Scottsdale has a serious shortage of homes for sale right now. And cash buyers are out in droves.  In 2011, 47% of the more 100,000 home purchases in Phoenix were cash transactions.

I can talk through the past couple of days with you, just to illustrate the real situations that buyers are encountering.

Buyer made a full-price offer on a bank owned property that had been on the market for a LONG time (over 6 months). However, the bank had just took another major price reduction, so the property finally caught my clients’ attention. We wrote an offer.  The bank received multiple offers, so Best & Final offer was requested,  and while the buyer increased their offer to over list price, but other cash buyer went even higher. 

So we went on to Plan B, which in actuality was more like Plan J, based on the number of houses that they’d tried to purchase.  I call to set up showing for this property, but occupant says that she thinks the house might be under contract.  I call the agent who says, “Yes, we got six offers the first day the house was on the market, three were cash, all over list price.”

Needless to say, my client is now VERY frustrated.

I get an email and a call yesterday afternoon.  She says, “New house on the market today. We want it. Write the contract now.” I did and we negotiated to acceptable terms within the next six hours. Today, I hear that property has a  cash offer in backup position.

When we were in the boom years, people threw contracts at houses, with escalation clauses, and more and more money. And it’s not much different right now, and that seems really odd.

Interest rates are incredibly low.

There aren’t many houses on the market.

Prices are in almost the same place they were before the boom.

People still want to buy houses, yet have a much more conservative mindset.

Buyers are wanting to make sure they get a good value, but finding very quickly that values really are appreciating, and demand is very, very high for an inventory that is very, very low.

Sellers are getting savvy, and removing the appraisal contingency on purchase contracts. When this happens and the buyer is getting a loan, they must come up with any difference between the appraisal and the purchase price, if there is one. And in some cases, buyers are complying.

We’ve all been wondering when home prices would start to appreciate. Last year, we saw just over 6% appreciation in homes priced under $100,000.

Based on the dramatic change in buyer and seller perception over the past several weeks and months, it sure looks like me may see that appreciation creep up into higher price ranges.

As prices increase, more sellers will consider selling which will add to a desperately low inventory, and give some of these buyers who have been writing 5-10 offers, just to get one accepted, some hope that they may actually be able to buy a home. 

And in part, they will have some of the cash buyers who beat them out of their first home buying attempts to thank. Odd, isn’t it?

Location, condition, and setting the right price are key, of course!

While sellers don’t want to “give their house away”, once they’ve made the decision to do it, getting the house sold is definitely the goal. The sooner the better.

Here are a few tips (all short videos) for Scottsdale home sellers:

How much is your Scottsdale home worth?

Common Home Seller Mistakes

What is home staging? Re-staging? Web staging?

Marketing Your Home Online

I was recently asked to share my experience with a relatively new national home search database provided to real estate agents who are members of the National Association of Realtors. Named Realtors Property Resource, or RPR for short, the database has an incredible amount of current and historical real estate information available.

For me, RPR proved to be invaluable when I was working with an international client, owning out-of-state property.  Using the system, I was able to quickly come up with an estimated value of his stateside property. And then, I discovered there was much more to the system than I knew.

RPR is another way that I can help buyers and sellers make smart decision in their real estate transactions.  If you’d like a Market Report for your home and neighborhood, just let me know.

Other home search options:

• Starting with a map
• Starting with a basic search
• Search for neighborhoods
• Search for new homes in Scottsdale

Quick tips for showing your home:

• Allow a lockbox to be installed for easy and secure agent access
• Leave for scheduled showings so buyer can feel more comfortable imagining living in the home
• Remove pets

Once a buyer has viewed your home, I use the Homefeedback service to get feedback on what buyers thought of your home. Agents respond much more to email inquiries, because photos are attached and it’s easier for them to remember which house your are asking about.

Some of the questions that I ask the agent are:

• Did your buyers like the property?
• Did they like the floor plan?
• Did your buyer like the community?
• Are they considering making an offer?
• Any other comments from the buyer?
• What did you think of the price?
• If a price reduction is in order, what range would you suggest?

Getting this feedback helps you determine if any changes are in order, to sell your home more quickly.

For more info on selling your home in Scottsdale, see: Buyer & Seller Tips

From the Arizona Seller’s Property Disclosure Statement (SPDS):

Sellers are obligated by law to disclose all known material (important) facts
about the property to the buyer. Arizona law requires that you disclose material facts about the property whether or not you are asked by the buyer or a real estate agent, or when asked to complete a disclosure form.

Disclosure is not an option. It’s a requirement.

The SPDS is divided into six general sections:

1. Ownership and Property: This section asks for general information
   about the property, such as location, ownership and occupancy.
2. Building and Safety Information: This section asks for information regarding the physical aspects of the property. You should disclose any past or present problems with the property and any work or improvements made to the property. You are also asked specifically to disclose any knowledge of past or current presence of termites or other wood destroying organisms on the property, and whether scorpions or other possible "pests" have ever been present on the property.
3. Utilities: You are asked whether the property currently receives the  listed utilities, and if so, to identify the provider.
4. Environmental Information: A variety of environmental  information is requested. In addition to questions regarding environmental hazards, you are asked to disclose any issues relating to soil settlement/expansion, drainage/grade, or erosion; noise from the surrounding area including airport and traffic noise; and any odors or other nuisances.
5. Sewer/Waste Water Treatment: There are many questions dealing with the topic of sewer or wastewater treatment as a result of claims involving alleged misrepresentations that the property was connected to a sewer, when in fact it was not.
6. Other Conditions and Factors – Additional Explanations: These blank lines provide space for you to disclose any other important information concerning the property that might affect the buyer’s decision-making process, the value of the property, or its use, and to make any other necessary explanations.

Click here for a sample copy of the Arizona Seller’s Property Disclosure Statement (SPDS), often referred to “spuds”.

One additional note that I like to make about the Seller Disclosure is that it’s not all “bad news”.  If you’ve updated or enhanced anything about your property, disclose that too!

Sellers want to know. Sellers need to know. You need to tell them.

Additional information related to seller disclosures:

• Just Rewards? 
• New Real Estate Tool: The Arizona Homebuyer’s Bill of Rights

Some sellers consider staging their home when preparing to sell. In this video, I share a bit about home staging, re-staging, and web staging as options for preparing your home for market and the most enticing on-line presentation.