by Paul Slaybaugh | May 21, 2010 | This & That
Sound the bagpipes! In honor of our Gaelic brethren who put the “Scot” in “Scottsdale,” the bogus sales gimmick of the upcoming week is all you can eat haggus for two at the local pub of your choosing. Sign a listing agreement or exclusive buyer’s representation agreement with Ray & Paul today, sup on stomach-encased sheep’s pluck tomorrow! What do you have to lose aside from a few seared taste buds?
Offer good for a limited time in a parallel dimension only.
Who says buying and selling homes is no laughing matter?
by Paul Slaybaugh | May 20, 2010 | Home Buying, Scottsdale Real Estate
No matter the state of the national economy, political climate, or the price of beans in Uganda, Scottsdale, Arizona remains a coveted relocation address. Official population estimates put our grown-up resort town at 237,000+ residents and climbing (as of 2015). For those of you keeping score back in Delaware, that’s a 10% increase from the year 2000, even with the uneasy Real Estate market that spanned the latter half of that decade. Not too shabby for a town whose 1951 origins boasted a total population of two thousand hardy pioneers!
So what exactly is it that keeps this one-way conveyor belt moving? What intrinsic value of the Arizona lifestyle keeps folks coming in droves to the Valley of the Sun? Why does the city still nostalgically known as “The West’s Most Western Town” continue to add labels, such as the nation‘s “Most Livable City,” and find inclusion amongst various new best-of lists, such as the “Top 100 Cities for Young People,” (1) with each passing year?
Young people? In Arizona? Bet you didn’t see that coming!
Let’s examine why exactly Scottsdale might appeal to people of all walks of life.
Is it the 314 days of deep blue skies and sunshine? A horizon so boundless that the occasional passing cloud is quickly chased away like a stray tumbleweed through the Sonoran Desert? The average high temperatures of 85 degrees, and a scant 7 & a half inches of annual rainfall? Where the only ice you will find in December lies inside a cocktail glass?
Possibly.
Is it the Scottsdale Unified School District, which routinely ranks atop the state in performance and outpaces local and national averages by a wide margin in critical categories such as SAT and ACT scoring? Which boasts an off the charts percentage of schools categorized as “excelling?” With 50% of the adult populace holding a bachelor’s degree or higher (which likewise outdistances the state and national averages by a wide margin), education has always been a top priority to the citizenry of Scottsdale. Surely the robust school system is the reason an out of towner looks to Scottsdale with a longing eye?
Possibly.
Could it be the vibrant nightlife and fine dining that boasts an inordinate amount of upscale eating establishments, wine bars and the like? Where you can’t fall down without landing on the finest Fillet Mignon or Prickly Pear Margarita you have ever tasted? The more than 125 art galleries which make Scottsdale a bastion of high culture? Is it Taliesin West, the former winter home and school of renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright which lives on as a popular tourist destination?
Possibly.
Is it the golf? The more than 40 courses which can be found within Scottsdale‘s city limits alone? From Par 3 executive courses to PGA venues, there is something for every skill level. You are moving to Scottsdale, Arizona. It simply must be for the golf. Right?
Possibly.
Is it the strong local economy? The one with the ultra low unemployment figures and strong income levels (median family income of $85,000+ per 2009 estimates)? The one powered by tourism (39% of city workforce), convention revenue, 2nd home buyers, strong aviation industry presence centered around the Scottsdale Airpark, medical field stalwarts such as Scottsdale Healthcare (largest private employer with nearly 6700 employees), the Mayo Clinic (2nd largest private employer in Scottsdale with nearly 5000 employees), etc? Notable businesses include the Fortune 500 company, Allied Waste, as well as Rural Metro (private fire protection), Go Daddy, General Dynamics, Dial Corporation, Cold Stone Creamery and TASER International. So, is it the allure of a healthy job market for a highly skilled workforce that makes Scottsdale Real Estate so historically vibrant?
Possibly.
Or how about the shopping? The spender’s paradise which boasts Kierland Commons, Fashion Square Mall, The Promenade, Old Town, Gainey Village and The Borgata, just to name a few? Where you will find that perfect something that you can’t live without in every shop? As synonymous as Scottsdale has become with retail therapy, it has to be the shopping, right?
Possibly.
