Greater Phoenix Real Estate Podcast with Alan Kushmakov

Phoenix Market Update Through December 2017

Alan@AlanKRealtyGroup.com (Alan Kushmakov) — Thu, 14 Dec 2017 09:05:00 -0800

I’ve got a quick market update to share with you. Here’s what you should know about Phoenix real estate.

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As we head toward the end of the year, I have a market update to share with you. We took a look at the latest real estate statistics for this past month and compared them to what we saw at this time last year. Here are a few of the more important things we want you to know about:

1. The 7,214 home sales we saw last month are up from the 6,890 we saw in November 2016.

2. The average sale price is up from $282,000 in November 2016 to $308,000 in November of this year.

3. The average days on market is down from 67 days to just 63.

4. The average sold price per square foot is up 6.5%, from $277,000 to $296,000. A great figure for anybody who is thinking of getting in the market.

Reach out if you have any specific questions for us.

If you have any specific questions or want to learn more about what’s going on in the market, give us a call or send us an email. In the meantime, we wish you and your family a very happy holiday season and a happy new year. We were blessed to be able to help so many of you this year, and we hope to help even more of you in the future.

We look forward to hearing from you soon!

What Does The Market Have in Store for Those Who List Now

Alan@AlanKRealtyGroup.com (Alan Kushmakov) — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 08:10:00 -0800

We’ve got a quick market update for you today. We’ve also got the answer to a common homeowner question.

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I’ve got a quick Phoenix real estate market update for you today, but before I get to that I wanted to answer a common question I’ve been getting recently. The question is, “Should I list my home now or wait until next year?”

My answer is that it depends on your situation. If you plan on hosting a lot during the holidays or you have a few repairs to get taken care of prior to listing, it might make sense for you to wait until next spring to sell.

On the flip side, December has been one of the busiest months of the year for our team over the last few years. We’ve been seeing more and more motivated buyers around this time of year. These buyers are writing offers as many sellers are pulling their homes off the market until spring. If you decide to list now before the end of the year, this gives you a huge advantage in the market.

We’ve been seeing more and more motivated buyers this time of year.

Speaking of the market, let’s switch gears a little bit and talk about what kind of numbers we’re seeing in Maricopa County right now. Here’s what we’re keeping an eye on:

Closed sales are at 7,408. This is an increase of 4% from last year.
The average sale price has increased 4% to $297,000.
The average price per square foot of sold homes is up to $148.
The average days on market is down from 69 to just 60 days.

We currently have 19,294 homes on the market. This gives us about 2.5 months of inventory and puts us squarely in a seller’s market.

If you have any questions for me or would like more information about what your home could be worth for in the current market, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help.

Where Can You Find Properties Besides the MLS?

Alan@AlanKRealtyGroup.com (Alan Kushmakov) — Wed, 6 Sep 2017 10:48:00 -0700

Buying a home in this kind of market is tough. Here are four ways we make things easier for our buyers.

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If you’re looking to buy a home but you’re having a hard time finding a good fit or you keep getting beat out by other offers, we have some solutions to share with you.

We try to go outside the box to find homes for our buyers. In a super hot seller’s market like ours, homes in the lower price ranges ($300,000 and under) are selling in less than a month. This means we need to be creative, and here are four ways we are finding more properties for our buyers to look at:

You’ve got to be creative to find a great home in this market.

1. Coming soon listings. These are listings that our team has that aren’t on the market yet. The listing agreement is signed, but most of the time we take a little extra time to get these homes ready for the market. You can check all of them out on our website.

2. Off-market properties. We find a lot of these by calling homeowners who had their homes on the market in the past but didn’t end up selling. Most of the time, these people are still interested in selling. However, they are nervous about another failed listing. By reaching out to those people and letting them know we have a qualified buyer looking for a home like theirs, we can greatly increase your chances of being able to buy the home.

3. FSBO homes. Also known as “For Sale By Owner” homes, these homes are being sold without the use of a listing agent. However, most FSBOs hire a buyer’s agent to help them find a buyer. That’s why it’s important to know who you are hiring so you know they have your best interests in mind.

4. Wholesale properties. There are many of these throughout the Valley. Most of them need at least some kind of major repair. If you’re an investor or someone who isn’t afraid to get their hands dirty, this might be a great option for you.

I hope this information has been helpful for you. If you have any questions for me or want to learn more about how we help buyers succeed in this market, watch this short video.

Who’s Our Phoenix Market Favoring as We Head Into August?

Alan@AlanKRealtyGroup.com (Alan Kushmakov) — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 10:05:00 -0700

The latest numbers from our market paint a different picture for buyers and sellers.

