Buying a Home May Be Cheaper Than Renting One

If you’ve been renting a home, you’ve been paying too much. In Tucson, it’s actually cheaper to buy your own home than to rent one.

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.

Today I want to talk to renters who are considering buying a home. In the past four years, rental rates have gone up at a dramatically higher rate than home values. Rental rates are skyrocketing right now, so we are going to talk you through a few statistics when it comes to renting vs. buying.

The median sale price last month in Tucson was $173,000. If you were to buy that house with 10% down, your monthly payment would be right around $900. If you were to rent that same house today, your payment would be around $1,360 per month.

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It’s a great time to take a serious look at becoming a homeowner.

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As you can see, you are paying a premium for renting. I strongly suggest that renters reach out to a real estate professional or a lending professional and have them explain the details to you. I’m sure you will find that buying is in your best interest.

I suggest you talk to someone soon. Interest rates are still at record lows but housing prices are starting to inch back up as the market recovers. It’s a great time to take a serious look at becoming a homeowner, no matter what your situation.

If you have any questions, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

How Residential Purchase Contracts Work in Arizona

The residential purchase contract has three contingencies in it to protect buyers and ensure they are buying a home without any surprises.

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 you make an offer on a home in Arizona, you will present a home seller with our residential purchase contract. The primary point to that offer is what you are physically offering – the financial side of things. 

This includes your down payment, your earnest money, and your pre-approval if you’re buying with financing. We put all of this together and submit an offer so it’s taken seriously. The purchase contract contains three contingencies, which are in there to protect you as a buyer.

The first contingency is the inspection period, which gives you 10 days to order and complete any inspections on the home that you choose. We then send the inspection report to the seller with a list of items that we want them to repair. If they don’t respond in the way you want or you can’t come to an agreement, you are then free to cancel the contract. At the same time, we use a title company to make sure the home will be easily transferable if you choose to proceed.

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We have never lost a penny of our clients’ earnest money.

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If you and the seller come to an agreement on the repairs, it’s time to move on to the next contingency – the appraisal contingency. Your lender is going to order the appraisal for an appraiser to come up and inspect the property and confirm the property is worth what the offer is. This ensures you don’t overpay.

The final contingency is the loan contingency. Through the entire process, the lender is going to give the seller updates on how the loan is proceeding. If something were to happen in the middle of the transaction that resulted in you not being able to afford the home, you won’t be forced to buy the property. 

If you manage the transaction properly, your earnest money is never at risk. We have never lost a penny of clients’ earnest money in 16 years and we don’t plan on starting now.

If you have any questions for us or would like to take a look at a copy of our purchase contract, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

What the Dodd-Frank Act Means to Buyers & Sellers

Mortgage laws and guidelines have changed a lot after the Dodd-Frank Act. In fact, new mortgage rules and standards now have a noticeable effect on both buyers and sellers.

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.

I wanted to revisit the topic of mortgages so that buyers have an idea of what to expect in today's market. 

The Dodd-Frank Act brought a lot of changes to the mortgage industry in the last couple of years, and most of them were implemented this year. This affects you, the consumer, in terms of the time it takes to close a home loan. Before the act, a mortgage usually took about 20 to 30 days to close, whereas today, it's closer to 30 to 45 days. Some of the government-backed loans like VA loans or FHA loans are stretching out even longer.

If you're a buyer, you'll want to get your lending issues resolved as early in the process as you can so your lender can move quickly once you go under contract. On the seller side, you can also expect delays. Typically, agents write contracts with a 30- to-45 day closing, and if the lender runs into any difficulties getting it approved, we end up having to push them out a bit.

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You want to get lending issues resolved ASAP to avoid delays.

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Make sure you coordinate with your agent so that neither of you encounters any surprises like having to move out of the house earlier or later than you originally thought.

Another issue in the mortgage world that's affecting both buyers and sellers is appraisals. With new government regulations, lenders don't reach out directly to appraisers anymore; instead, they go through a central clearing house so that the lender can't affect the results of the appraisal. 

Appraisers are backed up as well. Normally, they have a 10-day window from the time they're ordered to respond back with the appraisal. With the volume of activity we're having right now, the appraisers are also backlogged. That 10-day period is now closer to a 12- to 15-day norm.

If you're thinking about buying or selling a home or you have any questions about mortgages and how they've changed, give us a call. We'd be happy to help you in any way we can.