Perhaps it’s the unbelievable location and access to the rest of the Valley? Minutes from Sky Harbor International Airport, Scottsdale is connected to the rest of the greater Phoenix area by freeway. Bisected by the Loop 101, previously distant reaches of the Valley such as Chandler/Mesa/Gilbert to the south and Glendale/Peoria to the west are now readily accessible. Could the prime central location be the reason for Scottsdale’s popularity?
Possibly.
Wait, it has to be the resorts, right? After all, our well-earned reputation as a resort town is what first put Scottsdale on the national map. With over 70 resorts and hotels, half of the Valley’s resorts are located in Scottsdale. Might the lure of an afternoon at the Hyatt Regency’s pool or the Westin Kierland’s spa be the source of enticement? Maybe afternoon tea and relaxation at The Phoenician, or reaching out to touch the mountains at The Four Seasons in Troon?
Possibly.
How about the immediate access to escape from the daily grind? The ability to trade the heat of a July day for an afternoon in the high mountains with only an hour and a half’s drive north as payment? Or to dip toes in the Pacific Ocean by making the 6 hour drive to San Diego? Heck, less distance than that puts a traveler on a lazy beach in Rocky Point, Mexico. Is it the convenient getaway capacity that attracts all of these new Scottsdale residents?
Possibly.
These are all very strong contenders for the title of most alluring, but I think it boils down to something far more simple, yet somewhat indescribable. Most people move to Scottsdale, Arizona for the very reasons that I have never left. Those reasons are hard to express with words. Less a physical place than a state of mind, Scottsdale is that internal intersection where an unencumbered side street of your soul meets the thoroughfare of refined, modern living. The desert Southwest stirs something ancient and irresistible within the romantic ventricles of even the most hardened heart. Lacking the eloquence to due her justice with my pen (or keyboard, as it were) alone, I yield to pixels. The images below should provide greater insight as to why this native son still calls Scottsdale, Arizona home after all these years.
(1) Phoenix Business Journal (2007)
Statistics courtesy of the City of Scottsdale (2009)
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by Paul Slaybaugh | May 18, 2010 | Home Selling, Scottsdale Real Estate
By now, nearly every prospective seller in Scottsdale and the greater Phoenix area has been inundated with the well-worn advice that it is wise to make oneself scarce during showings. If HGTV and its fleet of “Real Estate experts” haven’t gotten to you yet, your relatives have. Or maybe you heard it from the co-worker who maintains a Real Estate license on the chance that one hapless acquaintance per year will allow him to practice on him or her. It is a truth so pervasive in the sphere of collective consciousness that it has reached even the outer-most fringes of the industry. As such, it seems pointless to belabor it further here. Suffice it to say that buyers don’t like sellers looking over their shoulders when they shop.
Shoot, I still generally decline a store clerk’s offer of assistance despite clearly having no idea which bottle of red to pair with the flank steak atop my cart’s haphazard grocery selection. Just a knee-jerk reaction to get the salesperson out of my space. I am perfectly capable of bungling the choice on my own, thank you very much.
Which leads to the thrust of today’s discussion of a well-traveled suburban myth: The (presumed) advantage of listing agent attendance at all property showings.
Some agents, either out of deference to demanding sellers or as a standard business practice, require they be present at all showings. They show up, open the door and then go in one of two directions. They either stand aside and let the buyer’s agent handle the actual showing of the home, or they commandeer the next thirty minutes; leading buyer and cooperating agent on a room by room tour, pointing out each frivolous nuance in painstaking detail. The buyer’s frozen smile masking (or revealing, if the blithe monologist would bother to notice the glazed over eyes) the fact that mental check-out occurred shortly after exiting the foyer.
You say there are TWO electrical outlet receptacles along this wall? Both GFCI protected? Get the *%&^ outta here!
There may be two schools of thought on listing agent presence at showings, but one is simply promoting the wrong curriculum. When the listing agent inserts himself into the process, he lacks the rapport to understand which items are important to the buyer and the ability to sell the home’s strengths from a position of trust. Further, much as if the seller were in attendance, a buyer is less comfortable exploring a stranger’s home in the company of a stand-in stranger. The idea is to allow a buyer the breathing room to open cabinets and linen closet doors. To stand in the family room in silence for a few minutes and decide which wall is best for the sectional. To visualize his artwork hanging above the bed in the master, or the family gathered around the breakfast table on a lazy Sunday morning. It doesn’t work if an interloping chatterbox squeezes the breathable air out of the house.
Thanks for the fifteen minute demonstration of the pool’s waterfall. I wasn’t sure if I wanted the hassle of a house with a pool … now I’m sure I don’t.