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As we hit mid-August in our metro Phoenix area, the latest numbers provide some good news and bad news for buyers and sellers.

There are currently 17,678 active listings on the MLS, which is a 12% decrease from the 19,711 listings that were active at this point last year. For all types of homes, our average days on market is 66 days. For sellers, this is great news. In some neighborhoods around the Valley, we’re even approaching 2006-level numbers, which was the peak of our market.

In some neighborhoods around the Valley, we’re even approaching 2006-level numbers.

For buyers, the news is not so great. There are a lot of buyers out there looking for homes in the $300,000 range, but there is a shortage of inventory at that price point.

If you’re a buyer and you’re having a difficult time finding your next home, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us so we can provide you with access to our off-market and FSBO (for sale by owner) properties.

If you’re a seller or you have any other questions about our market, feel free to give us a call. Talk to you soon!

The Importance of Preparing Your Home Before Putting it on the Market

Alan@AlanKRealtyGroup.com (Alan Kushmakov) — Mon, 1 May 2017 11:56:00 -0700

If you’re trying to sell your home this summer, the clock is ticking. You can’t just get your home ready for the market on a few days notice.

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A lot of sellers who visit our website say they are interested in selling, but aren’t quite ready to do so until the summer comes. I think these people are making a big mistake for a few reasons.

There is a tried and true process to getting a home ready to put on the market. You can’t just list a home for sale, you’ve got to prepare it as well. Our team offers interior design services; which is pretty unique. Our designer will come to your home, take a walk through, and give you a list of items that can help make your home show-ready and increase its chances of selling for little or no money.

You need to prepare for the market to secure a great sale price.

These fixes can range from simple things like decluttering or replacing a faucet to repainting the house or replacing the carpet. Your goal is to make sure the house sells in a timely manner for a good price, and preparing it before you sell is just one way to ensure that.

For homeowners with properties built between the 1960s and the 1980s, getting a home inspection prior to listing your home on the market isn’t a bad idea. We had a situation a few months back where we had a property that garnered a lot of interest really quickly from buyers, but there were some major foundation issues uncovered by the buyer’s inspection and they backed out of the deal. It delayed the home sale by about three months, which is something we never want to happen.

If you have any questions about what you can do to prepare your home further or any other real estate questions, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

What Do the Latest Numbers Reveal About Our Market?

Alan@AlanKRealtyGroup.com (Alan Kushmakov) — Fri, 7 Apr 2017 08:58:00 -0700

According to the latest statistics, our market is very healthy, but it’s also favoring sellers more than buyers.

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Today I want to give you a quick multi-market update for March 2017. Last month was a busy month for us, but how did our market do compared to March 2016?

For starters, the number of home sales increased to 9,248, which is about 1,000 more homes than were sold in March 2016. Our level of inventory dropped from 25,000 in March 2016 to about 23,000 homes last month.

This shortage of inventory is especially evident when we look for homes for our buyers. Lastly, our average days on market decreased from 63 days in March 2016 to 59 days last month.

The latest stats from our market paint a promising picture for sellers.

Overall, our market is very healthy, but it’s definitely favoring sellers. If you’re on the fence about selling your home, you can reach out to us and we’ll provide you with a comprehensive price analysis of your home free of charge.

If you have any other questions about our market, just give us a call or send us an email. We’d be happy to help.

Merry Christmas From Our Team to You

Alan@AlanKRealtyGroup.com (Alan Kushmakov) — Wed, 21 Dec 2016 11:33:00 -0800

We are so grateful for your support this year. It helped our business immensely and we wanted to say thanks.

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Merry Christmas and happy holidays! We hope you and your family enjoy all that this amazing season has to offer.

We wanted to take a quick moment to thank you for all your support throughout the years. We wouldn’t be where we are today without you. It has been our pleasure to help make your real estate dreams come true.

I hope you take this time to make some wonderful memories with your friends and family. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We are always here to help you in any way we can. Just give us a call or send us an email. Happy holidays!

How Can You Avoid a Double Move?

Alan@AlanKRealtyGroup.com (Alan Kushmakov) — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 10:20:00 -0700

I received a great question recently from Steve in Glendale. He is selling his home but needs to close on that sale before he purchases his next home. His main concern is selling the home and not being able to find something his family likes. He doesn’t want to rent for two to three months while he looks because it’s not an ideal situation for his family.

This is a pretty common predicament.

This situation is actually pretty common. I would say that nearly 80% of homeowners find themselves in a similar situation when it comes time to move. You have multiple options for how you want to attack this, here are the three most common courses of action:

1. Extending the close of escrow by 60 days. Most of the time, unless it is a unique situation, we can easily find you a property within this time frame. We can even set it up so that both homes close on the same day.