What’s Happening in the Tucson Real Estate Market?

The nationwide real estate market has been very strong for the last couple of years, and the same is true for the current Tucson real estate market. I’ll go over a quick market update for you today.

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.

As everyone knows, the economy is recovering and people feel more optimistic. Interest rates have also been historically low lately. As a result, the nationwide real estate market has been very strong for the last couple of years. The same is true for the current Tucson real estate market.

Right now, housing inventory in Tucson is dropping. That means buyers have fewer options to choose from and need to be a little better prepared. You need to be able to move fast on a property because as inventory continues to drop, you will face more competition for that same property. In fact, multiple offer situations are happening right now. Buyers who are able to put in a strong offer will prevail and win those properties.

If you are a seller, falling inventory is good news. As inventory goes down, home prices go up. Prices are currently on the rise in Tucson and have been for the last couple of years. Sales are also up by 14% year to date, further depleting our existing housing inventory.

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As inventory goes down, home prices go up.

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What does this mean for you? If you are buying a home, you need to get everything squared away with your lender so that you are ready to make an offer on a property right away. Homes are spending fewer days on market, so not only will you face more competition in today’s market, you also have less time to make a decision on a property.

If you are a seller, now is a good time to talk to a real estate professional and figure out what your home is worth in the current market.

If you have any other questions about today’s market, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

Tips for Buying New Construction and Vacant Lots

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.

If you are considering building a new construction, custom home, there is something you should know.

Lending rules have changed quite a bit in the last four years. The industry has become very conservative about lending for land purchases. Just know that if you are going to buy a piece of land and build a house on it, you probably want to talk to a lender as early into the process as you can.

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Talk to a lender as early in the process as you can.

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We have lenders who specialize in new construction as well as land and construction packages. We can help guide you through that process.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. We would be happy to help you!

The Advantages of Evaporative Cooling in Tucson

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.

If you aren’t from Southern Arizona, you are probably in for a bit of a surprise. Our listings here have heating and cooling, just like any other home in the country. However, some properties have evaporative cooling in addition to regular air conditioning.

What is evaporative cooling? Evaporative cooling dumps a high volume of moist air into the house. Since our area has low relative humidity, the moist air evaporates and cools the home. You don’t see this in other parts of the country because our area is so dry.

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Evaporative cooling will save you a lot of money on utilities.

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Evaporative cooling can save you a lot of money on utilities. In fact, you can run an evaporative cooling unit at 25% of the cost of a standard AC unit. The downside is that once monsoon season starts in July, our humidity goes up and evaporative cooling doesn’t work as well.

However, you can still use evaporative cooling during the first half of the summer. When monsoon season hits, you can use your regular air conditioner.

If you have any questions, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

Why Mortgages Are Taking Longer to Go Through

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.

Last October, the Dodd-Frank ruling finally went into effect and changed a lot of rules for mortgage lending. It doubled, maybe tripled the workload of lenders behind-the-scenes, so lately we’ve run into frequent delayed and extended closings.

Today I just wanted to alert everyone to this problem and remind them that, when you write an offer in this market, it's prudent to be pre-approved. You’ll want to get this up-front before you start looking so you can make an offer right away to get the process moving on quickly.

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Very few lenders have been able to do the standard 30-day close.

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Write your closing date out into the future, around 35-45 days. With the recent changes, very few lenders have been able to do the standard 30-day close with these new rules and regulations.

If you have any questions for me, please reach out and give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to hear from you.

Why You Should Have an Agent With You Viewing New Construction

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.

It’s been pretty quiet lately in Arizona regarding new construction. A lot of developers are starting to develop subdivisions and large tracts of properties in Tucson. I‘d like to take the opportunity to reach out to buyers and let you know that it doesn’t cost you anything to be represented in a new construction site. If you bring an agent along with you, that agent can represent you and your interests throughout the transaction at no cost to you.

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New construction contracts are different than resale contracts.

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It may not be obvious to everybody, but the person behind the counter you meet when you walk into the sales office is working for the builder and the developer. They’re not working for you. If you want somebody to look after your interests, you should recruit your real estate agent to go in with you and get you registered on your first visit so they can represent you through the whole ordeal. The new construction contract is also quite a bit different than the standard residential resale contract, so you’d be well-advised to have your agent review it and talk you through the nuances.

