Tucson Real Estate Video Blog with Don Vallee

Where Has Our Market Been and Where Is It Going?

There are many great Tucson area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call us at 520-544-5555 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Where Has Our Market Been and Where Is It Going?

As the year comes to a close, we thought we would share a recap of what we saw in Tucson real estate over the last year.

This last year was a fantastic one for real estate in Tucson and the surrounding areas. The average sales price jumped 7.8% since 2013, which makes it three consecutive years of strong appreciation. Currently, our average sales price is $207,000, while the total units sold are slightly off last years pace.

The average days on market is as low as it has been all year at 58 days. This is up from the 51 days it typically took to sell a home in 2013. Currently, our inventory in the MLS has 5,800 units, and we're selling anywhere from 1,200 to 1,300 a month, which means we have less than six months of supply. This means most areas of town have a fairly balanced at this time.

Where is the market and where is it going?

An interesting data point in our market has to do with how quickly homes are selling. Two-thirds of our sales every month are houses that have been on the market for less than 60 days. Essentially, if homes are priced right, in good condition, and in a good location, they are turning in 60 days.

As you can see, we saw a very active and robust market in 2014. But what can we expect in 2015? We're expecting prices to continue appreciating, although softening slightly compared to the rates we've seen in the past few years. Across the city, you can probably expect a 3% to 5% price increase across the city. As far as interest rates go, we're expecting upward pressure on interest rates in the coming year.

If you're a buyer, it would probably be smart to buy sooner than later. If you're getting a mortgage, the cost of money and the price of the house are going to rise. If you're a seller, there are very specific areas of town that are experiencing favorable conditions, while there are other areas that aren't. It's best to speak with a real estate expert if you're thinking about selling, as they will be able to tell you what's best given your specific circumstances.

Have questions about conditions in your area? Give us a call! We would love to sit down, provide you with relevant information, and discuss your options.

Thanks, and Happy New Year!

How we helped Bob buy a home and made it one of his easier home buys ever

"When we were searching for a home with Don, we still were trying to figure out whether we wanted to live in Portland or in the Tucson area. After a while we decided to live in Tucson but we were still living in Portland so when we were doing some remodeling on the home we relied on Don to take measurements and other things of that nature. He was very willing to step up and provide very accurate information for us. The whole relationship was cooperative, collegial and it was one of the easiest home buys that we’ve encountered!"

-Bob Hopkins, Home Buyer

How You Can Be an Informed Buyer

There are many great Tucson area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call us at 520-544-5555 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

There are a few things almost all buyers resist: coming to meet us in our office so we can figure out the specifics of the property they are looking for, and meeting with a lender at the front end of the process instead of waiting. Today, we explain why doing both of those things are actually beneficial for all parties involved.

Sitting down with a real estate professional will save you time and frustration in the long run. Why? For one, you can save a lot of time by hashing out exactly what you require a home to have and what needs you want met. An agent will show you only homes that satisfy the requirement you laid out, so you don't have to waste time seeing homes you have no interest in buying. The initial interview is crucial if you want to save time and stress.

Talking with a lender is also a crucial part of the process that buyers would rather put off. However, we have had buyers who loved a home they saw, went to get approved by a lender, but were unable to purchase the home once they were approved because someone else had already gotten to it. When you have approval up front, we can act quickly to get the home you like under contract and negotiate a very good deal for you.

As you can see, sitting down with an agent and seeing a lender before jumping headfirst into the buying process can be incredibly beneficial. If you have any further questions on this or any other real estate topic, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We're proud to be your number one source for real estate information here in Southern Arizona!

How we’ve helped Bill with numerous real estate transactions by building a good relationship

"We’ve done a number to transactions with Don Vallee and the Vallee Gold team over a number of years and have always had good results. They’re very knowledgeable about what they’re doing and are extremely hard workers, which is something that I value a lot. We’ve done real well and have a really good relationship. "

-Bill Matthews, Home Buyer

How we helped first time home buyer Kaitlyn by making sure she was comfortable

"It was really nice working with the Vallee Gold team because they weren’t pushy at all. We were first time home buyers and they were really good about working with us and making sure that we were comfortable and had the house we wanted. It was perfect! Don even went out of his way on a Sunday and came to show my dad some of the houses we were considering while he was in town. He answered all of our questions and really showed that he cared about us."

