by Paul Slaybaugh | Jul 30, 2010 | Scottsdale Real Estate
Ordinarily, we here at the Scottsdale Property Shop are not overly concerned with the machinations at play within our brokerage. Perhaps an odd disconnect given that Realty Executives has dominated the top spot in market share for virtually every measurable category in Scottsdale (and Arizona at large) since 1974, but it is a crutch to lean on your company name too much in a field of independent contractors. Broker support, institutional marketing and the like are vital to the sale of real property, but the job largely comes down to the salesperson entrusted to do the work. Frankly, if we are to toot any horns, we’d rather tout our own abilities (green agents tend to prop themselves up by company affiliation while more experience veterans tend to promote their own skill sets).
We are breaking from that customary recalcitrance to share some pretty big news about what’s going on downtown. My colleague, and Tempe Real Estate wunderkind, Nick Bastian, shares the unveiling of a project that has been months in the making behind the technological scenes. With a host of company websites that had been a sore spot amongst the more tech savvy agents in the brokerage, Realty Executives did not turn a blind eye to the issue. While upstart brokerages have clung to a technological advantage over our leviathan in an effort to gain market share, the full resources of Realty Executives have finally been brought to bear in this arena with today’s re-launching of www.realtyexecutives.com.
How does this benefit you, our clients? In essence, it will dramatically improve our ability to drive traffic to this already heavily trafficked site. More clicks, more eyes, more buyers looking at your home listings … more of everything you have come to expect from us.
If I sound jazzed, that’s because I am. Kudos to our proud brand for recognizing this prior weakness and turning it into a standard bearer for the Scottsdale Real Estate market.
Read more about the dramatic redesign of Realty Executives’ online presence at Nick’s Tempe Real Estate blog.
by Paul Slaybaugh | Jul 28, 2010 | Home Selling, Scottsdale Real Estate
There are dragons lurking in the dark recesses of your property listing. Mean dragons. Scaly, grey, mean dragons that might rise up out of their lairs and go all Godzilla on your potential showings if left unchecked.
And what, pray tell, is the name of these marauding reptiles?
“REALTOR Remarks”
Ah yes, that hobgoblin of good intentions in the multiple listing service that provides for private communication amongst local Realtors. It gives me a good shudder just to type the name of the foul beast. Suburban legend has it that if you say it three times in front of the bathroom mirror with the lights off, you will doom yourself to a lonely stint on the market. Why? Because the private portion of the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service which is intended to impart “eyes only” information to the Real Estate sales force is home to some of the most spectacular lapses in judgment this side of New Coke.
“Do not approach cage, monkey will bite!”
“Disregard water damage in hall bathroom shower.”
“Bring me an offer, seller needs to sell NOW!!!”
From the laughable (“House is better than pictures make it look”) to the horrific breaching of client confidentiality (“Divorce situation: husband not cooperative”), one little notation in the private remarks of the listing can torpedo the price you command for your home, if not endanger the sale altogether. Alarm codes, additional showing instructions, agent to agent disclosures – all are intended fodder for the REALTOR Remarks section. The mistake that is often made, however, is that anything goes so long as it remains hidden from the prying eyes of the public.
The moral of the story? Read the full property listing before your agent inputs it into the MLS. While you will most likely view a copy of the completed listing once it hits the system, you will not be able to see what is privately disclosed to other agents. You will want to see a copy of the FULL listing to ensure that your best interests have not been compromised by a few careless words.
You priced the home well, staged it to look its best, had it professionally photographed, toured and dispersed to the far reaches of the Internet. Don’t blow it now, kid.
Of course, if you want me to avoid your home like the plague, make sure your agent denotes that it “smells kind of funky, but no known presence of mold.”
In the mood to receive offers that are 50% below your list price? Instruct your agent to notify fellow Realtors to “Bring me any offer and I’ll get it accepted!”
Unless the Stargate in the study presents a clear and present danger to those who would tour your home, best not to mention the possible credit for intergalactic species remediation.
by Paul Slaybaugh | Jul 27, 2010 | McCormick Ranch Subdivisions
Casas Dia Festivo is a patio home subdivision located at the SW corner of Hayden and Mountain View Road in McCormick Ranch of Scottsdale, AZ. Similar in size and character to the Santa Fe patio home community in the Southern portion of the Ranch, Casas Dia Festivo represents one of the better hybrid housing options in the Ranch’s Northern reaches.
Featuring properties that live like single-family homes (privacy, no one above or below), but with the low maintenance appeal of townhouses, Casas Dia Festivo properties are equally suited for move-up and move-down purchases. Typically sharing a common wall at the garage (some units share two common walls) and private (but manageable) backyards, front yard and common area maintenance is provided by the HOA. While some properties include private pools, those who enjoy the use of a pool without the maintenance headaches will appreciate the heated community pool & spa.