If you have any more questions, send me an email or give me a call. Make it a great day.

Avoid Getting Scammed When Wiring Funds

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.

The crooks on the Internet are getting creative. They’ve figured out a way to intercept the wiring of funds to and from escrow companies. In fact, they know how to scan for keywords in emails about wiring situations within real estate transactions.

Maybe you’re a buyer that needs to wire a down payment or other money in a transaction. You could also be a seller and might receive wired money back from the title company soon. Either way, you need to be careful. The wiring instructions you’re receiving should come from the proper entity. Crooks sometimes pose as the title or escrow company to trick you and steal from you. 

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Use caution!

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Consider this an alert! In my next video, I’ll talk about this topic further with an expert from a title company. If you’re a buyer or seller in this situation, please use caution!

If you’re thinking about buying or selling a Tucson home, contact me by phone or email. I’d be happy to help you and answer any questions you might have!

Why to Avoid Overpricing in the Tucson Market

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.

It’s June now, and things are starting to warm up in Tucson. As our temperature goes up, the number of visitors goes down. Tourism doesn’t stop, but it slows down a bit. We go from 100% to about 80% to 85%. It’s still possible to sell in this market, but only if you approach it the right way. That means avoiding overpricing. First of all, buyers who are shopping are studying all the inventory on the market, and if you overprice, they’ll know you’re overpriced. This will cause them to skip over your home and not even look at it until you make price reductions to bring it down to market value. 

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It’s important to price your home right at market value.

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Secondly, by overpricing, you are going to make your competition look more attractive. Buyers will perceive the competition as a better value, and they will be more interested in those homes. As always, it’s important to price your home right at market value and not a penny higher. You’re better off pricing it there and letting us do the negotiation for you. If you have any questions for us, don’t hesitate to reach out by giving us a call or sending us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

The Key to a Good First Impression with Tucson Buyers

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.

Our team here uses a professional photographer for our marketing, and there are key reasons why it’s important in today’s modern market. Consumers probably look at thousands of photos when home shopping, so what will make your listing stand out? High quality photos!

Most buyers start their home search online, so that’s where you need to make that great first impression. Properties that have the best photos are the ones that they are going to see when they begin their search. Almost 92% of home showings actually begin online with a person in front of a computer screen, so photography cannot be underestimated.

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You never get a second chance at a first impression

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You want to avoid any kind of dark, grainy, or low-resolution photos. When you put pictures like that up on a website or on the MLS, it isn’t very appealing to buyers, and you likely won’t capture many buyers.

The pictures of your home need to be in high definition and taken by a professional photographer. Wide-angle lenses help tell the story of a home by capturing the home from ceiling to floor.

If you have any questions for us, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

Are You Pre-Qualified in Tucson?

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.

The inventory of available homes in Tucson is shrinking, and this is also occurring on a national level. However, what are you to do if you’re trying to buy a home? That’s what we’ll be discussing today.

One simple thing you can do is speak with a mortgage lender and get pre-qualified for a home loan. When you’re crafting offers to sellers, you need to stand out, and being pre-qualified is one way to push your offer to the top of the pile. In fact, most sellers will not even entertain an offer from a buyer who has not been pre-qualified.

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Sellers won’t even entertain offers from buyers who are not pre-qualified.

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Why let someone purchase your home if you are unsure that they can afford it? That’s what sellers are thinking when you submit an offer without a pre-approval or a pre-qualification. This is why you absolutely have to be approved to buy a home.

You will also need to hire a Realtor in order to craft a more attractive offer to a seller. We can also help you find homes that you might not have found otherwise. We work with other Realtors who have pocket homes that are unavailable to most of the public.

We can help you find your dream home - and we can help you purchase it for a fair price. Please don’t hesitate to contact us!

Expert Advice for Buyers of New Construction in Tucson

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.

Construction season has arrived in Tucson, and today I’ll be giving you tips to help you when you’re buying a newly-built home. The last few years have been a little slow, but the developers are coming back and we’re going to see a particularly strong year. New subdivisions are going up everywhere.

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You’ll need an agent to negotiate on your behalf.

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However - be warned - you might want to hire an agent to help you buy a new home. The agent at the home works exclusively for the seller, so they will not be attempting to help you buy the home. When you do hire a buyer’s agent, the builder will pay their commission, so there is no reason not to hire some help. If you don’t you have a very large chance of not getting the best deal possible.