-Kaitlyn Rieth, Home Buyer

How Can an Interior Decorator Help Get Top Dollar for Your Home?

Are you thinking about selling in the Tucson market? If so, there are a few things we would like to share with you.

When you list with the Vallee Gold Team, we contract an interior decorator to help us make your home look stunning. If your home is occupied, they will repurpose your furniture and make a better use of space. If the home is vacant, they will come in with furniture and set your home up to look irresistible.

If you're in the Tucson area and are interested in using advanced marketing techniques to get more money for your home, check out our vacant new construction property in the heart of Oro Valley on Copper Springs Trail. It's held open just about every weekend, so we invite you to stop by. If you would like a schedule of when the house is open, give us a call or shoot us an email. We would love to help you get the most for your home sale!

Are You Losing Money by Accepting Bad Offers?

There are many great Tucson area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call us at 520-544-5555 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

When selling a home, there's nothing better than receiving multiple offers. The problem is deciding which offer to accept. It goes without saying that every offer isn't created equal, but it can be difficult to determine the best one. Today, we want to share some tips that might help you during the process.

Recently, an incident happened to one of our team members we thought we should share. They submitted an offer with everything that's needed in our Tuscon market and gave it to the listing agent. The listing agent responded by telling us the seller didn't want to entertain any contingency offers. Our offer was contingent on the closing - our client already had their house under contract, had the inspections and appraisals completed, but was simply waiting for the official close.

We had to explain to the listing agent that over 70% of the buyers in the market have contingencies of some sort - they need to get equity out of an existing property in order to make their next purchase. That's why, when you're selling, you should expect certain contingencies when you receive an offer. The important thing is to separate the offers that have inconvenient contingencies from those that have minor ones. We are experts at this and would love to help.

If you have any questions about accepting offers, or have any general real estate questions, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you!

Are You Making Your Offer Impossible to Accept?

As the market begins to normalize and more people come out to look for homes, you may find yourself competing with several buyers for a single home. If you want your offer to be accepted, take note of the following tips:

Get Pre-approved: You need to get a pre-approval letter from a lender before you begin your home search. You need to have it ready when you submit your initial offer, or the seller won't take you seriously. We counsel all of our clients to get it done up front, so we can present an offer in a strong manner.
Send copy of proof of funds and earnest money checks: Sending these documents will give the seller confidence in you. Many buyers don't go out of their way like this to show how serious they are, so this gesture will make your offer the most attractive.

These are just a few tips that can be done a day or two before you prepare to make an offer, but they could be the difference between getting your offer accepted and missing out on your dream home. If you would like more buying tips, or have any questions about real estate, give us a call. We would be pleased to assist you in any way possible!

Why is Your Home's Online Presence so Important?

Did you know that 92% of consumers are searching for homes online? Because of this, it is crucial your home shows well online if you are going to get people into their cars and through your doors. But how can you make your home stand out from the competition online?

At the Vallee Gold Team, we go above and beyond when it comes to getting your home ready to show. We hire an interior decorator to go into your home and repurpose your furnishings for flow and positioning, so we can get the best images possible.

If you've already vacated the property, we work with professional stagers to bring furniture to your home and make it look irresistible. We'll get professional photographs taken so your home shows in it's best light online and in-person.

If you have questions about what we can do for your home, give us a call. We would love to help you get your Tucson home sold!

Tucson Market Snapshot for Fall

As the rest of the country slows down during the fall and winter months, our market here is Tucson starts to get busy. We see a flurry of activity during this time as winter visitors flood the area to escape the cold. With October underway, the season for who we affectionately call "snowbirds" has just begun.