Even if the agent hangs out of sight, the unnecessary presence can trigger an internal stopwatch within a buyer. While he may not care about wasting his own agent’s time (as well he shouldn’t), the stranger factor tends to accelerate the showing. Humans are much more apt to “put out” those with whom they are familiar than the guy off the street. Whether borne of politeness, the discomfort of feeling watched or a hesitancy to reveal any indication of interest to a salesman, the end result is a showing that is less likely to live up to its full potential.
Is the other agent still in the living room? I wouldn’t mind calling my wife to have her come see the house, but don’t want to keep him from other appointments …
Showing quality aside, the other big knock on mandatory appointments with the listing agent is showing quantity. The anticipated control and added security over the showing comes at the steep price of deterrence. Not only do properties that are more difficult to access get thrown to the bottom of the stack by many agents (if an agent is paring 10 potential properties down to 4 to show a buyer, guess which ones get the axe first?), but listing agents are not always available to show the home when it is convenient to the buyer. The ease of access issues with such properties can prove insurmountable. Say a relocating buyer is in town for the day, but your agent is unreachable or booked through tomorrow. You just lost your shot at that buyer. With the number of properties from which to choose currently, the very last thing you want to do is erect needless hurdles.
As to the safety issue, the integrity of your home’s security is always an issue when you open the doors to the general public. That said, with the state of the art electronic lockboxes that are utilized these days (please tell me your agent is willing to pony up the $80 per box cost), a record is kept of all agents who access the premises with clients. Each agent has an individual keypad with a unique code. Every time the key is accessed, that code is stored and available to the listing agent. Further, agent keypads crash unless they are updated every 24 hours. Thus, the threat of the missing or stolen keypad is not the cause for panic that it once was. Put the valuables away for safe keeping, but one licensed professional per showing provides adequate protection without diminishing the quality of the showing, or precluding it outright.
In our experience, the most advantageous means of ensuring high-quality and high-quantity showings is to dial phasers back to “stun” and stay the heck out of the way. Market the property to the nines, accompany unrepresented buyers on tours of the home, but don’t micro-manage the sales force. Draping oneself over a potentially hot showing like a wet sales blanket may appease a needy seller, but it does not serve the interest of the actual goal: selling the house.
by Paul Slaybaugh | May 17, 2010 | Home Buying, Scottsdale Real Estate
There are things that you, as a home buyer, want to know about a prospective new neighborhood. Are the schools top shelf? Is there shopping nearby? Do the neighbors hold a semi-annual Scott Baio look-alike contest? For the most part, your agent can help you find the answers to your questions (though determining a victor in that last one seems dubious given it has been a couple of decades since Charles was last seen in charge). There are some matters which may be pertinent to your purchasing decision that I cannot field, however.
Fair housing doctrine is the result of a noble pursuit to ensure that all consumers enjoy shared basic rights and equal housing opportunity. The so-called protected classes against which housing discrimination is strictly prohibited include race, color, religion, gender, national origin, persons with disabilities and familial status (having children under 18 years of age).
(Note omissions such as job description and political affiliation from that grouping. Don’t like Realtors? Democrats? You don’t have to sell your house to one. Of course, green is the only color that should matter to a home seller, and rejecting any potential suitor for a reason other than unacceptable contract terms is not only foolish, but an invitation for trouble. Protected class or not, this is America. You can sue or be sued for virtually anything.)
Now that we have established who cannot be barred from housing opportunities for no other reason than certain personal attributes, let’s take it a step further. A frequent criticism of Realtors is that we won’t answer your direct questions when you are trying to get the skinny on an area. Your pointed questions are met with milquetoast answers such as, “There are all types of people in this community,” or “You should go to the police department website to research that on your own.”
It’s not because we don’t want to be helpful. We do. Believe me. Many times, we are constrained by overbearing legalities that make it difficult to effectively advise our clients. While laudable, fair housing doctrine in practice can be maddeningly frustrating, too. I cannot tell you how many Christian families live in the neighborhood. I can’t tell you if a subdivision is kid friendly. I can’t tell you if an area you have inquired about is a “bad part of town” or not. I can’t give you the wink and a nudge as I drone on about not being permitted to discuss such matters.
When you, as an unknowing consumer, stray into the no-fly zone, the exchanges often go something like this.
Q: “Are there a lot of minorities in this area?”
A: “There are people of all kinds in this neighborhood. I am not at liberty to discuss such things. Please get out of my car you intolerant ape.”