Our team of agents has established relationships with builders and we can get you a great deal on a new home. Interest rates are low, so it’s a fantastic time to purchase a home. Please don’t hesitate to contact us!

Expert Advice to Sell Your Tucson Home for Top Dollar

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.

We expect this to be a great year for home sellers in Tucson. Rising interest rates will push home buyers out onto the market, and you can capitalize on this if you are looking to sell in 2016. It could be a very profitable time to put your home on the market.

Keep in mind that the most important thing you do while selling your home is finding an accurate price for it. The best person to talk to about this is your local Realtor. My team will come out to your property and run a competitive market analysis. We research the market and comparable properties around your home in order to find a reasonable sale price.

Another option is to hire an appraiser to come take a look at your home. This will cost a bit more, but it’s a good way to get an independent estimate for the price of your home.

Something we like to do is analyze the three C’s of your home. This is the condition, the competition, and the consumption in your area. These statistics can tell us a lot about what buyers might be willing to pay for your home. Ultimately, it is the buyer that will determine the final sale price of your home.

If you have any questions, or would like to schedule a time for us to come and speak to you about your property, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Hiring a Realtor When Buying Is a Smart Move

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.

Today I want to specifically talk to home buyers who are thinking of buying a home as to why they need to consider hiring a Realtor when looking for a home, and what you should consider yourself when hiring a professional Realtor.

First, let’s talk about cost. When you hire us to assist you in buying a home, you are able to tap into our company’s 50+ years of experience, and it won’t cost you a dime. In Arizona, all Realtor expenses are paid for by the seller at closing. You have the opportunity to hire a professional at no cost to you.

Secondly, a buyer’s agent helps greatly with pricing. In our market, we can have houses that are in similar adjoining neighborhoods with differences in value of 10% to 15%. We can analyze the correct costs and can figure out what you should offer and how you can buy it.

Finally, real estate is becoming more complex by the year. There are so many forms, documents, and disclosures to complete, having a Realtor there to sort through them and make sure you’re not getting taken advantage of is a huge help.

Do you want to tap into our 50+ years of experience? We would love to help you through the process of buying a home. If you have any questions for us, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

Tips to Prepare Your Tucson Home for Sale

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.

About 92% of showings begin on a computer screen. Buyers utilize the Internet to look for their dream home, and they’re likely to stumble upon your MLS listing before your physical address. It could even be on a smartphone. That’s why images are extremely important. They reveal your property, and you want to make sure they’re dazzling. We hire professional photographers to provide quality photos to accompany your listing. 

Be sure to increase curb appeal. The first impression is everything for prospective buyers. If buyers don’t like your home from the outside, it’ll deter them from going inside. Clean up the front yard, front door, and the sidewalks. Bring in some bright colors and plant some fresh flowers in the garden.



The inside of your home matters, too. We bring in professional stagers to help our clients make their home shine. We focus on interior design, such as how furniture is arranged and repurposed. When you hire us, you’ll meet with our Interior Decorator; in fact, this consultation is included in our real estate seller program.

Ultimately, we want to do everything in our power to reach out to those 92% of buyers that will see your home for the first time online. That’s our strategy to get as many people through your front door as possible. If you’re thinking about buying or selling a home, reach out to us today. We’d be happy to hear from you and serve your local real estate needs!

Transition From a Tucson Tenant to a Homeowner

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 you rent a home, you’re essentially paying off your landlord’s mortgage. You could be taking that same monthly payment and instead, be using it towards a home of your own. Now is an opportune time to seriously consider making a move. Here’s why.

Rental rates are rising faster than single-family homes are appreciating. You’re in a situation where rent is increasing and will only continue to do so. You can dodge high payments by locking in a 30-year fixed mortgage.

Interest rates are at record lows. That’s why timing is so crucial. Don’t wait, because these rates are expected to increase. Don’t miss out on locking in a low rate.

Due to the economic crunch we experienced in the last decade, the lending industry tightened up standards. However, since our economy is quickly recovering, standards are becoming loose again. This is yet another advantage to acting now. You can get into a home with as little as 3% down!

Now is a great time if you’ve been seriously considering turning into a homeowner, renters! Reach out to a real estate professional today. If you’re thinking about buying, let’s talk through that idea. Give me a call or send me an email today!