We are starting to see an increase in traffic in listings and open houses because of the recent activity. Because inventory is just under 6,000 homes and we sold about 1,200 last month, we are at around 5 months of inventory. It's a balanced market that slightly favors sellers, as 6 months is generally considered a perfectly balanced market.

Now is a great time to list your home if you are thinking about selling. There will be a ton of buyer activity up until the holidays, where you'll see fewer, but more serious buyers. We recommend taking advantage of this highly active market!

If you have any questions about conditions in your specific area, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to give you a hand!

What Is Zillow Good for?

Just about everyone we work will bring up their home value according to what their "zestimate" was. Zillow gathers certain data from the local market and plugs it into an algorithm designed to establish a value for your home. The site is good for establishing a ballpark estimate and informing consumers where the market is heading - but not much else.

Zillow doesn't service customers very well when it comes to supply and demand. For homes under $275,000 in Tucson, we currently have a strong seller's market, with less than a 3-month supply in most areas. On the other hand, the $700,000 and above range is seeing a strong buyer's market, with an inventory of over 12 months. These differing markets have a huge effect on pricing, and Zillow doesn't take the variables into account.

Another way Zillow fails to assist the consumers is its inattention to the location of properties. Some neighborhoods demand much higher prices than surrounding areas. For instance, we just listed and sold a home with a $300,000 "zestimate" in three months and for just under $600,000. Zillow fails to take location and home improvements into account, which may lead them to undervalue your home.

As real estate professionals, it's our responsibility to get you the highest possible dollar amount for your home. Zillow provides some basic tools for the curious consumer, but serious buyers should stick with the experts. If you have any questions about what we offer over Zillow, give us a call or shoot us an email. We would love to hear from you!

Tucson Area Market Snapshot

The market here in Tucson is looking pretty strong. We currently have a balanced market, meaning we have an equal number of buyers and sellers. The amount of available inventory is at 6 months, which is always a good sign heading into the fall months.

If you're pricing your home at $250,000 or less, it's a very hot market - as many buyers are looking to purchase property in that range. If you're in the $250,000-$500,000 price range, you're in a pretty average market - as homes are sitting on the market for about 65-75 days. The luxury market is fairly slow at the moment; we have a growing number of homes on the market that aren't getting absorbed - but this is dependent on the area.

Rates are still very competitive, which is a great sign for buyers. Interest rates are just over 4%, which is about as low as they're likely to get. In fact, many experts are thinking rates are going to jump soon. Now might be the time to make your move in the Tuscon area because home prices are inching up and rates are likely to rise within the next year.

Conditions also look good if you are looking to sell. In the last 24 months home prices have increased 14% and we can expect a rise of 3% to 5% this year. If you price your home competitively, perhaps a little under the market value, you are likely to get a great value for your home in this market.

Since real estate is local, conditions may be slightly different in your area. If you would like specific details about current trends in your neighborhood, don't hesitate to give us a call or shoot us an email. We would love to chat!

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Why Hire The Vallee Gold Team?

We're not just out to sell houses, we connect people with the perfect home. You're important to us and we respect your decision to put your home buying or selling needs in my hands. When you put your trust in us, you will have access to years of experience & knowledge, right at your fingertips.We give working with you our all, whether you're a first time homebuyer, relocating from another state, or downsizing to a retirement home. We share our knowledge & expertise with your every step of the way.

The Vallee Gold Team - Long Realty Company
1890 East River Road, Tucson, AZ 85718
(520) 544-5555
don@donvallee.com

What our happy Tucson clients have to say

Click to hear recent
testimonials from happy clients

Sherwood Hamil - "Very positive. We closed on a property and followed through on everything they said they were going to do. Overall it was a very good experience! I would say they went above and beyond regarding inspections. We were unable to be there, so they took care of everything in our absence and did a great job."

James Seifert - "I was very happy with it, good time frame and good price. The materials and strategy they used were excellent. Good photographs, along with nice brochures they placed in front of the house in addition to the basic open house materials. They were excellent to work with and I would recommend them wholeheartedly."