Q: “Are there more families or singles that live in this neighborhood?”
A: “There are people of all kinds in this neighborhood. I am not at liberty to discuss such things. If you are trolling for a date, I suggest the local pub … maybe Facebook.”
Q: “Is there a lot of crime here?”
A: “That depends on whether you consider vice a victimless crime … er, I mean, you would need to check the local PD’s website to review those statistics.”
Q: “Are there any agnostic Madagascan women who walk with a limp and have six adopted Inuit kids nearby?”
A: “Security!”
The thing to remember is that we agents deal in properties, not people. Ask me about the community amenities, the builders, the values. Shoot, you can ask me for the square root of the Pythagorean Theorem for that matter (the answer is “F,” by the way). Just don’t ask me to lay out the area demographics for you. There are resources available to you should you wish to perform your own investigations, but as a licensed agent, I cannot steer you to or from a particular area based on criteria that either closely treads or firmly stomps on a protected class.
Of course, it would be naive to assert that no agent has ever flaunted these guidelines to provide a client with the information sought. Were it me in the consumer’s shoes, I’d worry where else said agent would be willing to bend the ethical spoon, but I digress.
Are there times when I feel constrained from fully doing my job and properly advising my clients about both the positives and negatives in a community? Absolutely. As a safeguard that prevents agents from feeding into arcane prejudices and stereotypes, however, it is necessary to ensure that we don’t artificially impact values or deny opportunities. You can, and should, do all pertinent investigations regarding the property you aim to call home for the next who knows how many years. You are not restricted from obtaining the information you seek. Just know that your helpful agent will not be able to abet certain fact-finding missions.
You can ask me if the house is far enough away from the meth lab down the street to withstand the inevitable explosion (it’s not). Just don’t ask me to speculate whether the aspiring chemist within is here legally or not.
by Paul Slaybaugh | May 13, 2010 | Scottsdale Real Estate, This & That
A well-heeled businessman strode into the foyer of a nondescript office building. Tossing a nod over his shoulder at the exiting secretary who held the door for him, he failed to suppress the knowing grin that tugged at the corners of his mouth. A quick appraisal of the surroundings threatened to dampen his buoyant mood, however. The threadbare plaid couch in the waiting area appeared to be a reluctant holdover from his grandparent’s den, circa 1981. Were it not for the well-thumbed magazines littered about the adjoining table, he would not have believed that clients were actually expected to plant their backsides into the hungry springs that surely laid in wait just beneath the sweat-stained fabric. The secretarial desk, vacant now that the evening receptionist had departed, seemed smallish somehow. The faux wood laminate counter tops didn’t mesh with his recollection of level four granite, either. The walls needed a coat of paint. The soothing antique white had faded to a sickly yellow.
How does someone run a business like this, he wondered.
A low, reverential whistle interrupted his silent consternation.
“Well, look at you,” the familiar voice gushed. “I’m still paying for those shoes, you know.”
He felt a twinge of remorse as he looked down at the Italian leather loafers. Whoever heard of tapping a line of credit for footwear? The moment quickly passed. The projection of success was a cornerstone principle to the manifestation of such.
“What price can you put on comfort,” he retorted.
“Sixteen hundred dollars and twenty eight cents.”
“Bah, it’s like walking on clouds. Besides, how can you possibly remember the exact amount?”
“Come on back,” his counterpart responded by way of an invitation.
Settling into the chair opposite the desk in his host’s office, he considered the barren wall to his right.
“Where are the awards?”
“Packed them away last year.”
“Why? I worked my butt off for those.”
“The game has changed, Junior. In case you haven’t looked around lately, people are hurting. Shoot, we’ve done our own share of hurting. Nobody cares about your sales records.”
For the first time, he really studied the face in front of him. The florescent lighting of the private office revealed deep creases that had remained hidden in the shadows of the dank reception area. The urgency in the red-rimmed, greenish-brown eyes was as palpable as the fatigue. There was an unmistakably hard edge to the countenance that seemed at odds with its hound dog expression. He was looking into a face that had seen too much combat.
“You didn’t invite me here to talk about my shoes.”
“You’ve always had a good head underneath that fifty dollar haircut. It’s time you started using it,” came the cryptic reply.
Sensing it was not his turn to speak, he let the silence expand before his counterpart continued.
“For starters, the cars, the vacations, the nights out … you’ve gotta knock all of that stuff off. It’s time you started hanging on to the dough that earned you all of those plaques,” he said, motioning to the empty wall.