2. A post-possession agreement. This option is more common for people who are looking for a unique home. You can ask the buyer to give you 10 to 15 days to help you close on the home you are buying as well as the home you are selling.

3. A lease back. This is where we sell your home and ask the buyer to rent it back to you for a month or two until you can find the ideal home.

These are the three most common options that we see home sellers taking advantage of. It’s important to work with an agent who is aware of problems like this in a transaction and has solutions for them too. If you have any questions for me, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you!

The Key to Getting a Good Home Warranty

Alan@AlanKRealtyGroup.com (Alan Kushmakov) — Mon, 1 Aug 2016 10:14:00 -0700

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We're asked all the time if a home warranty is necessary. People are unsure about paying for them and whether they’ll even need to use them before they expire.

A home warranty is something that will cover the cost of the repairs as well as the replacement of systems or appliances in your home. Typically, they range from $400 to $1,000 per year and you can renew them on an annual basis. A home warranty is great to have if something happens in your home, because the home warranty company can usually send someone out within 24 to 48 hours. You will have a small copay for each claim, but you won’t have to shell out stacks of cash to replace an entire part of your home.

The older the home, the more coverage you should get.

If you are planning on buying a home that’s older than five years, consider a home warranty. Systems and appliances go through natural wear and tear, so you want to make sure you’re protected when you buy the home. If you don’t have time to research contractors or technicians, the home warranty company can take care of all that.

If you’re a first-time buyer and used to a landlord taking care of your property, a home warranty is simikar. We usually offer the home warranty policy to our clients as a gift, but you can buy one anytime.

The older the home, the more coverage you should get. That’s a good rule of thumb. If you have any questions for us, please give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to answer them.

4 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Rely on Zillow

Alan@AlanKRealtyGroup.com (Alan Kushmakov) — Tue, 5 Jul 2016 09:24:00 -0700

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Zillow has been a pretty hot topic lately, especially after they acquired Trulia for $2.5 billion. Right now, Zillow is the de facto real estate search engine in the world. Buyers and sellers alike use Zillow’s Zestimate tool to determine the value of the property.

Can you trust those Zestimates? I would say no, and there are four reasons why:

Zillow does not come out to your home. They don’t really know what kind of features you have in your home. They don’t know what upgrades you have made to your home. Those are critical factors to your home value. We come out to your home and attach price value to every upgrade you have made to your house, and we do it for free.
Zillow does not assess the value of your lot. Does it back up to a golf course, lake, or major road? Again, this is a very important factor when determining what your home is worth.
Zillow has data inaccuracies. Some associations around the country do not give Zillow access to their data so they have to use third party vendors. You have probably noticed that Zillow will have properties listed as for sale when that home actually sold three months ago.
The market shifts. We are in a hot market right now and some neighborhoods around town have very low inventory. You need someone who can give you this information in real time, and with Zillow, that is not the case.

“

Don’t rely on Zillow when you
make big real estate decisions.

”

The best way to know what your property is worth is to talk to a local, expert real estate agent and have them assess your home value.

If you have any questions about what a property is worth, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you with a free valuation. Your home is probably worth more than you think!

4 Ways to Improve the Value of Your Home Before Listing

Alan@AlanKRealtyGroup.com (Alan Kushmakov) — Fri, 17 Jun 2016 13:08:00 -0700

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Lots of homeowners want to know how they can add value to a home they’re going to sell without spending a lot of money. There are four things you want to do to improve value before you list:

Improve curb appeal. The first thing buyers see when they pull up is the house, your front door, and the landscaping. Plant some fresh flowers or plants, make sure the grass is green, add some rock when appropriate, and maybe even paint the front door.
Declutter inside the house. We’ve all got stuff, and probably a lot of it. You may need to rearrange furniture or put some in the garage to create space. Remove stuff from the countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms and remove family pictures to depersonalize the house, too.
Paint the walls bright and neutral colors. Consider painting the baseboards and doors to add some additional value.
Update fixtures and faucets. This is something I believe creates a lot of value. You really want to replace these if your house was built before 2000. Simply update the doorknobs and maybe even light fixtures.

“

These four inexpensive things

all add value to your home.

”

All of these things add a lot of value and don’t cost much. If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you.

Three Reasons to Hire a Buyer’s Agent

Alan@AlanKRealtyGroup.com (Alan Kushmakov) — Fri, 6 May 2016 09:23:00 -0700

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There are two types of real estate agents: listing agents who work with sellers and buyer’s agents who help you find a home. There are 3 main reasons to hire a buyer’s agent.