Nancy Campbell - "We bought a house that we love! Don was available whenever we needed to look at houses because we were in and out of town quite a bit, often times very spontaneously. He was very enjoyable to work with, willing, able, I can't say enough good things about him. On a scale of 1-10, he was a 12 or 15! I would refer him to anyone in a moment and you can tell he just truly loves his work! We very much enjoyed working with him and hope to continue calling him a friend."

Gladys Carroll - "We sold our house. The process went very well, it was very quick, and it turned out great. We listed it on one day, and then the next day we had someone view it and they bought it! It went very fast. Don and his team gave us some tips, they put the house up for viewing and they did a wonderful job with that. All the advice and information was fantastic!"

Bob & Judy - "What really impressed us more than anything was whenever we had any questions he answered us immediately! He either picked up or called us right back. It was super! We were never left hanging. When you’re dealing with moving a large percentage of your assets around, there’s a lot of concern on your part. He had quick answers and he never dodged a question. I’d give him a triple-A +++ rating -- he was wonderful to deal with!"

Kim - "We purchased a home in Marana in October and Don was excellent to work with. I moved from New Jersey to Arizona with my husband for work-related purposes and by chance I found Don from an Internet search. He was great from the start and really took a lot of time showing us a lot of homes. The whole process was really stressful and what I liked about Don was that he always got back to me if I texted him, emailed him, or called him -- he was always really quick to get back to me. He really made the whole transition easier and I don’t know what we would’ve done without him!"

Cathy - "I was absolutely thrilled! When I first contacted Don, he went after hours and met me -- not even at his office -- at a halfway point, that was more convenient for me. When we agreed on a purchase price, because it was a short sale, he worked overtime and ended up saving us $10,000 because the appraisal came in lower than our agreed price. So he was able to convince them to give us $10,000 off! Those were two things that were exceptional!"

Rob Spath - "We both sold our houses and found a house to buy. Everything went quick and orderly and they were nice and flexible to meet our needs. There was a situation where we worked with some of the closing cost options and they were flexible to make it all work out for us. I enjoyed working with the team!"

Liz - "We got good results! We were able to find the home that we were looking for. I would say our results were excellent. We were under contract with one home and then we had to quickly change directions and look at other homes. He was always available and very helpful. We were coming from out of town so he was able to show us homes in areas that I wasn’t very familiar with and that ended up being very helpful in our home search."

Kaitlyn - "It was really nice working with the Vallee Gold team because they weren’t pushy at all. We were first time home buyers and they were really good about working with us and making sure that we were comfortable and had the house we wanted. It was perfect! Don even went out of his way on a Sunday and came to show my dad some of the houses we were considering while he was in town. He answered all of our questions and really showed that he cared about us."

Bill - "We’ve done a number to transactions with Don Vallee and the Vallee Gold team over a number of years and have always had good results. They’re very knowledgeable about what they’re doing and are extremely hard workers, which is something that I value a lot. We’ve done real well and have a really good relationship. "

Bob - "When we were searching for a home with Don, we still were trying to figure out whether we wanted to live in Portland or in the Tucson area. After a while we decided to live in Tucson but we were still living in Portland so when we were doing some remodeling on the home we relied on Don to take measurements and other things of that nature. He was very willing to step up and provide very accurate information for us. The whole relationship was cooperative, collegial and it was one of the easiest home buys that we’ve encountered!"

"Don sold my home on Tucson. Home had been on market for many months before I hired him. Original realtors were not successful in generating any traffic. Once I listed the home with Don the home sold in 20 days. Customer service was excellent. Great follow through. Great team he has developed. Would not hesitate to use his services again."

Over the years I have worked with many Realtors. Don Vallee is undoubtedly the best so far. I hope to have the pleasure of working with him on other transactions in the future as he is a man that takes a problem and just solves it. No problem seems too big for Don and his good nature is a big part of that."

"Don did a great job for us! Selling one's home is a hard thing to do. Don was very knowledgeable and patient in helping us make the decision. Once we decided to sell, Don and his team dove right in, and got us listed and on the market. Most importantly, he got quick results. Good job Don!"

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