How to Maximize Your Home’s Sale Price While Minimizing Costs

The earlier a house sells, the higher the price it generally sells for.

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.

While the rest of the country is still dealing with the tail end of winter, right now in Arizona we’re in our prime home selling season. Here in Tucson in particular, February through June are our strongest months. If you’re a seller, how can you maximize your sale price while minimizing your costs? 

Let’s start with maximizing your sale price. Your home must give a strong first impression, and that first impression starts outside on the street where people pull up in their cars. The front yard landscaping, the front entry, and your home’s exterior painting all contribute significantly to your home’s curb appeal. 

The earlier a house sells, the higher the price it generally sells for.

Once you get inside the house, the carpeting, flooring, and windows all need to be clean. Layer on a fresh coat of paint if possible. Making these areas look spotless might seem like a nuisance, but doing it will help your house sell quicker. The earlier a house sells in its listing period, the higher the price it generally sells for. 

What about minimizing your costs? Not many sellers do this, but we recommend getting your home inspected. Have a home inspector go through your home with a fine-toothed comb so you can repair any items with a vendor of your choice. You lose a lot of cost control if you let the buyer do their own inspection after you’re under contract and select which vendors to use.

Whether you’re a buyer or a seller looking to make a move in our market, please give us a call so we can help you out. We look forward to hearing from you!

How Has the Election Impacted the Tucson Market?

A lot has happened in the Tucson real estate market since the election. Here’s what you need to know. 

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’m discussing the post-election market in Tucson and what things look like going forward for buyers and sellers. As many of you are aware, interest rates were slightly over 3% in the last quarter of 2016. Since then, they have shot up to as high as 4.5%. That swing is certainly affecting buyers because it’s making homes more expensive and forcing buyers to come down from their previous purchase prices a little bit.

There are a few factors that you need to consider if you're buying or selling in Tucson. One of these is the abundance of new construction in town. We’ve had virtually no new construction here since 2007, so there’s pent-up demand for new homes.

New construction could affect your sale price.

If you’re a seller, you need to be cognizant of new construction in your area because of how it could affect your home sale. If you’re selling under $300,000 however, you shouldn’t have to worry about it too much. Home sales are up 12% over a year ago and inventory is down 28%. This puts you in a strong seller’s market. Homes in this range are selling quickly and very close to, if not over, list price. Some homes are even getting multiple offers.

If you’re buying in this market, you need to be prepared to move and move quickly on a desirable property. However, it might take losing a few properties to get the right one, so be cognizant of that as well.

If you have any questions for me or if you’re thinking about buying or selling in Tucson, give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you.

Calling All Renters & Investors in Tucson

Today we're talking directly to investors and renters. Now is a great time for both to finally buy a property here 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.

I'd like to take this chance to reach out to potential investors and renters to talk a bit about the Tucson market and how it may affect you.

First, let me point out that rental rates are rising two to three times faster than the appreciation of new homes. If you're a renter, you already know this, because you're probably seeing your rent go up. 

Here in Tucson, our average sale price for a home is $217,000, which is pretty competitive as far as the country goes. If you pay $1,300 to $1,400 a month in rent, you can actually buy an average-priced home in the Tucson market for the same amount. Interest rates are still very low, but they will start to inch up as the economy improves.

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ROI for investment properties in our market is better than it has been for decades.

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If you're a renter getting pushed around with rent and you're thinking about buying a home, talk to a lender and seriously take a look at what you could buy for the same amount of money you pay every month in rent. Then, you could have the additional tax write-offs at the end of the year that you don't get as a renter.

As for investors, now is a good time to start looking at properties. Prices are going up and inventory is going down, so it's getting a little more complicated. The point is that the return on investment today in the Tucson market for investors buying a rental property is probably higher than it's been in the last couple decades.

If you're a renter or an investor looking to buy a property, don't hesitate to give me a call or send me an email today. I'd be glad to help you in any way that I can.

2017 Tucson Market Update: Growth on the Horizon

Here’s a quick recap on 2016 and some insight into what Tucson’s 2017 real estate market will look like.   

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.

Now that 2017 is underway, I wanted to bring you a quick update on the Tucson real estate market. 

As it turned out, 2016 was actually a great rebuilding year. Our average list price is up about 4% and our average unit sales are up about 3% from last year. Things are looking pretty positive, and we are still in a recovering economy, which means the market is recovering as well.

On the other hand, we have seen a large decrease in inventory. The active listings in the MLS are down to about 4,000, which is a 20% decrease from last year. As supply goes down, prices go up, which means we should see continued upward movement in prices in 2017. This is great news for sellers, but buyers need to be prepared to move fairly quickly to purchase a property. 

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Growth in Tuscon will bring a great year for real estate.

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Last year, our average days on market was 60, and today it’s 47. Homes that are in the right areas and priced right are selling very quickly. In fact, 68% of our sales happen in the first 60 days. If you are looking to buy, make sure you have met with your lender and are ready to jump on a property. 

2017 is going to be a great year for real estate based on a few things that are happening here in Tucson. Raytheon, one of our largest employers, just got a $2 billion government contract and will be hiring somewhere close to 2,000 people over the next couple of years. Caterpillar, from Peoria, Illinois, is moving some of their management level people here. The University of Arizona will be opening a graduate veterinary school in Oro Valley which will bring in 500 students initially, then grow to 800. Roche Medical is also continuing to expand. All of these factors will be great for our market growth.

If you are looking to buy or sell a home or if you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you!