately from buyers who are disappointed or upset because for some reason they are unable to get the property they wanted.  Maybe it has sold or maybe the appraisal came in too low.  Perhaps the lender denied the loan or the seller chose another offer over theirs. They end up angry at us and blame us because they couldn't have what they wanted.  It has to be someone's fault that they didn't get their own way.  Temper tantrums, tears, ultimately the loss of a client because if they can't find anyone else to blame it must be the agent's fault.  Is this the new generation of buyers o... 07/07/2012

This is an entry for the Positive Attitude for the Weary Soul Group Contest! | Fun in the Sun While the Business Still Runs!  Join in on the Challenge! Things are a little different living in the Phoenix area desert.  Fun in the sun is tough when it's 115 degrees in the shade.  Oh, you can hang at a pool and under the patio misters (after all, it's a dry heat). BUT, to really be rejuvenated you have to escape to areas that may just mean time in the rain.  After all, I am blessed (no, really...even when it's hot...I'm blessed) to live in a place with an average of 310 sunny days a year.  BUT I think we are all like change from time to time or boredom can set in. When I get bored of sunshine..or heat...or my desk, I head to my cabin in Pinetop, Arizona.  It's a short 3 hour drive into the... 06/04/2012

Good Saturday Morning Everyone, As I was driving in to work today I saw at least 2 "For Sale by Owner" signs.  It got me to thinking, what are they thinking?  Why would someone who wants to sell their home take on the task of trying to do it themselves? Oh I know all the typical answers - "I don't want to pay a commission." or "I know what I am doing, what do I need a professional for? or "I can run an ad in the newspaper myself, I don't need a professional to do that!" Okay, so maybe they sound good on the surface but....you could be selling yourself short.  For example, as a FSBO, can you expose your property to the world through 150+ websites?  Do you know how to protect yourself under the Disclosure laws of the State you live in?  Do you know what your responsibilities are to the B... 10/23/2010

Thankful Thursday! There's no season I love better than Fall, maybe because it feels like the shortest season of all and it smells really good.  Relief from the heat of summer and the colors...well, that's the best of all, isn't it? One of the best places to view the fall colors in Arizona is the White Mountains, about 3 hours Northeast of Phoenix.  Probably a week or so away from the peak of the Aspen's gold, but captured these scenes yesterday on the road to Hawley Lake. 10/21/2010

Good afternoon everyone, It is getting to be such a common theme I know what the conversation is going to be like before I even answer the call.  It's is going to be the same refrain, the Seller's Lament.  Why didn't anyone come look at my house this week?  I got everything ready in anticipation of a showing and no one came.  Why hasn't my house sold?  What are you doing to sell my house, you must not be doing enough because my house hasn't sold.  Are any of you hearing the same things?  It is such a common theme here that I just don't know what to say any more.  You can talk about price, you can talk about the lack of buyers in the market, you can talk about the competition from the REO or Short Sale down the street, but it doesn't make any difference.  There are over 600 agents in ou... 06/23/2010