First of all, the fiduciary duties and responsibilities of the buyer’s agent are incredibly important. The buyer’s agent puts your interests ahead of their own. If you work with the agent listing the home, you’re in a gray area. The listing agent has a responsibility to the seller’s best interests, not yours.

Also, the buyer’s agent negotiates for you during the inspection period. They will negotiate repairs, closing dates, and make sure you get all the credits and cost benefits in your favor.

Finally, the buyer’s agent's services are free. All we ask in return is your commitment to working with us. Our proceeds are paid by the seller, not the buyer.

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

Why Hire the Alan K Realty Group?

Alan@AlanKRealtyGroup.com (Alan Kushmakov) — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 12:54:00 -0700

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Today, I’ll discuss why you should hire me to get your home sold in Valley. Here’s three reasons why.

We have over 5,000 buyers in our database. We call them buyers in waiting. Before we even list your home in the MLS, we’ll market and promote to these pools of anxious buyers to draw interest early on. As a home seller, you’ll save tons of money if we recruit a buyer without another agent involved.

Marketing is critical. There are tons of agents out there that will take a couple of pictures, a sign in the front, list your property, and pray your property will sell. This is an outdated process. We create a custom marketing package specifically designed for your home. This includes high-resolution photographs, HD video, and aerial views of the entire neighborhood. We then compile a sales sheet to educate prospective buyers visiting your home and syndicating your information for 1,600 different sites in the U.S. and Canada.

We guarantee communication. When I sit down with a seller, they typically complain about consistent communication with former agents. As my guarantee, you’ll hear from me personally every single Thursday with status updates about your property.

If you’re thinking about buying or selling a home in the surrounding Valley area, give me a call or send me an email. I’d love to connect and answer any questions you might have!

Tips for Hiring a Valley Agent to Sell Your Home

Alan@AlanKRealtyGroup.com (Alan Kushmakov) — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 10:31:00 -0700

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Today, I want to to review four mistakes to avoid when choosing an agent to list your home.

Choosing the agent who promises the highest sales price. Some agents will suggest pricing your home for $20,000 above market price. They’ll say you can gradually lower the price every few weeks. However, that causes your home to sit on the market. Other agents will price a home knowing that it’s not going to sell, and then do open houses to generate business for themselves. We ensure to price your property correctly.

Choosing an agent who discounts his or her commission. There are some agents out there who are limited service brokers. They’ll only charge you $1,000 in commission and they’ll add the property on the MLS, but you will be responsible for marketing, negotiating, and more. Comparatively, we offer a full-service package that includes high-resolution pictures, HD videos of your property, and an aggressive marketing strategy.

Choosing the nicest agent. You might feel like hiring your brother-in-law, your college buddy, or your nice next door neighbor to sell your home. Just because someone is nice doesn’t mean they have the experience to sell your property. You need to ask questions about their production, knowledge of the marketplace, and how many homes they have sold in your neighborhood.

Choosing a solo agent. There’s nothing wrong with being a solo agent. However, if a solo agent has five different deals going on at once, something is bound to fall through the cracks. We have the systems and the team to support you all the way throughout the transaction.

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

Why Is Now Such a Great Time to Buy a Home in the Valley?

Alan@AlanKRealtyGroup.com (Alan Kushmakov) — Wed, 9 Mar 2016 08:16:00 -0800

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As I’m sure you know, interest rates are extremely low right now. When interest rates are low, your buying power increases. You have a really good opportunity right now to save thousands and thousands of dollars in interest payments over the course of your loan.

For merely $1,200 a month you can buy a $200,000 home with current interest rates (4.2%). If these rates rise up to 5%, you would only be able to afford a $175,000 home. That’s a very significant difference.

If you’ve been waiting to buy a home, I would urge you to do so now. The longer you wait, the less buying power you will have. Interest rates really cannot go any lower, so now is the time to buy in 2016! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me!

Where Is the Valley Real Estate Market Heading?

Alan@AlanKRealtyGroup.com (Alan Kushmakov) — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 10:28:00 -0800

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January was a really good month for home sales here in the Valley. In fact, overall sales were up about 15% over January of 2015. This month, we’re doing pretty great as well when compared to February of last year.

Overall, the supply of homes is down. If you’re in the market to buy a home under $275,000, there’s not much available. This is great news for sellers in that price range, but it makes the buying process very difficult for people looking for a home. If you’re a buyer looking for a home over $400,000, you have a lot more options.

The four biggest markets in the Valley have seen improved conditions for sellers. However, the Glendale and Peoria markets, as well as Amandale, have seen a minor slowdown for sellers. We think this is just due to it being early in the year, but we’ll keep you updated on the situation as we move forward.

If you would like specific market data for your area, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you!