Community specifics:
- 60 total patio homes
- Built between 1981-1994
- Homes average approximately 2000 square feet
- 48 single-level and 12 two-story homes
- 6 homes with private swimming pools
- Earlier construction (1981-1984) primarily block, while newer homes primarily constructed with wood framing
- 2 car garage standard
- Spanish style architecture with tile roofing (primarily) and exterior stucco finish
Casas Dia Festivo falls within the Chaparral High School District (Cochise Elementary and Cocopah Middle Schools).
Homes Currently For Sale in Casas Dia Festivo
Ready to buy or sell your McCormick Ranch patio home? Contact Ray and Paul Slaybaugh today!
Representing McCormick Ranch home buyers and sellers since 1974.
View More McCormick Ranch Subdivisions
Overview of McCormick Ranch in Scottsdale AZ
See all Homes For Sale in McCormick Ranch
by Paul Slaybaugh | Jul 26, 2010 | This & That
Man was not meant to live on plants alone. It’s true. For the fruit and nuts enthusiasts in our midst, I point to the presence of your canines as proof that you are doing it wrong. While your squeamish frontal lobe may prevent you from supping on our furry friends, your crocodilian brain never stops sizing up the risk/reward of skewering the neighbor’s yipping mini-pin.
Rather than shy away from that which places us atop the food chain, we here at the Scottsdale Property Shop embrace our inner predator. As a matter of fact, you need to sharpen those base instincts before entering the Real Estate market in pursuit of housing prey. Let’s augment that testosterone deficiency and get you ready for the negotiation dining table.
List your home with the Slaybaughs prior to August 1st, 2010 and you’ll receive one complimentary membership to the Endangered Species of the Month Culinary Club! That’s right, enjoy the legally frowned upon Spotted Owl Stir Fry or the Komodo Alamodo from the privacy of your own barricaded domicile! Got a hankering for a Hairy-Nosed Wombat? A craving for a California Condor? We’ve got you covered … but only until August 1st!
*Promotion limited to one membership per depraved household. Antivenom and clandestine courier fees not included. This offer is patently absurd and excluded in all 50 states, US territories and pretty much everywhere else outside of Kuala Lumpur. Winning entrants will be placed on several watch lists and subject to possible excommunication from humanity.*
Bon Appetit!
by Paul Slaybaugh | Jul 23, 2010 | Home Selling, Scottsdale Real Estate
I have seen my share of thumbs down houses over the years. It’s a sad truth, but for every summer blockbuster, there is a Real Estate Gigli. Properties that look so promising in the MLS trailer fall flat despite the star-studded cast. Granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, new carpet, manicured back yard … a quick read-through of the script tells you that the home should be a smash hit. Only when you see it on the big screen do you realize that the photos omitted the faux oak paneling throughout the entire downstairs, or the sunken conversation pit in the living room. You never know where Rosemary’s Baby may be lurking behind the pleasing marketing facade that a savvy listing agent has erected to entice showings.
Enter the Real Estate sneak preview.
Knowing all too well that I am performing preliminary recon, sellers will occasionally grill me as to my intentions when I arrive for a preview appointment. As I circumnavigate the home, they give me the unabashed hairy eyeball treatment reserved for ex-cons, Realtors, bankers, lawyers and ill-mannered guests who don’t sit on the plastic. Believe it or not, though, the preview does not merely serve as an arbiter of a buyer agent’s pass/fail verdict. It is a crash course in product awareness.
To those who would disallow Realtor previews because they anticipate the reports will discourage potential buyers from viewing the home, allow me first to offer a mild rebuke, and then to assuage your fears. First, disallowing preview appointments will have the opposite than desired effect. Like the producer of straight to DVD smut who would sooner pay a personal assistant a livable wage than allow an advance screening for critics, you are telling wily Real Estate agents that the house is a total clunker if you won’t let them in for a quick peek prior to an actual buyer showing. Thou doth protest too much, Ed Wood.
Moreover, you do you and your home a disservice by limiting Realtor previews. Salesmanship requires a deft touch. It is just not that easy to sell what one hasn’t seen. When I come through with my client, you want me to focus on the features with which I became acquainted during the preview rather than blundering about blindly. Knowing what specific hot buttons light my buyer up, all parties are best served if I have direct, first-hand knowledge of such. You know, the stuff that doesn’t necessarily make it into the MLS.
Is the second bedroom close enough to the master to make a suitable nursery?
Is the kitchen open to the family room or a candidate for expansion?
Is the yard private, but not overwhelming?
Worst case scenario? The home is not a fit for my clients, and I save everyone time. Surely you don’t want any more strangers stomping around your home than absolutely necessary, especially if there is zero chance that the property will work for them. To boot, I just might remember your house as a possible fit for the next buyer I meet.
Want to sell your house? Heed the marquee:
Coming soon … to a home near you … Realtor Paul Slaybaugh!
Pretty please, let him in.