“But-”
“No buts. Look around, Chief. This is what’s waiting for you if you don’t get it together.”
He clamped his mouth shut, deciding to let the enigma in faded blue jeans say his piece. The sooner he got out of here, the sooner he’d make it to the range. He didn’t have the slightest idea where the slice in his fairway driver had come from, but he needed to get it ironed out before the charity tournament on Saturday. Children’s Leukemia this time? Diabetes Awareness? He couldn’t remember.
“Moving on,” his appointed conscience interjected. “The real reason I asked you here today is to clear the air about the message you are promoting. Torpedo the kids’ college fund if you like, we’re resilient, but your clients deserve better from you.”
Kids, he thought as he folded his arms and sat back in the chair, bracing for the sanctimonious diatribe that was sure to follow. As in plural?
“Bear with me one second.”
His host pulled a worn, blue notebook out of one of the desk drawers.
“Hey, I’ve been looking for that,” he objected.
“Confiscated for your own good. Our own good. Let’s take a look at what you have been telling consumers, shall we?”
A brief pause accompanied the turning of pages.
“July 7th, 2004. You told Mr. Davis that if he didn’t buy now, he might soon be priced out of the market.”
“I was right! By December, prices in the neighborhood he was looking in had risen an additional ten percent –”
“And now it’s down forty percent. I know you thought you were looking out for his interests, but you only considered the short term prognosis.”
“That’s not possible! Property values never decline in Scottsdale! We’ve been historically undervalued, especially compared to California. We’ve remained stable when other markets have tanked!”
“February 2, 2005. You told Mr. & Mrs. Flemming that the forthcoming bubble was a media myth.”
“Maybe not a myth, but it’s definitely a media creation! If the talking heads wouldn’t go on the news scaring the beejeezus out of buyers every night-”
“Right, Katie Couric created no-qual financing and the subsequent investor-driven spike of artificial demand that led to a massive housing glut and a skittish buyer pool. God help us if Anderson Cooper ever goes on air to tell us about the Easter Bunny.”
“You’re telling me they’re right?”
“You don’t know the half of it,” his colleague responded with chagrin.
“Yeah, yeah, well hindsight being twenty twenty …”
“March 8, 2006. You opined to Mrs. Sanjeve that the market still had some legs.”
“Things have slowed down, sure, but prices are still inching up,” he responded meekly.
“You had to know things were getting ready to go sideways. Prices may have held steady before the coming plummet, but days on market were starting to pile up. Homes that received five offers before the sign even got planted in the front yard were now taking thirty to sixty days to sell. The writing was on the wall, you just couldn’t interpret the black and white truth through those rose-colored glasses of yours. Heck, you nearly got caught holding an investment property yourself.”
“I believe in our market. Scottsdale has always been the apex destination in Arizona. Our values don’t decline. Ever.”
“There’s that pre-bubble thinking again. Watch that reliance on past performance, Champ. Any market that relies on human buyers and sellers is subject to downs as well as up. No more fortune telling, you understand me? From now on, save the tea leaves for the missus’s iced chai lattes.”
“She doesn’t drink chai,” he answered.
“She will.”
“Okay.”
“August 18, 2007. Right before their portfolio took an irreparable beating with the jumbo loan market disintegration, you advised the Echols that they act now before interest rates rise.”
“Wait a minute, 2007? That one’s not on me!”
“Oh, you’re right. My apologies. Forgot which market I plucked you out of. Do me a favor and send in 2007-2008 on your way out, would you? He should be here by now. Looks a lot like you, just a little stressed out.”
He chuckled.
There was a knock at the door.
“That must be us now.”
Instead of the expected visitor, however, a young woman poked her head into the room.
“Okay, your hour’s up. I’m sorry, but I really need the room back now,” she said.
He looked at his younger self and gave an embarrassed shrug of his shoulders before nodding in the direction of the new arrival.
“Tracey here just got her license in the fall.”
A rueful shake of the head accompanied another pause. He glanced down at the neatly packed duffel of personal affects at his feet, wondering for the umpteenth time if the makeshift home office would hold it all. He raised his head and found the eyes of his disbelieving doppelganger.
“Last piece of advice. Spare yourself the martyr act and list some freaking REOs.”
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*PLEASE NOTE NO CAREERS WERE HARMED DURING THE WRITING OF THIS FICTION*
Just stretching my creative legs a bit, people 😉
